everything's coming up roses

Begin Again, written and directed by John Carney, is such a wonderful and inspiring movie for so many reasons.

Firstly, the concept itself is so original and inspiring. When I saw the trailer this summer, I was sure it was going to be yet another cheesy movie but luckily, it wasn't. Greta's (Keira Knightley) newly famous boyfriend and songwriting partner, Dave (Adam Levine) cheats on her with one of his producers while Dan (Mark Ruffalo) is a recently jobless record producer with his fair share of messes. Dan and Greta meet when her friend makes her perform one of her songs in a bar and Dan's mood is lifted. He offers her a record deal which she initially rejects. Eventually, however, they decide to make an entire album with other bored artists and record it all over New York. I loved the idea of recording it outdoors, all at once, without any editing, keeping the sounds of the city, that it really was all about the music.

Secondly, I can't get enough of the soundtrack. Keira Knightley's voice is beautiful, calm, and soothing, strong yet still relatively quiet -- she doesn't belt, for example. As for Adam Levine, his musical talent is a known fact. Furthermore, the songs are so catchy and make it impossible to not sing and dance along. However, they still manage to feel delicate and intricate without being in-your-face about it. The songs are kind of low-key, they aren't written to be hits, they just stay true to the songwriter. As Adam Levine's character seems to learn, that's just as good and even when people enjoy the pop remixed version, they'll still love the original, less in-your-face arrangement.

Thirdly, the aesthetics of the movie were lovely too. I've always loved New York but this movie amplified my love for it. In the film, Dan says the album will be kind of like an ode to the city, but so is the movie. All the shots are so beautiful, colourful and seem to capture New York so perfectly and effortlessly. The whole movie seemed to have a soft, pastel, low-key vibe, from Greta's clothing to the scenery.

Fourthly, the casting was perfect! I've been a Mark Ruffalo fan since 13 Going On 30 (I still ship it) and a Keira Knightley fan since Pirates of the Caribbean (also still ship it) and Love Actually. They're both so talented and while I know they do put effort into it, they always convince me they are their characters in a seemingly effortless way. The rest of the cast was also chosen very well but Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo seem like they were born to portray Greta and Dan. (Bonus points for having a special place in my heart) 

Finally, (SPOILER ALERT) the end made me happy. Despite his efforts, Greta doesn't go back to Dave but Dan and his wife do find their way back to each other. With a bit of help from Greta, Dan revives his relationship with his daughter. Furthermore, despite a very possible record deal, Greta decides to put the album for sale online for $1 that will be evenly shared with the whole band. An incredibly famous rapper Dan discovered in his heyday tweets about the album to his followers (according to Dan the entire world) per Dan's request. As for Dave, it isn't confirmed, but my interpretation is that he realizes his fans love Greta's arrangement of the song she gave him just as much as -- maybe ever more than -- the poppy remixed version, which maybe leads to an epiphany: he's a a sellout.

All in all, I really enjoyed the movie and found it really inspiring as well as refreshing to watch a movie that's based on a love of music. I love the movie so much that I wanted to run around my city recording songs. I definitely recommend this movie!

Title is a lyric from Everything's Coming Up Roses - Keira Knightley

Have you seen this movie? What did you think?

i care but i don't care

Hola chicas!

The festivals have been ah may zing!
So far, I've seen:
Snarky Puppy - Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers - Earth, Wind, & Fire - Aretha Franklin - Bobby McFerrin - Danny Brown - RL Grime - Adventure Club - Journey - Zedd - Lady Gaga - Brothers Dubé - Mac DeMarco - St Vincent

St Vincent was incredible. 
She's so strange/crazy/cool/talented, I was kinda awe-struck. 
Her voice is beautiful, her guitar playing is mind-blowing and she's just such a performer, it was a great show. 
Her whole show was actually really minimalist but also very staged and yet she still had the whole audience hooked, which was definitely impressive. She had this whole persona and dance moves down including this foot shuffle that, if you couldn't see her feet, you'd think she was on a moving catwalk. 

