Bats in the Belfry, Cats in the Attic

Hey, everyone! I just got news this weekend after doing my phone interview that I was accepted into my Study abroad and service-learning program in Cusco, Peru this coming Summer. I will be gone for over two months! I will most likely do some study abroad updates if anything interesting happens between now and then, but I do plan on making a separate blog to post about my adventures. For now, I'm still figuring out my budget and waiting on scholarship decisions to come in. The cost of the program is expensive, so I made a go fund me at this URL: http://www.gofundme.com/k11txc If you can donate and/or share this link, it would be much appreciated! Source Here's what I plan on doing while I'm in Peru: Visiting Ollantaytambo, a beautiful city with palace ruins from the old Incan stronghold during Spanish conquest. It's also one of the first stops on the Inca Trail I would really like to do the full Inca Trail Hike, which lasts four days, but I will definitely...

*Taken from a paper of mine in 2014           The Victorian Era, which took place during the mid-nineteenth century until the twentieth century, is a period characterized by societal change. The Industrial Revolution and clearer class divisions had taken hold, and there was an “increased ordering of leisure pursuits” especially amongst the middle and upper classes who had extra time and money (Lamont 903). Innovations in entertainment abounded, as seen through the burgeoning of cinematography, and Victorians were especially taken with “spectacles,” or shows that shocked or mesmerized audiences. In addition to new advancements in entertainment, Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution forced many to re-evaluate their orthodox religious beliefs, creating a mass crisis of faith. Caught in the middle of the revolution in entertainment and this popular crisis of belief was a uniquely Victorian situation: the emerging Spiritualist movement which challenged both conventi...

I see it's been over a month since I've last posted, which is actually less time than I thought. It's probably no surprise that I've been busier than ever. In fact, I've been in a perpetual state of busyness for as long as I can recall. I thought it'd be considerate to give an update because a lot of things are happening this year. The most exciting are my plans for Summer. For two months, from May through July, I will be visiting Cusco, Peru! This will be my first time abroad and the longest amount of time away from home. I will be studying and doing some service work (probably a teacher's assistant at a primary school). I'm going to take a Spanish literature class and a Quechua class. Both will be taught in Spanish. I'll be staying with a host family too! Hopefully, this will be the push I need to finally gain fluency in Spanish. Fluency is a really ambiguous concept anyway. I've been taking Spanish on and off for about seven years, and onl...

I have a fascination and love for iconography, particularly iconography from Eastern Christianity. What draws me to Orthodox iconography, besides the unique style and mesmerizing imagery, is the complete dedication it takes to create one. There are many elements that an artist does to create an authentic, holy icon . For example, it has to be a true representation of anything "holy" by traditional Christian standards. The work and care that goes in to creating such an image is awe-inspiring. The artist must fast for forty days  and live in an ascetic manner, allowing the artist to be in a prayerful state. During the process and after the icon is finished, there are special prayers to be read, and the icon should be blessed. With all this in mind, I decided to try painting a Theotokos icon for my love's family. Even though I knew that any icon of mine would not be authentic, I tried my best to make due with the time and materials that I could afford such a painting. A...

After some dedication to growing out my last haircut, I resolved that it was again time to just "cut it all off" when it started to grow into an unruly mullet. I decided to go with a simple and classic pixie. I really liked the one that Anne Hathaway had after filming Les Miserables ,   so I printed it and took it to the stylist. The results:

This post is coming way too late! I am just finishing my semester at school, though, and the workload is starting to slow down (but not for long!).  So, late last month, I went with my boyfriend to New Orleans.  I've been dreaming of visiting this city for years, and I finally took the chance to go. When we arrived from our bus, we went to go eat some tasty beignets at Café du Monde and then proceeded to walk all around the French Quarter, stopping at shops as we went along. While we were there, we got to stop in old Catholic churches and pray, we had some delicious New Orleans food and drinks (Ramos Gin Fizz at Bar Tonique being my favorite), we got to see a great down and dirty blues band on Frenchman street, and we met some really cool locals who told us their stories. One of the ladies, who had thirteen cats who lived in her shop, told us her Hurricane Katrina story. Another guy, an Oi! punk working at a hat shop, talked with us and gave us free beer. It's no wonder s...

This post is coming pretty late, but I've had a lot going on recently and not much time. Better late than never, I suppose! As I just mentioned, I did not have much time this year. Halloween was fast approaching, and before I knew it, it was the eve of Halloween, and I had no costume. Thankfully, I already had some ghoulish pieces in my wardrobe. This year, I incorporated my stitched tights, a babydoll dress, and some doll-like accessories for the haunted doll look. After that, I topped it off with white powder foundation, rosy cheeks, creative eyeliner, and black lipstick.  With my boyfriend- I gave him fight makeup Also, I just had my 21st birthday yesterday! It was a wonderful weekend.