Friday, October 14, 2011

Paradise by coldplay

ok so i know a couple months ago i kinda went off about coldplay's new song "paradise"
i was extremely excited for a new song and was caught totally caught off guard by the hip hop-y beat
i thot coldplay had left their sweet melancholy roots and tried to enter the popscene
i was mortified (as a good fan should be)
but i realized i should give the song a second chance. (not because Taylor Swift just tweeted it was like a mythical journey or anything.........) but it made me realize id only listened to about half the itunes demo of the song.....i never even heard the real deal! so this morning i listened....and it had me from the beginning. it was so beautiful. beyond their usual genius.....it was different...but i think its always hard for fans when artists grow and change. that of course was my reaction last time. but i love it so much now. it does have a lot more sound effects than usual but theyre perfect and not at all mainstream. and though it did have me dancing (not normal for a coldplay song) it was simultaneously melancholy....sounds like an oxymoron i know...but it was enchanting and most definitely a mythical journey. and ive found that contradictions are often the best things in life...so
here's to contradictions!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

My happiest moments

Last night i saw the movie "the namesake." in passing it was mentioned to think of your happiest moment and close your eyes and stay there. i immediately thought what is my happiest moment or some of my happiest moments. i couldnt think of anything at first so i put it aside to mull over later. so i did. these are the top ten happiest moments of my life: (note 60% of these occured in san francisco...of course....20% occurred in my imagination)
1. Driving down highway one in a convertible with my dad. we were on our way to point reyes and it the most scenic drive ive ever driven. the air smelled amazing. the bay was on our left and the green cliffs to our right. well actually the road was on the green cliffs...
2. The next morning we woke up in point reyes and i saw it for the first time. we had driven in in the dark the night before. i looked up out the window behind my bed and it was fogged over. hills in the distance. trees. the owner of the cabins was riding on a horse. it was beautiful.
3. Across the bay from sanfran theres a quaint little town called sausalito. we stayed there in a hotel for a couple nights. the hotel was overlooking the bay with saliboats and san fran in the distance. and the golden gate bridge. so when we first got checked in the hotel i went out on our patio and i smelled in that fresh sweet air of california that was tainted with the best smelling flowers i never could have imagined. sausalito was picturesque and just across the street was the view of the bay.
4. When Molly killed Bellatrix in the seventh harry potter book :)
(note: getting that book the night it came out-and reading it-was also an extremely blissful yet bittersweet time. yet here im listing particulair moments where i stopped to abosrb the moment and focused on etching it in my mind forever)
5. My sister's wedding in san francisco was a really happy trip and time. the standout eyes closed moment however took place the night before when we the whole wedding party was crowded in the hostel living room floor while all the musically talented took turns playing guitar and singing. exact moment: when my brother was playing
6. her actual wedding day. exact moment: right after when we climbing back up the rocky cliff and through the bridge. up from the lighthouse, the foggy view of san fran across the bay. the sun setting.
7. The first time i got something at anthropologie. it was a blue coat. my dad and sister were there. it was christmas eve. he bought it for me while i was looking at other things. i got to where it out of the store :) exact moment: i wore it out and saw it was snowing. on christmas eve. in texas. in my coveted blue coat :) (note: other happy moments at anthro include every time i walk in the store and i take a deep breath of the smell of the store and my dad and i saw say simultaneously "im home")
8. when i was 6 and my dad bought me a beagle. he was a puppy. cutest dog ever. exact moment: my dad set him up in my room under a box while i was somewhere else and i walked in and he climbed out from under the box. i started crying. the camera was rolling (of course...oh my dad lol)
9. when we were driving in a rented convertible to this lodge across the bay from san fran at night. there was this moment when there was this perfect foggy (isnt it always? :)) view of the city. it was all lit up in the dark night and it was really mystical looking. enchanted kind of. beautiful. strangely purplish
10. When ron and hermione kiss in the seventh harry potter book. wow. really great. (another i would add if 11 was as rounded as 1o: harry and ginny's kiss in book 6)

so these were just a few. 10 out of hundreds. these were just the ones that first came to mind when i started a mulling. however once i started many poured out of the depths of my memory long since forgotten. i think this is a really thing to do. try it. many people think of things theyre grateful for. why not happy moments?

