How To Make Fabulous New Years Resolutions (And Keep Them!)

Bonjour 2009! The new year may already be in full swing the whole world round, but to those hoping to make some changes to their life, it's never too late to make New Years Resolutions. What do you want to get out of this sparkling new year? Who do you want to meet? What changes do you want to make? If you haven't already, resolve to tweak your life and change it for the better, and for those who need a little help with coming up or keeping resolutions, here are a few simple tips to help you get the most out of two-oh-oh-nine!

♥ Picking Your Resolutions

Focus on the small stuff! Improvement means taking baby steps, so in order to conquer those huge, long-term resolutions try to break your action plan into pieces. If your goal is to lose weight, make your resolution to take a yoga class or try a vegetarian diet. If you want to get rid of excess stress, resolve to take a big pink bubble bath at least once a week. Making your resolution as specific as possible will make it easier to attain, as well as twice as fun! Remember, resolutions aren't obligations - there's nothing stopping you from making them enjoyable!

♥ Tips For Sticking To Your Resolutions

While making resolutions is easy, actually keeping them seems to be a little bit trickier. First and foremost, if your resolutions involve long term goals, then only make one or two at a time. Any more than that and you're bound to get overwhelmed at some point and permanently slip up, so the bigger the resolution the fewer you should have. Most importantly, though,  it's essential to remember that it's okay to fall off the bandwagon! Don't beat yourself up if you break your resolution once or twice - just work twice as hard to meet your goal! It's statistically proven that people who break their resolution within the first six weeks are more than twice as likely to reach their goal in the long run. Take it one day at a time!

♥ Resolutions to Make 2009 Fabulous

+ Learn to play an instrument

Pick up anything from the electric guitar to the tuba and learn to play at least one full song on it, even if it's just Hot Crossed Buns. Who knows, maybe your undiscovered talent lies in playing the ukulele or the trombone!

+ Keep a journal and fill it with tiny kisses from each day

Days are too short and sometimes in the madness of day-to-day life we forget the small moments that made the time between sun-up and sun-down so great. Buy a tiny journal like Moleskine's mini notebooks and fill them with at least one moment from every day that made you break out in a smile. Capture the kisses of each day that would otherwise pass you by so that by the end of the year you'll have a complete ledger of happiness.

+ Pick up a strange hobby

One of my close friends, as seen above, is an insane yo-yoer who somehow managed to pick up all of these incredible tricks in just a six month period. Through this strange and curious hobby, he's discovered an entire yo-yo subculture that thrives off of loud music, cool tricks, and video proof of it all. It just goes to show you that you can pick up just about anything in a mere six months! (Plus, you get to look super cool while practicing all of your tricks!)

+ Learn something new

Read a book, learn a new language, take a night class, attend a lecture - do one thing different and see what you learn from it! Be willing to try new things and open your mind to the possibilities that it can incur! If you've never had sushi before, trek to the nearest Japanese restaurant for dinner. If you've never seen Star Wars, rent all six and have a movie marathon in your living room. If you've never been out of the country, put some money aside and start buying the travel books for your dream vacation.

+ Become an expert at something

Perfect your skills at something you've always wanted to be great at, whether it be playing Tetris or C++ coding. If you're super brave, try taking on something completely new that you've never tried before and try to become a master at it by the time 2010 rolls around.

Photo by Jenny Holiday

+ Get organized

Expunge all unnecessary clutter from you life - it'll make you feel so much better in the long run! Clean out your closet, rearrange the furniture, paint the walls a new color, and have a stoop sale. Clear a path for the new you!

+ Make new friends

Open yourself up to the possibility of making new friends and get to know those brief acquaintances a little better, too. Introduce yourself to strangers with funny hats, ask those distant friends of yours out for coffee, make it your goal to shake hands with everybody at a party, or just strike up a conversation on a whim! Everybody out there has something to contribute to your life - make it your goal to welcome all of those contributions with open arms and give something back to your new friends' lives, too!

