Friend

What a friend we have in Jesus!
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in Prayer.
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in Prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged,
Take it to the Lord in prayer:
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
Take it to the Lord in Prayer.
Do your friends dispise, forsake you?
Take it to the Lord in Prayer.
In His arms He'll take and shield you,
You will find a solace there.

We sang this at church on Sunday and its one of my favorite hymns! As a young person, friends are terribly important. At every age you are influenced by who you hang around with. But as young adults, constantly changing and searching, friends help mold us into the people we become. And although I believe we will be changing constantly for our entire lives, I think that it is now that we will make the most important decisions that hopefully we'll hold onto and they will set us out on the road to make all of the future decisions. ha, i hope that makes sense. If not, read His word, not mine:

"Do not make friends with a hot tempered man,
do not associate with one easily angered,
or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared"
Proverbs 22: 24-25

And the truth!

"Greater love has no one than this,
that he lay down his life for his friends."
John 15:13

Could be New York maybe Hollywood and Vine...

I’m finally starting to come to grips with my trip to California and search for future city, future home. I think I’ve been going about it all-wrong, and here is why. Each city that I’ve considered, I love. I went to LA thinking maybe I would hate it and then I’d be able to cross it off of my list….no such luck. I still love NYC, London, Nashville… If I Love each city, does that then mean that I will be happy anywhere? Or rather, I can find a way to be happy anywhere? I think so. My new comfort will come from the saying, ‘let go and let God’, because when it comes right down to it, I pray that I will end up where he wants me. All of the research in the world won’t change that. I do not plan to sit idly by and wait to see what happens to me, but I just may take a backseat and see where the driver is heading before I jump to any conclusions. Maybe God is keeping this a mystery from me because something bigger is coming, something that will change my course into an unforeseeable future. Right now I should just trust that I will end up in a place that is right. And I can take comfort in the fact that if the first place isn’t right, I can move. People move all of the time, I move all of the time. In fact, I’m happiest when I’m moving, constantly exploring something new. Right now, I’m moving to Washington DC, and adventure in its own! I’ve been so wrapped up in trying to figure out where I want to be in the future that I’ve forgotten that I get to be there now. This is part of my plan, to take a step back from the planning and into the moment. I’m going to carpe diem the hell out of my time in DC…and also check out a bit of New York while I’m there….oh boy.

"Native American" fashion trends...

Completely alright or totally ignorant of American Indian Culture and rights?

Check this out:


(Cartoon by Jen Mussari.)

I have my thoughts, but what are yours? Today i stumbled upon this argument that apparently has been going on for a while, starting with the "hipster scene" wearing Native Indian headdresses. Apparently its an issue of Cultural appropriation, where one cultural group (in this case the Hipsters) adopt specific elements of another culture (Native Americans) as their own. When you think about this in relation to the fashion world, what can be considered unique? Isn't every trend guilty of this in some way?

Anyways, i'm going to do some more reading on this, I find it really interesting. Let me know what you think.

capturing fleeting thoughts of life...

Lets find boys in bands who write songs about having to compete with vampires
Lets find a new life where who we see is who we are with no questions asked
To a brand new start and chasing the edge
Let the logo define us and let us be reckless
To the boy competing with vampires, let him be honest
I may not make sense to you but when you experience this you will know
What I say may not be right but it’s where we are and its what we need
To know ourselves and our mistakes, to become something more
To the vampire, let him disappear, and be gone



do you get it? yeah...me neither. not yet.

5th grade. Remember it? I was 11 years old. NSYNC was my favorite band and Justin Timberlake had the most beautiful curly hair ( I still can't believe he cut it all off...) My dad surprised me with tickets to see them, my first concert. I think there was a hurricane or something, but for some reason, on the day of the show, it was cancelled. I cried. and cried. and cried. You would have thought that someone had died, because i laid in bed all day and cried.
Well, today. I'm 21. Apparently concert devastation will strike once every 10 years...damn...should a' seen it coming. I got home from work an hour ago and had a couple emails (one from Ticketmaster, one from Team Jonas) telling me that my Jonas Brothers show for next month has been cancelled. Alright. I'm not crying. I am mad. and confused....and well, just really really disappointed. For any one that knows me, you know how much this means to me. If you don't know how much this means to me and you're thinking, oh come on, get over it, well then you don't really know me.
Here is what the Team Jonas email said as the reason...

