New Year, New You?

Hello beautiful people of the Internet, how's life? 

I'd like to begin with a big Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Boxing Day, Happy EVERYTHING! I hope all of your celebrations were amazing and unforgettable with family, food, and fun. Now, onto a bit of reflection. 

2014

What a year. This has honestly been one of my favorites thus far. It definitely hasn't all been perfect, but the majority of it has been unforgettable. I started this blog at the beginning of this year and never would I thought that it get up to over 600 views by the end of the year, and from all over the world! Like I've had people reading it in France, Germany, everywhere. I never would have thought I'd keep it up as well. I wasn't exactly as consistent as I could have been, but maybe that will be the goal of 2015. More posts, even if they're just little updates. 

The year began with more snow days than you could imagine and ended with a brown Christmas. I traveled to New York, Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy. I met some amazing people, and quite possibly lost a few along the way. I began to focus more on art. I saw amazing concerts. I slept and danced and ate and sang and talked and laughed and cried and experienced life for what it truly is. I thought about the future and began to be afraid, afraid of what's to come, afraid that I won't be prepared for it, but really why should I be afraid of what's yet to come, something that I can't exactly control? But the decisions I'm making now really are effecting my future, so you see my dilemma. I guess we all experience this feeling on occasions and I don't believe there's a solution or a way to prevent it. It's just a part of life. Uncertainty, the silent killer. The movie is in development now... 

What I really wanted to talk about though was not the year I had, but the scary future that I was just talking about by moving forward into the new year. You know how the saying goes... "New year, new me," and I can't help but find it a bit ridiculous. No matter what I propose to change about myself, I'm still going to be the same old Belle, sleeping until noon whenever possible, procrastinating anything involving school, eating junk food, avoiding conflict, you know, the usual. I feel like it's really hard to change yourself, especially since you develop these habits over the years that you just really don't have a desire to quit. I think you can change smaller things that make a larger impact, like going into the year with a positive outlook, that things are going to be great and they probably will be. The new year presents you with new opportunities to better yourself, but not scrap the old you. You are the only you there's ever going to be, so why not embrace it. Once you learn to do that, you'll be able to really focus all your energy on making 2015 spectacular. 

What do you hope will happen in 2015? To develop more friendships? Travel to a new place? Plan more spontaneous adventures? Whatever it happens to be, make it great. 

I'll talk to you next year. 

-Belle xx

You're Not Valued by a Score

Do you ever just feel poorly about life? Like not a really sad or angry poorly or a sick poorly but just like almost a melancholy feeling of the word 'ugh'? Maybe it's just that this week has been incredibly long for it only to be a Wednesday, or I'm longing for Christmas break, or that the past few days have been below par, or that I actually haven't felt physically the best today, I just don't know.

Probably one of the major factors causing this feeling is my AP English class. The teacher has this mentality that the only right way is her way, which is by far one of the worst opinions you can have in the entire world. English is full of analysis and thought provoking questions that are going to be answered differently by each person depending on their background, what they've gone through in life, what they think about the universe. And to dictate that one learning approach is not acceptable over the other one is not okay. I strive to put a valiant effort into work that is intended to help me grow as a reader, writer, and person... not to please you. I don't understand why this concept is so hard to get through her head. I've never disliked English, it's been my favorite core class being it's my best subject. But thanks to her, this year I've been thinking otherwise. Teachers are suppose to encourage people on their learning paths and to keep them interested and learning in the subject they teach. Not turn them away from the subject completely. Now do I hate writing and reading because of her? No, but I sure as hell don't enjoy attending the class that leaves me with anxiety and enormous amounts of work. I really really tried to give her a chance, but I'm done. 

I think the other explainable reason as to why I'm feeling the way I am is because over the past couple days I've been comparing myself to others. Not in a way that you would assume, like the "She has prettier hair than me," comparison, but in the "Oh my God why do you test better than me/score better than me/accomplish life better than me and don't even have to try to accomplish it all?" way. I've always been an A student. I work hard, do well with my studies, but when it comes to taking a standardized test I feel like the stupidest person in the world. My scores aren't horrid, but they aren't what I really want them to be, you know? I just get really nervous when test taking. I'm also the kind of person that, if I work at it, can memorize stupid information fairly simply but then forgets it as soon as it's no longer relevant to my life which sucks when you need to remember math from a lesson in the prior year. All of this wouldn't nearly matter as much though if I wasn't so curious and have to know what other people scored because then I get that little thought in my head that I'm not as good as them and that I'm stupid and this is where the vicious cycle starts. It shouldn't matter! Everyone is good at different things in life and my skill happens to not be test taking. I'm good at art, I'm not the worst writer on the planet, I've heard I'm not shabby with a camera, and English is my strongest subject, no matter if the teacher hates me or not. Some people are just really good test takers. What about you? What's your strengths, your weaknesses? I'll tell you a secret. I've been told about a book that talks about improving yourself in the work place or just at life in general and they say to always keep your main focus on improving your strengths in life. We're all different, so let those differences shine! Your strengths are what put you above the rest (in the most non-conceited way possible). We can't all be doctors. We can't all be artists, we can't all be mathematicians, or English majors, or cops, or engineers. We need variety in life. So why focus your time and effort into improving your weaknesses that may or may not benefit to the rest of your life when you could be using that time and energy perfecting your craft and doing the things that make you happy? Cause isn't that the ultimate goal? Aren't we all striving to live life to the fullest, happiest way possible so we don't wake up at fifty years old hating the career we're stuck in with goals left un-achieved and a mess of questions left unanswered? Now I'm not going to avoid working on taking standardized tests or quit trying to figure out chem forever because one of the things that makes me happy is the feeling of achievement. And I'll be honest, grades matter a ton to me, so good grades = a happy Belle. But if I work on those weaknesses and don't get the best results in the world, I'm not going to let it define how the rest of my life goes. It is what it is, you know? I hope someone out there understands. And hey, comments are fun (although I've never gotten one, so who really knows). Comment your strengths. Be proud of who you are, because there's only one you. 

