Dorm DIY: Life is a Work of Art

Hello, everyone!!! Again, I apologize for being MIA for the past week.  My family and I have had a lot going on, what with the arrangements for Grandmother's funeral service and work and preparing for school and everything else going on in our frenzied world.

Speaking of preparing for school, I have spent the summer in a DIY project frenzy.  Obviously, you've seen the majority of my clothes upcycling transformations on my blog.  Now, I am creating oodles of cheap, chic, and creative crafts to both organize and spice up my dorm for the coming school year.  With just over a week to go before I move in (eek!), working on the various crafts has become a part of my daily routine.  I've made so many that over the next few weeks or so, I will try to feature one of my projects each day!!  First up, a repurposed basket-turned-earring display!!

the original basket

My mom got this basket full of lovely smelling soaps and sprays years ago.  Over the years, it has floated around, carrying everything from makeup and hair ties to bills and paperwork.  Earlier in the summer, when she was cleaning out her room, she asked me if I wanted it for anything.  I was about to say no (I'm not exactly a pearl kind of girl), but then I remembered reading this fabulous article about 4 Creative Ways to Store Your Jewelry at College on the ever-resourceful College Fashion forever ago.  That night, I sewed the adorable face of a watch that I had gotten from Urban Outfitters to the center of the basket's base (the rubber watchband had ripped since I always manage to break every watch I own).  I then added my selection of dangling earrings to the holes and voila!! I have a brand new dangling earring display.

This definitely helps me to get more wear out of these earrings because if I can't see something, I usually forget that I own it.  The shape of basket is also really cool because though I initially intended to hang the basket from the wall with a Command hook, I can just as easily sit it on any flat surface.  The tutorial on CF also recommended sitting your display on an easel, which I think is a fantastic idea since easels are usually pretty inexpensive craft store buys.  I also loved the look of the watch face in the center of mine, especially because I thought it too cute to simply throw away.  You can decorate your display with any brooch, clip, or doodad you'd like.  Or, if you have an obscene number of earrings, your display will look just as cute without any accessories!

Like what you see??  Stay tuned for more ideas and tutorials for decor solutions and ideas, perfect for the nearly broke college student.  I have everything from storage tips, wall art, and adding interest and personality to a boring piece of furniture!

Love, Leaza

This Ain't A Song For The Brokenhearted

Hello, dear readers.  I'm sorry to have been missing from the blogosphere as of late.  After recovering from being sick, I went to Hershey, PA for my brothers' last lacrosse tournament of the year and have been insanely busy ever since.  I fully intended that my first post back would be about one of my recent DIY projects, my reinspired infatuation with Batman, some fashion inspired by The Dark Knight Rises, my new purple streak in my hair, an entry about my family trip to a dairy farm bed-and-breakfast in the heart of Amish country...and trust me, these posts are forthcoming.

However, the last few weeks have been a whirlwind with my 89 year-old grandmother who lives with my family and I.  She had been diagnosed with a rapidly progressing stomach cancer earlier in the summer and was given approximately 6 months to a year left to live.  But this past week, she took a rapid turn for the worse that culminated with her passing away at 5:45 this morning from respiratory failure.  As hard as it is to wrap my brain around how sudden this all is, I am thankful that my siblings and parents and I were all there with her at the end.  She is one of the matriarchs of my family and has touched countless lives.  She moved in with my family when I was 10 years-old and we have cared for her ever since.  She has been tough beyond measure and loved us all very dearly.  She is being survived by her son (my dad), her youngest sister, eight grandchildren, countless great-grandchildren, two great-great-grandchildren, a myriad of nieces and nephews, cousins, devoted friends, loving in-laws... the list goes on.  My grandmother touched so many lives in her special little way (and I mean little; she was only 4' 10").  We know she is holding and comforting us all from heaven as she meets up with all of her siblings and daughter and has a big card party, full of music and laughter and fun.

Rest in Peace, Leactryce Joy Smalls Anderson.  We love you so much.

Leactryce Joy Smalls Anderson
September 28, 1922- August 4, 2012

Loser Like Me: Part 2

The Finalists:

Hey, readers!!  I'm slowly and surely feeling a little better, a good thing since I am absolutely dying to sing.  School is right around the corner and there are so many songs that I want to practice and perfect before the year starts!

So, Part 2 of my Loser Like Me series (check out Part 1 here!) focuses on the current season of The Glee Project and my general thoughts about the remaining contenders, the challenges, and the decisions.

