I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas: Alpena, MI 12-22-2012-->12-28-2012

Hello fellow bloggers!

So I just spent the last week up in my hometown of Alpena, MI with my mom's entire side of the family (minus a few). Sixteen people. Twelve in one house. Yeah, as you can see it was pretty packed. I just can't even believe that we all made it work without any big drama! Crazy right? So the first day my mom, Uncle John, and I spent the night in Frankenmuth, MI, a cute little German town an hour or so north of Detroit. While we were there we went to a cute little shopping center home of Season 7 of Cupcake War Winner's: Sugar High. It was pretty cute and they had AMAZING cupcakes. For those of you who don't know, cake is one of my favoriteeeee foods (or sweets really ;) ). They also had an ENTIRE store of all Tervis Tumblers (I guess those are common but I had never seen one) so I picked up a Duke tumbler for Madison! We also stopped by Bronner's Christmasland the biggest Christmas store in the entire country! It was crazy. We went on the 23rd so it was super packed since it was the two days before Christmas. As some of you know, Madison and I have started collecting pieces of the Grinch land for our apartment and so I got to see the whole set up of Whoville and buy some pieces that are not available anywhere else. Here are some pictures from Bronner's and Frankenmuth:

That same day we went to a lighthouse in Harrisville and saw a beautiful lighthouse (one of my favorite things). It was really different seeing one in the snow but it was breathtaking. Near the lighthouse was a little school house that was set up just as it would have been back in the day. That was a really cool experience that I was not planning on having so it was a bonus for sure!

Next we spent most of the other days hanging out Ristow style which means playing lots of card games and dominoes as well as eating lots of ice cream and playing Donkey Kong (which we finally upgraded to the Wii thanks to Reegan). I got to go and visit the bookstore where I had my first signing and they still had everything up and displayed in the local authors section which was super cool for me. On Christmas Eve we went to the candle light service at my Grandma's church. Which was really neat but we sang probably ten verses of Oh Holy Night (I didn't know that many existed). Afterwards we went to leave and my Aunt's car didn't start so while it was getting jumped I taught my grandma how to wobble in the parking lot while it snowed. Awesome. Later I got to decorate sugar cookies with some of my cousins which was also fun but we definitely had WAY to many cookies in that household. Probably three quarters of them didn't get eaten by the time we all left. Also Latoya and I tried making a baby snowman out of the pathetic snow that had landed, but it still was a white Christmas in our minds! I got to go and have a lunch date with my oldest girl friend at Mandarin Garden a local Chinese restaurant that has been our favorite lunch date location since two thousand and eight. Then we went to see This Is 40 which my whole family hated, but I actually loved it! It really portrayed the age time and the kids are so dang cute. And if you've seen knocked up, Jodi returns who was one of my favorite characters from that movie and made this movie super hilarious also. That night my for real oldest friend Cam came over to play dominoes and catch up which was awesome since I didn't get to see him when I was in Michigan in July. The next morning we headed back to Detroit and flew back this morning! So crazy. Of course we ran into delays but that was alright we made it home and that is what matters. 

It was such a nice Christmas spent with my whole family in one of my favorite spots in the whole world. The memories in that house all come rushing back when everyone is there, some good some bad, but it definitely made me appreciate it more. It was the first Christmas I have spent up there since we moved which means that my last Christmas there was in 1998! So fourteen years! So insane. Well thats all for now! Can't wait to share more adventures soon!

Xoxo, 

Olivia :)

Can We Pretend That Airplanes In the Night Sky Are Like Shooting Stars?

Hello everyone!

So as many of you know I am currently in snowy Michigan! Today we took a plane directly from sunny SRQ to down right cold Detroit! And as per usual the airport experience was AWESOME! Just kidding. More like a pain in the ass. In my lifetime I've flown so many times. More than I can count. Especially to Detroit and especially with Delta. So today was supposed to be easy since I was doing both of my frequently used ways of travel right? Wrong-o. I got to the airport and that's where the mess started. Which led me to make this blog post to see if anyone else gets infuriated with these common airport occurrences.