Oh! I almost forgot. I've reached over 500 views on my blog and I think that's pretty cool. Just knowing that someone out there is reading what goes on in my life is just so weird in a really good way. Thanks for anyone who's read it and who knows, maybe this whole thing will take off someday. Spread the word about Belle was here! (Fun self promo, YEAY!) 

Bye for now,

-Belle xx

Let Them Eat Cake

Recently I've started to consciously realize that I subconsciously get annoyed at little things people do. Things that may be apart of their daily routine or things that they've developed a habit for subconsciously as well and accidentally end up doing over and over again. A couple nights ago, I realized that I need to get over this ridiculous annoyance of my own. I noticed that the times at which I'm bothered by these things often occurs right away in the morning when I'm busy hating myself for staying up way later than needed the prior night, when I'm trying to concentrate on something, or when I've just had enough of the world for one day, but this shouldn't be an excuse to turn to annoyance for a solution. We're only on this planet for so long, and people will be people. Humans are the most fascinating things this world has to offer. Why do we choose to do the things we do, why do we feel the way we feel, why is my favorite color teal? These questions are just a shallow dent in the vastness that is the unknown of what makes us tick. And me being annoyed for the purpose of my own sanity isn't going to change the fact that people will be people. They'll still sing loudly off key, continuously tap their pencil on the table, say "like" every other word (guilty of this one myself on occasions), manage to tell you the same story twelve times, ask a question that's answer has already been stated multiple times, clear their throat over and over and OVER again, and talk about how great/shitty their day has been when yours was just the opposite. I can't control anyone but myself which means the only attitude that needs an adjustment is my own. Just the simple shift of how you choose to view things can  take a horrible day and make it a great one. Have you ever come across someone that you just cannot stand for whatever reason? Of course you have, we're all human and we all find some qualities in a person more annoying than others. It's a complete waste of your time to put all that energy towards hating that person when you could just let it go and move on with your life. Your life and your attitude drastically improves when you aren't concerned about seeing this person and having to make eye contact with them or even worse, speak to them (gasp). Focus that energy onto making you and your day the best it can be because when you're at your best, it tends to have an effect on those around you. And hey, maybe that person you formally hated will come around. What I'm trying to get at is just let them eat cake. Let people enjoy their lives and don't let the way that they choose to live effect you in a negative way because the last thing this world needs is more negativity. We've already got plenty of that. 

I challenge you to tell some people in your life that you appreciate them, and I can guarantee that appreciation will spread. Say if you tell five people, you'll be happier, they'll be happier and it'll make those around all of you happier because they're not dealing with negative people. And if those five people that you told decide to go out and each tell five more people and those people tell five more people and so on, we could maybe, just maybe, make the world a better place for everyone. 

Just a thought.

-Belle xx

It's Been a While...

I'm not quite sure how to begin this other than the obvious.

It's been a while. 

August. August was the last time that I posted my thoughts on this blog and I do feel like a bit of a failure. All the times I spent scrolling through endless news feeds of nonsense, I could have been writing about Europe. But as you know, It's been a while since July as well and my life did not come to a screeching halt after Europe, no, just the opposite. This incredible year has surely kept me alert and on my toes, so I figured I could spend an hour letting my thoughts flow and this could be more of like a chat between two old friends about what's gone on in my life for the past four months. That is, if you're interested. I'll get back to talking about Europe eventually (trust me, I talk about it every other day) but for now, hold tight and enjoy the now (well, I guess the past ((just forget it))).

August

August, the last month of summer. Moments that taste so sweet, but leave that bitter aftertaste behind in your mouth when it's over. Yet often, they can end up being the best moment. The beginning of the month was very calm with many visits and chats with friends that hadn't just been to Europe with me. I caught up on sleep, ate some good ol' American food and slept some more. That's when life began to pick up again. Some of my family rented a house on Lake Michigan in Wisconsin (or should I say a house that was advertised to be ON the lake but ended up being hidden by trees ACROSS THE STREET from the lake). Nevertheless, it was a relaxing time filled with some art, some YouTube, a bit of exploring mixed with, you guessed it, more food. I had to pack up and get back home after the vacation for a short week before me and my lovely friend, Elli, drove to Chicago for the final weekend of summer to see none other than One Direction at Soldier Field which was quite the experience. We stuffed ourselves at Giordano's, took an architectural river cruse, discovered a famous boy bands hotel, explored our own hotel to find a gorgeous ballroom, shopped in a very large Forever 21, went to the top of the John Hancock, toured SAIC (School of the Art Institute of Chicago), went though the institute of art museum, walked our feet off, and unfortunately, had to leave Chicago. It was a lovely trip back to one of my favorite cities. 

