Every time you hear my name brought up in casual conversation.

The entrance to my bio lab building.
Jana.
I want to be best friends with whoever decided to dip their bike in mint green paint.
"She's a pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty girl."
Well, yeah, this is why I'm constantly running into people and things. I walk like an infant horse.
Stealing flowers from the school.
I had shorts on! And I picked this belt up at Jeremy's when I was in San Francisco last month.
One of our many fountains — I swear there are hundreds on campus! Supposedly on the last day of school the whole student body moves in huge masses from fountain to fountain and takes a swim in each one. Jana...got a head start on that a few weeks ago.
My very round flats.
Testing out my photography skills. This is called framing, right? Haha.
Saw this copy of Nylon at the counter of the bookstore when I was in line to buy masking tape and obvi had to purchase it, in spite of the massive debt I'm digging myself into. All that babysitting money from the past four years is disappearing quickly. I really want to get a job as a campus tour guide! Forget any sort of modesty, I'm gonna say I would kick ass at that job.
This looks like something you'd see in Seventeen magazine, in one of those quizzes or articles about crushes or clear skin or whatnot. Ja?
Finally got a new wallet! It's still Marc Jacobs, and I love it even more than my old gold metallic one. I don't know if you the MJ stores near you guys have those tables full of cheap(ish) stuff, but I constantly find myself buying things there, like $1 pens shaped like tubes of lipstick and cheap totes, etc. The wallets are between $20 and $40 I believe.
Very ExcitingFirst of all, hi Jennifer! I never expected this to happen, especially since I've been the world's most inconsistent and incommunicative blogger the past few months (and since I started this in general, really), but I got recognized at a crazy crowded party last weekend as Lydia of the Encyclolydia by my new favorite blogosphere friend, Jennifer. She was the sweetest person ever and I'm so glad she said hi! As of today, thanks to this lovely incident, I'm officially blogging again (well, I'm going to try — for real this time!) and keeping up with all of your blogs better! I feel absolutely terrible for not keeping up with all of your lives — I've been so preoccupied with all the changes in my own life. If it means anything, I haven't even been keeping up with Sea of Shoes or Fashiontoast! And thats sayin' something.

I heard that you were trouble but I couldn't resist.

Overgrown hair and baggy, ripped-up clothes

It's the college student in me coming out.

Jana wanted to take some pictures of campus with her big old fancy Nikon, and I happily obliged to be her model when we stumbled upon what is now my most favorite building on campus, Mudd Hall. It's a brick beauty with a courtyard, fountain, floor-to-ceiling multi-paned windows, tranquil outdoor pathways leading to different hallways, and philosophers' names engraved along the exterior of the building. I'm thinking my class selections for next semester may be based on how pretty the building that the class is held in is — It really gets me in a studious mindset, in the mood for a rousing debate with Hobbes and Locke, you know?

The USC topiary is situated in front of Doheny Library. It's my second most favorite place on campus and is where magic happens — nowhere else in this universe would I ever be able to sit for five hours straight researching for a paper on nudism as a subculture or sit for seven hours straight writing a term paper on the gentrification and Americanization of Mexican-American women in the early 20th century and not implode violently and messily. It really is a magical place. Maybe that's why it looks so much like Hogwarts on the inside.

I'm sad to report the very untimely and inhumane death of my little Canon elph powershoot. She was dropped by a belligerently drunk boy on Friday, October 16th. He is on my list of people I highly dislike, whoever he is.

Anyway, I'm off to "The Great Fratsby" party and some other party on Greek Row where Three 6 Mafia is filming a music video along with Asher Roth. Have I mentioned how amazing it is here enough times yet?

Top: American Apparel

Shorts: Ruehl

Sandals: Report

It's definitely not a Nashville party

Who knew Halloween lasted three nights in college? Not I. I scrambled about Hollywood on the day before Night #1 (Thursday) getting together my three costumes: Tinkerbell, ballerina gone bad, and a Britney Spears-y circus ringleader girl. I've never worn a pre-packaged store-bought costume in my life and plan to never do so! I mean, Halloween is about being creative and showing off the most out-there side of your personality, not just being in a costume for the sake of fitting in with the theme. I would have loved to whip out last year's bunch-of-grapes costume, but it wouldn't have fended too well on the dance floor sadly. My favorite neighbor Jana (she was "sex, drugs, and rock & roll") and I didn't even have to worry about getting cold — it's LA! I'm lovin' it.Sorry I don't really blog anymore. But I just wanted to say hi :)

Build me up buttercup, baby.

Took a quick trip home to San Francisco for the weekend.Having weekends that last from 12:30 on Thursday until 3:00 on Mondays makes it pretty easy. Being in the artsy San Francisco really got me in the blogging mood. The highlight of the weekend was cappuccino-ing, indulging in fruity desserts, and running around the Mission with my junior friend and former newspaper co-staffer Rosa. 90% of our conversation revolved around the boys we are currently sampling. They really all need to disappear for the month of of October — I have a squillion midterms and research papers to focus on! My nerd-centric high school really failed in teaching me how to deal with distractions of the attractive male type...Pictures and updates below!


