White tops are one of the hardest things to dress up in. It looks too plain and simple to be allowed. I personally used my white top as something to wear underneath some of my more revealing tops. A while back, I had this one white shirt that I really had to wear because there was nothing to wear (we've all experienced this), but I couldn't seem to fit it on just jeans like almost every one of my other tops. With only jeans, my outfit looked so plain. So resorting to my best companion ever, the Internet, I searched for the answer to my white top problems. And sure enough, the loyal Internet gave me answers to dress myself up in a white top in a not-so-plain way. Yay! And now, a few years have passed and I will give to you, lovely readers of Le Teen Cafe, the wisdom that the Internet has provided me with: How to wear white tops.

Wear heals

Without heals, your outfit's going to look a little too boring, but you can spice it up with a nice pair of heels. Mind, the more noticeable your heals are, the better. A white top, nicely fitted jeans, and a pair of crazy heals. Perfect.

Decorate your look with a scarf

Do a little something to make your outfit look more fun. The best part about wearing a scarf is that you can get really creative with this stuff. And you don't have to worry about colors clashing 'cause white goes with literally anything.

Wear a jacket

Here, too, you can skip the worry about color clashes. Put on any jacket and tie your hair up in a tight, high ponytail. I don't know, but for me, whenever I go biker-chic like this, my confidence level just boosts up. Maybe it'll be like that for you too. Oh, and heals. Don't forget the heals when you're wearing a jacket and a high ponytail. This just looks so awesome altogether.

Wear colorful pants or a skirt

Again, no color clash worry! Wear a pink skirt, neon blue pants, leorpard prints, I don't know. You can do whatever you want with a white shirt. Seeing as the top half of your body is plain, why not go crazy on the bottom half of your body, eh?

Do something with your hair

You can do the most outrageous stuff with your hair and it'll look alright because your plain top is balancing it all. But if outrageous stuff isn't really your thing, you can always go for a low slung fishtail braid or something. Just keep your hair down low to make up for the white nothingness on your torso area.

Accessorize!!!

Wear rings, necklaces, everything! Go grab your accessories and put them on one by one until you have no more to put on! Okay, I'm exaggerating a little, but you can put on way more accessories with a plain top than with a festive top, so go all out with your precious fake (and not so fake, if you have any) jewelry!

A white top is really simple to dress up because it's just that, a white top. It doesn't clash with anything, it goes with everything, it's perfect. So be a little creative and play around with the things in and out of your closet. You'll be surprised with how many things you can do with that white top you thought you'd never wear.


-Barista Mia

Image: Maria Morri Read more »

 

I’ve had heaps of practice with being single. It’s not like I didn’t have a chance to get a boyfriend, but I never found it a practical way to spend my youth. I mean, I know I’m going to get married one day and I’ll spend the rest of my life with a husband, so I don’t want to spend my younger days caught up in some boy because I’ll have plenty of time for that later. Anyway, there are so many ways you can do to have fun MINUS a significant other and I know that from my eighteen years of experience.

Have a girl’s night out

Girl’s night outs are the best thing ever since I-don’t-even-know-what. You can go watch movies, musicals... You can go shopping, go on a trip, and have adventures. Just be careful not to end up somewhere sketchy with your girls.

Flirt

You don’t have the commitment of having to flirt with just one guy, le boyfriend. When you’re single, you can shamelessly flirt with all the guys you think are ka-yoot. Talk to guys, wink at guys, give guys “the look”. LOL. Have some fun!

Do something useful with your time

I know a lot of my friends have their homework forgotten on their beds because they have to be with their girlfriend/boyfriend. When you’re single, you can use your time to catch up with your homework and projects.

Hang out with your single friends

There’s something really fun about hanging out with fellow single people. I always have the most fun with them for some reason. Oh, and it’s always fun going in between couples and then laughing like crazy afterwards for splitting up their embrace.

As you can see, there are a whole heap of things you can do boyfriend/girlfriend-less. In fact, you can do almost EVERYTHING AND MORE than couples can do. Like, even for some couple-centric things like dances and stuff (note: I said "some" because save your lips up for your future love, alright?), you can just grab a guy friend and hang out with him for the day. No problem.


-Barista Mia-

Image: D. Sharon Pruitt Read more »

It's a few days after Christmas and most of the festivities are over. The extended family has gone back home, the Quality Streets are eaten, the family friends have gone off skiing, and the house is very quiet.

