Last day of 2013..

Hi friends! It's been waaaay too long since I blogged but I think it's about time I get around to it. It's almost time for another year, so it's time for me to look back at those resolutions that I first blogged about (yowza) and see just how well I did. 

1) Cut out negative&fake friends: Check! Wahey, I actually did this one! I had a really good year in terms of friends towards the end. I've been super good about being real with my friends and it's turned out awesome. I finally have people in my life that are genuinely kind people and who sincerely care. It's comforting to have people in my life who are actually interested in what I'm talking about and can share genuine laughs with rather than fake friends who are just pretending, and then it just feels awkward like you're boring them. 
2) Be healthier... uhhhhh no not really at all. That's a hard one. 
3) Journal and blog more: this one I did with respect to the journal part... not so much the blogging part. 
4) Become more organised and procrastinate less: yeah no. This is not one that happened either. Oopsies.

Here's to hoping that next year I'll stick to my resolutions a little better! I hope you all enjoy your New Year's Eve! 

I'll be posting a basic beauty guide to handle the winter months soon after the new year... it's gonna be a good one!

Writer's Craft Assignment, Harry Potter

Our assignment was to write about someone receiving and about to open a letter, with the piece ending with the action of opening the letter. The objective was to make the reader aware of how the recipient feels about getting the letter, and eager to find out what it contains. I really wanted to do something like a muggle-born getting their letter to Hogwarts or something, but as I was writing it I quickly decided that it would be much more interesting if it was Hermione... Let me know what you all think! 

           "That morning, she awoke with a start. Shaking off the odd feeling she had, she went about her morning normally; she brushed her teeth slowly and carefully, and attempted to tame her bushy curls. She got dressed and crept downstairs to eat the delicious breakfast her parents had made for her before heading off to their practice. She loved to read while she ate, in fact, she read whenever she could. She had just started a new book when the family cat jumped onto the table and spilled her tea. She ran hurriedly to clean up the mess, and then went to put the cat out where he could dry off without making a mess.

As she knelt down to the steps where she placed him, she noticed a letter. She was so distracted by this peculiarity that she didn’t notice the tawny owl flying away just above the row of houses. ‘How bizarre…’ she thought, she thought, no one ever left mail on the steps. Curiosity brewing inside her, she gently picked up the letter. The first thing she noticed was that it was heavier than normal letters, it had thicker, old looking paper. ‘Parchment? How very peculiar…’ she thought. She had only ever seen it in museums that her parents took her to. She wondered who was writing to her parents in such a fashion, and with such an important looking wax seal as well. When she flipped it over she nearly tripped over the cat, the first thing she saw there on the front, in velvety green ink was a perfect “H”. The letter was not addressed to her parents as she had assumed, but to her.

She sat quietly down on the steps, the cat nestled up against her feet. She stared at the letter, unsure what to make of it. The return address was equally as puzzling, it sounded like something made-up from one of her books. She was shaking, half with excitement, half with complete and utter terror. She stared at the letter for only a moment before she placed it neatly on the kitchen table and walked away. It was hardly 10 minutes before the curiosity had completely eaten away at her and she snatched up the letter and glared at the return address. ‘This couldn’t have to do with… No one even knows.’ she said quietly, the cat gave her a weird look. It was her most well-kept secret, she was the only one who knew, so why were these people writing to her, was it some sort of joke? Who would do this, how did they know? She put the letter back down and walked out of the room, sat down on the sofa and stared at the television. She glanced back to the kitchen; she had to open it- she just had to. What if somehow these people knew her secret? But, what this was real, what if she wasn’t a freak? She jumped off the sofa and grabbed the letter again. She was so tempted to open it, but something was holding her back, she turned it over to the front again, where her name was written. Slowly, she moved her eyes up to the return address. There it was, the word that had caused her such suspense;’…witchcraft’ it said. For a moment she hesitated, everything logical told her to throw it away, but in a moment, she would tear the seal open and hungrily read the words written inside."

Dear fellow bloggers:

Hi guys! My name is Sabrina, I'm 16 from Canada, and I'm a total awkward weirdo that posts random blogs about anything from fashion to books to travel. I wanted to make a post to see if I could find anyone else out there blogging about random cool things that I could follow cause most of the blogs I follow are extreeeemely boring. So if ya want me to check out your blog just post a comment or something, I pinky swear I'm nice! :) sidenote: I teach little kids how to swim right, and it is positively depressing how many of them have no idea what a pinky swear is. 

Anyways if you wanna check out some of my posts and give me some feedback that would be lovely too :) I know it's pretty dry so far.. I'm not too consistent but I'm hoping to spiffy it up a bit soon!!

