Diet Coke Key Chain

I saw this pinned on Pinterest and fell in love. My mom drinks Diet Coke like nobody's business and her birthday was a week away, so I decided to make my own.

I got a keychain:

Followed the instructions on the site linked above:

And this was the result! My mom loved it.

BR #9: The Siren by Kiera Cass

(This post is part of an ongoing project. See more here.)

I got tired of waiting for The Selection to come out so I read The Siren again. Kiera Cass's books are so special to me because I feel like I know her so well and I can feel her personality in her writing.

I'm beginning to notice a trend in the books that I like, namely in that most of my top-shelf books have last chapters that you spend the whole book dying to read. This is true once again with The Siren. I love getting Akinli's point of view in the end!

Aisling has to be one of my favorite book characters of all time. You just hate her the whole book, and then you get to the end and are blown away by how strong, brave, and truly wonderful she is. I'm really inspired by her.

Photo Earrings

CRAFT TIME!! Yay! See, this is what happens when you go on Pinterest...

So I discovered the wonders of Mod Podge, and I desperately wanted to make something with my new 8 oz bottle of it. I took a little trip to the Dollar Store and found these earrings:

Printed out some pictures:

Traced the shape of the earrings onto the pictures:

Cut the pictures out:

Took the metal parts off the earrings:

Mod Podged the earrings:

Stuck the pictures on:

Colored the sides with Sharpie and put three more coats of Mod Podge on top:

And I was done!

Had to try them on. :)

Obsession Confession

Without meaning to, without realizing it at all, I've become addicted to Pinterest. I knew this would happen if I let myself go on that site even once! But here I am, wanting to do crafts, paint my nails, try out new hairstyles, and redecorate my room. Sigh. I have a feeling buckets of Mod Podge will soon invade my room (seriously, what is that stuff? They use it in every cool craft ever!).

I'm having fun with  it, though. Who would think it could be so easy to be so crafty? I've already got some big ideas for Mother's Day. It's going to be UH-MAZING.

DSED #9: A Delicious Dessert

This is from Friday:

Today's task was to share a delicious dessert with a friend. I had a photo shoot scheduled with Shelby, so I suggested going to get something to eat. We headed to Steak and Shake and picked up Lindsey along the way. We had ice cream shakes and they were delicious! I love people. :)

BR #11: Peony in Love by Lisa See

(This post is part of an ongoing project. See more here.)

I skipped both of Kiera Cass's books. I just read The Siren a few months ago so I'm not quite ready to re-read it yet, and The Selection officially comes out in 4 days so I'm going to re-read it when I buy my hardcover copy. Can't wait!!

So that brings us to Peony in Love. Oh how I love Peony in Love! Here's the list of Things Made New Through Re-Reading:

1. I'm brought to tears every time I read the beginning of this book. Somehow it never changes, that feeling of hoping that this time Peony will realize her mistake in time. I want to yell at her, tell her what's really happening, but it's a book and I can't do that. I love the emotional agony of it all.
2. As I'm planning on writing my own novel, I can't help but compare and admire others' books. I especially love the title Peony in Love. It's so stark and dramatic and timeless. It's fun to say out loud, too. (I know, I'm weird.)
3. I was also very inspired by the poetry in the book, but that's nothing new. I hope Tani can be such a wonderfully poetic character.
4. Lovesickness, aka anorexia. It's real, it's out there, and it's been killing girls for hundreds of years. If I had to devote my life to one cause, that would be it.

DSED #8: Compliment ALL the People!!!

Today's task was to compliment every person I meet. This was difficult because I went to several stores and there were guys working there, and guys are hard to compliment. They don't wear jewelry, cute shoes, cute shirts, hair accessories, or carry purses. Both of the cashiers that checked me out wore plain polo shirts, jeans, and sneakers. They didn't smile or talk to me at all, so there was pretty much nothing to compliment. And when you tell a middle-aged guy that you like his plain polo shirt, he's going to think you're coming onto him.

So that's my excuse. I really did compliment everyone else, though. I told my mom I liked her outfit and I told the kitten that he's going to be really cute when his eyes open.

DSED #7: A New Street

Today's task was to drive down a street I've never been on. I'm an overachiever, so I drove down several.