1. Bitchy Desk Attendants
While I understand that your job is not glamorous and everyone has their bad days, every single delta rep today was bitchy and had an attitude until they realized who they were dealing with. Starting with me not getting the seat I Pre-picked three months ago so I could sit with my family. I get it, things change and I'm not going to die not sitting by my mommy at my age but they didn't even have a seat assigned for me. They pretty much said "better get here early and go to the gate to be sure you get a spot on our fully booked flight!" So that's what I did. Then I get rude McGee number two who before I even ask a question tells me "if you're looking for a seat assignment you need to wait til 1:10". I said okay and left without any attitude then went back at 1:10 (which makes me wonder why I had to get there SO early) and then got told if you're waiting for a seat assignment we will call you up individually. Okay communication skills = 0. So I waited. Of course it was "Now calling Olivia............ Um...... J.... J..." Until I screamed JUOLA! Sheesh! Yup I was crabby by then. Finally I got a seat.

2. Bitches who dress super nice at the airport for no reason
This is just pointless and weird. If you aren't going to meet someone for work or you're not JLo, why are you dressing up to sit on a crowded airplane.

3. People who fly first class and have to make it known to EVERYONE
This lady walks up to the ticket counter where her husband was waiting in line and said "honey, sit down this line is for NORMAL people, WE have first class tickets and are priority members" bitch please the airport world does not revolve around you. Oh wait, it kind of does. Amurricah the land where you can pay your way out of everything.

4. People who are rude to parents that have screaming children on airplanes
It is not the parents fault. Until you have traveled with 5 year old Reegan you do not understand how out of control a child can be and sometimes you just have to let them cry it out. Turning around and saying "can you do something?" To the frantic mother who is already shhhing her child and rocking him will not help the situation at all besides further embarrassing the parent. Buy some headphones.

and that concludes my airport ranting post. For now I'm going to bundle up and get some sleep before tomorrow comes!

Stay warm,
-Olivia

I'll Provide the Beauty, You Provide the Beat

Hello all,

So I have been thinking about what to do for another blog post that people would enjoy, and since I recently went to Jingle Ball and had an awesome experience I decided to do something along the lines of concerts I've been to, ranking them by different subjects new or old concert goers may want to hear. . On another note Jingle Ball was incredible and totally worth the billion dollars I spent for the tickets. Anyways, first here is a list of all the people I have seen and all of the concert halls I have been to in more recent years:

1. Justin Bieber, Ke$ha, One Republic, Ed Sheeran, Sean Kingston, Zedd, Walk the Moon, Austin Mahone- Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa FL
2. Jack's Mannequin, Cobra Starship, Twenty One Pilots, ANEW- USF Meadows, Tampa FL
3. You Me at Six and Mayday Parade- State Theatre, St. Pete FL
4. Blink 182 and My Chemical Romance- Ford Ampitheatre, Tampa FL
5. 3oh!3- USF Meadows, Tampa FL
6. Mayday Parade, Breathe Carolina, Every Avenue, Artist vs. Poet, Go Radio, American Secrets- State Theatre
7. New Politics, Neon Trees, 30 Seconds to Mars- USF Meadows, Tampa FL
8. 3oh!3, Cobra Starship, Travie Mccoy, I Fight Dragons- House of Blues, Orlando FL
9. 30 Seconds to Mars, Panic at the Disco, The Used, Anberlin, Rise Against, Chevelle, Metric, Cage the Elephant, Matisyahu- Ford Ampitheatre, Tampa FL
10. Metro Station, Boys Like Girls, Good Charlotte, The Maine- House of Blues, Orlando FL

The first ranking I thought would be important is "Best Atmosphere- Concert Hall". For sure the best atmosphere would be House of Blues in Orlando. The whole place just feels full of energy and both times that I have been there they've done a great job with every aspect to make it a good time. Also its in Downtown Disney, making it even more special to me since I am a huge Disney World fan.

The second ranking I thought of was best "Special Effects". This was for sure a tie between Good Charlotte and Justin Bieber. Between Good Charlotte's laser sequences and Justin Bieber's fireworks and smoke, they tie for first in the Special Effects category. 

The next ranking I thought of would be "Most Comfortable" as far as concert halls. This for sure would go to  the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Their cushioned seats made it so much more comfortable than standing or sitting on a lawn through a four hour show. So they definitely win. 

Have you ever been to a show where the person you paid to see sounds nothing like they do on your iTunes library? Yes, its happened to all of us. Fortunately I have had some amazing experiences and when it all comes down to it "The Best Performer-Voice" is in terms of how they sound live related to how they sound on iTunes or the radio. For sure without a doubt the band who sounded the most like themselves for EVERY song would have to go to Panic! at the Disco. 

