I guess this needs an explanation. As you may have been able to tell, this story refers to the song "Little Boxes" in which the writer talks about a cluster of little boxes made of ticky tacky on the hillside where everyone is the same. This story is a little different as you may be able to tell. One of the most memorable YouTube videos I have ever seen was by a boy my age named Stoney. He talked about these figurative boxes that people put each other into. For an example, since he is Polish, society would put him in the polish box and therefor that is who he is. That really got me thinking about society and how I myself put others into boxes and what boxes I am in. Though these figurative social barriers can be nice, how can we be individuals if we are under the label? I cannot be angry at the people who have used their figurative label maker on me for I do it myself. I label my peers almost all the time without even trying. I am not going to go into the actual story in more depth for I want the pictures to speak for themselves but I do want to touch on the media I used. As you may have noticed, I have been doing a lot of collages lately and this seemed like the perfect way to tell a story. I probably wouldn't even have been able to come up with the idea if it weren't for my friend ARo. ARo ran what we call a "chug" (club in Hebrew) every weeknight at my camp called Story Shop in which she talked about different ways to tell a story and well here is my way. Thanks ARo.
Wednesday Viv and I hit the beach so I ended up having ti dig through my closet to just find a bikini. I ended up finding an old string bikini from Target and mis matching bottoms. I even added a flower crown from a boutique in New York City. On top of my bathing suit, I went with a rather junkie tank top with fringe at the bottom and a pair of old Macy's shorts. Who the hell wants to wear a complicated outfit on top of a wet bikini? Since I was going swimming and am still saving up for waterproof makeup, I didn't wear any and just put my hair up in a ponytail. Thursday I ended up spending about the entire day up until five in the evening in my pajamas for I was going with my mom to pick up my cousins. I wore my favorite Bettie Page shirt that I bought from Forever21 and a pair of amazing red shorts that I got from Macy's two years ago. I wore the usual makeup and pushed my hair back with a thin headband. Friday Yet another beach day! I had to dig through my closet yet again for another bikini. I did find a hidden treasure (throwback to February Fashion Bible!) of one of my old Target bikinis. It was a little tight but whatever its better than being loose in the ocean. Over my bathing suit, I wore an old shirt that I got from Forever21 last year for about five bucks. I liked it for at the time, I didn't know what it meant but my cousin translated it into "You are the most beautiful to me". A little tacky but it is good enough to cover a bikini. I then put on a pair of picnic checkered shorts. The tag says Gap but I got them from a thrift store. Saturday
I just kind of sat in my pajamas texting my friend Ruby until about around five in the evening when I got dressed to go to my friend, Chloe's party. I didn't get too dressed up for we were doing facials and if yogurt got on one of my nice outfits, that would kind of suck. I wore a pair of yellow shorts that I got thrift and my Bettie Page v-neck from Forever21. I then just pushed my messy hair back with a headband. -Ann Playlist:
OK OK I know I haven't made a playlist in forever for the reason that over the past few week, my music taste hasn't gone anywhere but I finally made a new one packed with a couple tracks from the My Chemical Romance album "Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys", bits of Lex Croucher for she rocks, and some other pretty awesome music. Sunday Diary aug18
If you could not tell by the rather extravagant collage with all of Fiona, Emma, and I's loves, then either a) you aren't capable to read or B) you are blind. As of today, we How Fitting hit it's 100th post. Yep 100 posts of pure teenage angst, fashion, music and everything else. I was so excited for this occasion for really, this is a big deal. I mean I have been working for seven months (whoa! More than half of a year!) to reach this number of posts and it is unreal that we have so much content. Though Emma and Fiona have only been writing for only one of the seven months, I still say we for they have contributed a lot to the How Fitting community and helped me out a lot. Just a fact behind the scenes (I'm so pretentious) there has not been a day this month where I have not either published, written, or