Just a little somethin' for you

I was productive (?) today and made a mix for a friend. These songs are best enjoyed with the ocean in the background (I suppose a lake or pool would suffice if you're not fortunate enough to live on the coast) and a vodka slurpee in hand. Click on the image to download!

Meow meow et chantez-moi

I'm well on my way to becoming a crazy cat lady. Call the cops, IDGAF.

Magnitude's favourite food

Trust me guys, I'd be updating if I had anything to update about. I could tell you about seeing Yelle on Friday, but there's not much to say besides 1) trying to sing along is hard when your French is as rusty as mine, 2) c'était une soirée absolument parfait, et 3) I've never danced so much in my life.

But anyways, I suppose this is worth a post: I have recently discovered how easy it is to make popcorn. I know, right? Duh. Seriously though, this stuff is SO DAMN GOOD; I doubt I'll ever be able to have greasy, artifically yellow, potentially lethal microwave popcorn again. Good riddance.

I originally got the recipe from The Best of Chef at Home (I love this cookbook) but now I just eyeball everything. First, throw a big pot on the stove and coat the bottom with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Turn the stove on high and toss about a half cup of popcorn kernels in the pot. Shake it a bit to make sure they're in a single layer. Put a lid on the pot, but leave an opening to allow steam to escape. Then just wait! It'll start going crazy pretty soon. When the popping starts to slow down a bit, turn the heat to low until it's done. Season liberally with salt, pepper, and another tablespoon of olive oil. CONSUME.

This makes a LOT of popcorn. Even I can only eat about half a batch:



You can thank me later.

My life in two words

Music and food.

Despite being super sick, I made it out to the Commodore on Friday with Robyn and Shafin to see the fabulous and wonderful Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover. We were early enough to get excellent spots just a few people away from the stage! Although I got pretty dizzy at one point and wasn't quite sure if I'd survive, it was a great show. (Especially when he did the encore in just jeans and an unzipped hoodie.)


One of the few perks of living at home is getting homecooked food every night. On the rare opportunity that I get to cook for myself--like being too sick to go to the family Easter dinner--I usually stick to the one thing I can cook without a recipe: chicken and pasta. Chicken breast marinated in fresh squeezed lemon juice, spinach penne with a sort-of-not-really alfredo, and the only broccoli I'll ever eat. Simple, easy, delicious.

While I've been confined indoors with this awful cold I've also embraced my inner teenage girl and developed a slight Tumblr addiction. So like, follow me or whatever.

Let me see yr nailz

My attempt at a glitter gradient. OPI's Coney Island Cotton Candy (the most perfect nude shade ever) and Extra-va-vaganza. Really easy to do, though time consuming--this is technically 7 coats of polish! Worth it; I love the effect.

We love you very, very, very, very, very, very, very much.

"I like the feel of the burn of the audience's eyes on me when I'm whispering all my darkest secrets into the microphone."
I've had this new post up in a tab for the past few days in an attempt to see if I could adequately express my feelings towards seeing Bright Eyes on Friday, but I'm not sure if I'll ever get there. However, a certain someone who shall remain a name (Leslie Melvin) is impatient for a post so here goes.

I know, loving Bright Eyes is soooo 2003, but although I'm no longer an angsty 17 year old (I'm an angsty 23 year old...) I still can't stop listening. At this point my love is probably 90% nostalgia-based, but call the cops because IDGAF. My love for Conor Oberst will never die. I know a lot of people claim to have bands and artists that got them through tough times, but for me Bright Eyes was the opposite: They allowed me to wallow in self-pity and despair, and for that I am forever grateful.

To sum up this point of this post: The Bright Eyes show was probably the best musical experience of my life (No Doubt in 2009 is the second).

The show was at the Commodore. I love it. I wouldn't even mind seeing, say, Katy Perry (HATE HER WITH A FIERY PASSION) if she played at the Commodore. It's huge, it has multiple bars, there's ample seating with views of the stage, and hello--bouncy dancefloor. Hands down the best venue in Vancouver. The place was packed, which I should have expected as it was a sold-out show. I (vaguely) remember having a lot more room to dance when I saw Julian Casablancas there a couple years ago. Thankfully, no one was flailing/moshing/jostling about so although it was crowded it was still easy to stand in place and sway and enjoy the music. I even had a great view of Conor for the majority of the time, something that almost never happens due to my extreme lack of height.


Titus Andronicus opened, although I only caught the last few songs of their set. It's pretty rare that I've heard of the opening band and even rarer that I'm already a fan, so I was pleased.

But onto Bright Eyes. The set list was near perfect with plenty of songs from the new album interspersed with a lot of old favourites. Now, my idea of the ultimate Bright Eyes concert takes place pre-Digital Ash in a Digital Urn/I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, but I've come to accept that that's just not going to happen. At least he (mostly? I can't remember) stayed away from Cassadaga. I mean, it's great that Conor's pretty much sober and all, but there's no denying his best work was during the years when he'd get so wasted at shows he'd have to cling to the mic stand for support. I don't usually read or agree with Pitchfork's reviews, but they were dead-on when they called The People's Key impersonal. I still think it's solid, but where's the neuroses? The wailing? The metaphors and references to scales and clocks?


Okay, I'm sidetracking. We took a nice, lengthy "trip down memory lane", as Conor put it. He even went way back to 1998 ("Padraic My Prince"). Going in, I was so sure I'd cry at some point, but (sadly, in my opinion) my cheeks remained dry. I did tear up once--for the entirety of "Take It Easy (Love Nothing)"--but he didn't sing any of the songs that really hit me hard in my hormonal teenage years. I assure you I would have been reduced to a quivering, sobbing wreck on the floor had I heard "Messenger Bird's Song" or "You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will." or "A Perfect Sonnet" live.


