things that matter.

So I got a haircut, which I am in love with. I spent an entire year growing my hair out to shoulder length, just to go under the knife (read: scissors) again. Totally worth it. I don't see myself going back to long hair for a long time, if ever. I have moments where I'll see pictures of myself with long hair and get a little nostalgic, but overall long, straight, plain hair (which is my natural texture, blah) is just too boring. It's too easy.

When I have short hair, I try harder in all aesthetic aspects (oh hey, tongue twister). I think more about what I wear, I wear makeup more often, and I wear more jewelry. See what happens? I cut my hair short, I do a FASHION BLOG POST. Check it out. I'm wearing a Stylemint shirt, Forever 21 shorts, Urban Outfitters anchor necklace and Camper flatforms. Also rings that I wear everyday; the BleachBlack x Urban Outfitters branch ring in gold and an anchor ring from American Eagle.
This little girl is five months old! Getting loose teeth and everything. She's growing up SO fast.

I guess it takes longer than four months to lose college soccer level calf muscles! I think Gala Darling deserves a little shout-out here. This is a picture I might have been hesitant to post before reading her stuff. Most women don't have muscles like those, and prominent muscles in general are associated with masculinity. You know what though, I love everything else about this picture. So I want to share it with you guys.
Gala has been doing a lot of writing about body image in the blogging world, and she's right: we should all be putting more pictures on the Internet of ourselves, so that when we read blogs, we're looking at lots of different body types. I'm not giving you the "real women have curves" speech here, because I think a slender body is beautiful and I strive for one. Slender with some serious calf muscles, of course.

35mm

It sure doesn't hurt to have a relative with a beach house in Bayhead, NJ. All photos taken by me with my 35mm film camera, and then scanned onto my laptop. So much more satisfying than using a digital camera.

home sweet home...almost

Shawn, Bella and I have been in our new apartment for about two weeks, and we have a few areas "finished." Ideally, home decoration is always evolving but there are a few places that I feel are at least aesthetically pleasing enough to show you guys. I still have a ton of wall art and random framed things (a picture of Taylor Swift ripped out of a magazine, what?) to hang up, so I'll be documenting the rest as it happens.

Bookshelf in the living room, decorated with Shawn & I's photography (mine visible, his much better and hidden in portfolios!)

My favorite part about the bookshelf is that you can get a pretty good idea of who Shawn and I both are just by looking at what's in it: fashion magazines, sheet music, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, a bunch of graphic novels, Teen Vogue Handbook, Chuck Palahniuk novels, etc.

I got this pet rock/owl from my dad and step-mom, I'm kind of in love with it. And yes, that is a fish bowl with a tiny eiffel tower inside of it, but no fish.

There's absolutely no natural lighting happening around this table, so I couldn't get a good picture of it, but it's by FAR my favorite piece of furniture in the house. We got the table and all four chairs at Ikea for EIGHTY DOLLARS. It's so perfect for us - it's modern, but basic.

Bella and me, with nothing but a T-shirt on. Except this isn't just any T-shirt, it's a T by Alexander Wang T-shirt. T. T. T....T. Now I want to watch Easy A. This is "my half" of the bedroom.

Now last but DEFINITELY not least, is my walk-in closet! If you've looked at any sort of interior decorating blog ever, this closet is going to seem unorganized and bland at best, BUT it's a big deal for me because I've never had a walk-in closet before. So just let me have my moment, okay?

day one

You guys, a two-pound Pomeranian puppy is sleeping soundly in her kennel approximately seven feet away from this very computer I'm typing on. She's mine. This isn't a babysit situation or a dream situation (it was for a frightening amount of time). THIS IS REAL LIFE. This miniscule creature is and will be dependent on me for the rest of her life. I feel very smart, lucky and happy that I get to have a practice run with this idea with a puppy and not a baby. (Although I like to think I'll be blogging that experience too, because you know, I'm Gen Y and this laptop and my brain will probably physically merge at some point in my life, right?)

This dog...is perfect. I tried to think for a solid couple of minutes about something, anything about her that I would change. WAIT, I've got it: I wish she would use both her potty pad AND the great outdoors for relieving herself. That's right, that's my high maintenance request after day one. This puppy is potty-trained. Every. single. time. I took her out today she peed, and once even pooped a miniature, Pomeranian-sized poop. If it wasn't animal feces, I would have described it as adorable, truly. But every time I try to get her to go on a potty pad she just walks away. You're probably thinking, "This crazy bitch has a dog who is potty-trained and she's complaining because her dog won't shit on a paper in her room?" BUT...with my move to New York looming on the horizon, I don't want to end up on the 17th level of a sketchy Queens/Brooklyn apartment without an elevator (this happens, right New Yorkers?) and then have to race her up down those stairs every time she has to pee! Right? That's not lazy, is it? Also...Northern Utah winters? No thanks. I'll take the potty pad. So that's the goal, I guess. Also regular things like "sit!"

(Feel free to imagine me with or without shorts in this picture, it's your choice.)

