Self Absorbed.

The gorgeous and fabulous Carrie (who has one of the best fashion blogs I've seen!) tweaked an Elle survey and made it her own, which she posted on her blog. I've been dying for the time to complete this survey and found myself not doing too much last night - perfect time to talk about myselffff.
I'm sure you're all sick and tired of hearing about me through little surveys by now, so I'm sorry for that! I promise a lot of different types of posts and not any more surveys about myself after this one for a whileee :)

Who is your favorite designer?
Karl Lagerfeld, Miuccia Prada, or Matthew Williamson. Wayyy too hard to just narrow it down to one!




If you could come back as a dress, what would it be?
An Emporio Armani swarovski crystal studded minidress. Fun, flirty, but still chic!




If you could come back as a model, who would it be?
Either Jessica Stam or Adriana Lima.




Junk food?
Nutella, straight from the spoon and Smartfood white cheddar popcorn. Yummm.


What are you most vain about?
Either my hair, or my legs.

What are you most shy about?
My muffin, ick...but I guess we all have something, right?

If you could come back with someone else’s body, whose would it be?

Kelly Ripa. Is that weird because she's like 15 years old than me?

Who are your fantasy dinner-party guests?
Barack Obama, Karl Lagerfeld, Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Lloyd Wright, Pablo Neruda, Jack Kerouac, Victoria Beckham, Michael Cera.


Fantasy celebrity one-night stand?
Mmm, Bear Grylls. Seriously, I think he's so hot.
And if that didn't work out, I wouldn't mind me a little Michael Cera...I like nerds/people who make me laugh. Double winner.



Favorite place to have a drink?
My mom's best friend's house...right on the lake, huge backyard...the perfect setting for a margarita on a hot summer day!
Or, the Smith Hotel lobby bar in TriBeCa...they have unbelievable pineapple-basil daquiris.


Underwear?
Either Victoria's Secret or Gap Body.

What can’t you travel without?
A good book, fashion magazines, iPod, Burt's Bees chapstick, my Blackberry, Evian mist, digital camera, Fiji or Smart Water, and Starburst jellybeans.

Last book you read?
Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. I adore him.


At age seven, you wanted to be . . .
An artist.

What’s the thing you find easiest to forgive?
Honestly, I forgive most anything...I'm too nice with things like that.

What’s the thing you find impossible to forgive?
Dishonesty. Once someone lies to me, I find it veryyy hard to get over that.

Biggest self-indulgence?
Weekly mani/pedis, hot stone massages, pistachio ice cream, going out to dinner.

Favorite place to shop [brick and mortar]?
Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus.

Favorite place to shop online?
Neiman Marcus.

Whose diary would you most like to read?
Mary Kate or Ashley Olsen's. I know I shouldn't want to read anyone's, but I can't help it!


Least favorite food?
Honestly, tomatoes. I cannot eat them just plain. My mom grows them in the garden, and will just slice one up and eat it as a snack, and it makes me nauseous to think of doing that.


If you were an inventor, what would you invent?
Inexpensive solar paneling for houses so that everyone could inexpensively go green.


Who are your favorite furniture designers?
Frank Gehry. Always.

Car?
Currentlyyyy I drive an '06 Mercedes E350.
Dream car: Range Rover pleaseeee.

What was your childhood nickname?
Oops. I was very ditzy as a child, and would constantly be bumping into things/dropping things and said "Oops," which I am still called by some people. It also turned into "Ally Oops" or "Oopers," which is just plain awful.

When and where are you happiest?
In my living room, with my entire family sitting and laughing, whether we're watching a movie, playing a game, or just trading memories.

What piece of art would you most like to own?
Number 31 by Jackson Pollock.


What are your favorite vacation spots?
Cape Cod, St. Tropez, St. Thomas, San Francisco, Miami [Coconut Grove].

Most treasured possession?
My nana's beautiful engagement ring that was given to me on my 18th birthday.

Favorite fictional character?
Carrie Bradshaw or Elizabeth Bennet.




Favorite musicians?
Ben Gibbard (actually all the members of Death Cab), John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney, Kasabian...omg, too many.



If you had another profession beside your own, what would it be?
Well, since I'm a student, I would very, very much like to go into journalism and work at a fashion magazine.

What current trends would you like to see disappear?
Ripped leggings with shorts on top, scrunchies (I saw some in American Apparel the other day and almost passed out).

Favorite trend of all time?
Boyfriend jeans. Comfy and fashionable too!

Always...
Be polite.

Never...
Sell yourself short!

