Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

There's only one day left of first quarter so I made sure to do all my work and get everything turned in. I'm glad I got my AVID checklist over with so that I'm not doing it all in a rush, that's something the old me would have done but not anymore! I have all A's (technically I have two B's but they're 89%'s so that's basically an  A) and I couldn't be more happy. I feel like I worked very hard this quarter. :)
I did'nt do anything for Halloween but here's a picture of my little sister in her costume. She was a zombie/vampire. Not the Twilight kind. ;)

Sunday, October 30, 2011

#virgoproblems

Today was my third day of work at abercrombie and I'm getting used to the way things work. This time, I worked from 11-3 as a greeter in the front of the store. Near the end of my shift it was getting a bit hectic because so many people were coming in and picking around at clothes, messing up the display, and in between greeting people at the door, I have to make sure everything looks neat and tidy so this made things very stressful. I was relieved when my shift was over so I wouldn't have to deal with people messing up the clothes right after I fixed them. :/


Why can't it always stay like this? :(



Saturday, October 29, 2011

Snow In October

Today, I woke up very sleepily to a conversation between my dad and sister, I he was telling her she needed an umbrella so I figured it was just raining but I looked out of my window a few minutes later when I was more awake and it was actually snowing! It was so weird, I thought I might have been dreaming. The contrasting fall colors of the trees looks so bizarre with, gleaming white snow. They just don't go together. I don't ever remember it snowing in the fall, it was strange and interesting.


Friday, October 28, 2011

Canon vs. Nikon

Today, I did some research on digital cameras and everybody involved in photography has had to answer the infamous question, "Which is better, Canon or Nikon?" I personally don't know since photography is just a hobby for me, I don't really plan on becoming a professional photographer but I do think being able to take a good picture is useful because they are what hold memories. As Eudora Welty once said, "A good snapshot stops a moment from running away."


Thursday, October 27, 2011

Film

Today I continued developing my film for my project in AP photography class. I learned a lot on how to develop pictures the right way since my first time doing it so the process went by much faster. I even stayed after once class was over to continue developing. Overall, I think my pictures came out really great and I like working with film a lot more now. :)



Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Skin Care

Today I went to the dermatologist for a monthly check up. Because I am a beauty model, it is very important for me to keep my skin clear. My skin has come a long way from the time before I started working on improving my skin. I guess the fact that I was in Cosmopolitan for a beauty/skin Q&A proves that! Haha. Not only is it essential for me to keep up a routine that keeps my skin clear (using a cleanser, toner, and spot treatment), eating healthy is also an important role. I can't eat a load of junk food and expect to see clear, glowing skin!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Developing My Pictures

Today in AP Photography, I worked on developing my film pictures and let me tell you, it's definitely nowhere as easy as editing pictures on an iPhone! Haha! It was my first time using a darkroom, a special room for developing film, and when you go in, everything looks literally black and white/sepia. It took a while to adjust to! It took a lot of trial and error until my pictures came out the way I wanted but I was happy with what I accomplished. :)

My film strips, before being developed in the darkroom.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Almost to the Finish Line

Today, I didn't have school so I spent time cleaning around the house, doing my chores, and studying. I want to make sure all my grades look good before the quarter ends in a couple of days. No time to get lazy now! I'm excited to wrap up this quarter, it has been a good one, academically. I want to continue working hard through out the year and avoid "senior-itis" haha :) Meanwhile, here's a picture I edited with an app on my phone <3

Someday, it'll be real ;)

Sunday, October 23, 2011

First Day of Work

Today was my first day of work at Abercrombie Kids, I worked the 11am to 3pm shift. While I was in the car on the way there, I realized I had forgotten my employee card which is what we use to clock in and out. Luckily, I got there early and the manager said it was okay and she gave me a new card. Since stores in the mall don't open up to customers until 12, we use the time to clean up the store to make sure everything is clean, tidy, and visually appealing. Then a few minutes before the store opened, the other employees and the manager gave me a quick introduction of what I'd be doing; folding clothes, greeting people when they come in, helping customers find what they want. The day went by smoothly and the time went by quick and I felt like I did a good job as I was clocking out and leaving the store.

Me, in my abercrombie uniform shirt <3

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Lord of the Flies

We have now moved on to a new book in my English class called, Lord of the Flies. It is about a group of adolescent boys who get stranded on a deserted island and realize they have to take after themselves, since there are no adults around. This creates a conflict in the role of leadership and control, leading to a chaotic anarchy amongst the survivors. I find this book to be very interesting and a much easier read compared to the book we just finished, Catcher in the Rye.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Show Me Your Teeth

Today my mother, sister, and I all went to the dentist for our regular check ups. It was a very quick session because they just scaled and cleaned my teeth. Everything looked good, no cavities or problems, just perfectly straight teeth and strong, healthy gums.(: After they finished with me I got a goodie bag with a new toothbrush, whitening toothpaste, and floss. When we left the dentist's office we were all playful arguing about who had the best feedback from the dentist, haha. :D



