a book report: Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3) by Cassandra Clare

*spoilers! 

i really wanted to tie in Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince in this book report, but this is looking to be long winded, so i decided to focus on Clockwork Princess.

okay. this book/series has turned me into a total fangirl. i have no idea why--well actually that is a lie, i totally know why. it's all because of Jem. i will state right here right now that i am team Jem (i heart Jem) and the team Jem vs. team Will crap has been insanely crazy (or the reader reviews and discussion topic threads from Goodreads have led me to believe). i feel that this team crap is nothing like the Edward vs. Jacob angst from the Twilight Saga because, let's be honest, there really wasn't a love triangle in those books. Bella only ever loved Edward. it was obvious in the first book. ugh, it all comes back to Twilight somehow. but in all actuality, it was really hard at the end of Clockwork Princess to really be team anyone, because everyone wins at the end. i know die hard team shippers (really fangirls?) are either really pissed or pleasantly surprised with the ending.

i really liked this book. i'm not sure if you could tell. the main reason i liked this book was because of the characters. i love Tessa, Will and Jem (especially Jem if you haven't been able to tell. okay i'll stop because it's getting a bit creepy). there's just something about these characters that struck a chord in my heart, and i haven't been able to find this connection to characters in a lot of books. i can only name a handful.

i started off reading Clare's City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass. i liked them, i liked the whole Shadowhunter thing. it reminded me of Buffy a bit, and who doesn't love Buffy? i picked up these books right after i burned through The Hunger Games trilogy, and i was craving some more bad ass characters. then i learned of another series by Clare that is a sort of prequel to her Mortal Instruments series, and it sounded interesting. then i fell in love. i really liked Tessa. i liked her more than Clary, much much more. i was slightly annoyed with Will because i saw him as Jace, and i knew that Will is supposed to be a distant relative of Jace's, but i was like, "come on." and then there is Jem, who in the first book i liked but by the second book i fell in love with. oh good lord!

so what is it with this book you ask? for me, it's the characters. the plot was just so-so, but i didn't care. i had to know if Tessa was going to marry Jem, and i truly cared deeply for all three of the characters. i wanted the best for them.

so, this is where things get interesting for me, and how i look at this book because Clare brings up a good question that a lot of people do not like. i said earlier that i really liked this book, but when i first finished the book i was a little shocked. both Will and Jem get the girl, not at the same time, but they get her. a lot of readers looked at this as Clare wanting to make everyone happy, to pander to her readers, but really she just pissed off more people than pleased them because people are really pissed, yo. team Will shippers are all like "having Tessa and Jem getting together is disrespectful to Will, and it disregards their love as nothing more than trivial, and how could Tessa tell Jem that she loves him after losing Will because it's like emotional cheating." i wanted to say, "settle down team Will shippers, it's not the end of the world. Tessa mourned Will for 80 years, she is immortal so she will at some point move on." it's like talking someone off a ledge. team Jem shippers were kind of chill and all like "ick, Jem is getting Will's sloppy seconds. but it did suck that Tessa jumped into bed with Will right after she found out Jem had "died". Tessa is a whore. yo." it seams that people don't mind that Tessa can and will move on but not with either Will or Jem. good lord, some people have really high morals. not me because i am evil and amoral.

i personally thought that Tessa loved Will more. i think a lot of that had to do with the fact there was very little, if any, POV from Jem. it seemed that Tessa always thought of Will first, he was always the first boy she mentioned or thought about or worried after, and so as the reader i took the hint and thought Clare is trying to tell us Tessa loves Will more. but i did feel that the interactions between Tessa and Jem in the second book really showed me that he loved her, and i could see Tessa falling in love with Jem because that is what i did. i didn't see any falling in love with Will because i felt that i was always told that he loves her, and Tessa thought Will was super hot, and they both enjoyed reading, and who doesn't enjoy a sexy book nerd?

having Clockwork Princess end with everyone "winning" and getting what they want has upset a lot of people, and i think a lot of that has to do with what Clare is trying to say with these characters. i think she has had a bunch of people ask her about this idea of Tessa ending up with both Will and Jem because she posted a statement on her tumblr about exactly this. this is why i really liked this book (it's a long quote but really great).