So yeah, let me know about your blogs!! 

xx

Les Misérables

OK... so I know I`m a wee-bit slow on the up-take but I *finally* watched Les Mis earlier this month, after seeing all the fuss at the Oscars I just had to....  I cannot even reiterate the new found love and appreciation I have for Les Mis and, more importantly, Victor Hugo and french literature! Ou la la..

SIDENOTE: this time last year I was travelling through France and Italy with school, our first stop was Paris. While we were there we visited La Place des Vosges, where Victor Hugo used to live, back then I knew him only as the guy who wrote the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Now I can finally really appreciate the amazing writer he was, I can't get enough of it now... good thing Les Mis is so long... (like really?! holy moly, I did NOT expect that..)

So anyways, I now have the Les Mis soundtrack which I am amazed by; the fact that they sung live on set blows my mind... ooff. AND I picked up the book at Chapters earlier this week... it's very intimidating to say the least but I'm determined to read it. 

Finally, if you are like me, and absolutely *die* for history, literature, cinema, music and broadway THIS IS YOUR HOLY GRAIL. Also, if you are like me and love Les Mis a ridiculous amount: you rock, don't ever change. 


Anyone get the Lizzie McGuire reference? no? just me? ok. 

Quick Update!

Hi guys!! Sorry I've been a-wall for the past little while but I've been trying to focus more on school and 'participating' in life... (notice the Perks reference?no?.. Ok) Basically it's a new semester, I hate school (still), and I'm antsy to get this year over with...! On the bright side, one more week until march break!!! What are your plans? This time last year I was gearing up for a tour of France, Monaco and Italy... the year before that, China! This year I get to stay at home. Yay. I have a tonne of family coming to town, which means my week will be filled with plenty of family fun! #yuck. I hope you all get to travel and do fun things on your march break! 

My next post I think will be an ode to my past March break travels, sigh. I miss that. :(

xox

Sabrina

DIY: Fringe Scarf

Hey friends!

So here's a cool DIY idea I found on pinterest a couple weeks back. Basically just find an old shirt, (I looked through my bag of clothes that were headed to the thrift store) and find a top that's suited to your size/colour preference. I found this bright pink mid-length slouchy top, it wasn't my first pick but it was the best option I had! So next, cut horizontally across the shirt just underneath the arms, (or shorter depending on how long you want the fringe to be). Next, cut the preferred width and length of lines vertically (from the bottom upwards), after that pull each of the individual fringes to loosen them up and then pop it in your drier for about 10 minutes and VOILA! :) Here's a quick pic of my scarf (don't mind the super cute tye-dye pajama shirt):

ALSO: Here's the link to the pinterest post in case my instructions were a little confusing :):

http://pinterest.com/pin/502503270892451764/

It doesn't call for the scarf to be put in the drier but I found it helped make the scarf look less DIY and more official hahaha :) Enjoy! *Also feel free to check out my pinterest ;)

This super easy and super green(can I get an environmentally conscious hoorah? no? ok.) DIY project is perfect for a handmade addition to a gift, I gave mine to my mom for her birthday, and she loved it (despite the awkwardly cut fringe... I did it at 2am, don't judge)! 

Okay guys that's all, let me know what you think and how it goes if you try it!! Also, feel free to get creative with the other bits of fabric you have leftover, (I made some scrunchies and a headband)!

XX

SabrinaMara

Eleanor Calder: Style Crush OTW

Hey guys!! I've decided to start doing this little thing I like to call 'Style Crush of the Week'.... So I'm going to kick it off this week with one of pop-culture (and fangirls everywhere)'s most loved fashion icons: Eleanor Calder!!

Okay so technically she's not really a celebrity or anyone who would normally make the style crush of this week but lets face it this girls' fashion has taken social media world by storm. Just look at how many girls do the 'Call Me Maybe Squat Challenge' just to fit into the same size jeans as her... (sad, I know, but it IS a good work out.. #guilty).
So celebrity/icon/role-model or not Eleanor's got fantastic fashion sense, and when I came across a blog posting that had a break down of several of her masterpieces I HAD to share it with all of you:

http://sandraschoice.blogspot.ca/2013/01/style-crush-eleanor-calder.html

Check it out, and even if you aren't able to get the exact pieces for whatever reason (no one likes a copycat anyways), you can use it to inspire some unique looks of your own!!So give it a looksy and let me know what you think, and show off some of your own renditions of Eleanor's style, I'll be uploading some of my looks to my Google+ account later this week so check that out too if you're interested! Cheers!


Hope everyone's having a lovely week!!

xx
SabrinaMara

P.S. I'd love to know what all of you think of this idea so drop me a comment!! lotsa love