900 Views Later...

So, for a small personal blog, & it being up and running for the past two years...I'm actually kind of surprised to see it had 900 views today. Granted, about 1/2 of those views must have been mine, but it's still sort of cool. Even if you read my entries, kinda stalker-ishly, that's cool. Just please don't cause me any harm. And to my friends who actually read this shit, thanks. Just a quick insight into my mysterious life...lol, yeah, ok.

In other news, for those who haven't kept up, I've spent the last few entries catching up on my missed months of blogging: the remainder of Europe and some summer months. I'm up to the month of August, but really...nothing happened. After a whirlwind of seven months being a busy bee, August was truly boring. The most exciting thing was being able to see Honor Society after a whole month (I'm pathetic) outside Z100 & truly have the greatest conversation with Mike. Then right before school started, went to my first Arthur Ashe Kids day (Honor Society, Justin Bieber, Jordin Sparks).

Now September...

September has always been a love/hate month for me. I love it because it's my birthday month! I hate it because it's when classes begin again. But this September was different. I began one of my first days in September with a response from Island Def Jam Publicity Department about an internship and I got it! I jumped and screamed and knew things were looking up. The minute I got the internship, I knew my life had to turn around. I'd spent most of the year enjoying my youth but now, I realized, I need to come to terms with my future. After a hectic trial of trying to get credit for the internship, I began on a Wednesday.

The IDJ offices are really cool. I can't divulge much, in fear of them finding this and suing me or something, but I'm working in a pretty cool atmosphere. Legends have walked these halls and future legends will work here. People dream of being up in these offices, either working for the company or being signed to the label. I haven't taken that for granted. I'm lucky enough to work under some of the biggest publicists of our day. These people have made the legends and definitely taken the fall for anything bad that's happened. Every time I need to go do something in one of the big offices, my knees go weak. These people have some of the greatest views of Manhattan and I can only dream of working in a room like that. One of the biggest things, in my opinion, that I don't know if I'll get used to in my stay with the label, is simply going up to LA Reid's office, or even walking past him. He's discovered some of the biggest talent out there in popular music today. For instance, yesterday he came up to our department and I was basically starstruck! Call me crazy but a person with that much power and influence is something to be in awe of, whether or not you believe he's done anything substantial (but how could you not?).

With classes and the internship, which have me up and at 'em from 7AM to 10PM four days in a row, I'm always exhausted. I don't really 'hang out' like I did during the summer. My idea of a great day is one where I get to watch a few good movies and eat some delicious food on the comforts of my couch.

But I did pull my ass off my couch to go to Fashion's Night Out 2009, which was, contrary to what people thought, a world event. All participating fashion retailers all over the world basically kept their stores open late for throw a party. Seriously, I walked away with champagne and a cool NYC FNO'09 tee. All proceeds of the t-shirt sale went to the 9/11 Fund. I don't really like candied apples, but they gave some of that away at 7 For All Mankind (they ran out of chocolate covered apples!), some mini hot dogs, LIVE male models (insanely Ken-perfect), performance at Tommy Hilfiger, and a live photo shoot at Marc Jacobs. I loved it.

Then I turned 20 this year, no longer a teen, and I celebrated with the friends that were able to come out at S'Mac (Sarita's Mac and Cheese). It was seriously the bomb. I KNOW good mac and cheese and that was some damn good mac. Then we had dessert at The Lite Choice, LOL & hung out in Uniong Square soaking up the NYC autumn weather. Then the following day I had to take my brother to the hospital where he was treated for a concussion and kept overnight. A very trying weekend for me. My boyfriend was nice enough to take me to Max Brenner's for dessert on Monday after work and we had the s'mores. Delicious! Then on Tuesday, Sept 29, my actual birthday, Dolce Bites (look em up on Facebook) delivered my birthday cupcakes (S'mores, Red Velvet, and Chocolate Molten) and 3 girls basically devoured it (with the later help of 2 guys). It was a really nice birthday and a great way to end the month.