Thursday, October 20, 2011

Emoni "Collage Queen" Clouden

I always love starting off my day with art class because it's my favorite class, and also the most fun. We had a "test" today but the unique thing about tests in art class is that its just drawing so it doesn't even feel like a test. We had to draw and scrunched up paper bag in detail and with shading using charcoal drawing untinsels; it was messy but fun to work with. Afterwards, since I had some left over time, I decided to work on my sketchbook. We had to design a section for our drills (or warm ups) so I mad an intro page made of entirely magazine clippings; this is something I have found that I'm really good at. The other kids in my class would pass by and compliment me on my sketchbook and even ask me to do theirs for them! (I kindly said no). My art teacher, Mr. Hammer, said his collages don't even come together as well as mine and he called me 'The Collage Queen', haha :)





The drill section of my sketchbook.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Castings ³

Today I left early for New York City for a few important castings. I was scheduled to see a hair care company called Motions at 11, Macy's at 12, and Seventeen Magazine at 3. I was very excited to be back in the city and see all the people at the agency and the other models. Unfortunately, it was a very rainy, windy, cold day so not exactly the best weather to be walking around from place to place but I didn't let that get to me. I went into my castings with a friendly, upbeat energy and left feeling like I did my best so hopefully I'll hear back from them soon. :)

One room. Full of models. Long wait.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Thank God It's Tuesday

Today in AVID, we watched a video by a spokesmen who goes by the name of E.T; he encourages others to stay positive all throughout the week by coming up with acronyms like TGIM and TGIT, similar to the more popular, TGIF. Today we watched the TGIT video since today is Tuesday and E.T. talked about his four principles for the day. Principle 1 is to take responsibility for your actions and don't blame others or make excuses. The second principle is to make up for when you mess up, this means you have to fix your problems when things go wrong instead of just letting it go unexcused. The third principle is never give up and when things fail, don't be a victim. The fourth and final principle is to be willing to struggle for what you want. I can apply these four principles to my life by taking responsibility for my actions and realizing that I am the only one accountable for my success and if I delay it, I will be the one dealing with the concequences. With this said, I will always do things with as much promptness and immenence as possible to get ahead.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Back to New York soon

I talked to my agent today and he wants me to be back in New York on Wednesday for a few castings. I've been focusing on school ever since I came back home in the summer but I am excited to go back to the city. There are always new girls in the model apartment I stay at when I'm there and I'm looking forward to meeting them, along with revisiting the girls I had already made friends with. The city is always lively and there's always something to do. Usually, for modeling, I have extensions in my hair so that it is long but it feels nice wearing it out for a change. I'm sure everyone at the agency will like it as well. :)

Sunday, October 16, 2011

You put what in your hair?!

I've been doing some research on natural ingredients that help fortify and strengthen your hair and I found out that raw eggs mixed with natural honey and olive oil is very beneficial to your hair. It's an unexpected combination but it works! I first tried this about a month ago and ever since my hair is stronger, has less breakage, and lots of shine. These ingredients also moisturize the scalp and soften your hair. First, I wash my hair with soy milk shampoo, rinse the shampoo out, then I add the eggs, honey, and olive oil mix. Afterwards, I rinse that out and let a deep conditioner sit in for 45 minutes. So girls, if you're on a mission to longer, stronger, healthier hair, take my advice and give this a try. You won't regret it!(:

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Shopping in D.C.

Today I got up at 9am to get ready to go shopping with my stylist for the day, Julian. The drive to D.C was beautiful, it was a perfect cool yet sunny, fall day and we passed by the Capital building and many other historic sights. When my mom and I met up with Julian, the first store we went to was Zora. I'd never been there before but the store had a really unique, stylish feel about it. Afterwards we went to H&M and Forever 21, constantly changing in and out of outfits. It was so much fun and we got some really good buys! I learned a lot about shopping for my body type and what looks best on me.(:

Friday, October 14, 2011

Tonal Drawing

Today we did a variety of drawing exercises in art class. We did a five minute burn drawing, which is where you pay attention to one small area and draw it in detail as best as you can in five minutes. We also did the connected line drawing, where we can not lift our pencil and we do the drawing using just one pencil stroke. Afterwards, we worked on tonal drawing, which is using detailed, gradual shading to draw an object. This is mine.


Thursday, October 13, 2011

Abercrombie and Stitch

Today's average day off took a drastic turn when I fainted onto the floor in a store at the mall today and hit my head, and cut my chin. The embarrassing thing was that I was there to fill out some paperwork at the job I just got; what an embarrassing first impression! Thankfully, all the other employees were supportive and only wished me well and hoped that I got better. And I'm glad my mom was there to help me. As we were leaving I realized I had a pretty serious looking gash under my chin so we drove to the hospital to get it checked out. All of the staff were very friendly and helpful. The main doctor actually took the time to talk to me about improving my diet and making sure I got all the nutrients I needed. I had been trying to be vegetarian but now I see that it won't work for me since I wasn't getting enough iron and protein. So to celebrate, my mom got me a slice of pepperoni pizza. It was so good, I hadn't had pepperoni in what felt like forever! They also did some bloodwork on me along with other tests and everything came out normal and perfectly healthy. Overall, I feel like this was a lesson well learned and I feel lucky that the cut was in a less noticeable area and not my face. I ended up getting four stitches. It didn't hurt because I asked for a lot of numbing medication but unfortunately I'll feel it in the morning when the medication wears off. :P
Me, in the hospital bed. Still putting on a smile <3

