High Low
Monthly Archives: January 2013
Do we take ourselves to seriously?
All British sarcasm aside, I really do believe that if you take yourself to seriously, you forget to live.
I went to two high schools, one of which was Cold Spring Harbor. I was a cheerleader and on the swim team (a weird combination I know). I vividly remember we had two devastating and sudden losses within the same school year. One of which was an older girl also on the swim team.
Although the two of us were not friends, she was always really kind to me and a really strong team member. I remember once she had a tamagotchi and brought it on the bus when we were going to a swim meet.
I was intrigued because:
a) I hadn’t seen a tamagotchi since I was in England (and around the age of five) and
b) she was on the varsity swim team, yet still engaging the younger girls (a rare occasion)
A few months later, she tragically passed away. Although I doubt showing me her tamagotchi really made an impact on her, it made a life long impact on me. She showed me that doing something so small, can mean something so big to someone else.
I also graphically remember that one of her favorite sayings was to “never take yourself to seriously”. I didn’t really link having a tamagotchi at 17, and seriousness together at the time, but now that I am older, I realize how right she was.
Lets think about it for a second: we all (or the majority) of us want to get through elementary school, then middle school, then high school, then college, and then a work day. We have a life of expectancies built for us the moment we are born. Naturally we want to meet those expectations with ease.
At the same time, we shouldn’t wish our life away. For example: when I was 7 I wanted to be 10, then it was 13, then 16, then 18, then 21..and now that I am finally 21, it has hit me that im actually 21 and in 9 years time I will be 30 (GASP!).
If your always looking forward to the future, you won’t enjoy the present. It’s also really important to not give a……dot dot dot……what other people think of you. Honestly as soon as I went to college, I really didn’t care what other people thought of me. In fact some of my closest friends thought I was a huge bitch for no apparent reason! It’s just interpretation. Unfortunately throughout your entire life you will be judged whether you like it or not. I wish I could say this ends at a certain age, but it most certainly does not. It continues throughout life.
Maybe it’s my NYC prone attitude, but at what point do we really start caring what we feel about ourselves, and forget others? Who knows you, better than you? My point exactly. Therefore if people don’t like me (for whatever reason) I really could not care less. In fact I think it’s a bigger reflection on them than me.
I’ve gotten to the point where im immune to those with hate, and I have actually never been happier in my life.
I have a great boyfriend (who secretly looks like Joshua Bowman), except he doesn’t think so. Two best friends (who I call my fellow blondes, despite Alexis being a brunette)! And many others who I can call acquaintances. Luckily I have two little sisters who I can teach the carefree attitude and lifestyle to.
Life is unpredictable and none of us know what will happen tomorrow. So the importance is to live for today. Don’t take yourself to seriously, do whatever you wish to do, and most importantly start to care about yourself, opposed to others. If someone tells you that you “can’t or won’t” do something, do exactly that.
As I always say the best revenge is happiness.
Calabria
I think in the morning we all need to listen to some Calabria to get in the mood of…Tuesdays (aka the day before the day before friday, right)? I could honestly write for ages about my encounters/mishaps, so while I am working on getting someone to actually photograph me/waiting on my new Nikon to arrive, I am using my own skills (bare with me)!
I’m also going (all out), in the name of fashion to try and find a great pink Essie nail polish to go along with my pink features today. Anyway as for the outfit goes (I’m still obsessing over these shoes!)
Fur-Motive
Leather Pants- Jbrand (but they should really be called motivation skinny, given how tight and tiny they are!)
Shirt-Ambiance
Shoes: Alexander Wang
Bag(not seen)- Celine
Sunglasses(not seen)- CatEye Chloe
And as for class goes (that I most definitely have to start making my way to)! I only have Marketing Research and Writing in Business. So stay posted for my lovely experiences with that. I also hit 11,000 views yesterday which was a huge milestone given that I only had 1,000 a few months ago! So I just wanted to thank everyone for viewing and reading my Manhattan experiences. Check back later!
Black Out
Tweet
“You got bangs?” “You got blonder?” These were the first words after walking into one my first college buildings this morning. I recognized a few familiar faces in my first classes (one of which is a delightful three hours long). In the same class, the teacher was adamant about stating how there is no food, drink, coffee, water, or hard liqueur allowed in the classroom. Students started to laugh, as she stood there with a straight face, and then explained that we have a 12 page research paper due, next monday. Before class started she made us stand up and introduce ourselves with a fun fact ( I kid you not). One girls fun fact was that she has a removable tooth, another was that her left leg is a quarter of an inch longer than the other and mine was that I am from England, and have a website (aka this). The class seemed interactive unlike my first class where no one said one word to one another. After class was finally over I ran home, to let Barnaby outside.
Throughout the snowy day, I couldn’t help but tweet (@mercedeschloe) funny occurrences. For example within one hour I saw: wheel back packs (that I honestly haven’t used since I was 6 years old at the airport), tie die sweat pants (circa 2001, worn-never), and gold fake nails shaped like claws! (aka the tackiest thing I have ever seen). However it was a memorable first day back to school, between snow, sights, and suaveness.
Back to Park
back to…
In high school, going back to school consisted of having new notebooks, a great outfit, and having classes with your friends. In the real world, going back to college in Manhattan consists of having a great outfit (worthy of Park Avenue), and a psychologist/ psychiatrist to get you through the school year.
So as the hours FLY by on my last day of winter break, I am literally counting the hours sleep ( or lack of sleep) I am going to get each night, having to wake up at 6 am in the morning. The day started off attempting to pick up last minute textbooks (at a closed bookstore) and a small brunch at my apartment, including champagne and macaroons (pictured).