edited a post. There are two ways to interpret what I have just admitted: Ann is very dedicated to How Fitting OR Ann has no life and is obsessed with blogging. I guess it is a mix of both. The real reason why the is such a big deal towards especially me is that I have never kept a promise and a commitment this big to myself. In other words, I have never done something this big for this long. I mean Wow! The blogging world has not only given me something to do in life but has led me to so many friends. Pietro and I met before this blob was created but about a week into our friendship, the February Fashion Bible was posted and two weeks after that, Pietro's blog was up and running. The two of us have been bonding over being young bloggers ever since and I cannot thank him for the oh so many times he has promoted this blurg on his own Twitter. Thanks Pi. Same with Fiona. I met her about a month or so after Pietro and I started talking and we never really talked about How Fitting until my favorite post I have ever written came up. You guessed it. The ever so special, "Online Relationships" article. Interviewing her and Pietro was so much fun and Fiona and I got really close after that. Now, we are talking twice as much ever since she joined to write every Monday. I wuv you Fizz. Same with Emma. You two rock and Em you are one of my best friends. OK OK enough about me reminiscing and talking about how much an amazing person I am. In all, I love you readers more than anything and every time I get a sweet comment or just a thumbs up in the hallway at school, I always get all warm and fuzzy and trust me, every single comment sticks with me. So here we are at 100 freaking posts and cheers to a 100 more.
Live long and prosper How Fitting. I love you guys more than Alex Gaskarth loves Jack Barakat.
I felt like going darker with a cheap, shimmery, black tank top I got from Target and a flowing above the knee skirt that the tag says Express though I got it from consignment two years ago. This picture is rather crappy but the skirt has small white flowers that bring a more interesting part to the skirt. Since my outfit was so dark, I went with blue eyeliner (BLUE!) and the usual gold eyeshadow I usually wear.
Thursday
Sticking with the skirts, I went with a long, peacock patterned high low that I got from yet another consignment store. I took yet another cheap Target tank top for the skirt is just so extravagant that wearing anything else would clash. For my hair, I got a little bored during the day so I ended up straightening it. I instantly felt uncomfortable looking at myself for it brought back god awful times in seventh grade when I used to blow dry and straighten it every other day. I do not plan on doing this very much for number one: my hair is too god damn long and there is too much of it and number two: I used to be in the habit so much that when my hair wasn't straight I would panic by freaking out on everyone and just being a terrible person to the people around me. I don't know about you, but in my opinion that is really stupid and unreasonable for me to have to rely on a stupid machine to make me feel OK. Number three: I look like a prick with straight hair.
Friday
I finally video chatted with Pietro and Alessia! The entire thing was overwhelming and I kinda felt like I was going to cry for I was just so happy...I ended up wearing an old pair of Forever21 shorts that I stained badly so I dyed them from pink and white to badge and brown. I paired it up with a floral crop halter that says it is from American Eagle though I got it thrift. I woke up with straight hair but had a hair consultation for a new haircut so I just washed it out after I was done video chatting. Not just because I had to have my natural hair for the hairdresser to see but for I really did look and feel like a serious twat. Saturday
My mom, Rachel, and I all had what we call "a girls day out" where we went thrift shopping up at one of the best thrift stores. Though I am very against wearing anything fancy when thrift shopping, this outfit was too cute not to wear out therefor I just kind of had to. I ended up wearing one of my new Bettie Page shirts from the Forever21 guy's department (haul post coming soon!) and a long, black, flowing skirt that I also got from Forever21 with a slit on the side (for I am just that Angelina Jolie). I put my hair up in a messy bun and perfected the entire outfit with my prescription tortoise shells.OK I don't wear them anymore for I really hate how glasses feel on my face so normally when I don't feel fashionable, I will just deal with my near sightness but come on this outfit was BEGGING for them!
