10.27.2014

interview // justina x sabrina


PHOTO via INSTAGRAM



My new favorite Sabrina Carpenter blew into the music industry with a fun EP, a bigger voice than you'd expect from such a small person, a chiller attitude than you'd expect from...well, anyone, and FANTASTIC hair. She blew onto this blog by picking the right Avenger (this is a very important fact, and you should ask anyone before you consider being their friend)

Justina: You're a new artist, and people are just now discovering you. If you could say one sentence about yourself or your music to every new person who heard one of your songs, what would it be?

Sabrina: Oh gosh, that's a hard one.

I thought I'd get those out of the way first.

Definitely, it's a good question for sure. I want them to relate to it, that's the most important thing to me, because I think once you can emotionally relate to a song, there are no limits. That's what I love about music, that when I'm feeling sad I can listen to a song, or when I'm feeling happy. That's just what music does for you. It changes emotions and really inspires people. 

..gosh, that wasn't even a paragraph, that was like a research paper.

 It's all good, we can just make it a couple of run-on sentences. Speaking of music making you ~feel~, what's your favorite song to listen to when you're happy?

Oka, so I'm obsessed with Hozier's whole album, but "Jackie and Wilson" is a really good one off it, and I've always loved the song "Paris" by Magic Man. Off my EP....see, I have to perform them, so I try not to listen too much because I never want to get sick of them. But "Middle of Starting Over" always gets me going. 

Thank you so much for admitting that you would be over it after a while. I feel like no one wants to say that but we all know it's true. 

I used to listen to them all the time, like in the car and stuff, but now I'll listen to it more when we're rehearsing, so that's when I get my "listen time" in.

If you could make a song with anyone, dead or alive, your music style or not, who would be your pick?
Yeah, well, you know I've said Adele is like a vocal goddess to me.

Amen.

Yesss! So I would do one with her, and as a boy, I've absolutely fallen in love with Hozier's voice, and doing a duet with him would just be so beautiful. 

I am praying for the day Adele comes back to us.

She needs to come out of hibernation, because I NEED my Adele.

How would you describe your musical style and your personal fashion style, and how those sort of mix together?

Well to someone who doesn't know my music: it's very organic, it's very raw, which is almost the same thing, but you know, it's got different feels to it. I'm a huge fan of a lot of different genres, I like to listen to alternative, indie and classic rock, so on some songs, you may hear R&B, others you may hear a little bit of country, in some it's a little alternative. I think the best way to describe it is that I sort of blend everything I like into one. I'm very passionate about it, so I hope that people love it.

I do! So you know for sure there's one in the corner.

Haha yeah! My personal style changes a lot, I like to try just new things, but I would definitely describe myself as a classy, sophisticated edge, if that's not weird. If I can just wear a band tshirt and ripped jeans, I'm down with that too.

I wore a nice dress and Dr. Martens for the Teen Choice Awards, it was great.
You are too cool for anybody.

I try. I really do. But your music videos have me beat, they're awesome. How long did it take to shoot "Can't Blame a Girl For Trying"? It seems intense - laborwise.

One day, actually. 

One day?!?

 Yeah, it was actually simpler than it looks. We were only there from the morning until like 4 or 5 in the afternoon. You can't tell, but it was like the rainiest day in California when when filmed, but it's beautifully sunny in the video, because of the lighting, which was brilliant. We filmed in this small little house, and we didn't have to go anywhere, so it was fun, and not too hard at all.

I really liked it because it was a little different, and that's what I need, something I haven't seen.

Oh my gosh I know, that video definitely wasn't like my everyday style, which was fun, because it was a style for the song. It matched very well, and was bright, colorful, and almost dainty in a way. 

*I have, at this point, completely lost track of where I was on my question list *

I'm sorry, I just completely lost track of where I was on my question list.

It's okay, I literally woke up like twenty minutes ago. 

Dude SAME okay we're in this together.

Hahahahahah

*finds where we rambled off from*
OKAY we're back. What would you say is your biggest source of ~inspiration~ in general?

