Lyrical Genius

My sister and I have this pact to start making more of an effort with our lives. We're trying to do things together on Friday and Saturday nights, our only free times. This just makes me think of that Will and Grace episode where Will says, "But we don't do things." Yeah, but we're trying to.

Since I'm usually exhausted, freezing, and starving after I get off my super-long Friday shift, we've been going out to get hot food Friday nights. Of course, since this is Lent, we're limited as to where we can go, for Catholics aren't allowed to eat meat on Fridays in Lent. One time we went to the Irish pub and got hot toddies and fish and chips (so delicious! Hot Irish whiskey with honey and cloves is a wonderful, wonderful thing!). This past Friday, we went to a pizza place I'd never been to before, since it's on the opposite side of town from where I live.

"It's a nice family place," my sister told me, "and sometimes they have live band performances."

So we go, since greasy veggie pizza sounds life-affirmingly appetizing when one has not eaten in nearly twelve hours. When we arrived, we immediately felt out of place. There was a performance going on, and the restaurant was filled with hipsters come to see it. In our sweats, my sister and I didn't really fit in.

We tried our best to ignore the very loud hubbub around us as we debated whether or not to get a pizza that included artichoke hearts, so the only phrase I heard from the girl on stage was "fucking chihuahuas." I cracked up because I had no idea what the context of that was. I still have no clue.

Then, most unfortunately, the night's main band start playing. Now these guys were not just an amateur hipster band who had never before performed in front of people. They were a hipster country band without any smidgen of musical talent. Each of their songs started exactly the same, and they sang in a terrible, fake Southern twang. Their lyrics were atrocious, to say the least, and included the following: "we'll all get high, and we'll all go to jail," "we'll go to Chicago, and we'll all go to jail," "you smell like raw sewage," "I want to drink a whole bottle of whiskey," and "we tried to shit, but we could only fart." It was very painful to hear. Prevalent themes included getting high, masturbation, and prison, so I muttered snarkily under my breath, "Clearly their inspiration for their lyrics is taken from daily life."

By the sixth song, I could not handle it any longer, and I yelled at my sister to pound her beer so that we could escape. On the bright side, the pizza was quite delicious, but I won't be going there again unless I know in advance there are no hipster stoner country bands playing to ravage my ears.

Here's hoping for a better Friday experience.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

What The...

What the hell did I write this morning?! I seriously need to get over this flu like now.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

An Ode To Nyquil

Nyquil Is...

Nyquil is when you wake up in the morning and can't remember what day it is.
Nyquil is when you stare at the shower head because you're too tired to remember how to turn it on.
Nyquil is when you lather up your acne cleanser and then put it in your hair.
Nyquil is when you feel so drowsy that coffee can't wake you up.
Nyquil is when you stock two entire cases of soy sauce bottles and then realize you marked them all at the wrong price.
Nyquil is when you start spouting bizarre poetry because it's all you can think about as you try to figure out how to survive another day on Nyquil.

So that's how my life is right now. How are things with you?

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul,

And The Winner Is...

It's the morning after the Academy Awards, so while I eat breakfast and prepare for a heavy day of work (while still sick, yes), I have to take the time to check out three lists: who won the Oscars, who wore the best outfits, and who wore the worst. The winners are the first and easiest to check out. On Saturday I posted a list of who I felt should win in some of the categories, so now let me compare the Wikipedia list of who actually won to my predictions. Hmm...

The predictions I got correct are as follows:

• Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence
• Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (Yay!)
• Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway
• Best Writing Original Screenplay: Django Unchained
• Best Animated Short Film: Paperman

 Well, five wins isn't so bad, and I really feel that all five of these deserved wins, especially Christoph Waltz and Jennifer Lawrence. As for discussing the red carpet outfits, that will come soon in another post.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

My Apologies

Due to this cold turning into a flu (yes, another flu despite the one I suffered from for a couple weeks in January) and not being able to take off either job while sick (yes, I know, life sucks), I am behind on schedule, and I don't have this week's post drafts ready or rather fully written. I am spending every moment of the day struggling to breathe, and while I will continue to sacrifice sleep for the sake of having time to write, at the moment I am popping a Nyquil and trying to recover. Therefore, posts for the next few days will be rather light. I have some great material to write about planned out, but taking the time to write something comprehensive is easier said than done. I humbly apologize, but don't fret too much, readers. I fully intend to keep my minimum of five posts a week promise.

