reversing a little bit...

___I feel like I've lost my voice a bit. I haven't really, truly been excited about anything I've written this whole year (thanks to the life draining forces of senior year), and I feel...blah. I was reading over my old blogs (Modern Dreamer and Inner & Outer Beauty), and it felt like revisiting old friends. Modern Dreamer was an experiment in blogging: me trying to see what sparked comments and what didn't (short posts vs long posts, pictures vs words, fashion vs photography), and Inner & Outer Beauty was like visiting a best friend who made me laugh and sympathize all at once. I can see why Inner & Outer Beauty was a lot more popular than Modern Dreamer...

___I miss being so candid on my blog. I don't really know what exactly I've been doing with The Shoe Corner, but lately I've been going heavy on the pictures and light on the words like I was doing with Modern Dreamer. And it stopped being something enjoyable and became something compulsory. I started worrying about gearing it towards fashion and personal style (which, let's face it, I'm not eccentric or creative enough to become the next Sea of Shoes or Cherry Blossom Girl), and my actual writing was almost like a reiteration of the pictures.

___So, if you've actually been following along with this weird rambling, I'm basically making some changes with my posting. I don't think I'll sound quite as cheesy as I did on Inner & Outer Beauty, but it was fun telling my funny, bitching stories with people. I always knew I'd keep this blog pretty open in terms of subject matter (fashion, beauty, randomness, photography, whatever), and I don't want to get caught up in wondering how to make this blog, which is supposed to a little escape for me, into some kind of business. I'd like to rediscover the voice I was close to finding before life got in the way, and I hope you'll bear with the verbosity that will inevitably ensue until I do. (Don't worry, I'm going to try and keep the pretty pictures going.)

P.S. In case you're wondering why a picture of candy is accompanying a post about me making changes it's because I am still going to try and make sure mainly my photography or the pictures I've captured (from videos or something like that) are used, and this picture was the only fairly new picture I had on my computer!

leave it to music to make you smile

___I've been having a pretty crappy summer lately (not that I didn't plan for this). It's too ridiculously hot to lifeguard; my "job" is a totally unprofessional environment; and my days have started at 6:30 am every morning for practice. I'm exhausted, worn down, and ready for August to come so I can fully relax. And, on top of all this, my poor face is recovering from a massive peeling, so it looks like I have a disease, and my hair is a dead, frizzy mess! My outer appearance is basically reflecting my exhaustion. (Read: No outfit pictures for probably a while!)
___But leave it to music make me smile for a full four minutes and to feel insanely happy all at once. I'm not one to listen to slow songs or sad songs because I generally don't want to feel down when I'm in a good mood or even worse when I'm a sad mood. I love listening to happy, sweet songs that bring a smile to my face and take me away for a few minutes. Cue "No Other" by Super Junior. No secret I'm a huge fan, and this music video is absolutely adorable. It shows all the guys setting up something cute to show their love for a girl, and, basically, all males should watch this for proper tips in impressing a girl. I'm personally a fan of the wall heart, but Kyuhyun is a part of that, and I'm a tad biased towards him!

___And don't worry if you don't understand Korean, because I definitely don't at all. You don't need to know the language to be cheered by this video!

See more stills here
See the video here

summer wishing

___Life has been ridiculously busy since graduation, and I just know it's going to continue on in this manner until I leave for school. With swim practice and dry land for about two-three hours in the morning starting at seven to lifeguarding and swim instructing, I feel horribly trapped in this "I need money now" mindset. I'm exhausted and cranky and, as a result, insanely childish. With my friends jet-setting off to Florida for senior week or Vienna and Prague or Trinidad for vacation, I feel trapped in this annoying little town! I know I'm at a pause between chapters in my life, and I just can't wait for the other one to begin!

___I wish I didn't have to focus so much on swimming and making money, and could escape to the beach all on my own for some time. I'd like to read through all these books I've just gotten, wear my boater hat out and about, and simply soak in the sun (under SPF 30, of course) without interactions with other human beings. Or..actually, I'd love to be in Madrid or Taipei interning under some entertainment company and learning about something I actually want a future in! Sorry, but lifeguarding, as nice it seems, kills your soul! Sitting and watching other people enjoy their lives is not something I see my future as.

Blah! I just need a good night's sleep, and I'll be cheery once more!

party timee

___Woo, an outfit picture! I'm getting better at these {look here for my very first attempt ever}! This dress, from H&M's Garden Party Collection, is one of my favorite dresses ever, so I saw it fitting to wear it for my graduation party. Super comfortable, and flattering, it was perfect for maneuvering around all my guests and standing outside in the intense humidity. The sandals, all the way below, are Cynthia Vincent for Target. I needed a nice pair of white sandals, and these were perfect!