It is bittersweet that school is starting again. On the positive side, I am going to continue to post, and on the negative side, it is time to say goodbye to my Macaroon & Ice Cream indulgence (each and everyday)!
Long story short, this past month has been one of the best months of my life. Between adopting Barnaby, spending clarity time with my family, and having a great birthday month, it will defiantly be one I never forget.
Leather + Suade
shooting saturday
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| Barnaby being stubborn |
So what I have found intriguing, is that there are a ton of bloggers/writers out there who photo document their life. Although I do not intend to do this on a daily basis (as I don’t have a photographer following my every move), I decided to do my very best shooting Saturday. As soon as I woke up I took prince Benjamin button (aka Barnaby the 7 year old adopted shitzu who acts like a royal baby) for a walk. He didn’t want to get wet, or get his paws wet so he sat inside my lobby for 8 minutes before I finally had to carry him into the snow. We then walked to Starbucks for breakfast, but instead of the usual Vente coffee frappachino light, I had to bribe Barnaby to walk with food. I sat him outside and ordered him a croissant (spoiled brat I know)! A strawberry blueberry yogurt (for me) and the usual drink (even in snow).
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| Breakfast & Cosmo |
After carrying Barnaby back home, i sat down, read Cosmo, and came to the realization that i go back to college in a matter of two days. After the first week of winter break i categorically could not wait to go back to school. Now that the time to go back is actually here, and that i am accustom to doing whatever i want all day (to some extent), I’m dreading the return. It also doesn’t help that i am returning back to school sick, and want to be wrapped up in a warm caccoon all day, rather than out and about running from building to building in 20 degree weather. All complaints aside i can only hope for a good semester, with good professors.
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| Gray + Gray |
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| Manolo’s |
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| Chanel |
So as for my outfit goes today, I collaborated casual and classic. My accessories consisted of a quilted cream Chanel, and Manolo’s, paired with skinny Sevens, a gray top from Barneys and a sweater from Pretty Good. You can also see my super blonde hair/hair cut in the picture, which looked great until I went to sleep. I also wore the outfit with three bracelets, and a pair of gold vintage leaf earrings, gifted to me by my grandmother.
Anyway the newest hype that I keep hearing about is eyelash extensions. I admit, I have known about them for a while, but I just presumed that they were like fake eyelashes glued to your eyes. As I am naturally blessed with long eyelashes, I never really looked into having them done. It can cost up to $400 in Manhattan, and apparently you need to get them touched up every 2-3 weeks (costing an addition $90).
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| “Arm Candy” |
So are eyelash extensions worth it? If you can lay still for 2 hours with your eyes taped down, absolutely. That being said it is vital that you go to the right place, because if they use the wrong glue, your real lashes will fall out. It also becomes expensive figuring around $2560+ a year. So if you’re going to get them done, get them done right. The next hype that is no longer a hype is gel manicures. I used to love the concept of having a manicure that didn’t chip for two weeks. That lasted for around 3 months until one day my gel manicure ruined my nails, and chipped within two days. I also get sick of having the same color for two weeks, so for what its worth I would rather get a regular manicure.
Platinum
Is there such thing as privacy? Between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare my instinctive answer would be no. Not only do we post pictures, tag friends, or “check in” at locations,but we are also enabling those who are friends or even friends of friends keep track of where we are. As my Facebook privacy settings are set to: friends only, I was under the misconception that only my friends were able to view my photos. Well, I was wrong. Apparently even with privacy settings, strangers can still view all of your profile pictures. Unless you customize each and every default to “friends only”.
Then there is foursquare which I never quite understood.
Unless you want an invitation to get kidnapped, you certainly should not be tracking where you are every minute.
Anyway, aside from being freezing and feeling like I have the flu, I decided to get my hair done. Spontaneously. As the salon I usually go to is closed for renovations (within the St Regis hotel), I was waking around Chelsea, makeup less and miserable. I then realized that I was certainly in no state of form to go back to school, looking and feeling like the way I did. So after walking and getting semi lost downtown, I finally walked past a hair salon called Platinum. It was defiantly different from the St Regis, but I figured it would be a temporary replacement. I also figured that as it was called “platinum” they must know how to handle blondes.
As soon as I walked in, I felt like I was at a club. The music was blasting, hair dryers were blowing, and stylists were dancing. I was defiantly skeptical of sobriety, but I decided that as hair grows back, and they were available to squeeze me in (unlike Warren Tricomi) I might as well give it a shot.
So I was then introduced to Steven, who told me “I needed a hair makeover”. So after sitting in a chair for 4 hours (getting highlights, deep conditioner, and a hair cut ) chatting amongst subjects such as: boyfriends, nightlife, and Kim Kardashains pregnancy, I was finally ready to leave Platinum salon, platinum.
I can officially say my hair has never looked blonder, and that steven is my new go-to guy when looking for a quick hair touch up (even though it took four hours), or looking for the latest celebrity gossip. Once my hair was finally finished, I walked outside to a cold awakening, of snow. Every taxi was taken, so I figured instead of standing outside for an hour, I might as well grab the subway uptown.
After getting on a very crowded subway, I finally managed to find an open seat. The man next to me was blind, with a guide stick (which I was oblivious to at first). So once the subway stopped for about 15 minutes due to “train traffic ahead of us” he started talking to me about how precious life is. I thought his positivity and mentality was astounding and realized that there is more to life than what meets the eye. He explained that he had been blind since birth, yet always lived with an affirmative attitude. Before I had time to say goodbye, he left the next stop. Five stops later, I finally got off the train to find even more snow.The only difference is that I saw it as a blessing, opposed to an inconvenience.
Mercedes Chloe 