On the bright side, Christoph Waltz got the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. There is hope in this world.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

Aurora's Nominations

The 85th Academy Awards are on Sunday, and though I'll be at work, I still plan to look up who won and see all the important outfits Monday morning. Let's face it: the red carpet outfits are probably the most important part to me: seeing lots of gorgeous actresses all glamorous and sexy. I do have a few ideas as to who and what should win, so here are my picks for the Oscars:

• Best Picture: Django Unchained (although it should be The Avengers)
• Best Director: Why the hell aren't Joss Whedon, Peter Jackson, and Chris Nolan on the nomination list?!
• Best Actor: Hugh Jackman (but it really should be Tom Hardy)
• Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence
• Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (This is the win I want most out of all the categories! Christoph Waltz is an amazing actor, and it would be awesome for him to have a winning set for Hans Landa and for Schultz.)
• Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway
• Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained
• Best Animated Feature: Wreck-It Ralph
• Best Animated Short Film: Paperman
• Best Original Song: Why the hell weren't Safe & Sound and Breath of Life nominated?!
• Best Production Design: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
• Best Costume Design: Snow White and The Huntsman
• Best Visual Effects: Marvel's The Avengers

Those are the ones I care about at least. Is it obvious what my preferences are? We'll see how it goes Monday morning.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

Graphic Admiration

Nerd moment: I love comic books and graphic novels. I tend to read collected volumes rather than single issue by issue because I prefer to read more at once, but the downside to that is having to wait longer before they become available from the publishers. Waiting can be so irritating sometimes, but I just have to deal.

I've always considered myself a Marvel girl, but I don't dislike DC. It's just that, besides Batman, I don't really pay too much attention to the main DC multiverse. For DC, I pay much more attention to Vertigo, which has their more mature, darker, more supernatural series and mini-series, like the beautiful piece of dark fantasy literature that is Neil Gaiman's Sandman (I have such a thing for Death, by the way -- so adorable!). Other great examples would be Arkam Asylum: A Serious House On A Serious Earth, V For Vendetta, Hellblazer, and Preacher. John Constantine, Hellblazer is amazingly and fascinatingly disturbing, particularly when written by Garth Ennis, at least, the talented writer also behind Preacher. Preacher is-- well, the only way to describe it is awesome and effed up. My favorite character, Cassidy, is a complete monster, but I still sympathize with him. Even villainous characters like Jody still have a lot of likeability.

Garth Ennis is also the genius behind my favorite issues of The Punisher. Now, I love a lot of Marvel characters, including Rogue, Nightcrawler, Iron Man, Daredevil, Spider-man, Doctor Doom, Deadpool, Wolverine, Captain America, Nick Fury, Blade, Beast, too many to count, honestly, but Frank Castle is my favorite. He's so dark, snarky, and sarcastic, and I enjoy the constant inner monologue. Sure, it's ultraviolent, but it's hilarious -- very Tarantino is that aspect, actually. The return of The Russian and his enormous breasts and Frank using Spider-man as a shield/weapon against him is one of the most hilarious things I've ever read. Ever. It's in the volume called Punisher: Army of One. I highly recommend it, although I'd suggest reading Welcome Back, Frank first.

There's a bunch of Dark Horse lines I like too, especially Hellboy and B.P.R.D. and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and of course I enjoy The Walking Dead (Image Comics), which could -- and should -- take a post by itself, as should the greatest graphic novel of all time, Watchmen.