September

September seems to be the start of the second year within a year, you know? Like summer ends and classes begin and life seems to grab a hold of you and violently shake you in attempt to recall any information from last year that people assume you've held close to your heart over the summer, but we all know that's not the case. Friends re-enter your life that haven't been there for three or so months, and the routine kicks in that drives you insane. The same maddening, repulsive cycle that you so eagerly couldn't wait to get rid of is back once more. But there's a catch, it's ten times more stressful than the previous year. To add to the stress and entertainment simultaneously, I was asked to be assistant stage manager for Cinderella which was an incredible experience with some awesome people and an even more awesome stage manager, Caddie. The whole musical process runs through September, October, and ends a few weeks into November so that kept me plenty busy. I also am taking an AP drawing class which needs to have a portfolio of 24 compositions by March-April consisting of 12 breath pieces and 12 concentration pieces (I may do another blog post going into more detail on this subject). Long story short, September consisted of friends, little sleep, lots of work, lots of stress, some tears, and more stress. OH HOW COULD I FORGET. I saw Ed Sheeran's concert for Multiply and I was on the floor and he was so amazing. Like I've never been in a venue so big where it felt so personal. He has the ability to silence a crowd and the voice of an angel with lyrics and chats that make you feel like you've been best friends with the guy since you were four. I've never seen a more genuine musician and I cannot wait to see more of Ed. If you have the chance to see him live, please go. It will change your life. 

             

October

October has always been one of my favorite months of the year. It's when the holiday season seems to officially begin. Fall too, fall officially beginning. September is like borderline summer/fall so even though September may be trying to join the fall squad, my book won't allow it to join. Halloween was fairly calm. It was a Friday night, which was awesome so the actual physical squad of Belle's friends and not the months that make up seasons squad got together at Elli's house and we just ate lots of food and talked about life and the universe and everything while the Conjuring was playing on mute with Halloween music played overtop of the film making it much more manageable to watch even if I was still watching through the little slits between my fingers on as my hands covered my face. I don't do scary films as you can probably tell...

November

November consisted of a lot of the same things that September consisted of but this month was a bit more stressful, yet a bit more manageable, more or less tears (it depends on how you look at it), additional adventures, and a lot more food (Thanksgiving). Speaking of Thanksgiving, lets speak of the highlight of the month, shall we? This year, I went to Texas to visit family (but mostly their dogs). I got to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner, In-N-Out, Krispy Kreme, and some restaurants that I've never eaten at before. I spent my time catching up with family and chilling on the couch watching movies and driving all around Fort Worth. I also got to check out the impressionist exhibit at the Kimble which was beautiful. 

            

December

This brings me up to now, and the adventures left in the year of 2014. It's been a hell of a ride so far, and I hope this month is able to top it all off. 

Talk to you guys soon, and that's a promise. 

Much love, Belle xx

A ‘How-To’ Guide of London

London has been a city that I’ve dreamed of visiting for a very long time. How long, you may ask? Well, take today’s date and subtract it by a couple of centuries and that’s still not long enough. So you shouldn’t be surprised that the moment I stepped off the plane into Heathrow I was ecstatic. Even after only an hour of sleep. I believe my first words to my friend, Ellie, were, “Do you know how may awesome people have been in this very airport?” Quite a few, my friend. Quite a few.

This is your all-access guide on how to properly take over London!

*Disclaimer: Belle has only stayed in London, England for a total of four days or so. Being said, her knowledge of ‘How to Properly Take Over London’ isn’t very extensive, yet she believes it to be so. Whatever she says, just smile and nod and give her the moral support she needs. She honestly believes she lives there. Thank you for your understanding.

1.    Look RIGHT

This one is for you, my fellow Americans. Wait, that’s a lie, it’s for the whole world BUT Britain. I put this rule as number one because it could save your life the second you leave Heathrow and almost get hit by a double-decker bus hurling down the opposite lane than you’re used to. England is super awesome about reminding the rest of the world about this rule on the sidewalk right before you cross the street. So if all else fails, look down.

2.    You’re a tourist, so please don’t act like one.

Tourists often get a bad reputation for being, well, annoying. Especially Americans such as myself cause we’re viewed as loud and self centered. I try my best to avoid this label while traveling anywhere. Including in America. Some examples of what NOT to do include…

-Taking up the entire walkway. Stick to your designated side, which for some reason is still the right side of the sidewalk even in England… quite ironic.

-Being obnoxiously loud or screaming unless there’s an emergency and no, this does not include spotting your favorite band member. In case of that emergency, please calmly approach them and ask for their hand in marriage.

-Not accommodating the culture you are currently in.

But the overall major reason to not act like a tourist is there are pickpockets everywhere and they prey on tourists that are unfamiliar with the area and aren’t necessarily paying attention to all their belongings. So stay alert and aware.

Just be respectful.

3.    Talk to as many Brits as you can.

The Brits are some of my favorite people. They’re all incredibly friendly and welcoming and usually hilarious. Not to mention, their accents are just a pleasure to listen to. And you never know whom you’ll end up talking to. It could very well end up being Ed Sheeran’s second cousin Tom…

Yes that IS Ed Sheeran’s second cousin Tom on the left. And you thought I was joking. Now strike up a conversation!

4.    Attend a musical if you have the time.

The show I saw while in London was none other than Les Miserables and it was phenomenal. I figured this would be my only chance to see Les Mis with people who had the closest thing to a French accent without the dialect being in French. Not to mention, they had a circular rotating stage that made scene transitions look smooth and effortless and a cast filled with amazingly talented voices. Oh, and Marius was drop dead gorgeous.

