Panda Eyes

Letterman Jacket - vintage // Sweater - Japan // Leggings - J. Crew // Boots - Doc. Martens // Mittens - Kate Spade

I went to China in February. Above are more touristy photos which we took while souvenir shopping and attempting to speak to locals in my broken Chinese that I learned between the 1st and 5th grade, which consists of mostly "ni hao," "xie xie," and some songs about making friends and counting.  But the people were wonderful to me and encouraged, though I had a terrible accent, me to improve my Chinese.

In Cheng Du I did the most unreal thing. I'll give you one hint:

Panda

Oh yes. That's right. I took care of panda's for a week with two of my best friends, Laken and Chelsea. We made friends with two wonderful pandas, Jenko and Mason, as well as our panda master.  It was heaven.  We would clean their cages, then feed them panda cake, carrots, and apples.  Mason would even play game where he'd stand on two feet, open his mouth, and catch the food after we threw it.  They were such sweet, kind creatures.  During the trip, we became more and more aware of how panda's came to be endangered.  It's actually a wonder panda's have been able to survive this long considering their mating period is just a few days long, they are solitary animals, and the rapid fragmentation of their habitat due to urbanization in China.
But they are cute aren't they?

xie xie,

Annika 

Telunas 2012

Lucky Charms. The choice snack food of everyone on the art retreat.

Don't judge us.

You know you'd eat them, too.

See my wonderful decorations on my sketchbook? They make me smile :)

I don't know if I've ever really mentioned this before, but I'm an artist. Or at least, I do art.  Acrylic on canvas is my favorite and I love drawing hair.  I don't know what it is, but that's what gets me.  But this year is different. I won't really be working with acrylic or canvas or paper or pencil. This year I'll be working with form and making 3D art, ie. sculpture, found objects, clay, etc.

I am terrified.

Every year, all the AP Art students go on a retreat to an Indonesia island called Telunas. It's like an artists heaven, where we spend the majority of the day eating and "arting."  Even our chaperones got in on it, I was especially amused by our vice-principal (he joined us on the trip). He made himself a little "doll," which was adorable.  I was also very productive *cough cough*.  I covered my sketchbook with stickers. It took me a good hour and a half. I'm pretty pleased with myself and if that's not productive, then I don't know what is.  Seriously though, I got a lot done. I sketched and practiced making 3D forms. It was a wonderful learning experience and I was able to meet so many new people. I know almost all the art suite and they are such a wonderful group of people. I feel so lucky to be a part of it.

If you're interested, I might put some of my work up from last year. But I need to figure out how to water mark it...hmmmmm. Any suggestions? 

Anyway, outfit post sometime soon, don't you worry buckaroos. I have some wonderful looks coming your way :3

have a wonderful day,

Annika

Fortune Cookies

Fortune Cookie Necklace, "A" Necklace, and Silk Dress - 20 Main

LOOK AT MYYYY TTTAAAAANNNNN!!! LOOK AT IT!!!!!!!
Yes. It is there.
Look at my tan.
Stop denying it.
Tan. Tan. Tan.
I know you can see it.
It's there.
I also have a Sperry's tan (a tan on my feet in the shape of a Sperry's boat shoe), which I am so super proud of.

See, one of my goals this summer was to get a tan. You are probably laughing and thinking "Annika, that isn't hard at all.  Just go sit out in the sun."  Not that simple. If you're thinking that, then I envy your ability to tan that easily. Both one of my best friends, Claudia, and my little sister are able to tan if they just step out into the sun, but I was not blessed with such skin. Instead, I was born with nearly fluorescent skin. I am so white that I glow in blue light. Ok, that may be a teeny, tiny, little, itty bitty exaggeration, but you catch my drift.  To remedy my glow-in-the-dark skin, I went to the beach a ton and my Disney cruise to Mexico and the Cayman Islands didn't hurt.  And, because I am not a fan of sunburns or skin cancer, I applied, at the least, SPF15 sunscreen each time.  As a result of being in the sun so much, my freckles are a little bit more visible and my nose is a little pink. But hey, small price to pay for being TAAAANNNNNN.
I leave for Singapore tomorrow and must say good bye to Martha's Vineyard and its delicious ice cream. Its wonderful morning yoga classes. Its bagels and 0 Calorie Vitamin Water. Its relaxing walks around town. Its afternoon motor boating (which my sister so cleverly named "zooming").  I'll miss it, but can't wait to be back home.
I hope everyone has had the best summer possible and is just as excited to get the year started as I am :)

much love,
Annika

The Fourth

One guess as to what these are.

Don't know? They're bicycles!

Isabella, my little sister.

"The Queen Salutes the Vineyard!

Good Luck Americans

(All is Forgiven! - The Queen)"

BOO! Did I scare you? 

I lost my camera charger, so I've been using my Holga to document my summer, but I ordered a new charger from Amazon and it should be here a few days from now.  Anyway, I finally got my film developed the other day and these are how my photos from the 4th of July came out.  Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm pretty happy with how they came out.

The 4th of July is a big day in our home.  It's not only America's independence day, but it's my little sisters birthday as well and we go ALL OUT for birthdays.  During the day we celebrated Isabella's 9th birthday, opened presents, stuffed ourselves with cake and watched the parade, then at night we found primo spots on the beach to watch the fireworks with family friends.  However, my all time favorite thing about the 4th of July isn't the birthday cake or candy thrown during the parade (shocking, I know).  My favorite thing includes cars and a tow truck.  The parade in Edgartown typically starts at 5 PM, so the parking spots on the parade route are closed two hours before then, but that doesn't stop the drivers from parking. At around 3 PM, the tow trucks come around and tow the cars out of the way.   It's a tradition for our family to watch every car on the road be towed. So as soon as the clock struck 3 on the 4th of July, Isabella and I sat out on the porch, kicked off our shoes, sipped our sprites and watched all the cars be towed (second to last photo). Now if that's not paradise, I don't know what is.

Other than that, my summer has been amazing.  In a week, summer will be over and high school will start up again.  It'll be my last first day of school in Singapore, and I'll be a senior.  I think I'm finally ready for this.

love,

Annika

Liberty and Cameras

High Low Hem Shirt - Top Shop // Shorts - J. Crew 

I'm back and a rising senior in high school.  A year from now, I will be a rising freshman in college. And I'm terrified.  We've been college touring around the East Coast and the fact that I'm going to be a freshman in college is becoming all too real.  It probably seems silly to all of you, but if I had the option between being Wendy or a lost boy in Peter Pan, I would be a lost boy. To be honest, my biggest fear in life is becoming an adult and college is that one step closer to my biggest fear.  I think it's the instability that scares me. That lack of control.  But there are few things in life that you can't avoid, one of which is the future.  What I've realized is that, as much as I try to fight the future from happening, it will always happen.  With that realization, I am going to stay positive throughout my future.
Whatever happens.

These few photos and miniature outfit post are photos from my summer so far.  I've been to Illinois to visit Northwestern, DePaul, and Loyola, as well as New York to visit Barnard, NYU, Vassar, Fordham, and Sarah Lawrence.  All of which are wonderful schools and I'd be lucky to be accepted into any of them. Throughout the summer I'll be visiting Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts to check out the college sene around the East Coast.  While we were in New York we embraced our inner tourist, visited the Statue of Liberty and watched a couple musicals, Evita and Anything Goes.  I've been able to experiment and play around with my Holga cameras with my older sister, which has been super fun.  All in all, my summer is off to a great start.
How has your summer been?

love always,
Annika