We are taught to expect things from love triangles. As you said, there are no rules, but in many ways the purpose and intent of a love triangle is seen to be that a person who is torn between character A and character B makes the statement "I love you, character A, more than I love character B, and so I will be with you. The end."
That is what is expected, and that is exactly what did not happen, and so I am not surprised that it would make many feel a bit uncomfy. The Clockwork series has a love triangle, but it is also about love triangles, and like I’ve said before, is about what I wanted to say about love and about life.
We are taught by many romance narratives that one can feel only one great love in a lifetime. Even if, as in the example here, the person you married, and loved, has been dead eighty years, the idea has been entrenched in us by media that loving someone else next, as much, diminishes or undermines that love. It is the purpose of the Disney “happily ever after” coda — we don’t want to know what happens after the couple gets together: we assume an unclear sort of happiness awaits, but don’t want to know if they fight, or one of them dies first, or any of the things that happen in actual life. Their love story ends when the curtain comes down, and therefore they are preserved in happiness forever, like flies in amber — and none of the messiness of real life, of loss and death, of cycles of happiness and sorrow, of the inevitability of aging, ever touch them at all.
I think this is an actually damaging way to think about love. Love, even romantic love, is not something you only feel once and forever, and to have loved one person does not make love that you feel later less. Love isn’t a zero sum game: we’re not issued a bucket of love at birth and the more of it we give out, the less we have (in fact, the opposite is true.) Very few people remain with their first loves forever; very few people love only one person romantically ever in their lives. Yet we are told that is the ideal we should strive for. That if love is followed by loss life is destroyed, and an attempt to move on cheapens the love we had before. It’s a narrative I’ve seen ruin people’s lives, literally, and so it’s one I both reject, but wanted to explore.

after coming across this quote about the "love triangle" it all just clicked for me and what Clare is trying to accomplish in this series. i think a lot of people won't get it (and chose not to get it) because it comes down to a matter of morals and where one stands when it comes to love and marriage. most people only believe in the "one true great love", in stories and in their actual lives but we all know that it isn't possible. just look at the divorce rate here in America, about 50% of all marriages end in divorce. this is where a big can of worms is opened and a crazy discussion occurs about people believing in "one true love" or not. this is exactly why we have places like Goodreads. i personally believe in love, hell i fall in love all the time, and it is crazy and it breaks my heart, but i do not believe in this "one true love" idea. that is why the ending sits so well with me.

oh good lord! there is so much other stuff i want to talk about this book.
 
to be honest at first i was a bit upset, i wanted Tessa and Jem together. they did end up together, so why does it matter that they hooked up later as opposed to the beginning? then, when i stepped back from the story and really looked at it i saw the love between Jem and Will and i was like "holy cow this is totally a bromance". when Jem left to become a Silent Brother, Will was heartbroken. i believe Tessa was more concerned about Will and his heart breaking for losing Jem than her own heart breaking from the end of their engagement. each person in this triangle truly loved the other two people with all their heart. each love is different and its own kind of love. you can't tell someone, anyone how to love one another, and you can't love two people the same way because each person is different. hell love is different, and it evolves (ask anyone who has been in a long ass relationship, like me and the boy, our love is not the same love as when we first got together.) oh good lord listen to me, i am such a sap. i need to move on otherwise this could get ugly.

i absolutely adored the Sophie and Gideon love story. how Gideon would call for scones just to see and talk to Sophie, and then she finds the pile of scones under his bed because he doesn't like scones. i thought it was super cute and sweet, and when Sophie storms out of the room after finding said scones, and Gabriel had been laying in Gideon's listening to the two of them and was all like "nicely done, brother." i had a chuckle at that. and when Gideon proposed to Sophie, super awkward and precious.

the ending or more importantly, the last few chapters i loved deeply. it was a beautiful end for Will, a wonderful way to say goodbye to a character that many people loved. boy, did i cried my way through the end of this book. i felt that Will lead a long beautiful life with the woman he loves. they had children together and they got to see them grow and have children of their own. then we as readers got to let him go. it was nicely done, and i truly felt as though we buried Will. side note, anyone who thinks that Will wouldn't want Tessa to move on and find another love is crazy. it's unfair to Tessa to not have her move on. it seems harsh but realistic y'all. Tessa grieved for Will for 80 years. what more do you want?