5.    Follow-up on ‘You’re a tourist, so please don’t act like one’. Please DO act like one in all the right ways.

I really really hope I’ve got you all confused now. I don’t suggest you act like the bad side of the tourist title, but you should take advantage of seeing all the touristy things such as…

-Big Ben

-The London Eye

-Eating fish and chips, bangers and mash, and    sheppard’s pie

-The Tower of London

-Buckingham Palace

-Tower Bridge

-The National Gallery

-Trafalgar Square

-Piccadilly Square

-And so many more.

They really make the trip exciting and adventurous. Especially when you finally get to see all the places you had only seen in pictures come to life before your very eyes.

6.    Take so many pictures, and dare I say it, vlog.

Pictures are immensely important. You don’t realize how fast your stay really goes until you’re off on a coach to the next country. Don’t let your camera get in the way of your memory making, but make sure to take some time for it. Your mental snapshots may fade, but a photo helps you keep the memory in check for a very long time. London is filled with great photo opportunities and sticks to a very lovely trilogy of colors: black, white, and red. It really makes your photos interesting without trying too hard. May I also suggest one, or twelve hundred, jumping photos in front of significant landmarks with your friends.  For some reason people suspended in air with interesting backgrounds makes the trip worthwhile. If you didn’t jump in front of Westminster did it really even happen?

Now let me explain vlogging. For those of you that have not yet been sucked into the world of YouTube, vlogging is basically blogging with videos at random exciting or uneventful parts of your day. You update the camera on what’s currently happening, where you’re going, and who are the losers your with and I promise you you’ll record some hilariously stupid conversations to look back on.

7.    COFFEE SHOPS

I don’t care who you are or what your opinions on a cappuccino are, but please stop by 9 out of 10 coffee shops you see. The atmosphere in them is so calm and their drink selections are endless. Not to mention many of them sell awesome Panini’s that I’ve been craving for about two months now thanks to those wonderful pressed sandwiches in London. Even if you’re like “gross, coffee” you can always get a hot chocolate or even just a bottle of water. Just chill and enjoy the free wifi.

8.    Have fun.

London was everything I hoped it would be and more. The culture is perfect and surprisingly the whether was very sunny which is quite unusual. It was probably just fate drawing me farther into the city, where I hope to live for at least some period of time in the future. I don’t need long, but I need it. Probably the most important rule to properly take over London is to have fun. The city is full of promise and opportunities if you take advantage of it. It’s able to accommodate any personality there is, you just have to find what works for you. Whether that be exploring all the museums there are, taking on the night life, going on a river cruse, a ride on the London eye, attending a festival, shopping, or just relaxing by a window in a cozy restaurant with your fish and chips.

Now if you would care to request a follow up including more tips, you can come visit me in my newly established flat in the heart of London.

-Belle xx

Paris, you’re next. 

Cheers To The Brits, But Not To The Airline Food

Once upon a time there was a girl. That's quite an unoriginal opening for a story, but there has been, and will be, worse. It just as well is an opening for the universe, or perhaps a song. "Just a small town girl living in a lonely world..." Okay, so maybe that wasn't what I was going for but there was a girl who has long wavy blonde hair, brown eyes, a craving for adventure, and a love for boy bands that went to Europe for a month and decided to never return. She had a lovely time gallivanting across the following countries: England, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Germany. Are you ready to live vicariously through this blonde-haired-brown-eyed-adventure-craving-boy-band-loving girl? Then lets begin.

Chapter 1: Cheers to the Brits, but not to the Airline Food

     It was a lovely Sunday morning. Well, if you can call waking up at a semi ungodly hour, yet pleasurable hour for airport travel as a lovely Sunday morning. Two days after America's "birthday", (or as anyone other than Americans would call it; The Fourth of July), was the departure day for Belle and the rest of the crew to head out of their home land and over to an uncharted territory, for Belle anyways. 

      Belle dragged herself out of the lovely bed that was engulfing her in warmness and out into the frozen tundra of her bedroom. She was surprisingly well rested for one that usually has a hard trouble sleeping before the night of a trip due to the overwhelming levels of excitement coursing through her veins. She got herself to an acceptable state via airport standards and forced down a bit of breakfast while despising every minute of it. Belle is not a morning, or a breakfast person if you haven't yet noticed. After checking, double-checking, and triple-checking her suitcase and backpack, it was officially time to head off to the airport on yet another adventure.  

     Belle was to the airport with plenty of time to spare, but after waiting for the rest of the crew, checking  bags, and getting through security, she had barely enough time to sprint into a coffee shop, throw her money at the cashier, and grab the nearest smoothie she could find (or as fast as the Batista could make it). The connecting flight was boarding and Belle was anxiously making her way back through the familiar halls to her designated gate while partially hoping that she wouldn't have to wait around for any stragglers that were still god-knows-where. 

     She boarded swiftly, tucking her boarding pass safely back into her purse. She'd need that later for the second boarding pass she'd be receiving when she reached Detroit; the layover location. After finding her seat located in the middle of someone she did not know and someone she did know, she settled in for a quick hour flight filled with enjoyable tunes and some Coke. Don't forget the little Delta pretzels. The part of the day that nobody was looking forward to was the 8 hour layover they were about to experience. I mean really, 8 hours? That's unheard of. Who was the twat that picked that connecting flight out? Certainly not Belle.
     The Delta terminal in the Detroit airport is not too shabby. It's one long building complete with a monorail to take you from end to end, a multitude of restaurants to choose from, and a pretty cool fountain.

