Channeling Chung

winged eyeliner? .... check.

collared shirt?... check.

high-ish waisted shorts?.... check.

(top - goodwill, shorts - ?, oxfords here)

cool alexa vibes? double check.

(image from here.)

Alexa Chung.

This is an ode to the smart, lovely, and fabulous, Alexa Chung.

I fell in love with her a while ago for her off-beat charm.  

She's been, and will continue to be my favorite model and TV Presenter for probably for all of eternity... seriously.

She's the queen of the shorts and collars look, and she's honestly just flawless in my eyes.

Alexa Chung is just so cool and cute, and she's got her shit together.

(plus she freaking dated Alex Turner)

***

She's written a book called, "IT" you can buy it here.

You can watch this adorable video of her talking about her style here.

her talking about her book etc. (she's cute)

I just kind of adore her more than anything, and she's like one of my biggest role models.

that's it.

xoxo, 

gossip girl

(jk it's alijah)

P.S. This is my 30th post... yay. 

Gentrification is Uncomfortable (for me at least)

Gentrification is a shift in an urban community toward wealthier residents and/or businesses and increasing property values, sometimes to the detriment of the poorer residents of the community

In a community undergoing gentrification, the average income increases and average family size decreases. Poorer pre-gentrification residents who are unable to pay increased rents or property taxes may be driven out. Often old industrial buildings are converted to residences and shops. New businesses, which can afford increased commercial rent, cater to a more affluent base of consumers—further increasing the appeal to higher income migrants and decreasing the accessibility to the poor. (source)

Okay, so now we've got that squared away.

Gentrified places: Think Oakland, CA and Harlem, NY.

But one place I'm going to be specifically talking about is Williamsburg, Brooklyn (aka Buschwick)

This topic came about one lunchtime when I was sitting on a roof eating pasta salad with one of my best friends.  We were talking about our futures, and our plans, and everything.  One of the things I've wanted to do since I was very young is move to New York.  I've actually had my heart set on going to NYU since I was like 10.  
So,

as we were conversing about our futures and things, we started talking about different

parts of New York like the ideal living situations and areas like 

Chelsea, Harlem, Manhattan, etc but then we started talking about Buschwick 

It was a place I'd only been to once, and I loved it.

It made me feel at ease like I was in a similar place...
like in my neighborhood at home.

Until I realized that it was mostly twenty-something white people living there.

There's nothing wrong with that of course, it's just unusual because that's not who you'd think would be living there.

Why do people like the feeling of being in a ghetto area

but without the actual ghetto-ness of it?

I know I shouldn't actually be offended -- and I'm not at all. 

I'm just a little confused on where the line is drawn though.

Why is it cool to be in a place with graffiti and grime if it's full of white people with money as opposed to if it was full of non-white people without money? 

the way i see it is that it's kind of a little like
urban renewal except instead of even giving the uprooted families any 
kind of consolation money at all
people were simply uprooted from their homes because
the rent skyrocketed due to the 
new trendy shops and restaurants that were popping up in their 'hood.

maybe i'm just an annoyed teenage girl with internet access
(i am but still)
but this is kind of fucked up, right??

"Williamsburg is an influential hub for indie rock, hipster culture, and the local art community. Many ethnic groups also have enclaves within Williamsburg, including Italians, Jews, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans. The neighborhood isbeing redefined by a growing population and the rapid development of housing and retail space particularly catered to a wealthy population that has been historically foreign to the neighborhood." (source)

well, until next time

xoxo, 

gossip girl

(jk it's alijah)

In Which I Channel Morrissey // I'm Uncool.

Morrissey.

The angst-ridden front man from the 80's band "The Smiths"

He's like everyone's idol ever, and he's also kind of racist.
He thinks meat is murder and Thanksgiving is one of the worst holidays #ever.
Aside from that, he's one rad dude.
If you wanna jam out to the smiths, click here.here.
aaaaand, click here too.