oh good lord! i can go on and on about this book. i just really enjoyed it. it's funny how people's reactions to it are so drastic. if they are a team Will shipper, they did not like the ending at all and if you are a team Jem shipper you didn't mind how it ended. what seems to be an added bonus is we might see Tessa and Jem in some of Clare's other books, which i'm totes excited about y'all. xoxo.

a picture a day!

here we go again. my picture a day post.
boy, has it been a while? so far my plan of doing this post every few days has fallen to the way side. but what's new?

it's been a bit crazy here. i'm not sure if y'all are aware, but i live in the lovely town of Austin, Texas. right now Austin is celebrating South by Southwest. you would think that my blog would be full of fun SXSW crap, but because i am a hermit and anti-social i spent most of my time in my humble abode. i did venture out for a couple of events the other day and they were fun. so why am i afraid to leave my house? that my friends is a question for another day.

oh good fucking lord. i love SXSW and i hate SXSW. so needless to say, it's been a crazy week. i can try and blame my procrastination on things being super crazy here, but that would be a lie. i am just lazy. i sound like a broken record, but it's the truth.

65/365

Beerland.

66/365

Oreos, the love of my life. i don't know if you can tell but the Oreos to the right are the Birthday Cake Oreos. love them!

67/365

bedside reading lamp. we're to poor to afford a bedside table or lampshade.

68/365

huge ass mess at work. raspberry truffle massacre.

69/365

another huge ass mess at work. mush pile of chocolate croissants and raisin croissants.

70/365

honey and jem.

71/365

pride and prejudice. i love you jane austen.

72/365

zack, the boy's kc royals cabbage patch doll.

73/365

leggings. love.

now i have a bottle of wine to finish and i have to work tomorrow which means i have to be up by 4:30 am. what in the hell am i doing? we'll see how i fare in the morning. i have a feeling it will be a rough day. oh well. i'm only in my mid thirties once. ha! xoxo.

the evolution of my crappy reading tastes: part one

i'm not sure if y'all have noticed, but i'm a bit of a reader.

it all started way, way back in elementary school when i picked up a copy of The Boxcar Children. oh, how i loved The Boxcar Children: thinking about how i would survive in my own boxcar; how i would find food and eat; how i would survive my orphan life. i was a bit imaginative as a child. now that i think of it, i think The Boxcar Children is what started my obsession with this whole survivalist genre in books and movies that has morphed into my post-apocalyptic obsession. (see what the boy has to deal with? prepping for doomsday and shit.)

then when i got a bit older, i moved onto The American Girl books. since i am older (thirty-something if you will), i actually remember when the Girls were introduced. at the beginning, there were only a handful of Girls, and they all came from a different time periods. because i have no kiddos of my own at present, i have no idea on how The American Girls have evolved, but it seems they have themselves a store and empire. you go Girls! i liked Molly and Felicity, but my favorite was Kristen Larson. sadly, she is retired--what does that mean? Kristen was the Girl from 1854, kind of like Laura Ingalls Wilder or Dr. Quinn Medicine Women (which i never was into but my mother totally loved--i think i have my mother is to blame for my period piece obsessiveness). Kristen was a survivalist. i had all her books. i even had the Kristen doll. hell, my aunt even made me a dress to look exactly like Kristen. i dressed up as her for Halloween one year.

i can't forget The Babysitters Club books. anyone my age has had to have read them. it is a part of being a teenage girl. it was a rite of passage written in the handbook on how to be a girl (in the 80s). i was all over The Babysitters Club. i remember thinking that my girlfriends and i should start a babysitters club because it would be "totally cool." i do, however, remember the one thing that drove me crazy about The Babysitters Club books was the whole recapping in the first 2 chapters. i detested the first 2 chapters of The Babysitters Club books. to this day, i have an issue with series' that do recaps from a previous book because of The Babysitter Club. because no one, NO ONE, will pick up a book in the middle of a series.

good lord, there is more. i'm telling y'all, this is my evolution.

