Christmas Party Dress Decisions

My friends and I are going to be cute this season and have a swanky Christmas party, complete with papercraft ornaments, Secret Santa, mocktails, carols, mistletoe, cakepops, and formalwear. The last part is where I'm slightly nervous. We want to have a party before everyone goes their separate ways for winter break, so this means that I have to get a dress in less than two weeks. After a whole night of searching online and eyeing up dresses, I've found a few options that cost less than $40 (It's really difficult for me to shell out more than that on one article of clothing) and I need your help!

Option 1:

This Asos dress is so pretty! It's still available in my size, and it's made for petite women, so there's a strong possibility that it'll actually fit. The front looks plain but I think that the back makes enough of a statement that it works. It's classy without trying too hard. Price: $26.96 for the black one, $44.93 for the red.

Option 2:

This dress from GoJane.com is so flattering for pencil shapes (like myself). The curvy lines and colorblocking add a nice touch, and the black and white scheme is perfect for wearing to a get-together. I also think that the sweetheart bust is cute because it reminds me of 1920s cigarette girls. It's always nice to have a hint of vintage in your wardrobe, no matter what! Price: $29.40 for plum/black or white/grey.

Option 3:

The final option is also from GoJane, because I love that site. I've been looking for a dress like this for ages-- One that has the flared sleeves and mini as a nod to the '60s and '70s. I found this dress on the site as well, and it's very similar to the dress posted above, except the bottom is loose and free-falling. I'm still on the hunt for a dress like these two, but with an empire waist baby-doll look to the bottom instead. In the meantime, I'm considering this one, because I'm thinking it's going to be a while till I find that dream dress. (Oh, and clearly I will be wearing something to cover the top on the inside! Haha.) Price: $31.70 for Plum, Navy, or Black.

It's quite difficult to choose one! I thought I might as well open it up to the general public, since so many of you have the same taste as I do. What's your favorite?
<3 Linda

Happy Halloween!

Sorry I've been so M.I.A all weekend! I've been struggling to keep up with everything from academics to social responsibilities. I cannot wait until two weeks from now, when it's all over! I'll still have finals, but not as much of anything else.

Since I haven't been able to properly post, I decided to humor you all with this photo of my roommate and I. She's a trophy wife (with no one to be the other half as the husband--- which basically meant she got hit on all night. Hilarious but terrible at the same time... and oh-so awkward for myself!) and I am a mime. I was initially supposed to be The Riddler, and I had my outfit (almost) ready as well. However, my friends and I all had to cancel meeting up and gallivanting around town in villainous costumes because we accidentally put the wrong times on our theatre show flyers. This basically means we ended up sitting and sticking labels on flyers all night instead! It wasn't that bad, really. I find that I'm willing to do almost anything when I care about it, and I'm not stressed either.

Hilights from this weekend:

• Hot weather... I love L.A.!
• Studying for midterms... still.
• Wearing long, bulky over the knee socks! I am so addicted.
• Local concert sessions
• My last-minute mime outfit: A dress (rolled up), my roommate's vest, shorts, long socks (again!), a bowler, and gloves... along with some brilliant and slightly scary makeup! Oh how I love playing dress up. Pretending to be someone other than myself is so fascinating to me.
• Getting closer to people by seeing them more often... On Friday, my friend Ivy and I got together and basically just hung out, talked, and pigged out on Pizookies (what's new? This has turned into our tradition).
• Tech day from 12PM to 10 PM with few breaks. It was tiring but I feel much more prepared to go out there and make myself vulnerable.... It may sound odd, but I've always been more scared of being funny than being emotional-- which is exactly the reason why I auditioned for the role that I did. I still shake behind the scenes but I know it's going to make me a better person, so I'm proud of myself!
• Having people ask me to teach them how to crochet. I'm so excited about this! It makes me feel like I actually know how to do something well.

<3 Linda

Wedding Wednesday: Gothic Inspiration

A lot of my posts recently have been word-heavy, so I thought I'd break it up by creating a treasury! Pictures are nice, right?

Click to see larger.

I just like to create wedding treasuries... even though I'm not even close to being married! One of my favorite color palettes are black, cream, and the palest of pinks. I fell in love with the pearl ring featured here and decided to create a collection around it! I think it would be beautiful to use a collection like this around wintertime. You can see it in detail here!