Saturday, August 20, 2011

the low anthem

so theyre kinda what im listening to right now...so i thought i should blog about them. theyre really awesome. my favorite song is probably "Charlie Darwin" its really beautiful...

Austin

Dear travel diary,
today i went to Austin. so i heard they needed "atmosphere people" for this sci fi film. so i begged my dad to take me claiming itd start my acting career etc etc. So since hes pretty amazing he agreed and we made a day out of it (more on that later). so i went to the address of the place the said pretty early. it was a comic book shop. called Dragon's Lair....so it was outgeared with the typical things youd expect to see after seeing some movie portraying nerds in a comic book shop. scarily like that. like exactly like that. there were tables set aside for "miniature game play" (?) and there were some pretty serious nerds. in the back there was some huge game going on involving cards and knights and such (dont ask me). my dad and i could not stop cracking up silently about how serious they were. i had to keep facing the opposite direction so they wouldnt see....it was pretty bad. so it was filled with all kind of "priceless" comic books and stuff i didnt understand. but anyway the workers had no idea what i was talking about when i said i had come for the film....Goliad uprising i said...still no clue....worker checking "event calendar"...no nothing going on today.....hmmmm..... they have stuff going on some days?.....so i start to freak out a little. cuz first of all i had expected there to be cameras and film crew and other crew type people surrounding the place....i was only 3o minutes early!...i checked the email again....right address...this was dragon's lair comic book shop....so i just wait. feeling extremely lame because im in a nerd shop. and i dont belong here. and they said theres no movie going on. but i stayed. so who knows what theyre thinking. and i have no idea what to do. so i flip through some comic book entitled "prince-less." eventually another girl comes in with tan cothes and a hat and gloves (the costume requirements). phew. but why is no one else here?!?! so by now after the short wave of relief i feel even more idioc because this must be the smallest thing ever. none of the crew is even here yet which suggests it would take no time at all to set up. which means this is not a big budget hollywood movie. this is an indie. which is cool! dont get me wrong! but that means i drove 3 hours to be an EXTRA in an INDIE film. so eventually they arrive (2 min past the time they told me to be there just saying) and im proven correct. this is the smallest movie making ever. by now im thinking this some student project. but no its an indie film. ok. this is alright. no one has to know i made a huge deal out of this and drove 3 hours to get here. "yeah im from austin...just saw this....decided to drop by" i practiced in my head. oh please God please dont let my father tell anyone we came all the way from fort worth. omigod hes so going to...he has no clue...omigod he just did....he told the girl who had come second after me...omigod now she probably thinks im some prissy bratty girl who came here hoping to get fame or something....omigod please dont tell anyone else dad! thank goodness he didnt...thankfully he didnt say much to anyone after that. phew. so by now all the extras are here (about 7) and theyre ALL way older than me... like college! or older! so i now feel extremely lame and out of place (why did i come here?! i thought for like the 4th time im so stupid!) so then we go outside to start filming...which is why the dragons lair were not privy to this....it was just being filmed outside their shop...and the director started explaining the plot which was pretty interesting and so i started getting excited! even though it was 117 degrees and i felt like water was gushing out of my feet which were in unwisely chosen leather (super cute) shoes, it was fun and i felt like i belonged because there was a camera near my face....a director giving directions....and even though i had no lines i had a role to play and a character to be! success!

august 15

Thursday, August 11, 2011

bookworm wednesday

the book thief. by markus zusak. its incredible. read it.
its the story of a girl living in nazi germany with her foster parents. her brother died and her mom left her with foster parents when she was 8 because she couldnt take care of her. she finds she loves words after she steals books from places that have a lot of meaning to her.
its beautifully written and shows a completely different take on fiction about nazi germany. ots narrated by Death, which i found really interesting.
the end is not happy, but thats part of what makes it beautiful.