Last but not least. I obviously have to do "Best Overall Performance". This was so hard for me as pretty much EVERY concert I have been to has been worth my time an has been amazing. But I have to give it to my 17th birthday concert at my favorite hall House of Blues-Orlando, when I got to meet Nathaniel Mott. 3oh!3 is definitely the winner hands down. Although J. Biebs came in a pretty close second, nothing will change that awesome moment when I got to meet a member of my favorite band. 

(ew I know my hair what the heck was I thinking) but this was ALL worth it. Such a cool experience and such a good guy! 

So that completes my list of Bests for concerts I've attended. If you are looking to go to a show, any of the halls I've been to are great but if you want a good atmosphere go to House of Blues, looking for comfort? go to the Times Forum.

Thanks for reading,

Olivia

Photo credits go to google images, 93.3FLZ, and myself of course :)

I'm Wide Awake

For real though, I can't sleep. Have you ever had such a bad day that your brain just can't shut off and you sit up thinking about what could have been different or which ending would be better? That's me right now. It's happened before, I'm sure more than a handful of times, when I just can't shut off my brain. It's not always a bad day necessarily but my mind just runs whether its stories in my head or the past, a present problem or, as mentioned, a horrible day. Today was of the horrible day type. To be honest everything was fine, I got a good grade on my test, it was an average day. But then I got a series of phone calls which ended up with me in tears, missing work, and spending the night trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Nothing super major (don't freak out) and nothing to do with Madi or my family, but it was just one of those moments when one thing triggers hundreds of axons in your brain to the point where you just lose it. For one I hate missing work, anyone who knows me or works with me knows that I never miss shifts (even extra shifts) for no reason or for a dumb reason so knowing that I couldn't go in because I was having a hard time stopping the tears made me even more upset. I guess I have no idea where this post is going. But since this is don't hit the backspace button I have a vow not to erase it so here's my current thoughts I guess. I guess sometimes it is hard to be honest with people as much as you want to be. You leave thoughts out because you don't want to offend someone or you don't want to make them upset. But holding things back, it doesn't work. Your mind will run until you get it all out; at least mine does. So this past school year I haven't held back. When someone makes me mad, ill tell them. When I don't like something, I say it. Because if I don't it will eat me up until I just explode. I guess today was a reminder of how I shouldn't let people walk over my thoughts without giving it a real try. Because why fight for something if you're going to do it half assed? It wouldn't make sense. So when I did that, fought for something I 101% supported and I got absolutely knocked down and kicked, it hurt a lot. Thank The Lord I have great people around me like my friends and madi who I could call and have them understand without questioning me. I guess point is, if you want something go for it. Don't do things in life without giving it your all, because if it doesn't work out you don't want to say you didn't try everything the first time. Because what I've learned is that you don't usually get second chances, so do things right the first time. On that note I don't have regrets, everything is a learning experience and today will be one whether everything turns out to be fine or things change. Either way everything will be okay.

Until my next thought pops up,

-Olivia

Hey, I Just Met You... : Las Vegas 2012

Hello everyone!

We just got back from Las Vegas, NV tonight and it was my first time going. What an amazing experience. Anyways so on Friday morning we went on a helicopter tour to the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. It was INCREDIBLE! I have seen a lot, but that was breathtaking. I was a little bit nervous because it was also my first helicopter ride but it was totally worth it. Towards the end I felt a little nauseous but nothing too horrible. When we got back we spent the day on the strip and walked all the way from our hotel the MGM Grand to Treasure Island. We went shopping, met fake "Alan and Carlos" from "The Hangover", saw The Venetian's incredible ceilings, went to the Planet Hollywood Casino (home of my favorite movie "What Happens In Vegas" with Cameron Diaz), walked past Treasure Island (which doesn't have the sinking pirate show that you see in "Miss Congeniality 2" anymore :( ), saw the Kardashian Khaos store, Caesar's Palace (home of "The Hangover"), and the stunning Bellagio Fountains. So awesome. So after about five miles of walking on the strip and through malls and hotels we were exhausted.

