style || four eyes are better than two (sometimes)

1 // 2

1 // 2

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Hey guys! 

I don't know how many of you know this, but I wear contacts. I used to have glasses but I never liked them much and I hated how I looked in them so I never wear them (6th grade Claire had bad taste.. shocker?). Recently, though I have really been wanting glasses because wearing contacts from 7AM to 11 or 12PM really dries out my eyes. I had heard about Warby Parker through tons of people and I decided to check out their website. 

1.) I really liked a lot of their frames 

2.) I love that they have a home try on (you can get your 5 favorite pairs sent to your house for 5 days for free to try them on)

3.) And the best part? They're only $95! 

Yeah, you read that right, all five of these glasses are only $95 (each) and that's including lenses. I don't know how many of you wear glasses, but $95 for a pair of frames and lenses is insanely cheap! (My mom is very happy about the price tag since, um, I normally pick out glasses a couple hundred dollars pricier than these, that she wouldn't even think about buying for me)

 I hope that the quality will be good too, since everything has been good thus far! 

So, quick question, which one of these frames do you think I should get? Comment, tweet me, or comment on my instagram, I don't care! I already have an idea of which ones I want to get, but I want feedback! 

yay glasses! (never thought I'd be saying that!)

right now | april 2013

reading // their eyes were watching god, for school

listening to // imagine dragons + bastille + florence+the machine + walk the moon

wishing // if only i had more time to do things i love 

thinking // how great would it be if it was summer now?

doing // homework, as always, oh and ACT prep too

dreading // ACT next saturday 

trying // to workout more 

looking forward to // the great gatsby movie, summer, imagine dragons concert

news // i'm moving 

updates | here's to new starts

I thought it was time for a little freshening up in my little corner of the internet. I'm hopeless with html and css, so not too much has changed, but hey I like the new look! I deleted 167 of my posts, only saving my favorites. I changed my header and made other little changes in the layout (it took forever). So heres to new and fresh starts without completely leaving the old behind! 

+ I think that I'm soon going to start filming videos to incorporate here!

books | favorites+movie adaptations

So I realized that I've never talked on here about all the books I read! I just recently got in to young adult novels a little over a year ago (is that even recent? who knows) when I was introduced (via this post) to The Fault in Our Stars and John Green. Little did I know that in the next year I would read a total of over 20 books or that TFiOS would be the start of my John Green obsession. I figured that since I love reading I might as well share my favorite books with you all! And it just so happens that all my faves are begin turned into movies (+ a tv show) within the next few years, so I'll talk about that too!

1.) The Fault in Our Stars, John Green -- I love love love this book, I read it shortly after it came out and since then I may have developed an obsession with him, but you know, it's casual. This is my favorite of his books, and it is just so beautifully written and I love both of the main characters. The one thing I don't like about this book is that it has become waaaaay over publicized and it is literally everywhere. I'm not too keen on a movie for this book either just because I feel like the writing style is just so good and that's part of what makes TFiOS such a good book. Also Shailene Woodley has been cast as Hazel (one of the main characters/the narrator) and I really really really don't like that, I don't know she's just not how I pictured Hazel at all! I'm interested in seeing how the movie will turn out, but I definitely think that the book will be better (as they always are)! 

2.) The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald -- Okay so Gatsby was actually a book that I read for school, but I just loved it so much! I liked this book in a way that I have never liked any other book from school, and I actually just read the whole book in one sitting (and then had no english homework for like two weeks, ha!) I got so into it. I am super super excited for this movie, which comes out on May 10 in the United States, I literally cannot wait! The costuming + set + videography just look absolutely amazing! I love how Gatsby is a classic read but still so relevant and not at all hard to read! 

3.) The Delirium Trilogy, Lauren Oliver -- These books were recommended to me by a friend, and I am so incredibly glad that she recommended them for me to read, they are amazing! These books are set in somewhat of an alternate present where love is treated like a disease, which I thought was a super interesting premise for a book! I really fell in love with the love interest of the main character, and I literally found it impossible to put these books down (but then again, I read most books within a days time..). The ending of the last book was a complete cliffhanger that made me seriously wish that there would be more books coming out, but sadly there are only three. Delirium is being turned into a tv show (on fox I think?) and I believe that they just started filming! I don't know how I feel about the casting/plot because they changed a lot of things but we'll see! 

4.) The Insurgent Trilogy, Veronica Roth -- These books were also recommended to me by a friend and they were definitely another good recommendation! These books are set in a sort of post apocalyptic setting where everyone is divided up into five "factions" based on their personalities, I'm not going to say much more because I don't want to spoil anything but I will say that there is a relationship that literally melts my heart because I am (again) in love with the love interest of the main character. I am super excited for the third book which comes out in October this year and the movie which comes out spring 2014! Shailene Woodley plays the main character (not too pleased about that) but I think that the movie has a lot of potential to be good! 

5.) The Host, Stephanie Meyer -- Okay, I do not like vampires and I most certainly never was in to the whole Twilight saga, but I think it dumb to not read a book because of the author and I'm really glad I read this. This book is sci-fi and romance and it has the perfect mix of both. There's a love square (?) and it's just very complicated to explain, so you all should read the book! It's quite long (600+ pages) but I found that after the first 100 pages it went really quick and I finished it within two days! The movie comes out March 29 (Friday)! I am so excited to see it, I love the cast (Saiorse Ronan + Jake Abel + Max Irons + Diane Kruger, um yes!) and from all the trailers it looks like it will be amazing! 

