Such a Huge Ego

Due to my Thursday night’s escapades I have been thinking about alter egos. You know the one you get when you have had a few too many sips? Party Nicole, sometimes Violet to strangers, can be a diva, a best friend, a total bitch, or worse…a crier.

Here is a list of common alter egos:

The New Best Friend: This may also be referred to as the super needy girl. She is usually an ice queen when she is sober, and ultimately feels the need to make up for her general lack of warmth when she is hammered. Be careful if she comes your way, once you so much as smile at her crazy @ss she will dub you her new bff4L. At some point in the night she might puke, and since you are her new best friend you are obligated to take care of her.

The Soulmate: Watch out boys, this girl is on the prowl. She is feeling extra hungry tonight and you are one prime piece of meat. Don’t be fooled by the sexy eyes she is throwing your way, you will not be spending your night making out in the corner. Instead she will end up telling you all about her ex-boyfriend and how much she still loves him. Then she will cry.

The Bitch: Lock your doors. The bitch has decided that she really wants to make everyone’s night utter hell. She will complain about the beer/liquor choice, change the music and refuse to hide the rude faces she makes at all the other girls (we normally try not to let the girls see, it can get awkward). Surprisingly this girl is normally super nice during the day. This is a great example why it is not normal to be happy all the time. NOBODY IS ALWAYS NICE.

The Diva: Don’t confuse the diva with the bitch. This lady is all sass, but it works. She makes outrageous demands (refusing to share the cab karaoke microphone), but it’s all in good fun. This girl is fashionably late to the party, but always the last to leave. The indention marks on your coffee table are the result of her heels when she decided to dance last night. She won’t remember, so don’t bring it up again.

The Crier: This girl is the normal one, at least for a while, of the party. She is friendly, funny, and helpful to the host. However after she downs that 2nd solo cup of Franzia her eyes begin to tear up and she starts to bawl. You never know exactly what she is crying about because she doesn’t make any sense. Check on her an hour later and she will be completely fine.

Do you have an alter ego? I am most definitely guilty of all of the above..

-Nicole

P.S. Make sure to check out VIM’s Website to read my new beauty post!

How To Break Up With Class

I fully believe that quitting your job is comparable to breaking it off with a former flame. You never know if it is exactly the right time, it can get a little messy, and you might come crawling back months later after finding out that there really is nothing better out there.

If you want to make sure to get that stellar recommendation from your boss follow these steps to keep it classy.

Speak in Person: Quitting breaking up is hard to do, and while speaking to your employer in person may be uncomfortable it shows that you are professional. Emailing, texting and a phone call is just rude. If you wouldn’t do that to a boyfriend/girlfriend you most certainly shouldn’t do it to your boss. This person pays you!! And if you do/have done break-ups via texting/social media/voicemails; shame on you. Grow up. (Unless it’s long distance, only then is it acceptable.)

Be Honest: If you are too stressed, behind in school, looking for other opportunities etc. tell your boss that! He/she will appreciate your honesty, and be more willing to agree to be a reference. Also these people are bosses for a reason, i.e. they can most likely smell out your bullshit. Don’t lie!

Give a 2 Weeks Notice: These last couple of weeks I have been more than stressed with multiple projects, blogging, working and of course Christmas shopping (duh), but I didn’t let of that get in the way of my work duties. I think it is unfair to quit a job without giving any notice because a.) You screw over your employer b.) You look like an a-hole and c.) Your co-workers now have to cover the shifts that you unexpectantly laid on them.

RUDE.

Speak with your boss and agree upon the last day of your two weeks. From there on out you should be working as if you never quit. You made a committment by accepting this job, and your boss put his/her time into training you, so the least you can do it give them adequate time in finding a new employee.

Be Thankful: Even if you are moving on you should remember everything that this job has given you. Without it you might not be able to online shop or pay your rent; reality check. Thank your employer for all the opportunites that have been made available to you through the time you had spent there.

When all else fails; cry. I have met very few people that do not buckle under the sight of tears. If it got me out of 3 tickets, it can surely work for everything else….right?

Disclaimer: I will admit that one time I did not adhere to my own rules. After a horrible, awful, terrible job experience in which I was mainly “learning how to become a great housewife” (his words not mine, and I have nothing against housewives!), and after being called “baby” one too many times I picked up the phone and did some damage. I left a voicemail the day before I was supposed to work, did not give a two weeks notice, and told him my reason for quitting was because my parents “made me”. Oops. Lesson learned.