What are some of your favorite color schemes at the moment?
<3 Linda

10 Potential Strategies to Cope with Social Anxiety

Okay, so this is pretty much the worst thing I've ever drawn. But you get my point!

1. Try to play someone else. This doesn't mean you should be someone else entirely, but it's a way to relax yourself. Encourage traits of what you want to be like, because acting confident often appears genuine when you try to think of yourself as already having those traits.
2. Do a warm-up exercise before leaving the house. This can be either by telling yourself positive things, or even by imagining how the event will go. If you do the latter, try not to think of what could go wrong.
3. Imagine the other people are like your best friends, and try to act like how you do when you're around people you're already comfortable with. I used this one during an interview for college, and though I didn't get in and have no idea if it helped with my demeanor, I do know that it made me stress a whole lot less!
4. If you feel like people are laughing at you, don't shrink. Just try to laugh it off too or move onto another subject. Even though it'll be hard, it'll let people know that you're not willing to put up with mockery.
5. Try to be a "Yes Man". That's the only way it's going to become easier. After a certain amount of time, you'll start to realize how many opportunities have opened up for you, and you'll feel more comfortable with saying "yes" as time goes on.
6. Realize that sometimes other people don't even notice some of the tiny things that you do.
7. Try to think positive things in your head when you introduce someone. Positive thoughts show through in your facial expression and demeanor. 
8. If someone points out your awkwardness or whatever it is, ignore them. I know what you're thinking, sounds easy but it's not. And I agree. But you shouldn't let someone have that much power over you, that they can ruin your entire day! It's one person's opinion, you'll meet plenty more in your life.
9. Slowly build up your confidence by going out with a few trusted people. Try to meet one person at a time, so that you don't feel overwhelmed. You can even test the limits on your own by going out of your house in public. The first time, you can go just outside of your house, and then in later times you can slowly go farther and farther until you're able to even go to a totally new city! Then, of course, treat yourself because you deserve it. For me, doing most activities considered mundane by a lot of people make me panic if I'm in public, like eating, crocheting, taking photographs, buying things, etc. So make it your daily goal to take one small step a day, and you'll feel like you've run a marathon exhaustion-wise, but it'll be worth it.
10. Don't be afraid to seek help. A lot of people confuse social phobia with shyness, and there are plenty more misconceptions that exist out there. If none of the things I've suggested above work, or if you're going through severe social anxiety (involving panic attacks, etc) then by all means, go to a counselor. Sometimes the things we deal with get the better of us, sometimes it's just all out of our control. But sometimes, you can do something about it.

These tips can work for people with varying degrees of anxiety, and depending on the situation. Or any issue, really. A lot of people have problems, that's just the way it is. The difference is that at times, you can do something about it.

<3 Linda

Falling for Fall

Fall is my favorite season when it comes to colors, but I'm not such a fan of the weather. Normally I can never figure out what to wear! This year I'm armed with cardigans and sweaters, though. Fall hasn't set in just yet here in "The Golden State". Some of the things I'm looking forward to this fall are:

         The glass pumpkin is made by my sister's friend. Isn't it cute?
                      And the crochet is a recent creation of mine.

1// The afforementioned cardigans and sweaters! Oh yes. I love buying baggy sweaters from thrift stores and I feel like they're really comfortable, so I don't really mind looking like I'm wearing my mom's clothing. Ha. Still on the lookout for tights though, so that I don't have to wear tight jeans.
2// Pumpkin spice lattes. Or anything pumpkin-flavored. You can also replace pumpkin with vanilla, nutmeg, apple, cinammon, and anything else associated with fall. Hot drinks are the best, especially tea!
3// Seeing the leaves change colors. They look beautiful during the fall.
4// Having new shows begin for the fall TV season. I always told myself to not keep current with shows so that I would never have to deal with a cliffhanger, but it happened to be anyway. Sigh!
5// Getting the chance to decorate my dorm room for the year! Expect a post once I get to school.
6// Getting to wear knits! I love knits so much. This is probably obvious by now.
7// Meeting my new roommate, Tina! So excited. She's into the arts as well.
8// Growing my hair out and seeing other people growing their hair out again.
9// The feeling of a new year approaching. And with this comes other new LCC Theatre Co. production, so lots of creative projects are coming up as well!
10// Cuddling up in a million more blankets that I added to my bed after the hot summer season.

This year's going to be great, I can just feel it. Only a couple more days to go 'til I'm swept up in the madness!
<3 Linda