stylista

has anyone seen this show on the cw? it's a new series right after top model and i'm kind of addicted to it. it's bascially like a reality show of the devil wears prada. a group of "stylistas" compete for an assistant editor position at elle magazine, a year's supply of h & m clothing, and a year's lease of a new york apartment while they work at elle. those prizes sound a lot cooler than top model's prizes. do you ever notice that the losers on top model are more successful than the winners? that's because it's all political and they don't really choose the person that has the most talent/potential. for example, they usually always have a plus-size girl just to prove that they're p.c. but then she always gets eliminated because, duh, high fashion models are twigs. but last year it was cycle 10 and they probably felt they needed to amp up the show's appeal, and kept on pushing through the plus-size model even though she was kinda blah, didn't take good pictures, etc. it's like the other girls that season didn't even have a chance because miss tyra had an agenda. ugh, and why does her voice always go 3 octaves higher when she's handing them their photos? she makes it all breathy and high and it's such an obvious change from when she's dicussing the photos with judges and smacktalking on the girls. gag, she's annoying but she is the executive producer for stylista so i guess i can forgive her, but i will NEVER forgive her for the evil spawn that is the tyra banks show. blech, blech, blech. there aren't words to describe how awful that talk show is.

anyways, this new show, stylista, is worth watching. they have to do all these stressful tasks like creating a theme for the editor's neice's birthday party or construct a fashion shoot to showcase a desginer's dress and the designer is the guest judge and so on. at least i think it would be way stressful because you could totally be praised for one idea and then be in the doghouse for the next - you just never know what's going to please the editor. all the people have different backgrounds in editing, retail, fashion and i love the mix of people they have on the show. i think half the fun is just seeing what they wear. oh, and in addition to performing a task the elimination process is also based on a one-page layout they have to make from pictures taken during their task. the editor who is the main boss does this awful wannabe meryl streep impression from the devil wears prada. it's so funny - she has this dry voice and snooty attitude and frosty blonde hair. the drama is okay; this season there's this one girl, kate, who drives me and everyone on the show nuts. she's just super ditzy and rude and immature and doesn't work well with anyone and you're just itching to slap her the entire episode. i hope the shows stays - i'd love to see the next batch of people next season.

so...watch it! and then we can be stylista friends.

twilight opens in 4 days!!

i am soo excited. probably more than i should be. my sister and i bought tickets over a week ago (at a place where you can buy reserved seating) and we got pretty good seats. the husbands are gonna stay home and watch da babies so me and lana can enjoy without any distractions. we actually have to see it on saturday, the day after it opens, because seating was already sold out for friday opening night. they say there's already been millions of dollars generated for pre-sale tickets. crazy! all i hope is that the movie stays true to the book. from what i've seen of the trailers, it looks like how i imagined it in my head with the mossy green forests and overcast weather...except i still think i'll be disappointed in how the vampires look. i don't know who their hair stylists and wardrobe people were, but for pete's sake i think I could have done a better job. for your reading pleasure (or boredom), here are my views on the looks of the vampires (and bella):


1. edward: i pictured his hair as shaggy and not sticking straight up. it's too poofy. his face is perfectly angular and his clothes are pretty good.

2. bella: perfect.


3. rosalie: psch, her "blonde" hair is too yellow and she has dark roots! the actress is pretty but she looks like the average popular girl at a high school - they really should have gotten a model. this girl better be a dang good actress to compensate for her less-than-rosalie looks. and her clothes are boring - they look kinda dowdy and not hot enough.

4. alice: her hair is waaay too long and poofy. it needs to be shorter and edgier, like selmar blair's short 'do. perfect face, but her clothes look like she's a hippie. i kinda pictured black leggings and ballet flats, like an audrey hepburn pixie style.

5. jasper: his hair looks too crunchy and curly. the curly i don't mind really but it's too...big. i think he's got a cute face- they could've chosen anyone really.

6. emmett: he was just described as big and they got that right enough. he's got a good face, too and i like his dark hair even though you can tell it's been dyed.


7. esme: perfect, although i thought her hair would be lighter, more honey-colored and not so brown. i like her classy and simple clothes.

8: carlise: i guess he's pretty handsome, but his hair is bleachy-yellow like rosalie's. and it's all gelled back and looks like a stiff marshmellow.


9. james: i hate his long, yellow hair. he's supposed to look ordinary, not like a pirate. and i keep thinking of him as the dope who killed mischa barton's character in the o.c.

10. laurant: awesome. love the dreads.

11: victoria: LOVE her wild red hair. her face and wooly, shag-coat thingy are perfect. i think she is the most perfect match out of all the vampires.

so...obviously i care way too much about this and i know these characters all look different in everyone's mind, but dang it, stop giving everyone the opposite of their natural hair color - it's so obvious and kinda tacky looking. anyways, these are just small grievances - i'm sure the movie as a whole will be awesome.

24 years (me) and 2 months (penny)

i turned 24 on the 7th and it was such a nice day. it was overcast and rainy outside so i just snuggled with penny on the couch, made hot chocolate, and watched some of my favorite movies. then nate and claire came over that night and we went out to eat at my favorite restaurant, a thai place called kaiman. so freaking good. afterwards my brother, jordan, and his wife, kjersti, stopped by and we had cake and ice cream. i got such awesome prezzies! borders giftcards (thanks nate and claire and reece and lacey) and playstation stuff (thanks paul and jordan and kjersti) and some sweet birthday cash (thanks parents).

we're not really "gamers" but i had wanted the dance, dance revolution game for forever but i didn't know you had to have the playstation to play it - i thought it was just a dvd or something. paul surprised me with not only the dance, dance revolution game but playstation 2 and a tetris game (because that's like the only video game i can play).

nate and paul dancin' it up.

nate and claire. can you find penny?

there she is! claire had her all wrapped up in this big blanket, it was pretty cute.

me and my 2-month old (as of today).

her favorite pasttime.

more, yet drastically different, halloween pictures

for halloween night we hung out with lana and kris. they live in a neighborhood with tons of young families with little kids so their doorbell was ringing nonstop all night. it was so fun to hand out candy and see all their costumes.

penny's halloween daytime outfit supplied by grandma larsen.

"mine."


kitty cousins. penny's halloween nighttime outfit supplied by aunt lana. (the halloweiner costume was fun but would've been hard to carry around all night).

happy halloweiner!

yes, we tortured penny by dressing her up as a hot dog. what can we say - we're first time parents. and we were really bored. some of you have seen the picture above already but i had to post some other shots.

ha ha i like this one. paul looks so intense.
yaaay! we're having so much funnnn!

oh, so sad. a bun-less little weiner.

"mom, dad why would you do this to me?" (note the matted hair and sweaty, pink face. not the most flattering picture.)

it's pumpkin time

i think penny had a good time watching me carve a pumpkin. it probably just looked like a big blurry orange object but she wouldn't stop staring at it. paul, of course, wouldn't scoop out the guts because he doesn't like how cold and squishy it is. but he did design the face so good job paul.

and here's a smiley pic just for fun. she's been starting to kind of smile back at me or paul and it's so darn cute.

happy penny

so i don't think i've gone a day without taking a picture of penny...these are some of my favorites that i've taken recently.

she always sleeps with her hands up in the air.

silly penny. i love that tongue!

i don't think she ever uncurls her little fists.

i think yawn-y pictures are so funny.

aw, gee!

"menh."
tummy time with dad.

can i just say that i LOVE this picture?

it's been so fun being a new mom and penny has been such a good baby so far. she has the sweetest temperament and hardly ever cries but i'm sure she'll find her voice soon enough...