Juicing

Ever since I got back from New York, my friend got me into juicing and I am addicted!  I even watched a juicing documentary, "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead", and that totally pumped me up to start a healthier lifestyle!  My sister had bought me a juicer a year ago as a housewarming gift, and I scoffed at it and asked her what in the world I was supposed to do with it.  She unsuccessfully explained to me how juicing is a great way to detox and get clear skin --- because I traded it in for a panini maker the next day.  My bad.  One year and short of a quarter life crisis later, I regret that I didn't try it sooner.            

All this . . . 

. . . to this.

Politiks

via tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com
If Anna and Grace (foils of one another)
can work out their differences and work together,
so can we.

Ah politics . . . I had started this blog years ago to soak my feet into this foreign world (mind you I was definitely not a poli-sci major before law school like most people I know). As I progressed through law school and learned politics through the lectures of my professors and the insights of my classmates, I was rather fascinated at such prevalent topics with such polarizing sides. I loved that although every side had a compelling point of view in its own right, it was only through our own life experiences did we know exactly where we stood on certain issues. For example, I took a strong stance towards gay marriage and wrote an entry about it here (though perhaps rather not too eloquent now that I read it again) and an extensive article on the unconstitutionality of proposition 8 for my school journal two years later. Why? Because I have a great group of gay friends who I can't imagine not being able to cry at their weddings, merely because it's up to the majority of each state to decide whether or not they can or cannot consummate their love for each other. It's our life experience and upbringing that ultimately pulls us to the left or to the right on certain issues. I'm sure George Lakoff's "Moral Politics" can vouch for that (I oddly started this book before law school and never finished it . . .)

However, what has been turning me off about politics is the fact that heated arguments about certain topics have crossed boundaries and have become personal attacks on people, rather than their point of views. Example? Rush Limbaugh's "slut" comment directed at law student Sandra Fluke for her position on the contraceptives controversy. On a more microscopic level? The facebook comments I see on my my friend's statuses regarding the KONY 2012 campaign. Some defending the movement and others alleging it's a scam. This is fine because I was listening to NPR and it was refreshing to be presented with both sides of the issue - more informational and up to the listeners to decide, rather than a persuasive piece. However, back to the facebook comments, as I scrolled down discussions regarding this issue, some became heated attacks on the person - one person was calling the other person "uneducated" because he was at a community college, another person making general statements about ignorant Americans, and more people criticizing about how people are so dumb because they merely "watched" a 30 minute video and now think they're "social activists." Wow, just wow. This is so amature.

I wish politics was more about being able to present multiple sides of an issue, have people decide for themselves where they stand (after being as informed as possible of course) and stand up for those issues with an open mind of where the other person is coming from - and if they feel strongly about it, they can still present their case without having to bring the other person down. I'd say apply more of an European-like inquisitorial system, rather than an American-like adversarial system. It's like religion - just because I don't ascribe to your religion, does not make me a "lost soul." There are room for a multitude of beliefs and viewpoints and that's what makes our society so great! Sadly, we have a long way to go. . . My lesson? To be able to be passionate about certain issues and voice those opinions without losing ground by throwing dirt, the type that involves personal attacks.

don't waste your youth growing up

via weheartit

I've noticed something about myself lately . . . I've been an age-ist.  When I read magazine interviews of young celebrities or women, I always go straight to the "comma-age-comma."  It was as if that was the determining factor of what I thought of them.  If someone is younger than me, I think "wow she is so young and pretty." *envy*  If someone is older than me, I think "eh, she's gorgeous but she's old."  *indifferent*

Today, I watched The View and some of the women refused to disclose their age.  How do they consider themselves strong, feminist women??

Our society promotes the idea that women should look forever young, skinny, and perfect . . . and they're always on the hunt for the next fresher, younger face.  When we can't catch up, we feel down on ourselves.  It's like the way Apple promotes its products- you get the iPad 2 yesterday thinking you have the newest, hottest gadget.  Then the next thing you know it an iPad 3 (or worst, 2.5) comes out and you were yesterday's news).  Perhaps that was what was going on with me.  Perhaps this explains my constant wiki of celebs or models' age-weight-height, my anti-wrinkle skin regimen, my juicing diet . .  . Actresses and models seem to be getting younger and younger as I just keep growing older.  It's like a big tease.