     The group scanned the list of restaurants, trying to pick one that would occupy a large chunk of the eight hours they had to waste. The decision was made to eat at Max and Erma's, if that is the correct name of the little bar and grill. They had incredibly delicious old fashioned Oreo shakes and wonderful burgers. So if you ever find yourself in the Detroit airport, hit that place up. 

      Card games occupied much of the time as well, four hours if you can believe that. The group found that the excessive amount of time really wasn't too much of an issue. When you have a little fun and some pointless conversations, you can go quite a long way. 

     Belle scanned the empty gate of the terminal they had chosen to play cards in, her eyes falling on the  large clock they had posted at each gate and figured that they should head back to their gate in case of any possible last minute gate change and/or to grab a snack before the flight. Both of the tasks listed had to be done as well as the exchange of a conversation with a lovely British lad before the six hour flight coming their way. 

     The flight boarding process went fairly quickly and Belle was lucky enough to not only get a window seat, but not have anyone sitting in the seat in the middle of the three person row on an international flight! How much better could it get? Her head turned for the window only to discover that, what? 'There's no window?!' The words echoed through her skull and her heart sunk. She had been seated directly in the middle of the wing where the support beam ran over the plane. How could this happen? Gets window seat...without a window? Unheard of. But, at least it was dark out.

     Once the plane had left the ground and was in route to Heathrow, it was time for a movie and some dinner at 11 o'clock at night. The dinner was a mistake. So was the movie. Belle had made the selection of Anchorman for the first couple hours of the flight. She had seen Anchorman 2, but not Anchorman 1 and she was not very impressed. She personally thought the sequel was far more entertaining, and apologizes for all the die-hard original Anchorman fans. The second mistake: the dinner. She chose the pasta that looked to be semi appetizing. No part of it was appetizing. Take a look...

     Belle finished the movie and began to get tired, but the next problem struck. She cannot for the universe sleep vertically and no mater how she attempted to squish herself into a different "comfortable" position, none would prevail. Long story short, the twelve hour sleep she prefers to get was painfully reduced to a 1 hour nap. But don't worry, it's not like they had a full day ahead of them or anything*.

*For those of you that didn't notice or unable to decode the Internet language, that last sentence was dripping with sarcasm. The writer has little patience for those that cannot distinguish sarcasm. This shall be the one and only note. Thank you. 

We're so close to London that I can taste it. 

I'm just a particularly lazy writer that likes a bit of suspense so I'll leave you with this. 

To be continued...? 

I hope so. We've barely made a dent in the Euro trip.

Please comment and tell me if the story format is a good and entertaining idea.

I think it's a bit more fun instead of, "And then we did this, and then we did this."

Is third person bad? Do I sound crazy when I talk about myself (Belle) in this way?

I want to know your thoughts. 

GIVE ME YOUR IDEAS!

Thank you. 

-Belle xx

Far Too Many Events to Keep Inside One's Head

Can I just take a moment to recap everything that's been happening in my life in one big sentence before I pass out of excitement?

So. It's summer, TFIOS debuted and I saw the very first showing of the premiere: The Night Before the Stars, Europe is IN TWO DAYS, I've been painting some more, I've gotten to spend lots of time with epic people, I can't think of anything else at the moment because I'M GOING TO SEE ED SHEERAN. That's right. I GOT ED SHEERAN TICKET ON THE FIRST DAY OF PRESALE. And not only that, but FLOOR SEATS. I'm slightly hyperventilating at the moment, so excuse me while I go scream.

Okay, I'm back. Now let me talk about that ramble in a bit more detail...

So yeah! It's July now, in case you haven't been conscious for the past month, but not only is it July, it's also the 4th of July. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA *eagle screeches in the distance*. What's that? That's the sound of freedom. I feel particularly patriotic today, and that's not a normal occurrence being my head is usually stuck in England, whoops. Maybe the cause of my patriotism is my choice of clothing for today.  

 

You can't exactly see the shorts but the pockets are peaking out on the bottom and on the left side is a blue pocket with white stars and on the right is a red and white striped pocket. My shirt is just one of my NYC muscle tanks that also has stars and stripes inside the text. Very patriotic. 

I hope you all have amazing 4th of July weekends at your cabins or wherever you'll be, or if you don't celebrate the 4th don't worry! I'll be joining you all on Sunday. Now if that didn't make any sense, don't worry. I'll elaborate. As mentioned above, I am going to Europe! I'm stopping by England, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany and I have yet to pack. Welcome to my life. 

BUT OH MY GOD ED SHEERAN. Multiply came out on the 23rd of June and I couldn't be happier. For Ed, or myself for that matter. I mean, three years is a long time to wait for a second album.  It's amazing just as I expected it to be. Please consider purchasing it, and by consider purchasing it I mean purchase it. But the album is no match for getting to see Ed live this fall and not only that, but up close and personal. Me and one of my best friends are going together and we're going to try to get there as early as time allows to try to squeeze our way to the front. 

Now that all of that is out of the way, I won't be updating this until end of July or the beginning of August due to spotty wifi, data charges, and not enough time in the world while in Europe. So please don't assume I'm dead like you possibly did after my one month gap of posts around May. I'll be back once more with plenty of pictures and stories to share. Until then, I'll just leave it at that! Peace out, enjoy life, live the adventure. See you soon. 

-Belle xx

-and if you're scared and alone, just know that I'm already home.

