words coming soon...on the phone now

see better picture here: http://www.warymeyers.com/Resources/guestroom2.jpg

New Goal: to make a delicious pizza...true italian-style

don't you just love this video?

they guy just looks so...so...Italian! I mean, can you believe he made that fist-sized ball of dough into that gigantore round pizza crust? and the way he handles it--hardly looking at it, throwing it around with ease, while continually ducking down to peek at the camera lense and make sure it's still watching him, catching every step, so concerned that everyone sees what is going on--"you see? you see what i did there? did you see that?".

it's just so endearing and makes you think hmmm, i think i'm going to try to make a pizza today. yes, that sounds about right doesn' it? myesss..." as you muse about your future pizza making.

anyways, that's my little bit for the day

hope y'all are doin well wherever y'ar!

love,

~Lili

p.s. did any of you ever realize that the colors of the Italian flag are the same as the main ingredients of the basic topping to a pizza: tomoto sauce, mozzarrella, and bazil? cool, huh?

Magic

have you ever thought about what it would be like to carry magic around with you everywhere you went?
well, if you ever meet or see Imogen Heap in concert, you will immediately know that this women carries a head of incredible magic and ingenuity on top of her sholders.And sitting in the crowd, listening to her joke and ramble and SING and create music while you're watching you get a little glimpse of it, her magic spreads to you and you absorb it--magical bubbles filling your entire body, bursting here and there and showering an array of mindblowing magic! And that my friend, is the only way i can explain it.*

seriously. she's doing this thing where in each city she gives a concert in, she's creating a song, just for that city RIGHT there, RIGHT then, along with the crowd. so she asks the crowd what key they want and we all shout out what we want. Las Angeles's happened to be E. Flat or sharp? we chose flat. then you figure out if you want her to play in minor, major, natural whatever, we decided minor. Then, you even decide the speed, and we chosde 4/4. And just like that, she starts making a song, already knowing what sound each of those will make. So she walks over to one side of the stage, and creates sounds with a plethora of instruments that i've never even heard of, and intwining those sounds with her own vocals, recording those sounds and overlapping them with MORE vocals and more. Then she walks over to her piano and sings and plays at the same time. And Voilla! L.A. has their very own imogen heap concert, which you can all download on her website for 1 dollar. All of the proceeds from this song will be sent to the Tree People organization, which is a local charity.

In the beginning of the show, Imogen Heap introduced these two people, a man and a women, BRITISH (with british accents and everything), who she said had worked with her and inspired her a bunch while she was composing her latest albums. Primarily, they were both violinists, but besides this, they were MUCH more. They called themselves Geese, and they did kind of very similar things to what Imogen does accept only instrumental. So they would play their li'l violins for a while, then record that noise, overlap it with another violin melody, record that, then sing into the little 'f' shapes in the violins, in which there must have been microphones because this beautiful harmony would be emitted. Every once in a while, the woman of the group would walk over to her little set of chimes and computer and compound sounds from them, too.

After the performance, Jessie, Marissa, Matt, and I were fortunate enough to actually meet these brilliant people, and they were soooo......so chill i swear! We all got onto the topic of saying that we absolutely loved all of their Bri'ish accents and they replied that, actually, we were the ones with thte accents and that British people are always trying to copy the American accents they see in Hollywood all the time (you know by saying like, that's totally this and totally that). Which promptly got us onto the subject of what were common slang words in England. Apparently, Posh Spice is really not posh (shhh it's a secret) and if you ever hear her say "that's totally MAJOR"...she just made that up--that's not a commonly heard phrase in England. But apparently "bullocks" is. Get this, her deffinition for how to use the word "bullocks" is when you are trying to say something is rubbish. I mean, just like that, without even realizing what she was saying, she descibed somethign as rubbish! BUT, here's the catch--if you say something is "the rubbish," of "dog's rubbish," you're actually saying that that thing is totally awesome. ("dog's rubbish" being the higher exclamation above just "the rubbish") Somewhat like exclaiming "shit!" when you're upset, or "this is the shit!" when you think it's really cool. Also, saying that something is "well-good" is similar to saying that the subject in question is the "dog's rubbish."

this is us with them! you can't tell but she had really cool shoes.

from the left: Marissa, Matt, Geese-man, Geese-woman, Jessie, and Me:)

And, as Forrest Gump would put it, "that's all i've got to say about that, folks"

does anyone else know any fun slang words in any other language? If so please speak now and share it or forever hold your peace.

