Outfit: Princess

{shirt: thrifted, shoes: Target}

My computer is working again! We'll see how long this lasts...hopefully a good while, because it's been way too long. Thanks for all the love that I've received from you guys while I've been MIA!  Ready for my list of exciting things that have happened since I was here last? Okay? Here we go..

1. I turned 18! I'm an adult now! Crazy I know.
2. I am now the owner of a Canon Rebel T3. That was my birthday present to myself. So be ready to see point-and-shoot pictures start to phase out. (Finally!)
3. I am going to the state competition with my choir this Friday! Yay!
4. I am a Princess for my Senior Prom! I was honestly completely surprised by this one. I had no idea that many people liked weirdo me. Kind of  a nice feeling I've got to say.

Good thing I was wearing princess-worthy shoes they day they crowned me....

Outfit: My Computer Hates Me

 {sweater: H&M, dress: Target}

Why hello there! You probably thought I disappeared didn't you? Well I fooled you! Reality is that I have a stupid computer that is refusing to work and I have been incredibly busy. Spring break I went and visited some family and saw awesome wolves at a place called Wolf Haven. I'm telling you it was a dream come true. I'm actually quite grumpy because I wanted to share some pretty pictures of some of the wolves. But no. Computer wont let me. I have been enjoying this month so far though, despite it's frustrations... *cough* I want to punch my computer right now *cough*.

Oh, and my favorite polka dot tights in this outfit, they ripped. Why must tights always die so quickly? I do love that dress as a skirt though. Positives, look at the positives. Hopefully I get my computer fixed soon and come back a happier, less frustrated Amanda.

I have to go before my computer dies! I hope everyone survives their Mondays and have a good week!

May the Odds...

...be ever in your favor!

 all pictures via Instagram  amandamleahy

    I think it is safe to say that I am just a tiny bit, okay very obsessed with The Hunger Games. I did read all of the books before I saw the movie this past Saturday (I was bummed I couldn't go to the midnight showing) and I think they did quite a good job with the movie. You have to consider the switch in the narrative styles, and be willing to look at the books and movies as different things- because they are. Read the books though, they're excellent. I love them.

I thought the actors were great. Jennifer Lawrence is perhaps one of the most entertaining people in Hollywood and I loved her portrayal of Katniss. Spot on in my opinion. I also may be a little obsessed with Josh Hutcherson. It's just that I think we would be perfect together...I'd make him look so tall! Haha.

I have to discuss the last picture, because I was pretty excited about it. Yesterday, as I was thrifting in one of my favorite thrift stores- I came across this dress. I immediately had to get it because it is so Katniss inspired and it was like three bucks. Now I can feel like a badass whenever I wear it. I do know how to shoot an arrow- I did archery for about three years.

{image from People}

Outfit: Safety Hazard

{jacket: aeropostle, boot socks: target, boots: fred meyer}

    I had two snow days guys! You have no idea how happy I was when the two-hour delay turned into another no school day on Thursday. We had so much snow for this area, a little under seven inches I believe, which is really crazy for us. The lovely school district did decide to send us to school today though, the day before Spring Break. If that isn't already asking for trouble, add in giant sheets of snow falling from the awnings, an outdoor campus and kids who rarely see snow and you have a recipe for disaster. I witnessed possible people-crushing, hundred-pound slabs of roof-snow avalanche multiple times, but I came out unscathed! The building, on the other hand was not so lucky; about ten feet of one of the gutters feel off, into a pathway for students none the less.

Sometimes I think that the district doesn't really think of us poor outdoor campus kids. We've had to go to school in quite a few dangerous weather conditions. Safety first? No? Whatever... it's Spring break now! 

Spring Snow

    Just to clarify: this pictures were taken today March 21, 2012. The second day of Spring. Oregon is obviously very confused, because it's been snowing non-stop since before I woke up at five this morning. I got a snow day finally! It's been a cozy day off, making snow-dogs. Right after taking that picture Misty proceeded to eat my snow-masterpiece. She just really likes ice...

While I do love the snow, I think I'm ready for some sun now. Actually I take that back, if this can keep up for the next two days so I can have an extended Spring Break that would be fantastic. Keep going snow!

Outfit: High Heights

     Guess what? It hasn't been nice weather yet. As a matter of fact it hailed yesterday and snowed today, but I managed to get dressed despite it all. I've decided that I like wearing heels, although they make me about average height and I'm not so sure how I feel about that. The urge to go shoe-shopping is very strong right now...actually any shopping would do. I've been wanting a dslr camera for a while now, but $500 is a lot for me and I'm hesitant to shell out all that dough. Maybe it will be a good birthday present to myself, only a little more than a month away anyway!

