100 cans

~creative~


andy warhol "100 cans" 1962
"isn't life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?"




~clever~

one of the fastest ways to not sound clever is to use derogatory remarks. using words like "retarded", "gay", "homo", or "rape" to describe people or situations that you dislike is neither clever nor charming. to be honest it makes you sound ignorant. if you must insult someone or something be clever. my insult of choice: cog.



~charming~

this may sound cheesy but write down a list of people in your "inner circle". people that have had a huge impact on your life and people you couldn't stand to lose. be aware of these people in your daily life and make small gestures every day to make sure these people know how much they mean to you. one of my favorite quotes is "it turns out it isn't where you are but who you are with that really matters". life is better when it is shared with others.



~clean~

as a general rule food is better for you that is more rich in color. spinach is better for you than romaine. wheat bread is better for you than white bread. if you think of your diet as a piece of art, try and fill the canvas with the richest colors you can find.

elegy

~creative~

robert motherwell "elegy to the spanish republic no. 34"

"most painting in the european tradition was painting the mask. modern art rejected all that. our subject matter was the person behind the mask"

~charming~

sometimes small details make all the difference. right now i am really into jeweled headbands, to me they are the modern girl's tiara without all the priss. check out these that i found.

nordstrom

bloomingdales

~clever~

whatever your political beliefs, you can't deny that all media sources are biased and are arguably growing farther away from the middle and straight news. while it is often good to hear the news from people who share your beliefs, listening too much to one side can lead to unnecessary resentment towards people who don't share your beliefs and the loss of your own independent thought. try changing it up now and then and watching a news station which is not known to spout your traditional political beliefs. if you are conservative watch cnn, if you are liberal watch fox news- you will definitely watch the other news with a critical eye and maybe you'll be closer to the facts and making up your own opinions about things.

~clean~

while sweets can be sweet, they aren't idle for people on diets or just wanting to get healthy. when you feel like grabbing a cookie or fixing a bowl of ice cream for dessert, try yogurt and fruit to satisfy your dessert cravings instead. still sweet but a lot more healthy.

the concert

~creative~

pierre-auguste renoir 1919 "the concert"

"why shouldn't art be pretty? there are enough unpleasant things in the world"

~clever~

everyone has there go-to, favorite book, the one you have probably read at least seven times. well mine is the bell jar by sylvia plath. if you know anything about it, well yes, it is pretty morbid and a little disturbing but i think it is one of the most well-written and interesting books that i have ever read. it is loosely based on the author's own life and her struggle with depression. everyone has a little crazy in them and that's why i think everyone girl can relate to this book. but beyond that she offers a fascinating insights into the 1950s world around her and you really feel as though you are there in the authors mind. as i felt i was going crazy in high school and was beginning to ask myself some very real questions, the book helped me wrestle with those questions and even brought up new ones. it represented a period in my life and therefore a constant part in my present. whether the bell jar is or isn't your cup of tea, it is important to cultivate a list of your favorite books. read often and read widely but always know those couple books that truly speak to your heart and have had a hand in shaping the way you think about yourself and the world around you. 

~charming~

since my family are huge wine drinkers, as evidenced by my past weekend with them, i thought i would share some tips on how to serve wine. now red and white wines are to be treated very differently. red wine should be left standing for about twenty-four hours before serving in order for it to be at room temperature. red wine bottles should also be uncorked in order to let the wine breath about one hour before serving. this lets the oxygen mix with the wine and activates the aroma.

white and rose wine on the other hand should be served slightly chilled, at about 50 degrees fahrenheit. one hour on the shelf of the refrigerator should bring them to this point. white and rose wine have a very delicate fragrance and therefore should not be uncorked until right before serving. 

happy wining.

~clean~

while there are many components to maintaining a healthy diet, calcium must certainly be apart of it. calcium is crucial to maintaing healthy and strong bones which we will definitely all be thankful for in the future. but in addition to that, insufficient calcium can lead to blood clots whereas proper amounts of calcium can help you lower cholesterol and maintain your cell environment. there are many ways to get calcium besides just milk and diary products- you can also take calcium pills, or fish oil and many juices contain calcium. one of my favorite ways to maintain my calcium is through viactiv. these delicious chews contain 100% of the daily value of calcium and come in four great flavors of milk chocolate, raspberry, caramel, and chocolate mint. lets just say calcium is often the favorite part of my morning. 

scent

~creative~

"scent" Jackson Pollock 1955

"[a canvas is] an arena in which to act"

~clever~

whether you support it or not, the wall street reform bill passed today and it is important for every clever girl to know some details about it. this bill represents the most influential changes to the financial regulatory system since the 1930s. the senate voted 60 to 39 to pass the reforms and the president is expected to sign it into law next week. when he does, it will create a new consumer financial protection bureau inside the federal reserve that could make rules concerning bank's practices around credit cards and mortgages. new standards will be set for who much money banks will be required to have. also the wall street banks would be limited in their speculative bets for their account and their ability to own hedge funds. the complex financial products, called derivatives that are often blamed for the collapse of many of the financial companies will face more speculation from the government. many republicans argued against the bill because they said that the democrats took the reforms too far and that they would hurt growth and jobs. however a lot of the bill's significant effects are going to come we see the direction the new bureau goes. 

cited: cnn money "wall street reform: on to obama"

~charming~

in honor of the painting today, i decided to dedicate the charming section to scent. it is important for every charming girl after all to have her signature scent. here are some interesting facts I found about scent to get you inspired:

1. our sense of smell is more connected to emotion than any other sense

2. smells can alter and influence our moods and behaviors

3. a perfume contains between 10 to more than 250 ingredients

if you haven't already found your or are looking for a change, here are some of my favorites for you:

citrus: annick goutal 'eau d'hadrien' eau de toilette spray

floral: marc jacobs 'lola' eau de parfum

oriental: jean paul gaultier classique eau de parfum natural spray

happy sniffing ;)

~clean~

as i have been wearing yoga pants a lot as i am getting more and more into yoga and also having having to be in a bikini more than usual, i thought it time to work on tightening up my ass. so i began my hunt for some ass tightening exercises and here is what i found:

pump-it-up lunge: place your hands on your hips and stand with your feet hip-width apart. step forward about 2 feet with left leg keeping right heel lifted off the ground at all times. lower into a lunge position, keeping your left knee directly above your left foot. do no all your knee to ever pass your toe. hold this position for 2-3 seconds, then slowly straighten your legs partway. (don't fully stand up.) return to lunge position to complete 1 rep. do reps with your left leg, then switch sides and repeat. complete 15 reps, 3 sets. 

jumping squats: begin by putting your arms straight out in front of you and stick your ass out like you are going to sit in a chair. bend knees as low as 90 degrees, making sure your knees never pass your toes, this is a standard squat. as you bend down, tap the sides of your ankle or to make it harder tap the ground, then jump into the air, raising arms above head like you're reaching for the stars. continue to squat in jumping until you have reached desired number of repetitions.

when it burns just think how good your ass is going to look in yoga pants, tight white pants, skinny jeans, a bikini- okay you get the idea, love the burn

composition

~creative~

piet mondrian "composition in red, yellow, and blue" 1937-42

"to approach the spiritual art, one will make as little use as possible of reality because reality is opposed to the spiritual"

~clever~ 

we are amidst a social revolution whether we like it or not. social media is changing the way that people communicate, this includes hiring new employees. according to a social media video, 80% of companies are using linkedin as their primary tool to find employees. therefore i cannot stress enough how important it is to set up a linkedin profile. make sure to include all your skills, job experience, education, and any other interesting information or things that you have done that would be relevant to an employer and can make you stand out. with competition only getting hotter between young people for good jobs, we need to take every opportunity to stick out. use social media as a way to be different. create a twitter. create a blog. read interesting blogs. create a website. there are lots of different things that you can do to embrace the social media revolution because it is no longer only social, it is professional. 

~charming~

while i do believe  in the power of social media, i also love tradition. try composing letters to distant friends. one of my best friends is away being a camp consoler this summer and is not allowed to use her phone or the internet for most of the day. we have instead taken to writing letters to one another. at first to be honest it felt a little weird writing out a letter (i'm a little too use to typing on my computer) but after about a page i could tell that this was something i was really going to enjoy. you are able to express you feelings more easily and it seems you are able to delve deeper than you would be able to in an e-mail, phone call, and certainly a text conversation. now i don't suggest writing letters to everyone in your life but pick a few or even just one person that is at a distance from you and send them a letter, i know they will appreciate it. i even bought abstract expressionist stamps from the post office to be extra charming ;)

~clean~

i know that we all love to eat fat free things but there is one ingredient that we should all be careful to look for in fat free foods and beverages- aspartame. when this sweetener was put before the FDA for approval, it was denied eight times. some of side effects listed by the fda are memory loss, nerve cell damage, migraines, reproductive disorders, mental confusion, brain lesions, blindness, joint pain, Alzheimer's, bloating, nervous system disorders, hair loss, food cravings, and weight gain. it is contained in many diet sods, sugar free foods, and nurtasweet or equal. i don't mean to scare you but no fat free or diet food/beverage is ever worth all those things. it is always better to eat fattier, natural food than it is to eat low-fat chemicals. form a diet that is sustainable and will sustain you.

flirt

~creative~

“flirt” by helen frankenthaler 1995

“a really good picture looks as if it’s happened at once... as if it were born in a minute.”

~clever~

setting goals is one of the most important things that you can do for yourself. in a study conducted at harvard business school, the question was posed- how many people have clear, written goals for themselves. only three percent of the class did. ten years later those three percent were making ten times as much as the rest of the ninety-seven percent combined.

when setting goals it is important to be specific. set goals for the near future and far distance. here are some websites that can help you organize your goals: my 50 and day zero project.

by walking somewhere you will also be better off than standing still so pick a path and get moving!

~charming~

whether we like it or not, texting is an integral part of our social interactions. you may have mastered the charming phone call but have you mastered the charming text. i put together some basic rules on how to be a charming flirtexter.

1. try to avoid abbreviations, it seems juvenile

2. never text back right away

3. always read over your text before you press send

4. never text a boy (friends excluded) after ten pm

5. never be the one asking all the questions

6. funny goes a lot further than sexy

7. short and sweet (one text page minimum)

~clean~

as modern dame, we are busy and often the first activity to go is sleep. i get really bad dark circles under my eyes when i don't get the right amount of sleep so i have a quick fix beauty solution. first apply some eye cream so you don't dry out this sensitive part of your skin. then apply some concealer that is ideally a little lighter than your skin. lastly, apply some powder to set it all. and extra tip- make sure to put pink blush on to distract from the dark circles. happy waking!