So all in all: August was thumbs down, September was THUMBS WAY UP! October just began and I'm hoping for just as good month. I need to work on not being as stressed and tired and find time to work out.

Hope blogger world is holding up ok, too.

blink & you miss it.

July. Oh, July.

I can't remember half the things I did but it was the busiest month since Europe all summer. I did more exciting things in July than I did in June and August combined.

I went down to Virginia, possibly for the last time (for a while), for vacation. My cousin asked us why Virginia for vacation? Well, to put it simply, my cousin's house is like a freakin resort house. A huge backyard with a pool, an outdoor fireplace, tons of seating, a coy river/pond, & volleyball net. Inside has a billion rooms, all majestic in their own right & it's away from the hustle of Virginia Beach, literally tucked away in the middle of nowhere just minutes away from the North Carolina border.

i have gotten really attached to my family down there so it's always a big reunion when we go down there. the only family i have in new york city is my auntie & uncle. that's all. but when we're down there it's a huge group! i love it. & my aunt (the rich one) LOVES to shop & has great style, so i always enjoy whenever she takes me to the mall. we went to the big one in virginia beach, then went to the actual beach around night time (missed that), & spent tons of time with my little cuzzo, Camille. I miss that crazy girl! we went to waterland usa? fuck, i dont remember the name...but yeah, went there. went to this place called 'cool stuff' and had a ton of ..you guessed it, cool stuff. buncha dvd's i love & my bro scored some videos games.

one day we went to ocracoke, north carolina. now that was an adventure. imagine being in a car looking at coastline or brush for like 5 hours...=[. but it's actually a quaint little town in north carolina. very nice. & then we went to my, now uncle-in law's, beachhouse. he's some kinda millionare...collecting vintage cars and shit. but i didnt get to go to the wedding =(. anyways, then we celebrated my brother's birthday in a mexican restaurant! haha, we always eating my mexican.hm, damnit, what else...then we went to a plant nursery & bought some plants & then had dinner at my uncle's place. he made some KILLLLER tortilla chips & salsa. he's an authentic mexican chef. love it.

after leaving mexico. i mean, virginia, we stopped by Sonic (only my 2nd time ever having it) & i loved it. i wish we had some sonic in new york. a few days later i hung out with Anj&Aud in soho and bumped into the gossip girl set & totally said 'love you' to penn badgley. but i'll admit, i realy only loved penn in john tucker must die.

a ton of honor society stuff happened in the month of july. i reunited with marie in long island to see our guys perform at the crazy donkey. it was epic. during the meet & greet, i made sure they remembered us from the summer previous, & thankfully, they did. alexander makes us laugh. the next day we went out to a verizon in-store event & they remembered us again, & even told us to check out special news from them on twitter. an acoustic set with the boys in union square. unfortunately, it being marie's last day on the right coast, we could not go. so after sadly saying goodbye to marie, i went home to queens.

the next day i was exhausted but then BAM, i find out i won tickets to the Jonas Brother's concert that evening. marie & i cried over the fact that she couldn't make it because of her flight so i contacted my dear friend Paula. it's funny how fate works. rie & i were trying to buy tix earlier in the year but since of my time difference in europe & just not really being that big a fan anymore, we didnt put a lot of effort. & then it was like joe saying, "coomeee on! ill give you free tix!". actually, i won the tickets because i entered a contest for honor society. rotfl for irony.

i went to the show early & actually accidentally snuck into soundcheck. that was awesome because you have to pay up to i think 400 bucks to get into soundcheck. then i watched honor society rock the FUCK out of nassau col. i was the ONLY one dancing & screaming the lyrics in my section. then we rushed off to the honor socety meet & greet & the guys welcomed us with hugs even though they were not allowed. we watched the rest of the concert from our amzing seats & then got skeeted on by joe & kevin. go on & ask. the one thing i hate about nassau col is that it's in the middle of nowhere & getting back to the city is a bitch.