As for me, I'm off to hang by the pool, which was opened yesterday, yay!
Hopefully I'll just be able to lull myself to sleep as the sound of the [manmade] waterfalls crash down around me, making me think I'm at some island, while I wait for my turkey burger to be cooked to perfection - yum!
In actuality though, my solitude will be quickly interrupted by the huge number of family friends who are making their way over to my house to celebrate! As long as I get my turkey burger, I think I'll be okay ;)
I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day - anyone doing anything super fun?!


Currently listening to: Bob Dylan - Knockin on Heaven's Door (blasting out of the speakers by the pool).

Style Icon: Leighton Meester.

So, I am a huge fan of Leighton Meester. I was cleaning my room today upon my mom's insisting (because today is the first day since I started going out with J that I've actually been home), and came upon one of my inspiration folders that was crammed full of pictures of Leighton.

I really do think she is a pretty good actress, at least judging from her performances on Entourage and Gossip Girl. And, you may judge me, but I think her singing voice isn't half bad either! (Compared to most other actresses who swear that they can sing).

I just adore her style, from what she wears on the red carpet to what she wears on the street (which as I've said before, I think says a lot about someone!).

And the fact that you can go from being an awkward thirteen year old (as seen below) to being a gorgeous young woman, as evidenced by theseeee pictures :)



And the transformation begins...









I think she looks especially cute when compared to hot mess and fellow Gossip Girl costar Jessica Szohr:

































What do you guys think? Love her or hate her?
I hope you're all doing well! Love you all. xo

Images were all found on a Google image search.


Currently listening to: Kasabian - Vlad the Impaler

The Thesaurus of Emotions.

So, I'm kind of at a weird place right now. Like, a major conflict of emotions. In some areas of my life, everything is going so perfectly... I have a new and fantastic boyfriend (it's official, yayy!) who asked me out in the city - my favorite place in the world over Magnolia Bakery cupcakes and sitting at Rockefeller Center; I saw friends from school today; and I'm outside allll the time just enjoying the beautiful weather. So it seemed like everything was just perfect, which is probably a dangerous place to be, because lets face it - life is not perfect.

I've been gearing up packing to get to China - buying gifts for my students that I'll be teaching there, I got my new camera so I can really capture the magnificence of the Great Wall and Summer Palace, buying new clothes, and just getting like super, super excited about the entire experience. So of course, when I got an email two weeks ago saying that the Chinese government was worried about the swine flu in the U.S. and that they were considering not letting people in, I was super, super bummed. But I kept my hopes up, and figured that the government would see that this whole thing is just really silly, and that they are overreacting a little. So then, when I got ANOTHER email saying that everything was fine and the trip was back on, I was stoked again. I started getting everything together, talking about it with everyone, cancelling work for two weeks, and studying up on different aspects of Chinese culture (and practicing my chopsticks skills!). New boyfriend and I were talking the other night and he told me he was planning on writing a letter to me for everyyy day I was gone, and leave them in my suitcase so that we could still be connected even from a bagillion miles away (awwe).

Yesterday, when I woke up, I had nothing to do until 3 so I just had a leisurely morning. I was on Facebook for wayyy too long, went for a run, straightened up my room, and then decided to check my email which had remained untouched since the weekend. Upon opening up my inbox, I saw a letter from one of the leaders on the trip to China. The subject line said it all, and immediately depressed me. "Trip Cancelled." I seriously think I just sat at my computer dumbfounded for a few minutes before even opening up the message.

Upon opening it up, I learned that the Chinese government does not want large groups coming into their schools, in order to prevent something like the SARS scare that happened a few years ago, so they are revoking any visas that were issued after April 20. When was my visa issued, you may ask? April 21. So I missed the cut off by oneee day.

Needless to say, I've been a little bummed. I had been looking forward to this trip for monthsss, had told everyone about it, had just gotten my hopes up so much. I would have been in China right now if things had panned out, so today was a little rough/frustrating.

Again, I've been sucking so hard at not commenting on your fabulous blogs - I've been trying to make it to them as much as I could, but promise, promise that I will be visiting them regularly from now on!

I've also been promising updates for-ev-er (said Sandlot style), but I'm just in a crappy, down kind of mood so I don't want all the good to be masked by my current state of disappointment. So instead of complaining about things, the fabulous Alyssa Megan tagged me recently, so I'll be finishing up her tag and heading off to bed! (You guys should check out her blog - she's a fabulous photographer!). She and I also share a lot of things in common :)

20 Things

1) Favorite accessory?
I love scarves. American Apparel has some fabulous circular ones that I just adoreeee. I also really love necklaces. Long ones for layering are on of my current faves in the fashion world!

2) What do you wear when you're down?
My favorite comfy boyfriend fit jeans and my gray American Apparel sweatshirt. Super casual, super comfy, yet still cute enoughhh so I don't feel like complete and total crap.

