The Girl Who Loves To Write

Every. Single. Time.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 04:37:00 +0000

This seems to happen every time I come back to Japan. I'll spend so much time on other projects that I forget about my blog and I'm left back here trying to figure out if I should start writing again or if I should stockpile posts and put them on a schedule or just forget the whole thing altogether. There's never really a correct answer though.

At the moment I'm pretty preoccupied with writing for scholarships and my novel that I hope to actually maybe publish one day. This blog has fallen to the side. Maybe it's because I'm not interested, maybe it's because I'm too busy, maybe because my heart isn't in writing. Either way, I'm going to keep this blog up. I need something that I can finish and say that I did. And because of that, I'm doing a total rebrand of the site. It'll take a while, and yes I've done this before, but when I say this I mean different url, different look to the site, different everything. I'm starting clean y'all, and all my updates will be here first. Welcome to a new era.

Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Night.
Anna Grace

Spies in NotRussia

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 25 Feb 2017 08:18:00 +0000

Spies in NotRussia by annaisnotgraceful on polyvore.com

The Agency - Marla

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 25 Feb 2017 08:16:00 +0000

The Agency - Marla by annaisnotgraceful featuring high-waisted jeans

Simplex Apparel vintage tee
ebags.com

Alexander McQueen leather jacket
$2,945 - italist.com

Citizens of Humanity high-waisted jeans
ifchic.com

Witchery side zip boots
$190 - witchery.com.au

Delsey Helium Sky 2.0 2-Wheel Spinner Trolley Bag- in.
lordandtaylor.com

Noor Fares yellow necklace
thewebster.us

Cartier bangle
vestiairecollective.com

Stud earrings
applesofgold.com

Reception - Marla

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 18 Feb 2017 08:11:00 +0000

Reception - Marla by annaisnotgraceful featuring long sleeve evening dresses

Long sleeve evening dress
¥9,110 - littleblackdress.co.uk

Melissa cushioned shoes
¥7,570 - brandoutlet.borderfree.com

Band jewelry
¥46,540 - fredmeyerjewelers.com

Sapphire pendant necklace
¥37,160 - jewelstreet.com

Anita Ko rose gold hoop earrings
¥355,395 - net-a-porter.com

False eyelash
¥2,805 - prettylittlething.com

Mac cosmetics lipstick
¥3,385 - maccosmetics.com

Reception - Marla

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 18 Feb 2017 08:07:00 +0000

Reception - Marla by annaisnotgraceful featuring rose gold hoop earrings

Long sleeve evening dress
¥9,110 - littleblackdress.co.uk

Melissa cushioned shoes
¥7,570 - brandoutlet.borderfree.com

Anita Ko rose gold hoop earrings
¥355,395 - net-a-porter.com

Band jewelry
¥46,540 - fredmeyerjewelers.com

Sapphire pendant necklace
¥37,160 - jewelstreet.com

Mac cosmetics lipstick
¥3,385 - maccosmetics.com

False eyelash
¥2,805 - prettylittlething.com

Diner Meeting - Marla

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 18 Feb 2017 06:29:00 +0000

Diner Meeting - Marla by annaisnotgraceful featuring a faux leather jacket

LE3NO long sleeve crop top
¥2,705 - le3no.com

Faux leather jacket
¥3,950 - amazon.com

River Island skinny pants
¥5,605 - riverisland.com

Jimmy Choo black shoes
¥54,485 - mytheresa.com

Furla tote handbag
¥49,060 - fashionette.co.uk

Red Camel rose gold jewelry
¥1,580 - belk.com

Training Montage - Marla

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 18 Feb 2017 05:33:00 +0000

Training Montage - Marla by annaisnotgraceful featuring Pearl Izumi

Fendi activewear pants
¥36,330 - matchesfashion.com

Pearl Izumi activewear top
¥5,635 - moosejaw.com

Hosiery
zalando.co.uk

NIKE lace up oxford
¥8,460 - kohls.com

Pink flat
¥3,725 - amazon.com

The Day Everyone Disappeared - Marla

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 07:03:00 +0000

The Day Everyone Disappeared - Marla by annaisnotgraceful featuring a nail polish