Full name: Lolabella Koga. Nicknames include but are not limited to: Lola, Bella, Bell, Baby, Baby Girl, Sweetheart, (insert ultimate cheesy pet names here). Shawn is playing long-distance dad right now, he's still got finals. Luckily, I only had one and it was this morning! Shawn is graduating next Spring (what?! I'm so jealous!) and I'm super proud of him, he's going to be A+ at everything he does, I just know it. Maybe not driving, as he drove his car into a telephone pole today? Although I admit willingly that he is a much better driver than me. That makes me sound like a massive road hazard...

In other news, I've had vegan taco night two days in a row, accented with AMAZING recipes from The Veggie Gal: Black Bean & Corn Salad with Lime & Black Bean Guacamole. I used the bean & corn salad as the toppings for my tacos, and then ate the guacamole...well, as one usually eats guacamole: smother chip in guac and shove in mouth quicker than everyone else sitting at the dinner table.

making christian holidays about chicken embryos and chocolate

Naturally, the best follow up to a vegan cupcake post is a post about eggs. Remember guys, I'm not vegan yet. I just ate a hunk of cheddar cheese about two minutes before typing this. I haven't successfully beaten the opiate compounds in that god damn cheese. Progress, not perfection!

So what's the deal with all of these Christian holidays that now mean absolutely nothing? I know some people actually think about that guy named Jesus on Easter and Christmas, but I'm not one of those people. My family isn't religious in any way. So we kind of just say fuck it, and dye some eggs.

I think this particular dye was trying to be...periwinkle? I did not like it. I had an ultimate goal of getting the perfect teal color. Here is the fruit of my labor:

tricking my relatives into veganism

A while ago, one of my favorite vegan blogs linked to an amazing-looking cupcake recipe. When I became vegetarian, I knew it was going to be an "issue" at family get-togethers. Everyone in my extended family is extremely traditional; meat and potato lovers, all of them. A few of them are even regular hunters (yikes). So the word vegan isn't even in their realm of consciousness, really. I decided that I was going to bring an appetizer, dessert or something vegan (or at least vegetarian) to share, and I wasn't going to announce that it was vegan. I was going to wait until someone complimented it (haha, hopefully!) and then with a sly grin say, "Thanks, and it's vegan too!" Hopefully then they will be able to approach the idea of veganism with a slightly more positive outlook.

Wow, so getting back to the original sentence, those cupcakes. Tomorrow is Easter. Both sides of my family are getting together. I am making those damn cupcakes and I am bringing them.

Step 1: Gather ingredients

My mom is as carnivorous as they come, but she spent over $20 getting me all of the crazy vegan ingredients like organic non-hydrogenated shortening, Earth Balance vegan non-hydrogenated margarine, Newman-O's (organic vegan Oreos), almond milk, peppermint extract, etc. She is the best! The rest of the ingredients are pretty basic and most homes have them in the pantry already. The full recipe is here.

Step 2: Line the cupcake tins

Step 3: Mix your liquid ingredients

Step 4: Mix your dry ingredients with your liquid ingredients

Step 5: Fill your cupcake liners with delicious batter, and try not to eat too much of it before it gets in there

I made these at my dad's house, that's their white bread and water bottles hanging out in the background!

Step 6: Bake those babies in the oven

Step 7: Make your frosting!

Step 8: Crush the Newman-O's

Steps 9 & 10: Separate the frosting - make one half mint and keep one half vanilla; add crushed Newman-O's to both

Step 11: Cut remaining Newman-O's in half to use as fancy decoration on the top of your cupcakes

Step 12: (Try to) make them look nice, sample them, and save!

Despite the cracked Newman-O, and that mysterious chunk of cake missing from the front, I was pretty happy with how they turned out, especially since this was my first time making them. My immediate family sampled them and gave them a thumbs up taste-wise, so I'm hoping everyone else will feel the same tomorrow!

sixteen days and counting

Only sixteen days left until a one pound Pomeranian puppy dominates my life. Don't take this the wrong way, but uh, I'm so ready to be dominated. I have had a debatably unhealthy obsession with Pomeranians since I was sixteen years old. I worked at a vet clinic and met some Poms who pretty much stole my heart and never gave it back. I've always known that I would get a Pomeranian puppy and somewhere along the line I named her Lolabella. Yes, she's had a name for years. Years before she was even created. Welcome to my brain. Fast forward four years, and she does exist. Sixteen days is nothing in comparison to four years, but the days are going by. so. slowly. I'm like a five-year-old on Christmas Eve right now. Shawn could tell you in great detail about the levels of my psychosis regarding this animal.

All of my photos with her are taken at the home she was born in. I have been visiting her once a week since she was 5 weeks old. She's finally starting to recognize me, and it's the best! Usually puppies bug their owners, like "Ugh...five more minutes of sleep before I have to take you out, pleeeease!" but I have this suspicion that the roles are going to be reversed. I'm going to be up staring at her thinking "Wake up pleeeeease, let's go for a walk!" and she's going to be thinking, "Ugh...five more minutes of sleep before I have to take YOU out, pleeeease!" Pomeranians are attention whores, so maybe she'll eat it up. All I know for sure is that this is going to be one spoiled dog, and I'm okay with that.