My favorite was Tallulah Road. One of the houses there had the coolest dragon statue in the front yard. I wanted to take a picture, but I was afraid I'd get shot for being a creeper...

Also, in other irrelevant news, I got a baby bunny to raise along with my kitten!

DSED #6: Something I've Never Seen Before

Today I was told to find something in my house I've never seen before and take a picture of it. Really, it was not as difficult as it sounds. My dad has lots of man stuff like tools and parts and mechanical things so all I had to do was go in his room and take a quick glance around. And really, sorry for the crappy picture. I'm so tired I really didn't feel like anything elaborate today, so without further ado, I present to you a box of printer ink:

Somehow I won't feel as bad about printing tons of stuff anymore...

DSED #5: Something Precious

Today's task was to give someone something precious of mine that won't mean as much to them as it does to me. I made this one up purely as an act of self-torture, because I'm kind of a hoarder when it comes to sentimental objects and I like forcing myself into situations like this.

I knew I would be seeing Katie today so I pulled down my shoebox of little knick-knacks I've collected over the years and picked out the perfect thing: a seashell she picked up on the beach the first day we did pictures (the day that started my photography obsession). It was supposed to be hers anyway, so it would make some small amount of sense for me to give it to her, even if I was a few years late.

She seemed kind of confused by the gesture, but she knows about this silly little project of mine and accepted it in stride. So, all in all, it wasn't a very difficult task.

DSED #4: 5 Things from 2004

Today's assignment was another one stolen from Learning to Love You More. The original task was to list 5 events in your 1984, but I wasn't alive yet, so I changed it to 2004.

The scary thing is that I can hardly find anything from 2004. I have piles and piles of journal entries, poems, stories, and pictures from 2005, 2006, and 2007. I even have a nice little handful of pictures from 2002 and 2003. But 2004 seems to have been a pretty empty year for me. I was 13 years old and for once, life seemed to be pretty balanced. I had two best friends and had just discovered anime. Apparently I was content to not record anything to be remembered by (unusual for me). So without further ado, I present to you the very few things I've found from 2004:

1. I attended my nephew's birthday party at a bowling alley.
2. There was a mock presidential debate at my school.
3. I met Aliyah.
4. I read my first fanfic.
5. I went into a chatroom for the first time.

BR #8: Broken by InuSaga

(This post is part of an ongoing project. See more here.)

Let me give you a brief history of Broken, first of all. Broken is a story written by someone I know only as InuSaga using characters from the hit TV show, InuYasha. To call it "fanfiction" would be degrading, as she only uses two characters and they are so far outside the realm of the show, only the names are really the same. InuSaga published this story online, where I found it and fell in love. Katie had let me borrow a book of hers that was similar to Broken (it used characters from a TV show, but it was an actual, published book). I've always wanted to make book covers so it stuck in my head that it was possible to publish a story even if it used copyright characters.

A little searching brought me to Blurb.com, which allows you to create a cover and have copies of a book printed out. The nice thing about Blurb is that you don't have to buy in bulk. I ordered two copies, one for me and one for Katie, whose face appears on the cover.

That said, it's time for the gushing (I have to gush over every book because if they didn't make me want to gush, they wouldn't be on my bookshelf).

Broken is a masterpiece. It's no happy fairytale, it's not a clichéd romance, it's a harsh, gritty story about the need for revenge and how it can wreak havoc in your life. The entire story leads up to a single conversation in the last chapter, and even though I know it's coming every time, I cry again and again. It's a long, hard journey to make, even just in your mind, especially if you've been betrayed and wanted revenge before. InuSaga is a genius with dialogue and plotting. It makes me sad that she only writes fanfiction, because I have no doubt that she could be a bestselling author if she used her own characters.

DSED #3: Write a Poem

Today's task was to write a poem for someone else and give it to them. This was really difficult for me because, first of all, my poems tend to reveal too much about how I feel (that's the point of poetry, I know) and second, I'm really bad at writing on command. I've also never written a poem specifically for someone with the intent of letting them read it. I've written over 300 poems and most of them have never been read by anyone but myself.

