by Andrea Alemán
04. Note from the Editor
06. 2024 Outfit Recap
11. Edibles: Go-To-Lazy-Adult-At-Home Meal
13. Ornamentation: Candle Holders
15. Publication: Panorama
16. Dark Days at 6 PM
17. High School Self
18. Artista: FZ Dibujos
23. How I know I am getting old
25. Obsession: Board Games
26. Archives: Twenty-Tens
This edition is all about getting old Do you feel like you’re getting old? Do you embrace it? I think we must embrace it through fear and uncertainty, which is how I feel. Can we stay young forever? With spring the flowers bloom, can we also bloom again this spring?
I wanted to start with some old news and that is my 2024 outfit recap We must cover all the charts - check them out on page 6. Who knew we had to figure out our own food for the rest of our lives? I didn’t! I have a lot of lazy meals, and so do my friends- see what they cook when they’re lazy in the Edibles section In the Ornamentation section I cover candle holders When I was a kid I didn’t understand candle holders, now? I’m not sure I do either but they are necessary In the Publication section, we cover the last UTPA published magazine. RIP Panorama. There is a short poem about getting old on page 16 It’s been 10 years since I graduated high school, I reminisce a little about my odd high school, check it out on page 17 It seems like this note is full of questions, just like the characters in the drawings of the Artist this month, FZ (this section is in
Spanish) I know I am getting old because I appreciate so many more little things, see if you agree through a word puzzle on page 23. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen me playing board games, which means it’s time to highlight my addiction to them in the Obsession section Last, but not least, I bring back the 2010s in the Archives section, predicting they will be trendy in 2025
This is our two year mark with Sandwich. Sandwich is also growing up! Can’t believe I have continued to make this zine and that you are here reading it Thank you for all your love and support over the last two years, it means a lot What will Sandwich bring next? Is this the end? TBD!
Sandwich was born out of my love for art and the commingling of oddities in life
with love,
Andrea D Alemán Editorial Director
As promised, here’s the breakdown of the 152 outfits I documented on my Instagram stories in 2024 (January 4th to December 15th) I wanted to show how I reuse and style the same clothes in different ways I am an outfit repeater and that’s ok! It was an immense task to document all the outfits There is a giant spreadsheet where I filled out, literally individually typed out, every little detail of the outfits
I have found that my favorite tops are typically of solid color, no prints, and sleeveless Now, when I go into the store I am more willing to invest in basic pieces, even if they’re all white and black. Here’s a breakdown of all the documented tops. I didn’t really make any weird charts for the Tops section because I wasn’t really interested in anything else other than the most popular things
61 different types of tops 1
Out of the 152 days, 139 days I wore a blouse/top 2
Popularity 3
Most Popular top was the Fashion Brand Company black sleeveless top, worn 7 times a.
Followed by the Old Navy beige t-shirt, worn 6 times b
There is a 7 way tie on third place, each shirt worn 5 times: c
Fashion Brand Company museum blue top i.
Target off-the-shoulder black long sleeve ii.
Fashion Brand Company multicolor black sleeveless top iii
Breakfast Friend graphic t-shirt iv
Zara boat neck white sleeveless top v Park City Utah gray blue sweatshirt vi
A similar story follows for the bottoms, where I tend to pick basics over crazy stuff I lied a little in my Instagram video, where I said the most popular bottom was the Fashion Brand Company skirt, which it was - but it tied on first place with the Ann Taylor black slacks.
Here’s the breakdown:
32 different types of bottoms 1
Out of the 152 days, 135 days I wore a bottom 2
Popularity 3
Tied on first place are the Ann Taylor black slacks and the FBC black ink mini skirt, worn 13 times each a
On second place we have the GAP lightwash jeans, worn 12 times b.
On third place we have a tie again between the Old Navy military green leggings and the NY&Company long black skirt - thirfted, worn 9 times each
The Ann Taylor Black Slacks had a strong start at the beginning of the year, but I stopped wearing them in August The FBC skirt made its first appearance in June and I have continued to wear it ever since Almost as if I stopped wearing the black slacks and picked up the FBC skirt
I have found that I like smaller purses more than larger purses Larger purses I typically use for going into the office, but then again, I don’t know if totes would be considered purses.