Sunday was the day that the Camp Nanorimo cabins closed up. It was relieving and yet heart braking to have Camp Nanorimo end. I mean will I miss stressing myself out to write? No. Will I miss discussing with the two lovely guys I met in my cabin? In every way. The three of us decided on just going our separate ways. Not that we didn't love each other, just that we thought that just we should see what happens. See if we meet up in one of the many Nanorimo forums or get assigned to the same cabin in April. Kind of just let fate do the work. It was funny all the things we talked about. Though the cabins were mostly for discussing our novels and things along those lines, my friend who went by the name "Monkey Typewriter" or as we just called him "monkey" and I trailed off the ever so stressing subject of novelising and talked about things we liked. Music, video games, Tumblr. The two of us became pretty close and made a pact in the middle of the month to give each other verbal slaps to the face if we even said a word of giving up. We all were on each other's teams and were sticking together for this month of insanity. I ended up cutting my 50,000 word goal down to 30,000 for I had come in fifteen days late all because of camp. When I was just so frustrated and felt as if the only thing I could do was give up, one of my other cabin mates, Sky told me something that I will use for the next how ever many Nanorimos there are to come. He said: "write terribly. Write drivel. Write boring and dull characters and a menial plot. Just write, and soon the greatness will start to come." What my awesome cabin mate told me brought me to the realization that I would not walk out of Nanorimo with a novel ready for publication. This was only a rough draft and therefor we should all just write terribly and have greatness come when greatness comes. I really did wish that the other people in our cabin had participated. We had about eight campers and only the three of us talked and worked on our novels. We didn't let the lack of people stop us from having fun though! Every single mile stone we hit, we would do a dance party. This didn't mean just for yourself. We danced when Monkey hit 10,00 and still danced when Sky hit 15,000 and that memorable moment where I got to 20,000. We were all just as happy to have ourselves hit halfway and have another one of us hit a milestone. Not only was there a lot of dancing involved, but Monkey and I came up with what we referred to as "The Camp Nanorimo Theme Song" which lyrics consisted of "Just keep writing just keep writing. What do we do? WE WRITE!" sound familiar? We typed and hummed that song about five times a day each to each other. About my novel, clearly not my best work but I decided to not edit it and just keep it as a memento from an awesome summer with awesome people. Sky brought up novel swapping in which we would read each other's novels but we then just came up with keeping them to ourselves and not sharing them with anyone else. It was funny how much the three of us connected. Camp Nanorimo July 2013 was the best thing I have ever put my time to and would love to do it again. Will I talk to my virtual cabin mates ever again? I have no idea but the three of us will always have the memories of a wonderful Summer filled with virtual dancing, high-fiving, and face smacking. So now I am sitting there looking under the community section of the website and not being able to see my cabin. It is extremely painful but I guess I should just smile for it has happened. Just keep writing. Just keep writing. What do we do? WE WRITE! -Ann
Here we are in August! With the help of my friend and fellow How Fitting writer Emma, we can't wait to give you guys the latest clothing and makeup that we love and hope to see in this last month of American (and Italian and my friends have told me) Summer vacation! Shorts I have so far been really obsessed with patterned shorts! My favorite has been floral for it has a vintage and summer feel. Though the ones pictured to the left are black and white, I really do love colorful flower print to add a pop of something lively into every outfit I wear. Tops
With patterned and printed shorts being a must this month, I have turned to solid tops. My favorite colors being white and black for it goes with basically everything and gives room for the shorts to really shine. I would definitely not suggest wearing anything other than a solid top with printed bottoms for it really is all to much. Shoes
Though I have been wearing quite a lot of flip flops, I did find a pair of pretty freaking awesome boots that I could not help sharing. I am in love with everything combat boots and when I found these waterproof, floral, combats it was instant love. At the moment, I have been wearing this pair and my three year old black ones that I have given a makeover in sharpie. I have been living by the fact since sixth grade that you can never have too many combat boots no matter Makeup
As one of our lovely writers Emma has stated in her past two posts this month, we are going natural and showing off true beauty with just a little of what I call "helpers". Meaning, this month not only do we suggest it, but I myself am going to try and go a bit more natural and wear the least amount of makeup possible. Happy August! -Ann
Okay, so today I figured I'd write about one of my all-time favorite movies. I'm kind of crazy about Hairspray. How could you not be? It's a combination of some of the best things in this world: John Waters, Divine, the 80s, the 60s, and DANCING.
