Today's post is going to be a bit more of a serious one. I don't believe that I have ever written anything on this subject before, so I apologize if I'm a bit awkward...
In the past five years, I have lost two very important people in my life to the horrible disease that is cancer. First, my Aunt Lisa to skin cancer and a few years later, my Nanna to lung cancer. (Both on my mom's side of the family.) My father has had a cancerous mole removed, and I myself have had about 6 pre-cancerous moles removed from various places on my body. It's a very, scary thing. Because their is a history of cancer on both sides of my family, all of us are required to get a skin check every six months. So, helping people with this disease has always been very dear to my heart.
Recently, I've been introduced to the story of a brave little girl named Maliyah by her mother Tazz Jones. Maliyah is five years old and is unfortunately another person in my life who has been diagnosed with another form of cancer, neuroblastoma.
With the majority of her treatments taking place in New York City, Maliyah and her mother are having to constantly travel from Pittsburgh to the Big Apple. This alone can cost so much money. When you add the costs of the actual treatments on top of it, the amount is truly unbearable.
But, fortunately for us, there is a way that we can all help this beautiful little girl get her treatments without having to worry about the costs! Tazz Jones has created an online shop where we can purchase beautiful jewelry and all of the proceeds will go towards helping Maliyah beat cancer! Isn't that awesome?! I'm so excited to be able to help share this opportunity to with you. Hopefully, with our help, Maliyah can become cancer free!
If you are interested in helping out, please check out the shop here!
xx
If you are new to my blog, then you should know that I write about beauty, fashion, music, and life for Maniac Magazine which is so much fun! I truly love every second of it. But, I've been wanting to do some more fictional creative writing to stir up the pot.
I am also a HUGE fan of Christmas. I have been watching the past few years of Zoe Sugg and Tanya Burr's vlogmas videos every day for the past month (I know it's early!) and listening to Christmas music in the shower. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAAAAYS! (Anybody know who sings that?!) My boyfriend is extremely annoyed with me, but whatever! It's the most wonderful time of the year, and it's only 5 months away!
So with my mind full of ideas and high on the thought of Christmas being so soon (lol), I texted my friend Katherine, who is an AMAZING artist (YES, SHE DID THE REINDEER PICTURED ABOVE. ISN'T HE GORGEOUS?!) and half-jokingly said "let's write a children's book". Her response was entirely serious and 100% for the idea. And that was it. We got to work right away and are now so pumped to be writing a children's Christmas book!
The story follows a retired reindeer far past his glory days who is searching for a way to continue to bring happiness to children! We've launched a Go Fund Me campaign in the attempt to raise some of the money that we need to publish this book in time for Thanksgiving! If you're interested in learning more, PLEASE don't hesitate to check out the campaign and make a donation! We've included some pretty awesome rewards for anyone who helps us out, so we think it's definitely worth it!
Also, if you can't afford to donate, don't worry! You can always just share the link to the campaign and help us spread the word!
Thank you all in advance!
xx
Ahhh! Back to blogging! I told myself that I would be more consistent and it seems that I've failed :( BUT, I blame that on how busy I've been lately. With two jobs, an internship, and self-publishing my children's book (WHAT?!?!?!?! More on that later...), I've barely had time to think, let alone write anything longer than a "how was work?" text to my boyfriend. But, I'm back! And with lots of exciting things to share!
Last Thursday, Wiz Khalifa, Fall Out Boy, and Hoodie Allen paid Pittsburgh (technically Burgettstown) a visit on their Boys of Zummer tour and I got to attend! Not only did I get to see the show, but since I've been working with Maniac, I scored a press pass! That means that I got to photography the artists up close and personal! (Pete Wentz all up in my face!!!) While I did only get to shoot the first three songs of each performer, I was given a "reviewer's ticket" as well, which basically just meant that I could stay and enjoy the whole show! It was a whole ton of fun and I snapped over 1,000 pictures! The only thing that I thought was weird was how uninterested most of the other members of the media seemed in the show. Maybe it's because it was my first time and I'm a genuine fan of these artists, but I was psyched! Most of them didn't even watch the rest of the performances; they just sat in the pavilion and waited until the next set. Weird. But, whatever! I did write a full review of the tour, but I won't post that here. So if you want to check it out, you can head over to Maniac's site!
Last Thursday, Wiz Khalifa, Fall Out Boy, and Hoodie Allen paid Pittsburgh (technically Burgettstown) a visit on their Boys of Zummer tour and I got to attend! Not only did I get to see the show, but since I've been working with Maniac, I scored a press pass! That means that I got to photography the artists up close and personal! (Pete Wentz all up in my face!!!) While I did only get to shoot the first three songs of each performer, I was given a "reviewer's ticket" as well, which basically just meant that I could stay and enjoy the whole show! It was a whole ton of fun and I snapped over 1,000 pictures! The only thing that I thought was weird was how uninterested most of the other members of the media seemed in the show. Maybe it's because it was my first time and I'm a genuine fan of these artists, but I was psyched! Most of them didn't even watch the rest of the performances; they just sat in the pavilion and waited until the next set. Weird. But, whatever! I did write a full review of the tour, but I won't post that here. So if you want to check it out, you can head over to Maniac's site!
