STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

NEW ST'er of the week: LILYKIND!

laken1 · Hermes

*Favorite piece of clothing that you own?
*Since you have such a great sense of style, Where do you get inspiration? (other than here, that's cheating)
*Favorite fast food?
*Do you live near or far from your family?

Sorry, I have several standard questions I want to know from everyone!

Tati · Chanel

How old are you? you dont have to answer that one and sorry if its a rude question.

Do you have a boyfriend? I believe you do, so how long have you been together and how did you meet him?

any pets?

Do you want kids in the future or not?

what do you do on the weekends?

whats the last movie you went to go see and the last one you rented?

Karina · Chanel

when did you lose your virginity?

do you have any special rituals before you go to sleep or leave the house?

have you ever smoked weed?

can you cook? what is your favorite thing to make?

(pretty random, huh?!)

poptart · Coach

So, Lilykind, tell me ... where do you live? There are several items in your closet that I've had my eye on.

Just kidding!

Okay, real questions:

1. If you had to eat just three foods every day for the rest of your life, what would they be?

2. What is the one aspect of your life you're most grateful for?

3. What is one thing about your life that you are working to change?

halleybird · Hermes

-You graduated college really young, right? Have you always been a genius?

-What's your job like?

crystal · Kate Spade

just wanted to throw in my congrats... i think i've already asked everything i want to know in person!!

ejc423 · Coach

How did you end up going to Mary Baldwin? Or am I wrong, is that even where you went???

What is your favorite sound? Least favorite?

cat · Marc Jacobs

What is your favorite book of all time?

Who is your favorite author?

Coffee or tea?

What is your favorite junk food?

Lilykind · Hermes

Awwwwww!

You girls seriously made my week with this!!! I'll do my best to fulfill the greatness.

Soo...uhh I guess I should start answering some questions!

what do you think is the best thing about living in la? the worst?

The best: I love the weather and being so close to the beach. I hate going ON the beach but it sure it nice to stare at it when you're driving with someone up and down the PCH.

The worst: I can't drive. LA is a town full or crazy bad drivers. Not good combination.

name one phobia you wish you could get over.

Seriously, driving. I need to get over it but every time one of my friends gets in an accident or a close call, I freak out. I went to college two months after my 16th birthday so I didn't really have enough time to get the hang of driving. Since then I've always spent the summer away or else had some other reason that prevented me from driving.

who's your best friend and how did you meet?

My best friend Holly and I met on the first day of my sophomore year of high school. It was her frist day as a freshman and since I didn't have any friends in my year, we started talking. Then we started to eat lunch together every day and we realized that we 'complete' each other. We don't argue, we have the same taste, and we're both smart as all heck(). People at our HS were rich snobs who wore Abercrombie 24/7 and neither of our families could really afford to keep up the lifestyle of the other students so we were high school misfits together. We shopped at Forever 21 and Wet Seal and pegged as outcasts because of it (weird I know...but yeah). She's one of the only people from high school that I kept in touch with. We've been through a lot together in the past five years but I think we turned out okay.

Favorite piece of clothing that you own?

What? Me pick favorite?

Do my Chanel sunglasses count? I love how even if I look like crap, they make me look classy.

Since you have such a great sense of style, Where do you get inspiration? (other than here, that's cheating)

I get a lot of it from here, believe me. Before coming here, I was a Juicy hoodie + t-shirt or tank to + jeans + Converse/flip flops girl. But besides here, I just try and pick things that I think would never work together and see trying to put them in the same outfit as a challenge. I try and bridge extremes, like bringing in all the punkish chains that I loved in high school with a more girly, frilly aesthetic. I believe in the merging of opposites.

Favorite fast food

I love McD's fruit and yogurt parfaits, but when it comes down to it, oh man if I wasn't so sure that I'd balloon I'd live and die by Quizno's.

Do you live near or far from your family?

Far. My dad and stepmom live in the Poconos in northeastern Pennsylvania. My mom lives in the house I grew up in in Rockland County, NY. It's kinda sad, especially being far away from Dad (total Daddy's girl) but I needed to really break away and be an independent figure.

How old are you? you dont have to answer that one and sorry if its a rude question.

It won't be rude for another hundred years.

I just turned 20 in June.

Do you have a boyfriend? I believe you do, so how long have you been together and how did you meet him?