I have to say that I have officially obtained a copy of Ed Sheeran's new album that came out today June 23rd 2014 and is three years overdue, Multiply, and I'm doing my first full run through. Only on song one and in tears. Here we go...

Part 3:

Waking up today was not as eventful as yesterdays morning. Instead of having twenty minutes to get ready, we had twenty minutes to sleep the night prior. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. It was more like five minutes. Between getting back to the hotel late, taking showers, packing, talking for ages, twittering, and jumping on the beds, it was around 3 by the time we fell asleep. We had to get up at 6. Yikes. We woke up tired, but at least we woke up with not much to do but slap on some clothes and makeup and haul the rest of our things to the lobby where we enjoyed some french toast sticks for breakfast. Well, I did. I don't know what the others ate. 

After watching the local NYC news and hearing of the morning commute, and feeling one with the New Yorkers, we were off ourselves. I really did have a temporary attitude shift while there. More of a "I'm going to cross this road and you're going to wait for me. I'm not sorry" kind of an attitude. 

Our first stop was The Top of the Rock, which is located on top of the Rockefeller building of course. Let me sum up what my vocabulary consisted of while up basically on the top of the world: amazing, unbelievable, unreal, wow, my god. Need I go on? That experience, just putting the city into perspective was amazing. I just wanted to bring a folding chair up there and chill for an entire day. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a view more. The Top of the Rock is definitely a must if you're planning a trip soon. Next time, I'm going for the sunset. Just amazing. The headers of the first two New York blogs were panoramas that I took up there. 

From The Top of the Rock, we headed down to the docks or the harbor, not sure of the technical name as of now, I'm sorry. It was time for our boat tour of that harbor area and the Statue of Liberty. Let me tell you, I was horribly disappointed in the Statue of Liberty. I built up in my mind that this thing was absolutely massive, but that's probably because it's an island itself so there's not really any surroundings for a size comparison. The thing is tiny! You go from being surrounded by buildings that are hundreds of stories tall to this little chunk of disappointment. I apologise for all of you Statue of Liberty enthusiasts that would defend that monument to the grave, but I'm not impressed. I will say, it's impressive for the era it was built in and granted, it was shipped in from France, but I was just disappointed. Here it is, though. 

Next, we went back up to middle Manhattan for a tour of Radio City Music Hall. I know, pour time planning, but that's how the schedule lined up. The tour was very interesting. We got to see both the general works of the building and some parts of the skeleton such as the hydraulics under the stage. It went quick, but was fun to see. 

Then we headed back down to see the 9/11 memorial which was phenomenal. The feeling is a lot to take in, and I can't exactly describe it. Just like a pressure pushing down on your chest type of thing. All the names of the fallen are engraved around the rim of the infinity-reflecting pools, and you truly cannot see to the bottom of the pools where they recirculate back up to the top. It's just surreal to physically see how many lives were lost. Each day, they go around and place a white rose of the names of those who would have celebrated their birthday that day, and we found one pictured below. They also pointed out one tree that is standing between the Twin Towers which was the only tree standings after the Towers collapsed. It's still blooming wonderfully and it's protected. I don't know if it's seen as a symbol, but I'd like to think of it as a symbol for the survivors that made it out of the buildings when their friends and coworkers, maybe even family members, didn't. They're left to stay at the site very much alive and thriving, but with a constant feeling of grief holding them to the scene of the incident. They've now completed the museum to go with the memorial, but it hadn't yet been finished when we were there. I highly suggest stopping by. 

But, in the good news department, they're done building the new Freedom Tower. It is not yet furnished, but it's done.

After that we drove down to Little Italy and ate some delicious cheese manicotti at an adorable restaurant called Casa Bella (the Bella is right, not sure about Casa, it was C-something), and got some gelato to go! 

That was my very eventful and terribly short trip to New York City. I cannot wait to return and look forward to even better adventures for a longer period of time. I apologise for the long wait for the trip when I should have done it the moment I got back while my thoughts were fresh in my mind. I'll remember that for the next trip, which by the way, is like a week and a half away? Oh my gosh, I need to get packing. Bye guys! 

-Belle xx

-I promise this city won't get in our way-

Well, here's yet another day in New York for all of you. Sorry I cut the last one off. I was typing it late into the night and decided to end it after depicting one day. This post is dedicated to day two! Much more action packed seeing as there wasn't any serious driving that took place. I'll try to be a bit more descriptive as well, like I said, I was exhausted on Friday. Here we go...

Part 2:

Picture this: You've just slept seven hours in attempt to counteract the hour of sleep you got on a twenty-two hour drive the day prior, and you're not a morning person. The hotel you were staying at was supposed to have a wake up call ready for 6:30 AM, yet it never comes. Your backup alarm stirred your roommate awake, but you're still out cold. Your roommate falls back to sleep, but is again woken up with a knock on the door from another friend on the trip. They walk over, get the door, doesn't check the time, and goes back to bed. The first time you're awoken is fifteen minutes before you need to leave. This is what I experienced walking up in New York for the first time. HELP. 

Lets just say, the room that was previously cleaned up from the metaphorical tornado that destroyed it the night before was now back to the disaster zone it had previously been. We ran down stairs to the complementary breakfast as fast as our legs could carry us and shoved down some food that I hadn't been hungry for. I still had yet to put my makeup on, but figured I could put some on in the car on the way into the city. But, all the rushing was worth it, because we got a beautiful sunrise view of New York. 