My week's excitement continued on Saturday, the 4th of July! Though I did miss out on being with my family this year (the 4th is my sister's birthday and we always celebrate together), I had an amazing afternoon and evening with Eric and his family! We live in Pittsburgh (for anyone who didn't know), and spent a good part of the day watching our Pirates take on the Cleveland Indians! I thought that a baseball game was a good way to celebrate America's birthday (it is our pastime after all). We had a suite at the game, so we had the option of hanging out inside on couches or out on our little "porch" area. Eric and I spent most of our time outside watching the game, but did venture inside to enjoy some complimentary food (hotdogs, pirogies, wings) and dessert! I had an ice cream sundae and E went for a delicious slice of cheesecake (his favorite)! To top off all of that food and fun, the Bucs won the game 1 to 0!
Later that evening we met up with Eric's sister and walked over to their old high school where we took in some gorgeous fireworks! I'm pretty picky when it comes to fireworks' shows, but this one was incredible! And being there with E only made it better!
How did you spend your Independence Day weekend?! I'd love to know!
xx
I cry when I'm surprised. It's my natural reaction and I can't control it...but this week, I may have shed a few more tears than usual. This past Monday, I had a particularly horrible night at work. My anxiety was acting up and I just truly wasn't feeling comfortable being away from my bed. So, when I finally arrived back at my apartment and sat down in front of the TV with Eric, it was a relief. But I had NO IDEA, how much better my night was about to get.
"What do you want to do this weekend?" Eric asked me, during a commercial of some sporting event or another. And since I was feeling sad and dramatic, I responded with: "Probably just listen to a lot of Taylor Swift and pretend I'm at the concert." (T.S. was scheduled to perform here in Pittsburgh on Saturday [yesterday] and I was pretty upset about not being able to afford tickets this year.) But then he looked at me funny and asked why we would have to pretend to be at the show. I was pretty confused UNTIL HE PULLED TICKETS OUT OF HIS POCKET. And that's when I cried. A lot. I called my mom sobbing and she screamed at me because she thought that something was wrong.
(Note: Eric listens to pretty much only metal and gangsta rap, so the fact that he bought tickets for us to go to see Taylor Swift together kind of made my heart swell.)
So, after having an excitement bomb dropped in my lap, I was pretty excited this past week leading up to it. I spent the whole week planning out what to wear and listening to 1989 on repeat. I went shopping on Friday to pick out the perfect outfit and after struggling for over an hour at Forever 21, I found everything I wanted down the street at H&M. I combined a pair of slim-fit, black, high-waisted trousers with a white, sporty, crop-top and a pair of cute and cozy slip on sneakers! (I threw on my old, black leather jacket later when it got dark and chilly!)
We started out the night at the casino and had a few pre-concert drinks and then made our way down to Heinz Field! The show was AMAZING. (Mama Swift walked by me!) After beautiful performances from Shawn Mendes and Vance Joy (who kind of looks like Kit Harrington/Jon Snow if you squint), Taylor Swift finally came on! She kicked her setlist off with "Welcome to New York" and played through most of the album, hitting some of my personal favorites ("Clean", "Wonderland" and "New Romantics"), tossed in some oldies ("Love Story", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", and even a bit of "Enchanted"), and brought out Little Big Town as her special guest! Their collab on "Pontoon" was insane and just so, so fun!
While her stage show was as incredible as ever (the costumes literally made my jaw drop), what brought it all together for me was the integration of light-up bracelets. Even though Eric's didn't work (super sad face), the effect they had on the rest of the crowd was breathtaking! Each person in attendance was given one of the clear bands upon entry. They lit up and even changed colors and speeds with the songs! I've never seen anything like it!
With loads of confetti and fireworks, Taylor closed out the show dancing and singing to "Shake It Off" which of course caused all of us in the crowd to go wild! (I may have gone a little overboard with the dancing...) After the show, exhausted and happy, E and I swooped into the grocery store for some late night snacks and headed home.
As cliched as this may sound, it was the absolute perfect night.
Let me know if you've been or are going to any of Taylor Swift's shows!
Let me know if you've been or are going to any of Taylor Swift's shows!
xx
Good morning! I've just woken up and thought I would write a little post. (I really need to get myself on a regular blogging timeline! What do you think is the best/easiest schedule to keep? I've got a lot of exciting things coming up in the next few months, so I'd like to keep on it!).
P.S. Will format these photos tonight...damn iPad!