I shouldn't have to tell you the plot, but just in case here it is.
Tracy Turnblad and her best friend, Penny Pingleton, audition for The Corny Collins Show, their favourite teen dance show. Despite being "pleasantly plump", Tracy
becomes a regular on the show. As she gets more and more popular, she makes Amber, the reigning queen of the show, more and more jealous. Tracy steals Amber's boyfriend, Link
Larkin, and competes against her for the title of Miss Auto Show 1963,
fueling Amber's hate.
That's like, the simple version of the plot, but I really wouldn't want to spoil it for you, because the end is absolutely perfect. Not to sound pretentious, but one of the big reasons I love Hairspray is the gorgeous aesthetics. The colors, oh the colors! I just love the 80s interpretation of the 1960s. It's so full of candy brights and kitsch. And the costumes are amazing.
It's also super funny, plus it's the perfect movie for sleepovers and nights in with your friends because you can sing along at the top of your lungs and dance along as well! The songs will probably be stuck in your head for the next week (month) (year) but honestly, you won't really care. If I haven't sold it to you yet, then let this gif convince you.
xoxo,
Fiona
PS One word of warning: once you've watched this, you might never be able to watch the Zac Efron remake again. Oops!
Thursday
Thursday was mostly spent in the house until I did go out to a local playground with my sister in which I put on a long, rather beachy shirt that was given to me by my older cousin. I paired it up with a pair of shorts I got from Macy's about a year or two ago. Friday
I spent Friday night in which we went out to dinner in a long button down dress that I had gotten from a thrift store about a year ago. The dress goes down to a little above my knee which is about my comfort zone for I am not big on short dresses or skirts! Since I am a boring person, hair and makeup were the usual though my locks had calmed down a bit. Saturday Saturday was one of my worst outfits in awhile and I hardly even wanted to share it until I figured that I just should to show you what is definitely out of my comfort zone. Saturday morning was chilly so I ended up trading my shorts for my favorite pair of red skinny jeans though I have already planned that this school year, I will not be wearing much jeans. I then put on a shirt I had gotten from a terrible consignment store I had once visited with my friend. The shoulders had cut outs on them which I guess is OK though just the pattern of feathers at the top made me a little uneasy. These kind of tops I rarely wear for I used to wear a lot of them in sixth grade and it really does bring back bad memories. I am pretty proud of my hair and jewelry though. I bobby pinned the left side of my hair to the back of my right side so I got a rather natural look of all my hair being swept onto the side. For earrings, I became Benjamin Cook and put a single feather earring on one side and a rose stud on the other sort of how Ben has a silver sword earring on one side. I only spent about an hour or two at the Vet in this outfit so I guess it could be worse. Sunday
I really didn't spend much of the day out of the house on Sunday so I just threw on a Charlotte Russe cut out dress that I had gotten a couple months ago. The dress has an awesome collar at the top which could probably my favorite trait about it. This dress did break my comfort zone a little bit for it was a bit shorter than the vintage long dresses I am used to wearing.
Well hello there lovely! We have hit the last month of Summer. As much as I would love to say that I had a two months so far full of going to the beach and partying, I have done absolutely nothing with my social life at all. I am not lying when I say that right when I realized that, I had to break momentarily just to text my friend about how I need to hang out with her. There is a point of my introversion where things can get a little insane.... Anyways, I am extremely excited to be writing about the things you must see for August! Music
In my last three posts, I have suggested amazing artists such as Emma Blackery, Lights, and Sleeping With Sirens! I am also absolutely excited to talk about Tavi Gevinson. OK OK I realize that I talk about her every five seconds, but this is not about her fashion or Rookie. No Tavi is not only a writer and actress but she is an amazing singer on top of it all. One of my favorite covers would have to be "Case Of You" which she performed for Hello Giggles on YouTube (video above). Her voice is delicate and gorgeous. Websites
With me having spent an entire day trying to think up some changes (for the good) of How Fitting and thought since I am on the Internet about twenty four hours a day, I figured that it would be appropriate to add a category on websites. One of the websites that I blame for distracting me from being productive would have to be Ask.fm a social network where people are encouraged to ask questions anonymously and have them answered by the person they were asked. This website can help others get closer to each other by asking the things they are a little too embarrassed to ask in person.