LE3NO button down shirt
¥905 - amazon.com

Blazer jacket
¥3,165 - makemechic.com

Blue jeans
veromoda.com

Rag & bone suede boots
¥27,125 - barneyswarehouse.com

LE VIAN freshwater pearl necklace
¥86,250 - macys.com

Stud earrings
¥14,640 - popmap.com

False eyelash
¥2,830 - prettylittlething.com

Nail polish
¥565 - etsy.com

William #1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 03:27:00 +0000

William #1 by annaisnotgraceful featuring mens white t shirts

River Island mens distressed jeans
¥2,800 - riverisland.com

Converse mens black shoes
¥9,800 - farfetch.com

Ray-Ban mens sunglasses
¥23,055 - ray-ban.com

Simplex Apparel mens white t shirt
¥2,650 - ebags.com

Zip up hoody
¥4,610 - gamiss.com

JanSport backpack bag
¥4,150 - jcpenney.com

Cassandra #1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 03:11:00 +0000

Cassandra #1 by annaisnotgraceful featuring vintage hats

Off shoulder top
¥6,685 - storets.com

J Brand stretch jeans
¥8,395 - tags-on.com

Monsoon suede booties
¥14,065 - monsoon.co.uk

Lancaster zip bag
¥10,705 - mood54.com

Botkier layered necklace
¥6,685 - lordandtaylor.com

Violeta by Mango cuff earrings
¥2,305 - mango.com

AQS by Aquaswiss mirror sunglasses
¥6,800 - bluefly.com

Vintage hat
¥690 - romwe.com

Hyacinth #1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 02:52:00 +0000

Hyacinth #1 by annaisnotgraceful featuring charm necklaces

Boohoo special occasion dress
¥1,385 - boohoo.com

Faux leather jacket
¥6,950 - yoins.com

Converse sneaker
shoecarnival.com

Tote purse
¥30,550 - dagnedover.com

Bee Goddess diamond jewelry
¥179,105 - harrods.com

Kate Spade charm necklace
¥9,085 - shopbop.com

Aviator sunglasses
gojane.com

Simon #1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 02:42:00 +0000

Simon #1 by annaisnotgraceful featuring baseball caps

Levi's levi mens jeans
¥16,025 - thewebster.us

Vans mens black shoes
¥6,340 - vans.com

Tom ford mens sunglasses
¥42,520 - ssense.com

Basin and Range mens flannel shirt
¥6,450 - backcountry.com

Levi s mens wallet
¥3,460 - kohls.com

Charlotte Russe baseball cap
¥805 - charlotterusse.com

Jantzi #2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 12:08:00 +0000

Jantzi #2 by annaisnotgraceful featuring a silvertone necklace

Loose fitting top
¥1,855 - amazon.com

Khaki skinny jeans
¥5,800 - hm.com

Vans lace up shoes
¥5,800 - vans.com

Shoulder bag purse
¥5,505 - fashion-conscience.com

Bee Goddess star jewelry
¥183,075 - harrods.com

BERRICLE silvertone necklace
¥2,310 - berricle.com

ALDO bracelet
¥2,090 - aldoshoes.com

Christian dior lipstick
¥4,060 - macys.com

Sticker nail polish
¥1,150 - newchic.com

Jantzi #1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 11:45:00 +0000

Jantzi #1 by annaisnotgraceful featuring a ruched dress

Chicwish ruched dress
¥6,895 - chicwish.com

Block heel shoes
¥4,895 - newlook.com

Lilly Pulitzer beach bag
¥19,550 - nordstrom.com

Kenneth Jay Lane holiday jewelry
¥10,445 - 6pm.com

Lilly Pulitzer gold necklace
¥7,890 - lillypulitzer.com

Le Specs heart shaped sunglasses
¥6,435 - net-a-porter.com

Coal floppy hat
¥2,780 - backcountry.com

NaNoWriMo Is Over

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 10:39:00 +0000

This is my second year doing NaNoWriMo, and it was definitely harder than the first. I'll say it once, I'll say it again, I'll say it for the people in the back, I'll repeat it until I die. Writing is hard. It's taking something from nothing and putting it down on paper. This year, hundreds of thousands of people around the world pledged to write 50,000 words in a month.

November started with my aunt and her boyfriend arriving, which meant that we were going to have more people in the house for a while.

I love my aunt, and her boyfriend is pretty cool, but I have certain criteria that must be met for me to start writing. One of those is a quiet house, or an appropriate level of background noise. Aunts and little brothers running around screaming. That's one of the reasons why I like writing at my local Starbucks.

Another thing that hindered my writing was the fact that everybody in the house (Mom, Dad, Little Bro, Aunt, and Aunt's Boyfriend) got sick. Including me.

Anyway, one of the most important things about NaNoWriMo isn't that we write 50,000 words in a month. The most important thing is that hundreds of thousands of people decided to sit down and take something from nothing.