She had a bunch of mind blowing guitar solos and, during one of them she and her band member smiled at each other because they could hear us cheering and it just warmed my heart that they were happy and adorable and awww band members <3 

During another guitar solo, security carried her back and forth along the gate so fans could touch her and then when she got back on stage she did that crazy turning on the floor while playing guitar and hitting the pedal with her heel even though she can't see it and even playing with the guitar behind her head thing. It was sick and I was impressed times infinity because wowowowow she is amazing. 

I didn't take any pictures because I just wanted to enjoy the show and soak in everything.
Check her out if you haven't already and if you have the opportunity to go see her, you reeeeeally should because it was quite a show!

These were taken at my new favourite spot; I call it the Dr Seuss place because the fake giant door, fake TV, fake windows and two chairs and the colours remind me of his stories and this place just makes me happy.

Also, yes, the purple is sadly already almost completely faded and back to blonde.

The title is a lyric from Digital Witness by St Vincent

Big thank you to Madison who took these for me and encouraged me to buy the glasses.

Wearing: 
shirt - old navy // tank top - old navy // skirt - h&m // tights - h&m // heels - forever 21
hat - h&m // sunglasses - local boutique // purse - h&m 

How are your summers going? Have you been to any festivals or concerts lately?

it already came true

Today's my 16th birthday!!! 

Sixteen.

The age we all dream about as kids. The age movies make a living off of. The age I have now reached. 

No pressure.

In order to celebrate, I've had quite the weekend! 

Friday, my friends and I went to the food truck festival, a bunch of food trucks park on a street -- with really cool art -- every first friday of the month. Most of them were taco trucks. My friends had tacos and burritos from Chancho's Tacos and I had a bulgogi taco (some kind of korean-mexican fusion), and we shared two waffles: a maple syrup and powdered sugar one and a nutella one. Let's just say the food didn't last very long... One of the trucks was giving out free lemonade and we might have walked by a few times because it was hella good! It was a little chilly so we got really good hot chocolate at Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea.

Around 10 or 11pm we finally left and went to the pier as I'd never seen it at night. The ferris wheel was all lit up, it was so beautiful. My friends and I started dancing to Cha Cha Slide because come on, how can you not? After the pier, we headed home to pop confetti and eat vanilla, chocolate and red velvet Sprinkles cupcakes. There was a bit too much icing but the cupcakes were soooo good! The only downside is we bought a lot, not knowing how filling they were. (Its ok though, they're almost gone hehe.)

After the cupcakes, we got nice and comfy and watched the end of The Breakfast Club and started Sixteen Candles because it was the perfect occasion! We had to finish it in the morning though because we were falling asleep (even though we ended up staying up super late talking until dawn). 

May I just say though, if my future Jake Ryan is reading this, could you please show up on wednesday so I can point and mouth "it's the boy" to my dad as he gives me an approving hand gesture? 

That'd be great, thanks!

More posts about my weekend/clothes coming soon! 

The pictures were taken by Christina & Prescilia.

The title is a quote from Sixteen Candles.

my memento bursts in flames

Friday night, I went to a $5 benefit concert with my friends. It was in a quaint little pizza place and there were, at most, 100 people so it basically felt like a party with live music. All the money went to AIDS research so confetti was replaced by free condoms. Plus, it was hosted by Lost Dog, a label/collective/community that showcases underground artists. You can (and should!!) read more about them here. DEBT, Bobby T & The Slackers, ATM and IMD, and So Many Wizards performed and you should definitely check them out!
By the second set the crowd started really getting into it, dancing, mosh pitting and even crowd surfing(!!!). I took part in the mosh pit twice but I kind of got pushed out and walked on by all the taller sweaty people *shiver*. The concert was really loud but sososososo fun and the music was really good! Plus, the lead singer/guitarist in DEBT looked like an older version of Randall from Recess; he was even slightly dressed like him! 
The title is a lyric from BT&TS's song Enough Is Enough.
The pictures were taken by my friend Christina.

Bobby T. & The Slackers 

So Many Wizards