Yesterday was the first day of my internship at MANIAC Magazine and it was amazing! The office itself is beautiful. It's one long room with painted white brick walls two rows of white and glass desks, an adorable sitting area, and even a little photo studio space! I took my trusty MacBook with me and got to sit at my own little desk and work from there! Most of the day was spent doing Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) for the websites old blog posts. (This basically means that I was making the old posts very easy to find/stumble upon if you were going to search for any of the subjects!). It was surprisingly much easier than I expected and even pretty fun. I also spent a little bit of time doing some research for a creative feature that will be in next month's "Food & Fashion" issue. I'm pretty excited to see what else comes out my days there! I go back tomorrow, and I believe I will be working on some new blog posts for maniacmagazine.com which I'll be sure to post here!
(Cutest sitting area ever!)
(View of my desk! Which my white balance seemed to hate :/)
What's your favorite fashion/lifestyle magazine? Have you heard of MANIAC? Let me know!
xx
That being said, I am officially reaching out to any and all YouTubers for advice, tips, tricks, and just general thoughts on the YouTube community as well as my want to be a part of it! I'd love to hear about your experiences and hopefully gain some new friends in the process!
xx
While I've been a big reader forever, I've always leaned more towards fiction works than anything remotely real. I'm a sucker for a good love story or a fantastic tale of magical adventure (*cough* Harry Potter *cough*). However, I've recently found myself picking up more and more autiobiographical works, whether they be essay collections, books of inspirations, or full on autobiographies, and I thought I'd share that newfound love here by gushing over a few of my current favorites!
xx
The first book of this kind to really grab my attention and have a real "influence" (ha...wait for it...) on me was actually Influence by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. This book is a collection of interviews conducted by the twins themselves! It features many people who have inspired me in different ways (Diane von Furstenberg, Karl Lagerfeld, Bob Colacello, etc.) and is just put together so beautifully.
Book number two is one that I picked up after Christmas and breezed through in a day. Written by another one of my fashion icons, It by Alexa Chung is incredible. If you know anything about this lady, then you'll love this book. Every page oozes her wit and charm and describes all of the people/things that have helped her throughout her modeling/designing career. And again, stunning presentation.
When I first got hired at The Andy Warhol Museum, I was anxious to know more about the artist so that I could answer questions correctly whenever people asked. That, and my 20% store discount, led to my purchasing The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again) by Andy Warhol. Filled with Warhol's thoughts and anecdotes on subjects such as love, fame, and...underwear power, this book is truly inspirational. I wish I had a mini version to carry with me in my bag!
And finally, my most recent read: Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham. As a huge fan of her show, Girls, I was majorly curious as to what else Lena Dunham had to offer and watching Tiny Furniture every night on Netflix didn't quite satisfy my need for more. I have to admit, after reading some of the more "offensive" excerpts that were being widely criticized online, I was a bit taken by surprise and hesitant at first, but I can assure you that everything was taken out of context and I truly believe that every twenty something should read this book. Lena Dunham is the voice of my/your/our generation.
Where do you draw inspiration from?!
Halloween this year seemed to roll around very quickly! While I'm normally very prepared when it comes to costumes, (I made my Poison Ivy costume last year leaf by leaf!), this year, I just wasn't ready!
When Halloween night came around, I was in a panic! I had a party to go to and nothing to wear! So, some quick last-minute thinking resulted in me creating the most basic costume ever...a cat! And while I'd normally be disappointed in myself, I think the costume actually came out really well! Check it out!
What were you for Halloween?! Let me know in the comments!
xx
With our busy schedules, Eric and I have been struggling to find a time to squeeze in some fall activities. But with a small window of time this past weekend, we finally managed!
Friday night was spent at a haunted maze with Eric's mom, stepdad, and sister. Though I am normally against all things scary, I bit the bullet and made the trip. (It seemed like a good chance to squeeze his hand haha) IT WAS FREEZING! And not at all scary if I'm being honest. But, the five of us had some laughs and an overall good time!
Saturday marked our eight month anniversary, and while that may not seem like a big deal to most people, being with Eric for eight months means being in the longest relationship of my life. And so, we celebrated by going to a pumpkin patch! Choosing the right pumpkin is one of my favorite parts of the Halloween season, so after a bumpy hayride and an attempt to get through a corn maze in one straight shot (we failed and got lost), we made it to the pumpkin patch! Eric decided to put some of the less fortunate looking pumpkins out of their misery by putting the toe of his boot through them! (Naughty!) But we found a pumpkin that fit both of our tastes and headed toward the register...once we got there though, the line was so long that we decided against paying...yes, we stole our pumpkin. (Naughtier!) Ah well! Now we just have to decide what to carve! More of that to come.
xx
For the longest time, I've wanted a pet of my own. My family has two dogs and a cat, but since I no longer live with them, my need for a fluffy companion has greatly increased. Enter my friend Alli. Her cat, June, had kittens about two months ago and guess who got to take one home a couple of days ago?! That's right, ME! I am so overjoyed with my new little lady. She uses the litterbox and doesn't dig her claws into any furniture! She also loves to snuggle and play. (Now if only I could get her to stop waking my boyfriend up at 4 a.m.!) Ladies and gentlemen, meet Sloane!
xx
Today whilst bored, I decided to do a mini photo shoot with myself. And since I am still bored, I thought I'd share the results here.
xx
