And Again...

Here is another beautiful dress by my new friend Elie Saab. This one is not quite as perfectly modest as the last one, but it's pretty dang close, therefore I am impressed. So there. Enjoy.

PS. What kind of a jerk asks you on a date and then asks you to drive? I know one. This ought to be a fun one...

PPS. Great story. I sent my dear friend in NZ a letter last November. November 3 to be precise. The letter disappeared and was never heard from again. We officially labeled it AWOL. A few days ago I opened my mailbox and discovered this letter had found its way back to me. And today I sent it again.

PPPS. Since I'm sharing random stories and since I'm listening to it right now, I might as well confess how obsessed I am with the song "Marry Me" by Train. Listen to it. NOW.

PPPPS. Last one. There are officially some very, VERY strange people on BYU campus. FYI.

HOPE!

As of this morning when I discovered him via "The Cut" for the first time, I am officially obsessed with today's Designer of the Day, Eli Saab, a man after my own heart: lace, and beautiful gowns in simple colors.

Now here's the cool thing:

GORGEOUS! This exemplifies what I want to do with my life - this is a designer gown, yet it is completely modest. Granted, I haven't seen the back, but I'm going on good faith that it is as acceptable as the front. And I would like to find ONE person who can tell me that they wouldn't want this dress just because it doesn't have sleeves. It's living proof, people: evening wear can be classy and beautiful AND modest and not suck like the dresses at Allyse's. (No offense ladies - I respect your efforts, but your dresses are over-priced and all cut from the same cookie-cutter mold that doesn't fit any real human being but the snotty girls you hire to sell them.)

The Significance of Snowflakes

Today was our ward conference, therefore a member of the stake Relief Society taught our lesson in the third hour. The lesson was semi-scattered...or maybe I just had a hard time following it. I WAS rather distracted today. But THIS is one thing that I did get out of it, and that was good enough for me.

We talked about snowflakes. The teacher told a story of a girl who brought her a pile of snowflakes and said, "I like to cut snowflakes in my spare time." She thought that was rather odd and didn't think much of it, until she picked up the bundle of snowflakes and went through them one by one. Each snowflake was so intricate, so detailed, and yet so completely individual from the next. The girl who brought them admitted that she was still trying to discover herself, but as she sat and cut the snowflakes in her spare time, she felt like she was finding insight into herself little by little.

In the same way, our Father in Heaven took the time to cut and shape us. We are each intricate, detailed, and most importantly, individual. None of us is like another, and yet is any one of us less beautiful? Have you ever seen an ugly snowflake? I think not. As Father shaped each of us, I am sure He stopped, held us up to the light to inspect His work, and was satisfied with what He had created. That being said, it is now our duty to discover the potential Father buried within us. Just as the girl searches herself by shaping snowflakes, we must discover ourselves through our works. We can't sit idly by and expect our path to be revealed to us. We must ask, and Father will help. But we must do our part.

I had an interesting thought as we sang the sacrament hymn today. The hymn was "Behold the Great Redeemer Die" (Hymn #191) and the third verse reads:

Although in agony he hung,

No murm'ring word escaped his tongue.

His high commission to fulfill,

His high commission to fulfill,

He magnified his Father's will.

I like to re-read the hymns as the sacrament is passed, and as I did so today I thought, "How can I magnify my Father's will?" Then even more strongly came the thought, "What IS my Father's will for me?" We spend so much time trying to figure ourselves out. Don't get me wrong - I believe more than anyone that doing so is such an important part of and step in life. But how much time do we spend asking God what part we are to play in His plan, and how we can prepare ourselves to do so?

We are each like one of those paper snowflakes. We are unique, beautiful, wonderful, crafted with purpose and intent. Father in Heaven created us. He knows our shape - our potential. It is our responsibility now to cut away and craft ourselves, to find our shape in the mirror, and to find that purpose He has for us, to discover ourselves, and to strive daily to become what Father knows we can be.

That all made sense in my head...I hope it makes sense to whoever happens to read this.

2 AM

Yeah...so I'm posting quite a lot lately it seems. Technically and yet not so technically I already posted today - what I mean is I've already posted within this same wakeful time span because here it is 2 AM and I'm not tired a bit. Too much running through my mind. And we'll just say that watching "Becoming Jane," though it is a most excellent movie, did not help one bit. And as I sit here, having already eaten what I was saving for lunch tomorrow, trying to decide what to do with all this time I have before me in the middle of this night, wondering where on earth my roommate is, the lyrics to this song keep running through my head. So I thought I'd post them:

2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake,
"Can you help me unravel my latest mistake?,
I don't love him. Winter just wasn't my season"
Yeah we walk through the doors, so accusing their eyes
Like they have any right at all to criticize,
Hypocrites. You're all here for the very same reason

'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, girl.
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe... just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe

May he turned 21 on the base at Fort Bliss
"Just a day" he said down to the flask in his fist,
"Ain't been sober, since maybe October of last year."
Here in town you can tell he's been down for a while,
But, my God, it's so beautiful when the boy smiles,
Wanna hold him. Maybe I'll just sing about it.

Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table.
No one can find the rewind button, boys,
So cradle your head in your hands,
And breathe... just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe

There's a light at each end of this tunnel,
You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out
And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again
If you only try turning around.

2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song
If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me,
Threatening the life it belongs to
And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
And I know that you'll use them, however you want to

But you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button now
Sing it if you understand.
and breathe, just breathe
woah breathe, just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe.

Yup, yup. 2 AM and I'm still awake, trying to unravel my latest mistake, etc etc. You know, I have always wanted to spend an entire night awake with nobody to keep me company but myself. I've often said to those who know me that late at night is when I do my best thinking. Perhaps tonight I shall get my chance, for as I said, I'm not a bit tired.