in junior high i got into the Indiana Jones Choose Your Own Adventure (or at least i thought they were Choose Your Own Adventure, apparently they were Find Your Fate Adventure) books. i had such an obsession with Indiana Jones that when i first went into college i wanted to be an archaeologist. (i have always and will forever be a dreamer. i spend most my life in my head.) i remember biking to the public library in my hometown and spending all day there in the summer reading my Choose Your Own Adventure books. this was all happening during the wonderful Book-It time. y'all remember Pizza Hut's Book-It program? i remember getting the Book-It button and then collecting the star stickers to place on the button. oh boy! i can't believe it was a Pizza Hut sponsored program. sidenote, i really hope the Choose Your Own Adventure books are still popular.

in high school my book of choice was the Sweet Valley High books. oh good lord, what was i thinking? i guess it was because they were easy and fast, and i just liked to read. Sweet Valley High was easy, and they were a series. (i am sensing a trend with my obsession with book series.) back in high school, when i would have to do this stupid weight training summer program because i was a competitive swimmer, i would skip the class and sit in the empty high school hallways and read my Sweet Valley High books. oh Jessica and Elizabeth, how i always wished i was like them. i remembered them as being blond hair, blue eyed and a perfect size six, which with today sizes would more likely be a size four or even two, so sad. i can't remember if that's exact, but that's how i remember Jessica and Elizabeth.

i should mention that while in was in high school i read a lot of books that were literary works of art that had opened my eyes to what writing as an art looked and felt like. yes, i liked reading my guilty pleasures--they were a lot easier--but these literary works of art were novels that needed time and patience and demanded a slower pace to truly digest each and every word. sometimes deciding between the fast read guilty pleasure and the literary work of art is a hard choice, but the high school reading list helped expand my horizon. the first book that i fell hopelessly in love with was The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but of course. another book i had to read in high school that i thought was amazing was The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. oh high school reading lists, how us high schoolers hated you, but when i look back i am very thankful.

so now that i am looking back, i can see why i am drawn to the guilty pleasure reading as opposed to the more lyrical writings that i had always thought i would be more likely to pick up (even having been an English major in college). i am finding myself more and more very day. i thought i had already gone through all this self-discovery as a teen, but i guess thirty is the new fifteen, right?

the boob tube: Project Runway s11 e06

let's do this!
i am desperately trying to catch up with my Project Runway viewing. hopefully, i'll watch e07 tomorrow, so i will be current. then i can get my posts out to y'all as soon as possible. i'm not promising anything though.

okay, now on with the show. ha!

*spoilers. you've been warned!

in this episode, we got to see the designers interact with "real" people. i always love these challenges where we see the designers mingling with us common people because during these challenges the designers have no idea how to work with an actual client. it's actually really shocking to realize most designers have no bedside manner. i remember one season (i can't remember which one) where a designer made their client cry. good lord! who do these designers think they are designing for? it's like they are all expecting to come out of Project Runway right into haute couture design. let's be realistic, please. but i digress.

i also like that at this point in the competition the designers are becoming a bit more judgmental, and they're starting to voice their opinions about their competitors. i love it! we don't see them become snaky and bitchy to one another. it's usually just during their one-on-one interviews that the claws come out. i enjoy all the passive-aggressive bullshit.

i love that Michelle is the first to really voice her opinion because--let's be honest--i agree with everything she is saying about Patricia. i do not like Patricia's work; and, like Michelle said, she is hiding her designs behind smoke and mirrors. her team members have carried her thus far. she is pulling something over on the judges. Patricia reminds me of how i felt with the designer Gretchen from s08 (Gretchen was the winner of s08). but again, fashion is all about personal taste, and sometimes i'm not going to like every designer. Gretchen was very different, and she could be seen as a breath of fresh air.

so of course it was great when Michelle ended up being teamed up with Patricia and Layana.

like i was saying earlier, this is the challenge where the designers have to design for a "real" person. all the clients are mature women, a.k.a. feisty old ladies. i kind of thought Patricia might kill it on this challenge. the clients seem to be the Chico's wearing crowd, and Patricia seems to be the Chico's type of designer. and that dance class. oy! i'm happy all the designers joined in, and did you see Daniel cutting it up? love it!        