+ Write a novel

Sit down and finally write that Great American Novel you've been planning since high school. Buy a sleek pink typewriter, brew a cup of coffee, and get to work right away creating your sci-fi dreamworld or film noir heartland or 20th century prairie or lavender-scented French countryside. Looking for an even bigger challenge? November is National Novel Writing Month - a time when brave writers  from all over the world push themselves to churn out an entire 50,000 word novel in 30 days!

Always,
Penelope ♥

10 Things To Do During The Winter

Photo by Lara Ferroni

Here in the States, the first traces of winter are starting to flutter into open windows which means hot soup, warm blankets, and a lot of time spent indoors. Being confined inside can drive some absolutely stir-crazy, so to counteract these lazy days here are ten simple ways to keep busy and ensure that you have a superbly thrilling winter!

01. Invite friends over for tea, hot cocoa, and cider, then break out all your favorite flicks for a lively movie marathon. My personal picks to warm up winter days? Better Off Dead, Be Kind Rewind, and Ed Wood.

02.  Have a take-out adventure. Dig through all of those delivery menus that you've managed to acquire over the years and order something from every one. Make it your goal to get through them all before spring rolls around.

03. Open a cafe in your living room. Cook up all kinds of tasty deserts and concoctions and invite friends and family over to have some coffee and enjoy the atmosphere. Bonus points if you or someone you know is in a band and is willing to contribute some live music!

04. Head to your local library and bring home as many books as you can carry. Try to make it through the whole pile in one month and be sure to document your literary adventures with journal entries or podcasts. Include your thoughts, favorite quotes, and possibly even a re-enactment of a particularly thrilling scene.

05. Make a movie! Round up your closest friends and re-create a historical event, your entire life, or even an encyclopedia entry! Insist on using only what you have lying around for props and costumes and have a red-carpet premier to celebrate its completion.

06. Renew your living space. Clean out the closet, go through your books, get rid of all those magazine subscriptions that you never read and generally tidy up. Not only will your flat be less cluttered, but it will help you relax and contribute to a more productive environment.

07. Design your dream dress - go all out and be sure to include every little detail, from hand-stitched flowers to tiny white feathers. If you're daring enough, hone in on your sewing skills and actually create it!

08. Make mix-tapes for all occasions. A mix for meeting someone new, a mix for accidently stumbling over a crack in the street, a mix for seeing an especially adorable dog at the park... when you're finished, send them to the people you know who remind you of the occasion. 

09. Celebrate a holiday that your country doesn't.  November 1st & 2nd is Dia De Los Muertos in Mexico, or the traditional Day of the Dead, November 3rd is Japanese Culture Day, and December 8th is La Purisima in Nicaragua. Do a little research into international holidays and celebrate as many as you possibly can!

10. Create your own tarot deck. Use watercolors and ink and tissue paper and ribbon to personalize your very own set, drawing tiny interpretations of all the cards. When you're finished, carry them everywhere and offer to give readings to anyone you see who looks especially curious.

In a part of the world were summer is just beginning? Have a look at 10 Things To Do During The Summer and get inspired!

Always,
Penelope ♥

How To Make An Entrance

Photo by David Lachapelle

Ride in on a little pink vespa and park it right in the middle of the gathering + Bring your own band, complete with all the orchestral trimmings, and have them rolled in behind you when you enter, playing your favorite song + Enter with fizzing sparklers knotted in your hair + Roll up by horse-drawn carriage, all decked out with electric lights and glorious white horses + Bring your menagerie with you, carrying a tiny fawn or walking a leash of Greyhounds  + Have an unusual escort, like a costumed character or a great dane + Wear the biggest whipped cream frosted cake of a dress and walk around the event serving guests slices from it + Race in on horse-back + Dress up like it's prom night all over again, complete with a tiara, a sweet date, and an oversized corsage + Ride in on a giant Jeff Koons balloon animal + Rock a Marie Antoinette hair-do, decorating your head with feathers, ribbons, and lots of glitter + Re-enact the scene from Funny Face where Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson perform "Clap Yo' Hands"

What about you, bunnies? How would you make your grand and glorious entrance?