I would say definitely more random things inspire me, because if you stick to one thing, you're going to run out of topics eventually. I take inspiration from anything in everyday life, whether it's a relationship with a boy, or a favorite book. When something comes at me and I can't stop thinking about it, that's when I know it's a good writing topic. Especially visual things, like movie plots or photographs.

 What's your favorite social media platform?

If I was stuck with one for the rest of my life - instagram. I love twitter, but instagram moves faster for me. I love that you can see so many different lives.

I will follow you RIGHT now. And now, because I know my time is ticking, FINAL QUESTION:
What is the one question you have always wanted to answer but no one has ever asked you in an interview?

Oh my gosh. That is so hard. Well, fun fact about me is that I've always wanted to do an action movie. I really want to play that kick-butt, super tough girl superhero. I think that'd be super fun.

Superheros are my not-so-secret favorite thing. Don't even ask my friends about prom. Who is your favorite Avenger? 

Again, HARD QUESTION. I'd have to say...Ironman? 

CORRECT ANSWER. 

Sabrina has an album coming soon, but her EP Can't Blame A Girl For Trying is out now, so get on that.
 You can also follow her on instagram (her hair game is too real) and twitter.
 *cough*
 you can also follow me 
or not whatever it's fine 

Can't blame a girl for trying

x Justina 

ps. listen to that hozier album

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10.24.2014

inspiration in the rabbit hole




IMAGES via TUMBLR


Tumblr is such a weird place. 

It's like a rabbit hole engineered by hipsters and hair dye addicts. It exists in that strange space of the internet where you swear you were only on for twenty minutesbut it was actually twenty years and you now have google glass embedded in your brain and...wait. Sorry, got a little involved there. The point is, it's easy to get lost. But that's not always a bad thing.

Its not hard for me to stay inspired, but every once in a while I begin feeling le shlump. You know the one, where all your outfits start looking like Forever 21 mannequin rejects? That one. When I feel it creeping, I head for the other blog. Most of the time this is like two in the morning, so I end up reblogging nothing but grainy photos of obscure French actresses leaning over balconies, but sometimes, that's all it takes. I wake up with a new way to style my stripes, or a craving for a slightly-out-of-date hairstyle. Sometimes, it's not even that direct.

As you can tell from the above screencaps, the things I enjoy looking at range quite far out of the realm of what I would actually wear/would want to live. I think that's where most people lose their way with the inspiration thing: you can be inspired without needing to directly become your inspiration. Unless your inspiration is Rihanna, and you can, in which case, BECOME THE INSPIRATION.


In short: follow my tumblr.


x Justina


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10.20.2014

many ways to fall






#teenvogue 
CARDIGAN c.o. LIVING DOLL LA
 SHIRT: J. CREW
JEANS c.o. DSTLD
BOOTS: DR. MARTENS
RUCKSACK c.o. BAGGU
BELT: VINTAGE
RINGS c.o. STELLA & BOW + CHINCHAR MALONEY
WATCH: ASOS

 This is officially a FALL outfit. Just wanted to put that out there.

IT IS FINALLY RAINING HERE. WATER IS COMING FROM THE SKY.
Thank you for your prayers/rain dances/voodoo sacrifices.

You know when you order something, then while you're waiting for it you start to double think it? Like "hmm did I really like that color" or "am I even going to wear that"?? That was me with this cardigan. In the past, I haven't really been a "cardigan person", so I was skeptical.

Three words: it. has. pockets.

I'd have been sold on that alone, but now I've gotten rather attached to it's swinging coziness, and the color that is bright enough to not be schlub, but lowkey enough to match nearly everything. It's perfect for the so called "smart temperature control" at school. The "smart" part is that you have to be smart enough to be psychic and know that morning if the classroom is going to be freezing or the sixth circle of Dante's inferno.

 Speaking of school: in these photos, my bag is full of my schoolbooks for ONE class. I have to carry that up and down four flights of stairs and it is literally backbreaking. If you don't believe me, you can talk to Charlie in 207, because he's in a body cast. FROM GERMAN HOMEWORK. Solid proof that school is a health hazard + a sturdy backpack is the only thing between you and imminent stair tripping.