This has become my signature hairstyle at school, day and night.

Bargains continue to define my life

At 9:00 a.m. last Tuesday, American Apparel held a USC flea market on campus. Prices ranged from $2 to $15, so needless to say, I went crazy. I ran over with my friend Libby as soon as our 9:15 writing class ended and snagged up $267 worth of American Apparel for a delicious $68 (yes, I added everything on the website as soon I got home.) I snagged up a lamé gold leotard, bronze booty shorts, and gold headband; two oversized, baby-bottom-soft cardigans; a black cutout swimsuit for my ballerina-gone-bad halloween costume; a heather blue v-neck (a dream purchase!); a perfect white beater that never stretches out; and a spandex magenta bandeau. On top of all those purchases, at home this weekend my mom and I had a bonding/shopping trip at Jeremy's (a must-visit for any San Francisco shopper) where she got me some much needed shorts for my new life in sunny Los Angeles, one pair being some very discounted white Seven for All Mankind shorts. In a bout of love she also bought me the new Marc Jacobs perfume, Lola, and a new Marc Jacobs wallet to replace my battered one she got me for my sixteenth birthday. I love my mommy! She knows nothing makes a stressed-out college girl feel better than a little time with her madre and some MJ.

I love school!

USC is like a mix of every stereotypical Ivy league school (centuries-old brick buildings, beautiful fountains everywhere, Hogwarts-esque libraries, genius kids running around and pulling all-nighters) and the school Asher Roth sings about in "I Love College" (parties like you've never seen before with dancing midgets and camels and togas, people running down Greek row in their birthday suits after losing rounds of pong, limos that come to campus and drive students to clubs in Hollywood, concerts in the quad), so the atmosphere is amazing — very "work hard, play hard." There is always a fun Thursday night or a crazy football game to be had at the end of a week spent in the library, so I have a good reward-system going for myself. I'm so happy that my USC love rants have inspired some of you to apply! If you have any questions about the school, anything at all, feel free to ask. I am a walking USC-fact spewer.

My mind's all over the place

Living with people from totally different places has been a big eye-opener for me. I've realized why we say "chill" so much up in NorCal — it really defines our existence! It's one of those things I can't really explain since it took moving to SoCal for me to realize what it means to be from where I'm from. But at my home, your girlfriends don't interfere with boys you like, boys don't get in the middle of friendships whatsoever, boys don't treat girls like such pieces of ass, people take care of each other, getting taken advantage of does not happen, and we get together on Saturday nights to have fun and celebrate our togetherness, not get wasted to show people how much fun we are. I feel like I'm in a constant state of having my jaw dropped whenever I talk to people and they tell me how they spent their weekends back home in Bumfuck, Nowhere, what their stance is on various social political issues, and how they pronounce Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent (that's a little bitchy of me, but come on, get cultured people! You're in Los Angeles now!)

I kind of want to make a college how-to entry, like how to survive freshman year in style and with class. It will include all of my best embarrassing and humiliating moments. Maybe it'll be more like a how-not-to guide...we'll see. I'm just full of college philosophy, but I'm thinking I should wait until I've finished one semester here before spewing unfounded advice at you all.

Hope you're all having fun getting fashioned up for fall! I, yet again, live in a place completely void of seasonal changes.

Shirt: Urban Outfitters

Jeans: Seven for All Mankind

Shoes: Rocketdog

Sweater: American Apparel

Scarf: Mom's pashmina, gift from Italy

If you could be anywhere, would you be there with me?

Hello all! This whole keeping up with blogging at college thing is still hard. I made this on Polyvore.com. I haven't been shopping "in a coon's age" as my friend Olivia from Montana would say, so all I've been doing is shopping of the mind. I have dreams about floral bustiers and loose, neutral button-ups and tanks, meanwhile I'm living in sandals (though I've been meaning to invest in ones more colorful, as seen above) and boy-shorts (It gets so hot here! Full-out clothing indoors is optional.) I don't really know what to say about style these days, but I know some of you are here for a Lydia update, or at least my friends from home say they are. This is that:

My academics here are quite hot and cold. I am absolutely terrible at keeping up with the readings for my classes, but I've done quite well on the work I've gotten back, particularly on my first college paper — I got an A, the only A in the class! That was quite a shocker after listening to our professor's spiel on how most of us got Cs and Ds and how we shouldn't fret. I'd like to think of it as a nice big fuck you to UCLA, UCSD, UC Berkeley, Tufts, Northwestern, and whomever decided to make me an initial spring admit at USC. Clearly I have full ass-kicking capabilities when it comes to college academia! But alright, done bragging.

I'm applying for the newspaper next semester and am going to a meeting for a to-be-started USC fashion magazine on Tuesday night. I'm in love with being a journalism major, but being here has given me some food for thought on all the things I could do with this major, which don't all include working at a magazine or even writing. I guess that's what college is supposed to do for you though.