travel tuesday!

ok so its thursday whatevr....i really need to change that...BUT i dont have to because i have decided to make this purely a travel blog! yay! im sure ill veer from travel from time to time but thats ok. so tuesday i traveled to dallas and had a fun day. my dad and i went to north park mall where i tried on stuff at anthropologie and free people which was awesome! i found some amazing stuff but it was expensive so i didnt actually buy but i saw some awesome glasses as well that i think i will b getting! (stay tuned) so anyway we also went to mockingbird station and ate at urban taco! i recommend it....awesome chips...great tacos. also get the avocado dip...its good. we then saw the indie film "another earth." see it–u wont b let down. it was great.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

book worm wednesdays

a new segment i am starting. :)
i had to think a while to come up with anything better than wacky wednesdays haha

so the help. its amazing. read it. its by kathryn stockett. its so beautiful.
also its coming out as a movie soon....starring emma stone. get excited

these are so fun

anthro has outdone themselves again....



i hate you anthropologie

ok so i actually love you. same difference. but why do yo have to make such wonderful things that stir such wanting inside me. i was prefectly fine before! or at least i thot i was....now i will NOT be fine unless i have these shoes....and about a million other things from your catalogue. (sigh) anyway, just had to share the fabulous shoes with u! at 98$ theyre actually cheaper than most of the shoes they have right now....which does not mean thats cheap by any means! but itd be soooooo worth it

Travel Tuesdays-Portland!

ya i know its wednesday. whatever.
so, i'll start from the beginning. that always seems to be a good place to start. (**Keep reading, do not be alarmed. that was not a lead in to a philosophical breakdown of the word 'beginning' **).
so we, being my dad and i, headed off to the airport at 5 in the morning. fun. (sarcastic flag not raised. theres something adventurous and exciting about heading out early in the morning to a far off land......or portland. same difference really) so we went on a plane. then on another plane cuz we were in chicago, not portland. then we were in portland. but not like downtown portland. so we took a bus (excitement flag raised). so then we were in downtown. but we had suitcases. so we headed to our luxury choice of staying right? no. somewhere far better. Ace Hotel!!!! coolest place ever. if you ever go to portland, stay there (note: that was not a suggestion). so the lobby is cooler than the cooliest hangout place youve ever seen. there is always a motley group of interesting looking floor models (sarcastic flag raised. i just have such a hard time believing a hotel could have such a motley group of cool people 24/7 that i choose to believe they are hired floor models) strategically placed by windows, laughing, reading, looking cool and serious, or sipping their $5 stumptown coffee latte handed to them with a (most likely fictional) story of the small family farm it came from and an order to appreciate the background by nodding seriously (note: this is an unspoken order. when you go there i highly suggest you do it or be shamed upon. and i know no one wants to be shunned by the coolest people on the block. *middle school flashback.* so yeah.....what was i talking about?)
right. ace hotel. so we got checked in. walked up the rickety wooden stairs to floor 2 (sorry i just had to try saying it like that....its what the english say...they are so cool. but for yall americans: the second floor) and entered the coolest hallway ever. ( i know you all have been dying wondering: pictures will be featured in the next post). we then open our awesome wooden, forest green colored fabric donned door to our awesome room. i know i said this place was not luxury. so your probably wondering why its so "cool" and "awesome." pictures will be coming soon but i will try not to be lazy and use 1000 words (get what i did there? anyone? cuz im probably not gonna use 1000 words) to describe it.
its rustic. its grundgy. its urban. the rooms are like apartment lofts. its homey. warm. it has a cool coffee shop feel (dont think starbucks....not cool. another tip for when you go to the Ace Hotel: you dont like starbucks, got it? bash the place–try to sound like the real deal by saying things like "low standards" "big business" "corporate" "unfair trade" "small coffee growers are suffering" or anything to that effect–within earshot of anyone near (especially anyone donning a scarf, hat, and a coffee cup as an accessory) and youll be in the cool crowd for sure). so basically its a rustic urban grundgy cool loft apartment coffee shop hotel.
so back to the trip.....we went in our room, put away our luggage. i waited while my dad took his routine just-got-off-a-plane-im somewhere cool-need-to-freshen-up-shower. but this is getting really long. so ill finish it l8r. to be continued......