3) When you're feeling pretty?
Dresses...preferably from Fossil or Anthropologie. Or maybe a great pair of skinny jeans. It all depends on my attitude. I think attitude has a lot to do with if I'm feeling pretty or not :)

4) Favorite designer?
Karl Lagerfeld/John Galliano.

5) Favorite photographer?
Tim Walker/Alex Kirkbride/Hedi Slimane.

6) Handbag?
Currently a big bag from Anthropologie...multi colored, pretty, just what I needed :)

7) Jeans?
Joe's, Seven for All Mankind (even though I knowww they're so overplayed, they just make my butt look so good in them), Lacoste, and Rock and Republic (specifically Victoria Beckham for Rock and Republic).

8) Worst fashion moment?
When I bit into the only Hollister/Abercrombie phase. Aka, fit in instead of standing out and being myself! I actually had a tshirt that said, "If All Else Fails, At Least I'm Hot." Ew, ew, ew.

9) Mom's style?
Veryyyy preppy. Mostly J. Crew, Lilly Pullitzer, and Ralph Lauren. It's actually cute though.

10) Three places you'd rather be right now?
In a park with the boyfriend, Paris, CHINA

11) Your hair?
Currently in a very sloppy looking ponytail. Ickk.

12) Celeb crush?
Bear Grylls

13) Color?
Light yellow, sage green

14) Drink?
Red wine (pinot noir please), water with lemon

15) Food?
Penne vodka

16) Dream/Goal?
To love others more than I love myself, to help the poor in any way I can, to have a family, to be a teacher...ahh, so many!

17) Dream last night?
So random...seriously, I would think I dropped acid at night from the ridiculous dreams I have sometimes!

18) Fear?
Sharks!, someone chasing me (seriously, just the thought of someone chasing me through my house or in a parking lot somewhere is enough to give me nightmares!)

19) Where do you want to be in 10 years?
Hopefullyyy married with a steady career and a family...I want my life to mean something!

20) 3 Television Shows?
Entourage, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Office

I'm tagging anyoneee who would like to do this super fun survey!

Anyway, I really am sorry for this being so freaking discouraging. I promise I'll bounce back soon and be my regular, mostly optimistic self :)
Love you all. How have you all been?! Any super fun weekend plans?

Currently listening to: Rachael Yamagata - Letter Read

Free At Last + 8 Things Tag!

Well, I'm finallyyyy finished! As of yesterday, no more finals, no more living in the library from open til close, no more Red Bull (except the morning I leave for the airport for China at 4:30 a.m....at that point I will be consuming as many Red Bulls as possible before security tears them out of my hands)....at least until next semester (which, I'm already dreading!).

I cleared all of my crap out of my room BY MYSELF (the new boy was with his parents unpacking his room, but he did offer to help, to which I politely turned him down and said I could handle it... ahh, independence). While I felt quite independent carrying all my boxes to my little car, my back was not thrilled with my feministic attitude, and has been bothering me ever since.

Today was the first day in a longgg time that I have sat down and done almost nothing (partially because of the HEINOUS and unrelenting rain that we've been experiencing here the past few days!). I went out to this fantastic cupcake place (I had a peanut butter and jelly cupcake! - yellow cake, with pb&j baked inside with peanut butter buttercream icing and jelly drizzled over the top....100000 calories, probably; delicious, absolutely) with the boy I went on that late-night-should-have-been-studying-date, because he only lives about a half hour from me back home! Yay :) More details on that to come - I don't want to rush anything/make a big deal too soon.

The beautiful Elizabeth (who happens to have fantastic hair and always looks airbrush perfect) of Unbeweavable tagged me in the "8 Things" post that seems to be going around. And now that I'm done with school, it seems like the PERFECT way to give my brain a bit of a rest and focus on some fun things!

I promise I'll have a real, real post soon and will bore you all to death with details of my life ;)

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:

1. Sleeping! - Seriously, my body is aching for sleep. It is currently 11:23 p.m. (we must be precise, right?) and I am feeling my eyes get heavier and heavier. As soon as I finish this blog, I'm going to go to bed...yayyy for bed before 3 a.m. :)

2. CHINA - I don't know if I even blogged about this to you guys yet, but on the 15th of March, I'm going to CHINA for 2 weeks! For the first week I'm going to be teaching conversational English at a university there (scattered with a day trip to the Great Wall one day!), and then after that first week, we head to Beijing for another week for sightseeing, shopping, and just touring around. Hello, can I possibly be more excited (especially because I am an Asian culture whore - I can't get enough of the art, food, family values, EVERYTHING!).
Lets just prayyy that this stupid pig flu won't keep the Chinese government from letting us all in = /


3. The new Kasabian album coming out in June. I know, I know, lameee. But seriously, any time that one of my favorite bands is coming out with a new album, I get reallyyy excited :) And I've heard their newest single from the album and it is greattttt.