Moving onto the more carefree. I've met a lot of people here from all over the country and world, and I've come to the conclusion that San Francisco really is the best place in the world and that it raises the best breed of human. I highly suggest that you all move there and let the city seep into you. I would love to ship carts full of these beautiful LA boys up there and watch them morph into the perfect catches. I keep meeting guys who I think I'm really connecting with, only to realize they've really only won me over with their sandy blonde hair, washboard abs, and craploads of "You're really pretty"s and various other bullshittings. I swear I'll fall head over heels for the first guy who tells me I'm smart or wants to engage in hours-long conversations about our lives and what we want to do with them. I miss that kinda thing and I don't really know where to look for it..

I'm running out of coherent thoughts and it is unfortunately 1:41 a.m. on a Sunday night. Once this week is over (two essays and a midterm!) I am going through all your blogs and leaving all of you some way belated comments. I need an update on so many of your lives!

Love you all!

I never loved nobody fully.

Hi everyone,
I'll be entirely honest. I was contemplating saying sayanora to this blog. Part of it is that I'm not really where I wanted to be a year later, but most of it is that my life is suddenly jam-packed. But I think I owe it to any of my readers that are still checking up on this to tell them about how college is.It's...amazing. It's everything I expected and more. My days and nights are filled with dancing, dining out in LA, a sudden influx of boy toys, amazing lectures (yes, really!), frat-party-hopping on Greek row, and lounging by my pool (I'm actually pretty tan for the first time in my life.) Everything here is more...extreme. San Francisco and the rest of NorCal is defined by being the essence of chill. I never felt judged by my appearance up there and we're really just a bunch of hippies. Here, there are actual conservatives! People dress up for 8 a.m. classes! They wear heels to parties! I mean, you all know I like to dress up and look good, but here it feels like a requirement. It's made me, in a way, rebel against my materialistic tendencies and I haven't been dressing up. I have lost weight being here though. I'm going for the reverse freshman 15. Also, I HAVE NO CLOTHES FOR THIS WEATHER. It's a huge problem. I'm hitting up Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade and The Grove in L.A. really soon and hopefully will have presentable ensembles to throw up on here. Unfortunately, I haven't really found people that embrace my blogging. It took me forever to finally show my friends back home. Not having people to take pictures for me makes blogging really difficult, and my room has pretty horrible lighting. I'm trying guys. USC is a top 25 university, so you can imagine the workload is really heavy. In the meantime, here's my dorm room. It's kind of like an outfit! Just for a room.My closet. It's actually BIGGER than my one at home.
My view from my window. I'm heading down there when I'm done with this post.

It's 12 o'clock inside my head

Four Days
It's the 15th. I leave for the University of Southern California in LA at 2 a.m. on the 19th. I'm so full of nerves that I don't even have enough room in my system for sadness, let alone the physical capacity to begin packing. It doesn't help that I'm the first one of my friends to leave for school, with the majority of them trailing a good month behind me. It's going to be so weird seeing pictures of summer parties back home whilst I'm in the midst of studying Medieval European history and Italian language in centuries-old classrooms. 

And at this point, we commence my coping — virtual styling with no budget. Here are three looks I'll be asked to tackle in college, three different girls I'll be. I put together these looks on Polyvore.com and in Paint.

Intern Girl: Lucky for me, Los Angeles is spilling forth with internships at every newspaper, magazine, ad agency, etc. and that's something I absolutely plan to take advantage of, maybe even abroad in another country. And what intern look would be complete without being inspired by TV's most famous intern and alumna of my college? Whitney Port's choice of bright colors and structured shapes glazed in feminine ruffled charm is perfect for any fashion-minded girl in the office. I picked bumble bee jewelry to go with an intern's busy bee lifestyle, flats for when I'm sent running off for my boss's coffee, bobby pins to keep my unruly baby hairs out of my face, and charm-style watches to make sure I'm always on time.



Lunch Break Girl: When making this look, I tried to think of what I'd like to wear while lounging in the campus parks while picnicking with friends in between classes. Florals in muted brights and pastels came to mind, along with cardigans, and leather book satchels. I tried to reference the 90s and keep it sort of...Clueless goes grunge? And in case anyone was as obsessed with Marc Jacob's Daisy perfume as I was, you must catch a whiff of Daisy's new, spunkier, naughtier older sister, Lola. I drenched one of those little perfume cards with Lola while I was at the Fillmore St. Marc Jacob's store yesterday and had it pressed up against my nose the entire bus ride home. 



Nightlife Girl: I tried to come up with outfits that would easily transition from a fun restaurant to a nightclub. Avoidance of looking like the usual hooch on the prowl was most necessary. I mixed black with jewel tones and minimal metallics. The goal is to subtract the slutty without getting rid of the feminine and add the confidence.

And here are some pictures of me indoor skydiving. I think this may be my most flattering ensemble to date.

My mom is so cute being all color-coordinated with her purple jumpsuit and matching purple goggles.