Weekly Recap: May 27- June 2

I know y’all have been missing the Week in my Life videos, but I am genuinely way too busy to add that to my plate. Instead, I have decided to do weekly recaps here on the blog so y’all can still catch a glimpse of my personal life!

What I Wore to my Internship this Week:

What I Did at my Internship this Week:

This week I worked three days instead of the usual two. As always, I did a few try-on videos that you can find on @summerbirdboutique ‘s IGTV (date night looks, summer denim, and cocktail outfit ideas) and a few Instagram stories that you can find under their “Style” highlight. What was unique about this week is that I got to completely creative direct and photograph a photoshoot, but unfortunately there was some miscommunication about the time available and we were not able to get as much done as I had liked. Since most of my work with Summerbird is easier to show than write about, I definitely recommend you follow them on Instagram!

School this Week:

This is the first post of this kind, so let me explain my course load this summer. As you know, I have an internship and I am getting school credit for the internship, which requires that I take a class. The internship class isn’t too demanding on a day to day basis. However, I had to add another course to receive financial aid and avoid paying ridiculous fees. I needed an Interdisciplinary Perspectives GEP course so I browsed the online courses available since I am living at home this summer. I wanted a course called “The Art of Happiness” but it was full so I opted for “Technological Catastrophes” (STS). I know, these are complete opposites. So far STS has had some challenging moments, but this week I actually enjoyed because we had to pick a catastrophe in our field of study to talk about in the discussion form. I chose the Pakistan Factory Fires and here is what I wrote:

On September 11, 2012, Pakistan’s worst industrial accident in history occurred when an Ali Enterprises textile factory in Karachi caught fire.

The cause of the factory fire is not entirely clear. But they believe that their power sources may have contributed. In Pakistan, governments have been unable to provide a reliable power supply. Because of this, factories have to have their own generators, powered by diesel or petrol, if they want to avoid regular, lengthy power cuts. Since these generators are not government regulated, it is possible that it contributed to the catastrophe or that an electrical short caused it. However, others believe extortionists caused the fire because Mr. Aziz owed more than $100,000. The factories are also completely overpopulated with textiles, so a small fire could have quickly taken over. Liaqat Hussain, a worker that survived with burns all over his body, stated that “Within two minutes there was fire in the entire factory.” Muhammad Aslam, a survivor that saved himself by jumping from a third-floor window, stated that he heard two loud blasts followed by the factory filling with smoke. He states that “Only one entrance was open. All the others were closed.” New York Times reports that locking the doors and windows is “common practice to ensure that workers do not leave the premises before their shift ends.” Kik, a jean company linked to the worst three garment factory disaster in recent history, had garments in this factory and it was reported that plant managers ordered the gates closed and forced the workers to stay during the fire in order to attempt to save piles of KiK’s jeans.

More than 300 workers were killed because most of the windows and doors in the building had been barred and locked. Many workers attempted to escape by flinging themselves out any open window they could find, particularly those high enough up to be considered “too high for bars,” before being consumed by the flames, but onlookers state that these attempts ended in serious injury and death. Those stuck in the “death trap” of a building either came out with third-degree burns or died of smoke inhalation.

The owner of Karachi factory, Abdul Aziz and his nephew, Shahid Bhaila were questioned and a murder case was opened by the police since the exits were closed off. They were arrested but later released on bail. This incident raised concerns about the lack of regulation in an industry that makes up so much of Pakistan’s economy. When it comes to fast fashion factories, especially those in other countries, making money quickly takes priority over the safety of the employees. Employees are overworked, underpaid, and put in dangerous situations when they are exposed to unstable buildings, unreliable equipment, and toxic chemicals. One interesting fact is that although this situation raised concerns about the industry, the textile industry continued to increase from 7.4% GDP in 2011 to 9.5% GDP in 2013. KiK company, the only publicly affiliated brand, paid out millions of dollars to fund loss of earnings, medical and allied care, and rehabilitation costs to injured survivors and families.

Since the direct cause is unknown, it is hard to state whether the accident occurred due to mechanical or human error. If it was an electrical issue, we can conclude a mechanical error. However, the deaths of the workers can definitely be pointed to human fault. The bars and locks on the doors directly caused workers to die, and the owners that put enforced these exit restrictions are to blame. The lack of regulation in the industry is also a human fault and contributed to the catastrophe since the described working conditions are clearly not suitable and the factory was overpacked with clothing.