Here’s the breakdown: 27 different types of purses 1
Out of the 152 days, 122 days I documented a purse 2 Popularity 3
The number one purse was the Breakfast Friend olive purse, worn 22 times a Tied on second place are the lime green Baggu shoulder purse and the Old Navy beige fanny pack, worn 19 times each b
I think these are perfect everyday purses because of their sizes and comfortable designs All three going over the shoulder, with a slim fit for essentials and just a little more.
Although I went through my Ojos de Andrea jewelry phase, in 2024 there was a pair of earrings that seemed to be glued to my ears
Here’s the breakdown: 16 different types of earrings 1.
Out of the 152 days, 130 days I wore earrings 2 Popularity 3
I went through all the outfits, and apart from documenting every little thing, I also scored them on a scale from 1 to 10 I didn’t give any outfit a 1, and only gave one outfit a 10. This was all subjective.
Here’s the breakdown: 47 outfits were given the most popular score of 6 1
c.
Dominating with 57% are the Nordstrom Rack Silver Earrings (Eclipse Hoop Earrings by Sterling Forever) a Followed by the Swarovski stud silver earrings b Gold earrings made a come back in 2024, making them third place on the chart The Madewell earrings are also gold, so that’s another 4.6% for gold earrings.
There seems to be a trend in all of my choices, statement simplicity
On the left side of the scale, from 1 to 5, there are a total of 55 outfits 2
On the right side of the scale, from 6 to 10, there are 97 outfits Meaning, for the most part, my outfits passed 3. Here I am showing the outfit that scored a 10. There’s a lot going on but I think the styling is perfect The textures and the colors go well together, and my attitude is giving it all
I also documented random stuff, like how I styled my hair This was pretty split among different types of styles, but the most popular was just hair down with no styling I guess I do like to play around with my hair, and it keeps me optimistic for what I will want to try in the future
55% of the time I was not wearing makeup in the pictures In reality, this percentage is larger because the rest of the undocumented days I was probably just at home with no makeup
I wore 12 different types of dresses repeating some a couple of times In total, it was 16 different dresses Summer was the peak time for dress wearing
Here’s the breakdown:
On first place, we have gym with 17.1%
2
1 On second place, we have HEB? with 16.4%
3
On third place there is a two way tie, with 11 2%, between Office and Bar/Food/Coffee
Considering that most of the documented outfits are for the gym, HEB, and the office; it’s good that the following percentages are for a food/party/concert related events I say HEB with a question mark because it’s hard to really know where I was going all the time I don’t take pictures at the grocery store.
Here’s the breakdown:
36 different types of shoes 1
2.
At number 1, worn 20 times, are the Target Beige Slip on Flats; peaking in summer worn, 7 times
3
At number 2, worn 16 times, are the NB Beige Blue Sneakers; peaking in the Spring, worn 5 times
4
At number 3, worn 15 times, are the Adidas White sneakers; peaking in fall, worn 7 times
After the summer, the Target Beige Slip on Flats and the NB Beige Blue Sneakers dipped, and the Adidas White Sneakers rose to its heighest point in the Fall.
Overall, it was a fun project for myself in 2024 I do think sometimes there was some pressure to find unique pieces or to style things for Instagram. Since I’ve been off Instagram this year, I feel less pressure to dress for the app You need to watch "The Alarming Trend of Unwearable Clothes" by Bliss Foster on YouTube
I also think I learned a lot about my style with this project I like basics a lot and I didn’t always prioritize them Simplifying my wardrobe is scary but it’s time to accept what we like I will, obviously, always continue to play with clothing and style. After this project, I also feel more comfortable investing in clothing. I think I was afraid to commit to things but now I know what I like and what I will actually wear
In America there is an infatutation with food, and there is a bigger infatuation with cooking TV shows that reward the “best food” When in reality, food is about nurturing our bodies and gathering with people Food doesn’t have to be perfect to be consumed (check out How Cooking Can Change Your Life - Michael Pollan on Youtube on the RSA Channel)
Once you live on your own you have to cook for yourself, you have to figure out what to eat every day for the rest of your life. Starting to cook can be scary and intimidating if
nobody is guiding you or if you’ve never even approached a stove or a knife But nowadays you can look up recipes on Google or even on TikTok
Nonetheless, we don’t always have the time to create an extraordinary meal since we are always working or busy So I’m sure all of us have a go-to-lazy-adult-athome meal, a reliable meal that will fill you up, does not take too much effort and you can still enjoy For me it’s a Sandwich I asked my friends what their lazy adult meal was and this is what they said:
sandwich with chips eggs with
papas a la mexicana
rotisserie chicken from heb and pico de gallo
chorizo and egg tacos
banana shake
creamy pasta with chicken dino nuggets
choriqueso with salsa
ramen
pasta with tomato sauce
When I was little, my mom had unlit candles around the house and I never understood their purpose Now, as an adult, I have unlit candles around my house; their purpose? - aesthetics. This is my chart of candle holders I would or would not buy (featuring some cats). These are my opinions and you are entitled to like the things I do not like.