Traffic was it's usual self, but it sped up when we reached the Lincoln Tunnel which, fun fact, is one of like four entries into Manhattan and is 1.3 or so miles long. You've got to get across all of that water somehow, may as well go under it. 

We ended up driving around the city for a while, just exploring. There's so many places to see and so little time, it's a little overwhelming trying to take it all in at once. But I couldn't have been more content. The next stop: Times Square. 

When I entered Times Square for the first time, I felt like this wave of wow hit me. Like I've seen the place in so many photographs and on TV and in movies that it almost felt surreal. The people are just so interesting to say the least and the shops are enormous. The buildings are insanely tall and they have multiple floors below them that they just blast out with explosives, like how is that structurally sound? I'm just glad I wasn't the one designing it, otherwise New York would have collapsed in on itself long ago. We first stopped by the FOUR STORY Forever 21. The concept and amount of clothes they had was unbelievable. The actual selection, not so great. I didn't find a single thing to purchase. Pretty disappointing, but life goes on. But here it is, incase you all are curious....

From Times Square, we went down to the Subway, and I'm not talking about the train, no. I'm talking about the city BELOW the city filled with shops and restaurants. We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant where we just had a quick buffet thing, egger to move onto the highly anticipated show that night. The food could have been better, but I guess I shouldn't have been expecting too much from a buffet. It was pretty cold, but the conversations had were great making up for the below par meal. From there, we headed over by Juilliard, where you know everyone walking around the school could possibly become the next Mozart. But we weren't there to rub elbows with the talented, no, we were there for the New York Philharmonic's Pixar Concert. 

The concert was phenomenal. As the orchestra played the songs from all of the Pixar movies, the clips from the corresponding movie would play on the screen, and yes, I did cry during the Up melody. Not afraid to admit it. After that was over, we just drove back to the hotel for the night and hung out before falling asleep anticipating the next exciting day to come. 

To be continued...

-Belle xx

If only New York wasn't so far away-

I'd like to start this post off by making a formal apology. 

I, Belle, would like to apologize for being both an inconsistent blogger and a horrid person. Making you guys wait FIVE WEEKS to hear about my adventures while in New York. I'm sorry, and it probably will happen again. Sincerely, Belle. 

Well now that's out of the way, lets get on with the post! How has everyone been? I feel like it's been forever (cause it has been) and quite a lot has happened! It's officially summer, stress consumed my life the past two weeks but it's over now, and the premiere of The Fault In Our Stars was LAST NIGHT AND IT WAS AMAZING. But that is all for another time, right now, we have travels to talk about. 

I haven't yet been to a city that I feel I enjoyed more then I did New York. Everything is so big and interesting and the city has such a specific charm to it that you either can't stand or are obsessed with. I'm sure you can guess which category I fall into. And they're spot on when they tell you the city never sleeps. Between the hours of traffic and the constant movement and energy that radiates from your very being, I got about ten hours of sleep total the two nights/three days that I was there. But lets start at the beginning, shall we?

Part 1:

Traveling with a large group of awesome people is both great and terrible. Transportation is not easy, or cheep. If it were up to me, I would have chosen the first flight out to New York possible and it would have been a quick and painless flight. But no, we drove. Twenty. Two. Hours. Of. Driving. I'm sure there are quite a lot of you out there that are fans of road trips. I am not one of you. By the time we were about an hour out from our hotel, we were tired, irritable, and just about ready to kill one another. Due to some troubles and slow downs on the way (and a poorly timed send-off), we would have at the most twenty minutes to get showered (if time allowed), changed, and down into the heart of Manhattan. More specifically, Broadway to see the beloved classic Wicked. 

We checked into the hotel, sprinted to our rooms, and got ready as quickly as one physically can. I don't know about you, but putting tights on when your sweaty and irritable is nearly impossible. By the time we were ready to head out the door, our room had looked like a pack of wolves had ambushed it. We made it down to Broadway with no time to eat dinner, so we just headed into the Gershwin Theater and found our seats on the balcony. Wicked was phenomenal, but I had seen it twice before that so it was nothing new. Personally, I would have liked to have seen Rent. There's always next time. 

Coming out of the theater, we were greeted with the only thing you don't want to see when your all dressed up. Rain. Not just like the casual sprinkle, no, a downpour and/or typhoon. And we still had wanted to eat some dinner and take in the views of Time Square. Long story short, my shoes were filled with water, my button up was soaked due to the fact that the rain had managed to get through my wind coat even with an umbrella, and I didn't get any night shots of Time Square. But man was it beautiful. Our next game plan was food and to get out of the downpour. So naturally, we jumped into the first pizza place was saw which was Sbarro's. My appetite had been lost by then and the slice of pizza I ordered was larger than my face, so I only got about half down before tossing the rest. It was time to head back to the hotel being it was around 11:30 and we were about ready to pass out due to exhaustion from the drive earlier. It was quite an interesting experience for the first day in New York.

To be continued...

-Belle xx

Inconsistant Rambling

Good afternoon, people. Do you consider 4 pm the afternoon? Well either way, I've just called it that. I've never been one for good mornings, so this is as good as it's going to get. Remember last week when I said I would post on Tuesdays? Yeah, well here it is, Saturday and all and not a post in sight this last Tuesday. Things happen, lives get occupied and here I am not posting on a Tuesday. Just a bit of casual spontaneity I like to throw in. 