So those are some of my favorite books currently and I wish I could tell you about every book on my bookshelf, but that would take me ages! I strongly suggest that you read one/some/all of these books! And if you've already read any of these books tell me in the comments what you thought! 

life | anxiety + ocd

This post is a hard one to write. I've been mentally "writing" it for ages, but I just could never find the words. I've deleted many drafts and rewritten many sentences. I've let it sit in my drafts for ages.  I wasn't sure for a while if I even wanted to talk about all of this stuff that so many of the people in my life don't even know about. Why I chose to write about things I haven't even told to my friends, to strangers on the internet, I don't know. But I guess this blog is a diary of sorts, and I want to be real. I feel like so many people hide behind the screen making it seem like their life is all fun and happy when in reality it's not. I don't want to be one of those people. That's why today I want to talk about my mental disorders and life with them. I'm not doing this for pity, I'm not doing this for attention, I'm not insane. I'm not doing this because of any of those things, but I'm doing this because I hope that my story can help others because other's stories have helped me. Even if I make just one person feel like they're not alone, that will be a success.

At around age six or seven I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety (GAD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). For those of you who don't know what either of those mean I found some definitions online:

"Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by chronic feelings of excessive worry and anxiety without a specific cause. Individuals with generalized anxiety disorder often feel on edge, tense, and jittery. Someone with generalized anxiety disorder may worry about minor things, daily events, or the future. These feelings are accompanied by physical complaints such as elevated blood pressure, increased heart rate, muscle tension, sweating, and shaking."

"Obsessive compulsive disorder is characterized by persistent, intrusive, and senseless thoughts (obsessions) or compulsions to perform repetitive behaviors that interfere with normal functioning."

I can't remember a time without anxiety. As sad as that sounds it's true. GAD is just anxiety about everything. OCD is more specific, my OCD revolves around a specific phobia of throwing up (emetphopia). To me throwing up is the worst thing that could ever happen to me and in my mind it seems completely justifiable to do anything that will prevent me from throwing up. 

I'm not going to sugar coat it, GAD and OCD suck. I have constant anxiety throughout the day and I get horrible stomachaches and headaches because of it. There are days that I don't want to get out of bed because I am so exhausted from all the worry. There are times where I will stay home instead of hanging out with friends because I have a bad stomach ache. It's all in my head, but it's all so real. That's the thing about mental disorders, it's in your head so most of the time others just can't understand.

No, I can't "snap out of it". I can't "become less OCD". I can't just "calm down". It's not that easy. I know I will be "made fun of for the rest of my life if I stay this way".  I sometimes wish that people could get inside my mind and realize that I did not choose to be this way, that I'm not having a panic attack to get attention. I don't get any joy from this, actually when I'm having a panic attack I'd rather just be left alone and not told to "stop freaking out", newsflash: you're not helping. Mental disorders are real, they're not made up, my stomachaches and headaches and fear aren't any less real than if they weren't anxiety induced.

I guess I've learned over the years how to deal with all this. More or less. I mean I'm better than when I was 7. I'll always be learning how to handle all the anxiety as it manifests itself in different ways as I get older. There will always be bad days. There might even be bad weeks or months. But I will never let my anxiety stop me from doing what I love. I'd rather be constantly scared and anxious while doing things and living life than be constantly scared and anxious while doing nothing. That's the hardest and most important decision that I've had to make. But I've learned that  the fear is worth it, and I don't regret a single thing.

Okay I'm posting this before I second guess myself and delete all of this.

europe part 3 | paris

Okay, okay, maybe I have an obsession with Paris. Juuuuust a little one. I love Paris so so much. This was my second time in Paris (in just a year)! I personally will never get tired of staring at La Tour Eiffel or eating macarons from Ladurée on Champs Élysées. I just love French Culture, food and language.

things I did in Paris: Musee D'Orsay, le Louvre, Champs-Élysées, Versailles (i like the gardens waaaay more than the chateau), lots and lots of shopping and lots and lots of eating bread (seriously guys, french bread is where it's at)

p.s. happy valentines day!

p.p.s. I made a tumblr, so if you want to you know check it out, here it is

europe part 2 | venezia

I think that Venice was my least favorite of the three cities that we went to. The main reason for this  is probably because my family and I were not pleased with our hotel, it was truly an awful experience. But I guess it was a blessing in disguise because we spent as much time as possible out of the hotel room, in the city! So, maybe I'm weird but Venice felt kind of post apocalyptic to me... just how the buildings are so old and there's water everywhere, it felt like the water hadn't always been there (which it has). It was cool though, very different. 

things I did in Venice: rode a gondola (!!!!), went to the guggenheim, st. marks square, went to the places that are famous for glass making** and lace (I forgot the names..), went to a real venetian mask store, and basically just walked around a ton 

**only go if you are wanting to spend thousands of dollars on glass (I didn't, it was painfully boring, my parents were very interested) side note on a side note: they are veeeeeery nice to you if you show interest in buying the glass haha they gave me and my sister little free glass things