Always,
Penelope ♥

Penelope Bat's Favorite Things

Photo by Jim Atwood

In this crazy little world, it always seems like it's the little things that change our lives: hearing a really great song on the radio, perfume that smells exactly like your first grade teacher did, tiny shops that look just how you imagine your dream house would. Collectively, these little pieces of happiness are the things that make our day. They're life's little fireworks that can shoot us out of mediocrity and into the land of the spectacular. Sure, they're only material goods, but if certain material goods can send our world spinning out of our daily rut and into a better direction, then doesn't that count for something?

If Oprah can do it, why can't we? Here are the little things that are changing my world right now.

Food:

- 365 Organic Oat Bran Sticks

Upon first glance, these tiny little treats appear to be inedible - possibly even wood shavings - but in all reality they're absolutely delicious snacks that are a great substitute for those over-salted potato chips. I'm a crazy stickler for healthy eating and these are really as good as you can get without sacrificing taste. No description could give them justice - trust me on this one, go out and give them a try!

- Smart Dogs Veggie Protein Links

Despite being a veteran vegetarian, there are a few childhood staples that I find myself missing in times of emotional crisis (or just extreme hunger!). One of which is the americana classic itself: the hot dog. After sampling a wide variety of vegetarian 'dogs, from Morningstar Farms to Yves brand Veggie Dogs, I found that most of them tasted (and smelled) far different from their classic counterparts - you might even say closer to the realms of the inedible. And then came Smart Dogs. These things are amazing - they're a guilt-free version of the good old American hot dog, tasting just like the real thing. They've become one of those staples that you're bound to find in my fridge at any given time.

- The Hot Food Bar at Whole Foods

For those not-to-rare occasions when I don't feel like cooking at home, the Whole Foods hot bar is always there. (At least until 9:30 pm!) Filled with Indian samosas and vegetarian lasagna and Israeli couscous and honey-orange tempeh, the hot bar has pretty much anything that a health-junkie could ever want in a meal in a delightfully quirky atmosphere. (The cafe at my local Whole Foods usually sports impromptu bands that set up and jam out anything from swing music and bluegrass.) In my opinion, it's ten times better than any of the chain restaurants around here at just about the same price.

Beauty:

- MAC Lip Conditioner Stick

If I could, I would buy one of these for every bag that I own so I would never have to go without it. MAC's lip conditioner is like silk for your lips - smooth, fragrance and color free, it leaves your lips feeling conditioned, fuller, and super-kissable. It's a great primer for lipstick or heavy gloss, but I prefer to wear it on its own for a soft, gentle look. If you're looking for the perfect, simple lip-gloss, try this wonderful alternative instead!

- Auric Blends Perfume Roll-On in One Love

I first found this fantastic little treasure at a new age store, hidden between teacup-sized bowls of incense and rose quartz. After sniffing through all their various scents, one in particular grabbed me instantly. One Love smells like cotton candy and sunsets - like drinking cherry soda and bright-pink-fruity-drinks at the very top of a ferris wheel, fireworks popping then sizzling out like burning champagne in the distance. It smells like princesses and carousels with the biggest, grandest horses you've ever seen and it smells like taking a cherry-pink bubble bath in the arms of your lover. It smells like tropical trees that sway wistfully, giving gifts of pineapple and mangoes and kiwi and melon to those who picnic underneath them. It smells like love.

Books:

- Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City

I first found Kiki Strike no more than a week ago, hidden behind westerns and romances at a used book store. The back reads that Kiki is a "black-clad, vespa-riding, cafe-au-lait-drinking girl", and with those simple words I was hooked! She's a New York superspy whose goal in life is be dangerous, a pre-teen who can pull off both a Russian fur hat and a Girl Scout beret. As influential and kick-ass as she is, though, she's generally unheard of amongst the pre-teen scene - her main market. I'm awed at how this is even possible, but nevertheless I still love the Kiki Strike series and would recommend it to those loving adventure in a heart-beat! Kiki Strike is a killer read!