Crazy how times passes. Some months seem to go by incredibly slow, but I swear March is on like x3 speed. This month is really flying by. Maybe that's why the weather is still wintry..it's just lagging behind a little! Well, my brain is definitely slow this morning...I'm off to do some learning, and probably a lot of nothing. That's how Mondays should be, right?

Life in an Instagram

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1. Lazy day sweatshirt for my future school. I can't wait to graduate high school. 2. My beautiful, gorgeous, fantastic Misty who never fails to put a smile on my face. 3. Yet another nasty-weather day which required a big sweatshirt and braids. 4. My first attempt at actual beading-jewelry-making. I'd say it was a success! 5. Top knot bun from The Shine Project. 6. My early birthday graduation present ring from my family. I'm still in love with it.

It's quite apparent why I haven't posted an outfit lately, I haven't really put much thought into what I'm wearing because the weather has decided to hate us again. Hail, snow, wind, a little sun, and then rain. Yesterday power-lines fell on my friends house and she had to seek shelter at my place. So, as soon as the weather decides to at least be a little nicer- expect to see Amanda wearing nice clothes again!

Outfit: Seal Lullaby

    Once again, choir has taken over my life a little, but once again I am not complaining. Yesterday we took first at our district competition. We sang one song in particular, Seal Lullaby, by the incredibly talented Eric Whitacre that now has a very special story attached to it. Our very talented accompanist has been expecting her first grandchild and wanted to give a recording of us singing Seal Lullaby to her new grandchild.

Yesterday, after singing what one of our adjudicators said to be the "most musical" performances of the song- our accompanist rushed off as soon as she could. Her grandchild had been born, on her birthday as well. We're going to give her that recording that now marks such a special and beautiful day.

Please remind me never to wear sweaters with giant holes when it's 28 degrees in the morning ever again. Anyways, have a great weekend everyone- in keeping with the choir takeover, I'm spending the entire day tomorrow with my a Capella choir...wish me luck! Only kidding- I love them.

What I Should Be Doing

 What I should be doing with my day-off:  homework, exercising (see picture above), cleaning, and figuring out how to get money without a job. I'm obviously not doing a single one of those things. Instead, I'm watching YouTube videos, eating, trying to decide on how much of my hair to cut off and posting random pictures/ meaningless mumbo-jumbo on my blog. Good trade-off right?

By the way- that ring was my early birthday/ graduation present from my family and I absolutely love it. The three main diamonds are my mom, dad and sister, while the band is all my family past present and future. Also, eat some baked asparagus because it's delicious.

Outfit: Leap Day Ewok!

    Happy Leap Day! I wasn't going to post anything today, I was shockingly going to try to focus on school. Then I remembered that it is February 29th today! That only happens every four years! So needless to say, I realized I had to mark the day somehow.

The catch is that this wasn't my Leap Day outfit, because it was snowing today. This from sometime last week, when it was sunny, from a day that I was called a bear, someone's dog and an Ewok. An Ewok! I was most excited by that one, it kind of made my day. I also received a lot of petting and someone telling me it was the "coolest thing ever". I loved it because I got to feel like a bear, or dog, or Ewok. I always liked pretending to be animals when I was little.

Forgetful me forgot to tell you that my first post on Miss Unlimited went up on Monday. Go check it out along with all the other great posts as well! Make the best of your Leap Day!

Why I love Foxes and hate Knocking

    My reason for loving foxes should be quite obvious: they're absolutely adorable. I think that's all that needs to be said. I also love this fox sweater that I got for Christmas- that's surprising isn't it?

Now to move on to the more pressing topic: why I hate knocking. Now some for some context. I am talking about knocking on doors. Particularly the unexpected, I am going to break this door down, I'm ringing the doorbell until it bursts your eardrums, I'm probably a crazy mass murderer, knocking. Nothing terrorizes me more when I'm at home than someone knocking on the door. It transforms me into a nervous disaster. I look around at all the windows because I expect this person to get into the backyard and break in the back windows and kill me (this unstable ritual took place in the last hour). Not sure exactly what I'd do if I came face-to-face with the person though...haven't exactly thought that out.

I think I really need to invest in one of those cool security camera things. That way I could spy on the people and know whether they leave or not. It might help my mental health. Is anyone else like this? Or am I alone in my irrational ways?

Outfit: Never Gonna Give You Up

Oh Rick Astley...get out of my head. Anywho- I am combining a lot of my most worn pieces from last year into one never-worn outfit here. Tricky right? My favorite part of the jacket is that tiny little pocket. I don't know why I adore it so much. Maybe I identify with it....