I love you all!

~Lili

does anyone know another word for magic?

Imogen Heap

Today, i am going to an Imogen Heap Concert at the Greek Theater with my friends Marissa, Jessie, and Matt! I am SO excited it should be a joke! i've been to two other concerts before, but this is the first one that i actually really like the person i'm seeing. (the first time i went with a cousin who had gotten free tickets to a KROCk concert of people i didn't even know; the second i went with my friend to see her favorite band because the tickets were only 10 bucks.) Those were fun and all but not like this.

Below, i've copied the URL for her newest album Ellips. Listen and then buy. You won't regret it! Will i see anyone there?

hello my lovely readers (if there are any of the scant few of you left)

it is I, Lili, the long-lost writer of this lonesome little blog which i am sorry to say that I have abandoned for the past, what is it, one, two, daren't i say THREE whole months?

i could try to explain my absence to the exams of the three horrible AP classes that I took this year, or the looooong SAT tests i had to endure, or the millions of finals i've had to take, or even the apparent falling apart of my large loving family I used to have, but nay I'll restrain. those are just a long list of excuses, and once you fall into using those lovely buggers your whole life can become one terrible excuse after another.

So what have I been doing with my life as of yet? (i'll imagine you ask) well, i'll tell you my friends.

On the very last day of school, i found out that the ministry director at my school, the great Mr. McG. is leaving to become the vice principle of another school--his alma mater in fact. This really hit me hard. I had been so looking forward to getting to know him better next year especially in his famous (at my school) senior religion class. Also, when Tim, the youth minister at my school, left LAST year, I lost a lot of my, like spiritual and inspirational guidance, i think are the words i'm looking for. But you see, i still had McG at my school to keep me encouraged and inspired to emmerce myself in expanding my spiritual self and doing good for the world. And now, he's leaving too. So it's like, all these people who i had held so high in my life are leaving, and i'm so scared that i'm gonna lose whatever i had left.

I'm sure many of you think, after reading a bunch of my posts, that i'm one of those annoying, whiney teens who think that the world is this hellish place or something. But i assure you this is not the case. In fact, I am awed every day with the beauty of the world. Just think: where we could have only one flat monatonous terrain, we have hills and valleys and lakes and oceans. Where we could have been given a plain brown sky, we instead have one that come in all different hues of blue dotted here and there with white fluffy clouds, all reflecting the color of the water. Not only that, but this sky even changes COLORS! We have a sun AND a moon, AND stars, trees and flours, dirt and rocks and bugs and animals and friends and families. I mean really, can you think of anything more to ask for? my gosh!

So anyway, rather than choosing to wallow in my own grief over this feeling of loss of outside guidance, after talking with one of my best friends Emily, (although, to give myself some credit, too, this thought had already crossed my mind but was set in stone after talking with her), i've realized that this now means that I must draw from within myself my OWN inspiration. my own knowledge and crazy thoughts. So, this summer, i am rounding myself in all aspects:

I'm becoming more responsible: i brush and floss my teeth twice a day, I'm excercizing and eating healthy WOOHOO! and i'm not gonna let myself get bored or lazy.

And i'm reading. like a ton. I've already read one book that was just a little silly adventure/romance book, that i really liked, and now i'm moving on to more knowledge and thought provoking books. Right now, i am reading Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and i've gotta tell you, i'm absolutely LOVING every page, everu word of it.

I'm sure most of you have already heard of this book, especially now that it's being turned into a move and especially because it has the famous Julia Roberts and James Franco in it, but i had no idea. I was just on this website, looking for a book, and a picture of EPL's front cover popped up, and, after reading a short summary of it, i thought that it was interesting and bought it. It was only after, when i was talking about recieving it with my friend Marissa that i learned of its fame.