I wear nothing but docs to school to minimize my injury potential. So far it's working out quite well except for the starbucks barista who thinks it's the height of comedy to call me "combat girl". Forget to put in my caramel and you'll see combat buddy.  I stopped wearing my burgundy ones for a while because it was summer and it felt weird, but now that we're pretending it's fall, it's okay again.

I'm not even going to talk about the stripy shirts 
because I don't want to tip off my mum as to how many I own.

x Justina

 ps.  this whole post was a run-on pun 
pps. don't forget this cardigan




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10.17.2014

how utterly pants (jeans)

HIGH WAISTED SKINNY JEANS  c.o DSTLD


Pants.

1. a very necessary clothing piece
2. a great way to say "rubbish"

I've said it before and I'll say it again: denim is a classic for a reason.
It is also a classic pain in the butt to find a pair of jeans that fit you properly.
Especially if you don't have a butt. Like me.

Every single pair of jeans I've ever had are deficient in some way. 
That weird waist thing where it sticks out in the back, the knee bunchy bit, 
or the *worse* of all - loose ankles. Don't even get me started on loose ankle struggle.

DSTLD promised they had it down, so I went full hog. Dark indigo wash, high waisted, skinny jeans. Simple enough, but hard to get right. They arrived, fit, and I was hopeful. A month later, THEY STILL FIT and it's a miracle on level with grilled cheese Jesus. No less.

I have worn these jeans in every possible situation, because I trust you guys with my selfies, and you trust me to give you solid opinions on jeans. So they went to the Boardwalk, the an airplane, two ambassador retreats, several roadtrips, quite a few soccer games, and every other outfit I've worn since they arrived. I've run (ok, kidding, but I could run if I WANTED to), done yoga, criss-cross applesauce'd on the quad lawn, and climbed stairs.  Fair and photoshoots, they survived it all. There's no rips, no fading, no stretching, and the waist is still on my waist. Majorly impressive for a pair of $65 jeans.  They're my new favorite ~capsule wardrobe~ piece, mainly because I know they always look good. That's worth some serious sartorial street cred. 

Gold stars to DSTLD. All of them. 

x Justina

ps.  DSTLD has a pretty rad company story, you can read it here.
 

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10.13.2014

rose swing



wildflower kimono + shirt: c.o element eden // jeans : c.o dstld denim // boots: miss roberta

First thing I would like to say:

It's totally socially acceptable to live in a kimono. 

Especially one covered in roses and fringe. I know I'm totally late to the game (let's be honest, that's nothing new), but this is a MAGICAL article of clothing. It makes my uniform of boots, basic jeans, and a shirt ~iNdIe and mYstEriOs~. 

The best way I've described it is 
"If a New Orleans voodoo priestess moved to LA, this is what she'd wear to Urth."

I don't know, it made sense at the time.

Both the kimono and the shirt I'm wearing (which I love a lot, even though it's way off my usual style) are both from Element Eden, who I've fallen head over heels for. You'll be seeing some more of their rad stuff here in the next couple of outfits. If I manage to take off the kimono. No promises.

Anyway, how is everybody? What's new? Eat anything interesting? I know it's only been a week since my last post, but that is basically forever. Life has gotten very busy very quickly, what with school, and 4-H, and other general life-ishness,  and when I don't post for a while I feel all discombobulated. 

Just to even it out, here's some general life updates:

* Madeline & I were included in the top five finalists in the Teen Vogue Olay Fresh Effects #BFFSofBeauty contest, and if you voted for us, we would love you even more than we already do. I mean, first we'd have to figure out if that's possible, but technicalities. You can also win one of 10 Olay prizes, so it's a win-win scenario. 

*I went square on instagram, and it's weird and new and you should probably follow me, just to, y'know, form your own opinions and stuff.

*I only mention it on a passing basis, but 4-H is the flip side of my *hair swish* Hannah Montana life. Last week was National 4-H Week, so I finally broke my silence. Via the internet, obvs.

*My newest television obsession: Keeping Up Appearances. I can't explain it. It's a netflix thing.


There's definitely something I'm forgetting.
 But it's not to wear my kimono.

x Justina

ps.