Also, in case you were wondering, as beautiful as Burberry is, I shall never understand someone who has $400.00 to spend on a sleeveless blouse.

Gag me. And pure love.

I just read this on a friend's blog:

"While I was at the bookstore picking up my remedy I noticed ALL the Valentines Day candy. I LOVE Valentines Day! Probably because I think life is like a fairytale and I love LOVE. Even though I won't be getting anything or spending the day with anyone special it still makes me happy because I love knowing that so many people in the world are happy and celebrating their loved ones. Happy Valentines Day-one month in advance!"

GAG me. Granted, I've only spent one Valentine's Day with someone I actually cared about. But even then, I wasn't a huge fan of the holiday. It was just a cause of all sorts of unnecessary stress. A day about love? Where is the romance in that? Romance is in finding something beautiful in the ordinary. Romance is doing something special for someone you care about on a random day of the week. Romance is not a national holiday obligation. I have a long-standing tradition of wearing black on Valentine's Day in protest. Just saying. Had to get that out of my system.

BTW - I actually adore the person who posted this. I just disagree on Valentine's Day.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE, here is the most beautiful picture of Sara Bareilles in the world. Not only because Sara Bareilles herself is beautiful, and my roommate is blessed to look like her, but because the COLOR and COMPOSITION of this picture makes my mouth water. If it had more pixels in it, it would be my desktop background.

Peace out, kids. My buddy is buying me dinner.

A Lit'l Bit O' Ev'ry-thang

SO. I'm really glad I bothered to shower this morning because I just walked to and from the grocery store in freezing rain. My hair is plastered to my forehead.

Because that wasn't good enough, the path to and from the grocery store is solid ice, particularly in the places where the snow from two weeks ago has been smashed viciously flat by plodding feet across the sidewalk and is no longer fit to be called snow because it is truly as icy and treacherous as if the terrain had been imported from Everest.

But wait, we're not done yet. I also had to carry a rather heavy load consisting of a gallon of milk, several produce items (PRODUCE is HEAVY) and a box of crackers. I figured the knots I'm getting above my shoulder blades from hunching over patterns for three hours at a time were bad enough. Apparently I was wrong.

On the bright side, I'm roughly six feet tall. Jk. Not even close really. But it's a great song anyway. What I meant to say was, on the bright side, I got to attend a very interesting forum today where former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (what a great name - seriously) spoke.

Although I may not agree completely with all of her political points of view, it was a VERY good forum. There were actually several things I agreed with her on - such as man's ability to control his own destiny with no excuse as to his beginnings ("Think of a little girl who wasn't allowed in a restaurant but who's parents let her believe she could be the President of the United States if she wanted and she became the Secretary of State."), the need for reformation in our K-12 education lest our country fall into ruin, and the importance for every individual to find something they are absolutely passionate about, regardless of what it pays or what you can do with it or how it may be judged by others. I wish I'd taken notes so I could share more of her words - she's really quite a brilliant woman.

And now, because I can't justify posting without mention of another beautiful dress, here is a sample of Vera Wang's work.

Dear Vera, you do make the most beautiful skirts. So eclectic, yet so refined. An elegant jumble of poise and sophistication. And the single decorative strap across the outer shoulder? Genius. I think it adds a pleasant youthfulness to the dress actually. The perfect shape to top the pyramid as it transitions from complex to simplicity, base to peak. Yum.

Coincidence

My good friend in New Zealand sent me this picture. He thought it was really cool that the Kiwis had a brand of juice with my name.

Today my roommate showed me this:

New Zealand may have "Keri" juice, best friend, but we have "David" milk. ;)

Analysis of the New Semester

So...now that I've dropped my inconvenient government class and have officially been enrolled in the art history class I actually wanted to take...this semester is looking pretty good. :)

MW: The Short Story, Book of Mormon, Art History 201, and PATTERNMAKING

TTh: History of Apparel, and hopefully a job to fill the morning hours since HoA is an evening class.

F: The Short Story

SO excited to only have one class on TTh and having four on MW is not even that bad - because they're almost all classes I love! The Short Story will be FASCINATING. I can hardly wait to crack my textbook. And the teacher is this really sweet old man who's just so funny. Plus the class is nice a small. Yay for small classes!

Art History! I just loved that class last semester and I can already tell the teacher this semester will be equally amazing. PLUS the class is small sized which always makes it better - more discussions, and more chance to meet the cute guy who sat near me today.

And of course PATTERNMAKING. We didn't even have a full class today because it was just an instruction day and I'm already OBSESSED! It's going to be so much more than I even hoped for. We have to put together a design idea portfolio - good thing I already have so many things to go in it! As the teacher spoke I was mentally making lists of all the places I'm going to call to request catalogs and all the stores I'm going to take pictures in. Yum! AND of course, an excellent excuse to splurge and buy a fashion magazine or two. Maybe a bridal one?!

History of Apparel...I have high hopes for that once the ball really gets rolling. Instruction day is ALWAYS a bore. So we'll see.

Book of Mormon. Well. Big class, small room...daily quizzes. It's okay. It will be easy enough - no stress. I love the Book of Mormon. Truly. I love reading it. I love everything about it. I just hate taking the class for it. Some things are just hard to "learn" from other people.

And then of course the whole job thing...ugh. Cross your fingers - I've applied so many different places. I guess we'll see. If all else fails I'm planning on sewing for a living for the next couple of weeks. Anyone want to buy a car seat cover?

Time fo' dinner! Peace out, yo!

Designer of the Day

Alberta Ferretti, I'm so glad I found you. Will you design my wedding dress for me?