Saturday, March 22, 2008

Ch-Ch-Change it up (double stuff)


So as a student in university classes and assignments can weigh you down. The daily schedule just becomes monotonous and uninspiring. You feel a bit mundane and have some time on your hands? If so try these things out to sh-sh-shake things up (all the following has been SOS tested, proof is in the pictures):

(1) Play tourist, go around your area and check out the sites round and about. Enjoy the fountain at the mall, random free architecture around your house, go to a nearby park, check out some of the free sights/events available to tourists and take advantage of it. (see fig 1 to the left. clearly Natasha is taking full advantage of the architecture near my school)

(2) Go out to the mall and try out a new look. Take a risk in the change room, try out what you think looks ridiculous, what you love on others but never thought would look good on you. You may find out that, yeah that looks really bad on you (which my friend Sean found after trying on the hat on the right), but hey now you know for sure. And there is always a chance you'll find something you love. The great thing about it is you don't have to buy it if it doesn't suit you.





(3) Have a photo shoot with your friends. Feel ridiculous? Don’t!It's cheap, It's fun and you have something to show for at the end of the day. Have fun Make a theme if you’d like. And you can do it anywhere.
The pictures on the bottom & to the right were done on campus, where we (me - left; Jae - bottom) shamelessly posed while people passed by. Quite fun.




(4) Treat your self to something nice. In Jae's case she gave into temptation and splurged 25 cents on a magnificent Dog charm mentioned before and shown in the figure below. In my case I update my mp3's on a regular to keep from getting bored. Sometimes you got to give yourself a little surprise and just treat yourself, to shake off the everyday blahs.


(& at the end of the post I have a little compilation of new songs I've loaded on my computer)

***BUT HOW DO I CH-CH-CHANGE UP MY RELATIONSHIP?***

[an extra bit from JAE]

relationship not half as exciting as it was before? tired of the same ol` routine & wanting to do something new? believe me (jae), relationships can actually be REALLY great & STILL fall into ruts.

like anything that has a routine built in, relationships need some kind of boost every so often. the gasoline to a relationship is to add a little 'oomph' to it. there are a million different articles on 'how to make your relationship work', & they all share some great ideas on what to do. but things like planning a vacation for two or buying something extravagant? those ideas, while lovely & amusing, don`t sound realistic; especially if you`re a poor student (like us here at SOS).

being the only SOSer in a relationship, & having been in this relationship for three & a half years, i felt i could probably throw my two-cents into the pot-o`-relationship-advice.

this isn`t ALL the advice i could possibly ever dole out [believe me, i can tell you a lot more] but they`re just a few suggestions...

*(hand)writing love letters. emails are all fine & dandy, but writing something by hand shows a lot more effort. even if you don`t say much in those letters except talk about your day or how you`re feeling at the moment, it`ll mean a lot. if you looked in my boyfriend`s room, you`d find a tin jar FULL of letters from me (i`m a bit obsessive about it). & boys, don`t think only girls write sappy love letters - we actually LOVE receiving letters from you.

*like steph mentioned earlier, photo-shoots. i know, you`re thinking "what? i`d never ever do something as mundane as that, especially not with my boyfriend/girlfriend!" but look further into it: things like that can seriously take you out of your comfort zone. taking spontaneous pictures can look horrendous, & you could end up capturing a really stupid-looking face of yours on camera, but letting him/her see it can make them realize that you`re not afraid of letting yourself go around them. (see below picture that just SHOWS my extremely weird-looking, ultra-happy face)

then, you can take whatever weird photos you`ve snapped & make super-awesome collages! these collages make great desktop backgrounds, which is always a quirky kind of 'gift' you can spontaneously give them when they least expect it. i mean, imagine turning on your laptop & finding a collage of yourself & your significant other - wouldn`t you be pleasantly surprised? [check out these random collages i made of myself & mark(my boyfriend) - i can`t believe i`m posting them up on the blog, but i know you`ll appreciate it!]


*be a bit nerdy & talk to each other without really talking, while sitting next to one another. the other day, mark had his nintendo ds & we were using the chatroom to talk to one another, even though we were right next to each other. it made for some interesting conversation, & some photograph-able cute moments (see below).

"i love you, mark"

"i love you too jae. always & forever k?"

"ALWAYS. you make me happy."

*draws happy faces w/ hair & hearts*



things like that can SEEM sappy, but they`re definitely not.