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10.07.2014

Interview // Alex & Sierra



 I first met Alex & Sierra on the orange carpet at the 2014 Kids Choice Awards. 
I'm not a huge X Factor follower, so I had only vague impressions that they had won some singing competition show, and judging by how excited the other reporters were, they had some higher level of talent. Then they got to my stop on the carpet, and that's history. They are two of the most talented + adorable humans I've ever met, and thankfully, 
think excited fangirling is completely acceptable during interviews.



Justina: Hey guys, it's been a while!

 Sierra: It has! I'm sorry we didn’t get to see you at Teen Choice!

Oh my god, did you see me waving like a lunatic? That’s so embarrassing. The girl who was standing next to me was like “Um, who are you waving at?” and I shouted “ALEX AND SIERRA”.

 
Alex: Did she ask “who’s that?” 


I very quickly educated her, but how would you describe your sound to people who don’t know you?
 
S: Oh man...Oh, I know! I wrote it down once. It’s a teaspoon of pop, a cup of singer-songwriter, a sprinkle of fun, and a dash of energy.

A: You didn’t know what you were getting yourself into with that question.

You know, I ask that a lot, and every time the answer surprises me, but that’s the first time it’s ever been really cute.

S: Well thanks! There’s so many different styles of music we like, and I think it kinda reflects in the songs that we write. There’s a little bit of everything in it.

I actually asked because I listened to all of your music and all your X Factor covers, and had no idea how to describe you, so I thought I’d just have you do it.

S: Yeah, yeah. It is hard to describe, but we like it.

I like it too. So you know you’ve got one in the corner. This next question might be a little harder, or maybe not. Here we go: Alex, if you only had one word to describe Sierra, and Sierra, one word for you to describe Alex, what would it be?


A: Oh shoot. Um...I think “cute” is the best describing word for her. Because she IS cute, but she also acts cute.

S: You’re funny. Um...-

A: Was that flattering enough?

S: It was exactly what I would expect you to say. Oh man, there’s always so much pressure when you have to pick just one word. Then ten minutes later I’m always like “Huh, this word would have been so much better!”. But I think one good word to describe Alex, and I think he’ll enjoy it, is “funny”. One of his favorite things to do is make people laugh, and that’s one of my favorite things about him.

A: Good answer.

Laughter and fun are so important. I just had a conversation with someone about how important it is to me that musicians enjoy the music they’re creating. Some just don’t and it makes me sad.

A: Yeah that sucks. You can’t take it too seriously, the whole point of music is to enjoy it, have fun, smile, cry, just feel something. You can’t do it like it’s, you know, saving the world. It’s just us up there, chilling.

I like that. Speaking of your music, let’s talk about your single, Scarecrow. What’s the story behind it?

S: Okay, so -
A:
*starts coughing*
S:
You good?
A:
Yeah, sorry.
S:
Sorry, Alex is choking and we’ve got you on speaker. But anyways, the story behind Scarecrow is definitely us. Every relationship, we think, has to communicate to be successful. The song is about how one person is the scarecrow who doesn’t communicate, and that’s Alex, but you care so much about your relationship that you’re going to work through it because nothing can stop you from being together. It’s a hopeful song, and you know, we really wanted an upbeat, hopeful song to counteract all our really sad X Factor songs


Veering into X Factor for a minute, which of your covers on the show was your favorite?

A: Um.. *both Alex and Sierra start laughing* Funny enough, my favorite was “I Knew You Were Trouble”. I don’t know, there was something about that song, I think it was mainly that we had come up with the version that we performed on the show maybe eight months prior to actually being on the show. So it was something we’d been doing at our little gigs in Daytona, and it was a really special song to me for that reason. Then to have a 28 or whatever piece band playing something that we had written was so cool, and to dress up like we did... it was like we were taking on alter egos. It had a Roaring Twenties vibe, and I didn’t play the guitar for the first time on the show. That was one of those performances where I can put myself back on the stage and relive it.

Do you still listen to it?

A: *sheepish laughter* The recording of it is actually my alarm, so literally every time I set an alarm, that’s the song it plays. That’s kind of douchey, isn’t it?