"Every year we have been able to visit new cities and fans, and this year is no different. As you may have heard there are some changes that have been made to the routing of the tour that now includes European and Central and South American dates. As part of our effort to bring the best concert experience to you, we've had to reorganize some of the North American tour dates. If we're missing your city, please know that we love you and we will be back soon. If any of the changes have inconvenienced you in any way we are truly sorry. However, we wanted to take the time to let you know how excited we are to see as many of you as possible on this tour. "

and by some...let me clarify...they cancelled 20 shows! Everyone in the Jonas world is like "oh, don't be mad at them, its not their fault"
Well, I'm sorry that you're 14 and haven't hit it yet, but in the real world, if your team messes up that means that you have messed up and while this may not be their fault directly, it is their fault as a musical group, as a business. Basically what it comes down to is money. Now take for that what you will...i'm not really sure what I think of it. Well, actually its discussing, if you say you're making music because you love it and because you love your fans...maybe its more about money that we'd like to think. But maybe its not about money...oh whatever, I don't want to rant, I just wanted to vent.

One more thing, how do I tell my 11 year old cousin that the show is cancelled and she won't get to see the Camp Rock tour? Maybe she'll cry. and cry. Just like I did when I was 11. I better warn her now to be careful with concerts when she turns 21.

All Saints!

I know, I know, my blog is totally random...but so am I?
Just wanted to share one of my obsessions.... All Saints Spitafields clothing company... they have the most epic denim, leather and architectural knit dresses on the planet! I don't actually own anything because....well...the price point is pretty steep. Oh well...someday....its like a Louis Vuitton...we all have to have something left to reach for, a goal to obtain, that one jacket that we WILL be able to afford one day! All Saints is from the UK (of course...its like the root of all of my obsessions...) but they are opening around 50 stores in the US over the course of the next year! Of course there isn't one within 500 miles of anywhere i am sure to be...but hey...New York is alot closer and more reachable than London...for now ;)

Look, Love, buy? haha.
http://www.us.allsaints.com/

oh! and the random tweet that brought on this blog...from @Rob_Hoffman...."Unisex at All Saints really means 'made for girls, but go for it dude'"
bahaha!

Nashville Rising

Nashville Rising, wow! That’s pretty much all I can say about it! Nashville was blown up last night by Country music stars making a difference. I was out of the country when the flood happened, but I remember hearing a little bit about it. I had no clue how serious it actually was. The floodwaters were 5 ft deep inside of the Opryland Hotel and Grand Ole Opry… if you’ve been there you can imagine how hard it is to believe that that huge, and ‘grand’ place was completely flooded! Its not scheduled to re-open until November. The flooding in some parts of Nashville was as bad as it was in New Orleans just following Katrina.
Some details of the flood itself…
The Cumberland River was 13 feet above flood zone, 30 people died.
It doesn’t necessarily surprise me that I wasn’t hearing about it in Europe, but apparently people in the States weren’t hearing much about it either. The oil spill and the Times Square Bomb both occurred during the same weekend as the flood and no doubt took the media attention. I wonder why it is that our media shoved the Nashville story to the side, though. Last night they gave me an answer. Nashville can take care of its own! Perhaps the media didn’t care to report about a flood where looting and crime didn’t take precedence over neighbor helping neighbor. Maybe there wasn’t a story there, or a story worth mentioning?
I think Michael W Smith said it best when he said something about Nashville not getting media attention because Nashville doesn’t need the government’s help. They can carry their own.
Not to down play what happened in New Orleans or anything, that was a tragedy in its own, but I can definitely understand why countless country stars, football players and political officials showed up last night to support their town, because It truly is their town. Amy Grant told stories of working on neighbor’s homes and Julie Roberts told her story of being helped when she was trapped in the second floor of her home. Country music has a way of bringing out the good things in people, of representing what is important in life and making it known. That’s why I believe in the goodness of all of these people, they are truly super heroes.
With that being said, here my story from yesterday ☺