Sunday, July 31, 2011

sorry

sorry i haven't posted in forever!! in that forever i happened to go to oregon! woo! portland was almost as good as san francisco ;) we also went rafting, which was a blast so i'll be posting much about this trip on travel tuesdays :)
i also have been going to acting classes which have been incredible. i intend to fly with this dream as far as the wind will take me, however, if it fails i have other passions to fall back on.... travel journalist/photographer! yay! so i will be posting more often now, the reasons behind me not posting are boring, technological and it is doubtful you care... all that matters is that its working now and you can expect to read more from me soon! be ready ;)

Thursday, June 9, 2011

recipe thursdays!


(sorry its not an alliteration)
soooo the other day i made like a goat cheese soft taco with a watermelon slushy that was awesome. so here it is, sorry i dont measure things when i cook:
soft taco: sautee some onions and garlic in olive oil and honey then add some rosemary and balsamic vinegar. when all carmelized, add goat cheese to melt and put in a warmed tortilla and add strawberries.
watermelon slushy: blend raspberry juice (its awesome), watermelon, ice, mint, lime juice, and strawberries
makes a good summer lunch


p.s. sorry about the horrible pic....it was just on my phone...horrible lighting and composure etc

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

travel tuesdays!





where i talk about past travel experiences or simple daily "traveling" adventures from which i actually depart my room.

last saturday my dad and i drove down to austin for my audition...we woke up at 5 and i scrambled in a hurry to pack everything i might need (we were coming back that day at 4.........but still) and ran out of the house with no breakfast and departed on a 3 hour car ride to austin...it was really fun. i took my usual place in the back seat and spread out. got out my ipod, did my make-up, changed shirts on a last-minute whim ( i REALLY overpacked), ate a banana and started reading my current romance novel and settled in. it didnt take to long before we were there. austin is a REALLy cool city by the way...it was awesome but it would be a lot cooler if werent so hot (no pun intended) but seriously it was unbearably scorching. i quickly ran inside the hotel where the audition was being held and searched around till i found the audition room (apparently im not good at loooking at signs that point you exactly where to go, because i didnt even see them till afterwards). so i nervously sat down with my script and expected to be waiting there all day, while my dad was out scavenging like he does and of course found an awesome breakfast burrito. but i was actually in under two hours! i got there at 8 and texted my dad i had gone at 9:30, even though i was 1181 in line! so that was cool cuz then we got to explore for the rest of the day. we went to the original whole foods then checked out some street food carts and found an awesome thrift store called Bohemian that was extremely overpriced for a thrift store but i think it was because they only sold realllly cool vintage finds that youd be lucky to find even one of at a regular thrift store. so i guess you could call it a "select" thrift store...and let me tell you it was cool. so here's some pics

Monday, June 6, 2011

Music Monday!


so starting now every monday ill have a music column! where i will highlight an artist/band/duet i really like...
this week is Clarensau!! they are an amazing boy-girl duet and i absolutely love their sound....i discovered them while listening to pandora and fell in love with endless melody, summer's love song, and love

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Anthropologie: my favorite store....