In the Sping of 2015, Panorama was published as UTPA’s last student magazine I got a copy of it when I started college, not knowing the significance of it I don’t even know that I had read it in the last ten years. So recently I sat down and skimmed through it and read the Editor’s Note
More than anything this magazine is a record of history, of how students felt as UTPA was transitioning into UTRGV, how the mascot was going to be replaced and possibly forgotten. Students expressed their discontent with the decision to make the change They were weary of what Panorama would become and its brand under the new UT system. I had the opportunity to work in the new school’s magazine, now Pulse, and we did our best to create something that was special. It’s wild to think it’s been 10 years since this magazine was published, and how many of the stories remain relevant after all this time
I don’t do well with the changing of the seasons, particularly fall and winter. Fall reminds me of school. Winter makes me sad Spring and summer are always fun, they bring flowers and the sun. But the fall brings rain and weird weather The winter brings dark days at 6 pm and no sunlight I sit here and look around me at the life I have created for myself. Can I romanticize this? Is romanticizing my life dramatic? What to do on this foggy evening of Thursday December 5th, other than think about the Christmas gift I don’t know what to get for that gift exchange. A feeling of loneliness and aging comes over me. I just saw a photo of Silvia Pinal when she was young next to one from a few weeks before she passed Her wrinkly face, not looking like anything she looked liked when she was young. I thought about my face and then my grandma’s. When does your face stop looking like it did before? It all happened so fast. When did we graduate high school and college? Where has the time gone and where are we going next? Lately it has been hard thinking about the future because I fear loss. I fear my life won’t be what it has always been I get a knot in my throat and I can’t breathe, so I distract myself with some youtube videos and instagram posts
Where were you in the Spring of 2015? I was graduating high school. I still remember getting on the bus that took us to our graduation reception venue, to practice walking on stage. They also made a picnic for us after the practice and I think we got to go home early I remember thinking, this is the last time I am going to be in the same room as these people whom I have shared the last 4 years with
I have always been a shy and introverted person, I didn’t really branch out of my friend group in high school I regretted it after graduation I never really cared about getting excellent grades, my parents said they weren’t perfect students so they didn’t expect excellence from me, and I took advantage of that by getting C’s and B’s (obviously A’s too) My last year of high school I took calculus, and in my high school you only needed 4 math credits to graduate, and calculus was my 5th math credit; therefore I didn’t care about passing I remember getting a 68 in my calculus final, and this is the reason I say I regretted not branching out to more people, because I recall not-sobright kids passing the final and I thought to myself, “they passed because they had friends to study with or they had friends who gave them the answers ”
For many years I had nightmares or good dreams about high school Sometimes I think about the days with power outages, we were just running around the school with no power I don’t know if that was real or just a dream
I went to a weird school where we were allowed to wear whatever we wanted We didn’t have sports or band We only had art with teachers who never liked what we made. Our school was so Dungeons and Dragons coded that the seniors would host a renaissance festival before the Thanksgiving break Our senior field trip was a trip to the renaissance festival in Houston to get inspired
My experience with high school was very naive If I could go back I would tell myself to talk to more people, to go to more parties, to live a little more I would also tell myself to pay attention in classes, especially history But I can’t change anything and that’s ok too
High school me would have never imagined how far we’ve come I am grateful for high school Andi for being naive, shy, and giving it her all
FZ es uno de mis artistas favoritos que encontré e Instagram Me gusta lo gritty que son sus dibujos, mucho mas, me encantan sus frases Tan simple c sean, con pocas palabras, sus frases llegan hasta corazón En el proceso de escoger las fotos para i aquí, fue muy difícil escoger solo algunas En lo particular, me llama la atención el personaje en el espejo, teniendo una conversación con si mismo dibujo de “sos un genio, haces genialidades?” ha s mi background en el teléfono por varios meses C que me gustan sus preguntas existenciales, sin respuesta
