ABDC Season 6: I.aM.mE.!!!

Have you seen America's Best Dance Crew? Yeah. You should, if you haven't.

Well this season, I'm excited because there's this group that totally KILLS. I.aM.mE. is AWESOME.




As you may or may not know, I LOVE dancing. And right now I've been completely inspired to start my own dance crew... Except, I'd need friends that enjoy dancing too. Hrm. Wish me luck on that! In any case, I'll keep with a one-girl dance crew for now. Here's a dance that I'm learning and putting together so that it'll work with just one dancer:




I've learned most of it already, but it's a matter of finishing it off!

Bodyline Yokoso: Review

So, I've been meaning to do this for a VERY long time. (As in- months.) But anyhow, I will be reviewing on my first purchase from Bodyline Yokoso! For those of you that don't know, Bodyline Yokoso is a Japanese Lolita fashion online shop. (And yes, it ships overseas. I mean... Obviously. I'm in the US. ^^) At any rate, if you don't know what Lolita fashion is, you can look here. (And I'm saying this NOW, Japanese Lolita fashion has NOTHING to do with Lolita, the story about pedophilia.) Anyhow, shall we begin?

***

First-Time Bodyline Yokoso Buyer Review

So, my first (and only, at the moment) purchase from Bodyline was this lovely black skirt that has a few Victorian elements in it. Here is the picture from the site:

Now, Bodyline has a rep among Lolitas for being HORRIBLE and taboo (cheap fabric, lace, badly made, knock-offs of Lolita brandnames, etc), but seeing as I'm not a full Lolita fashion follower... I was curious.

The skirt is cute. I actually get many compliments when I wear it! It sort of reminds me of skirts from Hot Topic, but less cheaply made, and definitely less slutty. (Seriously, some of those HT skirts are more like wide belts... Though they are okayyy with leggings underneath.) At any rate, this skirt is definitely my style... <3

So, the fabric isnot terrible by any means. It is not the best, but it's not bad. It actually reminds me of some fabric that Forever 21 stores sometimes use. I have no complaints about the construction of the skirt either. It is still hanging in one piece in my closet, so... Yes.

The shipping was quicker than I thought it would be, seeing as it was making it's way literally half-way across the world. I received it in a few days, which was certainly exciting. :) I ordered by DHL, which has a fixed rate of $20. Unfortunately, looking back, I should have ordered more items along with the skirt because it was a lot of money for shipping just one purchase.

Now, the original pricing was not terrible. The skirt cost $25, which is fine by me, considering how unique the piece is. (Well, at least no one in this small US town has one!) Besides, I've seen some plain pencil skirts price for WAY more. (Of course, typically these are designer brands... Ridiculously enough, sometimes they aren't even.) However, the DHL fixed rate of $20 added onto the price of the skirt ended with my purchase pricing about $45... Hm, worth it for a Japanese skirt? By me, it was fine (mostly because it was a birthday gift and I'd been eying it for a while), but Bodyline shipped by DHL is MUCH MORE worth it if you buy multiple pieces. (Or you could place a group order with some friends of course.)

Overall, I do like Bodyline very much. I think that the pieces are rather unique- you don't see this stuff at the mall! However, DHL shipping at Bodyline is only worth it if you purchase MULTIPLE items. That said, it may seem overpriced. (Next time I visit Hong Kong, I might actually see similar style items for wayyy cheaper. But only IF and WHEN I go back to Hong Kong, which may be a while. $4000 a ticket? No thanks.)

Within Temptation's, The Unforgiving- SQUEE

I'm soooo excited for the release of Within Temptation's new album. Can it just come out all ready??

I've heard previews of some of the songs on the album, and all I have to say is that I am stunned. Stunned by their change in style, but also stunned by the fact that it's still the epic Within Temptation we know and love. Their new songs sound amazing! (Well, what little I heard of them.

Anyhow, here's the video for the previews. You may want to skip to these times:

2:54 - 3:20 for Sinead
4:00 - 4:12 for The Middle of the Night
4:30 - 4:35 for ???
4:55 - Endish for Shot in the Dark

Of course, the people speak over it all... In Dutch. So I have no idea what they're saying, and it's slightly irritating since I would like to listen to the bits!