4. Exploring NYC. New boy and I were talking about how it is so crazy that we live so freaking close to the city, and neither of us go in on a regular basis. So we vowed to explore the city as much as possible this summer, taking in new and unique sights, finding cute little hole in the wall restaurants and cafes, and just people watching for hours on end. Being in the city is such a rush for me - I love just taking it all in, and I'm glad that someone finallyyyy wants to go in with me :)

5. Getting back into the swing of running! Yessss for warm nights when I can run, run, run! I especially love when it's a hot/warm day and it rains lightly. That is my favoriteeee time to run. Ah, I'm excited just thinking about it!

6. Rainy summer days. They're my favorite time to relax. Usually I'm always going, always having somethinggg to do, or feel unproductive sitting around when it's so beautiful outside. Once it rains, and the day is a little bit gloomy, I love it. I officially have an excuse to wear leggings and my dad's old Harvard sweatshirt, and sit and watch endless hours of movies and television, usually consuming bowls upon bowls of some type of summer fruit (preferably pineapple).

7. MARGARITA NIGHTS! I will finally (legally) be able to partake in the age old tradition of heading to my mom's bff's gorgeous house on a lake, sitting around, drinking margs of all different flavors, and sleeping over there, which gives me an excuse to drink over my usual limit. Yessss.

8. Regular mani/pedis. My treat to myself. The place that is right down the street from me is ideal - I can walk there and reduce my carbon footprint, they know me by name, and Olivia (the owner) always makes sure that her best people are working to polish and buff my nails into perfection. And, best part - it's only $20 for the best mani/pedi around (seriously, I've checked most of the other places out - they cannotttt compare).

8 Things I Did Yesterday

1. Packed everything, by myself, and loaded it into my car (in the rain!). This made me feel quite independent, and quite stupid after my back started killing me.

2. Drove home. Had a little babyyy accident involving some hydroplaning. I'm fine, few bumps, nothing big and my car has ZERO damage! What are the odds of that?! The man at the dealership said I'm veryyy lucky.

3. Met Bobby Flay with my dad. Haha, my dad told me he had a BIG surprise for me. We drove to Connecticut, stood on line for 2 hours and 45 minutes, and then got our picture taken and had two books autographed by Bobby Flay (who is one of my dad's favorite chefs...I swear, he has every episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay on our DVR). While it wasn't exactlyyy what I thought the surprise would be, it was nice to be able to spend time with my dad.

4. Ate my fave grilled chicken sandwich from Wawa, which I bought before I left PA. Unfortunately, there is no Wawa at home. For those of you who don't know, Wawa is the most delicious convenience store ever. They make these amazinggg sandwiches for like super cheap. Every time I go in, I get the same thing - grilled chicken on a kaiser roll, lettuce, little bit of mayo, Ranch dressing and bacon. And it never ceases to disappoint. I swear, most of my money goes to a chicken sammich at Wawa :)

5. Watched movies (The Sandlot and The Goonies, aka the movies we grew up on) with my brother, who just got home yesterday as well!

6. Cuddled with Cooper. He has been glued to my side since I've been home.

7. Got my new Nikon D60! Yayyyy.

8. Slept! For a good twelve hours. Allllll right.

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. I wish I could not let the little things get to me, and focus more on big things.

2. I wish I could function on only two hours sleep a night, and not look like a zombie in the morning.

3. I wish I could speak another language fluently. I feel like that just puts you at such an advantage in life, especially if you can speak Spanish, which is so prevalent!

4. I wish I could live more green. Like, with solar panelling in my house, all high efficiency products... hopefully one day soon! :)

5. I wish that I could have told people that I lost without expecting it how I felt about them. I know that they knew I loved them, but if I could have just voiced that to them...I think I'd feel a lot better.

6. I wish that we lived in a world where everyone got along and just loved one another. Nobody hated anyone else because they were gay, straight, black, white, Latino, Asian, Indian, anything. People just coexisted peacefully, and there would be no need for war.

7. I wish that I hadn't been burned so bad in the past. I find it really hard now to trust people, and not to freak out over little things, or read too much into situations. It causes me to doubt myself, and I absolutely hate that.

8. I wish that my dog will live however long as I do, haha. I'm going to be a messsss when he dies.

8 TV Shows I Watch:

1. The Office

2. Entourage

3. Top Chef

4. Planet Earth/The Blue Planet

5. Skins

6. CSI (Vegas onlyyy)

7. Law & Order SVU

8. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia


Ahh, what a fun post! Seriously, I would LOVE for as many of you to do this as possible - I'd LOVE to learn more about you all :)

I've missed you all terribly, can't wait to catch up on your wonderful blogs!

Currently listening to: TV on the Radio - Shout Me Out