Anybody that did NaNoWriMo, I'm proud of you. And for the writers in my readership, please join me for Camp NaNoWriMo in March/April!

Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Night.
Anna Grace

An Open Letter to a Prospective Partner

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 04 Dec 2016 12:32:00 +0000

Hi y'all! I'm breaking my hiatus to give you a little musing on something that happened while I was on my trip.

Recently, I was asked via email to participate in a collaboration blog. The man was a reader of my blog, and I was very flattered by his offer for me to write for his blog. He said that I was one of his inspirations for making a blog in the first place, and I couldn't be happier that I've inspired somebody to start their own blog.

That being said, I have a few problems. I hope he takes this as constructive criticism, because that is how this post is meant.

My only problem with the partnership itself is the fact that I'm extremely busy these days. My last blog post here was in October or November. If I can barely support this blog, how can I write for another one?

My other concern is that the work that I would have to do would be more than my prospective partner.

I run my blog with zero expenses. I don't run ads. My prospective partner runs ads on his site. I understand that this is to pay for server space, but I don't understand what's so bad about the .blogspot suffix. All of my views I've gotten with my .blogspot suffix, and I haven't had to pay a single cent. A lot of these views are recurring readers. What I would suggest is starting with a .blogspot suffix and responsive template that he can customize to his liking. That way he can start off and when he gets a considerably sized readership, he can start experimenting with the site and different domain names.

Another thing is that English is my first language, and while my prospective partner has a good grasp of the language, there is much room for improvement. If one wants to run a blog primarily in English, they need a better grasp than he has of it. The emails and preview of his blog alone can tell me that. What I feel would happen if I took him up on his offer is that I would mention some of the mistakes in his grammar and I would get roped into fixing it all for him and becoming his editor. I don't have time for that.

~~I imagine this is how a shark on Shark Tank feels, except I'm more apologetic and insecure.~~

There is nothing wrong with turning down opportunities. I don't feel like this is the right time for you to be coming to somebody for help. Sir, you haven't even scratched the surface of what you can do alone. You've shown me your credentials. You're quite talented and you can do more than you think you can.

I'm so sorry, sir, that I have to turn down your offer. Once you have a better start, or once you succeed in blogging, please come back to me and rub it in my face. Prove me wrong. I wish you all the best.

Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Night.
Anna Grace

Airplane Post 7: An Assortment of Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 06:41:00 +0000

I have yet to understand the title of Kubo and the Two Strings. Perhaps a reader who watches it can enlighten me later. Anyway, this movie was phenomenal. It was the first truly original movie that I’ve seen in the past two years. And yes, I cried at the end. (Of course, I’ve cried at every movie I’ve seen this summer.)

Other movies that I saw this summer included Star Trek: Beyond, Finding Dory, and The Secret Life of Pets; all of which made me cry.

I believe that this Star Trek movie was the best in the past few years (I’m partial to the one with the whales for some reason.). A well balanced female warrior, an old starship, Chekov, and that perfect use of the Beastie Boys made Beyond into an amazing movie that I would definitely watch multiple times.

I think I cried the most at Finding Dory, but I think I knew that I would cry going in. I had been waiting for so long for this movie, and now it’s here. There was a certain magic of seeing the conclusion of one of my favourite childhood movies with the giant red recliners of an AMC movie theater. It’s better than the reviews say. If you go and see a movie, see Finding Dory.

The Secret Life of Pets was a weird movie. As much as I loved it, it just felt a little forced. Of course, it was extremely well written and I loved it all the same. I’m not saying don’t go see it, but there were movies that I would have preferred to see, such as Pete’s Dragon.

There were three big movies that I didn’t see this summer. These were Suicide Squad, Ice Age (15?), and Pete’s Dragon. I really wanted to see Pete’s Dragon and Suicide Squad. My parents said that Suicide Squad was horrible, but with Panic! at the Disco and twenty øne piløts on the same soundtrack, it can’t be that bad right? It’s gotten really good reviews from my friends.

A final note on Ice Age: They should have stopped at three.

Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Morning(?)

Anna Grace

Airplane Post 6: Time is a Funny Thing

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 06:41:00 +0000

Are there certain places in the world where you wonder if time is displaced? Is that just me? I know it isn’t, because I saw a tumblr post about it. These places, such as an empty school, are strange to humans because we already have a context for it. Students are supposed to be in a school. Lots of people are supposed to be in a school. So when you’re in an empty school after dark, you feel strange. Where are all the people? Why is it so dark? Why am I in an empty school after dark anyway?