Just a general assertion, though: just because I've been gushing so much about fashion and beauty doesn't mean I'm not a complete and utter nerd. Because I totally am. Never forget it.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

Mila Kunis's Allure Look

As I've said previously, I only buy Allure once in a while, usually when there's a cover girl I like. In this case, Allure features the smoldering beauty that is Mila Kunis. It's weird, but I used to dislike her because I found her character Jackie on That 70's Show to be annoying. Of course, the character isn't the actress, and I started to warm up to her once I found out that she voices Meg on Family Guy. Family Guy is one of those shows that's either a hit or a miss; some episodes are really, really stupid, and some are hilariously funny. I like Meg the best, though, because she's awkward and pathetic, which makes her relatable. For me, at least. Then came Black Swan and Mila's seductive performance therein. I even found her hotter than Natalie Portman, on whom I've had a crush since fourth grade. Mila gt a very sexy cover on February 2011's issue of Cosmo as their Fun, Fearless Female of the Year, and my heart fluttered. Full-blown crush. Now she is my top pick to play Anastasia Steele in a Fifty Shades of Grey movie (and Jensen Ackles is my pick for Christian Grey).

Her photo shoot for March Allure continues her aura of seduction. The picture of her on the inside cover, with that lace and chain link dress and those bombshell curls -- absolutely gorgeous! Here is my take on recreating her look.

First spritz damp hair with root-lifting spray and pin up in large velcro rollers. Keep it up and out of the way while working on makeup. Do foundation, concealer, powder routine. Darken and define brows with an eyebrow pencil. Then, pat flesh-colored cream shadow across the eyelid. Take a shimmery black shadow to the outer corner, and use a crease brush to swipe it across the entire crease to the inner corner. Do a second layer of this to darken, and bring some of it halfway down the lower lashline, blending to soften slightly. Take a liquid liner across the upper and lower lashline, and then use an angled brush and the same black shimmer to go over the liquid liner for a softer, smoldering look. Line your waterline in peach or nude eyeliner to enlarge the eyes. Curl your lashes, and add several coats of mascara. Finish the face with soft peach blush and beige lipstick.

Take down the rollers; blow-dry if needed, and use a paddle brush to lengthen the curls. Then take a 1 and 1/2 inch curling iron to the ends of your hair. Spritz with hairspray, and arrange your luscious curls sexily around your shoulders. Rub in a bit of argan oil for a bit of extra shine.

Finish the look with coral nail polish and a gorgeous dress. Blow your reflection in the mirror a kiss, and be ready to seduce the world.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul. 

Update: Finally got my computer to be able to add pictures to posts.

Picture belongs to Allure magazine.

 

Object of Lust

I am totally loving the gorgeous Tom Ford wedges I saw in Harper's Bazaar! They showed multiple versions: one in silver, one in black and gold, and one in white and gold; and the silver was calling my name. It's shiny and metallic and so pretty! It's a sandal, so open toes (all the better for showing off my perpetually black-lacquered toenails), with a strap halfway across the foot and two ankle straps. Truthfully, this delight of a shoe isn't actually a wedge, since it does have a tiny bit of a stiletto point peeking underneath and giving it a sexy air and some height. The wedge part is covered in dangling spikes, which sexifies it even more. I adore the melange of effortless sandal with an edgy fringe of spikes. I'd love to throw this on with my purple skinny jeans or a flowy skirt in one of the modern floral prints that are in right now.

Unfortunately, a pair of these heart-stoppingly beautiful sandals cost $2970, so they won't be happening for me. It's very sad. Nonetheless, I know what I'll be dreaming about tonight.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

An Exciting List

Things I Am Looking Forward To In The Next Month:

• Shards and Ashes 

• This is the second short story collection (the first was Enthralled) edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong. Both of these women are incredible dark fantasy and paranormal romance authors, especially Melissa Marr. She is a huge inspiration to me and to my writing, and her characters are rich, complex, and so seductive. When I tell people what kind of books I write, I cite Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, and always Melissa Marr as my genre examples. Enthralled was a lovely collection, so I am thrilled to read Shards and Ashes. It was only just released, and I'm getting my copy this weekend.

• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 on DVD
•  I'm not a big fan of the movies, but I love, love, love the books and feel no shame in admitting my infatuation. Breaking Dawn Part 2 was really well done despite Part 1 sucking and despite Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. The whole "screwing with your mind" twist, although un-canon, made the movie. It was a good conclusion to the saga that really showed off the excellently cast side characters, like the Volturi, Carlisle, Ashley Greene as Alice, and Dakota Fanning as Jane. I'm looking forward to the DVD; it's a guilty pleasure I don't feel the slightest bit guilty about.

• Banana Republic's Mad Men Collection
• So awesome and so very on trend for spring, and perfect for those of us who can't afford Louis Vuitton.

• Oz: The Great and Powerful
• This movie looks fantastic! I love how much (from the pictures I've seen at least) Michelle Williams as Glinda looks like Kristen Chenoweth in Wicked! It looks like a fun fantasy adventure, and the makeup tie-ins (both OPI and Urban Decay) have been amazing! Most importantly: Mila Kunis. Oh, how I love Mila Kunis...

So any time I'm feeling depressed right now, I'm trying to remind myself of these fabulous things coming to me, and my day seems a little bit brighter as the future seems a little more fabulous.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

The Suck List

Things That Suck:

1. Finding out that Beautiful Creatures, a movie I'd been looking forward to since November, is not playing in my area.
2. Customers who insult cashiers who have no idea what they're looking for. Seriously, if I have never heard of what it is you want and you dismiss my suggestions, then I can't help you.
3. Internet randomly disconnecting and not working again for an evening.
4. Running out of soap in the bathroom because I forgot to buy more over the weekend.
5. Getting out of work late after the last bus has left, which means walking home almost an hour and twenty minutes in the torrential downpour of rain, only to arrive home soaked to the bone and finding not only are my copies of this month's Glamour and Allure ruined, but my rough drafts of posts for this entire week are dripping wet.
6. Going to bed with wet hair.

I hope your day and evening have gone by far better than mine, readers.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

Get Dakota Fanning's Glamour Cover Look

I really wish I could figure out how to add pictures to posts, for some reason, Blogspot won't let me. That will make this post a bit more difficult, but hopefully the links will help make things more clear.

The March magazines so far have been absolutely fabulous, and I am loving Dakota Fanning's cover on Glamour. She looks so casual-chic, glamorous and effortless at the same time. That's the sort of style I like to incorporate in everyday looks. So here is my take on recreating her look...

First things first: makeup. Start with your regular foundation, concealer, and powder routine. Then put a not too thin coat of black eyeliner on your top lid and halfway across the lower lashline. Do another layer of liner on top, but don't start too near your inner corner. Next, take a creamy white eyeliner and highlight your inner corner, blending into the black liner; then carefully line your waterline in white. This will really brighten up your eyes and make them look instantly bigger. See how doll-like Dakota's eyes are? The Sephora jumbo eyeliners in the links are very thick and my go-to eyeliners for a look to last all day. After that comes mascara, and the Mega Plush by Maybelline is my absolute favorite. To further enlarge the eyes, concentrate the mascara towards the outer corner on both the upper and lower lashes. Do two coats on the bottom lashes and three on top for extra voluminous lashes.

Next, the luscious red lips. Line your lips in red to make them look fuller. (Oddly enough, Dakota has the same lip shape as I do: thin upper lip and very full bottom lip.) Then cover the entire lip in a light coat of the liner. On top of that, slick on some red lip gloss or stain. Blot your lips on a tissue, and do a second coat of gloss. Finish off the look with some pinky-brown blush in a shade that best corresponds to your skin tone.

As for the hair, the quick way to get those gorgeous curls is to spritz on root-lifting spray and volumizing hairspray before taking a curling iron to it. The lazy way (aka my way) is to use some styling gel and hairspray to french braid your hair after you wash it. The next day unbraid and finger comb while working in a volumizing dry shampoo for body and to soak up oil at the roots. Spritz a little bit more volumizing hairspray, and voila, lovely, second day waves!