I've become more responsible in terms of this book, too: i already knew that i REALLY want to expand my vocabulary, so i've been good and i read this book with a dictionary and a bunch of note cards. on the cards, i write words that i've never known or that pop out at me even if i do know them but want to start using them. Words like diaphonous (transparent or translucent), kalos kai agathos (Greek for singular balance of the good and the beautiful) and schizo. I've also made a list of some of the people she mentions that I would like to learn more about, like Katharine Hepburn and Boccaccio and Bono and Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as some of the food that i want to try to make like Pasta alla Carbonera with sauteed spinach and garlic. It's made the reading go a lot slower but it's worth it, trust me.

Man, i have SO much more to say, but this post is already humoungously long, so i won't keep you. and i'll write the rest later.

Au revoire!

~Lili

Just a Happy Picture...

looking through photos because I don't want to study for my A.P.s :) don't judge me haha.

this is one that i came across and really loved:http://weheartit.com

i think that i will never cease to be awed by the rays of the sun

Lovely Recipe

Warning: Prepare to be overloaded with pictures.















One of my favorite things to do....well pretty much my absolute favorite thing to do, is bake. There's something about it that is so zen that I just can't get over. One thing that I love making, and in fact make practically every week is banana bread. (actually i think i make it so much that my family is now bored of it). I've tried a bunch of recipes, and I think I've come up with a favorite. Actually. I've had it the whole time and I just keep coming back to it.
So, I've decided to depart the recipe with you all.




The recipe's really easy and the result is more than satisfactory; the bread is a lot different than any other banana bread i've ever had, partly because the color is a lot lighter and it's just a bit sweeter i think. Anywho, you'll soon see for yourself!

Banana Nut Bread:
Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. shortening
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 cups flour
• 3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 35o degrees.
2. Grease a loaf pan 9 by 5 by 3.
3. mix sugar, shortening, and egg thoroughly.
4. Stir in milk.
5. Measure flour and blend dry ingredients; stir in.
6. Add bananas and stir in nuts.
7. Pour into pan; bake 60 to 70 minutes or until toothpick stuck into center comes out clean. (crack in top of loaf is characteristic.)
8. Cool thoroughly before slicing with a thin, sharp knife.

Enjoy!

The Cookbook is this really old Betty Crocker edition that belonged to my great grandmother. It's really neat because it's one of the if not THE first edition that contains color pictures. So the whole book is scattered with pages of pictures here and there, and they are all those black an white pictures which were given color after they were taken so they have this nice, old, vintage-y feel to them.
Here. I'll show you a picture:


It was really funny taking all of these pictures because I was near a window that faces into my neighbor's kitchen, and I could just imagine them watching me and wondering what the heck i was doing moving around a loaf of bread and a cookbook and taking pictures of them every few seconds. HA!

The Starfish Story: meaning behind my blog's name

The Starfish Story
Original Story by: Loren Eisley

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean.
The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?
You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…
"I made a difference for that one.”

whoa!

take a look at that giant light bulb fixture!
new goal in life: get a hold of one o'those babies

i'm also on the lookout for a beautiful vintage bird cage. so if anyone finds one, you know where to find me!

Alice and Wonderland-ish?

i'm mostly posting this blog for myself to remember
but i really like these pictures posted on the blog La Mome (http://lamomeblog.blogspot.com/)
the head bands and makeup are a bit wonderland-y, no?
i particularly like the first one with the buttons, at least for the outfit i have in mind

currently lusting over...

these cup and spoon measures from anthropologie
i absolutely adore them and MUST get them some day. end of story:)


*side note: blog title borrowed from the blog "notebookdoodles"...but i used it because i felt like it fit perfectly for what i'm saying

Changes

so as i was re-figuring my blog
i decided that this quote no longer fit in front of my header picture,
so i'm just gonna post it here so that it doesn't disappear completely from my blog.
besides, people could never read it the other way anyway so heres goes:

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Jack Kerouac

As You Can See

My Blog is currently under construction:)

Recent Purchase:

I am so excited!
I just got these for earrings prom:

aren't they beautiful?
I'm on prom committee and we've recently figured out the theme for this year's prom. I can't tell you what the theme is just yet (just in case anyone from my school who can't know yet is reading this. no one is, but still). All I can tell you is that i think they're kind of perfect for the prom.
I've been saying that a lot: "Kind of 'insert really positive word here'"
I don't know why. But for some reason i think it kind of broadens the effect.
Anyways, sorry for that random little shmeal.