Then I thought about Diane von Furstenburg and how she's embracing the fact that with age comes wisdom.  She is beautiful in every way and embraces herself - wrinkles and all.  She is my idol.  It's so odd because I'm not even out of my 20s and I'm already acting as though I'm this middle-aged woman going through a crisis.  Perhaps this is merely a quarter-life symptom?

Speaking of which, I just finished watching "Under the Tuscan Sun" (by myself, of course) and I cried.  I cried because I felt her pain.  Why?  I do not know, because I'm not in my late 30s, divorced and alone.  I'm the opposite actually, but why did I feel her pain and romanticize of moving to Italy and buying a quaint 300 year old villa?  I'm telling you, my last life as a single European woman trying to find love but instead finds serenity in herself is creeping up on me. 

Why am I so scared of growing old?  Why am I letting this fear take over my youth?  Living is a beautiful thing, and so should growing old.  I've let magazines and the media distort this idea and affect the way I think, that I'm not taking in all this greatness of NOW.  If I could, I wouldn't go back to my high school years (though they were full of happy, independent moments); I wouldn't go back to my college years (though they were some of the more fun, easier years); I would definitely not go back to my post grad years (the struggling years) . . .  so here I am - at the culmination of my law school years, transitioning to the professional career woman I've been striving to be.  So taking me right to the wonderful here and now . . . 26 is a great age and I'm barely one month into it; I won't let it fly by so quickly like the past years.  It's also a reminder to myself that with every age brings something new and exciting . . . and instead of looking back, I should be looking forward - to all of the exciting years to come.                       

via garancedore.fr
It feels great to be a student/budding career woman 

Love, Nat

Hugo

". . . I would come up here a lot. I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason too." -Hugo Cabret 

I absolutely loved Martin Scorsese's Hugo.  The wonders of childhood and romance of Paris, all combined to create a beautiful masterpiece.   

Reincarnation

Rose Byrne for Muse 2011

"50,000 years ago, there are not even a million people on the planet. 10,000 years ago, there's, like, two million people on the planet. Now there's between five and six billion people on the planet, right? Now, if we all have our own, like, individual, unique soul, right, where do they all come from? You know, are modern souls only a fraction of the original souls? 'Cause if they are, that represents a 5,000 to 1 split of each soul in the last 50,000 years, which is, like, a blip in the Earth's time. You know, so at best we're like these tiny fractions of people, you know, walking... I mean, is that why we're so scattered?" -Jesse, Before Sunrise 

Before Sunrise . . . Before Sunset

Last night I made the bf watch "Before Sunrise" because I read an article about it in ForbesWomen and because it looked like a romantic movie with substance (and took place in Europe).  Despite the bf's groaning during the movie at alleged lame, cheesy parts, I absolutely adored it!  It was about two twenty-something strangers who meet on a train and decide to explore Vienna together.  They walk around the beautiful city and just talk about love, life, religion, politics, and everything within 24 hours.  There was no modern day lust, but pure connection of finding a soulmate.  Of course they fall in love, but make no promises about the future.  Julie Delpy was absolutely stunning and flawless!  The couple embodied the type of timeless chemistry I could only yearn for.  

Favorite scene in the record booth

We watched the 10 years later sequel, "Before Sunset," where they meet again in their 30s (in Paris!) and life just didn't manifest itself into a fairy tale ending. . . and that's why it felt so real.  Love this movie. 

 "Life's hard. It's supposed to be. If we didn't suffer, we'd never learn anything" -Jesse

"Memory is a wonderful thing if you don't have to deal with the past" -Celine 

"I read one of (my journal) from '83, the other day and what really surprised me, was that I was feeling with life, the same way am now.  I was much hopeful and naive, but the core, and the way I was feeling things, is exactly the same!  It made me realize I haven't changed much at all." -Celine

via IMDB.com

"Paris is always a good idea"

Paris in 2006

After enough persuasion to my benefactor bf, we will revist Pah-ri this summer after all!  And Venice, Rome, Madrid, and all those wonderful places I have yet to see!

