Ask Me! {2017 version}

• 80 questions~
• 1. Name?: Shantilly
• 2. Birthdate?: 29/04/1993
• 3. Current Location?: Trinidad
• 4. Eye Color?: Brown
• 5. Hair Color?: Dark Brown
• 6. Height?: 158cm
• 7. Zodiac Sign?: Taurus
• 8. Ethnicity?: East Indian
• 9. Single or Taken?: Single
• Have You ever...
• 10. Drank?: Yes
• 11. Smoked?: No
• 12. Skinny Dipped?: No
• 13. Licked a 9 volt battery?: What? NO...
• 14. Made a prank phone call?: Yes
• 15. Been in a beauty pageant?: No
• 16. Thrown up in public?: Yes
• 17. Worn a crown?: Yes
• 18. Licked the back of a CD to try to get it to work?: Yes
• 19. Been on a blind date?: No
• 20. Caught a fish?: Yes!
• 21. Been in love?: Yes
• 22. Thought your cousin was hot?: Nope
• 23. Slept past noon?: Only most days
• 24. Taken a shower with the opposite sex?: No
• 25. Danced in front of your mirror?: Everyday
• 26. Been dumped?: Yes
• 27. Been arrested?: No
• 28. Made out with a stranger?: Yes
• 29. Seen someone die?: No
• 30. Kissed a picture?: Yes
• 31. Slept in the opposite sex's bed?: No
• 32. Made a snow angel?: Yes
• 33. Cheated while playing a game?: Yes
• 34. Felt an earthquake?: Yes
• 35. Touched a snake?: Yes
• 36. Sang karaoke?: No
• 37. Done something you told yourself you wouldn't do?: Too much
• 38. Caught a snowflake on your tongue?: Yes
• 39. Kissed in the rain?: No
• 40. Sung in the shower?: Yes
• 41. Sat on a roof top?: No
• 42. Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on?: No
• 43. Broken a bone?: No
• 44. Laugh so hard you cry?: Yes
• 45. Blacked out from drinking?: No
• 46. Choked on something you're not supposed to eat?: No
• This or that?
• 47. Blind or deaf?: Neither...I really can't choose one
• 48. Horror or comedy?: Comedy
• 49. Bungee jumping or sky diving?: Sky Diving
• 50. Sunny or rainy?: Rainy
• 51. Chocolate or Vanilla?: Chocolate
• 52. Night or day?: Night
• 53. Looks or personality?: Personality
• 54. Coffee or tea?: Tea
• 55. Hot or cold?: Cold
• Do You...
• 56. Smoke?: No
• 57. Drink?: Yes
• 58. Do drugs?: No
• 59. Fall in love easily? No
• 60. Like thunderstorms?: Yes
• 61. Dance in the rain?: Yes
• 62. Wish on stars?: Yes
• 63. Believe in fate?: Yes
• 64. Believe in love at first sight?: No
• 65. Have tattoos?: Not yet
• Can you...
• 66. Cook?: Yes
• 67. Whistle?: Yes
• 68. Curl your tongue?: Yes
• 69. Touch your nose with your tongue?: No
• 70. Speak another language?: Yes, not fluently though
• And more..
• 71. Favourite word?: Soigne or Nefelibata
• 72. Favourite flower?: Peonies
• 73. Favourite colour?: Pink 
• 74. What color is your underwear right now?: Red
• 75. Would you ever get plastic surgery?: Yes
• 76. What is your favorite Holiday?: Christmas
• 77. What is your worst habit?: Biting my nails when nervous
• Opposite sex..
• 78. Hair colour?: Dark hair will always be my go to but lately the lighter colours have been catching my eye
• 79. Eye colour?: Brown or Green
• 80. First thing you notice about them?: Jawline 

xoxo, Shantilly.

If I Were...

a month, i would be: december

a day of the week, i would be: sunday

a time of day, i would be: 4 A.M.

a planet, i would be: venus

a sea animal, i would be: a sea turtle

a direction, i would be: east

a piece of furniture, i would be: a comfy couch

a sin, i would be: envy

a liquid, i would be: chai

a stone, i would be: emerald

a tree, i would be: a poui tree

a bird, i would be: a hummingbird

a tool, i would be: a hammer

 a flower/plant, i would be: a peony

a kind of weather, i would be: rainy

a mythical creature, i would be: a unicorn

 a musical instrument, i would be: a violin

an animal, i would be: a wolf or tiger

a colour, i would be: gold

a vegetable, i would be: broccoli

a sound, i would be: the sound of rain on the roof

an element, i would be: earth

a car, i would be: a Bugatti Veyron

a song, i would be: paradise - coldplay

a movie, i would be directed by: woody allen

a book, i would be written by: paulo coelho

a food, i would be: lobster bisque or lobster risotto

a place, i would be: notting hill, london

 a material, i would be: fur (faux of course)

a taste, i would be: bittersweet

a scent, i would be: cherry blossom

a religion, i would be: hinduism

a word, i would be: soigne or nefelibata

an object, i would be: a book

a body part, i would be: collar bones

a facial expression, i would be: a smirk

a subject in school, i would be: literature

a cartoon character, i would be: angelica pickles

a shape, i would be: a heart

a number, i would be: 7

Pluviophile

a lover of rain; someone who finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days. -Collins Dictionary

It's been extremely rainy these days and I absolutely love it. Rainy weather is literally one of my favourite things on earth, yes, that sounds like vast exaggeration however it isn't. There's just something about it that's oddly calming, it brings about a stillness in me that's unlike any other. Just last night I was looking out my window at the downpour on the street and I swear I haven't felt that at ease in ages. The view from my window is quite unspectacular by the way, my neighbour's house is the first thing you see, but at the right angle, you can see the street which is nothing amazing either but at night, in the rainfall, illuminated by the blurry glow of street lamps, it is perfect.

