Tell me a story

As I was doing homework tonight, leaving it all to the last minute as is usual, I found myself reading a whole bunch of online articles about different celebrities: Keira Knightly, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, J. Law, etc. As I was reading these articles I realized something, I know more about these peoples' lives, people I have never met nor will probably ever meet, than I do about the people living in the room right next to mine. This makes me a little ashamed. I obviously don't get out much... But also I obviously don't take the time to get to know the people within my community. This makes me even more ashamed. Not only am I not social, but I'm also a little selfish. Wow. That tasted like vinegar coming out of my mouth (well, it would have if I had actually said it, not typed). Now I am pretty sure that I am not the only person for whom this is true. Be honest with me, or with yourself, how often do you stop to talk to someone and genuinely listen? I don't mean just the usual nodding and smiling, "yes that's nice, have a good day!" kind of thing, but actually listening to someone's story. How often to you take the time to get to know a person, even if you will never see that person again?

Every one has a story and everyone wants to share their story, if only we took the time to hear it.

Today I was with my cousin and she told me about a man she met on the Bart (public transportation here in San Fran). She talked for about half an hour with a man who she never met before and will probably never see again. But that doesn't matter. She listened to him and made him feel like someone cared. Like someone was interested in him. He isn't famous. His face isn't on magazine covers. But someone wanted to know his story. The impact this conversation had on my cousin was astounding, so I can only imagine what he felt like when he got off the train–elated and important. But most importantly, happy. Wouldn't it be neat if we could all feel like that? If we could all feel like celebrities? I think that would be cool.

It's hard and scary and incredibly uncomfortable, for most of us, to talk to people we don't know–strangers. But these "strangers" aren't as strange as they may seem. It may not seem like you have much in common with the homeless man on the corner with the toothless grin and oversized jacket, or with the business woman in her immaculate wool suit and pointy heels. Really though, we are all so much more similar than what our outward appearances, our occupations, our personalities would lead us to believe. We are all on this journey called life. Why not get to know our fellow passengers?

From every single person their is a tale to be told and a lesson to be learned. Some we forget and some stick with us forever.

Stories are so much more interesting when there is a plethora of interesting, dynamic characters, so let's get to know the ones in our lives, it might just make our own stories more interesting.

xoxo
Justice

p.s. Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest and Instagram
P.p.s. You should all check out this magazine/website because it is amazing and I love it. and it is really inpsirational. and I love it. and someday I'm going to work for them. Darling Magazine
P.p.p.s Have a good week everyone!

One Size Fits All?

I have not written recently. It’s not because I’ve been too busy, or had more important things to do, or some family matter that was holding me from doing it. It was simply because I didn’t feel like it. . I feel like writing thank you cards, which I should probably get working on now… I didn’t even feel like journaling—something I usually do every night. The last thing I wanted to do was blog, I just could not think of anything thoughtful, funny, or interesting and nothing was inspiring to me. That is, until yesterday.

I was sitting in my grandparents’ living room crammed onto a small couch with two of my cousins and a small excitable dog watching the super bowl (well, the commercials) and eating chips and salsa. My cousin happened to mention a store that she had gone into with my aunt a couple weeks ago. The store is called Brandy Melville, you may or may not have heard of it before (if you haven’t heard of it, here is their website: http://www.brandymelvilleusa.com/) . When my aunt inquired as to how the sizing worked, the woman said, “oh it’s one size fits all!”

Wait what?

 “how does that work?”

 “well the average size of women is 4, so we work around that”.

Umm…WRONG!

Let’s just let that marinate for a second.

Not only is it “one size fits all”, but also it is “one size fits all” for a world of size 4 models.

So many things about this irked me. First off, that information is simply incorrect. Today, the average American woman is a size 14. Now let’s take a moment and look at that word, “average”. What exactly does that mean? Does it mean that every American woman is a size 14? Nope! When something is “average” it is the same as the “mean”, like in math. Remember finding the mean, median, and mode? Well that is exactly what this is. It means that in some kind of survey they asked a whole bunch of women for their sizes, added those numbers up and divided it by the number of women they asked. If you need a visual of what that would look like, here you go:

There would have been an incredibly wide range of sizes, all the way from 00 to 8x and a great number of women within each range. Within these size ranges every woman is a different age, race, body type. They have different jobs, different families, and different hobbies. There is absolutely nothing “average” about it. There is absolutely no such thing as “one size fits all”.

Sitting in my Grandparents’ living room we had three generations of women. Every one of us has different interests—music, dancing, fashion, hiking, Swedish folklore, etc. Even though we are related, we all look very different. Sure my cousins and I all have exactly the same eye color, but that is just about where the similarities end. Whereas I am 5’6”, blonde and hourglass shaped, my cousin is shorter, more athletically built, with stunning nut brown hair and almond shaped eyes. My grandma is, and always has been, tall and slight while all my aunts are ranging in height, hair color, and curves. We all are so different and I have to say, pretty good looking. It is our differences that make us interesting. It is our differences that make us beautiful. What fun would there be if we all looked exactly the same? What fun would there be in a “one size fits all” world?