& then my final honor society day ended with an emotional bang. the boys sold out irving plaza & i watched from the back while all the screaming fans went crazy for 'em. the lights blinded me, mike's voice made me smile, & the energy was ridonk. their dream had come true. & i was lucky enough to know em even just a little bit before they blew up. when i read that they shed some tears after the show, i shed some, too. they're amazing men & i wished only the best for 'em. so i gotta thank the JB for that. that was the only day i didn't get to see the guys, but they had a few hundred other fans to see...i knew i needed to share 'em & so i did.

i can't remember much of july from that point on...

i'm sorry.

i'm sorry i haven't blogged in months. it's been a mix of a hectic and slow summer.
my entries on london, dublin, and back to new yawwk will be up at some point.
find me on facebook to see pictures.



updating FORREAL real soon.
thanks for sticking around.

inbox wisdom.

"Whenever we do something that fills us with enthusiasm, we are following our legend. However, we don’t all have the courage to confront our own dream.

Why?

There are four obstacles: First: we are told from childhood onward that everything we want to do is impossible. … If we have the courage to disinter dream, we are then faced by the second obstacle: love. We know what we want to do, but are afraid of hurting those around us by abandoning everything in order to pursue our dream. …Once we have accepted that love is a stimulus, we come up against the third obstacle: fear of the defeats we will meet on the path. … Then comes the fourth obstacle: the fear of realizing the dream for which we fought all our lives.… But if you believe yourself worthy of the thing you fought so hard to get, then you become an instrument of God, you help the Soul of the World, and you understand why you are here."


a part of the introduction from the alchemist by paulo coelho.i love it.and for some reason what you wrote reminded me of it.
&
esp. the love part.
love never enslaves us, it supports us.


this was in my myspace inbox after i posted a bulletin in the wee early hours of the morning, alone in the computer lab. i read it the next day. it is probably the most comforting ( and substantial ) literary piece of work that's been shared with me in a while.



thanks greci.

a weekend in barcelona.

off to barcelona. pray for me!
p-p-peace.

Paris-Bound!

I am eternally sorry my ever-patient blog. I'm missing my last 2 weeks of Rome and I'm already headed to Paris, I know, I know.

But expect a hefty entry soon.

To Rome: Ciao Roma, I'll be teary on the plane tomorrow. See ya soon! <3

i can't remember anything.

truthfully. it's been that kind of week.
it's sunday, 5:30pm, & i just woke up.
all i have in my head are 70's songs.

an entry later.

Salve, Bonjour, Hello 2009!

as i stand here at one of the computers at work, scanning film negatives to the computer and simultaneously observing my boss as he toys around with an ancient and large flash, which he has affectionately named the "real big monster", for his nikon to use at a party he's shooting tomorrow, i figured i'd write a blog entry.

i wish i had remembered on the 20th of november that my blog turned a year old so i could throw it a birthday post. but i forgot. i'm a bad mama.

looking back at the entries i've posted over last year, i can't believe i'm currently where i am now. i mean, last year, i blogged when my bed was on the other side of the room!

...all sarcasm aside. i can't deny what an exciting year '08 was. and, through it all, i've been able to share my life through this blog with my future self and others that have stumbled upon it. but, the thing i've noticed about myself, as a blogger, is that i don't reflect often about myself. or really, at all. and i believe that's the biggest flaw in this blog. i don't want to look back at the entries years from now and not know what i'm feeling. i'll know what happened. i'll know who i interviewed, whose concert i went to, what i did that day, but will i ever remember the emotions attached to them? no, i don't think so. so i'm beginning now.

today is the second day of the year 2009. last night i pulled out my big red suitcase and one of it's matching carry-on's and dusted off any debris that had accumulated on it since its last voyage back early last year. it might possibly be the luckiest piece of luggage on earth because it shall be my bag as i travel through europe. hemwattie was kind enough to follow through by coming over after i explained that i "opened the suitcase and didn't know what to do".

