farewell & foresight: dec.’14/ jan.’15

i’m not going to lie and say this month was great, because it wasn’t really. at the beginning, i was panicking because i felt like i didn’t accomplish anything so i needed to do as much as possible. it was only in the last week that i’d realized it was silly and i just needed to move on. to say the least, i didn’t really accomplish anything worth noting – but i did start watching korean dramas, which i suppose is something. i guess by the end i just gave up on trying to accomplish all the stuff i thought i needed to do. i got more behind on school, didn’t really do any drivers ed, got into a reading slump, and basically lost motivation for a lot of things. i just wanted to lay around, do nothing, and mope about doing nothing. i know i have no right to complain and say i’m “stressed,” but.. i’m just going through a semi-hard time. it’s more upsetting than usual because it’s my favorite time of year, and yet i feel so out of it. in all honesty, i didn’t even actually celebrate christmas; i watched the heirs the entire day – the entire day. i’m not having too many regrets though because it was really good. some positive things: i donated money to project for awesome and got the limited edition p4a tfios; i blogged a lot in the beginning of the month; my sister came back for the holidays (but couldn’t actually stay for christmas or new year’s); korean dramas~

• something real; by heather demetrios (goodreads)
• dash and lily’s book of dares; by david levithan and rachel cohn (goodreads)

on replay:

i’ve been listening to instrumental covers of kpop songs to help me focus on my schoolwork. it actually does help a lot because it’s a calm and mellow version of a pop-y song. you can still hear pop elements, but it’s toned down so it isn’t distracting. i’m in love with these two mixes: (x), (x). you should definitely check those out!

i also shamelessly started watching korean dramas, as mentioned before. i never thought i would be one to watch dramas, simply because i find it time consuming and annoying to just watch something but ohmygoodness it’s so good. if you watch kdramas as well, please leave me a few recommendations! i’ve only watched the heirs so far, but i’m obsessed and in love.

on a side note (aka story time!)…

if you read my first the cover games post, you would know that i got sent the wrong copy of nick and norah’s infinite playlist. (also if you’ve been following my twitter, you would know this story..) anyway, i returned the copy and ordered another one via amazon and got sent the wrong one – again. i returned it, and ordered it from amazon – this time ‘used,’ hoping it would be correct. it was wrong again. finally, i went on abebooks.com and found out that all the websites/people i ordered from before have been using the wrong cover for the publisher (which was why i was getting all these incorrect orders), and found the right publisher (aka the one that matches my copy of dash and lily’s book of dares). it was confusing because the ISBN number was the same, but there were two versions and they kept sending me the old one. i was excited that i’d found the mistake. ordered it, it arrived, and what would you know.. IT WAS WRONG AGAIN. (sorry, excuse the all caps.) *inhales deeply* if anyone knows where i can buy this cover, please let me know because i’ve officially given up. after four attempts and returns. (PLEASE LET ME KNOW. i’m begging you.)

quote of the month:

“I’m sitting here on the Kaye Gibbons Show, and all I can think is that the whole country is sick. Sick with the idea that it’s good to be known as seen by as many people as possible, to show every part of our lives to the public at large. Whether it’s Facebook photos, blogs, or reality TV, it’s like nobody is content to just live life. The worth of our existence seems to be measured in pixels and megabytes and “likes.” Those of us whose lives can be downloaded seem to have the most value – until someone outrageous comes along to claim their time in the spotlight.”

– heather demetrios, something real

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foresights of january

i like to make a big thing of the new year and start fresh, even though it’s just another month. i have a few ways for getting things back on track for the upcoming year: karen kavett created a beautiful “don’t break the chain” calendar and she made a video about it here; i got a fancy shmancy planner from a beautiful mess to help motivate organization; and the simple idea that it’s a new year so i can start fresh.

january will be so so so busy. the first week will be a winter intensive (where i take intensive ballet class everyday for four hours). then, the next weekend i’ll be going to the american ballet theatre summer program audition. i’ve got competition for the rest of the month until mid-february, which is actually every weekend. january is the most hectic month of the year.

goals for the month (not the new year, i’ve got a separate post on that):

• finish all my classes at school (sigh)
• prioritize. even if it means giving some stuff up (aka books & blogging)
• remain positive! you can get through this.
• please spend less time on instagram, twitter, tumblr, and watching kdramas because i know it’s coming…

i’m not going to have a tbr this month because i’m currently in a reading slump and pressuring myself to read specific books will just stress me out. i seriously hope i could get out this mess soon.

are you as excited for the new year as i am? let me know in the comments!

xoxo,

alexandra

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