Why should we want a “one size fits all” when it is diversity that makes life interesting? We like new artists, musicians, and actors because they are new. Every year we have award shows, like the Grammys and the Golden Globes, where artists are awarded for bringing something new to the table and changing something up in the art world. It would be so incredibly boring if the same actors won the same award every year and if the same music was played at each event. It would be even more tiresome if it were the same music as last year and the year before and 10 years ago and 50 years ago. We watch these shows every year because every year there is something new. We go to museums because we like to see different paintings. The impressionists were considered so good and appealing because they were completely different from the ones that came before. We like change.

So why are we trying to be the same as our neighbors? Why does there even exist a store that sells “one size fits all”? Why have we even allowed this to happen?

If you ever find yourself comparing yourself to your friends, family, acquaintances, favorite celebrities, random strangers on the street, or anything of the like, try to think of something that makes you unique. What is special to you that makes you different and beautiful? Whenever I feel down on myself and feel fat or ugly I look at my lips. I have very large, red lips. I got my lips from my dad, who got them from his dad. They are unique to my family and me; they make me distinctive. And I think they are pretty darn good looking. Why on earth should I compare myself to some skinny supermodel that doesn’t have nearly as good of lips? She is beautiful in her way and me in mine. That is perfectly okay! In fact that is great.

Today let’s make a pact. I want you to promise me, or just yourself, that from now on you will celebrate your differences. Promise me that you will never ever ever try to be part of a “one size fits all world” because that would be a boring world indeed.

Goodbye my beautiful ones

xoxo

Justice

Time to get Downton

We can all sigh a huge sigh of relief. After months and months of waiting Downton Abbey has returned. Finally we all have something to do on Sunday evenings! And good riddance, because I was beginning to resort to other things like sleep or, even worse, social interactions. Well anyways, our favorite english aristocrats have now moved into the 1920's, a fun time full of electricity, short hem lines, and equality (well, at least they're trying...). As the times have changed, so have our characters. 

Lady Mary
"Haven't you heard? I don't have a heart. Everyone knows that." 

Mary in her wedding dress

 Beautiful, strong willed, selfish, arrogant, and cold, but completely loveable. After what seemed like ages of having suitors, falling in love, losing love, losing all prospects of a future, and then falling in love again, Mary finally married Matthew Crawley (heir of Downton Abbey and her 4^th cousin…awk sauce). Matthew seemed to have a magic power over Mary and made her soften and become a decent human being. However, sadly and to much to our surprise, Matthew died in a fatal car crash at the end of the last season, leaving Mary with her new born son George. With Matthew gone, will Mary ever be love-able again?

Lady Edith

 Lord Grantham "Poor old Edith; we never seem to talk about her."

Lady Grantham "I'm afraid Edith will be the one to care for us in our old age."

Lord Grantham "What a ghastly prospect."

Edith going to meet Michael, her lover, at a restaurant. Gasp! THE SCANDAL!

The “forgotten” one, aka the middle child. However, she doesn’t let that deter her (although it does make her rather annoying sometimes…). She is the first of the family to learn how to drive, she works on a farm, and writes for a newspaper. Writing about the issues which modern women are faced, Edith is the epitome of the modern woman seeking a new life in the 20s.

(the late) Lady Sybil 

"I don't know why we bother with corsets. Men don't wear them, and they look perfectly normal in their clothes."

Lady Sybil in her new pant suit thing. Quite scandalous.

 Rebellious, politically conscious, and head strong. She has many ideas that contradict those of her conservative, aristocratic family, such as wanting to be a nurse, or marrying the chauffeur—but they love her nevertheless. When having to choose her life of privilege and true love, she of course chose true love. Sadly, she died in childbirth, but her presence is always felt with her baby girl Sybbie and devilishly handsome Irish husband Tom.

Anna Bates

“ I love you, Mr. Bates. I know it's not ladylike to say it, but I'm not a lady, and I don't pretend to be. “

Anna going to see Mr. Bates in prison

One of the highest-ranking of the female servants in Downton, she is sensible and kind and extremely respected by the family. Anna is popular both downstairs and upstairs, and probably on the stairs, and she isn’t afraid of standing up to people like the awful O’Brien. She is quite beautiful too and is married to John Bates (Robert Crawley’s disabled valet). If I were a servant, I would want to be Anna, or at least Anna’s friend.

Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham

Violet: "I'm so looking forward to seeing your mother again. When I'm with her, I'm reminded of the virtues of the English."

Matthew: "But isn't she American?"

Violet: "Exactly."

(referring to Cora's mother)

Violet most likely saying something cynically witty

Cunning, cynical, sarcastic, competitive, and completely flawless. In my opinion, the perfect old woman. She always has an appropriate (or maybe not so appropriate) comment no matter the situation and is perfectly adept at getting into everybody’s business. As the show has progressed we see that she actually is quite sensitive and cares very deeply for her family. Plus she is played by Maggie Smith, thus making her perfect.