Season 2 of The Glee Project started off slightly differently than Season 1 had.  Instead of choosing 12 contenders to compete for the coveted 7 episode arc on Glee, co-creator and head honcho Ryan Murphy made the executive decision to choose 14 contestants, 7 boys and 7 girls.  However, he made it quite clear that this season, only one contestant would take away the prize role.  This was a major change from the first season when, in a surprise twist, Damian McGinty and Samuel Larsen both won 7 episode arcs (which were actually extended), while runner-ups Lindsay Pearce and Alex Newell both won 2 episode arcs on the Emmy-winning series.

Thus, after many auditions and lengthy callbacks, Abraham Lin, Blake Jenner, Michael Weisman, Charlie Lubeck, Mario Bonds, Tyler Ford, and Maxfield Camp became the seven males competing for a role on Glee.  The seven females were Ali Stroker, Aylin Bayramoglu, Lily Mae Harrington, Shanna Henderson, Nellie Veitenheimer, Dani Shay, and Taryn Douglas.

Today, I'm going to talk about the seven remaining contestants and offer my opinion about whether or not I think they have what it takes to win!

Abraham Lim is a perfectionist; this trait both helps and hinders him in the competition.  For example, he killed his dance moves during the homework assignment for "Dance-ability" week; however, he was so worried about doing a good job in the video that he got trapped in his own head, and ultimately, sucked.  His devotion to practicing definitely helps him in general, as seen in the recording studio during "Adaptability" week, when he had to instantly record his parts in Jessie J.'s "Price Tag" without practicing before; the result was a pretty awful vocal track.  Abraham has talked a few times about how he was teased for being perceived gay as a child; he says that he is not gay, he has just picked up "feminine" traits from the women he was raised by.  It is clearly a sensitive topic for him, causing vocal coach Nikki's comments about his androgyny in the most recent "Theatricality" episode to be totally out of line.  She asked him if he considered himself androgynous when he performed, to which he responded that he didn't really, he mostly felt "free".  Her rude "Oh, please!" visibly threw him off, resulting in a less than stellar recording of "When I Grow Up" by The Pussycat Dolls.  This shakeup landed him in the Bottom 3 for the week, where he performed "Stereo Hearts" by Gym Class Heroes/Adam Levine.  The performance was one of his better ones and, combined with his speech to Ryan Murphy about how this week has helped him come to terms with his uniqueness (read: androgyny) helped to save him for another week.  Do I think that Abraham will win?  No.  He is nice enough, but he lacks the level of talent and the fierce edge that I think is necessary to win the competition.  However, his YouTube videos are hilarious...click here to watch!

Ali Stroker is wheelchair-bound, having been paralyzed from the chest down at age 2.  She has a background in musical theatre and tends to be given the soprano notes in many of the songs.  Personally, I don't like Ali's voice; I find it kind of piercing, shrill, uncontrolled, and almost-whiny, particularly in the pop songs the contestants usually have to sing.  However, after finding out that she has had to develop her own technique to sing as she can't use her paralyzed diaphragm, I definitely respect her perseverance and drive a lot more.  Also, she did do a great job in her solo in the homework assignment in "Theatricality" week ("I Hope I Get It" from A Chorus Line).  Do I think she'll win?  No, but I think that she'll get pretty far in the competition, considering that her determination has caused all of the mentors (except maybe Nikki) to love her, and Ryan Murphy calls her "a little Dolly Parton" due to her exuberance and over-the-top performance during "Adaptability" week.

Aylin Bayramoglu is the sassiest Turkish Muslim that you ever did meet.  Though she comes from a conservative family (her mom refuses to let her use tampons because they "take away her virginity"), she is extremely boy-crazy, outgoing, and self-confident.  This sass (and her lack of it) landed her in the Bottom 3 during "Individuality" week... however, she sang herself back to the competition.  Her big personality and powerful voice landed her the affections of fellow contestant Charlie, causing them to develop an "undefinable" relationship.  Do I think that Aylin will win?  She definitely has a good shot.  She did fantastically during "Adaptability" week, winning the homework assignment and scoring the number one spot on the mentor's leader-board for the week.  She has a strong voice and solid acting chops and Ryan Murphy called her "a game-changer"; if she were to win, all of the under-represented Muslim girls out there will have someone to call a role-model on network television.

Blake Jenner is a shaggy-haired teen from Miami, Florida.  Though I was initially surprised to see such a "cookie-cutter" type guy on this show, I quickly realized (along with the mentors) that he definitely has an unidentifiable star-quality.  He is one of the best actors in the competition and has been repeatedly commended on his acting ability... his portrayal of Boy George during "Theatricality" week was superb.  His voice is also pretty decent, especially in his moving "Waiting for a Boy/Girl Like You" duet with Nellie.  Blake is clearly not the best dancer naturally, as seen during "Adaptability" week, but his work ethic clearly helps him to do his best: he and Michael stood out in the mess that was the "Party Rock Anthem" music video during "Dance-ability" week.  Do I think that Blake will win?  Yes.  He is very attractive and has an undeniable charm that does not overshadow his talent and his drive to be his best.  He is genuinely sweet and he is one of the few contestants that has never had a negative word to say about anyone else, even in the very revealing confessional videos each contender makes.  His "star quality" is also undeniable; my mom calls him "Zac Efron" and Ryan Murphy even said that he really had "something special".  I wish that he was a little quirkier for he almost seems too perfect to be on Glee... I guess we'll see what happens!

Lily Mae Harrington is a big personality on this show.  She kind of reminds me of Lindsay Pearce from last season's show, but not in a good way.  Lily Mae definitely makes her presence known.  She has confidence for days and a killer voice, but her constant excuses for any mistake are what make her stand out from the pack.  She has been in the Bottom 3 three times thus far, and I'm pretty sure her passionate speeches pleading with Ryan Murphy have been what have saved her; Ryan may not be too fussed about ridding the competition of stellar talent (read: Nellie, Charlie, Mario), but he clearly has a weak spot for passion.  Do I think Lily Mae will win?  Honestly, if she was not the excuse-monster and had listened to Zach's directions (no wedding dancing!) during "Dance-ability" week, she may stand a chance.  She has a strong voice and is super-confident (to the point that she is a bit annoyingly conceited, but she's getting better about that).  She also nailed her performance during the "Fearlessness" video.  However, I really don't think that she will win at this point...the damage is done.  Her most recent speech at Ryan may have saved her for the time being because of her passion, but his response to her ("Forget the 'yes-but' if you come back") made it seem as though if he sees her again, her grating personality will cause her to get axed.

Michael Weisman is the youngest contender this season, at a mere 18 years old.  He is a self-admitted calculus geek, but he clearly also loves to sing.  Michael's issue is that he, like Abraham, can easily get trapped in his head.  The most clear example of this has been during "Sexuality" week; he struggled remembering the words to the "Moves Like Jagger/Milkshake" mashup in the recording studio.  He also forgot the words to Jason Mraz's "Lucky" in his Last Chance performance the same week... "lucky" (I'm punny) for him, the mentors and Murphy considered more than his cringe-inducing performance and Tyler got cut instead.  Though he hasn't been in the Bottom 3 since, he has definitely cut it close, with weak recording studio performances occurring nearly on a weekly basis.  Do I think that Michael will win?  I think that he stands a really strong chance; when he's not trapped by his own quest for perfection, he is actually really good.  I think that he definitely has that boy-next-door-appeal (I'm pretty sure my sister has a crush on him), and I respect him for bringing some semblance of dancing (along with Blake) in the "Party Rock Anthem" disaster of episode two.  Even if he doesn't win, I'm pretty sure Michael will make it to at least the top 2 or 3.

Shanna Henderson is the bubbly and vivacious southern belle of the group.  To date, she is the only contender who has never had to perform a last chance performance for Ryan.  Shanna has a constant smile on her face and is up for any task the mentors may give her (i.e. that Lady Gaga-esque meat dress in the "Theatricality" music video).  She was the first person to win a homework assignment, and though she hasn't won any since, she has almost always been at the top of the mentor's leaderboard.  She also has a stellar voice and a clear drive to win.  Do I think Shanna will win?  Yes, I think that she and Blake could easily go head to head for the prize.  She's a strong actress, singer, and even dancer (which, this season, is few and far between) and she definitely wants to win a lot.  Also, all of the mentors adore he, thus keeping her out of the Bottom 3 each week.  She also has an interesting story (her mom became involved in drugs after she was born and she was teased all her life for being a "crack baby"), which I think helps make her fit the mold of the show.

The next episode of The Glee Project is called "Tenacity" and airs tonight at 10 ET on Oxygen!!  Make sure you tune in!

Love, Leaza

Loser Like Me: Part 1

My Experience...

Happy Monday, everyone!  I hope everyone is doing fantastically!  I'm actually a bit (or a lot) under the weather and have completely lost my voice... but every cloud has a silver lining: I now have more blog-writing time!