i think Amanda is losing it too. she was a hot mess during this challenge. i have no idea where she went. i think all the time she has been spending at the bottom is just messing with her. she did have a kick-ass dress last week, but good lord, she just couldn't get her shit together in this challenge.

let's talk about the designs:

team threesome. (oh Tim, what a hoot.)
Michelle - i thought her dress was okay. nothing to sway me either way. you could tell her client loved it, and that's always nice to see.
Layana - another dress that i thought was okay. it looked a bit lopsided when it was going down the runway, but nothing too bad.
Patricia - okay. the shawl was just over the top. i know that i've said this before, and i'm sure i'll say it again with Patricia, but it looked like something my mom would buy from Chico's or better yet Christopher Banks. and boy did she have an ego during this challenge.
sidenote - i'm glad Heidi called out Patricia on her design, saying that the only reason that she was safe was because of Michelle and Layana.

Tu - good lord! what a dress. i felt bad for his client. i really thought he might have had a difficult time with this challenge because he has a very specific style, and it's a style that isn't for everyone. but that dress, ugh. bad sewing. bad fabric. just a bad dress.
Kate - her dress was cute. i really loved the top.
sidenote - i like how Tu and Kate work together. they are a great little team.

Amanda - what a hot mess of a dress. the front, the back, the whole lot was just a wreck. i did not like the dress.
Benjamin - i thought his dress was all right. his client loved it and loved him. he gave her what she wanted. the dress was just tight. it could've been let out a bit because she looked like she was going to pop. i didn't like the fabric choice.

Stanley - great little number. he did a good job.
Richard - it was a nice dress. i didn't like the waist-cinching thing, but it was very youthful. i could see myself wearing that dress.

Samantha - i liked the dress, even though Heidi didn't like it at all. the sleeves were a bit too "cute" for me, but i loved the sash. i just wish the sash would've gone around the entire waist.
Daniel - a nice little pant suit. he did a great job on the jacket; the collar was great. i didn't understand how the judges were treating him like he is crawling back up from being in the bottom for weeks. he was just in the bottom one week.

the high scorers: Stanley, Richard, Samantha and Daniel. the winner is Stanley, and i agree.

the low scorers: Tu, Kate, Amanda and Benjamin. i really thought Amanda should've gone home this week. her dress was by far the worst, and she has been a cellar-dweller for the past few weeks. last week, she did kick some ass, but i really thought it was her time to go. instead we saw Benjamin leave. i didn't see that one coming.

i've said this before, and i'll say it again. the judges need to keep their eye on Patricia. i really think her time in this competition needs to end. i'm just not a fan of her style.

Project Runway airs on Thursday nights on Lifetime.

(photos from Project Runway at mylifetime.com)

no (sham) 'Poo: an update

i know y'all have been waiting on pins and needles for my update on being a stinky, lazy pseudo-hippie. it's been about two months since i started my no shampoo (or also know as no 'poo) experiment. if you're unfamiliar with this way of personal hygiene philosophy, basically it's giving up shampoo. hence, no 'poo. you can check out my original post here.

so, i'm two months in. how do i, or more fittingly how does my hair feel? drum roll please...

about the same.

i know what y'all are thinking. i was thinking the same thing. i was expecting some big difference. that my hair would have a completely different personality. i would be like, "my hair is like the cool girls' hair. i know how they feel now. i'm so cool, and my hair is so cool." i was expecting my life to change dramatically.

okay, so i lied slightly. i have noticed that my hair doesn't shed as much as it used to--well actually, hardly at all--which i will check off in the pros column for no 'poo. before my hair would come out in chunks. it was disgusting. when i would take a shower where i would shampoo and condition my hair, there would be a small animal hanging out in the drain. then i would leave said animal in the drain for the boy to take care of. i am awesome. now, post-wash, only a few strands will be hanging out in the drain. i don't know if this is directly related to going without shampoo, but i'm connecting the dots. (i haven't done any research on the subject, so i'm just assuming a correlation exists between the two.)