In an airplane, time just doesn’t seem to exist. I’m here, and it’s 4:46 am and 3:46 pm at the same time. Then I look at the clock on the plane, and I see that I have 9 hours and 58 minutes left. What to do with all that time? I can’t sleep, meal service has ended, and I’m tired of staring at a screen. For the first few hours I reenacted Hamilton (Delta has Hamilton on their entertainment software because why not?).

Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Morning(?)

Anna Grace

Airplane Post 5: Portion Sizes

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 07:00:00 +0000

This trip has been great. That being said, I feel like shit and I think that if I ate anything remotely healthy my body would reject it. I’ve tried my best to eat healthily on this trip, but it’s hard when you’re in America. Every chance I got, whether we were in Pensacola or New Orleans or Atlanta, I tried to eat a salad for the meal.

(That was practically impossible in Texas and Arkansas, because a) those were the first two places we went; and b) when you’ve been overseas and haven’t had really good Tex-Mex or BBQ, you eat it regardless of how you’ll feel later. For the first 8 days that we were in the States, we had some kind of BBQ for a meal. )

These salads were huge though! In fact, everything in America is huge! A few hours ago, my mom and I split a kids meal. I don’t think I’ve even seen my brother finish an American kids meal.

Despite the fact that crazy cheap prices for huge portions might sound good, it’s a contributor to the major health problems in America. 10 dollars will buy a lot more McDonald’s than fruits and/or veggies, which is why you often see or hear of people in relative poverty eating unhealthy foods.

So what are we going to do about it? I’d love to hear your ideas.

Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Morning?

Anna Grace

Airplane Post 4: Plane Back

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 06:38:00 +0000

We’re back with the airplane blog post challenge! As of right now, I’m on a plane back to Japan. This one is nonstop, so I think it’ll be easier to write more. That being said, I’m very tired.

School starts soon and I’m really nervous, so I have to shift my priorities a bit. I’ll try and space these blog posts out so that you guys get good content for the next week or so without me pulling my hair out. I’ll also try and schedule a few posts so that when the school year starts you guys won’t be left with nothing to read. Also, what do you guys want to see more on my blog? What do you like about it? Leave it in the comments!

Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Morning(?)

Anna Grace

Airplane Post 3: Perpendicular

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 01:35:00 +0000

In all my time as an amateur kind-of-but-not-really observer of maps, I’ve never realized that the space between Alaska and Hawaii forms a straight line. It took semi-severe turbulence for me to bring myself to check the flight progress map found in the monitor on the back of the seat in front of me. It turns out that at that very moment, we were perpendicular to that line.

This has made me think about people and lines. There are parallel people, perpendicular people, and other-names-for-lines-that-I-can’t-remember-right-now people.

With perpendicular people, we enter their lives for a while, and then leave, impacting them in a way.

With parallel people, I have two theories. The first is that these are people that stay with us our whole lives, or at least longer than perpendicular people. Like our parents and life-long/best friends could be parallel people.

Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Morning(?)

Anna Grace

Airplane Post 2: Neurosis

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 18:05:00 +0000

In a book I’ve been reading for my Duke TIP program, it described writers as neurotic. Now, I’ve looked it up, and neurotic is described as: abnormally sensitive, obsessive, or tense and anxious. (My first search yielded this answer: suffering from neurosis)

I’ve spent a lot of time since reading that chapter, thinking about whether or not I could be neurotic. On the one hand, it seems completely plausible. I match all of the symptoms described, so why the hell not? On the other hand, I’m a teenager that once convinced herself that she had a terminal illness after reading WebMD for too long one day.

The whole reason why I’m leaning towards the former answer is this flight. I spent the first five hours listening to broadway cast albums (Hamilton and Fun House) and different podcasts (Dear Hank and John, Alice isn’t Dead, and Within the Wires). As soon as I tried to listen to regular music and tried to get to sleep, I couldn’t. I couldn’t stop myself from thinking, from moving my hands, from keeping my eyes open. It was horrible. The thing is, the moment I started writing this, I started to feel better, like I wasn’t going to need to sleep or anything.

Of course this was all interrupted by bouts of semi-severe turbulence.

The book that I had read was called, “Forest For The Trees.” It’s a great read for writers and other people alike.

Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Morning(?)
Anna Grace

Airplane Post 1: My Love-Hate Relationship With Travel

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 05:08:00 +0000

As I am currently in an airplane on my way to Seattle, and then on to Dallas, I feel like I should explain what typically happens when I go to the States.