- The Every Boy

Quirky and tragic, The Every Boy is the kind of book that's has a universal appeal. It plays like a Wes Anderson movie, Henry Every being a unique yet flawed teen trying to comprehend life, love, and the mystery of everything in-between. The real tragedy is his death, which we discover on page one, made all the more melancholy by the poignant misadventures he leaves behind in a meticulously organized ledger of his life so far. Henry Every is relatable, even if he's not, and the entire novel is oddly charming in the details, from the subplot focusing on the most deadly Jellyfish in the world to Henry's mid-novel journey to New York City. It's a trip starting on page one, and will forever be one of my favorites.

- The Gift Moves

I love kids books - for some reason, these kinds of whimsical novellas always have ten times more depth than a regular piece of fiction ever could. This one in particular is that same kind of harrowing tale, a first-person account of Path Down The Mountain's life as she adventures into a post-apocalyptic metropolis to apprentice as a weaver. It sounds simple, even as she finds herself falling in love with the baker's son, but something about this whole novel seems to shake the ground beneath you. It reveals all those unspoken complexities that life throws at us, how difficult it is to truly be free, to be yourself, and it throws all of this in our direction in the form of a 230 page kid's book. The Gift Moves is a journey, both literally and figuratively, and it's one of the most poignant books I've read to date.

Music:

Since music generally speaks for itself, instead of posting a humdrum little overview for each album I'll simply sample what I consider to be my favorite song off of it. You can decide for yourself whether or not you like it!

- Estelle // Shine

Sample: American Boy (Feat. Kanye West)

- Violent Femmes // Add It Up (1981-1993)

Sample: Kiss Off (Live)

- The Tiger Lillies // The Gorey End

Sample: ABC

Movies:

- Penelope

Although I've already professed my love for this adorable movie, (and it's not just because I share a first name with the title character!) I feel the need to shout out what a great flick this is yet again. Penelope is a modern fairy-tale wrapped in eccentric, home-made wrapping paper - it's the tale of a whimsical socialite who was born under her parent's family curse, a curse that to no surprise can only be broken by true love. She escapes from her parent's watchful eye and into the world, drawing public attention much to her mother's dismay, but nevertheless the world outside finds her to be just as charming as she really is and sees past her physical deformities. The movie is sugary sweet with a punch of morals and lessons learned - it's your typical fairy-tale, only completely different!

- Wristcutters: A Love Story

The story is simple: twentysomething Zia wakes up one morning, tidies up his cubicle-sized apartment, puts on something presentable to wear, and promptly kills himself. From there, he finds himself in a mysteriously crueler version of the world he sought to escape from inhabited by fellow jumpers and cutters from around the globe. Despite how depressing it initially sounds, the movie is a quirky trip that instantly landed on my list of personal favorites as soon as I took it out of the DVD player. With curious characters and tiny miracles that seem to brighten up the sleepy backdrop of Wherever, Wristcutters is all around stunning - the kind of movie where as soon as you finish watching it, you know you'll never find anything else like it ever again.

- Everything is Illuminated

Let me preface this blurb with one little fact: I have fallen in love with Eugene Hutz. As if being in the front man of bad-ass gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello isn't enough, he also plays the pivotal role of Alexander Perchov in Everything Is Illuminated, a jive-talking Ukrainian with a passion for tracksuits and "negroes". (His words - not mine.) Characters like Perchov and the lovable Sammy Davis Junior Jr., the canine accomplice to the story's misadventures, really make the film unique and memorable. There's no doubt that it's a drama - the slapstick comedy ceases as soon as the story gets into full swing - but for some reason the story is so infectious and silly that even the biggest hater of theatrics will still find it to be a stunning piece of work.