I'm also gonna wear this white dress i got for free from Jobina's Wedding Shop, which is actually owned by one of my best friend's aunt. The designer donated a bunch of dresses to my school after she had a photo shoot in the mansion located on our school property. (i know, weird right? weirder still, the mansion used to be a hospital type thing for t.b. afflicted people. some people say it's haunted). Anywho, the dress is way way too big for me so i have to take it in a heck of a lot and I'm gonna add this colorful ribbon around the waste that match the colors on the earrings. I gots visions and they excite me. Is this where my creativity is gonna finally be set free from my head? I truly hope so.


Until next time,
Lili

P.S. as soon as i finish the dress, i'll post a picture up and as soon as i have the liberty to tell you the theme of the prom, i shall do so promptly

Blog Backgrounds

does anyone know how to put a picture as your blog background?

Lesson of the Day

Lesson of the day:
don't make things bigger than they are.
it's unnecessary but also, unfortunately, ver easy to do.
you'll just make problems get bigger and bigger even if they started from the teeniest tiniest thing...and eventually you'll have this big clusterfudge of problems and really, who needs of even wants that?
if you have the opportunity to fix things, or to avoid problems, take them.


so yeah. go out in peace and love

here's a yummy picture of fudge to make you happy...and hungry.

Random Quote

So I was doing my routine read of my inspirational blogs
and i was looking at this one post from The Drifter and the Gypsy (is that how you cite blogs....well if she ever reads this blog she'll know I tried) and this one quote of hers really stuck out to me. So I'm gonna pass it on to you if you haven't had the good fortune of looking at her blog and seeing it yourself:
the question being asked was:
...what would be your advice to a someone just starting their journey [on this planet we call earth]?

and this is what she said:
...My advice to someone just starting their journey is don’t be afraid of taking risks. All brilliant people have failed many more times than they have had successes. If you haven’t failed recently, you haven’t tried.

i don't know... I just really liked that.

Independence

So I now have:
~my own pet: My little kitty Hazel

~my license AND my own car (which I will have to pay for when I actually want it to be my own
but still) so I can escape whenever I want to
~my very best friends that I have ever had and that I am positive I will stay in touch with even
when I'm in a wheel chair. People always say this and you think it can't be true but, seriously, I
know in my heart that it's true. They will be the Aunties of my kids:)
~my own family that isn't part of the neutral family I live with right now. This is core team.
Over the past couple of years, we have grown to know each other so well, and we are all such a
big part of each others' lives that we all consider each other family. I love them all.
~my very own room that I've designed the way I want it to be and it's pretty much completely
different and separate from the rest of the house
~and I might start a chap-stick business with my friend Marissa, inspired by the totally legit
chap-stick that my sister gave me for Christmas. We are looking for a really cool name to call it
so if you have any suggestions that you would like to share, I would be much obliged
~I am also in the process, along with the rest of the family, of convincing my friend Glenn to open
his own shop to sell shirts and sweatshirts and shtuff because he's one of the most amazing
artists. Like you wouldn't believe that most of the drawings he creates are actually by hand
and not by computer. If you saw them you'd understand.
~in the summer (which I know is a few months away but still) I am absolutely determined to get
a job and will therefore have a source of income to actually do the things I want to do right now
and even save up for stuff for the future.
~as afore mentioned in a previous blog, I've talked with my old Youth Minister, Tim, and he's
decided that he's been called to begin, in his words, a "revolution" to reach out to everyone in
the world and he's asked me, along with the rest of the family, and anyone else who feels
inspired, to help him. Again: tienen suggestions? If so, they would be very appreciated.


I think I'm in the process of creating my own independent world and it excites me.


*pictures will be added to this blog as soon as possible.

Love

i just got this for my car!!

i'm so excited it's not even funny.
no really. it's not.
haha

Radical Ministry

This past weekend I went on a retreat with my school's Confirmation I group. I swear it was one of the happiest retreats that i've ever been on. I helped run it with about 10 other people. These people are some of the greatest people that i have ever known and i am so extremely blessed to have them in my life. I love them with all of my heart. They are my family.