(this is Morrissey - photo from google images)

(this is me pretending to be Morrissey)

^ Morrissey and I... uncanny, right?

alright, that's it. I hope you laughed, because I sure did.
xoxo,
gossip girl
(jk it's alijah)

Belated Best Friend Monday // For Celine

(photos from Celine's Facebook)

So, this past Monday, Celine and I celebrated our self-proclaimed National Best Friend Day.

We cleaned graveyards, ate pretzel sticks, and argued.  

We laughed, at ourselves, and our peers... and we had a damn good time.

There's just something important about best friends I think, and to be able

to have someone like Celine in my life, holy cow,  I'm lucky.

I love her to death, she's Saint Celine. 

She's my BFF, my avocado, my seaweed cucumber fish and I love her.

***

So, to celebrate I made her a zine, an 8tracks mixtape, and a button-ish thing.

(front & inside part of the zine)

(the button-ish thing)

her 8tracks mix

xoxo,

gossip girl

(jk it's alijah)

Silver Jews // Great Closet Purge of 2014

(my closet, and various items I found.)

Today marks the third day this week we've been given off of school,

and honey, I'm not complaining.

We've had five days off total (including the weekend) It's been like a mini Spring Break... I suppose its better than last year when it snowed almost every Friday in January and for the whole month, 

 we didn't go to school on Fridays.

I'm completely content to have time off of school, although I do miss human contact with my friends... Skype, Twitter, and Facebook aren't cutting it for me any more. I miss my friendsssss.

But, even with these three extra days off, I've still managed to procrastinate my butt off. I've still got a miniature presentation due for Earth/Space Science, two paper-ish things for Spanish, and I've got to finish up reading The Red Tent. Aaaand, I need to finish cleaning out my closet hahah.

I should probably get off the internet.

You would think that I'd have enough sense to do work, 

(I don't)

Instead, I've been sitting in my room all day listening to Silver Jews.

and cleaning out my closet.

 *in my defense, I only woke up like an hour ago*

It's a good story about how I came to find out about this band, so we were chillin' in Hutch's car going to a Renaissance Festival last November and we were listening to music and Hutch started playing this band called "Silver Jews" and I was like oh man that's rad, and then listened to them like a few weeks later.

ok well i guess thats it haha,

xoxo,

gossip girl

(jk it's alijah)

Teen Lovers // The Virgins

(dress - TJ Maxx, sweater - JC Penny)

CLICK THIS FOR REFERENCE 

(The Virgins - Teen Lovers) 

"One, two, three, four
The heart wants what it wants
don't ask no more
Teen lovers, don't wait
Vacation is over, don't wait
Teen lovers, don't wait
Vacation is over, don't wait"

 As everyone should know by now, I'm more or less in love with The Virgins (2007-2013).

So, they've got this song called "Teen Lovers" and it made me chuckle

because that's literally what this January has been so far. 

January ;  a month of teen lovers.

Everybody is coupling up and what not, it's quite adorable.

(Unless you're one of those people who think gushy high school romances are gross)

**I am not one of those people, I love relationships, they're cute... until they get weird which is a different story .**

Love is in the aiiiiir, Like seriously, it's like a constant February 14th feeling.

I'm kind of digging it. 

It's great not having everyone's angst levels at a 10.

People are chilling, everyone's happy, and the bitchin' is at a minimum. 

Everyone should date each other more often because this is just fabulous.

alrighty then,

xoxo, gossip girl.

(jk it's alijah)

Cute As A Button // 50 cents of joy

(photos by Sarah C, Sarah B, and I)

Buttons, buttons, buttons.

I made about 30 buttons in those three days.

I was a hardcore businesswoman for three days.

I made these cute little button things and sold them for fifty cents each. 

The loveliest part about them were that they were all one of a kind. 

Each and every one of them were a once in a lifetime deal.

Never to be reproduced and never to be seen anywhere else, which was rad.

They sold like hot cakes.

In those three days, I made like fifteen bucks.

Now, looking back. I'm really glad I made those buttons.

they were adorable, people liked them, and I had lunch money.

It was like a win-win-win situation!

What was really the best part about these buttons though, is that they aren't really buttons. 