Shops:

- Anthropologie

My goal in life is to be able to actually buy things from Anthropologie instead of just ogling the merchandise like a crazed bag lady. Despite the fact that most everything in the store is way out of my price-range, Anthropologie always manages to simultaneously have the funkiest and most down-to-earth goods for sale. The style is a strange combination of old and new, with huge oak poster beds draped in bright pink linens or satin babydoll dresses with pockets shaped like owls. It's what the nicest thrift store in town would look like if you lived in a modern day Jane Austen novel - an appealing concept to a new romantic such as myself.

- Betsey Johnson

Those of you who subscribe to Cocoa Kisses will know that I have very recently bought my very first Betsey Johnson dress - a beautiful yellow number that looks like a boho 60's slip. Despite my thrills over this still-unnamed beauty, I will forever crave more from my favorite designer's scattered boutiques - cotton candy dresses that look like hand-spun carnival treats, sequined and cinched gowns that drape down like mermaid tails, gingham printed lovelies taken straight from the dollhouse closet. Betsey has a butterfly garden kind of flair that daydreaming girls swoon over and I'd love nothing more than to meet this spectacular woman, even if just in passing. Miss Betsey will forever be a favorite of mine, through and through.

Always,

Penelope ♥

10 Things To Do During The Summer

Photo by Lara Ferroni

I've embarked on a spontaneous trip to Orlando this weekend to park-hop and sight-see and generally take advantage of the marvelous Florida summer, so to tide you bunnies over before I can actually sit down and write a formal post, here's a sweet little list of thrilling things to do during those sometimes boring summer days!

01. Practice pen-paling. Buy interesting or funky stationary and send weekly correspondences to your distant friends - or make new ones to send pretty scented letters to! (Postcrossing is a great place to find really curious folk from around the world, and most of them are more than happy to be on-going pals!)

02. Cook something new every week. You can make your way through a recipe book or just whip up some tried-and-true classics, but vow to make at least one home-cooked meal for your or your friends at least once a week. Bonus points if you document it with pictures!

03. Start a band - even if you have absolutely no musical talent! Have an "audition" night and invite everyone you know to bring various instruments, even if they too can't play them. Practice jamming out to your favorite songs, from The Clash to Lily Allen, then book weekly "gigs" or "band practice" at the houses of others.

04. Take up rollerskating. Buy a simple pair of four-wheeled skates and jazz them up with your own personal touches, adding anything from sequins to a snazzy paint job. Instead of driving, skate to the grocery store or to Starbucks - take any excuse you can get to perfect your form! If you aren't interested in decorating a pair, Skates.com has a great little tutorial on how to turn your favorite pair of shoes into roller-skates. It's the perfect opportunity to transform those great red cowboy boots you have into swanky skates!

05. Go thrifting! Map out all your local thrift, vintage and antique stores and spend a day going from place to place, digging for hidden treasure amongst the kitschy fawns and 1970's living room sets. Set a limit on your spending - say fifty bucks - and see what all you can come home with on that budget.

06. Open up a pop stand. Make bubbly coke floats and raspberry popsicles and fresh sorbet and champagne shaved ice, serving a variety of icy treats to your friends or family.

07. Throw a backyard tea party, complete with an eclectic soundtrack and paper lights.

08. Finger-paint elegantly - turn your childish fun into an art form and have an ongoing art show in your kitchen or living room.

09. Dig through your local paper and scour for interesting happenings - scope out craft fairs and antique shows and gallery openings and street fairs. Take pictures of your adventures at all these marvelous little events.

10. Attend a poetry slam - extra points if you actually participate in it. Come dressed in classic Funny Face style, complete with felt beret and ballet flats, and spend the evening sipping café au lait and batting your eyelashes at sensitive poet boys.

Always,
Penelope ♥

The Cocoa Soundtrack To Life

CD..

