What to wear for Grad?

  
                 Instead of buying a ridiculously-over-priced-expensive graduation dress (that I probably will never wear again) I decided to sew one myself. It's basically all I did last week. Talk about no life, eh? I worked on it for one week straight. I spent about six hours everyday. It's good that I didn't have school since semester changes and second semester doesn't start till wed. of this week.
           
                 I am proud of the final results of my finished product. I did a pretty good job for sewing my first dress, let alone my grad dress. In the past I sewed skirts and a couple of shirts but this was definitely a lot more harder in term of sewing for fit and the sewing techniques I had to use. I also love the contrast between the two different shades of colour and fabrics that work pleasingly well together. Also inspired by the "princess look."

Pros & Cons of Studying In Krakow or Staying Close to Home.

                    Its been known that people are often terrified of things they are not familiar with or have any knowledgeable about. This definitely comes into play for the situation in my life. The thought of moving to a foreign country to study in, is both exciting and scary. I'm planning to enrol in the fashion design program in Krakow, Poland next fall. Along with having to cope with setting in Poland (which is wayyy different from Canada), I'll have to deal with monthly bills and buy my own  groceries. I'll only be able to get a part time job in the summer because I am not a European citizen and Europeans get first dibs on jobs. I'll going to have to apply for a long term student visa. I will have to create a money budget for each month. I'll have to say bye to my family here in Canada, and learn to adapt to a new lifestyle.

Ahh!!!! Theres just so much things to take care of, the thought of it all is becoming strictly overwhelming.

                 On the bright side though I will have a chance to improve my Polish language skills and experience true polski traditions, while studying european fashion!! Love love love fashion! It would be like hitting two birds with one stone. Last year while I was visiting my aunty in Poland (of a different city) I had a chance to stop by Krakow and really see it. It was just beautiful. The architecture was just, INCREDIBLE. I could clearly see it had rich culture, and some astonishing history behind it all. I visited the churches as well, very impressive both the buiding and the people. Being Catholic myself, I was really suprised at how strong of a faith Polish people have towards God, compared to Catholic Canadians. The connection seems more powerful. Or maybe, I'm just crazy, whatever: IT ALL MAKES SENSE IN MY HEAD.

         




One day trip in Krakow, Poland


However my second option is staying in Alberta and  just moving to the next city to study fashion design.
Pros:
-I'm closer to home, and can see my family every second weekend if I wanted to
-I can ride my motorcyle :) [after I get my licence this summer that is] (wheowwwwhoo NO MORE TAKING THE UNRELIABLE BUS!)
-I'll still get a fashion design diploma
-I won't be as broke after I finish school
-Its a lot cheaper overall

Cons:
-I won't be able to study Polish:[its always been on my bucket list]
-The school in Krakow gives its students the opportunity to transfer to Central Saint Martins (a.k.a only one of the best schools in the world  to get an MA in fashion design) and the one in alberta only has transfers to two university both of which only offer a BA.

hmm. This is such a tough decision for me to make. Why does life have to be soo hard?


  If anyone is still reading this blog and has lived in Krakow please feel free to leave me a comment about your experience. Or if you have any tips you can give me, that would be helpful as well.

Five Fashion Designers I Would Love To Meet One Day...

Just wanted to share which world fashion designers I would kill to meet:






1.) Betsey Johnson because I love her bright, eye-catching designs that really pop-out in terms of colour and uniqueness. I love how she so uplifting, crazy and doesn't really care what people think. Not to offend, but I'm just surprised that at her age she still has the ability to do a cart-wheel at the end of her fashion shows! It seems like shes still a little kid inside. I also look up to her as a respected  individual because just like my mom she battled breast cancer.




2.) Oscar de la Renta because his amazing couture and "ready-to-wear" collections speak out loud to me. His life story is pretty cool as well. He's simply living the dream I hope to have one day, travelling around the world and creating memorable garmets, that people adore.  




3.) Valentino Garavani because he is just a genius when it comes to birthing a stunning, beautiful dress. All I can say is, his designs just leave my mouth wide open.

Meeting The Family In EL SALVADOR For The First Time In My LIFE

                       So just today I pulled out my "Bucket List" from my closet, to find that I can cross-off two very important things that I accomplished this/last year. These three things included;

1.) Learning to ride a motorcycle (which I did in aug. 2011 during summer vacation),
2.)Swimming in the ocean for the very first time,
3.) travel to El Salvador to meet Papi's family.

Since the title of this blog is "Meeting the Family in El Salvador For the Very First Time," i'm only going to discuss the last two things mentioned on my list.

                         So, being originally born in Canada, I was always exposed to many diverse cultures.
My parents (who have been separated for quite awhile now) were both born on different sides of the earth. My mother was born and raised in Poland, and my dad was from El Salvador. Its kinda funny actually, my nationally/heritage. I'm 50% Polish and 50% Spanish but most people who've never known me would say I look asian. For instance, most of my friends first thought I was like a mix of Filipino or aboriginal. I'm always like, "WHAT ? Me?  Asian? Well, I do like chow mein but that doesn't make me asian." Hahaha, i dunno why but it always makes me laugh when people tell me that . . .



                         Anyways getting back on topic. I have seen my mom's side of the family in Poland many times, but it wasn't until the Christmas of 2011/New years of 2012 that I finally got to meet my dad's side of the family in El Salvador. AND DAMN do I have A LOT of cousins living there. They multiply like bunnies!



On Christmas we danced all night long.



Got a chance to taste things I never ate before. In this picture i'm eating a clum cocktail soup dish. It looked discusting but im not gunna lie; it actually tasted pretty good:)





We also  lite a bunch of fireworks for Christmas! [ i burned my hand on one]



Visited the church where Oscar Romero once served as the bishop in San Salvador.




Made yummy tortillas:)





Cousins, friends, sister, & me at the ocean.

Things to know while being in  El Salvador:

-the people love to put salt and/or lime on pretty much everything they eat

-never pet the dogs, they all have fleas

-only drink the bottled/bagged water

I got a chance to witness the Salvadorean Lifestyle, and it was a four star rating of AWESOME! (it was all good dispite the part where I was throwing-up everywhere the day after Christmas) (& no its not b/c I drank too much and was hung over, its cuz my immune system sucks)

Also, made a Youtube, summary of this trip. Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TornAPartPaperHeart?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/chAntpQRn4U