Do you have any work “break-up” stories?

-Nicole

There’s No Time Like Downtime

With class, blogging, sorority duties (how sorority girl of me..), a part-time job, and writing for a magazine it’s a wonder I have time to actually breathe. Insert panic attack now. Wishing that Thanksgiving will get here asap just isn’t doing it for me anymore. Thanksgiving doesn’t just mean loads of artery-clogging food, oh no, it also most definitely brings on 3 projects, 5 papers, and one huge exam. I literally just counted all those on my fingers to make sure I didn’t forget one. AWESOME. So while my siblings are watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, I will be silently sobbing while single handedly eating an entire pumpkin pie. I’m a stress eater.

I have come to realize that in order to be relavively sane while juggling your whole life, you have to make room for downtime every single day. It can be 30 minutes or 3 hours. Fit it in.

Currently some of my favorite ways to be lazy are…

• Catching up on my weekly TV shows. Lately I am loving The Vampire Diaries, Glee, Gossip Girl, American Horror Story, 30 Rock, and The Walking Dead. It’s quite the hodgepodge. My shows have a nice mix of sexy, comedy, singing, slushies, and zombies.  Nothing like watching people getting eaten by zombies to remind you that somebody has it worse off.

I spared you a zombie picture. Plus Blair is much too pretty to not post.

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• StumbleUpon. I literally could stumble for hours. This website has everything from unique weddings to lolcats. Yes please. And for all you iPhone users, there is an app for that, and it makes stumbling in class so much easier.

Cute idea!

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• Gossip. I am a girl, we sometimes always thrive off this stuff. Websites such as Perez Hilton and POPSUGAR have helped me cope with my crazy workload by giving me daily doses of celebrity shenanigans.

Perfect timing.

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For another way to destress make sure to check out VIM Magazine next week! The fall issue will launch November 18th!

What are some of your favorite ways to relax?

-Nicole

Cozy In Corduroy

See what I just did there? Alliteration.

Actually the title of this post should really be Spazzing College Undergrad Running on Less Than 5 Hours of Sleep with Massive Amounts of Work to do and Had Nothing To Wear But Her Dad’s Shirt.

P.S. She Was Forced To Dry Shampoo Her Hair Because Time Was A-Wasting’ And Showers Are For the Weak

Somehow that just didn’t have the same ring. Anyway, as I was contemplating dropping out of school and changing my name to Candy, I realized that I had less than ten minutes to get ready and look semi-functional for work. I ran out the door in my dad’s oversized button-up (Are you noticing a trend here? Pilfering items from my parent’s closets?) and a pair of leggings that may have been last washed years ago, (who really know’s at this point) and hoped to God nobody recognized me. To my surprise, I was complimented on my outfit…not just once, but a couple of times. WEIRD.

So for you pleasure I’ve posted this little gem:

Photo Credit: Jamie Kawwas

Corduroy Button-up: Father’s, Leggings: The Loft

Belt: H&M, Boots: Steve Madden via DSW

My face is covered for obvious reasons (i.e. bloodshot eyes, glasses, and a face needing to be badly washed…oops).

All self-deprecating jokes aside, if I could just make it until Friday that would be great. Between a 15 page paper, building a working webpage, an exam, and a huge project I am burnt out. The thought of going out this weekend doesn’t even excite me. I would much rather lay in bed and watch bad reality T.V.

What is stressing you out this week?

-Nicole

When Your Costume Sucks

Normally I am a planner. In high school I picked out my prom dress in February and presently I am super Type A when it comes to outfit choices for a big event. For some reason this year I just couldn’t get excited and plan my Halloween costume. It might be the fact that my costumes never really turn out how I envision them, or maybe it’s because last year East Lansing was crawling with people who didn’t even go there; but I just could not get in the festive spirit. This year I decided to head home with high hopes of real food, fun-sized candy, and really bad SyFy movies. However in the spirit of All Hallow’s Eve I decided that I had to go out and dress up for at least one night.

Due to my lack of usual OCD, my outfit was unoriginal and I looked more like a stripper than a classy college undergrad. Just call me Candy.