The outfit is pretty simple: graphic t-shirt with a sparkly skirt or other kind of dressy skirt. The dressiness of the skirt is toned down by the casualness of the t-shirt. Me, I'd wear my TARDIS tee with my blue a-line miniskirt and cap-toed black ballet flats. For jewelry add some sparkly stud earrings and a stack of bracelets on one arm.

Glamour's cover doesn't really show a good picture of Dakota's nails, but I'd do something light, like pale pink, lilac, or dove grey, to keep from being too much with the bold lip.

Enjoy looking fabulous!

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

Valentine's Day Love Letters

Ah, Valentine's Day... The day where everyone has a lot of pressure placed on them by society to be in a perfectly romantic, wonderful relationship. Ugh. Those of us who are single always become extra-cynical at this time of the year as we see all the happy couples surrounding us and so many people nagging us about why we aren't doing anything special with someone for Valentine's Day. Frankly, the whole thing is rather annoying. Especially since it's Lent, and I can't buy any chocolate.

That doesn't mean I dislike the mushy stuff. I am a romantic at heart. My love is usually unrequited. Probably because I fall for unattainable people. Ah well. In honor of Valentine's Day, here's a love letter to the girl I want to marry...

Dear Taylor Swift,
I wish I could express my feelings for you in song, but unlike you in all your loveliness, I have no musical talent. Your music, however, speaks to me on a deep, personal level. Whether I'm feeling happy, depressed, wistful, or hopeful, you have songs to fit every one of my moods, songs that always make me feel connected instead of all alone. On top of that, you are an amazing, beautiful, inspiring girl -- the perfect woman! I'd marry you if I could. I'd break all my no relationship rules for you. I mean it. Your songs of unrequited love echo this never-to-be romance.
Affectionately yours,
Aurora K.

Aww, that was sweet. How about another one?

Dear Castiel,
Although I am fully aware that you are meant to be with Dean Winchester forever, my heart is still full of affection for you, and I desperately want to give you a hug (at least you got one from Dean, right?). Even though I am greatly entertained by all the terrible, tragic things that happen to you, your misery and loneliness yank on my heartstrings, playing them like a harp with a desolate tune until they're bleeding with empathy. OK, that turned out to be slightly more morbid than I intended. I'm sure it's funnier in Enochian. Anyway, it's totally OK for us to be together, dear Castiel, even though I'm a lesbian, because angels are genderless. See? Completely OK.
With love, Aurora K.

That was fun. Here's a few more:

Dear Black Widow,
Call Me?
XOXO

Dear Katy Perry,
Kiss this girl, and I guarantee you'll like it.
XOXO

Dear Katniss Everdeen,
As awesome and badass as you are, Girl On Fire, you belong with Peeta, and I'm not messing with that. Sorry.
XOXO

Dear Dracula,
Uh, hello? My neck is right here, all vulnerable and exposed. Go on and bite me already, you vampire!
XOXO

Dear Draculaura,
After I've been bitten, what do you say to twirling your adorable little parasol over my head, and we'll watch the bats fly at sunset? It'll be totally romantic!
XOXO

Dear Charlize Theron,
O. M. Sexy! That's all I can say.
XOXO

Dear Mila Kunis,
Same thing. Wow.
XOXO

Dear Selena Gomez,
You are the thunder, and I am the lightning.
XOXO

Dear Faith the Slayer,
Yes, you do look fantastic in those leather pants!
XOXO

Dear Lady Mary Crawley,
It would never work out between us, darling. So sorry, but MaryXMatthew forever.
XOXO

I hope these entertained you all, dear readers. Happy Valentine's Day! (Technically St. Valentine's Day.)

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

Lent: My Anti-Drug

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent. I'm not completely sure how other Christian sects go about it, but for Catholics like me, Lent is a season of fasting, prayer, and preparation. It's like a spiritual detox for forty days, to represent the forty days Christ fasted in the desert. It's tradition to abstain from meat on Fridays and to give up one's vices in order to focus on developing a closer relationship with God.