You can't attach them to anything, they're kind of meant to be stuck in places.

Like stuck in your binder to look at between first and second period for a smile....

or like in your wallet to look at when you need a quarter and see a button and you think of fun times and get nostalgic, they're pretty cool little pieces of guacamole i think.

xoxo,

gossip girl

(jk it's alijah)

After the glitter fades // NYC 2013

 (Lilly & Frank - two of the coolest people in my life)

(Lilly and I in some like pizza place or something maybe?)

(ok this is Lilly and I with a vitamin water in our fancy clothes in front of Lincoln Center)

(Eve-Lynn, Eric, Zach & Miguel - they climbed on a ledge in Yanni & Laura's room in the hostel)

(that very same night, we all piled up with $20 worth of candy that was bought in a NYC Subway station - we listened to music, danced, ate and laughed... it was great)

(Eric looking cool as guac in Central Park)

(This is me at night on a rooftop in Brooklyn, 

I was wearing a floral dress and a black sweater so all you can see is my legs, and hands

I think it looks rad haha)

(I like this picture a lot it makes Eric & Zach look like they're on an album cover or something & Frank just looks super cool in the background along with Times Square)

(Eve-Lynn - the beautiful, raven-haired, heroine on the outside balcony/stairwell thing at like 1am)

***

This was one of the best trips I've ever been on.

I'm just very very very lucky to have some of the most amazing people in my life.

No matter how annoying or neurotic I can be, they're always there for me y'know?

We have fun times together

We fuck shit up

We talk about our issues

and we laugh at eachother's teenage emotional drama.

now that's what i call friendship.

I think it's important to have a group of people that you can have fun with, make jokes with, sit on roofs at 3:00 in the morning with and still be able to have deep conversations about feelings with...

ok ok i'm done being sentimental

until next time,

xoxo, 

Gossip Girl

(jk it's alijah)

F.Scott Fitz-Fabulous

Mister Classic Himself

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald

I'm not going to lie. I used to loathe this man's work.  I read the Great Gatsby and hated it. I read some of his short stories and thought they were bad too and he was an overrated author and whatnot. But, the other night I decided to start reading "The Beautiful and Damned" on a whim expecting it to be just as bad as

Gatsby but I was wrong... So very wrong.

It was literally the best thing I've ever read. It is such a hilarious book. Honestly-- I've come to the conclusion that F.Scott was a lovely writer and he was just brilliant.

See, I used to hate his writing, but love him as a person.  His love letters to Zelda have always been beautiful to me, and the entirety of his escapades and his overly entertaining love life(and life in general) were just great.

But this is one truly fabulous man. I have been totally oblivious to his talent the entire time.

The Beautiful and Damned is literally my new favorite book

So maybe we really shouldn't judge books by their covers... or their authors?

Saint Celine the Overall Queen // Best Friends Forever

(postcard c/o Celine)

Alijah,

"The cast of Seinfeld is wishing you (and your family) a happy holiday. 

I, however, am still grieving @ the virgins break-up.

Your blog entry was really good though

Love, Celine

P.S UR GR8

-KRAMER WAS RACIST"

This is just a lovely lovely Christmas surprise I got from one of my best friends, Celine.

I love her to death and she's one of the coolest girls I know.

xoxo,

gossip girl

(jk it's alijah)

2014 // Holy Guacamole

( top - Burlington Coat Factory, old black shorts - i'm not sure, oxfords - wet seal)

Hello hello guys

Sorry for the awkward photos and weird lighting

I decided to take pictures in the laundry room for some reason

but heeeey first blog post of the year isn't that just fantastic?

I'm not doing too much today, it's raining and I'm going thrifting with my mom later. 

I decided to throw on one of my go-to outfits.

(you can literally never go wrong with stripes, black tights, and black shorts)

just a quick post before I go back to sitting in my reading corner while I listen to 

Wilco and write some essays.

I hope you all had a beautiful and safe new year!!

there will be loads of fun to come. 

be ready for it, cause this year is gonna be big.

xoxo,

gossip girl

(jk it's alijah)