as i waited for hemwattie to finish dinner, i called up camay, who is the other lucky piece of luggagge (no, just kidding, camay, lol) that will be traveling with me. after having not seeing/talking to eachother, when we used to see eachother at least twice a week during the semester, it was good to hear her voice and finally discuss some issues about europe. we're planning to get together in person to finalize. i think my eyes opened wide and jaw dropped a little, after i hung up with her. our conversation made me realize that there's so much to be done in such little time.

when hemwattie finally arrived (and manny had finished assaulting her), we went to my dungeon/oasis and sat on the floor looking at my two big stacks of laundry and an empty red suitcase. i do remember actually scratching my head in confusion. but after an awkward 10 seconds of befuddlement, i pulled the laundry towards me and we disected each piece of clothing one by one. the conversation went something like this,

"do you need that?"
"no, but i want it."
-toss clothing to 'NO' pile-

after about two hours of clearing through clothes, we hopped onto the bed and looked online for other things that i'm supposed to stuff into my bag. apparantly i need sink stopper. then we weighed my massive suitcase and it came out to be already 25 pounds! i scratched my head again.

you see, for international flights, 50lbs is allowed. but since i'm travelling between four-five countries, the limit allowed is only 40lbs. and since i DO plan on buying a few trinkets to bring back home, i need to save some space in my luggage. meaning, i need to re-think my plan of 25lbs of just clothes.

after hemwattie left (and after manny had finished assaulting her), i sat in my room and thought, "wow, am i really leaving in less than two weeks?" for someone who opted to stay home for college, it's a wild idea. i'm not exactly sure why the idea is so frightening to me now. i've spent my whole life being the eager beaver to jump on a plane or get into a car and just travel, just get away. but this is europe. i'll be an ocean away from family, from my boyfriend, from my friends (except for one who is awesome enough to share the same interest in travel as i do). english is the second, if not third, language for 1/2 of these countries. but then i look at my suitcase and smile.

i have nothing to be afraid of. 2009, i know you will take care of me. i know you have big plans for me and so i will follow through dutifully. i'm sorry, in advance, if i stray away from the path once in awhile, but trust me, i'll get back on it. 2008blessed me with opportunities very few have. i am more than gracious for them. so i know you have many things in store for me in this coming year, good and bad, and i will take them head on.

to quote taylor swift from her performance in times square this year,
“‘Cause this is a new year, a new beginning and things will change.”

2008, You da Best!

wow. what a year.
last year this time, i was getting ready to brave the crowd and head out to the insanity of times square but this year i opted for the calmer approach (and warmer, since it's snowing outside!) and plan to spend it on the couch watching the ball drop with my family. hm, i wonder...do people in, let's say Nebraska, watch the "ball drop". but anyway, that's besides the point.

this truly has been an amazing year. come, let me show you some of the more memorable moments of this past year...

In january i went back to the motherland and began my discover of 'self'.

In February I spent Spring Break (yeah, Spring Break in February, lol) in Galevston, Texas with one of my best friends.

In March I smiled because of this.

In April I went to Washington D.C.

In May I joined the Honor Society.

In June I began my summer.

In July I sing in the rain with John Mayer and frolic all over New York.

In August I did all I could to make summer last.

In September I turned 19.

In October I avoided moshers at the Fall of the Albatross show , cut my hair, & sang along to The Veronicas. But lost my dog, Jake.

In November I celebrated with the nation the win of our first black President, worked a merch table, and interviewed Top $ Raz for PMS.

In December I met Daniel Radcliffe, went ice skating, and had tons of cupcakes.

This year has been beautiful. I've been so blessed by God to get to go to all these shows, meet new and spend time with friends, and get to travel. These pictures are only a few snapshots of my year and I have hundreds more I wish I could put up.

So cheers 2008! You were amazing and I cannot wait for 2009 and all the adventures it will bring me.