What to give up is always a big question. When I was a kid, it was ice cream and pop every year. Sometimes candy as well. My freshman year of college I gave up all unhealthy food to teach myself a lesson about gluttony, since it's one of the seven deadly sins and since I'd been taking way too much advantage of the campus cafeteria's buffet. Last year I tried to curb my addiction to shopping. I kinda failed at that one. Obviously I can't give up all shopping because I do need basic things like groceries, soap, paper towels, et cetera, but unnecessary items I splurge too much on, those I can give up.

So here's my list of what I'm giving up for Lent:

• Buying snacks from the Asian supermarket I work at (I really don't need daifuku, funwariyaki, Pocky, Hello Pandas, etc., and I spend too much money on them anyway)
• Buying new books (except for the new Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong book, since I've been planning to buy that since before I knew the release date)
• Buying candy (I'm going to cut back on eating candy, but giving it up altogether is too much to handle)
• Buying any article of clothing that costs more than $25 (I have lots of nice clothing I love, and I need to stop cutting into my grocery budget for more clothes)
• Buying dolls (which is hard for a doll collector like myself, but like I mentioned above, if I don't have money for bills and groceries, I can't justify buying dolls, as adorable as they are. Except for the Scaris line Ghoulia and Draculaura. I need those two.)
• Buying makeup and beauty products (with the exception of replacing shampoo and conditioner when I run out because those are essentials, but I don't need to buy a fifth bottle of volumizing mousse or a fourth bottle of hairspray, even though the package is so pretty and I really want to try this kind and see how it compares to the others-- No, I must stand firm.)
• Pop
• Cake and cupcakes
• Ice cream (beyond the stuff in my freezer that needs to be used up)
• Writing nasty things in my diary about people I deal with at work
• Passive-aggressive moves in the ongoing war with my roommates, the FBRs (although I'm not sure how long I'll be able to give this one up)

Am I missing anything? I think that's it.

Is anyone else giving up a long, convoluted list of addictions for Lent? Let me know, and we can support each other throughout Lent.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

A Cup Of Fat

Last Friday evening, after an exhausting day of work (everyone was coming in to shop for the Lunar New Year), I went to my sister Emma's to help her make whoopie pies as an early Valentine's Day treat for her boyfriend. Whoopie pies are an odd dessert, with a texture in between a cookie and a cake. The dough is incredibly thick and hard to beat. It's very clay-like, actually.

Whoopie pies are supposed to be an American standard, but I don't get them. They're just not appetizing to me-- especially after straining to mix the dough. My sister said, while opening a beer for each of us, that whoopie pies were supposedly invented by some Amish farmer and that she didn't understand how they could make these without electric mixers. A very valid point because I don't get that either.

"Screw you, Amish farmer guy," I grumbled as I struggled to scrape the bowl with multiple spatulas.

The traditional whoopie pie is chocolate with a marshmallow filling. We were using the recipe from the King Arthur Flour Cookbook, which is a good, reliable cookbook. Their recipe for the filling called for a cup of powdered sugar, a cup and a third of marshmallow fluff (which is, in my opinion, one of the most disgusting and sticky foods in the world), saltwater, vanilla extract, and a whole cup of shortening. I almost threw up when I was mixing in the cup of fat. It was just so disgusting, and then it got n my fingers and was so greasy and ugh! I'm shuddering just writing about it.

The second kind of whoopie pies we made were cardamom-pistachio with buttercream filling, and my poor sister had a very difficult time shelling and chopping so many, many pistachios. These ones tastes infinitely better, but they weren't worth the massive amount of work, and we have solemnly agreed never to make whoopie pies again.

I hope he's liking his Valentine's Day present, with its cup of fat. Ew. Just ew. All I can say is thank the glistening stars above for Sam Adams beer and the Rock of Ages movie soundtrack, without which I never could have gotten through this particular baking experience.