I have a BF. We will have been together four years on September 9. We started dating two days before 9/11 . We met online on a music industry message board. We are both music freaks and we ate up Casey Kasem's American Top 40 like it was crack. So that's how I ended up dating someone 12 1/2 years older than me.

any pets?

I wish! But the boy is super-allergic and since the BF came before the desire to have a cute puppy or kitty, I respect his freedom to not sneeze or dope up on Benadryl.

Do you want kids in the future or not?

I do and I don't. I love the little kid clothes and everything, but I realize that children are a huge responsibility that you can't just get rid of when you don't want to deal with them or something like that. I really respect people who are parents because they do have the toughest job out there but I guess I think I'll be too selfish to ever really want to have children. But I'm only 20 and things might change so I never want to rule kids out completely.

what do you do on the weekends?

I get all the extra sleep I don't get on the weekdays.

BF and I run errands and shop for neccessities. I also hang out with some of my friends during the day. Like one of my friends has courtside seats for lots of Sparks games. I'm going this Saturday. Other than that...I'm totally ordinary.

whats the last movie you went to go see and the last one you rented?

Last movie I saw: Fantastic Four (I go to the theater all the time with BF)

Last movie I rented: Goodbye Lenin! (but I almost never rent movies...this was last summer)

If you had to eat just three foods every day for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Sushi, Caramel Frappucinos and Turkey Avocado sandwiches from Whole Foods.

What is the one aspect of your life you're most grateful for?

Hmmm....this is hard. I love being independent though...I love making decisions for myself and having the freedom to do what I want to do with my life. Now if only I would get a better job.

What is one thing about your life that you are working to change?

I need to be a more genuniely positive person. While I am pretty perky and can lay it on thick for people when I have to be nice/surservient/dissapear into the wall...I can be really negative and pessimistic. I hate that and I know it's unhealthy, but I want to make my happiness be more real and genuine and not feel like it's something I have to act out every day when I really don't want to.

You graduated college really young, right? Have you always been a genius?

I just graduated in May, a month before I turned 20. I guess I don't consider myself that much of a genius though, because I've always believed that the world was not made for geniuses...I've watched friends who I consider way smarter than me have no ability to live in the real world whatsoever. Plus a lot of my girls are still 17 and 18 contemplating what grad school to go to. Crazy, huh?

When I was 4, my parents sent me to a preschool for disabled kids because they were purely convinced I was retarded. I spoke late and walked late and everything. I remember the day they took me to the doctor's office at the school to take my first hearing test and I was just like "what is going on???"

[Edit: I guess I should note here that the 'symptoms' (I hate that terminology, it makes it sound like being gifted is a desease) of a gifted child are very similar to those of a retarded one, so in reality many young children are considered retarded when in fact they are gifted. I don't pretend to be an expert in child development or psychology, though.]

But I learned to read and write very quickly once I started to socialize more and more. I also had really advanced reasoning skills for a 4 year old. By the time I was 5, I was reading and writing really well and by my 8th birthday I was reading a 6th-7th grade level. My teachers noticed this and I eventually ended up in GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) when I was 9.

What's your job like?

I work at a talent agency as an assisstant. My bosses represent actors (mostly kids) that we submit for roles in commercial/tv shows/film/theater, etc. etc. I have the decidedly unglamourous job of keeping all the kids' paperwork in check, that they've got headshots in the office, making sure they get to their auditions, making sure that they're in town...basically just keeping the office going. It's really gruntworky and I'm convinced trained monkeys could do it though, so I'm not sure how long I'll be doing this.

How did you end up going to Mary Baldwin? Or am I wrong, is that even where you went???

I did go to Mary Baldwin for my first two years of school, after which I transferred to USC out in Los Angeles.