But I decided to man up (or woman up!) and just do it. I decided write for my mom because she's been having a tough time lately and needs some encouragement. Embarrassing as it is, here's the poem:

You were the first person I ever loved

And the first to ever love me

You’re the foundation of all I’ve ever been

And all I’ll grow to be

Your quiet eyes have seen me through

My darkest nights and brightest days

You’re the reason I still go on

You’re the reason that I stay

Storms have gathered to bring us down

But we’ll face the future holding hands

One alone is easily shaken

And so together we will stand

DSED #2: Under My Bed

Today's assignment was to take a flash photo of what's under my bed. Simple, but kind of embarrassing. Here you go:

My Death Note wall scroll keeps falling down, haha. Luckily I cleaned my room pretty well last week so this isn't as bad as it could've been. What you see there is a backpack, a laptop case, a poster, a wall scroll, and what looks like a screw but who knows.

I got this assignment from Learning to Love You More, which means that if you're curious you can go and check out what other people have under their beds. Just follow the link! (Click on any of the names on the right where it says Reports.)

Project Kitty Club

So yesterday I unexpectedly got a new project: raise a kitten! Meet my new darling, Little Fighter.

One of my mom's teacher friends found him at the school they both work at. Little Fighter is only a few days old and probably the tiniest kitten I've ever seen. He has to be fed by bottle and sleep with a heating pad. Today he finally got the hang of sucking on the bottle instead of me just squirting milk in his mouth and hoping he swallowed. He also purred for the first time!

DSED #1: Audrey Tautou Movies

I used my meager skills to make this DSED box. It's truly pathetic, but I got to use up the spray paint I had left over from making my Pocky costume, so it was worth it.

Feeling a lot like Effie Trinket from the Hunger Games, I stuck my hand in the box this morning and pulled out this slip:

Do you like my grammar there? Yeah, me neither. Not sure how that happened. Anyway, Audrey Tautou is my favorite actress. She's French but she's been in a few English movies. I watched 3 of her movies today, which doesn't sound like a lot, but I have trouble focusing (the doctors call it AD-something?? I don't know, I wasn't paying attention...).

The first movie I watched was Amelie. It was also the first Audrey Tautou movie I saw and by far her most famous. It was delightful to watch again and made me giggle like a middle-schooler.

The second movie was Beautiful Lies. It's the first one I've seen where Audrey isn't an instantly lovable character. She was kind of harsh and manipulative. I like the way the father describes her character: (and this is a paraphrase) "Emilie is kind and loving, but she'll break your legs to get you to dance the way she wants." Ouch, haha.

The third movie was A Very Long Engagement. It's by the same director as Amelie, and I started watching it years ago but got confused and quit. It was very gruesome and intricately detailed. I'm not sure I picked up half of what was going on, but it made me cry actual tears, which hasn't happened since I saw Tangled.

So there we go! Day One is completed. I can't wait to wake up tomorrow!!

The New Project: DSED!

I'm not giving up on Bookshelf Reminisce. I'm just going to be doing two projects at once. (Well, you'll see two projects. I actually have 5 different projects going on at once. It's nice to be busy!)

Anyway, this new project is called Do Something Every Day, inspired by Scare Yourself Every Day, and consists of 200 things to do before December 21, 2012. I don't actually believe in the whole 2012-end-of-the-world thing, but it's good to have a deadline. From tomorrow (April 10) to December 21, there are 255 days. I only made a list of 200 things because a) it's hard to come up with these and b) I need plenty of legroom to mess up and take days off, especially if I'm on vacation. So I get 55 free days. Eesh.

I separated the 200 things into five categories:

1. Things that will require money. Some crafts, some trips, some gifts, etc.
2. Things that will require participation from other people. Photo shoots, parties, and various adventures.
3. Things that will require some advance planning. There aren't many of these, but they're the most awesome ones.
4. Things that need to be done by a certain date, for instance my birthday or the Bon Festival at the Morikami.
5. Everything else. I tried to come up with things that I could do in a day, that were challenging but doable, that were fun, and that I wouldn't normally do.