___In terms of graduation itself, I'm so excited! I went for my advising day Friday, and I was able to pick out my classes, and learned I was able to do a Spanish dorm room program where I have to speak Spanish all the time! {My friends think I'm crazy, but I can't wait!} And my classes include a 19th Century English Novel course where I'll be reading Jane Austen, George Eliot, the Bronte Sisters, Thomas Hardy, and Charles Dickens! {In terms of my love of books, this is like the Holy Grail of classes!}

Hope everyone's enjoying summer!

i love you, daddy

To my favorite dad in the whole world, who puts up with my whininess and lets me be me, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! I love you!

little notes-graduation style

dear class of 2010,
we made it! congratulations to everyone! i can't believe it's all over!

dear cap and gown,
you are the single most unflattering articles of clothing i have ever encountered! but at least the awesome blue sash made up for it!

dear nickkyy,
congrats on having the first post-grad surprise! here's to my first gay bestie!

dear chelsea{aka salutatorian!},
your speech on friendship was AMAZING. i definitely got a little teary-eyed during it.

dear my friends,
thank you for being my friends through out this whole experience. our bitching, laughing, gossiping, crying, laughing (and more laughing!) made high school.

dear gabby,
look how far we've come from being little sixth graders! i love you!

dear my family,
i love all of you so, so much! thank you for everything you've done for me and with me.

Love, S.Elisabeth

lauren conrad dress...

...and other things because my life is a truly riveting experience!

___But I'll just start with the dress for now. And the shoes. Lauren Conrad totally surprised me with her collection for Kohls, and I jumped on this dress when I saw it in stores. It's one of my favorites, and it's totally gorgeous. It fits me perfectly and flatters my ever rectangular, stout shape while the sheer cut of fabric overlay allows for a slim silhouette and the ability to eat a meal in it (always important!). And of course, like everything with Kohls, any time you see the full price, automatically deduct at least 30% as nothing is every not on sale in stores. Oh and these shoes, another Kohls purchase, are totally and one hundred percent comfortable and gorgeous.

___In other news, I got into a car accident, yay stupidity! I'm okay, and in terms of car accidents it was possibly the best case scenario: in my friend's driveway, against a skinny tree, no one else was involved, and the damage is as minimal as it gets. Though this doesn't stop my mother, who is frightening when angry, from berating me with those terse comments and icy stares. And the statement, "You better get more hours this summer" as I'll be paying for repairs.

___So, because my job as a lifeguard doesn't exactly pay top notch dollars, and I'm too young to work in retail in the outlets, I'm going to attempt to whore out this blog a bit, kay? Don't worry, it's nothing major that I'm going to throw in your face, and it isn't as though I'm going to suddenly flood the blog with blinking ads (SO annoying) in the most random places. But a new addition has been added, and that is in the form of "on my bookshelf" and "the cinema" links on the sidebar. Now you too can own the books and movies I review on The Shoe Corner! (Don't I sound like a salesman? =))

Hope everyone's a better driver than me!

PS This dress was worn to an awards ceremony for school. Now there's only the graduation itself, and I'm an official alumni!

PPS Apologies for the gray/grainy photography. It's been gray skies here as of late.

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last day of classes

___Yesterday was my official last full day of high school. I still have another award ceremony, grad practice, and graduation itself next week, but no more will I be going to school full time from 7:35 to 2:15 every day! It definitely feels kind of bizarre to imagine never having to really enter these doors again in the intent of going to class! Four years of misery, happiness, laughs, tears, etc are all coming to an end!

___I can say, though, that for the most part I'm ecstatic. I won't miss my school in all its public school glory. I won't miss the glorified hall monitors, the totally idiotic administration, the very disgusting hallways filled with PDA, dust, and other gross smells, and I definitely will not miss the stress of classes that I have no interest in! Math and science, adios!

____But, of course there are a ton of things I will miss. How awful of a person would I be if I was leaving high school without missing anything?!I'll miss the greatest cookies in the entire world.

And the fact that the lunch ladies got a sand which maker.

And of course I'll miss seeing my friends every day!

Congratulations to all you other 2010 graduates!

PS Of course there's more, but this post would start to grow too long!

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what i've been up to lately...

{hat: JCPenney's, shorts, bra top: Forever 21, ruffle bikini: Victoria's Secret}

___Actually...beyond running around and getting everyone to sign my last high school year book, DIYing the slashed tank above (photographing was easy, figuring out how to fit it into my daily wardrobe is another question entirely!), buying a multitude of things in preparation for summer, following along with Glamour's Bikini Blast Makeover to wear said purchases, watching a new drama, "Down With Love" (I adore Ella and Jerry together! And of course Xiao Xiao Bin is the cutest kid ever), and getting ready for one of the senior ceremonies tonight, nothing insanely thrilling =)

What are you all up to these days?

PS Glee finale tomorrow night! I'm so excited!

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what, i have a life?

___Haha, this week I actually found myself having a bit of a life! Went to a friend's surprise party that his sister, one of my best friends, and his girl friend threw for him. Too cute! And I messed around with my friend's camera, a Nikon Coolpix something or other, and all the videos and pictures looked so nice!

