Like Maria from the “Sound of Music,” I, too, have a few of my favorite things that help me push through my last semester of senior year.

Heyclaire

Claire Marshall has been my latest Youtube addiction—she is gorgeous, sarcastic, and stylish (plus, we have the same name). She is a freelance makeup artist turned vlogger and has a unique style, both in fashion and in video editing, that I adore.

She also has an incredibly edgy style that is further emphasized by her extensive collection of tattoos, and I find myself constantly looking to Claire for fashion inspiration. What I love about her is that her wardrobe is not the size of Macy’s. In other words, she has a decent variety of clothes and can be seen wearing the same Brandy Melville cardigan in countless styles or the same vintage t-shirt with different outfits.

It allows me to realize the versatility of staple items in my closet and impels me to play more with what I have instead of developing an unhealthy relationship with online shopping.

And lastly, I have to mention her cat, Bruce or “Brucifer Lee.” His feline presence in her vlogs and his sassy attitude never ceases to amuse me. Not to mention the fact that Claire has created an Instagram just for Bruce.

“Kafka on the Shore”

Recently, I have become more interested in modern surrealist novels, but I admittedly have mixed feelings towards “Kafka on the Shore,” by Haruki Murakami. What started out as an intricate novel about the lives of a 15-year-old boy running away from home and an elderly man mentally affected by a war accident made an odd turn when a rerun of “Oedipus Rex” appeared in the book.

However, the book was beautifully written with countless metaphors and immersed me into a dream-like world of spirits, ghosts, and talking cats. Aside from the “Oedipus Rex” theme, the thought provoking ending reaffirmed my love for the book and left me pondering about the idea of the soul being broken up into pieces and the complexity of time.

8tracks

8tracks, although produced nearly five years ago, is an application that has just recently been downloaded onto my phone. For a girl who is just way too lazy to download songs, 8tracks provides an easy way to listen to a mix that fits my mood and introduces me to new artists. Not only is there a large variety of playlists, but the accessibility of both the site and app is incredibly simple. All I have to do is type in keywords, such as “workout” or “chill,” and an endless list of mixes appear at my fingertips.

This is the only app on my phone that I use more than Instagram and will be utilized literally anytime of the day. However, I find that I often listen to music when I am doing homework or writing, so my preference during my study sessions are indie rock, since it provides a softer sound.

Some of my favorite mixes have been “Good Feelings,” by brookie.beat.96, “I think about you a lot,” by okrauhl, and “Straight A’s” by ahsela.

These three categories have become essential parts of my daily routine in the month of February. And when the stress builds, when the day are long, when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don’t feel so bad!