I had the intentions of making this post much longer (probably longer than any of you would actually read) and I wanted to talk about how much the fashion during the time of Downton abbey changed, however I just can't do that right now as I must go pack for my upcoming trip to New York. So i'll just have to teach you about the great changes in the fashion world during the first three decades of the 20th century later. 

I will leave you with this message from the Dowager:

xoxo

Justice

Frozen in Nordic Dress

For those of you who have not yet seen Disney's Frozen, you are seriously missing out in life. Seriously, your life is significantly lacking in some amazingness. If you are like I was before I saw this fabulous movie, you probably haven't even heard of it, or if you have you think it has to do with a weird snowman and thats about it. Well it's not. Yes, there is a weird, funny snowman in it, but it is about so much more. It is about two sisters on a journey to find love and understanding while facing the obstacles of curses, potential throne-stealers, giant snow monsters, and of course, true love in the form of devilishly handsome nordic men. With characters named Hans, Kristoff, Olaf, Elsa, Anna, and the sort, coupled with fantastic music and a reindeer named Sven, oh and a bunch of little troll people, I really don't know why you wouldn't want to see this movie. That is unless, of course, you have no heart and hate all things joyous and wonderful. If that is the case I hope you have a nice life with the Grinch and Mr. Scrooge. However, if you are any kind of decent human being I strongly suggest that you pick up your bum and get to your nearest movie theatre this very moment and spend the exuberant amount that movie tickets are now a days, even if you have to skip a few meals for the next few days, to see Frozen. 

Now that I am done advertising for Disney (they should really pay me for this) I would like to talk about the costuming in the movie. I say costuming, but really it is the drawing of clothes on the computer animated characters. It is obvious, if not only from the characters' names and snowy, mountainous landscape, but also from the clothing that this movie has a largely scandinavian and nordic influence. 

Anna and Sven on their journey to the North Mountain 

 Kristoff's costume has the look of the traditional costume of the Saami people (the indigenous Finno-Ugric people inhabiting the Arctic area of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway.--wikipedia) called the muadta or beaska seen here: 

Where as Anna's dress is clearly influenced by the traditional Norwegian costume called the "bunad":

If you feel inclined to dress like our friend Anna here, and sadly don't have a bunad handy, I have created an alternative option:

Sweater and shirt from Ralph Lauren, Skirt from Etsy, Boots from Anthropologie

Elsa on the other hand is more like some kind of snow fairy and has magic so is therefore exempt from having to follow the trends of the times and lands. Also she apparently doesn't get cold so wool and fur aren't necessary.

Elie Saab Spring 2012 Couture

If I haven't been able to convince you to see the movie yet, hopefully this video will, and hopefully the song gets stuck in your head forever and ever and ever, like it is in mine.

Dags att spela mina vänner och låt inte förfrysning bettet

(Now go have fun my friends and don't let the frostbite bite)

xoxo

Justice

My (Very Accurate and Simple) Guide to Happiness

Well here we are again, the end of another year. We are all a little older, hopefully a little wiser, and definitely a little fuller after this holiday season. When sitting down at the coffee shop yesterday with my lovely sister to write our New Year's resolutions I found myself getting a bit discouraged. 

Upon finishing my list I realized that it was pretty much the same as last year’s. And the year before. And the year before. With the exceptions of a few changes, like you know, instead of “get good grades” I now have “Don’t fail” and “make money” has now been replaced with “don’t go broke”, the lists are almost identical. It seems as if every year I, and I am sure you feel this way too, expect to be happier. And it seems as if I except that I will achieve ultimate happiness simply by losing weight, making more money, and having unrealistic expectations of what I can achieve in one year. Ummm wrong. Now I am no expert on happiness, but I am pretty sure that if your New Year’s resolution has anything on it that resembles “get skinny”, “make money”, and “find true love” that happiness is not in your future. Sure it may be, I don’t want to sound like a negative Nancy or doubting Debby, but it seems a bit unrealistic. That’s because we set such big goals for ourselves. When you have a giant goal on your list, like “find true love”, it is incredibly intimidating. Something that big can’t happen over night, same with getting skinny and making lots of money. It takes baby steps. However, when we only have the end goal on our list it is hard to know where to begin and so we end up just giving up. Resulting in the same list being made every December 31^st.

So, here is what I propose. That instead of making solely a list of GINORMOUS GOALS, we make a second list of baby steps that will allow us to achieve the big goals. For example, under “get skinny” have “go to the gym at least 3 times a week, make homemade meals, and eliminate fast food”. Under “make money” have “make a resume, apply for jobs, and get hired”, or if you already have a job have “create a savings account, stop unnecessary purchases such as Lattes, and invest”. Under “find true love” have “leave the house at least once a week, get rid of the cat (NEVER), and learn to talk to strangers”. That way, even if you don’t necessarily achieve the big goals, you can at least say you accomplished something and that glowing feeling of accomplishment will bring a smile to your pinched up face and VOILA! Happiness.

May your NYE parties be a blast and may you not start the new year with too bad of a headache.

See you in 2014 my friends!

Xoxo

Justice