There's something melancholy about the rain isn't there? The gloomy weather, the chill, the lonely raindrops sliding down the window panes, all of it almost seems magical, straight out of a storybook. I absolutely adore it. This type of weather brings out my creative side full force, I feel like I could do it all with just the weather as my inspiration. It makes being alone not seem like a bad thing and empowering even, like armour, like being cloaked in blanket of comfort.

Comfort, which I've also found in the work of Leonid Afremov.

Times Square by Leonid Afremov

Afremov is a spectacular Russian-Israeli artist born in Belarus, famed for his colourful works which are mostly created via oils and a palette knife. His work is unmistakeable and unique. I fell in love with his pieces in New York a couple years back actually, well technically they weren't "his" they were recreations by a street artist who painted similar pieces. The one that captured my attention was of a girl holding an umbrella walking down a rainy, distinctively "New York" street (I actually bought this painting for $5). Anyway, after I got back home I did my research and came across Afremov's masterpieces (in my opinion), and imagine my glee when there were more than one rain-centric pieces :D There are so many actually, I can't even post them all though I wish I could, you can check them all out and even get yourself one here. An Afremov piece is one of the things I must own in this life. I'm slightly talented in the art category, but not nearly anything that comes close to this, also if I had time to even practice it would help. Alas, studying law doesn't permit for such leisure time.

Rain Princess by Leonid Afremov

"Rain Princess" is by far my favourite of Afremov's work, and he has some pretty amazing pieces. There's just something about this one that speaks to me, the solitude and mystery perhaps. Those are two traits which most people who interest me possess, also, they're traits I see in myself. For as long as I've known myself I haven't been good at the whole keeping friends thing. People have slipped in and out of my life all the time, sometimes it's bothered me, sometimes I didn't even notice. Of course there are some loyal ones (I could count them on one hand) that I've picked up over time and they've stayed through thick and thin (so far). Lately though, I've learnt to own my solitude and use it to build me up rather than tear me down. The description of this painting is literally everything put into words in such an eloquent way that I felt no need to paraphrase or change it:

"Enigmatic stranger ruling her world: 

The paradox is that while people usually say they don’t like rain, they tend to find rainy weather very mysterious and romantic. Indeed, a sun-lit landscape can rarely offer a puzzle to unravel – everything is clear and transparent. This is why cheap wall art that is made in great numbers prefers to ignore the beauty of rainy parks and streets – why, it too requires a great deal of imagination to break stereotypes like “rain is boring, no one is going to buy it, let’s print more sunny landscapes”. The rain theme in wall canvas art is definitely underdeveloped.

Fortunately, there are artists who are equal to challenge. Leonid Afremov’s works are often dedicated to rain. He manages to catch these elusive moments of reverie that are inspired, for example, by an unknown woman who is walking in front of you under her umbrella as if she was the princess of this rainy kingdom. Who is she in reality? Where is she going? Perhaps it doesn’t even matter, but for one beautiful moment she makes you forget about everything else in this world."

Just let it sink in for a moment. It's absolutely exhilarating to think you could instigate that level of wonder in another person by just passing by. That's the kind of person I want to be, the person people want to get to know, not the one they just see and think nothing of.

xoxo, Shantilly.

Back to Basics

Firstly, I'd like to say that this is a new start to this blog once again (or so I hope).

I don't exactly consider myself a "blogger" mainly because I'm too inconsistent for that title. I follow many bloggers and I'm always in awe at how much and how consistently they're able to update and produce on their blogs. I'm such a confusing person in general that my biggest concern is a blog name, and I feel like I need to have a blog name that I can readily identify with. Before I came up with this url I tried a ton of others, all of which were taken and were already, established, fantastic blogs so I didn't want to be unoriginal. Fashion is a passion of mine, and it has been for much of my teen years until now (I'm 21) and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon so I decided that of course it had to play a part in choosing my blog name hence, "haute." Of course if you didn't know yet, I'm pretty much a walking disaster, my life is always coming apart at the seams and I'm forever trying to hold on to my wits. My best friend fondly refers to me quite regularly as a "hot mess" so I thought what better than that? And so... The Haute Mess was born...(like two days ago)

I might as well give a basic outline of who I am as a person. I'm a 21 year old law student from the tiny Caribbean island of Trinidad. I have a Bachelor's degree in Literature and History from the University of the West Indies (UWI) I absolutely love to read and write however I frequently suffer from writer's block (and chronic laziness). The past couple years of my life have been an utter mess that left my creativity suffering and my entire being in a total disarray. I'm not one to just give up, no matter how many times I say I give up so this is why I've decided to try my hand at this once more. This blog will encompass everything that interests me, ranging from fashion, travel, books, current events, history, art, movies/film, music and whatever I deem fit to be here so I hope you enjoy a little insight into the mind of a total haute mess ;)

Also, I refuse to censor myself when it comes to certain things so my content may sometimes be a bit on the raw side. (Follow my tumblr for more regular updates)

xoxo, Shantilly.