• At first I came up with the brilliant idea of dressing as a Victoria’s Secret Angel. This plan ultimately failed when a.) I could not find huge feather wings. The bigger the better. b.) I realized this costume ultimately requires me to dress up in lingerie and c.) I have no business acting as if I am Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Girl crush.

Sadly these wings were not available at Halloween USA. Weird right?

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• In an attempt to appear less scantily clad, and after huge wing hunting was a bust I decided the next best route was to dress up as a stupid fairy. I feel that dressing as a fairy, indian, devil, cat, and Lady Gaga are completely overdone. I usually love to be original, see Katy Perry, and was disappointed that I resorted to throwing on a leotard, tutu and wings to be a skanky pixie. It happens.

Thank god this picture is grainy, because the only redeeming part of this outfit is the feather eyelashes.

• So after two trips to Halloween USA, I say two trips because the first time around I bought a toddler’s tutu on accident, I made it back to my house with 1 white adult tutu, 1 pair of false eyelashes, and zero dignity. I threw on my american apparel leotard only to realize that the tutu failed to fully cover up my butt and then was forced to hastily borrow a pair of hot pink spandex shorts. Then after realizing I couldn’t remember the last time I washed my hair, I dry shampooed like I never have before and rolled in some hot curlers. PLEASE TAKE THE GREASE OUT. To finish off the look I borrowed some fairy wings, sprayed my hair pink and then hoped that I didn’t look too desperate. I definitely did. My friends were far more elaborate and original with their costume ideas. One day I hope to not suck as much.

From left to right: Halloween Spirit, Cotton Candy, Skeleton, Dorothy, Flamingo, Painfully Generic Fairy

•  The whole Scooby Doo crew also made an appearance, however I didn’t post any pictures because I don’t really know them and that would be weird.

What is your favorite Halloween costume? Do you like to be original?

-Nicole

What I’m Loving: #cccc99

What? The new blog background color says it all..sort of.

Currently I am taking a web authoring class, and let me tell you it is comparable to learning an entirely new language. I am learning to build websites from the ground up, and I now have a whole new respect for the IT people. HTML/CSS is incredibly frustrating and time-consuming, and does not come naturally to me.

This week my class is focusing on color and how a specific color effects an audience. We were asked to choose a color/shade/tint that we would like to highlight in our online portfolio design. Currently I am loving all different shades or tan/beige/brown due to my latest shabby chic obsession. In html language I am addicted to RGB: #cccc99.

Here is some of my inspiration courtesy of Pinterest 

Notice the Christmas decorations; dream come true.

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Everything's better with sparkles.

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Love the full beige outfit.

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Pairs amazingly with other colors.

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What color are you currently loving?

-Nicole

Halloweenie

We have already established that I am super great at being “That Girl“. However, did you know “That Girl” comes in so many more forms other than “That Drunk Girl”. There is also…

“That Crying Girl”

“That Crazy Girl”

“That Obnoxious Girl”

“That Desperate Girl”

and my personal favorite “That Skanky Girl”

Skanky Girl is the winner because at one point or another we have all been “That Girl”. We make fun or her, and get pissed when she makes our with our boyfriends, yet every year we rip off our pretty oxfords and conservative sweaters to slip on fishnets and bustiers. Why? Because it’s Halloween! Duhhh.

"I'm a mouse...duh."

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Past Costumes:

Freshmen Year (2009): I was a flapper; at least that was my intention. I am sort of sporting an indian shirt dress that I bought (wayyy overpriced), thinking I could wear it again. I HAVE NOT worn it since…where could I wear it anyway? Whoops.

Fishnets made an appearance.

Max is supposed to be from the 20's. This is what he came up with, not that mine was much better..

Sophomore Year (2010): I went all out last year, and by that I mean spending insane amounts of money I didn’t have just so I could look trashy. GO COLLEGE.

Night 1: Katy Perry via Teenage Dream. Yes that is a hot pink wig, and yes I am totally wearing lollipops on on my leotard. In my defense I really wanted to give Katy Perry justice with this costume I thought I was awesome. I will not be posting the bottom half of the outfit because I decided to complete this look with sparkle hot pants. Momma is so proud.

Borrowed those blue shoes...they made the outfit.

Night 2: In order to follow the crowd I, along with every other girl who has a boyfriend, made Max “coordinate” his costume with mine. Instead of dressing as something funny such as K. Fed & Brit Brit, I chose to go down the cutesy route and depict Sandy & Danny. This night I was significantly more modest, and wasn’t nearly as freezing. Side note: I attempted to curl my hair like Sandy…this was the final product. Not at all similar.