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

My Lucky Day

Today I got a call from the manager at Abercrombie and she told me I got the job! I'm so happy and excited. So today I went up to the mall to thank the manager and meet all the other employees I would be working with. To add to this great news, I also found out that I am featured in this months issue of Essence: Hot Hair issue! Can things get any better? :D

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

New Drawing

Today, I worked on my emulation drawing for art class. Our goal was to emulate an artist's work by choosing to draw in the medium they were most comfortable with and drawing the types of subjects they usually used. I chose to emulate Edgar Degas. Since he often uses charcoal and uses performers as his subject, I chose to do the same. Here is my drawing of a ballerina; I don't have any charcoal so I'll have to wait to go back to school to add the finishing touches :)

Monday, October 10, 2011

Personalizing My Sketchbook

Today I spent from the time I got home from school to just now (8:16pm) working on my sketchbook. Our assignment was to make it unique and give it our own personal touch. Even though this was homework, I was looking forward to it from the minute I left first period and it was a lot of fun. I brought out my huge pile of old magazines and started cutting and pasting away, manually of course. Im glad I didn't throw those magazines away because they had tons of cool things in them. I loved the way my sketchbook turned out and I plan to be using it until every last page is filled, then saving it to keep. This project also inspired me to personalize my diary as well. :)

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Sporty Sunday

Today, I attended another one of my sister's basketball games, unfortunately, they are on a losing streak right now :( The games can be frustrating to watch because I know they can do better because they have done better. My sister is so caught up with her theory that she is the best on the team and that she is unbeatable that she rarely practices anymore. You can see that we're complete opposites! Hopefully, after realizing her game has been slacking she will start trying to improve. I believe she could learn from our AVID mantra, "I will act now".
My sister Nia, number 24. Aka, Lady Mamba. The deadliest of them all ;)

Saturday, October 8, 2011

The Great Indoors

Today, I didn't really do much but stay in the house, read, watch tv, and talk on the phone with my friends so it was an ordinary indoor Saturday. The highlight of my day was when my grandparents came over to visit. I always love spending time with them :)

Friday, October 7, 2011

Interview at A&F

Today I went on a job interview for the model position at Abercrombie and Fitch. I think it will be a good way to earn money while I'm here and not in New York working. This interview was a lot different than the "interviews" I'm used to. In New York, when I go on castings (some people call them go-sees), it is very quick. You go in, meet the client, they flip through your portfolio, take a compcard, and a Polaroid picture to remember you by and you're out! Haha. What I did today was like a Real job interview. One thing I didn't expect was that it would be a group interview. The manager had all of us applicants sit at the table and she asked us questions about what makes us best for the job, etc. Since there were only 2 other girls applying for the model position with me and their answers didn't sound too confident, I'm sure I'll get the job. Can't wait to hear back from them in a week!(:

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Book Hunting

I just got back from Barnes and Noble to get a new sketchbook and a diary. I wanted to get a more durable sketchbook, as the one I had before was very flimsy and on the verge of tearing apart. We are also about to do an assignment in art class where we have to personalize our sketchbook covers by doing things like painting on it, putting magazine clippings on it, and anything else to add our own, unique style to it. This seems like it will be fun so I plan on personalizing my new diary as well. Can't wait to look at the difference between the before and after! :)

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Busy Bee

Today I spent the day cleaning up, taking pictures for my new photography assignment, and blogging. I'm trying to get caught up with my blogs, it'll be one less thing to worry about! :P

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Catching Up

After school, I spent the afternoon in Dona's classroom to make up my missing work in AVID. (10 points for house of Themis?). I felt a sense of accomplishment after finishing everything I could and it turns out that the work wasn't hard to make up. As a bonus, Dona allowed me to help myself to all the sweets in her classroom from her birthday! :)

Monday, October 3, 2011

Leisurely Monday

Since I only have school every other day (because I only have classes on A days), today I had the day off. Yes, senior life is good :) I spent the day catching up on homework and reading "A Hope in the Unseen" so nothing all that exciting. :P

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Ravens Game

Tonight me and my family went to the M&T Bank Stadium to go see the Ravens play against the Jets. I didn't know whose side to be on since most Marylanders are Ravens fans, but at the same time I'm from New York so maybe  I should be a Jets fan.. but anyway, I stayed neutral. The game was intense, action packed, and fun to watch. Ravens won 34-17 and I got an autograph at the end of the game! ^-^

Saturday, October 1, 2011

The Champs Are Here

I got up early to see another one of my sister's basketball games, this one was with her rec team. They played a great game and came home with the championship trophy!! :) I was never really into basketball before my sister started playing but now I am a fan.