What can you do? Don't let the stalemate of boredom pull you in! You really don't want to spend your precious last week of holidays on Facebook all the time! So try to make the most of the Christmas break, and brush away any saddening thoughts you might be having.

• If all your friends are busy and can't meet up with you, try not to feel too disappointed or neglected. Loneliness is one of the emotions I most hate, but just keep in mind that you'll be seeing them soon, and use your time to focus on yourself.

• If a friend you're fond of is ignoring you online, you could either send them a message letting them know you miss them, or ignore them back, giving them some space. This takes strength, but it will be worth it if after a while the friendship takes up its rightful place in your life again.

• Go out to town! Almost anyone can do this as long as there is some sort of public transport service. If you're feeling really adventurous, take a bus or a train to a bigger, further-away town and make a day of it- go to the movies and have lunch. For last minute company choices... How about your brother or sister?

• If you've already been "Boxing Day Shopping" and don't need anything in town, a wander around the countryside in the fresh air might help clear your head if you've spent too much time indoors.

• I don't know about you, but in term time, I find myself constantly wanting to do things that I have no time for- read certain books, make cakes, watch entire seasons of favourite TV shows... Maybe now is the time! These have a good promise of keeping the boredom away once you get into them.

• For a feels journey, sit down with some crisps and watch your favourite film as of when you were 12 or 13. I did this a while ago, and woah, did I bawl!

• You'll probably be dreading the return of school. Prepare for this- don't let your heart sink when you look at the enormous pile of homework. It won't be that hard (well...), and it won't take you the rest of your free time, unless you don't get on with it. Start by just thinking about what you've got to do, so as to mentally prepare yourself; and then put a particular day aside for concentrating.

Above all, make sure you make the most of your holidays. They'll only last so long, and when they're over you'll miss them, so enjoy each day as fully as you can.


-Barista Sabita-

Images: Nash Long via Wikimedia, Barista Sabita Read more »

 

Social media is great. Social media is awesome. For some of us, social media is the best invention since the Internet, and it very well might be. However, there’s a slight problem: there are some evil characteristics of social media that are very hard to ignore (dun dun duuuuun). What are they, you ask? Well...

Evil #1: You see things that you don’t want to see

It’s not like you ask to see it, but someone retweets a graphic picture of something absolutely awful. Another person likes something on Facebook that ends up on your newsfeed and it’s, um, shone a little light on who that friend of yours is like behind the scenes. Social media makes you see weird and disgusting things on a daily basis whether you ask for it or not.

Evil #2: You get obsessed with social media

Social media has this evil power of sucking people’s minds and making them only concentrate on stalking people’s profiles on Facebook and catching up with the latest Justin Bieber gossip on Twitter with fellow Believers... I mean, who else here has a problem with checking his/her phone every five seconds for Facebook and/or Twitter, hm?

And most of all...

Evil #3: Social media is an evil procrastination tool

This is by far the worst side of social media. Being a procrastination tool. And an amazing one at that! It’s so easy to log onto your account and spend time on it for hours and hours, forgetting all of your other responsibilities like homework, projects, and so on. In fact, I’m pretty sure social media is the one that brought procrastination into human existence, that evil thing.

I have nothing against social media. In fact, I adore Twitter. But I think it’s a good thing to keep this evil side of social media (dun dun duuuuun) in mind as we go out our daily business on Facebook and such. (Mwahahahahaha.)

Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody!


-Barista Mia-

Image: Ed Yourdon Read more »

I tend to get into movies. Like really, really get into them. So it's no surprise, to myself at least, that when I finally watched Titanic this Christmas, it made an impact (yes, I know I'm late 'getting on the boat', 'that ship has sailed', etc. ;) ). Although Rose Dewitt Bukater and Jack Dawson are fictional characters, the Titanic was real, and besides that, who wasn't at least a little bit touched by Jack and Rose's romance, fictional they may be? I could go on and on about how much I loved it, or how great the soundtrack is, or even add my two cents to the whole 'could Rose and Jack both have fit on the door?' debate, but I won't. What I will do is say some things that Titanic has taught me, personally.

"You learn to take life as it comes to you...to make each day count."