*some other things you can do include leaving love letters under their pillow; texting them or leaving them voice-mail messages that detail your affections for them; buying a teddy bear & naming it after them (ie: naming it mark, then letting others know you`re sleeping with mark everynight!) ; not calling them & waiting for them to call you, especially if the routine is to be the one to call; spend a whole day (that you would normally spend with them) AWAY from them because absence makes the heart grow fonder; wear your hair the way they always say they like it; spray your perfume / cologne on their pillow discreetly so that when they go to bed they`ll smell it & think of you...

i know this all seems like things you can do to surprise your boyfriend/girlfriend, but believe me - anything you don`t normally do is actually a good way of getting out of a relationship rut. sometimes, these ruts can make a relationship go stale, & you don`t want that happening! i find that when things become too routine, the best thing to do is to find something that you find is COMPLETELY routine [like that whole 'i usually call everyday at this point in time' thing], & break the routine there. let your beau/gal be the one to call you instead of you calling; let them be the one to say the first word when you both wake up; let them be the one to suggest where to go for the date; let them be the first to text/call during the workday; let them be the one on top (ooh naughty!); etc. change what you normally do. it`ll bring a bit of spice & flavour to your relationship & definitely break any habits & lift you out of any ruts you`re in.

i swear i will have another post about relationships, because it is fun to go on & on about relationships...they can be a handful, but they`re usually worth it. anyone who agrees with me, say 'AYE!'

-JAE, sos

***

So the icing to this deelish moist medley are the mp3's (as promised above) I've been listening to :

Tv on the Radio - Dreams: I was really into Playhouse so I decided to listen in on more of their music.

Aqualung - Brighter than sunshine - Something to believe in: So yes I'm a little late in the game, only recently been introduced to aqualung but posting it up for all those who, like me live under a rock and haven't heard about him/them (truly not sure anymore with solo artist using band names, why? honestly just go under your own name... yes I'm talking to Jack's mannequin, The summer rocket, etc)

The Concretes - You can't hurry love: They kind of remind me of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs but perhaps its just this song in particular.

The kooks - Too much of nothing - Naive: They're British, cute, and catchy. Nope, I can't ask for much more.

wishing you happy changes & many broken habits,

Steph & Jae, SOS

16 comments:

greeny1235 said...

i like the funny facesssssssfp

Stephanie said...

Awesome ideas! The boyfriend pictures are too cute. I like your blog!

Adele said...

haha cool! you look real happy with your boyfriend! thanks for checking out my blog! im gonna keep your advice for when i go uni this year :) x

a side order of style said...

greeny1235 - aww thanks hun; i`m notorious for those :b

stephanie - hopefully the ideas don`t just stay ideas & become actions! & isn`t my boyfriend funny? he tells me he HATES photos, but he always has so many wacky ones that i love :) thanks for checking out our blog!

adele - thanks, i try to stay happy with him. in hollywood years, we`ve been dating forever! i hope our advice helps you during university; it can get pretty monotonous within the school walls. :)

-jae, sos

Secretista said...

The pictures are aweesommee!

I love photoshoots with friends!!!

Mondo-Fashion said...

really good relationship advice definitely magazine worthy!
i was wondering would you like to exchange links with my blog?

a side order of style said...

secretista - we are self-confessed & -promoted camera-whores! :) it`s definitely more fun than just plain, stiff pictures!

lia - aw thanks, i try to just write from experience! & sure, we`d love to exchange links! *blogrolls you* :)

-jae, sos

Giselle said...

hah, yeah I always hit people with my ten bags but seriously....with all that crap hanging off me you would think they could see me coming from miles away and move :-P

Natty said...

What a cool blog, and fab suggestions! I often play tourist in my hoime town of London and take a boat trip down the Thames! Its nice to see your home through tourists eyes!

Cicely said...

Why thank you, we have linked you too! I LOVE TV on the radio and that concretes song is awesome. I do enjoy a good impromptu photoshoot, well, if i'm taking the photos.

roxanne said...

how perfect! i'm always feeling as if i'm in a rut both at college and in my relationship! this post honestly couldn't have had better timing. this blog is great. thanks for checking mine out as well. link exchange, perhaps?

Natty said...

Hello! Thanks for your comments! I've linked you! Looking forward to reading and commenting on more of your posts! x

Natty said...

Yikes! I cant update my links at the mo - I keep getting a darn "error on page" - it should be up on Wednesdfay - I will use my work PC! x

a side order of style said...

giselle - i know, carrying bags is like a magnet for hitting people. especially on a crowded subway train...*sigh* steph`s bag has done its number on many of us.

natty - being a tourist in a city i grew up in takes imagination, so i leave that to steph and natasha. however i can`t wait to actually be one in italy later this year! thanks for linking, we`ll link you too :)

susan - everyone seems to love steph`s music tastes b/c they`re just awesome! & what could be better than posing & looking completely ridiculous(ly hot) in the middle of school? thanks for the link-trade :)

roxanne - ruts are not cool, definitely, so we`re glad we could be of help! link-trade = DEFINITELY. :)

-jae, sos

Addison said...

ooh i love the kooks! perfect soundtrack to having a mini photoshoot with friends, while acting like dorks. naturally x

a side order of style said...

addison - mini-photo shoots work as long as there are friends to be there with. but yes, steph definitely could put together a good soundtrack for one
-jae

 
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