But anyways, i was talking with my old youth minister, Tim, and we were talking about a group we sort of started at my church but after the first few meetings, unfortunately, it sort of fizzled. Now, he lives in Arizona and one of the really dedicated members of the group is in college in Indiana. (Notre Dame, Woot Woot!)

But that doesn't mean that our radical ministry has to end. It might have sort of slowed for a very long time, but it's only hit an impasse. It can still be revived.

So my question to you is this: do any of you have any ideas that we can act upon that is "radical" and can help do even a small thing to help the world? I'm not joking. Please, I'd love to hear what any of you have to say.

Thanks!
~Lili

Everyday I Vow To...

So I've decided that in order to reach my goal of being a person that does more than just schoolwork, in order to be a person with a story, i need to start doing even little things every day so that eventually i can build up to greater and much larger things to change the world. Here's what I have so far:


-give at least 3 people a hug
-talk to someone i don't usually talk to
-spend at least an hour straight (not scattered) doing something besides homework or anything on the computer
-tell someone something about how i'm feeling that day. not hold everything inside all the time.
-ask someone who looks upset what's wrong and listen to them if they decide to tell me
-hug someone who looks upset when words don't work
-give a complement to at least one person...especially randomly
-read a couple of pages in a book that's not for homework
-read something inspirational/ watch a short video about something inspirational.
...as always, this list will hopefully be added onto.

Inspiration Blogs

So many of you might know, or you might not, that one of the biggest goals that I've had for practically my entire life is to be more creative. Recently I have found a few blogs that have become my sort of muse(s? can you make that plural? I've never heard it that way.)
Anyway, I've decided that I want to post their sites on my own blog because I want to spread their magnificence to others so that they can inspire others as they do me.



Number 1.
name: whichgoose
blog link: http://whichgoose.blogspot.com/
this girl is positively...what's a good word...phenominal? creative? incredible?
some mixture of all those and more.
I found her first on Etsy but then lost track of her and managed to find her again a few months later. And then I found out she had a blog and I followed her on there, and I am so glad I did. I look at all of the beautiful things she has created and all of the things she posts that she's done and I am inspired to do stuff for myself, create stuff, do more with my life. So thank you Ms. Whichgoose (a.k.a Emily)

Number 2.
name: goodthingscatered
blog link: http://goodthingscatered.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-year-new-recipes.html
so as many of you may know, I am a baker. I love it. It makes me happy. And I think I'm kind of addicted. (to clarify: bake food not drugs ok?)
I actually found this blog a long time ago when I was looking for a recipe for blueberry scones to bake with one of my best friends, Emily. The women who writes this blog has hundreds of recipes; the perfect combination of recipes with pictures to accompany them, and reviews at the end to make you absolutely sure that this is the food you want to create. As mentioned in one of my previous blogs: one of my new years resolutions is to not bake so much but to also cook so that everyone can eat some of the delicious stuff I make without getting all worried about calories and fat or vatefer

Number 3.
name: thedrifterandthegypsy
blog link: http://thedrifterandthegypsy.blogspot.com/2010/01/pretty-books.html
So I only recently found this blog and I am SO happy I did.
The person who wrote this blog posts the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen in my entire life.
She also posts different projects she's started herself and with others and even the rest of the world! I wish I had signed up with her I Heart project. It's this like notebook thing that is being sent all around the world pretty much in which everyone who receives it makes a collage and puts it in the book. So awesome! I want to do something like that some day. Anyways. If you read this blog, please look her up.

Number 4.
name: notebookdoodles
blog link: http://notebookdoodles.blogspot.com/
This blog is a site full of happy and inspirational pictures featuring quotes that have been masterfully put together by the person who writes this blog. I swear. I go on this blog, and even on the crappiest of days, it makes me smile. So thank you so much for making my day every day notbookdoodles. you are amazing.



PLEASE PLEASE LOOK UP ALL OF THESE PEOPLE EVEN IF YOU DON'T READ MY DESCRIPTIONS! you will understand when you see them. and you can thank me later:)