It kinda started on an episode of Turning Point in 1997. I was bored as all hell after fininishing up my homework and I was writing a story just for the heck of it. So I'm watching TV and the show is about "gifted kids." I'm thinking "wow I need to watch this". So I watched it and they profiled this college for high-school aged girls. I literally salivated over the idea and kept it in my head for the next few years. But I could never remember the name of the school or where it was located...so I didn't know where to begin a search so I could apply. Plus at the time I was 11 so I was thinking "well I can't go yet and they'll never accept me anyway"

Three years later, in August 2000, I get this letter in the mail from some school called "Mary Baldwin College" in a huge box of mail. We had stopped the mail because we had just taken our annual vacation to Orlando and when we came back we picked all of it up from the post office. This was the only piece of mail for me. I had gone through hell and back during my freshman year and I was jsut dying to leave so badly it wasn't even funny. So this little letter is my savior. I then spend a month doing my best job in trying to apply to the school and they bring me in for an interview at the campus in Staunton in January 2001. I spent a night there and I made it through the interview. They accepted me as one of the first members of the class of 2005 on January 31, 2001. I consider that day a turning point in my life (no pun intended)

It's very sad, though, because the program's officers/employees for the most part are terribly corrupt and shady. The program desperately needs new leadership and leadership that understands the truly unique issues that gifted girls face in a world that wasn't made for them.

What is your favorite sound? Least favorite?

Favorite: Silence of the nighttime, 70s folk-rock, 80s synth pop, songs that connect me to childhood moments. And cute little kids' voices, especially when they're being mischevious.

Least Favorite: The dialtone of a fax machine, followed by ambulance noises...I live too close to a hospital so I hear them at all hours of the night.

What is your favorite book of all time?

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough. It makes me want to move to Australia and live in the Outback and be a grazier's daughter...hehe

Who is your favorite author?

Hmmmmmm...would putting J. K. Rowling get me doused in tomatoes?

OK really? I love L. M. Montgomery...not just Anne of Green Gables, but all the series she did. I don't know...I love books that tell stories about places I've never been and can never go to in real life.

Again...I am like a little kid. I never quite grew up.

Coffee or tea?

I really like both. Love my Ginger Peach tea and my loads of Green tea as much as I do my coffee and my Frappucinos

What is your favorite junk food?

Blue Bell Ice Cream. You Texas and Southern girls have it SO GOOD. I want to be buried in a tub of Blue Bell when I die. I want to swim in it night and day. And I want to have an unlimited supply. I want to open a spa where all the spa treatments would revolve around Blue Bell ice cream.

-- Edited by Lilykind at 12:51, 2005-08-09

poptart · Coach

Girl, you are hilarious and smart and fun!

sage · Dooney & Bourke

Congratulations Lilykind!! I cant think of any questions to add, but I think you are deserving of the title!!

blubirde · Chanel

When I was younger, I had this whole romantic notion of living in a world of BlueBell homemade vanilla ice cream. I even went so far as to contemplate a breathing apparatus to convert ice cream to air. Granted, I was 6 or so but still. I know what you're talking about with the Blue Bell. That shit rocks.

Lilykind · Hermes

when did you lose your virginity?

I lost it to my current BF when I was 17 (shhhhhhh!!!!). I still personally maintain that sex is somewhat overrated, though.

do you have any special rituals before you go to sleep or leave the house?

I have a chant that I say in my head right before I leave in the morning

"wallet, cell, keys, iPod, lip stuff"

Because I would honestly forget any or all of these items otherwise.

Othrweise, nothing else very special.

have you ever smoked weed?

I don't because I can't afford to.

Seriously, I've been offered it but I've never smoked it myself. However, I'm not particularly averse to the smell nor do I think bad of anyone who smokes it.

can you cook? what is your favorite thing to make?

Yes. I am okay at it...I wish I was better, hene the food network addiction. I'm terribly envious of the iron chefs. I like to make desserts best, like cookies and cakes so I can eat the batter.

rocky · Coach

Congrats! I confess to be lurking the ST'er of the week, but I can never think of any questions.

But here's a couple:

What type of music, bands, groups are you into??

Are you a salsa expert by now ?

lsubatgirl · Gucci

Yay! I love reading your posts! I'm going to have to look at last week's STer of the week since I was out of town to catch up.

Since you mentioned J.K. Rowling which harry potter book is your favorite?

How did you decide to work with talented children (not sure the right terminology here)?

sfcaligirl · Dooney & Bourke

Lilykind wrote:

I still personally maintain that sex is somewhat overrated, though.

wow, really??? what do you mean by that? (answer only if you want to- i'm not sure if that's a weird question or not...hahaha)

okay, here are a few completely innocent, normal questions for ya...

what's your favorite childhood memory?

best vacation you've ever been on?

do you have any recurring dreams?

favorite ice cream (blue bell) flavor?