So, one of my absolute favorite guilty pleasure shows is Oxygen's The Glee Project.  Being a musical theatre gleek, this show is my cup of tea.  I love watching contestants compete in performance-based challenges, such as weekly homework assignment group numbers, recording studio sessions, choreography lessons, music video shoots, and (my favorite) last chance performances for the week's bottom 3 contenders.  I think that the boot-camp environment is so educational and motivational, even if the contestants don't happen to win the guest starring arc on Glee.

Being the major gleek that I am, I was shocked to realize that I had missed the auditions for the first season of TGP in the fall of 2010.  (I had just started college and was overwhelmed by that experience, but still, it was pretty suprising.)  When Season 1 aired last summer, I was immediately enamored and thought, "Hey, I can do that, and I want to be on Glee...", thus sealing my desire to audition for Season 2.  When auditions were finally opened (on my birthday!) last fall, I spent weeks trying to decide what to sing (from the list of required songs) for my online submission video.  I wanted to be on this show more than anything else in my life.  I finally decided on Irene Cara's power ballad "Out Here on My Own" from the iconic Fame.  

Being the perfectionist that I am, I realized as soon as I uploaded the video that it was not my best work.  However, I still hoped it would maybe catch the casting director's attention.  I knew that I would have a better shot if I also auditioned for the show in person too, so I drove up to NYC with my mom, brother, sister, and boyfriend in November for the first day of open auditions.  We got there at 6:30 a.m. and the line leading inside was already stretched around the block.  As time went by and oodles of talented people walked out, saying that they were eliminated in the first round (including one of my incredibly talented friends from home), I began to get discouraged.  

After a grueling five hours in the bitter, windy, cold, we finally got inside.  We were given a couple moments to warm up before shooting promo shots for OxygenTV and then we were told to line up by our numbers.  We handed in our paperwork and answered a few questions, and the next thing I knew, we were being divided into groups of five and lining up outside the audition rooms.  We didn't have to wait more than a minute before going into a room.  A pair of adjudicators introduced themselves to us and told us just to have fun before telling us to begin.  I was the fourth contestant to sing.  By that time, I had met so many talented people who hadn't gotten through, that I wasn't even nervous; I didn't think I stood a chance in the world.  I belted out my jazzy remix of John Legend's "Ordinary People", and I was excited that my last hurrah came out without a hitch.

When all five of us had finished singing, the adjudicators discussed each of us for a few minutes as we all discussed how we were glad it was over while simultaneously getting nervous about what the casting assistants would decide.  The assistants began their speech by thanking us all for coming, we were all very talented, and we should all continue to pursue music... etc, etc, and so forth.  They said they were only going to call back one contestant to move on to the next round... me.  

Imagine my shock and disbelief and amazement.. that moment was incredibly surreal.  They put a green armband with my number around my wrist and sent me upstairs to a holding room for the next round.  The room was a dance studio that contained no more than 60 people who were eagerly chatting among themselves and singing with each other.  Over the next few hours, I met so many wonderful people and had a lot of fun with the room-wide jam-seshes that occurred rather frequently.  I found out that since NYC was the last stop on the audition tour and since the venue was pretty small, the judges were being more selective with their decisions.

When I finally got called to go to the next room to perform again (to a supportive round of applause from my fellow contenders), the nervous butterflies that tend to chill in my stomach during auditions began to dance again.  I sat out in the hallway, meeting more great people and waiting for my chance to sing again.  I met a lot of friendly Oxygen employees who got to know me and encouraged me to do my best.  When I finally went in, a really nice lady greeted me along with the red "recording" light of the camera that sat to her right.  I sang "Ordinary People" again... she told me that I did a great job, and asked if I could sing another song that wasn't on the official song list for the competition. 

My nervous mind instantly blanked on the bazillion songs that I knew I knew.  I stared out the window and saw some Broadway billboards, which reminded me that American Idiot was the last show that I had seen on Broadway, which reminded me that I was pretty good at Green Day's "21 Guns".  I sang it, but my nerves definitely got the best of me and I didn't sing anywhere near as well as I wanted to.  I knew that this was the end even before a sorry TGP worker informed me.  However, he told me that they still really liked me and if I ever happened to be in LA, look up open Glee auditions; he was sure I could get on the show.  He also said that I still stood a chance with my online audition tape, so I shouldn't give up my hope of making it to the LA Glee Project Callbacks yet.  He said that if I made it, I would find out in the beginning of December.

As disappointed as I was not to make it further in the competition, I was more than grateful to have made it as far as I had.  I made it further than thousands of others who auditioned, many of them super talented.  Of course, I was disappointed in myself for messing up in my last callback, but if The Glee Project happens to have a third season, I am not messing around; I'm playing to win. :)

Stay tuned for my views on the current season's contenders!

Love, Leaza