OH! Update on the girl I spoke of last week as well with EDS. She responded to my message telling me how much that meant to her which made me immensely happy. I just really wanted her to know that I care. She's been posting lately though that she not only feels really sick, but she looks really sick as well. The disease is "reaching her eyes" making them cloudy, and she's been back in for some treatment. Another quick jerk on her roller coaster that I wasn't expecting, yet in all reality should see coming. I know she's sick and things are slightly plateauing at a low point right now, but she seems so positive in her words that you tend to forget that she's in pain, making it come as a shock. Hopefully things will be looking up soon.

So last week I promised that I would discuss one of my favorite pass times: YouTube. But I'm just not feeling passionate about it today and to write about it would be a travesty because my heart would not be found amongst the words. I know you're thinking, "Why would she be so passionate about a social media site?" I'll have to explain it another time, but I'll give you an into. YouTube is a site where, through the right people and topics that you genuinely care about, people can connect, share ideas, and accomplish amazing things. It's amazing to see what people are capable of. 

In other news, New York is DAYS away and that's basically all that's been on my mind. I've even taken the time to mark the places out where I'm visiting on this ginormous map of mine. Not that I'll be using it, I just really enjoy getting in the mind set of my next adventure. 

The city that never sleeps. A place for my other third (a third being myself, and another third being the Belle that lives in London mentally) being I would sleep for twelve hours every night if possible. I'm going with awesome people, so I doubt sleep will even be a possibility (maybe just a little). I've decided to do just one big grand master post the following Tuesday of my trip to maximize my time spent doing fun things and not just trying to put my words together on a laptop in a hotel room. I hope that's okay. To make up for it, there will be many epic photos to post. 

(Side note: I'm listening to Arctic Monkey's album on Spotify at moment, and it's pretty good chill music. It'll take me a couple more listens before I'm completely obsessed. End of side note)

Last Sunday was Eater and a beautiful day. It was spent by church in the morning followed by playing basketball in a dress (the only time you'll find me wearing a dress), an amazing Easter lunch, a scavenger hunt planned by yours truly, and extremely fast rides on a four wheeler in the woods. These were some of the photos taken that day. 

This one I instructed my cousin to take of me because it was a cool empty street. The usual.

And this was exploring the woods. 

The rest of the week to follow was pretty uneventful, so I hope yours was a lot more interesting! Until next time, peace out, enjoy life, live the adventure. Boom.

-Belle xx

Tomorrow's Cannot Last for an Eternity

So I've come to the conclusion that I primarily post a blurb of my mind on Tuesdays (excusing last Tuesday because it completely slipped my mind and frankly nothing exciting has been taking place). Tuesdays shall be the day to blog, I guess. But as I've been mentioning, my trip to New York is coming up VERY soon and I couldn't be more excited to get away for a bit. I'm contemplating posting a summary of my day both for my memories sake and so I don't end up with one huge post at the end, but I'm still undecided. If anyone is reading this and has a suggestion, feel free to comment below. 

This may sound strange, but I can't decide if I want to discuss Youtubers or Cancer. I know, two very different topics. I was planning on talking about Youtube and such today, but The Fault In Our Stars community has just started this site called Hearts4Hazel where you can go and share experiences you've had with the deadly disease or just how the book itself has impacted you. I think it's a lovely way to bring a group of people together and to hop on that roller coaster that doesn't always just go up...

I read a post on the site that was written by a girl very close to my age with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome which in short makes your joints extremely loose, easily damaged blood vessels, and it causes immense pain in general. I couldn't help but think how easily anyone could contract a disease such as that at any moment of their life. I wrote her a short message about how no one should have to experience such a horrid event and how she was an inspiration, but does any of that really matter? I'm sure she's heard it all before, that things will get better, how she's so brave. But when you're the one that's been lying on deaths door at one point in your life or another, I'm sure you don't feel so brave. 

She's very thoughtful for her age. I don't understand why horrible things have to happen to lovely people, but I'm sure we'll never know. But now after scrolling through her own personal blog, I feel as though I know her. That I've now stepped onto her roller coaster as well, but I don't know if I can handle the whole ride.  Just thinking about the future when her posts may come to a halt for she may  be unable to go on, that makes me quite sick, and I don't have any connection to her whatsoever. I couldn't imagine what it must feel like to be in her place. I wouldn't wish cancer on my worst enemy. 

Although, I do feel blessed in a way though to stumble upon her blog. Even if the future does scare me, she's handling it quite well herself. She's able to search for hope in places where it seems to be nonexistent and I find that to be such a beautiful outlook on life. I just want to help in some way, shape, or form, but I don't know how that's accomplishable. I'd rather go small scale to get more personal, but I could understand why people are more willing to help out the big picture which would be donating money for research. There's no attachment involved, no personal connection, no heart break, no loses in the long run. I want that personal connection. I want to directly communicate with someone and help them get through difficulties they stumble upon, but maybe I'm just being selfish about this. You can't be a superhero without a little heartbreak every now and again, and not everyone can save the world. 

This was a downer post, but I'm feeling like a downer at the moment after reading about someone that I can't help myself. Like I said, it's her roller coaster and I've just joined for the rest of the ride. Maybe we'll get around to those Youtubers of mine next week. I promise, okay? Okay. 

I want to leave you guys with a song called 'I Can Lift a Car' by the band Walk the Moon. They've touched my heart and hopefully they will touch yours as well. This song reminds you that if you've been having a hard time recently, it will get better. That you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. Including lifting up that metaphorical car of yours. 

-Belle xx