Snippet from Sabrina:

Christmas came and left too soon

After having dinner with my bf's family on Christmas eve, we stayed up late watching "A Christmas Story" on TBS.  I can see why it's a holiday classic.  It's funny how as a child, everything seems so life-threatening and dramatic, one event after the next.  It sounded rather humorous having an adult narrator embodying the thoughts of little Ralphie.  Perhaps that's why I appreciated it so much, because it was only a week ago that I had dug up my old journals (all 13 books dating back from 1999!) and spent hours reading them.  It was exactly like that, an older me narrating the thoughts of the younger me and it was so silly how I had such a dramatic and exaggerated tone about sibling rivalry or crushing on boys, and then on the very same page, the mature reflections about the Jane Austen books I had read for fun. . . all at the age of 13.  Wow.                        

Anyways, this Christmas my bf and I said we wouldn't get each other anything because I was back to being a nonworking student and Christmas shopping for family was expensive in itself.  However, even though I said I didn't want a gift from him, a big part of me was still hoping for something small from him, just to open.  We've been together for 7 years, but that doesn't mean he has to be dull and unromantic.  Knowing me too well, he did get me a gift.  He got me a card and actually wrote something sweet.  That was all I needed.  I love more of the thoughtful gifts like that; not like last year when he got me a $700 Theory pant suit because he said I would need "a nice suit when I become a full-fledged lawyer."  Does he know what I can do with that much money?  A new Miu Miu clutch and Ferragamo flats maybe?!  Well, it is still in its dust bag with the tags still on.  Hopefully I can still fit into it next year . . .

Anyways, of course, there was something more to the card.  There was a cute bottle of wine and a small piece of paper that indicated we would go to a wine country in Santa Barbara for two nights to go wine tasting!  I was very excited because I've been wanting to go, but it's hard when he hates wine!  Perhaps he can learn to appreciate the taste and I can learn more about this art!  The location he planned for us to go to was called Fess Parker, which seemed extremely expensive for a mere 2 nights, so I told him I would plan our trip on a smaller budget!  I did a lot of research yesterday and booked our stay at this quaint shabby chic hotel in Solvang called Hadsten House Inn and Spa.

I also made him watch Sideways because it was supposedly about two guys going on a road trip to the same wine country we planned to visit.  I was very excited to watch the movie because I was hoping to see beautiful vineyards with a French Provincial vibe and I just expected an overall feel-good movie.  Wow was I wrong.  It was an award-winning movie back in 2004 . . . but why?  How?  It was so depressing because it was about two unattractive, old men going through their midlife crises.  I tried to see pass it, to appreciate the art of wine tasting, and the progression of the lives of this simple fruit . . . All I saw was dirty, southern-looking motel rooms, boring people in drab clothes, and the potential for a very boring countryside trip for a very urban girl.  On the other hand, my bf appreciated it (probably only after he read the critics review) . . .

Nonetheless, my goal this break and coming year was to mentally slow my life down a little, so perhaps I can find the beauty in it all and develop a deeper appreciation for the countryside.  I just ordered "The Wine Bible" on Amazon, so I can get a head start on being educated.

It's been a lot of family time lately, my sisters are coming over today to hang out and I will attempt my first Julia Child's recipe!              

"I like to think about the life of wine. How it's a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing; how the sun was shining; if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve, like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I'd opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive. And it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks, like your '61. And then it begins its steady, inevitable decline." Sideways. (love, love this quote) 

Love,
Nat

elle woods

"Law school is for people who are boring, and ugly, and…serious.

And you, Button, are none of those things."

– Elle's father

Not all Labels are Made Equal

I am so happy to find that Disney will go back to their roots and release a traditional cartoon-princess movie by the end of this year! My sisters and I grew up falling in love with Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Snow White, Pocahontas, etc… yet when I started reaching High School, Disney became more technically advanced and teamed up with Pixar for a more 3D approach to their animated creations. It was exciting to watch Disney transform with the times, but a part of me always felt nostalgic for more 2D classics that was such a big part of my childhood.

Upon Googling to find out more about “The Princess and the Frog,” I stumbled across articles and commentary about the new release and was instantly appalled by the petty critiques being made.