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/category.jsp?popId=HOME&navAction=top&navCount=270&isSortBy=true&pushId=HOME-SUMMER-HOME&id=HOME-SUMMER-HOME

so follow this link....and you will find THE coolest outdoor chair ever made....since the hammock

Anthropologie is incredible if you havent heard of it....they have the coolest clothes ever (besides free people and urban outfitters which happened to be owned by anthropologie...) and the coolest home design stuff and when you walk in the store itself...you will fall in love.....and want your house designed by whoever master designer designs this store!!haha i never want to leave its that amazing

coldplay


as a long-time avid coldplay fan who'd heard a couple years ago from a (apparently) misinformed friend that coldplay had split i was ECSTATIC to hear they had a new single! i listened to it however and found my hopes had been too high....but it wasnt awful. just not their usual sheer genius. so im waitin for the new album to come out and well see...please dont let me down coldplay!

shoe love!


ok, well none of the pictures i tried to upload would......except for these two! so yeah these are pretty cool...wish i could show yall some more :/
will try again later


p.s. i would probably only wear the latter when venturing into a forest though the heels in the forest would definitely be some good photo shoot material....

Friday, June 3, 2011

late night reading snacks

i love blue cheese with a passion and also enjoy trying it with new things and putting in new dishes. for midnight its best with some dark chocolate and rooibus tea :)

my summer retreat

a bed full of books.....and some cardboard speakers :)

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

my philosophy for summer

il bel far niente is the italian phrase for the beauty of doing nothing.
need i say more?

cute craft




So one of my goals this summer was to do more crafts....hopefully ill get around to making this awesome paper mache teacup!! directions on how to make here: http://annwood.net/blog/2011/02/24/paper-mache-teacup-pattern/

rose mania


soo....as i my title so accurately says....last week i went kind of rose maniac. so i recieved a bouquet of roses ( i know right?! but no....it was from my parents) and realized how much i adored these red flowers. ive never been too much of a flower person so i found it odd that i grew such a strong girlish affinity for the romantic cliche. nevertheless....i fell.....and i fell hard. I hung them all around my room...scattered the petals....put whole roses in my hair.....put rose petals in my pockets.....ya this is soo me. yeah everyone thought i was some kind of freak but i loved it and didnt really care what the populous thought (i.e. my class of 12 close friends....) lol! so no because of the extremely small size of my school i was not direly made fun of......i have an appreciation for these people. they have kindly and unjudgingly (ok minor judgements have been made. theyre not perfrect, people) schooled with me despite my many quirks: the crazy hair do's (lets face it: when is my hair NOT crazy) the red lipstick (a still ongoing phase), my harry potter obsession, my strong beliefs about fashion, my awful singing voice (though i love to sing! lol), and my hatred of sports (they dont really understand this at any level), my affinity for trees, my strong food beliefs (noticing a pattern of strong beliefs?) and the list goes on and on. so i may never be normal and im ok with that.....and the next time i get a bouquet of roses (please dont be from my parents!) i will probably become maniacally consumed with the need to put them everywhere, so three cheers to the crazy rose girl and may i never stop living with conviction and passion!

me

so....my url may be misleading. i am not from san francisco (that hurts to say). i wish i were. ive been there so many times it feels like a second home to me.....a better home. i love it there so much living in texas seems alien. ok, maybe not so much...but i wish i lived there. living here doesnt feel right, but i make the most of it. braving staggering heat, biting my lip as my sister tells her adventures of living in sf (oh yeah did i mention that?)....but sister rivalries and swealtering heat aside.....texas can be ok....well its getting better anyway...local food is hitting off...better restaurants are popping up.....the summer well....i prefer to stay in my bed cave reading all summer anyway. but anyway.. what the heck is this blog about? i have no idea really....i thought about naming it a forest of thoughts, but decided not to share my deepest thoughts with the internet... so now im taking a diffferent direction.... a swirvy road really. one full of fashion and food and maybe some of my thoughts. i may veer off the road and walk barefoot into a magical forest now and then, so bare with me....and come along it will be a rough path i am sure, but what is life without a little off road adventures?? into a deep twisting forest? who knows what you will find or learn from what i find and learn.........
this blog is a map, or perhaps more correctly a mixmatched guidebook, of me if i were forest