(Awesome cake, right?! His girlfriend chose the quote; it's from a country song)

___And after the party, I went with my friend to see Letters to Juliet. Two words: Absolutely Adorable! I mean, it's a chick flick film, and they really do basically give away the whole plot in the trailer, but it's just too cute. And if you don't even like chick flicks, then sit back and enjoy the cinematography because you really can't go wrong shooting in Italy! And Amanda Seyfried is so cute as a "fact checker" who wants to be a full writer again. (plus she's from around where I live!)My friend even cried at the ending because she was so happy, haha (She's going to kill me for posting that!).
___Speaking of Amanda Seyfried, got my Teen Vogue on Sunday and spent the day, after work, flipping through it and Allure. Loved the retro shoot, and her interview was quite nice. I like her much better after this one than I did after the last interview I read from her (I think it was Allure). She seems much more confident in herself as a whole than before!

How did you all spend your weekend?
{imdb,teenvogue}

sometimes joy is found in ugliness

___Don't worry I'm not going to get too incredibly philosophical here. But I've been going through my facebook pictures in an attempt to put some of my own pictures up here instead of internet produced ones, and I'm beginning to learn some things.

____One of them is that I am insanely unphotogenic about 99% of the time. If I don't think about my smile in a planned sort of way, my eyes crinkle up so much they become mere slits. And somehow my hair does not look the same in pictures as it does when I leave in the morning. My bangs look greasy in half of them and the other half they're not even in place. Clearly me finding the right bangs have been a journey in itself.
___And with the addition of two scars from two infections I had this past year, I also have the added benefit of having those lovely attractions on my face. (Note in all my outfit pictures, I usually blur them out if they're visible)____But I've realized lately that most of the best memories that have been captured on camera so far have had me look completely unattractive. And I've always not shared these memories in posts because of that reason.

____But you know what? Despite me not being beautiful in these pictures (and don't you dare comment about me looking cute. I know how to look cute for the camera, and I know these are highly unattractive snapshots), I can remember how happy and free I felt in them. I can remember what I was doing or what I was laughing about when it was taken. And to me that's more beautiful and more lovely than any posed shot that has had me actually looking pretty. So in this post I've decided to show you all some pictures from the past year or so completely unedited.And in case you were so curious as to why these unattractive moments were so great:
1. Playing on a playground in the rain in Itea, Greece.
2. Playing in the nearby park on a little seesaw that was entirely too small for us!
3. Kissing my sister at my last high school districts for swimming.
4. Pretending to kiss a lovely lion in the Met on a trip to NYC.
5. Hanging out with some of my closest friends near Christmas.
6. First college party with some of my future teammates!

suprisingly smiling

___The first floor is currently under renovations! I had to climb in through the window and hop to the stairs to get in my room this last week! And everything looks so big without all the furniture! My school is down a hole of corruption that makes me ashamed to be affiliated with it. (Talkin' laying off teachers because of budget cuts while giving raises & buying Ipads!) I was told my head is full of air by the valedictorian of our class (I personally refer to him as Napoleon as he is the textbook definition of the complex!). Andd the weather is rainy/windy lately. BUT...
___I'm still smiling! (Isn't this picture kind of cool? It doesn't really look like me with the different camera and weird lighting. And if you do a close up, my eyes are green! But I kind of like it!) Because once the floors are dry and I'm by myself I can slide all over them (with socks on, but shh!). And I'm out of my school is less than a month! And while Napoleon has no clue really what he's going into, and is making himself look pathetic by saying that if the school he was wait-listed on took him off mere days before the start of the semester, he'd jump on it, I have game plan and I know I'm no dummy (excuse me, Nap, I'm only two spots behind you, kthx). And the weather does have its sunny moments!
___Not to mention I'm done AP exams; the little kids I teach swim lessons to always make me smile, I love my friends times a million; bloggers are amazing people, and I discovered my new boss at the outdoor pool I work at will provide some very nice eye candy (starting those crunches now!), how can I not be smiling? I'm learning quickly life is always full of disaster, idiots, and upsets. We can use our anger against them, but at the end of the day we need to remember to smile and be happy! Life's a temporary home after all.

Edit: Sorry guys! This isn't my flat/apartment. Not old enough for that yet =) It's my parents' house

senior prom

___Prom! It was such a blast! I owe it all to my friends too. My date, nice as he was, wasn't exactly ideal (he basically ditched me at some points!). But my friends were hilarious, and we danced the night away, even though our dates' stamina levels were rock bottom. And despite my date having ADD with me, I did manage to compensate with a number of another dance partners... ;) (Haha)

{my brother & sister; just guess how old they are}

{greatest girls ever! we're doing our model poses, haha}

___Obviously prom was hardly the ending to "You Belong With Me," but I wouldn't change a thing about it. We got my friend Chelsea to dance. I felt amazing in my dress (and received a number of compliments on me and my date--hey at least he looked good), and, unlike at my homecoming/fall ball dance, I didn't start nitpicking at why my date didn't seem interested in dancing with me. After all, even if I'm a horrible dancer, I had a blast doing it anyway!