i was really worried at the beginning of this experiment that my hair would smell. before, going no 'poo, i would wash my hair about once a week with shampoo. and by the end of the week, right before i would shampoo, i would notice my hair smelling. gross, right? so before i began my experiment i told myself that i would not continue this no 'poo thing if my hair started to smell rank. but as the weeks went by, my hair didn't smell. or course using shampoo makes your hair smell wonderful right after you wash, like flowers or whatever fragrance is in the shampoo. but using no 'poo really leaves my hair smelling neutral. i was actually really surprised. i am thinking that i might get a natural oil that i can put into my apple cider mix to give my hair a little bit of a scent.

one thing that i have found odd (and not too sure about when it comes to no 'poo) is that when i brush my hair it leaves behind some weird stuff in my hair brush. at first i wasn't sure where this crap in my brush was coming from. it is kind of like a weird dandruff. so i thought it was the boy, because he has dandruff and i don't. but then i noticed that it was from me. i really have no idea what this crap is or how to even describe it. so needless to say i was worried that i was going to have dandruff, but i don't. and then i started to wonder if i am getting all the baking soda out of my hair while i'm washing it, but i am. honestly, its not affecting anything. i don't have dandruff and i don't notice a paste on my scalp. i am kind of interested in what the barber will say when i go and get my hair cut here soon. if it's any thing to worry about, i hope they will know what it is.

so the big question is, am i going to continue with no 'poo? yes!

i want to give the no 'poo method more time to see where it will take my hair.
i still need to get my hair cut. it's been about year since it's seen any scissors, and i want to get rid of my dead ends and the remnants of when i went through my short lived hair coloring phase.
i really do need to "wash" my hair more often. i usually no 'poo my hair about once every 2 weeks, but i want to get it to where i "wash" it every few days.

do i think this method is for everyone? no.

i really think you have to have a certain disposition to go without shampoo.
when people at work ask me about my progress and then ask me if i think they should do it, i am inclined to say "no." i really think this is not for everyone. the first few weeks to months are hard. your hair will be greasy and unmanageable, and most people will give up. but if you can make it through a few weeks of greasy, icky hair and really believe that this can help your hair, then i think yes you can go no 'poo.        

a picture a day!

hello all!

so, i am going to be 100% honest with y'all. this picture a day thing is a lot harder than i ever imagine. i am totally pathetic! originally, i thought this would be easy as pie. a fun little project that is a tad bit creative. something that i thought i could do, easy peasy. i saw all the other fancy lifestyle bloggers doing their "a portrait of (insert name here), once a week, every week, for a year" and i really thought i could pull it off. but instead of doing it the easy way and only taking one picture a week i had to change it up and say i'm going to take a picture a day. (really? i think it was a trend a few years back. people deciding to take a picture a day. but what do i know? i'm always late on what the cool kids do.) oh good lord! and, and i thought i would have plenty of things to take pictures of but i am running out of items to snap. i'm slowing realizing that my boring life is even more pathetic than i originally thought.

and to top it all off, i missed a day. ugh!

i just need to pour myself a glass of wine and get over it!

60/365

the stairwell.

61/365
no picture. boo!

62/365

oscar.

63/365

the floor.

64/365

profiteroles (pate a choux). work.

happy tuesday! xoxo.

a picture a day!

here we go again. my picture a day post. yay!

i know that y'all have been waiting on pins and needles for my crappy ass pictures, your prayers have been answered.

side note. i cannot believe it's March. March! holy cow.
i cannot believe it's still chilly here in Austin. usually by this time, the nice spring weather is upon us and we are flirting with almost hot temps. but at night the temperature has been dipping into the 40's. whoa. we here in our bitter apartment haven't had the heat on since we got our electric bill in December. boy was that a shock. from now on our heating units will stay off. never again. ugh.

53/365

ice cream with Oreos. my favorite, for right now.

54/365

afternoon tea at the Alamo Drafthouse. The Young Victoria, i love you.

55/365

someone is still in bed. don't cha know my sheets and comforter never match. yes, that is my inner Minnesotan and yes, i can just hear my mother's accent.

56/365

drinking and looking at recipes.

57/365

self portrait. oh boy, what am i trying to do?

58/365

drinking (beer, bourbon and wine) while watching Pride & Prejudice. how i roll. i love you Keira.