I came up with most of the assignments myself, but when I looked for outside help, I greatly appreciated these websites:

http://www.lists-galore.com/

http://perfectbucketlist.tumblr.com/

http://www.learningtoloveyoumore.com/

http://pinterest.com/

http://scareyourselfeveryday.com/

BR #7: The Host by Stephenie Meyer

(This post is part of an ongoing project. See more here.)

I know, I know, I skipped number 6, but I only have Bree Tanner as an ebook so I read The Host first. Now! On to the gushing!

Things I Realized About The Host:

1. I love it. I love it so much. It's the best book in the whole world and I will reread it over and over until the day I die.
2. It is physically painful for me when I think about the fact that the sequel isn't out yet, despite the fact that Stephenie finished writing it years ago!!!! WHAT. THE. HELL.
3. Jamie is a beautiful name and such a wonderful character and reading about him made me miss my Jamie and love him that much more.
4. From now on, when I get nervous that people won't like me, I'm going to pretend that they're all souls and will always think the best about me. Maybe that will boost my confidence.
5. A song by Eisley was in the playlist that Stephenie listened to while writing the book!! How cool is that? I freakin' love Eisley. I'm impressed now.
6. I want to be more like Wanderer.
7. Reading Stephenie's writing has inspired me so much, now that I'm planning my own book. I hope I can have one-tenth of the character development and beautiful prose that she has.

And that's all! Stay tuned for another cool project I'm about to start. Woohoo!

BR #5: Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

(This post is part of an ongoing project. See more here.)

I actually read Midnight Sun while I was reading Twilight. I would read a chapter of Twilight, then a chapter of Midnight Sun. I love Edward's point of view so much. He's one of my favorite characters of any book ever, and not because he's good-looking. I just love his take on things, the way he over thinks everything (the same way I do!).

And seeing Bella from his eyes made me realize just how perfectly Stephenie created her. Most of the time when a book is told from first person, the narrator kind of falls to the background and becomes a non-character, even though everything is happening to them. It's easy to not give them a personality at all, but Stephenie did such a great job with Bella that I feel I would know her reactions to just about anything.

I really wish she would finish Midnight Sun someday. Actually, I wish she would write anything at all. It's been far too long since I've had a new book on my top shelf.

BR #4: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

(This post is part of an ongoing project. See more here.)

I skipped numbers 2 and 3, New Moon and Eclipse, because I didn't feel like dealing with Jacob's bitterness right now. I'm so glad I did, though! Going from Twilight straight to Breaking Dawn was an interesting experience. It was amazing to see how much Stephenie grew as a writer, but without making Twilight look bad.

It's amazing to realize over and over again how detailed the plot lines were in the series, and how everything led up to the last book. Breaking Dawn takes my breath away every single time. I think it might be my favorite, but it's hard to choose...

BR #1: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

(This post is part of an ongoing project. See more here.)

I hadn't read Twilight in awhile because after the movies came out, I couldn't read about Bella and Edward without thinking of Kristin Stewart and Robert Pattinson. It was like trying to eat your favorite food while someone talked about dog poop. Blecgh. That finally wore off, though, and I'm glad it did.

I really thought I was getting over this obsession, but now I can see that the feelings had only faded because I'd forgotten how truly wonderful the books are. When I started reading, I was viewing them objectively and I could see how people would be irritated with Bella and view her as some sort of emo kid. But then I got sucked back into the story and my love for it returned full force.

Now, I've matured somewhat in recent years (just a little bit, mind you) and I can talk rationally about things that are serious, things that really matter. If you want to have an adult discussion about religion or current issues or whatever, sure. I can do that. But when it comes to something unimportant, like my opinion on a book, I give myself full freedom to be as ridiculous as I may want to be.

I say all that to say, I'm unashamedly, unconditionally, irrevocably in love with Stephenie Meyer and the worlds she creates through her writing. My dad says that someday I'll be embarrassed by how I've acted over these books, but I really don't agree.

The End of the Saga

Well, my hair is finally back to normal! I seriously can't thank Karissa enough for seeing me through this whole ordeal. I don't really regret dyeing it blonde because it was a fun experience, but I'm so glad to be natural again.

And I know, I look high as a kite in the before picture. It's just a natural side effect of being as awkward as I am.

Before:

After: