Is it possible, do you think?

I wonder if its possible, to be too inspired... A mind aglow with magical stories of NeverNeverLand, far off distant places, sugarplums dancing through... With constant thoughts of art and artists, the ability to create. Sometimes I find it increasingly hard, especially as I get older, to focus on logical thinking, with thoughts such as these. But I realize that in order to reach the magic, one must push through the logic. Everything is going to work out fine.

I was talking to my best friend, and she said she misses the old us. The girls who hid under covers on Friday nights while telling fairytales and planning our futures of never-growing-up. I promised her that these girls are still here, we just have to learn to let them out again. It's important to balance the magic with the thinking.
I wish I had the Christmas spirit... For some reason Thanksgiving came & went this year so very fast, and now its the 11th of December and we have no Christmas tree yet. I want to sing along to the gorgeous carols, hang tinsel from my tiny pink tree, watch movies with my family, and drink warm hot chocolate in the arms of my best friends. Let's make it happen!
It snowed so very much this week, and we had no school on Wednesday. I'm almost caught up in geometry and chemistry, and then everything shall be beautiful.
Make your life glow,
xoxo,
SPRINKLE

Winter Emptiness, Hint of Optimism.

Scratchy weather reports on the television tell us that snow is coming soon. In Chicago today, snow falls, sprinkled upon the scattered rooftops and illuminated Christmas trees. Where I'd love to be. As Thanksgiving is over, Christmas has snuck in quietly along with winter school stress, but my heart feels empty. When the school year started, I joined as many clubs as I could, becoming as involved as possible, making friends left and right. But it's all too much. I'm tired from the work, from the late late nights of studying, of stress. I don't understand geometry or math, but I scribble out dull and obviously incorrect answers just to try. My head hurts. I know I have amazing friends, and such a blessed life, but I just want to sleep. I want to dance around in winter fields, covered in snow. To waltz through the slippery icy streets of a big city. To start driving around with my friends, as we all get our licences. I miss who I was three months ago, when I seemed to be the happiest girl alive. It was silly to focus so much on a boy, one who I barely knew.

I am supposed to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Tuesday, but the confusing words hurt my mind. I can't handle any more puzzles. Socially or academically. I want to relax. I haven't made any art since last summer, and it seems I've lost my ability to create. To write. To blog. These posts have become further and further apart, but I can't seem to think clearly. I have such a fantastic group of friends, and parents who do everything for me. This isn't supposed to be a depressing post. It's just my current state of the union.

There are happy things in my life as well. For instance, I'm in love with Michael Cera. I absolutely adore him, he is a babe. Paper Heart was one of the most adorable films I've seen this year. & There are only two more weeks until winter break. Until relaxation. Christmas music plays all over the radio. I've bought lots of vintage dresses & painted my room the brightest of hot pinks. Things are OKAY. I think I may start a journal, one to share my most secret thoughts. To get the pain out. I am happy, truly. It's just one of those days.

Thoughts of wisdom?

xoxo,

SPRINKLE

ps-Let me know you're all still out there?

An Interview with St Mannequins!

When one visits the myspace page of girl band St Mannequins, they are immediately flooded with optimistic music & absolutely adorable pictures, together seeming to radiate a strong never grow up aesthetic. With influences such as Dolly Parton, Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins, & a brother in boy band The Terrordactyls, it’s hard not to fall in love with the gentle humming of Melaena Cadiz and Donna Baxter. The two girls currently reside in Brooklyn, New York, recording their own music & sharing each song with the world. When describing their sound, the girls define themselves “like frosting on a cake,” & the shoe fits perfectly. St Mannequins sound a little like a cross between folk band The Ditty Bops, Australian singer Lisa Mitchell, & pop artist Lily Allen. The band formed in February of 2007 after discovering their shared love of “crossword puzzles, kite flying, fireworks, poofy dresses, ferris wheels, and country music.” Such inspirations drift through the imaginations of every listener through their unique sound & harmonic singing. I was lucky enough to talk to Donna & Melaena this afternoon, & thought I’d share it with you. Enjoy.

So, tell us a little bit about yourselves!
Melaena: Ok, I am from Kalamazoo, MI and Donna is from Greenlawn, Long Island and we met while both working at a dress shop in the West Village. [I’m] also an actress and Donna is a fashion designer. Our love of crossword puzzles brought us together. (We put together different clues from crosswords to make our first songs "Out of Bed", "Big Untruth".)

That's adorable! You two seem like quite the pair. How did you get started making music?
Donna: Well after we put together the crossword clues we made a fake album (no joke) and then someone asked us to play a show, so in 4 days we had to write those songs for real and it actually came so easily and we decided we wanted to learn all different instruments so we just kept playing around with different ones, and Melaena decided to learn the banjo which is now a huge part of our music.

It looks like it’s been quite the adventure. Where do you gather your inspiration?
Melaena: From our relationships, from newspaper articles, fairytales, and our friends. We write a lot of songs about our friends and do a lot of projects with our friends (our friend Erin who “Fairy Princess” is about wrote a play about us where we got to write songs about two mannequins who come to life at night and write music).
Donna: We try to say a lot in sort of a humorous way but there is usually a serious undertone to it.

I think some of the biggest inspirations can be the little magical moments in life, the beauty we can find in unexpected places. It sounds like you girls agree!
Melaena & Donna: ABSOLUTELY!

What is it that you're hoping to accomplish through your music? Any audience in particular that you're trying to reach, or message you're trying to send?
Donna: We are trying to have fun and hopefully people will have fun watching us. We were playing for the same type of audiences for a while (DIY shows etc.) but lately we started playing for the older NY theater crowd and they have really embraced our sense of humor, but actually what we are working on now is a children’s album. A girl came up to us at our last show and told us she plays the song "Sharks" for an autistic girl in her class she teaches and the little girl loves it and sings along and we are making plans to go play the class we can bring all our fun little instruments and have the kids play with them.

That's so touching, to hear such great feedback like that. As far as the DIY scene, I feel like the do-it-yourself generation is making such an amazing impact on our country right now. There seems to be an incredible increase in young people creating their own eclectic clothes, focusing on art and photography, earth-friendly & vegan options, recording their own music, etc. Anything to express themselves & contribute to this scene. Can you elaborate on how this scene affects your work?
Donna: I grew up in the DIY scene and it had such a huge impact on everything I do... Especially music. It’s incredibly inspiring to be surrounded by young people doing so many different new things and showing them to you all the time. Also, with the DIY scene it seems that everyone really embraces each other and helps each other out... So you are always meeting more and more people with new ideas, and of course that always helps.
Melaena: The DIY scene has helped us out so much while booking tours... When we go to play a house show in another state everyone is so welcoming and its inspiring cause it makes it seem like anything is possible just seeing our friends work start from an idea to actually being made (i.e. our friend who wrote a script and then just shot her first full length movie).

I definitely agree, it’s such an inspirational movement. Almost a Peter Pan philosophy of 'never grow up,' and it really goes to show that anything is possible!
Melaena & Donna: You are so cute, we totally agree.

Aww, thanks. Do you get to tour a lot for your music?
Melaena & Donna: We do get to play a lot of shows out of town but usually for a night or two... We have gone on two tours and hopefully soon we can have a way longer tour where we can hit the whole US... & we will come to YOU! Sometimes it’s just really hard with our schedules.

I completely understand. How would you describe the St Mannequins girl?
Melaena & Donna: The St. Mannequins girl is very positive, very considerate, has a wild imagination, still enjoys doing things now that they did when they were a kid (i.e. amusement parks) sees the magic in little everyday things, and still wishes upon the stars.

YES! Looks like I fall under that category. I'm honored. Anything else you'd like to say to my readers?
Melaena & Donna: Just that music is the best therapy in the world!

Thank you to Melaena & Donna, and check out their Myspace!
xoxo,
SPRINKLE

Vintage Parties & Sparkling City Lights

Hello everyone! As I mentioned in my last post, I attended the most dazzling and spectacular vintage cocktail on Saturday night with my very best friends! After spending the entire afternoon in a debate tournament, (at which I took 11th place out of 80 debaters, and got a trophy! Whoo!), I changed into a sparkling dress and took off downtown with Chiclet and Courtney. Save for time, I won't share all of the details, but enjoy the photos of our adventure! We tried on fabulous vintage dresses, mingled with the cutest people, had an impromptu photoshoot in the city, including in front of the Betsey Johnson store, (it was closed, boo!), and drank giant milkshakes. Enjoy!

xoxo,

SPRINKLE

ps-I have the best friends in the world!

Vintage Cocktail Party!

Bonjour, everyone! How have you been? I am so incredibly sorry for my absences, I'm working on a pretty stressful school workload right now. I've had weekend long debate tournaments for the past few weeks, and it shortens my weekends down to one day. Its exhausting. But it will be over soon! This weekend, after debating yet again, I'll be attending a vintage cocktail party downtown with Chiclet & Courtney. Oh la la! Of course we will be drinking Shirley Temples, no alcohol for us! It's being held in the most adorable of vintage boutiques, & I cannot wait. Here's some inspiration, and a more substantial post is on the way soon!

xoxo,

SPRINKLE

ps-I have some very exciting ideas forming for my blog, including an extremely special interview with a musical guest coming this week. Keep checking back for more, and let me know if you're still reading! Sorry for the hiatus!