With that in mind, allow me to wish all you readers a happy Fat Tuesday, AKA Mardi Gras. Beer is how I'm celebrating that too.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

Living On Ramen

One of the ways in which I can survive off a miniscule food budget each week is because I have easy access to cheap instant noodles.They might not taste the best of all the noodles in the world, but they're easy and quick when all I have is a few minutes a water cooler that dispenses hot water. Plus we have a decent selection at the Asian supermarket where I work, so instant ramen tends to be my go to lunch or dinner most days.

I like the Korean ramen/ramyun the best, since they're very spicy for the most part, and I love spicy food. In fact, now when I have Japanese ramen, I tend to add crushed red pepper flakes and/or chili garlic sauce to spice it up quite a bit. The seafood flavors are among the better tasting, especially lobster. There was this one lobster flavored noodle bowl we carried three years ago, and it was so good! Mouth-burningly spicy, but delicious. Unfortunately, we haven't had it in since.

Lately I've been eating more of the bowls with rice noodles. Eating the same thing every day gets boring, so I'm trying to branch out from the cheapest of ramen. Rice noodles do, in my opinion, taste better than the wheat noodles and ramen, so that's a plus. They just take longer to reconstitute, which is rather a disadvantage when I'm desperately trying to scarf down something to eat between customers on a busy day.

Another advantage to the noodle bowls is that they are warming. The store's temperature is usually in the 30s (yes, Fahrenheit) or 20s on colder days. Drinking the hot soup is a good way to warm up.

The downside is all the salt, plus MSG and preservatives. One noodle bowl usually contains almost a whole day's recommended amount of sodium. Yeah, that's not so good. There aren't really health benefits to ramen. At all.

But in a pinch, stuck at work with practically no money and no means of cooking an alternative, I'll take my hot, filling, instant noodle bowl.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul

Downton Style

It should come as no surprise how much I love Downton Abbey. It's an amazingly well done British period drama, and it's so well researched. Historical details are spot on. The costumes are incredible and change as the period changes with a very natural -- and historically accurate -- progression, and fabulous style is circumambient throughout. The styles shown have definitely had an influence on current fashion, which I love. Twenties' fashion is so much fun, even though I personally cannot pull off drop-waist dresses, but Twenties'-style jewelry, both trendy and vintage-y, has been very in. I love pairing the long, feminine necklaces with edgy, studded bracelets.

Another thing from this past season that I feel certainly has a Downton Abbey influence is the cloche hat. I love cloches. They're bell-shaped and low enough to keep my ears warm, and they look so chic. I remember back in the fall I saw this absolutely beautiful, oxblood cloche from Banana Republic, and it was an outfit-making statement piece. I had just spent all my spare money on a gorgeous Calvin Klein top that had been on an incredible sale (purple snakeskin print, sleeveless, cowl neck, with faux leather back, so fabulous!), so I couldn't afford the oxblood cloche. I was able to snag a couple of less expensive ones later: one in black with a black a ribbon and one in fuschia with a flower decoration. They're very feminine and fun, and I love wearing them with my hair braided back.

Anyway, if you don't watch Downton Abbey for the well-written story, the engaging array of characters, the incredible historical details, the sexy British accents, the beautiful and stunning Michelle Dockery, or the heart-wrenching "will they or won't they?" tension, then at least watch it for the lovely fashion.

And Maggie Smith. She's freaking awesome.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul

Spring Shopping

I've mentioned a couple times that I love fashion and beauty. I'm too poor and have too distinct of a personal style to be considered a fashionista, but I adore fashion. I'm subscribed to a lot of magazines: Cosmopolitan, In Style, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire, Vogue, People Style Watch, Harper's Bazaar, and Lucky. I read them every month. Once in a while I read Allure as well. It's OK, but I don't like it quite as much as the others.

February is an important month for magazines because this is when the March issues come out, and March is the beginning of the spring season, although to be current and up to date, one starts wearing spring fashion right away in February. The March magazines I've gotten in the mail at this point are Lucky, Cosmo, and In Style, and so far I'm pretty pleased. No, I don't have the money to buy a whole new spring wardrobe; who freaking does? Besides, I love the clothes I already own; I don't want to replace them. I just want to enhance them -- change them up and make them new. Isn't that what spring is about? Cleaning out old dust, sprucing things up, and making everything pretty.