(My ask.fm: http://ask.fm/AnnPayne559) Videos and TV
Tumblr- Benjamin Cook
yet again, I have not been watching about any TV therefor I turned this section into "videos and Television" so I am able to add what I watch about half the day: YouTube Videos. One of my favorite series on YouTube has been "Becoming YouTube" a documentary series hosted by the always lovely, Benjamin Cook who is himself yet at the same time kind of plays this overly emotional, angry person. One of the best parts of this series is that not only do we see Ben but every single episode features interviews from amazing other You Tubers such as Alex Day, Charlie McDonnell, Dan and Phil, Lex Croucher, Tom Milsom, Carrie Hope Fletcher, etc. Every single episode is different and touches different corners and topics of the popular video sharing website from musicians being on YouTube to what YouTube isn't, Ben touches everything. The entire series is deep yet hilarious with skits of some pretty ridiculous things. Last week's episode had to be the best one I have ever seen in which Tom Milsom writes a song titled "Becoming YouTube Was A Waste Of Time". What could be better than a man with bright red hair yelling and making fun of himself with other You Tubers? Books
Though camp was not exactly the time to read, before I left I read probably the best memoir I have ever written. Rapture Practice is a hilarious memoir following a young teenager trying to brake away from his extremely conservative Christian family. The entire memoir is not only down right funny but is also endlessly interesting. Being brought up as a Jew, I have never really had an idea of what Christianity was in depth. Though Aaron's family is a little extreme, it gives people a look into some of the different types of people out there. From having to transfer schools for buying his girlfriend a "Pretty Woman" soundtrack to playing hymns with a hangover, the entire novel is insane. Movies
Aside from our lovely new writer, Fiona writing about movies every week, I still thought it would be OK if I write once a month about my own opinions. "Warm Bodies" was what you could call "the better Twilight" the movie provides comedy and still a rather interesting and intense romance. The one thing I was annoyed with was that they did not do nearly as many beauty shots as they should have with the hot zombie. I mean if you are going to make a teen zombie romance, glamour shots are mandatory.
Happy August! -Ann
My favorite episode of becoming YouTube! (BELOW)
Hey there!
And here we are on the first day of August! Unlike During the school year, when the passing months come most people are excited, the Summer is much different. Here we are in the last month of Summer 2013. A ton of rather important events happened in the month of July. One of the biggest events and things that I have completed in quite a long day was making it to the winners circle in Camp Nanorimo 2013. Yes I actually did finish The Year I Fell In Love With Saskia Hamilton and to tell you the truth, I am actually happy how it turned out. Will it be the next bestseller? Definitely not. Is it well written? It was written in eighteen freaking days. Of course not! Am I proud of it? Hell yes. The point of Nanorimo is to kind of make an outline of the novel you will edit and perhaps even rewrite later and though I really do love it, I highly doubt that I will end up making the choice to touch up my story. I like it being my first ever Nanorimo novel and I am surely keeping it in it's true form of crappiness.
Onto the subject of this month's blog posts, I can definitely promise some much better quality work out of me now that I am not writing 2,000 words each day. In addition, our new writers have been doing great and of the drafts Emma and Fiona have sent me (I am such a Tavi), there is some amazing content for this month and other months to come. Just a small insider on How Fitting, I have been talking to another person about writing every other Saturday so who knows what the hell will happen! So tell me, what are your plans for the month of August? I cannot wait to see you lovelies for this month's "Things You Must See" and "Monthly Fashion Bible" I am just telling you now that every single thing we are suggesting to you is utter perfection. -Ann
