obsessed with this right now...

i love this song. and for reasons i can't/don't feel like getting into i feel like bits of it really relate to my life right now :/

i'd only heard bon iver's version which i really love, but i stumbled upon this and this girl, Birdy, is freaking awesome. she's like what i wish i could be. i love the piano accompaniment and her voice is the perfect mix between trained and slightly weepy/emotional/scratchy, which is the "cool" thing to be right now. so beautiful.

20 in my 20th: #16 Learn to play a new song on the piano- a recent, alt-folk song which I will also sing to.

The quality on this vid is kind of bad, and it's certainly not my best work- but I was pretty proud that I learned this song on the piano! The song is "40 Day Dream" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I don't actually have sheet music or anything for it... I just looked up the guitar tabs online and then converted it to work for the piano. I think it counts for #16 of my 20 things to do in my 20s though :) hopefully I'll just keep improving as I practice it a bit more.

enjoy!

and don't mind the pups wandering around in the background :)

<3 Em

Vlogging Vednesday- my first!

Hey guys, I just did my very first vlog EVER for vlogging vednesday! You can learn more about vlogging vednesday here and here as well as check out a whole lot of other people's vlogs for today's prompt.

So, you can totally tell i'm uber nervous- turns out typing out your life in the safety of your quiet little room is much easier than turning on a camera and filming yourself in said room for the world to see. I'm excited about this whole vlogging vednesday thing and hopefully I will do more in the future! I don't have a ton of time so editing is minimal- i mean, the song doesn't even fit haha. Also, sorry about the noise from my roommate showering in the next room. oh well!

anyways, enjoy my silly little vlog :)

thanks for watching! hopefully i'll only get better with time!

Oh, and just in case the video is unlcear and you are super into accomplishing this hairstyle (lol), here are some typed instructions:

1. Give yourself a dramatic side part
2. Tease the top portion of your hair on all sides- I usually do two sections of hair on the side with the most hair, one on the other side, and one in the back
3. Comb the very top layer of the teased hair to make it look smooth
4. Gather the teased hair behind your hair and pin it so it's nice and poofy, kind of like a beehive. For girls with less hair this will probably only take 2 bobby pins, I usually use four.
5. Gather your hair at the nape of your neck and use a small band to tie it. push it up to give your hair some extra oomph
6. Use your fingers to backcomb the ponytail, giving it a messy look.
7. If you have bangs like mine, use your comb to tease them just a little, then comb them to one side of your face. You can pin them, like I did, or just let them be free :)

<3
Em

Happy

Christmas eve/nice winter night to all :)
My family is going to sit down and eat some tamales soon. We've spent the day decorating and baking and things, and it's been very nice. I'm going to be back later with a salt dough ornament tutorial, but in the meantime- I stumbled upon this sweet video earlier today and I think it's really quite beautiful and amazing. Enjoy your festivities!

10 of My Favorite Things on the Web

This has been a very busy time, because I'm filling out a leave of absence form (I'm going to be spending next fall going to school in Arizona), managing classes (it's midterm time!), working for my school's phonathon, and getting ready to head back to the desert for spring break this Wednesday (my flight leaves at 6:30 in the morning!). Somehow in the middle of all that I still find time to slack off and spend hours upon end on the internet watching dumb videos, writing blogs, and clicking the stumble button on my browser hundreds of times. I would consider myself a pretty well seasoned stumbler, and I've found some pretty cool things on the internet that I can resort to when my laziness reaches the point where I can't do any "real" work. Below are some of my favorite net finds. Some of them are strange and you might not like them unless you are also an easily-amused college girl with far too much time on her hands. However, a lot of them will probably be useful or amusing to a wide demographic- so check 'em out and see if there are any you've never seen before.