@fzdibujos
1. Pills - As a kid you never take pills, now it’s normal to take pills, maybe bc you need them or maybe not
2 Calling - Calling my parents more often
3 Understanding - Understanding my parents and sometimes their decisions
4. Appreciate - Appreciating a home made meal.
5. Moments - Trying to enjoy the moment with friends.
6. Cholesterol - Worrying about having high cholesterol
7 Gym - Finding value in working out
8 Health - Trying to eat healthy food
9. Parties - Throwing parties like in the movies
10. Naked - Naked art in the restroom.
11. Plans - Making plans one month in advance.
I grew up playing board games with my family but it had been a while since I had played anything besides cards until 2022, when I moved in with my roommates They are big board game fans and they made me one too I think the way you act in board games says a lot about your personality and how you make decisions in life As I fast approach 30, board games still make me feel young. Losing myself in the game can lead to laughs and let me forget about my everyday problems
There are so many board games out there, here is a list of the ones I have played and that you should check out!
I got some new board games for Christmas, that I am dying to try with friends I recommend you purchase board games during black Friday because they’re usually on sale, also check out Half Price Books
My favorites and why:
1
Ticket to Ride: This is one of my favorite board games because it’s easy to play and a great introduction to board games
2
Secret Hitler: This is like among us but in person It’s a good game for a large group of friends
3. Catan: In my opinion is the better Monopoly After Ticket to Ride, I recommend you purchase Catan
Horrified: This game will make you feel like you’re in a Scooby Doo episode. It’s very nerdy and there are so many rules, the closest to Dungeons and Dragons I’ve played
4 Forbidden Island: This game is easy to learn and fun for a small group of friends. 5.
6
Betrayal at House on the Hill: This game always terrifies me because I don’t want to be the bad guy but it’s fun nonetheless
I predict that in 2025, the 2010s will have a HUGE comeback In 2024, we saw a resurgence of low-rise jeans and even skirts over pants, meaning the 2000s were big What’s next? 2010s, girl! Here are my reasons and some predictions
2.
Tumblr & WeHeartIt: I am currently taking a break from Instagram but before I left I started to see in my feed posts from weheartit and tumblr. I also saw these collages with outfits that you would wear to a date with Niall from One Direction (iykyk)
1 DJs: I just watched the avicii documentary, who was huge during the 2010s As we have settled back into the world, post pandemic, people have returned to the clubs and djs are everywhere I predict this will be the year of the djs, they have been building and working on their sets for the last 4 years and this will be their time to shine
More Music 3
b
4
5
One Direction: We are also coming off the passing of Liam Payne, ex member of One Direction, so there could be a mini One Direction reunion.
a Katy Perry: She was the first guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race Even though her latest album was a wreck, she is trying to make a comeback.
c
JB: With all the allegations that PDiddy had this past year, I heard there was a documentary in the works, and you know who is involved - Justin Bieber.
d
Other: I predict Rhianna, Ed Sheeran, and Bruno Mars are gonna come back with an album
TV: Gossip Girl was recently added to Netflix and I saw some people post about it This show is a time capsule
YouTube: Crazy prediction, but I think long term content on youtube will be back I think people are used to podcasts, which are particularly long, so this makes sense for longer videos
Victoria’s Secret: We hadn’t had a Victoria’s Secret Fashion show in so long, due to controversy, but we had one last year and it was a hit Meaning, it will be back in 2025 6 Politics + Clothes: Not to get into politics, but with Trump as president, people will reminisce on the “better times” when Obama was president During this time the attire was super casual, normcore People have been drifting away from loud clothing A YouTuber I like, Mina Le, recently shared a video about her dressing down, instead of dressing up as before Which really surprised me and is very telling for what’s to come. 7.
Scrapbooks: I see left and right girls doing collages, scrapbooks, vision boards and this screams Wreck This Journal to me. 8
These are mainly big things I remember from the 2010s, but there were obviously so many more. What would you have included? Do you think this will actually happen in 2025?