Besides the emotional foreshadowing, this line is excellent in its meaning. Jack is explaining to all the rich, emotionless people around them who waste days on small talk and parties that life can be so much more. And you don't know how much life you have left at any one time. I know most of you reading this are young. You probably haven't thought about this much. But life is short, really short when you think about it. That's not to scare you. That's to spur you on to not procrastinate, not waste time leaving your dreams unfulfilled. It's almost new years- what if your resolution this year was to do whatever it is you've been waiting for your whole life? I'm not suggesting you be rash, or run away with the first cute boy named Jack (lol), but I am encouraging you not to wait on things that you shouldn't, that you're only waiting on because you're afraid of failure. So go, try out for that play, or talk to the new girl at school. It doesn't have to be life-changing for anyone but you. Go make your own luck. ;)

"Promise me...that you won't give up, no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless...and never let go of that promise."

This is an extension of the above, and one of the most heart-rending and iconic scenes of the film. It might seem that it doesn't apply to most people or most circumstances- wasn't Jack dying, and Rose in danger of dying, when he said this? But it doesn't just apply to that. It applies to your dreams as well. I recently have had a friend who is into films, who has thought of giving up. I myself have often felt like giving up, especially if I don't know what comes next in my novel or I can't see my acting dream coming true anytime soon. But if you just give up, the chance of your dreams ever coming true at all is very slim. So you can't give up. And when you want to, you have to tell yourself 'I'll never let go'.

"Rose, you're no picnic, alright? You're a spoiled little brat, even, but under that, you're the most amazingly, astounding, wonderful girl, woman that I've ever known..."

Have you ever thought about who you are, really thought about it? I personally sometimes have a hard time telling who I am. I'm twenty, and a lot of you are younger, and this is the time in our lives when we often do some serious thinking about who we are, what we're about, and how we fit into the world. I believe that, like Rose, everyone has things about themselves that need 'fixing', and other things that need to be let shine through their whole being. Nobody's perfect. Sometimes we might realize we're shunning friends, or being grumpy with our family, or maybe we're spoiled brats, too. I know I've fit that phrase more than once. But then there's that part of you that's the wonderful, amazing woman (or man) and that should never, ever change. That should be what shines out about you. Let other people see who you are, really are, and if there's something not good about you that you know needs changed, then do it so that others can see who you really are, and not get stuck on that. Not everyone is as good at 'seeing people' as Jack Dawson, but thank goodness for those who are (I have a friend or two like that myself). And try to be that way to others; see past human imperfections and into who the person really is. You might like the new view.

It's almost the new year. This time, instead of making the clichéd new year's resolution that you won't keep, why not make one and stick to it? Something that'll make a real difference and help you to make your life more what you want it to be? Because it's not up to me to save you. "...only you can do that." Not that I'm saying you need saving, but you know what I mean.


-Barista Nicole-

Image: still from Titanic (1997) Read more »

It's the end of the year and that means a lot of things are due before you start fresh for 2014. For me, personally, I have a bunch of college applications due that I should've finished a few weeks ago, if possible. But it wasn't possible as I had so many things to do. HOWEVER! I have finally finished writing and editing my essays to perfection and I am ready to send my apps. Obviously, I procrastinated a little too much (with an excuse, though! So not really.), but in the meantime, I've been picking up tips on how to work with a deadline, which I should've used but didn't. Here's to hoping you're able to put these tips to use and finish all your work (homework, college apps, familial thingamabobs, etc.) before they're due!

Divide your work into manageable sections

If you don't do this, your work is just going to seem like this gigantic blob of things to do and it does NOT look pretty. Instead, divide up your work into sections and work on those.

Set deadlines for those sections

Yay for more deadlines! But seriously. Setting deadlines for each section you need to work on can really help you from stopping procrastination from edging its way back into your life. Plus! These smaller sections are much easier to handle, so deadlines aren't that scary.

Ask for help if you just can't do it

Ask your family, friends, teachers, anybody you know who is always willing to give you a hand. Two heads are better than one, they say.

Reward yourself!

Rewarding yourself is really important. Not only does it make you feel good, but it makes for a great incentive. If you have a coat you want to buy (I do!), keep that in mind as you finish all your work by the deadline. And once you're done, go to the mall and buy that thing and make yourself happy.


-Barista Mia-

Image: Shelby H. Read more »