We Stayed Out Till' 10 o'clock

Fail.

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Night Three: The last night of Halloween all of my friends and I decided it would be hilarious to be “party animals”. We each picked our animal, attempted to somehow replicate that look with clothes, and lastly placed a shot glass necklace around our necks. Get it? Animals that like to party..haha. Everyone else pulled of their animals perfectly, except for moi. I was a flamingo, and while I thought my outfit was spot on; no one at ANY party could guess what I was. It was pretty clear right? Feathers in my hair, wearing all pink, feather boa around my wast, tan heels (for the feet), and gold eyeshadow painted nose (the beak..duh.) I was mistaken for a drag queen plenty of times, but never once a flamingo. However I took that as a compliment; drag queens are hot.

What were you dress as last year? And..do you think I look like a flamingo?

-Nicole

Victory for MSU

MIA. Blogging, homework, and anything resembling real life was dropped entirely this weekend so I could dedicate all my time tailgating. Priorities.

Michigan vs. State

Weekend Re-cap:

• The Walmart Wolverines. Urban Dictionary:
  

  A fan of the University of Michigan who has never attended the school and roots for them while wearing one or more of the following:-$5.00 Michigan shirt bought at Wal-Mart -Mullet -NASCAR hat -Hunting clothes “YEAH MAN! GO BLUE!!!” “Who’s that?” “Oh ignore him, he never went here. He’s a Walmart Wolverine”

   

• MECHANICAL BULLS. I don’t hate it…tailgate is a fairytale.

My serious lack of coordination/balance deterred any ideas. (reword)

• A Teletubbie made an appearance. As if watching the TV show didn’t scare me enough, I was beyond horrified when Tinky Winky sauntered into the party. At first I thought the peppermint schnapps was making me hallicinate…false it was real life.

Nightmare becomes a reality.

• Charity event. Make a donation, smash the enemy car. Win, Win.

Fight! Fight! Rah! Team, Fight!

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VICTORY FOR MSU!

-Nicole

I’ll try not to be so MIA the next couple of weeks.

Good Luck House Hunting

Right when it seems like you are finally settling in at school, a major mental breakdown is right around the corner. This time it is not a giant midterm or that crazy-ass roommate causing your increased heart rate; it’s house hunting.

Can't live here forever.

Stressors include (but are not limited to):

Finding Roommates: Is four people enough, six too many? Will they all like each other? Do you even care? How do you go about telling that one friend that living together just isn’t going to work out? These are serious questions. House hunting brings out the worst in people and claws are guaranteed to come out. Best bet? Be honest with yourself and have expectations. Don’t settle into a house with roommates you aren’t comfortable with. Yes, it is going to make for some awkward friend conversations, but in the end it is what makes YOU happy, (And your parents because they might be footing the bill).

House Hunting. So you have decided on your roommates, great. Don’t sigh in relief just yet because you are still homeless. Now it’s time for you to bike/walk/run/sob around campus trying to find that “dream house” that exists in your mind but not in real life. You knock on doors, ask the current residents if the house is available for next year, and hope that they are nice enough not to slam the door in your face. Touring each house will definitely give you a reality check because….

You were expecting this:

Oh cute decorations! I can't wait to move in!

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And walked into this:

Feels like I am in a Hoarder's episode...perfect.

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Signing that “Dream House”. Finally! You and you friends have agreed on a house, you are pretty sure you can scrub out all the mold, and it has huge patio (cue rowdy tailgates). Now all you have to do is sign the lease! WRONG. I wish it were that simple. If you happened to find that one diamond in the rough house that doesn’t make you gag, you can bet somebody else wants it too. Realty companies are known to have raffles, camp outs (first come first serve…don’t forget to set up your tent), and sometimes even just hand-pick the group they like better.

Thankfully this year no one else wanted the house my friends and I were dying over. I am proud to say we have not one, but two party-tastic porches and great location. Bring it on senior year and good luck to all the house hunters out there!

Do you have a crazy house hunting story?

-Nicole

AL Project: Digital Autobiography (I Like to Write)

This is a project for a class I am currently taking this semester. It is a digital autobiography, and I thought the best way to describe my relationship with technology was to write a blog post. (Sorry it is so long!)