Angie and I got to Nashville around noon and we decided to drive around the arena, check out where to park, before going over to Pancake Pantry for lunch. We walked around the Belmont University area (really cool shops and beautiful area!) and then, of course, found T Swift’s condo building ☺ haha. We’re stalkers, of course! We went back downtown and heard Taylor and Miley soundchecking inside of the arena. We ended up standing at a gate behind the arena and watching the guests arrive! We saw the coach of the Tennessee Titans, ZZ Top, Lynard Skynard, Taylor’s band, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Martina McBride, and Luke Bryant go inside. After a really quick wardrobe change back at the car (bah, we couldn’t wear the same thing all day of course…haha) we made it inside the arena and to our seats just in time . The show started with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill saying hello and introducing the show.
The line-up continued…
Carrie Underwood started with her new single, ‘Undo It’ and then ‘Jesus Take the Wheel’, which turned into an EPIC rendition of ‘How Great thou Art’!! She basically started the show with a standing ovation, it was incredible.
Blake Shelton followed and he sang ‘Some Beach’ and ‘Hillbilly Bone’ during which Trace Adkins came out and sang with him!
After that was Lynard Skynard who sang ‘Whats Your Name’ and a ‘Free Bird’/’Sweet Home Alabama’ medley, which was much better than I expected.
Michael W. Smith sang ‘My Place in this World’ which brought back the memories of my last concert in Nashville seeing him sing that song with Kevin, Joe and Nick ☺ He also sang ‘Bridge Over troubled Waters’
Amy Grant followed with a song that I don’t know the name of but one of the lyrics was… “We pour out our miseries and God just hears a melody, better than a Hallelujah” She also sang a rendition of ‘Jesus Loves Me’ which was really amazing. She spoke about the importance of faith in the community and how Nashville is so strong because of it.
Montgomery Gentry sang ‘Something to be Proud Of’’ and ‘My Town’
Then…….BAH!!! Taylor Swift!!! She sang ‘You Belong with Me’ and ‘Love Story’ I freaked out basically because it was incredible! And then she skipped off stage…like literally skipped. Hahaha I had to laugh…she is the strangest and probably one of the weirdest ones out there, but I love it! She is like my bff even if she doesn’t know it!
Luke Bryant sang ‘Country Man’ and ‘Do I’ *he is v beautiful!
LeAnn Rhymes sang two songs that I have never heard before…they must be new. This was the only act that I was disappointed in. Her album, Blue, was my first CD ever and I was so pumped to see her again, but eh, she was just alright.
Martina McBride sang ‘Loves the Only House’ and ‘Anyways’
ZZ Top was so awesome!!! I had no idea that they were SO cool! Haha they are like old hipsters with Amish beards and the most epic studded vests ever. I knew one of their songs…’sharp dressed man’ SO True!!
Julie Roberts sang a song that I don’t know….her story was especially touching, however, because her home was actually destroyed by the flood.
Miranda Lambert sang ‘White Liar’ and ‘The House that built me’
Jason Aldean sang ‘Big Green Tractor’ and ‘Country’ He was really funny, he said something like ‘well I don’t really know about all of these sentimental songs. I can’t really follow up to Miranda’s song, but I do know what I know, and I can sing about animals and farm equipment’ haha, he was great.
Next was….Billy Ray Cyrus. I have to admit that I was kind of excited about seeing Billy Ray…but man, when he came out with a tattoo covering his entire arm, wearing sunglasses and a bandana…I thought he looked more strange than even trace cyrus! Which is Ironic because Angie and I had just been discussing how it seemed like trace was kind of an odd addition to the Cyrus Clan…apparently not…Billy Ray sang some song that I don’t know and didn’t really say much.
Miley followed her dad, but did a MUCH better job! She was wearing underwear…and something on top of it! Haha, of course, its Nashville! Surely she wouldn’t show up in a unitard. She came in and said something about being glad to have a reason to come home. First off- let me say, that I am impressed that she was even there. Yesterday (June 22) was the day that her new album, Cant Be Tamed, dropped and she spent release night in Nashville at a benefit concert. Even if maybe she didn’t actually want to be there (who knows?) I do think it says a lot about her roots that she was there, especially because its not like she is getting a ton of press for it. She would get far more press spending the night wearing only her underwear somewhere in LA doing some sort of scandalous performance like she did on Monday night at the House of Blues. That is kind of sad that that is what gets the press and not her helping her hometown. I genuinely like Miley, I think. Haha.
Anyways, she sang ‘The Climb’ and she was awesome!! She belted it out and sounded amazing!
Tobey Keith followed Miley and he sang ‘Once was’ and ‘I love this Bar’
After Tobey Keith came the biggest surprise of the night…Sandra Bullock!!! I was like, WAHHAT?! It was crazy! Everyone was freaking out! She came out with an acoustic guitar and said that her friend, Faith, had invited her out and she figured she would do some comedy…but then decided that since it was Nashville, she should perform like everyone else…with a guitar. She dragged a stool across the stage and picked the intro into Iron Man…it was Hilarious! She then introduced Faith Hill who came out and sang a couple of songs including ‘Piece of My Heart.’ The female singers definitely stole the night and Faith Hill was an EPIC ending to that. From Carrie to LeAnn to Martina McBride and Miley and then Faith Hill…their voices are amazing!
Tim McGraw finished the show by singing ‘Southern Born’ and ‘Live like you were dying’ A line from Southern Born… “Jesus is my Friend, America is my home” I love it! The entire night was the epitome of southern comfort and country music, a love for neighbors and a love for country. It was so amazing! If you ever get a chance to be a part of something like this in Nashville, do it! It’s so genuine, like nothing else! Thanks for reading…I know its long ☺