handwriting.

i got this idea from michelle @ oh, mishka and i thought it would be fun to do myself! you answer the questions in your own handwriting. i love seeing people's handwriting so i hope this catches on. :)

here are the questions:

1. what’s your name / blogger name?

2. what’s your blogs URL?

3. write, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”.

4. favorite quote?

5. favorite song?

6. favorite band/singers?

7. anything else you want to say?

8. tag three bloggers to participate.

tagged: ahlin, leslie, leah and anyone else that wants to join in!

for george.

last night our friend, george, treated me and ahlin to dinner at a fun little indian place! the food was so delicious and it was so good to get together and rant about life, love and everything in between. like many of us, george talked about it's hard trying to find the silver lining all the time when we feel like nothing seems to be turning out right. in times like those, i do what i do most of the time - turn to music. so george, here's my playlist for you. [and anyone else who's feeling uninspired.]

01: details in the fabric - jason mraz ft. james morrison
02: closer to love - mat kearney
03: the good life - onerepublic
04: down to earth - justin bieber
05: hey jude - the beatles
06: we will walk - matisyahu
07: look for the light - benton paul
08: fly - nick drake
09: twenty-four - switchfoot
10: innocent - taylor swift
11: i won't back down - tom petty & the heartbreakers

i hope these songs help, george!

presidents' day happiness.

i have two major art history tests tomorrow. [i.e.] today has been a day filled with studying. i'm not gonna lie, my brain is about to burst. but today has actually been quite pleasant.

reasons why:
+ sleeping in [i love when i sleep in and still have enough time to have a productive morning.]
+ having clean sheets & towels [clean laundry is an instant mood booster for me.]
+ studying to JB [i could rock out to him all day. for real.]
+ utilizing google docs [seriously, best thing ever.]
+ this video. [i didn't think it was possible to love him anymore than i already do. and then i saw this video. danke, ben.]
+ rocking a low side ponytail [for like the fifth time in the past week.]
+ sporting a sweater and leggings [so comfortable.]
+ watching himym [omg. fans, can we talk about this? also. i love the captain.]
+ having a mini yoga/breathing/stretching/relaxation session with myself and pete yorn. [best decision all day.]

now i'm going to cuddle up with my pillow, rest my sleepy eyes and pray that i retain all these names, dates and facts. hope you all had a wonderful day too!

- sm

NSN

can i be a fourteen year old girl for a second? let's go back one year. me and ahlin are in our upstairs bathroom blasting justin bieber's "baby". i'm pretty sure it was our theme song for like two months straight. this [fifteen year old] boy totally understood us with his lyrics like:

... quit playin'. we just friends? what are you sayin'?

yes, jb got us.

fast forward one year. justin comes out with a documentary about the awesomeness that is him. i plan to go like five times but it never works out. finally we decide to go thursday night. ahlin had decided she probably wouldn't go till it hit the dollar theatres. not on my watch. 

we get to the theatre and i've got extremely high expectations (especially after nikki and ben had basically declared him a demi-god). i'm telling everyone how our lives are about to change. they look at me like i'm crazy. the movie starts. i'm on the edge of my seat freaking out and they're laughing at me. 

but sure enough, jb steals all their hearts. he wins everyone over with his sweeping hair, purple hoodie and incredible talent. not only did he meet my high expectations, he flew past with flying colors. at the end of the movie the whole theatre was up dancing to "baby". it was unreal. 

so what's so great about the movie? or jb? 1) he's adorable. he has been his whole life. 2) he can sing. you think you knew this before, but no, you didn't. he can really sing. 3) his story is totally unique. what other international superstar has made it as fast as he has? 4) his family and crew are amazing. how cute were his grandparents?! 5) he's so dedicated to what he does and he loves his fans. 6) how about all the guest appearances? usher, drake, snoop dog, jaden smith and ludacris. 7) his music makes me feel so good. like, i can't not jam out to it. 8) you leave the movie on such a high with the feeling that you can do anything. why? because justin said so. 

so yes, "never say never" was life-changing. and just the pick-me-up i needed this week. thanks, jb. :)

p.s. favorite. i love jb and jaden together.

jazzy jazz.

last night kim took us (me, nikki, ben) to the jazz game!

highlight: ben & i caught some "swag!" lowlight: the swag said cartoon network on it. yeah, what? highlight: i got dippin' dots. lowlight: they were so cold that they burned my tongue. highlight: i got on the jumbo-tron! lowlight: neither ben, nikki nor kim saw me on it. highlight: d-will. lowlight: d-will.

favorite ben quotes:
"hayward? he's a fan favorite. a fan favorite.", "what are my thoughts on ke$ha? considering she is irrelevant in my head, i have no thoughts on ke$ha."

key terms: fan favorite [more effective 2x], irrelevant

new goal: learn how to talk like ben.

we listened to justin bieber all the way there and back. which made me SO excited to see never say never: 3D! after the game we went to applebee's and scored [pun intended] some awesome $4 off appetizer deals! great night out? most definitely. thanks, kim!

new strategy

via obliteratedheart

because i want to be hip.

i also recently joined the twittering world. (@seramaines) mostly because i love hashtags. who else has a twitter?! let's be friends!

the next train

hello world! can i tell you about my latest project that i am beside myself about? my tumblr. it's called: "the next train". i paired the title with this quote:

"though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." - ralph waldo emerson

while i'm traveling and discovering the world, i want document all the beautiful things i find. [places, people, language, music, etc.] plus a musing here and there. enjoy!

xo,
sm

love day is for everyone.

valentine's day 2011 highlights:

- singing love songs in german class

- receiving a gigantic bowl of m&m's from hans

- valentines from loves

- dinner with best friends

- trip to the magical land of blickenstaff's

a gigantic tree made out of candy + me at the british candy telephone booth

1. i felt like i was in candyland. the awesome factor is self-explanatory.

2. i was beside myself when i saw the telephone booth. like, i was speechless. 

harry potter chocolate frog + mealworm lollipop

1. pretty much anything related to harry potter makes my day. 

2. jen's face may or may not be a subtle reference to how we feel about our pet mealworms.

more about our night, here.

"the supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved, loved for ourselves - say rather, loved in spite of ourselves." - victor hugo

seventeen.

happy birthday, baby banon! 

live up your seventeenth year.

you're amazing and i love you.

and also, let's go back to carlsbad.

everything, 

sarah

my song for valentine's day. and every other winter holiday.

exhibit a:

me: i'm about to write out my life minute by minute for the next 24 hours.

ag: that sounds extremely interesting. no joke. i would pay to read that. is it for a class?

... and that folks, is why we are besties.

take courage.

it was my first sunday in london. i was sitting on the train that would take me to blackheath, where i would go to church. i remember feeling excited, anxious and ever so slightly overwhelmed by the fact that i was going to be living in london for the next little bit. this was the farthest i'd been from home - by myself - ever. 

i casually looked out the window at all the passing buildings. and then i saw this sign:

as i reflected upon these two words, i soon felt a calmness come over me. i thought about my accomplishment of just getting to london and successfully making it through the first week. i knew that i would not just make it through these next few months here, i would thrive here - and i did. i feel more comfortable in london than almost any other city in the world. i'm not sure who painted this sign, or even their reason for painting it, but i'm glad they did.

last night, as i lay thinking in bed, i found myself in a similar state of mind. in my junior year of college i'm starting to feel overwhelmed with the future - will i graduate on time? should i get a masters? what would be the best career option for me? and then i pictured the "take courage" sign. i took a deep breath and knew that if i kept moving forward, somehow, it will all work out. it always has.

photo via flickr.

combat boots = hip.

i'll be honest. sometimes i take sleeping in a little longer over having more time to choose an outfit. but since my early class was canceled due to the art history convention in new york, (bless the art history gods) i had a little more time today.

i am obsessed with these boots i borrowed from hannah.

happy first birthday, mark!

our dear baby mark:

happy first birthday!

i remember one year ago when we were in the hospital with your mommy and daddy waiting to greet you.

little did we know all the joy you would bring us. i have loved every moment spent with you and

i can't wait for our adventures in the year to come!

love, 
aunt sarah

honey cough drops and tissues.

I'm sick. (like I-sound-like-a-chain-smoker-when-I-talk-and-I-can-barely-breathe-through-my-nose-or-throat sick.) My whole body is sore and my legs are especially sore. Like I did 100 lunges yesterday. Or in the past week. I didn't. And I know I'm really sick when people tell me how awful i look. i must look pretty bad for people to be so honest about it.

still, in the last few days, i've had some happy things to cheer me up:

a book: i started reading the book thief. it's very different, but i'm liking the way it's written. a drink: corey brought me hot chocolate. yes, i ask myself all the time what i did to deserve such a good friend.

a birthday gift: leslie gave me a very awesome mug with handwriting on it. seriously, this girl gets me. and my obsession with tea. and england. and wishing i was british.

a wedding: olivia and justin's reception and an excuse to see london friends!

a commercial: even though i can't recall most of the super bowl (my mind was especially hazy on sunday) the trident vitality gum commercial made me smile. (also, yay green bay!)

what kinds of things do you do when you have a bad cough/cold? what cheers you up when you're sick?

"...featuring"

I just got Norah Jones' "... Featuring" album on Amazon. And I am in love. Especially with the track she sings with Belle and Sebastian. Who knew she and Stuart would sound so good together?

I like these lines:

travel south until your skin turns warmer

travel south until your skin turns brown

put a language in your head and get on a train

why is this not my real life?

I had a dream last night that my roommates and I took a trip to Washington D.C. and New York. We teleported there and I showed them my old house. I was really confused because it looked nothing like my old house. We walked around the city a bit and then decided to head up to New York.

Once there, we realized we hadn't booked any hotels. So we walked around and ran into Barney Stinson (from How I Met Your Mother) and he was like, "You guys can stay with me, duh!" He also had long wavy blonde hair that resembled my nephew's. So it all worked out. Oh and Katie had to drive there because she was carrying her meal worms in the back seat. The end.

Things I got of out this: in my subconscious I am friends with Barney Stinson and teleporting exists.

dream team

Self-explanatory. Scarlett and Pete are a dream team.