 

 

The second morning my mom had to present at a conference but my cousin and I went down the strip doing "lyric dares" which are something Ellen DeGeneres came up with for her writer Amy. It was hilarious (see YouTube link to video below). That night we saw David Copperfield's show at the MGM Grand. While some reviews said it was obviously fake I found it AMAZING and nothing less than a great time. I highly recommend people to go see it. Next I wanted to do a slot machine (just once) so we went to the penny slots and I got to pull the lever like three times before security came asking for my ID. Fail. But it was still fun. The last thing we did were Ellen's Dance Dares and it was hilarious (also on the YouTube video). Even my mom joined us for these. Superrr hilarious. Anyways it was such a good experience and was fun to have a girls weekend with my cousin and mom. Hope you enjoy the pictures and video!

VIDEO LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_p4QJxgipA&feature=youtu.be

Election Day 2012: Rants on Rants on Rants

Hello everyone,

Of course the topic of the week is none other than: duh-duh-dun-dah ELECTION DAY! Woohoo! So all month I've been arguing with people about different political topics, but unfortunately I missed the time period to register because of the craziness of my life. I know it is my civic duty and I was dumb and forgot to go do it, but everyone can relax because I don't even know who I would have voted for.

Rant #1: The president is NOT the most important person in politics, it is really the issues you support and congress as well as the senate who are either going to make things go somewhere or put them on hold. People make such a big deal out of the president, who DUH is really important, but more than half of those people who are all GO OBAMA or GO ROMNEY don't even know who is representing their own state... pathetic.

Rant #2: Abortion is ridiculous (yes if you get raped, incest, fatal harm to mother, is not what I'm talking about), but straight up I made a mistake and had unprotected sex and got pregnant and now I'm going to use this opportunity as a way to cover up my mistakes and be psychologically effed up the rest of my life is STUPID. People who have multiple abortions for this reason should NOT be allowed to keep their uterus and continue to screw over the lives of little babies. Again: NOT talking about the situations in parenthesis because I am not one to judge in those positions. To be honest: abortions most of the time is a pathetic excuse to get drunk and be a slut and use it as a way out of your own mistake. Yes, I feel terrible for the children who have to live when they are "unwanted" but at least they get to live and there are SO many people out there looking for children to be adopted. Instead of abortion ITS CALLED A CONDOM OR BIRTH CONTROL USE IT!  End of rant #2.

Rant #3: Cutting PBS and claiming it is not critical, okay maybe not critical but I can't say that I would have been the youngest BCS grad without educational shows that I watched growing up on PBS. I consider the education of people, especially children, as a super critical topic. People can interpret that as they want. I just think that was a dumb comment on his mistake and he shouldn't get mad when people make fun of him for it because he sounded like an idiot.

Rant #4: College financial aid, from everything I have heard Romney plans on cutting a lot of funding for students in loan money which to be honest is what gets me through school. I am not handed a free ride to school like most kids who went to my private high school, which I am not saying is a bad thing if parents have money to do so they SHOULD help their kids through school but not all parents do, I have to work my ass off to cover my tuition and rent and rely on pell grants, bright futures (which has already been cut (thanks government)), and loans to carry my hard working butt through school, and if that funding gets "drastically" cut? I am effed. There is NO way I could graduate when I am supposed to and not just about me, but about the future of public education for my kids one day. I'm not saying Obama would make it better, he hasn't proven otherwise, but don't be dumb and cut more funding to the future of America. Thanks.

Which brings me to Rant #5: Obama hasn't done anything positive for the last four years! Granted, he didn't have a government who worked well with him, but he also has not brought back as many troops as promised (which makes me SUPER pissed that's people's family and friends over there) and jobs have not improved. Also he didn't kill bin Laden, that'd be our awesome military so he needs to stop taking credit for it. Thanks. The only thing he has going for him is trying to make things equal for everyone.

Rant #6: Though I don't use it and don't plan to, legalize marijuana and tax it. It's dumb that it hasn't been already. Period.

Rant #7: If you continually show support for one side without addressing why the other side is wrong/right you fail. This especially applies to people's political posts on Facebook. You didn't change my mind.

And finally Rant #8: I don't know if this is even that big of an issue on the election, but it is a big issue in life. The fact that Americans are so egocentric that they want EVERYONE to learn English and live in the American life style. Um hello? We need to work together people not say "If you don't speak English you should move back to Mexico". Those people matter too! They have thoughts and feelings and working in a healthcare industry you realize how hard it must be for them. If you were in another country and got sick would you want people to talk to you like you are deaf  NO HABLO INGLES?! No they don't speak English stupid try to get someone who speaks their language to help them. They are people to. And whether you like it or not they will continue to be here needing our care. Learn some Spanish and maybe you won't sound like an egocentric asshole. I think everyone needs to be able to speak minimal Spanish to work in a healthcare industry. And I guess this post sort of means I agree with the Obama care plan.