Lilykind · Hermes

What type of music, bands, groups are you into??

The simple answer is everything.

I'll listen to just about anything once, except super-hardcore rap or rock (or all rap-rock). I love old songs that my parents listened too (Beatles, Rod Stewart, Fleetwood Mac, etc.) as much as I love the songs that are out now. I love Michelle Branch, Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne these days...they consistently make albums that I ned up liking...musically interesting or not, I'm still a bit of a top 40 freak.

Also, I follow what's going on musically in the UK so I have a weakness for their cheesy music and I love the dance remakes of songs that become huge hits there. Plus I love all the new rock bands that are coming out of there (last year I was madly obsessed with Keane and Snow Patrol...now it's more like Kaiser Chiefs)

I am also a huge fan of Tegan and Sara and Frou Frou.

Generally, I prefer music from female vocalists because I feel like it's easier to see me going through the situations that they're singing about and I can put myself in their place.

Are you a salsa expert by now ?

Haha most certainly not! Although I did folk, English country, Colonial, Victorian, some ragtime and swing dancing while I was in college so dancing (with steps and rules) is not compltely foreign to me.

Since you mentioned J.K. Rowling which harry potter book is your favorite?

Half-Blood Prince hands down, followed by Goblet of Fire. HBP is the best written book in the series and it really enlightens you while at the same time makes you ask tons of questions since she didn't tie up storylines neatly. Goblet of Fire is awesome because of the Triwizard Tournament and because of the wealth of new experiences that Harry went through (Quidditch World Cup, Yule Ball, etc. etc.)

How did you decide to work with talented children (not sure the right terminology here)?

I love kids...all my cool jobs have always centered around kids. My first job was as a camp counselor and I loved being with these kids that were just so imaginative and bright. I then worked at Nickelodeon as an intern which I also found a lot of fun. I dealt with young kids on a regualr basis with them as well. I ended up building myself up as a specialist of sorts in children and children's media so I wanted to make sure that whatever job I have would allow me to deal with kids in some capacity.

I'll answer the rest tomorrow I promise!!!

-- Edited by Lilykind at 01:49, 2005-08-10

blubirde · Chanel

Lilykind wrote:

What type of music, bands, groups are you into?? The simple answer is everything. I'll listen to just about anything once, except super-hardcore rap or rock (or all rap-rock). I love old songs that my parents listened too (Beatles, Rod Stewart, Fleetwood Mac, etc.) as much as I love the songs that are out now. I love Michelle Branch, Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne these days...they consistently make albums that I ned up liking...musically interesting or not, I'm still a bit of a top 40 freak. Also, I follow what's going on musically in the UK so I have a weakness for their cheesy music and I love the dance remakes of songs that become huge hits there. Plus I love all the new rock bands that are coming out of there (last year I was madly obsessed with Keane and Snow Patrol...now it's more like Kaiser Chiefs) I am also a huge fan of Tegan and Sara and Frou Frou. Generally, I prefer music from female vocalists because I feel like it's easier to see me going through the situations that they're singing about and I can put myself in their place.

You're the first person I've ever met (um well, yeah, I'm gonna stick with met) that likes almost the EXACT same music as I do. Well done. Sooo... Garden State - best soundtrack ever right?

Please elaborate (I know you've already been asked) on sex being overrated. Because I'm of the mind that it's underrated. More people should be doing it and people should be doing it more often. Hell, I should be doing it right now.

First album/tape/cd?

Television show you watched as a child that you still have warm fuzzies for?

Having also grown up in the GATE program, didn't you think it was a load of crap? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it and there were a couple cool things in it (like the time we created our own ancient civilizations - language, art, gov't, everything - and had archeological digs to try and decipher the other team's civs) but I mainly liked it because I didn't have to do anything. Instead of writing a 10-page analytical essay, we got to write a poem. Instead of learning where lakes and rivers were we drew up ad campaigns for the country of our choice. Fun? Yes. Hard? No. Your thoughts?

crystal · Kate Spade

not wanting to hijack the post in any way, but just wanted to add 2 things:

1. i actually agree w/ lilykind on the sex thing, but i have a feeling i know why & it has to do w/ a certain key element that i have NEVER experienced... (i know i need to work on that & i've got no one to blame but myself!)

2. as a GATE kid myself, i wanted to say i totally agree w/ you, blubirde!