I am so tired, as you can probably tell from my lack of consistency of topic. Or ability to form coherent sentences. I don't even get to sleep in tomorrow- but I am going to visit a children's hospital and give those blankets my best friend and I made, which is a pretty good trade in my opinion.

I'm off to go to dinner with my momma, watch Grimm and then get some sleep- have a great weekend everybody!

Outfit: Steve's Sweater

     Alright, I admit that this isn't much of an outfit at all, but I love my Steve sweater. You know, Steve from Blue's Clues? I adored the show when I was a young-in'  so naturally when I saw this sweater at a thrift store for three-something dollars I had to buy it. The reaction from my friends and classmates is really too priceless. No one really grows up in the end, do they?

"Cause when we use our minds and take a step at a time- you can do-an-y-thing, that you wanna do!"

Speaking of using minds, I've got to go try and make some use out of mine. School is crazy busy right now- as well as life. It's such a great combination. I wish I could go back to kindergarden and try to find clues and solve things with Steve and Blue. "Well we sit down in our thinking chair and think. Think. Think!" Okay Amanda, now is not the time to be nostalgic...

I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. You probably didn't though, so just have a good week alright!

February Playlist

    A little late into February to get this posted- I've been selfishly been listening to it all month but hadn't gotten around to putting it on here yet... whoops. Who else in the US has a long weekend and is really happy about it? Thank you presidents! I'm in a really really good mood right now, but it's a secret as to why. And I really shouldn't get my hopes up anyway, that just leads to disappointment... Ah who am I kidding- I'm a hopeful little girl right now.  :) Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Outfit: My Mother's Shoes

    

    I decided to be a little festive on Valentine's day and this was the result, though the main reason I'm posting this outfit is to talk about these boots. I love them. I stole them. From my dearest momma to be exact. One day while rummaging through closets she saw these and showed them to me. I immediately wanted them. She bought these babies in the 80's for a dance class she was going to take with my dad. So not only do these just radiate awesome, they also have a sweet little history. Very Valentine's day worthy if you ask me.

In other news, my best friend got me a Wreck This Journal for Valentine's day and I am very excited. I may or may not document that somewhere on here. I am feeling pretty darn stressed from school and it's starting to rain quite a bit here again. Home sweet home. Today or tomorrow we find out who got "senior bests" so that should be kind of fun. I'm exuding positiveness I know. Goodness. I am looking forward to a parent date tomorrow. We are going to see Stars Wars in 3D and eat Thai food.  Score for positive thoughts!

Happy Day of Love!

    Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I may be single, but that doesn't make me bitter. Sure, Valentine's day is way commercialized, but at least it gets people thinking about each other. I have so many people I love and got to see a lot of them today- which makes me more than happy. I spent the morning at school with friends, the afternoon making blankets for kids at a children's hospital and the night with my parents (plus texting my wonderful sister as we speak) and expressing my love for all my readers/followers right now: thanks for being awesome! Sounds like a good Valentine's day to me! Spread the love everyone!

Outfit: Back to Old Tricks

     The weather has played it's normal trick of giving us a few days of sunshine before bringing the normal February rain. Unfortunately it'll stay a little dreary for the next few months, but I was able to escape it the last couple days. I was on a trip with some of my favorite people, the a Capella group I'm a part of, to a jazz festival. It was a great break from the slightly monotonous routine I get in about this time every year. I also discovered today (in a break from finishing Catching Fire) that I don't have school on Monday, making what I thought was to be a four-day-weekend a five-day one. Things might not be so gloomy after all! Well...apart from the rain making my hair even more frizzy than normal. Oh well! Everything is good because Zooey Deschanel and Karmin are on SNL tonight.

Have a great rest of your weekend everyone!

Emma Watson: Style Inspiration

{from here}

{from here}

 {from here}

“I want to be the person who feels great in her body and can say that she loves it and doesn’t want to change anything. It’s ridiculous that that seems like such a unrealistic goal.” --Emma Watson

    I love Emma Watson for many reasons. The fact that I grew up with her as Hermione in the Harry Potter movies may have been the basis for my admiration, but my idolization definitely didn't end there. Not only is she a great actress, gorgeous, and has a great sense of style- I love what she stands for. Emma really embodies the character of someone confident, and spreads the message of how important it is to stay true to yourself. And that's what women, scratch that, anyone needs to hear the most: you are beautiful the way you are.