And now we come to the end of this long political post. As you can see, I have NO idea who I would vote for. Both sides support things I agree and disagree with. Also I would not want to vote to say "I supported *INSERT NAME HERE* because I don't fully support either of them. And either way we are going to have people complaining about it until the next election when the cycle continues.



Until next time,

Olivia

Everyone Deserves A Lifetime: The 3-Day, Day Three

Yay we finished!

The last day was the easiest as far as walking, because we did not have to technically walk 20 miles on the route. Our walking in camp and at the pit stops added up so that we go surprised and only did 15.3 on the route the last day! (praise Jesus for real) This was the best surprise ever. We woke up early at 6:15AM and packed up our tent and got breakfast. We had an awesome dinner the night before by the way of some grilled chicken for Madison. They also announced at dinner before that the oldest walked was 76! I was inspired so much by that it amazed me. I'm getting super off topic so back to the story; As usual we walked really far and were exhausted. We had left at about 7:40AM When we came to the 58.9 mile marker I started to feel my knee giving out. I have a torn meniscus in both knees but got cleared to walk. It was horrible. I stopped at the medical tent and the RN told me she thought I had a torn ACL based on my pain levels when she moved around my leg. She told me I should be bused to the finish line. I refused! How could I get bused when I was so close to the end! I didn't come the whole way for nothing. I signed a consent to finish and had her wrap my knee and hobbled to the finish line, which we found out later was not really the finish line at 1:30PM. We waited for everyone to finish before crossing the official finish line, which was pretty far away from the pretend line by the way! We enjoyed closing ceremony where I, as usual, cried when they talked about the survivors and people who have passed. They mentioned that 99% of breast cancer cases are now caught before death which is astonishing! In honor or survivors who walked we held up one shoe (picture below) and cheered them on. It was incredible and such a great experience over all. Even though people still have the disease I feel like the 3-day makes people aware by saying "wow why would you walk 60 miles?" or "hmm maybe I should go get a mammogram" it is such an amazing event and anyone who wants to participate should put it on their bucket list because you CAN do it, I mean we did. Yes, Madison is super fit, but hey I did it and  that is amazing! Afterwards we went to the USF Telefund and talked to some of the people who sponsored us and told them about the race and enjoyed an awesome Carrabba's dinner (as promised ;) ) Thank you all so much for supporting us through this journey and encouraging us along the way! We really appreciate it! I will upload the videos when I get a chance because they are on Madison's phone not mine!

 

Just Get Back Up When It Knocks You Down: The 3-Day, Day Two

So today has been insane. The Keri Hilson song "Knocks You Down" is how I feel. Not like emotionally how her song is but yesterday we got knocked down with a ten foot pole (not literally of course) and today we had to get back up. We were so exhausted we forgot to take a video this morning (whoops) but I promise we will take one tonight. When we woke up, we weren't quite as sore as we had imagined (Tylenol helped with that one). We left camp at 8:15AM and went on our first path. I think I was pretty good until the lunch spot, where once again we had delicious Panera bread sandwiches. Madison as usual wanted a chicken breast and so I offered to take him out to dinner tomorrow night at Carabba's as his reward for doing this with me, he surprisingly declined (I'm assuming you can guess why, something about not wanting me to spend money ;) sounds like him huh?). After lunch (which was the 11 mile marker so a little over halfway) we walked over a lot of bridges. I have never felt so sick in my entire life. The wind from the lovely hurricane on the other coast made me sway back and forth causing me to become super nauseous. It was terrible. But I do have to thank God for blessing us with NO rain at all so far this weekend (knock on wood). Once we hit the last pit stop (number four) we hit mile 16.8 and I wanted to give up so badly but we were less than four miles from the end. I had to turn on some J. Biebs to keep me going at that point because lets just say every time I had to burp I threw up in my mouth. It was lovely. Madison on the other hand wanted to run back just so he could crash on the grass at camp when we hit that 20 mile marker. We both have never been exhausted in our lives but we crossed that 20 mile line at 3:01 beating our time yesterday but a long shot because we left later today also. We also were numbers 80 and 81 today out of 1,000 people! Yesterday we were numbers 211 and 212. We came back and guess what the first thing he said was? "OJ? I'm going to take you up on Carabba's tomorrow night" (I knew he would). I am not going to post any pictures today because my phone is about twenty feet from me and to be honest I love you guys but I cannot get up and then walk back over. So I will do my final post tomorrow night when we get home in Tampa. Thanks so much for blogging with me and let me know what you guys think so far about our journey. I promise tomorrow the videos will be worth reading all of these. 