Well mine is usually me talking, so I think you’re good.

A: Okay, well, as long as there’s other people who like to hear themselves wake them up in the morning, we’re good.

Yeah, I’m a lot nicer than the rest of my family, so I’d rather hear myself in the morning. Sierra, do you have a favorite?


S: Well I did like “I Knew You Were Trouble”, for the same reasons, but I also really enjoyed doing “Say Something”, because I got to play an instrument, and show that I can do something other than just stand there, so that was special for me. But I was SO nervous. You can’t really see it on the show, but my foot, on the pedal of the piano? It was shaking so bad. You know when you pet a puppies stomach, and then it tickles them, and their leg starts shaking? That’s what it looked like. I got lucky though, and they had fog come out, which kind of covered it.

Well the good news is that now you can just think about rubbing a puppies stomach every time you’re nervous, and maybe that will help?


S: Hahah, I hope so!

Okay, I got us a little offtrack there, but lets get back to the music. I LOVE the video for Scarecrow. What was your favorite part of filming?


S: The part that’s super in the field with the sunset, that was the first day of shooting, and we were at the top of this mountain in Malibu, which you’d never know. We’re standing in the middle, and there’s this track built in a circle around us, so the camera could circle, and we’re singing the last chorus of Scarecrow, which is the biggest one. We really had to sing too, because we can’t lipsync, so we’re screaming it out along with the song. We were both tearing up by the end, because it was so emotional, and we were so into it. For lack of a better term, it was a really magical moment.

That is so cool. I love that you can feel the song, and your personalities in the video. Apparently, there’s something missing though. Alex, a fan wrote me on twitter and wanted to know what happened to your freckles in the video? I guess they’ve disappeared?

A: I didn’t know I had freckles.
S:
Wait, let me look at you. I don’t know, there might be a few? I think it’s honestly probably because we’re from Florida, so when he’s tanner, there might be some freckles that pop up?

I felt like I needed to bring it up because she’s the only one who brought it up.
A: That’s the ONLY person who’s ever asked.

Well now we know. Okay, let's get a bit in about  your album because I AM SO EXCITED. It’s called “It’s About Us”, and comes out October 7th (that's today guys), right?


S: That’s right!

Okay, so right now only a few of them are released, but what is your favorite track off the album?

A: So there’s a song called  “All for You”...
S:
It’s the first song we ever wrote together, so it has special meaning for us.
A:
It’s also kind of a jazz tune, or as jazzy as you can get without knowing anything about music. It came together really quick, and it’s got a cool story behind it. It’s about all the illegal things you do for your significant other. The chorus goes “If you wake up and see me on the news/I did it all for you”. It was such a fun song to write and mindset to really get into. It’s deep, and musically, it sounds awesome to us, so we hope everyone else likes it too.

I am so ready for it. OKAY: LAST QUESTION. You guys just followed me on twitter (I screamed) and I noticed that in your twitter bio, you say that you like food. But what is your FAVORITE food?

S: I was surprised that we weren’t following you already! Dropped the ball there. Okay, so my mom makes this Vietnamese dish called “caramel fish”, and its freaking amazing. When I was younger, I did NOT like fish, except for that. I have no words to describe it.

A: My favorite food...oh man
S: That’s the hardest thing you could have asked.
A: It is. My mom makes vegetarian sausage gravy and biscuits. So if I was on death row, and it was my last meal, that’s what I would eat. I don’t now if Sierra likes it or not, but it’s so amazing.

Send me the recipe, okay? I can’t cook, but I’m sure I can find someone who can.



I would recommend reading this interview, 
buying the album, listening to the album while rereading the interview
then spending the next several hours of your life watching their X-Factor performances. 

Or I can do that by myself, it's chill, whatever.

x Justina

ps. Let me know what your favorite song is off the album in the comments!

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10.02.2014

fetch since '97

 on my 16th birthday, in disneyland * taken with an instax mini 8

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY.

16, you were rad

17, let's ***** **** up.

x
Justina

ps.
mum, it's "shake stuff"



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