Things That Make Me Happy

This morning started off not exactly the way I had planned for the first day of school. I woke up to find my ethernet cord was stuck to the wall and to my laptop. :( So, here's a list of things that make me happy to cheer myself up:

1. Walking by the magazine rack and seeing a new magazine issue. 
2. Reading that magazine in a Barnes and Noble while sipping on a latte. (*Trying to drink coffee only once a week is hopefully going to make this experience even more happy) 
3. Clothing/Houseware displays at Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie. It makes me just want to pack up my bags and move in.
4. Blogging :) 
5. Listening to new music ... I just bought Vampire Weekend's album, along with an album by "Everybody Else" and another album by "A Fine Frenzy." 
6. Sunlight - Since we've passed the longest night of the year, every day now there is a little more sunlight. 
7. First day of classes - While it does make me nervous to think about the work ahead, the first day of class is always great b/c everyone's full of expectations and hoping that this semester will be a great one. 
8. My sorority - I'm  really glad that I ended up joining a sorority. I almost didn't because I was worried about all the bad things I heard about sororities. I'm happy to say that my sorority does not haze and that my sisters have made my sophomore year thus far a really great year. 
9. Trying out new accessories - I wore this beautiful necklace that my roommate last year gave me that has a deer pendant. I'll put a picture up soon. I'm just so excited I got to wear it b/c I thought it didn't go with anything that I own. I wore the jeans/dress combo that I showed you guys before and the owl ring, as well as a cute bracelet I forgot I had. 
10. Time - I love having some free time. Today I only had an hour of class and I found out that I don't have class on Friday b/c my professor won't be in school. Not to mention we have school off on Monday! 
11. Singing in the shower or at my voice lessons 
12. A very cute pair of flats
13. My Moleskine planner
14. Writing in my journal
15. Seeing really cute dogs on the street, and also my dog Lila who is a golden retriever. 
16. The feeing you get after going to the gym and having a nice workout. 

Well, that's my list for now. Hope you enjoyed. I'm going to get ready for the gym now. 

Vampire Weekend

I am so psyched for the new Vampire Weekend album, "Contra", that is coming out on January 12th. I absolutely adored their first album, which combined many different elements of music to make their own unique sound. These guys also have a great sense of fashion. While most bands seem to pick their clothing from the same "Music Hipster" wardrobe with black tight skinny jeans, and identical plaid shirts, these guys stay true to their preppy roots while still maintaining an edgy style.

I absolutely adore Ezra Koenig (the one standing in the picture above and the one in the pic below)

 

Not only can he sing and play guitar, he's also freaking gorgeous! So, are you a Vampire Weekend fan? If not, what albums are you looking forward to listening to this month?

Diving into the Macbook

I just got my first Macbook, and, to tell you the truth, I felt like I'd sold out. For years I'd been an adamant PC user. I thought that a PC made me look more professional, I didn't want to have to relearn how to do simple functions on a computer, and Macs are expensive. However, after only a few days using this, I've decided that I do like the Mac, after all.

My favorite things about the Mac, so far, are the iCalendar, which helps keep me organized and looks really cool, the iChat, which let me videochat with my friend from California and my friend in Michigan at the same time (haha I know people have been doing this forever, but it was my first time videochatting), and the fact that I don't have to worry about virus scans and adware anymore.

Right now, I'm searching the web for cool downloads for Macs. I found one that I'm considering, called Mojo, which is supposed to let me download music from my friends' libraries. However, I'm worried about illegal downloading in general. At my school, there's a grad student/TA who is being sued for $675,000 for downloading 30 songs! Not to mention, I am a bit superstitious in that I believe that I sometimes believe that Murphy's Law applies only to me. I've always considered myself someone who goes by the rules, partly because I imagine that the one time I break them will be the one time someone, aka me gets caught.

Any opinions on the music downloading issue? I'm actually going to take a philosophy class this fall called the Philosophy of Property, and one of the issues we'll be talking about is intellectual property and illegal music downloads.