I recently did an interview for Lisa Clark's Pink World (which can be seen right here!) and one of her many fantastic questions included "What five songs are on the Cocoa soundtrack to life?" Although she only asked for a simple five, this got me thinking, sorting, compiling an eclectic mix of the most inspiring music I could find - the kind of music that keeps the world spinning round. Music that makes you want to jitterbug across the living room floor, music that played in your head during your first kiss, music that shakes the ground beneath you and makes you want to stand atop moving cars and sing out slewed lyrics at the top of your lungs. Music that says hello, Cocoa.

This is the Cocoa Soundtrack to life, simply.

1. Float On - Modest Mouse

Driving through labyrinth streets and glowing red lights that seem to whisper secrets to the tarmac. Teenagers eating scrambled eggs and french toast in diners at one in the morning. Sitting in the backseat of a two-door sedan, banging against the window with every downbeat - shouting, not singing. Recognizing the silliness and thrill of this world in that moment, in that song. Never being afraid to blast the radio ever again.

2. Breakdown - Jack Johnson

Afternoon picnics under the blinding caramel sun - buttery light so airy that it spreads itself entirely across the landscape. Sunday morning cafes that serve fizzy Italian sodas and hazelnut coffee to sparkling jazz musicians in fedoras. Buzzing down alleyways and open roads on the back of a lemon-yellow Vespa, eyes closed, inhaling the scenery. Feeling as though the entire world is as sweet as this honey-drizzled paradise.

3. Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis

Thrashing in the streets. Girls in six-inch heels and paper-thin jeans strutting, not walking. Cherry red lipstick stains on every white-button up and paper napkin in town, like a trail of breadcrumbs side-winding from lover to lover. Swaying hips and guitar riffs shaking up the city streets. All-night shows that spark lightning storms inside neon dance clubs and corrupt the youth.

4. Love and Happiness - Al Green

Blues club kisses and southern nights. Folks with so much soul that they shout when they mean to whisper. Guitars that strum on their own, sending out a harmonious mating call to the people that were meant to play them. Silky smooth swaying hips and dollhouses made from Limone bottle caps. That feeling of overwhelming, unshakable soul that prickles you straight down the chest like an acupuncturist. Folk art on scraps of musty wood, illustrating baptist gospels and sunday brunches and the birth of Elvis and Jesus sighing on the cross.

5. Blood & Peanut Butter - BC Camplight

Strumming out chords in the middle of the street, singing out as a one-man musical revolution. Women in business suits and tie-dye alike clasping hands and twirling like rockstar whirling dervishes. Tap dancing atop cars, bouncing to drum beats, cage dancing for the uncageable.

6. Raw Sugar - Metric

Slow dancing, low dancing - belly dances and bonfires on sandy beaches. Poetry slams set to music and beat-boxing boys linking fingers with microphones. Palm trees that whiplash against the wind and the children who bandage them with snowflake-colored Christmas lights. Overcast days spent breezing down Worth Avenue on cruise control, admiring the high-rises and gold-flaked chateaus.

7. Love Underground - Robbers on High Street

Superhero-like love, with white-river rapids of adrenaline and emotion. Running, bounding, backflipping through boundaries and obstacles - cartwheeling into a lover's arms and feeling the ground shake from your bass-drum heartbeat. Knowing that this is how love should feel - sparkling, soaring, sweeping through couples like hawks in a swan-dive.

8. Good Enough For Granddad - Squirrel Nut Zippers

Outdoor parties under the cherry-pink sky where harlequin girls shake their fingers to the rhythm. Foxtrotting and lindyhopping and swing dancing and sidestepping while chewing on watermelon bubble gum and chalky candy cigarettes. Seizing tiny girls by the waist and spinning them into a dizzy dreamworld of big bandstands and big band.

9. Dancing in the Moonlight - King Harvest

Blind dates in tiny cafes where the entire restaurant is illuminated by strings of paper lights. Warming frosted hands with mugs of hot chocolate and making origami cranes out of cloth napkins. Tap dancing under the summer moon, watching it wain from park benches. Making love in a personal-pan sized bedroom the color of rosewater marzipan.