What I Did During my Free Time this Week:

Mostly schoolwork! I did spend Friday attempting to take photos with no success, which always sucks. Saturday I went with my grandmother that I call Grammy, like I always do, and we took photos that actually turned out well! Make sure you are following me on Instagram, @brightestofthebunch, to see them all! We also popped into my favorite boutique Alexander Brooke, and I picked up a super cute tie dye dress! Unfortunately, my fav girl Ashley had already left the store, but I was still super excited to get that dress! Later in the day, we went to a graduation party for one of the girls that go to Grammy’s church and I got to wear the dress! Sunday has been the ultimate lazy day, which is why this blog post is getting up so late. I’ve just been having one of those days where I feel like locking myself in my room, under the covers, in the dark, and staying there all day. So that’s exactly what I did! Well, other than going to get my favorite Japanese restaurant, Oishii, making brownies, and trying (huge emphasis on trying) out a new lower ab work out I found on YouTube! I know, brownies+ Japanese is extremely contradictory to an ab work out, but this girl loves food (especially ice cream) and wants to look good in her swimsuits this summer (I’m actually considering ordering some low rise ones, so this is kind of serious). In all honesty though, trying to follow this YouTube workout showed me how out of shape I am. I cheered and played tennis in high school, but have basically done nothing since starting college. Y’all, I cannot even hold my legs in the air without bending them. I’ve got some work to do.

What I Bought this Week:

This week I picked up the Alexander Brooke dress I mentioned and a swimsuit from Nasty Gal that I will link below for y’all! If you choose to purchase through the link, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you so thank you to those of you that shop through my links! I have my eye on several other things at the moment, but only pulled the trigger on these this week!

What I’ve Been Watching this Week (TV & YouTube Addict Here!!):

The other day I was browsing Cierra Ramirez, also known as Marianna Foster,’s Instagram because I am recently in love with her after rewatching The Foster’s. Anyways, I was browsing her account when I noticed a post about a show called Good Trouble, featuring both Cierra and Mia Mitchell, also known as Calli Foster. I thought it was really odd that the two actresses would star in another show together as different characters, but then I stalked Good Trouble’s Instagram and saw Mom and Momma from The Foster’s. After all of this, I realized Good Trouble is just an extension of The Foster’s and that I HAD to use another one of my email addresses to score a fresh free month of Hulu to binge this series. The series only has two seasons so far so that took me less than a week, but a new season starts June 18th! It also has Beau Mirchoff, also known as Matty in Awkward, which is cool but also messes with my mind because I will always think of him as Matty.

After finishing Good Trouble, I decided to watch Mommy Dead and Dearest, a show based on the true story of Gypsy Rose and the murder of her mother DeeDee. If you are unfamiliar with this case, the basis of the story is that DeeDee has Munchausen By Proxy, meaning she is convinced her perfectly healthy daughter is suffering from many diseases and often fakes, exaggerates, or induces an illness to attract attention. DeeDee treats Gypsy like a child her whole life, forces her to use a wheelchair, convinces her she’s allergic to sugar, makes her use a feeding tube, and much much more. Eventually, Gypsy gets older (despite her mom insisting she is still only 14/15) and gets a computer. She meets people online and decides she wants her freedom, then conspires with her online boyfriend to kill her mother. Sorry if that’s a spoiler to you, but this case is so well known and already knowing what happens truly does hinder the show when watching. In fact, I avoided the show for a long time because I already knew about the case and didn’t think I needed to watch it, but it is so good.

Now I have moved on to re-watching all of America’s Next Top Model. I have always loved ANTM, but now I am obsessed with watching all the different photoshoots they do. I am only on season 5 out of 24, but I am loving every minute of it.

I have not had a ton of time to watch YouTube this week, but I did download a podcast I normally watch on YouTube and listen to it on the way to work Thursday. The podcast is called Mile Higher Podcast and it is Kendall Rae and her husband Josh. I’ve watched Kendall’s YouTube channel for a long time (she introduced me to my love of conspiracy and crime), but the podcast is my favorite thing to watch/listen to. They always open with current interesting topics, this week was NASA’s recent announcement about returning to the moon by 2024 and building a station so we will be able to stay longer and travel farther. Ya know, since our planet is dying and we need to explore other options. Then they get into the core of the podcast which can range from topics like true crime, conspiracies, aliens, mysteries, missing people, astrology, and more.