59/365

lunch at Bacon.

thanks for looking y'all!

the boob tube: Project Runway s11 e05

okay.
glass of wine in hand? check.
blankets wrapped around me snugly to keep warm because our house traps in the cold, so it is fucking freezing in our abode? check.
now let's get this party started.

*spoilers!

last episode ended with a "to be continued"... what could it be?
Heidi brings out the button bag! things are about to change. in a good way. the producers are going to shake things up. yay! instead of having two big groups the designers will be in groups of two. i like the idea of switching things up. i really think the big groups should've been reorganized a lot sooner than they did, but oh well.

so the twosomes are as follows:
Daniel & Samantha
Richard & Stanley
Patricia & Layana
Matthew & Michelle
Kate & Tu
Amanda & Benjamin

i liked that they got to pick their partner, so there should be very little drama. the challenge is a super-fun one: to design one runway look and one stage look for Miranda Lambert. i like how every designer was super stoked to design for a country star. there is no fucking way that they all love Miranda. come on, i call bullshit. but i understand that they have to sell themselves because being a designer is being in the service industry and being in the service industry means you have to like everyone. right?

but back to the designers. everyone fell into a role, very natural. no fighting, no drama, everyone worked well in their twosome. we are off to a good start.

this challenge should've been called the leather challenge. my goodness. why is it that when you say musician everyone thinks leather? oh boy. there were a few little moments that i loved. like when Tim used the term "stink pot." loved it. and how could you not love Richard? when he described his look, "it's rock goddess. it's everything." i wanted to die because it was everything Richard. but Tu's design and idea was way out there. i was worried. he was channeling Lady Gaga, and i think Miranda isn't Gaga at all.

this episode was where we saw Matthew just give up. it's sad, i was hoping for big things from him. he was the one i liked from the beginning. he just couldn't handle the pressure. it's hard to say, but i think he was having a problem from the very beginning. oh Matthew.

let's talk about the designs:

Amanda - i loved her dress. the fringe was tasteful, the necklace was perfect for the dress. she pulled herself together in this challenge. her dress was my favorite.
Benjamin - the dress was beautiful and simple. the color was great and the butt bustle thing was awesome. he pulled himself together during this challenge too.

Tu - i was really surprised with his design. during the work period i thought i wouldn't like it at all, that it would be too wacky and too Lady Gaga, but when it came down the runway it was great. i really liked it.
Kate - it was a nice dress, but i didn't like the color.

Samantha - i really liked her design, but the runway look was okay. the jacket/vest was nice, but the skirt was just so so.
Daniel - i too liked his design, but the runway look again was just okay. i hated the skirt. it was just trashy. the fringe and the seam were tacky.

Matthew - his look was just simple. he really gave up on this design. the top was cute, but he phoned in the bottom. he is lacking confidence. poor kid.
Michelle - i hated the denim skirt with train. ick. and the fringe necklace. ick. i liked that Nina questioned her taste. it was a tasteless look.

Patricia - her textile choice was gross. the whole look was gross. i just didn't like it.
Layana - it was a simple dress. not much going on. i didn't like the belt at all.

Richard - during the design and work period, i really thought the dress was trashy. especially since there was no lining. what was he thinking? but putting the lining in and seeing it come down the runway, the dress was great. and he has the best attitude. i really want him to wear that cut off Mood shirt. he just needs to stud it.
Stanley - it was a nice dress. i didn't like the skirt, too big at the hips/waist.  

the high scorers: Richard, Stanley, Amanda and Benjamin. i really thought Amanda should win, but they gave it to Richard. i don't mind. i love me some Richard.

the low scorers: Daniel, Samantha, Matthew and Michelle. i really thought the judges needed to back off Daniel, he has been kicking butt up until now. and Michelle needs to watch herself. i did love Miranda's pep talk to Matthew because the poor kid just gave up. so sad. but he did need to go. it was Matthew's time.

another good episode. now the judges need to keep an eye on Patricia. i really think she has just been really lucky up until now. we'll see. xoxo.

Project Runway airs Thursday nights on Lifetime.

(photos from Project Runway at mylifetime.com)