If anybody had told me less than a year ago that I would change my major, start a blog and begin writing for a fashion magazine I would have actually passed out. I am practical, and writing for a living is simply setting myself up for failure..right?! Wrong. After copious amounts of tears, coffee and one seriously needed epiphany I realized that I hated practical. What lead me to all these drastic changes in less than a year?

Clue: keep reading.

• I felt trapped. Choosing a major and sticking to it is one of the hardest tasks a university can asked a college student to do. I am under the firm belief that we shouldn’t even be able to choose a major until sophomore year. Example: I came into MSU studying “pre-med” (useless, unless you actually attend medical school) simply because I loved to watch Grey’s Anatomy. I completely forgot that I nearly failed chemistry in high school, and that my favorite show was not exactly reality. Read more about my general 18-year-old naivety here. I did not realize that I was choosing majors based on what I thought was “expected” of me, and I refused to believe I could do anything besides medicine, law, and business.

This isn't real life?

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• Stalking Following the blog community. During lecture in an extremely painful university required class I decided to read a blog a friend constantly raved about. One post and I was literally hooked. Creeping on my first blog, Peanut Butter Fingers, led me to more creeping and eventually I was virtually following a huge blog community.

Peanut Butter Fingers

Oh She Glows

Girl Meets Life

Cupcakes & Cashmere

La Petite Fashionista

Run Eat Repeat

Chocolate Covered Katie

The Life & Times of Rachel Wilkerson

The Man Repeller

College Girl Meets World

Eat Live Run

Peas & Thank You

The Fitnessista

SnackFace

Carrots N’ Cake

J’s Everyday Fashion

The Budget Babe

Fabulous on a Budget

The Decorista

• Changing my major. Everywhere around me people were excited about their majors, and I was dreading the inevitable event called graduation. My boyfriend was excited to be a chemical engineer, my work friend was pumped to apply for fashion retailing jobs, and a girl in my sorority interned at Teen Vogue. SHUT  UP. I was not excited for law school (law major at this point in time, keep up), I was surely not pumped to take the LSAT, and I really don’t like conservative suits. To top all this off I was 2 years into college already, and I wasn’t really feeling like being that 8th year senior if I changed my major now. Eventually I dragged myself to the counselor’s office and demanded to know what I could major in to include my love of writing, and how much longer would I have to be at MSU. Answer: Because I took all my MSU pre-reqs first I could graduate on time (even a semester ahead). I changed my major to Professional Writing with a specialization in Digital Humanities. #Winning.

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• The birth of Giraffelegs. As much as I loved reading blogs, I was completely unwilling to start my own. What if no one thought I was funny? Or even worse; what if I was not worth reading? I was so terrified at the prospect of negative feedback, that I refused to even try. After numerous crying sessions and whining about my lack of a good writing outlet my boyfriend gave me a virtual slap in the face. He told me it didn’t matter how many people read my blog, it mattered if I was happy. Writing made me happy. Thanks boyfriend.

Legtastic

• VIM. I decided that although writing my blog was a good way to jumpstart my writing experience I still needed to become more involved. In the hunt for real people jobs, having zero work experience is similar to telling the interviewer that you smoke crack. You will probably get judgemental stares, snarky remarks, and a harsh critique on your worth ethnic. I wanted to be as prepared as possible when it comes time to be a real person (i.e. not a student mooching off every penny my parents are willing to throw my way.) Giraffelegs was a great way to highlight my creative side, however I also wanted to show future employers that I can write professionally, so I join a magazine. VIM Magazine is the fashion/beauty/health magazine for Michigan State University, and I joined the team a month ago. I will be writing features and I am beyond excited to actually see some of my work published. Look for my first article  in November 2011!

First Issue (I was not yet writing)

VIM Blog

VIM Twitter

VIM Facebook Page

Determination. I know I have a long way to go and a lot more crying episodes. I will probably have to move out-of-state, live in a dump of an apartment and own a few cats for company. I most likely will not be making a lot of money to start and I will definitely still be mooching off my parents. That’s okay (thanks mom & dad). I would rather fall on some hard times doing something that I love instead of working for the big bucks at a job I cannot stand. I can honestly say that now I am looking forward to graduating and becoming a real person.

Throwback 2009 HS Graduation

Do you have graduation anxiety? How has digital technology affected your life?

-Nicole