Princess Tiana will be the first black princess and it was mentioned that her original name was Princess Maddy and the title of the film was to be “The Frog Princess.” There was an issue with her name being too closely related to that of a slave name and the title would be too discriminating, given she would be the first African American Disney princess. Furthermore, there was also a big issue about Prince Naveen being of a Caucasian descent as opposed to being African American as expected.

Really? How can we call ourselves a big melting pot when now we feel the need to constantly make sure each individual ingredient gets their exact equal share in the mix? When they don’t, it becomes exacerbated until someone is deemed prejudice. Critics believe they are arguing against a racist representation of African Americans, believing that because Prince Naveen is not black, Disney is insinuating that a black Prince is not worthy enough. Why don’t people see that they are progressing from a racially similar couple to a now interracial one? It’s not just Ariel and Eric, Mulan and Shang, Jasmine and Aladdin…

Another issue similar to this was Michelle Obama’s inauguration gown. I was happy to see that she was not only wearing an upcoming young designer like Jason Wu that day, but that he was young and Asian. The next day, I read on The Cut (NY mag) that the Black Artists Association was going to file a complaint to the First Lady for not representing a black designer on such a historic day. I was shocked.

How can we move forward when we make race transparent in every judgment we pass? It’s great that we’ve moved from discriminating times to more accepting times, but that boulder will remain up if we become so sensitive and nitpick at everything the media portrays. We don’t need constant reminders that we are a society that does not tolerate racial inequality, unless it’s something intentional and absolutely obvious. We all know how far we've come. Nitpicking at the small to turn it into a bigger scab will only bear unforeseen ramifications that will take us as many steps back as we take forward.

All this need for labels of racism or injustice may be necessary then, but I personally feel that it’s not today. Just like we can’t afford high-end fashion labels in this economy, we can’t afford those kinds of labels either.

Nat

Breakfast at Tiffany's

This weekend was one of those weekends I felt I had put to waste, moping the days away…then come Sunday and I wished I hadn’t been such a self-wallowing slug. I have the tendency to want one thing and when I get it, I start to miss what I’ve given up…when I’m at one place, I dream that my life would be different elsewhere and when I get to that somewhere- I miss where I was…I want to be a free spirit and not be held down by any such inclinations of love or dependence, but when I get that opportunity to be released, I become a prisoner of my own emotions being pushed out of where I was once comfortable.

I spent all of my Saturday morning watching and re-watching “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” even though I have seen it one too many times before…I love that I get transported into another place and time where I can forget my small troubles, which fades away every time into the backdrop of the old glamour of uptown New York.

I’ve always wanted to be a Holly Golightly, a carefree darling who mingled her way to a Manhattan loft, worked her way into the socialite realm, who dated many but was held down by none. As life would have it, perhaps I too might be starting on the same road as Holly (née Lula Mae)…a suburban girl from humble beginnings who falls into a committed relationship in her teenage year…sometimes wishing to break free to be on the other side of the world.

But it’s obvious that Holly is just as unhappy as Lula Mae…she gave up something stable and dull, like a pair of cheap Soda flats, for something unstable and exciting, like a pair of 5 inch Christian Lacroix heels. There was no balance, since she was always at polar ends of the spectrum. Paul made a comment that struck a cord …

“You call yourself a free spirit, a "wild thing," and you're terrified somebody's gonna stick you in a cage. Well baby, you're already in that cage. You built it yourself. And it's not bounded in the west by Tulip, Texas, or in the east by Somali-land. It's wherever you go. Because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself.”

My preconceived notions of who I want to be or ought to be gets lost in my reality at times and I forget to count my blessings that perhaps having a lover whose wealth fluctuates with the stock market (who bought me Chanels and took me to fancy restaurants when the market was up and later then tells me to shop in my own closet and cook ramen for dinner when the market is down) is better than dating the “ninth richest man in the world” who will dump me at the slightest itch of a surfacing flaw…or even perhaps recycling last year's wardrobe to be recession-friendly is better than shopping every weekend to keep up with the times to end up in a deeper debt than the Federal Reserve...

Nothing political today…just a wake up call for the dreamer in me…and when I wake up I won’t be eating a croissant in a chic black gown in front of Tiffany’s down 5^th Avenue, but rather I’ll be at work in my bummy clothes eating oatmeal down in Culver City… and I am okay with that.



Nat