Movie Hair That Shaped Me

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I read a fun post on the Man Repeller blog called “Girls on Film: Movie Hair that Shapped Us”. (Written by Meredith Fineman).

I thought it would be fun to post some of my own hair inspirations throughout the years. As women, we really pay attention to movie hair and fashion. We are always looking out for inspiration.

1] Mary-Kate and Ashley in Winning London: mid-length layered inspiration. Simple but edgy.

2] Mandy Moore in How to Deal and Chasing Liberty: She was the perfect rebel. When they said, “Don’t cut it.” She said, “Cut it.”
She was always changing her hair, which I loved.

3] Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada: Bangs can change your life. Chic.

4] Sonam Kapoor in Aisha: Hair for miles.

5] Juliette Binoche in Chocolat: Big volume and curls. She was bewitching and so was her hair.

6] Penelope Cruz in Volver: mid-length, black and wavy. Her hair didn’t overpower her, and more attention was brought to her face, especially her amazing eyes.

7] Priyanka Chopra in Anjaana Anjaani: Another mid-length cut I imitated. Priyanka looks like anyone else with her long hair, but when she cut her hair into a bob and into this style as she grew it out after Pyaar Impossible, she stood out, and she let her beautiful features steal the show.

8] Marion Cotillard in Inception: Lovely. Marion Cotillard, queen of the wavy bob.

Last Month’s Picks: June, 2014

Dear friends,
Happy July. June has come quickly and vanished faster than it arrived. It was a month of a lot of learning, soccer and adrenaline for me. There were some moments of serious reflection. My cousin passed away. I thank everyone who prayed for him. Please continue to pray for my family. The month left us with a lot to process.

1] Happy Birthday to the lovely Sonam Kapoor.

2] When you make a new day exciting with a new clothes combination (often occurs when you need to do laundry).  

 

3] Enrique Iglesias’ new song is refreshing (different from other things he’s done).
 

4] People can be jealous and vicious– when that happens and someone makes a snarky comment, remember:

5] Karim Benzema and the France v. Honduras match

6] Magic System’s Song: Magic in the Air- playing popularly on NRJ France Radio

7]
Sometimes, we can make strangers our own.

8] “I’ve become more beautiful with age.” Monica Bellucci

$60 for a Life Diagnosis

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This is my skeptical, dramatic face.

By: Gabriela Yareliz

“Some days are meant to be counted, others are meant to be weighed.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

This is how it all began: The weather has been hot, sticky and nauseating. Our air conditioner at work decides to give out when heat levels rise–you’d think that’s when it would work, but no, it’s a quitter.

I have been feeling lightheaded, with jaw pain, with nausea and not hungry (yeah, you add up the symptoms). Today, while I was finishing a lettre de motivation (cover letter), I touched the back of my neck–and there it was. A large lump, the size of a small grape or abnormally large pea, at my finger tips.

Let me give you the context of my week, my cousin found out he is sick, a fellow intern was hospitalized and a friend’s father died of cancer. My mind didn’t exactly fly to the happiest place. I started pressing the lump, using little mirrors to try to see this lump by my hairline.

I looked at my cover letter and decided, why send it if I might not be around to see a response? Dramatic, I know. This isn’t a joke though–life can deal some strange cards. I began thinking whether I would need to have something surgically removed, whether I would have to cut my hair a lot more, whether my loans would disappear if I died– suddenly, I imagined what a new reality would look like. It scared me.

I calmly dialed my mom’s number, but there was no response. Then my calmness evaporated, and I started to frantically call her. She picked up, and we talked. She was calm and said I would be okay. She is always filled with so much faith. I decided I wouldn’t be able to sleep unless I knew why I felt so terrible all week and what this lump on the back of my neck was.

I pulled on a sweater and ran out the door leaving all of my lights on. I practically ran the three blocks to the nearest “Urgent Care” type place. I definitely jaywalked. I felt so shaky. My hands were trembling (from fear and exhaustion). I figured my vitals were wack, and my pulse was probably not normal.

I prayed a lot in that little white, clean room. I sat in a chair that seemed new; it was as stiff as my back. I felt a strange suspense I had never felt. I felt scared, helpless and all of a sudden, a lot of things didn’t matter anymore.

The doctor had some blood drawn–those results will come later. From the looks of it, it’s not serious. It’s a lymph inflammation, but not life threatening. I can’t pretend to know how sick people feel–I don’t know how that feels, and I really don’t want to know. I do know that when you are faced with a potentially bad situation, you have to make a choice as to how you will approach and handle it.

I can say this: Today, I weighed things differently. When I felt that lump, my fellowship applications, cover letters, registration inquiries, loan requests–it all vanished. All of a sudden, I only cared about the people I really love and my hopes. By hopes I don’t even mean career-wise. I mean hopes of things I wanted to experience and emotions I wanted to feel. Things you can’t buy, work hard for or create. I felt a sudden longing for those magical gifts and moments life gives us that we do not ask for, that we do not plan and that we do not deserve.

I had a long exhausting day, but when I left the doctor’s office, I felt alive. I am alive. I realized what a blessing every breath is, and how much more I need to pray for those who need strength to deal with their pain and circumstances. I need to have more faith and stop being so dramatic, and I need to never doubt God’s goodness, even if the news is not good.

So apparently, every time you touch the inflamed area, you add days to its life. Because I was freaking out and did everything to it short of a science experiment or biopsy, my lump will probably be there for 5 weeks. I paid $60 for a kind doctor to tell me that I was fine and that I would live. It was worth it.

After anguish like that, when you find out you are okay, all of a sudden you are filled with all of the faith in the world, and you believe you can do anything. (The skeptic face disappears). I guess we need to live like this everyday, and we need to learn to feel that empowerment even when things don’t look okay.

It’s in those moments of reflection that you realize that nothing else matters; all you want is life.

So no matter what your reality looks like, LIVE.

Life Vision

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Photo by: Gabriela Yareliz

“I’m choosing happiness over suffering, I know I am. I’m making space for the unknown future to fill up my life with yet-to-come surprises.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

Live life like it’s the most magical thing you have in your hands.
And don’t forget to expect miracles.
-Gabriela Yareliz

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZINEDINE ZIDANE

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I don’t know much about soccer, so when I watch it, I am looking for one thing: magic. Skill needs no explaining; it is plain for all to see. My standard of magic was set by the one man who defines the word.

This post goes out to my favorite soccer player, Zinedine Zidane. I saw him for the first time on TV in France, in 2006. The World Cup was in full swing, and seeing him play was magic. In the evenings he was on TV, and when he would help win a game, men would blow the horns of their cars like crazy and even get out of their cars and take their shirts off (usually jerseys). In the mornings, he was on the cover of every newspaper. I still have them.

Zidane, you are my soccer legend–


Happy 42nd birthday Zizou.