10. Sweet Jane - The Velvet Underground

Tossing left and right with Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgewick as dance partners, sipping the factory scene like it's a sweetened rum and coke. Going to the grocery store in furs and flats while budding rock stars strum guitars on the dairy isle, shouting out names of all their lovers. Alternative families who dress their children in kimonos and cowgirl boots and whisper stories about how they used to be local punk stars or costumers for movies or novelists or party planners. Watching those children grow up to be exactly that.

11. All My Life - Cas Haley

End credits played at outdoor movie theatres. Life seeming to move to the same beat. Dinner with friends, eating Israeli couscous and thick slices of cheese pizza outdoors amongst the bougainvilleas and humming swallows. Finding that perfect ice cream ice princess dress that makes you feel like a candied ska star. Figuring out the secrets of life from thick canopies of trees and late-night sunshine and sweeping beaches and stray cats that eat out of your hand. Finding happiness.

Bonus Tracks

12. Hong Kong Garden - Siouxsie and the Banshees

13. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend

14. Kiss Me - Sixpence None the Richer

15. You - Atmosphere

16. The Science of Selling Yourself Short - Less Than Jake

Always,

Penelope ♥

Sweet & Sour Girls

Photo by Thomas Lottermoser

Like the famous condiment of Chinese take-out fame, girls can be both sweet and sour. There are babydoll girls with bright pink bedrooms and Disney-printed sheets, girls with closets full of the most sparkling champagne dresses and shoes to match, timid girls with magazine cut-outs of supermodels and life-sized Barbies glued to the walls, and girls who spend Saturday mornings on their backs in the front yard, dreaming about boys with surfer bodies and clashing guitars. Then there are girls who slosh around at ska shows like fizzy soda inside a bottle and girls who laugh too loud at dirty jokes and girls who dye their hair the sleekest shade of royal blue and girls who think that the only boys for them are the boys with fast cars and even faster hearts.

There are the sweet girls with their bubble gum charms – and there are the sour girls with their boisterous pop. But what if being true to yourself means being both sweet and sour? What if you live out life like a sweetheart while deep down inside you're screaming to be a bit more sour? The truth of the matter is that life is never cut and dry - we all have a little sweetness and a little spunk to us and that's what makes us wonderful, but if you're a smarmy doll who wants to be a little less tart (or vice versa), here are some ways to spice things up.

Sweet Girls

Tips for making your life a little sweeter

+ Put aside some space outside and start a personal pan-sized garden. If you live in an apartment or somewhere equally sparse, fill empty yogurt cartons with potting soil and plant herbs or tiny flowers.

+ Cut-out pictures from your favorite fashion magazine and keep them in a journal. Look to it for inspiration whenever you need it.

+ Bake cupcakes to celebrate the little things.

+ Rent all six seasons of Sex and the City and watch them in a week-long marathon. Practice the mannerisms of your favorite character.

+ Pick up sewing. If you already know how to sew, challenge your skills and design a stunning evening dress.

+ Take out an old book of fairy-tales from your local library - read it from cover to cover.

+ Practice kissing until you can officially be considered a professional. Try different flavored lip glosses & balms and pucker up with your sweetie!

Sour Girls

Tips for making your life a little more sour

+ Learn how to swing-dance - or just take to dancing whenever music is playing!

+ Learn to play an instrument you don't already know.

+ Make masquerade masks and wear them to parties or special events. Be sure to add extra feathers and tulle.

+ Go shopping at local vintage clothing stores. Buy the first dress that catches your eye, no matter the price.

+ Make mixtapes and leave them in public places for people to find.

+ Hone in on your poetry skills by keeping a tiny notebook in your purse. Write tidbits of poetry throughout the day as inspiration strikes and present your work at local slams.

+ Participate in a local parade - dress up in your funkiest outfit and strut around like the prom queen.

Stay candy-coated, lovelies!

Always,

Penelope ♥