But I'll take what I get! I can't wait to actually buy the album!!!

(The Unforgiving by Within Temptation, released March 25, 2011)

Stupid Bomb Threat Terrorists and Skimpy Clothing

A rather eventful Monday. (Ugh.)

There was, apparently, an anonymous caller that left suspicious calls to bomb a school in my district. So, of course, all the schools in the district were either evacuated or put into lockdown.

Guess what my school decided to have us do?

That's right; we evacuated. And of course it was freezing cold outside, and right before my lunch. I would have cried, but the tears probably would've turned to icicles. :(

Anyhow, we were outside for a full one hour and forty frickin' minutes. It sucked... Though I guess I couldn't really complain, because I had on a nice, warm black sweater (over a lacy black cami...). But hey! I saw the majority of girls outside wearing those silly short skirts or tank tops or skimpy T-shirts, all with flip flops. Uhm, hello? It's like 30 degrees, you fools!

I guess the stupid anonymous terrorist did get some sort of point across, though they didn't blow up the school.

Skimpy clothing = BAD
Full out black, WARM clothing = GOOD

Lauren- 1
Rest of girl population- 0

Personal Problems and Self Reflection {Pt. 1}

So, I first want to say that I was pushed to post this as a response to my ex getting a new girlfriend.

Second of all, I am aware that most people, or rather, everyone, has experienced this before. Let's stop pretending that we're unaffected by this. I mean sure, maybe other people truly "get over" a person and completely don't care, but for the most part... Most people simply suppress their emotions toward this. Also, let's stop pretending that we are simply "upset" over "finding out about the new flame". Honestly, it makes it sound so... Unemotional. Apathetic. Almost like a bland article about politics. (I, personally, do not care for politics.)

Let's just stop pretending that it's a stupid cliche, and"I-don't-give-a-BLEEP-about-the-so-called-ex-whose-number-I've-still-remembered".

Perhaps I'm simply a supremely emotionally fragile person. I care. I care very much. I hate the girl, even though I probably don't know her and she's probably a lovely, sweet person. (I mean, my ex obviously has good taste if he's dated me. HA.) I hate him for moving on with his life, when personally I think he should be devasted. Almost to the point of self-destruction.

But I also am not really liking myself for caring this much.

For the past few months, I have slowly been rebuilding myself. I've been becoming more "emotionally stable". (That's the only way to sum it up into words, though really it was much more an in-depth self-evaluation. Deeply philosophical and involved becoming a hermit. However, those two words are the best way to describe it.) This month, in fact, I have felt great. My self-confidence seemed to improve. My entire view of the world and reality seemed to improve, actually.

Until, of course, I spent a few minutes to check my online profile (Facebook, of course. Since that seems to be the entire hub of socialization, these days.) for the first time in A LONG TIME, and I discovered... With horror! That my ex had set his relationship status as "In a relationship with.... *********" (Now, I would like to put out there that I was not cyberstalking, but this instead popped up on my news feed. I'm fairly sure I would not need to reinterate what a "news feed" is, because I imagine that most people reading a blog do happen to know.)

I am much more upset with myself for BEING UPSET about it.

(continued...)

Twisted: The Horror Game

So, this is how I spent my entire week off because of snow. (Which was a few weeks back, but whatever.)

It's not entirely complete, but:

http://www.wix.com/xshatteredxfirex/twisted

It's a horror "choose-your-adventure" type game. Tell me what you think!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Yes, what the title says! Today is begins Chinese New Year. We are moving into... The year of the Rabbit!

Coincidently, half my family's year. :)

Though the celebration lasts for about 10 days, today is the most important day and my family celebrated with a huge feast of traditional foods... And some less traditional.

• Salmon
• Soy Sauce Chicken
• Sweet and Sour Chicken (with pineapple)
• Mushrooms with Abalone
• Chinese leafy greens (yum!)
• Foo Jook (?) (Not quite sure what the English translation is)
• Chinese soup (of course)
• And last but certainly not least... RICE

I. Am. Stuffed.