my week in instagram #33

my clean dorm room // taking pictures in the fog with Amy // my favorite spot on campus // developed my first roll of film! // had another fire in our dorm thanks to the boys // me, haaah // preview weekend with some awesome prospective students // traveling down Oregon roads // photo adventure with flickr people!

This has been yet another fantastic week. You can follow all of my adventures @impulsings !

Weekly roundup (an effort to maintain my new years resolutions):

1. novel: nope. still didn't write a page. I need to get better at doing this one.
2. photos: just came back from a day of shooting, so I'm well on my way.
3. diy project: finished two, now just have to put them up for you!
4. outfit photos: done!
5. college street style: nope, didn't do this one.
6. book: almost done with my first one.
7. sketch: worked on a cute photo this week.
8. money: saving up.

Other resolutions that included more vague ideas like getting my work out there and going to meetups were successful this week. I just came back from spending a day with my friend Heather, a previous flickr friend and now a real life friend (I'll have a post about it soon). Yay for meetups! And I just learned today that three of my photos made it into the Anchorage newspaper, which is definitely big for making people be aware that I'm around, and it was incredibly exciting to wake up to that news.

I hope your week is fantastic!

the first days of spring

jean dress/shoes: forever 21 // button-down shirt: thrifted // pin: antique shop




Things are starting to get warmer here in Oregon! I can almost go outside without a coat and scarf, but part of me is still holding on to the feeling of winter and layering up and being warm and cozy in a bunch of clothes. Also this weekend has been the scholarship competition for preview students, so my roommate Annette and I have been housing two really awesome girls that had better come to hang out with us at college next year! It's hard to believe that less than a year ago I was doing the exact same thing, staying in a freshman's dorm, walking around my college for the first time, and being completely overwhelmed. I'll never cease to be amazed by the concept of time and how overtime people change and morph into different versions of themselves. I remember I was so sad to leave my college after that weekend and I couldn't wait to go back, and now I get to live here every day and every day is a new adventure and there are opportunities for me everywhere. I just really am in love with this place and all the people here.




Speaking of school, on Thursday I got to develop my very first roll of black and white film! It was so exciting and scary to be working with film in pitch black and then messing with chemicals. Next week I'll make prints of the photos and see if I actually did a decent job of getting the right exposure and such, but for now I'm just happy I didn't destroy my film, haha. I can't wait to show you guys the results from that!




I hope you have a really awesome day.

january in review

What what what? January is already over with? This month has just flown by, and I'm sad to see it go. January is probably one of my favorite months, because not only is it my birthday month, but it represents new beginnings and new outlooks on a new year. Looking back on January, I can see it's been a great start to the year, and it's only going to get better!

a universe in my head

dress: mom's closet // skirt: borrowed // long socks: forever 21 // shoes: target




There are a lot of changes in the air. I can feel it every day when I wake up and go out into the chilling Oregon air and when I come back to my dorm to relax. It peeks its head into conversations over lunch and behind moss-covered trees when I'm walking on the gravel trails. Perhaps this is simply me "growing up," even though I hesitate to use those words because I don't ever really want to grow up. I guess I'm just coming to terms with the fact that I have a certain responsibility in life and I should actually take this life seriously--not in the sense that I become a serious person--but in the sense that I only have one chance to do things, and the sooner I realize that sometimes I have to buckle down and get things done, the sooner I can live the life I've always imagined.

The change is in the little things thus far. I'm keeping my room clean, I'm in tune with my school work, I'm planning things and taking care of things and just actively living and thriving instead of just surviving. I'm actually wanting to do homework and I'm excited to learn (especially in my photography class). I guess you could say I feel very adult right now (though I know even just a year from now I'll think current me was so young and immature!). At any rate, that shift into becoming a responsible adult has not gone unnoticed, though I do hope I won't lose particular childlike tendencies. There's that certain magic of childhood that I had spent years cultivating and now I'm at a point where I refuse to let go of those memories and shapings, and perhaps even create some more childish fantasies even as I enter into an adult life.




When I was little, I drew out maps of Fairyland and danced around in my backyard pretending that I was transported into that world. My very best fairy friend was a girl named Jopey and she and I fought alongside each other in the great Fairy battle. Those imaginings were fueled by stories like the Anne of Green Gables series, At the back of the North Wind, Harriet the Spy, and the Eragon Series, (books that I still read to this very today). I even wrote stories about my adventures and charted locations and made a special bracelet that allowed me to transport into that world. It was a huge part of my childhood, where everything was not as it seemed and adventure was around every corner.

Of course now I know that those things weren't reality, but that doesn't mean they weren't real. The stories from my childhood I'm turning into novels today, those little colored pencil maps have become a giant piece of artwork (one I'm still working on), and I'm still chasing the same light I did years ago.

I guess I just never want to look at anything like it's ordinary.





Well this post has taken a super personal turn (I'm sure no one's surprised by that at this point). Those things that I dreamed up have really shaped me into who I am today, and it's so interesting to look back and see what things have formed certain things in my life. Is there anything from your childhood that shaped you in some way? I would love to hear about it!

I hope you all have a really fantastic day.

Oh! And I forgot to mention some exciting news, actually. I'm now blogging for my university's new online website, where once a week I post about anything related to fashion and personal style. You can check out my first little introductory article here, and be sure to check back there every Wednesday to read a new article from yours truly!