06 June 2013

Weekly Playlist: New York City

Photo: Hannii


This week I'm away from my beloved home town visiting some college friends in NEW YORK CITY!

I'm excited to hang out with some of my best friends in the city that never sleeps, visiting museums, watching plays, and shopping in SoHo.

So in case you don't have the luxury of joining mee in the Big Apple this week or living in the city itself, listen to these songs that embody the spirit of New York or convey that lively feel.

1. I'll Drink to That - Outasight

2. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend

3. The Secret to New York - We the Kings

4. Angel of Harlem - U2

5. Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys

6. Broadway - Goo Goo Dolls

7. Welcome to the World - Kevin Rudolf

8. Stay Out - Hit the Lights

9. Bulls in Brooklyn - The Academy Is...

10. Young Forever - The Ready Set

11. Hey There Delilah - The Plain White T's

12. City Is Ours - Big Time Rush

And of course....

13. New York, New York - Frank Sinatra


Have a great weekend everyone! Stay Happy!

Any suggestions for additional songs? Any opinions about songs on the list? 
Comment and please let me know what you're thinking! Thanks guys!

04 June 2013

A Look Inside: Off to New York!


So starting today I am off to New York for a week! I'm going by myself to visit a few friends from college in their home states. While I'm super excited for this reunion, it seems too soon because we haven't even been apart for a month yet.

Anyways, my next upcoming week will be full of fun and excitement. We plan to visit places like Central Park, the Met, and the beach. So I won't be able to really blog much! But I promise a playlist and lots of details when I come back!

03 June 2013

A Look Inside: Collected Quotations



Recently, one of my friends stumbled upon my Collected Quotations journal. The journal is separated into chapters based on where the writer found the quote; literature, songs, speeches, movies/television, and friends. I love this journal because I used to keep random quotes on post-it notes, but that got too difficult to transfer from my room to my dorm back home again.

Anyways, I thought I'd take this moment to share some of my favorite quotes of the moment.


"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear" - MLK Jr.

"A promise between friends means never having to give a reason" - Phoebe, Friends (2004)

"And why do we fall Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up" - Batman Begins

"You are what you love, not who loves you" - Fall Out Boy

You can buy the journal here.

01 June 2013

A Look Inside: Chicago Day Trip

Yesterday, was one of the best ways to kick off summer! I went downtown with some of my friends and we decided to hang out in the city all day. I got to visit some places I've never seen downtown, and I finally learned to conquer the Red Line on the L.

We started our day on the L headed towards DePaul University to visit our friend Rachel. Poor soul, she's still in school till mid-June. The campus is beautiful! The student center is adorable, everything is centered around the quad, and the closets in the dorm rooms are beautiful! We ate lunch at a cute little restaurant called Jam N'Honey. It was super cute and the food was delicious! There was even jars of Nutella on every table!

Afterwards we headed to Lincoln Park Zoo. Which is wonderful because we not only got to see all the adorable animals, but the zoo is completely free!
The zoo had tons of animals from lions, polar bears, giraffes, and monkeys. While some of the animals weren't on display (we're not sure why-- but it was quite humid, so we're thinking they wanted the day off), most of the animals were, and they were pretty active. The polar bear, which is one of my favorites, spent his or her whole day chilling and swimming in the pool. We even got to watch the cutie munch on some food.
Later we headed to Rachel's favorite bakery, Sweet Mandy B's. This place was so cute! It reminded mee a bit of my school's area because it had that old fashioned family owned business feel. Let alone all the food looked delicious, and they tasted even better!! The cupcakes were simply magnificent and the size of the cookies were bigger than my face! 
Several painful steps later (and I mean painful - I recommend never wearing flip flops for a walking day in the city) we ended up at Millennium Park. Doing the typical tourist routine, we took plenty of pictures at the Bean, creating new and interesting poses. 

While chilling at the Bean, we kept hearing music. We were so close to leaving, but on a whim we decided to check out who was playing. Turns out it was Lady Antebellum. And to make everything that much better... it was a free concert!! So, we got to enjoy a free concert in the amphitheater at Millennium Park. For more pictures and videos from the concert read my Lady Antebellum Concert Review. 
All in all it was a beautiful day! I had such a fun day hanging out with all my friends and enjoying the wonderful city we have. What a terrific Friday.

Concert Review: Lady Antebellum

Lady Antebellum
Millennium Park
31 May 2013

Yesterday I had the amazing fortune of wandering to Millennium Park with my friends and finding a free Lady Antebellum concert in the amphitheater. At first we thought we'd sit in the lawn and watch the concert from over the guard fence, but some guy walked up to us and offered us tickets. We were stupid enough to say no, but later we asked the guy how much they were and they were free. Absolutely. Free. No. Money!

Such amazing luck! It was simply beautiful luck.

I'm not really a country music fan, so naturally Lady Antebellum is not my first choice of a good concert. However, the concert was simply amazing!! The vocals were amazing and both Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley sound just like the vocal tracking on the CDs, which is saying a lot because most popular "mainstream" artists these days do not sound anywhere near as good as their recordings. Either or the crowd was super happy, and the atmosphere was full of excitement.

Enjoy some videos and pictures from the concert!

Just a Kiss - Lady Antebellum

Run to You - Lady Antebellum

Need You Know - Lady Antebellum