1. Planning - A General Mess In Itself

Planning generally starts a few months ahead of time. We talk about what we want to do and family obligations that we have. It’s a few months after we should have that we actually book the tickets. At least 5-10 things that we needed or wanted to get done in the States don’t get done.

2. Plane Day - Business Time

Our family has a unique situation (Not really unique for expats, but bare with me.). My mother, younger brother, and I go to the States before my father does. We’re lucky really. Oftentimes families in our situation have schedules that don’t allow for the head of the family to join them. Anyway, my mother, brother, and I go to the airport, and we have a system that allows us to navigate the experience smoothly and quickly.

3. Jet Lag - It’s WHAT time?

In the beginning, I never really had a problem with jet lag. Sure it kind of freaked me out for a few days after the plane day, but I was fine. These days I get more tired than I had in previous times.

The funniest thing that ever happened with jet lag was when we were in Atlanta a few summers ago. My computer was locked on Korea time and I didn’t have my phone on me (I think it was with my mom). I was on my computer doing Khan Academy, when my mom barges (quietly) into the room. She asked me what time I thought it was, and I told her the truth. I thought it was 8 am. It was 3 am. Needless to say, I had to put the computer away and try to sleep.

4. Sub-Travel - Most People Call it Domestic Travel

It’s at this point in the trip where we get on what feels like 15 different airplanes going to 30 different places and seeing 1,000,000 different family members and friends. Those days seem to blur together, and there’s not much I can do about it.

Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Morning(?)

Anna Grace

Airplane Blogging Challenge!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 15:00:00 +0000

Contrail.fourengined.arp.jpg

As I will be on a plane tomorrow for a collective 14+ hours, I have decided to challenge myself. I am going to write as many words as I can. Many of those words will be for this blog, and possibly the one that I have in the works. Some of it will also go to my new novel idea. I won't have wifi on the flight, so I'll try and send updates during layovers. This is more of a challenge for myself, and I'll be doing it throughout the summer as I get on various planes.

In other news, we are less than 100 views away from 3k! That's amazing! I remember when this blog was getting 100 views per 3 months if I was lucky.

Here's to airplanes and more years of blogging.
Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Night.
Anna Grace

The Fundamentals of Caring

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 14:35:00 +0000

Announcement: I am getting on a plane tomorrow morning.

Now back to our post about heart and gut wrenching movies on Netflix.

I spent this evening doing laundry and transferring disks to our family iTunes account. I was also watching a Netflix adaptation called "The Fundamentals of Caring," starring Paul Rudd, Selena Gomez, and Craig Roberts (No relation). I really should have been packing, but hey, I'm a good speed packer so who cares?

The movie was about a boy who had been diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy at the age of three, and a writer gone caretaker. This was a result of his child dying three years prior.

I'm not going to say much about the movie, seeing as I really want people who read my blog to watch it. I will, however, tell you what stood out to me. In the movie, the teenager, Trevor, didn't let his disease define him. I really respect that. It would be easy just to sit around all day and let other people do things for you and do nothing.

This movie, in my opinion, has the best ending ever. Just saying.

Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Night.
Anna Grace

The Girl Who Loves To Write

Every. Single. Time.

Spies in NotRussia

The Agency - Marla

Reception - Marla

Reception - Marla

Diner Meeting - Marla

Training Montage - Marla

The Day Everyone Disappeared - Marla

William #1

Cassandra #1

Hyacinth #1

Simon #1

Jantzi #2

Jantzi #1

NaNoWriMo Is Over

An Open Letter to a Prospective Partner

Airplane Post 7: An Assortment of Movies

Airplane Post 6: Time is a Funny Thing

Airplane Post 5: Portion Sizes

Airplane Post 4: Plane Back

Airplane Post 3: Perpendicular

Airplane Post 2: Neurosis

In a book I’ve been reading for my Duke TIP program, it described writers as neurotic. Now, I’ve looked it up, and neurotic is described as: abnormally sensitive, obsessive, or tense and anxious. (My first search yielded this answer: suffering from neurosis)

Of course this was all interrupted by bouts of semi-severe turbulence.

The book that I had read was called, “Forest For The Trees.” It’s a great read for writers and other people alike.Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Morning(?)Anna Grace

Airplane Post 1: My Love-Hate Relationship With Travel

Airplane Blogging Challenge!

The Fundamentals of Caring

The book that I had read was called, “Forest For The Trees.” It’s a great read for writers and other people alike.

Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Morning(?)
Anna Grace