Which is totally why I'm eying this adorable pink button down I saw at the mall. It'll be fantastic with the black a-line miniskirt I got from Charlotte Russe in the Christmas sales. So pretty!

And the Prabal Garung for Target Collection debuting tomorrow. If only I didn't have to work so that I could spend all of tomorrow shopping!

Happy shopping to all who can go in my place! (Lucky bastards.)

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul

I Can Live Inside My Head

I've always had a strong imagination. As a kid, I was constantly making up stories in my head. Nothing was ever simply mundane to me. I remember in second grade, my best friend Iris and I would always go on adventures in the parking lot where we spent recess. We had our own invisible world there. Over by the pine trees was Secret Cabin. We would often make piles there of the pods that fell from the tulip trees; these were our harvests of corn. In Secret Cabin, we would be safe from the evil spiders of Poison River, this big streak of tar covering a cracked part of the school's parking lot. Every day was a magical adventure.

I still prefer to live inside my head. There I keep worlds upon worlds of fascinating places. It's one of the reasons I decided to become a writer, since I love creating settings and characters. While I commute to work, while I do basic tasks like stocking, my mind is always far away creating some adventure for my characters. The problem is finding the time to take these imaginings and writing them out in an organized manner. A stream of consciousness like this is simple. A structured novel is much more complex.

I'm trying. I'm trying so hard.

And in the meantime, I stay inside my head and keep dreaming of the day I finally pull my life together.

That's enough introspection for now.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

Motivation

So I haven't posted lately, one might have noticed. Between internet problems and life problems, I haven't been able to. I know that's no excuse after I made this commitment to writing a daily blog, especially since I have a week's worth of posts drafted in my notebook. I wanted to force myself to write everyday, and it wasn't even a week in before I failed. Like I seem to fail at almost everything.

It might be a tiny bit obvious from some of my previous posts and tweets that I have some depression issues. Just a bit. Writing always helps me through it, and so I was trying to rely on this. I placed a lot of hopes in this. Let's face it, though. I am never realistic. I always expect things to go well, and they never do. I can't just expect to start a blog and magically flourish as a writer overnight. I have to get my ass in gear and work at it, no matter how exhausted I am from working sixty hours a week and no matter no matter how many times I can't go home to my apartment because of altercations with the nasty FBRs I live with.

So here I am rededicating myself to this blog. Get to work, Aurora K. That's my new mantra. A daily blog might be too much for me to handle right now. *Cough* computer issues *cough* sixty work hours a week *cough.* Perhaps in the future, but for now, this will be a five posts a week thing.

If anyone out there is reading this, don't give up on me, whoever you are.

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul.

A Question of Great Philosophic Import

Sometimes it feels like I can never catch a break. I finally get a full night's worth of sleep; I finally get caught up on a particular set of bills; I finally have money in my bank account, and then everything feels like it crashes down around me. I get over the flu only to be scheduled eleven straight hours in essentially a freezer on a day predicted to be between ten and twenty degrees. I finally get myself off of a steady diet of dayquil and nyquil only to be unable to sleep at night. I get some things worked out with my loan provider, and the paperwork never comes in the mail, so now I have more than my entire bank account balance due. Everything gets bad at once.

Life is a constant uphill struggle, and I always seem to be sliding back down every few steps I take. I'm constantly moving forward and never getting anywhere. It's like trying to go down an upward escalator or running on a treadmill.

Wow, this post is way more depressing than I'd originally intended. It's Friday, and just because I'm stuck working eleven hours on the busiest day of the week by myself with no other cashiers does not mean I have to bring down everyone else too, right? Whatever readers are out there, somewhere on the Internet...

Let me end with a positive note...

OK, I just spent the last four minutes staring at the notebook I'm writing this in, trying to come up with something positive, and all I can think of is that after my excruciatingly long work day is over, I get to repaint my nails. While working, I get to debate this important question: do I paint them purple or grey?

XOXO
Gossip Ghoul