One of the many highlights (who am I kidding every second was a highlight) was during the encore. "Lover I Don't Have To Love". I knew they'd play it, I knew they had to! Even if you're not a fan of the band, I feel like it was impossible to escape the mid-2000s without hearing that song...at least if you spent any amount of time on Myspace. I was only sad my sister wasn't there to scream the lyrics along with me like we used to do in the car. Love's an excuse to get hurt and to hurt. Do you like to hurt? I do, I do. Then hurt meeeeeeee. My one regret was not bringing my Flip cam to record the moment.


That's about all I have to say about the concert; or at least, all that can be said in a jumble of words. I'm so grateful I was able to be there, knowing that it was most likely his last tour as Bright Eyes. I'll leave you with this one moment that stuck with me: One or two songs into the set, Conor asked for the two lights shining on him to be turned off. It was just so Conor I nearly died.

I have a lot of really great concerts coming up (Childish Gambino/Donald Glover, Sleigh Bells, Neon Indian, Yelle) but, as excited as I am, I feel like none of them will live up to last Friday.

What's the best show you've ever been to?

The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

Ever have one of those days where it seems like the world is out to get you? Today was one of those days.

It started early. I was finishing up some work before getting ready for class, which included putting the final touches on a PowerPoint and handout that I was to use in my final presentation that afternoon. Run downstairs with my trusty USB stick, print the handout, everything is running smoothly and for once I'm actually ahead of schedule. Until, of course, 20 minutes later when I'm packing up everything I need for the day and realise I can't find my USB stick.

To understand the panic that pierced my heart at that moment, let me tell you what was on that stick:
- Everything.
Seriously. All the work I've done this semester as well as all the work I'm currently doing and need to hand in this week. I felt like Carrie Bradshaw when her beloved Powerbook died. Remember to always back up your work!

Of course, logic told me that it wasn't lost and it simply must be somewhere between the printer, the kitchen, the bathroom, and my room. Cut to 30 minutes and one torn apart room later, and I finally find it...in my pillowcase? I had no time to be confused by this as I immediately had to dash out the door to make it to the bus.

Finally, I'm on the bus. I'm flipping through my cue cards, going over what I'm going to say and how I'm going to say it. We're getting close to school so I go to put them away and that's when I manage to give myself two large, deep paper cuts right along the nail beds of my left middle and ring fingers. Blood. Everywhere.

Obviously, I survived and even managed to give a pretty good (I think--it's always hard to tell!) presentation on my girl Margaret Atwood. But oh man am I ever glad this semester is almost over!

Bare naked lady

My weekend, as usual these days, was homework-filled and dull.

UNTIL... I got a call from Sephora saying they'd gotten a shipment of Naked Pallettes in! On Sunday I gave myself a well-earned break and hustled down to Pacific Centre to pick it up. The girl who rang me up was shocked to hear I'd only spent a month on the waiting list; others have had to wait 3-5 months! I felt like I was going to get mugged by a horde of makeup-crazy girls on the way out.

I haven't had a chance to test it out yet, and knowing me I'll be way too lazy/exhausted to wear much makeup this week. I can tell you it looks pretty though! Ha.

Stress shopping

Shirt: MbMJ Anniversary Skull Tee
(Limited edition! I had to.)
Jacket: H&M
Pants: H&M
Because retail therapy is my preferred release of pent-up academic aggression. And because I recently discovered the wonder that is Sparky’z Kutz for Kidz, a kid's hair salon at the otherwise awful Lansdowne Mall that has the largest selection of OPI I've ever seen in one place.


Vodka & Caviar, Extra-va-vaganza, Don't Mess With OPI, OPI on Collins Ave

I know, I know

I'm a horrible blogger. I feel like I have a pretty good excuse, though:


Not pictured: Marketing final exam the week after. Ugh.

I've put myself on a strict academic lockdown which means no partying until next Thursday. Of course, it's only when I say I won't go out that I suddenly become popular and have people asking to hang left and right. Not cool, guys. Not cool.

One thing I've been meaning to do is more FASHION POSTS. Unfortunately, my morning routine (sleep in until the last minute, rush around, fly out the door) doesn't leave time for pictures and when I get home it's straight into a tshirt and my favourite neon tribal harem pants.

That said, here's what I wore the last time I left the house for non-school purposes (Cafe Crepe and the Waldorf - two of my trusty standbys):


Dress: Zara
Boots: Doc Marten
I'm obsessed with this dress. From afar it looks like your average black dress, but get up close and BAM! Lace!



My sister says it looks like something out of Big Love, but I take that as a comparison to Chloe Sevigny and thus a compliment (even if she does hate Canada).

I've been in a bit of a makeup rut lately, but one that I don't particularly care to leave: thick dark brows, black eyeliner, red lips. I recently splurged on Tarte's matte lipstain in "Fiery" and I'll never look back.

Sidenote: I hate how deceiving the prices are for Canadians on Sephora's website. The lipstain was actually $31 before tax! Would it kill Sephora to have an actual Canadian site?

I really need to get back to studying for my Marketing quiz tomorrow (UGH), so I leave you with my new-ish feather extensions:



If you like attention and random compliments from strangers: GET FEATHER EXTENSIONS. They're ridiculously easy to install (?) on your own and everyone will be oohing and aahing. Lovely.