Love you all xoxo,

-Olivia

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger: The 3-Day, Day One

Wow,

So where even to begin? Let's just say the song by Kelly Clarkson "Stronger" describes how I feel about today. Starting off the day we have hilarious videos of ourselves before the race on the way to Sand Key Park in Clearwater this morning that describe our mood beforehand perfectly (I will upload these when I get home Sunday night as promised!) The first thing that we did was the morning stretch, which I now know that I should have done way more of. After they had people come out who were survivors and family members of those who have passed. I told myself I wasn't going to cry, I'm guessing you probably can figure out that thirty seconds into the ceremony I was in tears. It was very inspirational and made me think of my mom and our journey this past year. We started actually walking at 8:04AM and we had different checkpoints along the way, which I will attach pictures of. Everyone was so encouraging along the way, which Madison and I both agree helped way more than we had originally thought. People from the area came out and played music, gave words of inspiration, and handed out things from bubble gum to water bottles to cold ice packs. Some people even had sun tan lotion spots so that we didn't completely burn. When we finished our 20 miles it was 3:19PM and I had never been so happy to see a bus to camp. Any area of my legs and back were throbbing with pain and I wasn't sure I was going to make it the last couple of miles. It definitely is not a race for sissies, but what shocked me the most? The fact that people in wheelchairs, braces, and people over the age of 60 were walking the ENTIRE way. It amazes me how much patience and dedication they have. So far it has been exhausting, but nothing less than an amazing experience. I will hopefully be back on here writing about day two tomorrow evening! Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, you guys are awesome :)!

Us at 6:30AM waiting to start! (It was chilly outside)

At the 11 mile marker for lunch! Thanks Panera Bread!

The sign when we hit the 20 mile marker!

Hello fellow bloggers,

First official post woohoo! I wanted to start this blog off with a topic that has been on my mind pretty much non-stop since I started getting really into music back in two thousand and seven: alternative bands. So many people claim they love alternative and hate "mainstream" music, yet they can't name a single non mainstream song. This most likely is because they haven't been exposed to real alternative music, or anything that isn't played on the radio. I remember the first time I heard a song by Mayday Parade my freshman year with my still best friend Gretchen. The song "When I Get Home You're So Dead" from Mayday Parade's album A Lesson in Romantics changed the way I saw music. No longer was I strapped to the constantly repeating playlist of our local radio station, I was able to open up and branch out to new music. From Mayday Parade I was able to find bands like Go Radio, Owl City, Cute Is What We Aim For, The Maine, All Time Low, Hey Monday, Metro Station, Neon Trees, Jack's Mannequin, and 3oh!3 before they were even well known to the general public and got put on that list of horrendous replays that occurs on pretty much every nearby radio station. Now, I am not hating on mainstream music at all because anyone who knows me knows that I love a good Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, or Nicki Minaj playlist anyday ;) but what I am saying is have you ever branched out and looked at other types of music out there? If not I encourage you to look up any of the bands I listed, I promise you will fall in love with more than one of them like I did. And on the other side of that when you find an artist you like (even if it is Justin Bieber) try looking at their old music and new music, not just what is on the radio. I was pleasantly surprised with Justin Bieber's new album Believe that came out not too long ago. "Right Here" feat. Drake is one of my new favorite songs! Taylor Swift's new album Red came out Monday and I have not heard it personally but only hear good things about it, which doesn't surprise me since her last album Speak Now is pretty much one of the best albums I have ever heard. If you get the chance I highly recommend Mayday Parade's self entitled album (which is also their newest one). It only took me two weeks to memorize every song that's on it. I would love to hear anyone's opinion on favorite artists (I am always up to give anyone a try), mainstream vs. not opinions, or just anything else you feel like saying. One rule: don't hit the backspace button!

Until next time,

-Olivia