I am also extremely jealous of her ability to rock short hair, a change that shocked many. The girl looks gorgeous with any length hair. I'm actually pretty sure she looks gorgeous no matter what. Sense some jealously? I was sitting with my mom a couple of days ago reading a magazine and on the back was Emma's Lancome ad. I just turned to my mom, held up the magazine and said "she's so pretty it makes me angry." My mom agreed. On a less envious note: Emma has an awesome collection at People Tree from which I recently bought an amazing dress. Another piece of evidence that she is a ethical human being was her collaboration with People Tree, who are all about Fair Trade and Organic materials and all that cool stuff. You should all check them out sometime.

I think it's about time I wrap this up before I start feeling awful about myself because I'm not Emma Watson.... because remember- everyone is beautiful! Emma and I say so!

Outfit: Shoes & Super Bowl Commercials

    I actually wore some color today, can you believe it?! I usually wear such bland colors: black, gray, tan, etc...but I can't help it that they're my favorite. I have decided to make it a goal to incorporate more color into my wardrobe though- and I can tell it's going to be a challenge. I also want to start wearing more of my shoes, the ones that usually just hang out in my closet except for every once and a while. These babies would be one of the said pairs. I feel so tall in these, even if in reality I'm still under average height it them...and it was a little awkward to walk through Home Depot in them.

 I'm off to go finish watching Super Bowl commercials (SO MANY CUTE DOG ONES) and then read Frankenstein. Oh how I wish I didn't have to go to school. I hope this week brings everyone a little sunshine!

My Recent Thoughts

 
  Again, it's been a while, and quite the crazy week. It was the start of my last semester of high-school and there are currently a lot of things occupying important learning space in my mind- making it really hard to focus on much of anything. There are the things one would expect: I'm really tired, how am I going to survive my Probability & Statistics class, I wish he would like me, I need to learn a song in Tamil...you know, the usual teenage things.

Then there are the bigger thoughts in my mind, some I wish weren't there. Things like: what would have happened if I had done things differently, or if I had never met you. I have also been pondering how I'm going to make a mark on this world before I leave it. I saw Shen Yun, a Chinese dance group, perform on Wednesday night. Those young people are already making an impact by informing the world of the injustice going on in China, where they are not able to perform because what they believe. What will I do to make a difference?

To segue this random rant from my mind into something relevant to the blog world, I have an announcement to make. I am a teen columnist for Miss Unlimited by Aiming low, a blog by teenage girls for teenage girls, which posts it's first article February 6th. I am very excited to be writing for them, and hope that my words may help someone, you never know. I'll keep you updated and tell you when to check out my posts there!

Outfit: Don't Waste Any Time

Jacket- H&M, Dress-Old Navy

    I said I'd get an outfit posted this week, and I wasn't kidding! It started to get a little warmer this week, so I was actually able to wear something that didn't involve anything fleece-y. I hate tights. Why? Because they rip- and then they are ruined. I started out the day with thicker leopard-print tights with this outfit. In my third class of the day, my boot snagged the right knee, but there was no major damage. Then it happened. In my next class I bend my knee and riiiip, big 'ol hole in my knee. Buh-bye brand new leopard tights.

I would like to take a completely unrelated tangent and dedicate a moment to a friend. She had been in a car accident in early December and was in a coma, and is going to leave soon. I hadn't seen her in a few years but she was a great girl and a wonderful friend and I would appreciate prayers sent to her family and friends. This has made me realize how precious life is and how much time I spend complaining. Make it a goal to do as many nice things as you can throught-out your life, because you never know which day will be your last. You'll always be remembered Alex. <3

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January Playlist

    I have been gone for almost a month! It's been crazy in my neck of the woods lately! My sister was home visiting for the holidays, and shortly after she left we got some intense winter storms. My town flooded! All is calming down though, and all is well. This upcoming week is finals week, (woo-hoo) but even despite that I plan on getting an outfit posted. I've been slacking on getting nicely dressed lately, being more concerned on not getting drenched or frozen... For now though, just enjoyed some music hand-picked by yours truly for the dreary month of January.

Outfit: Legwarmers & Recycling Bins

    Hello everyone! Hope everyone had an okay start to the week. My first day back to school was...well a first day back after a break. I survived though, and when I got home there was a box on my porch! I always get so impatient when I order things online, and when the packages finally arrive it's like Christmas morning all over again. I opened my box to find my TOMS Highland Botas! I love them, they are so soft and so...ah! I'm just in love with them.

As an unfortunate distraction from my infatuation, I discovered I threw away two weeks worth of progress for a school project and rummaged through our recycling bin looking for it while my sister laughed at me. In her defense it probably did look really funny. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. Except go work, which is what I'm off to do! Adios!

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