Notable Artist - Tori Kelly

Dear You,

A couple years ago I started watching Tori Kelly's Youtube covers. She's been "acousticizing" (rewriting songs using only a guitar, I made it up) songs for years. She has an amazing voice (that I am completely jealous of), plays guitar like a genius, and is an outstanding songwriter/rewriter. 

She's published two EP's: Handmade Songs by Tori Kelly and her newer one: Foreward

She has an unconventional pop sound that inspiring, relateable, and clever. She doesn't try too hard to fit into exactly what everyone else writes and  has some amazing unique songs in the process. Needless to say, I love her music.

My favorite songs are 

Handmade Songs: Celestial and Upside Down

Foreward: Dear No One and Paper Hearts

I love listening to her songs and have loved watching her go from iPhone recorded Youtube cover to full blown EPs with hit songs. I'm really excited to see where her career goes next and continue watching the mindblowing Youtube covers she uploads every once in awhile in the mean time.

Comment below: Have you found any good artists through Youtube? 

Hope you enjoyed reading!

Mia B 

Vision Board

Dear You,

One of my goals this week was to create a vision board, something I can look at and remind myself of my dreams. To do great and be great, strive for greatness every single day. So here are the pictures I'm going to print out and past to my vision board:

Idols

These are most of my singer-songwriter heros in the world, they're all amazing, inspiring and have done amazing things with their lives. Performing, writing, recording, all things that I hope to do in my future. 

Quotes- dream related

I have these humongous dreams just sitting inside me. They're terrifying and I'm constantly afraid of failure and loss. But looking at quotes keeps me grounded and remember why I'm doing what I'm doing. Nothing in the world makes me happier than music and I can't imagine doing anything else with my life. To me, my dreams are bigger than pain or relationships, it's my main focus right now and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Quotes- other

I'm one of those annoying optimists whose goal in life is simply to be happy. I've come to realize that it is entirely up to every individual on whether or not they want to be happy, it's something we choose. And for me, my happiest times are moments, while things are fun and having money is nice, nothing is better than moments. Moments spent traveling, laughing, hugging, writing, talking, just finding moments. 

So there's some of my most inspiring things. It's a big board so I'll probably add some random pictures of guitars and music notes and flowers and other things that make me happy and inspire me creatively. I'm really excited to get this done and hang it up and look at it all the time, yeah exciting.

Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed and comment below: What inspires you?

Thanks for reading!

Mia B

Instruments I Play

Dear you, 

So I've loved music since I was really little, just imagine 3 year old me singing with my Barbie karaoke machine or better yet see for yourself naive little me. 

However I didn't get a physical instrument in my hands until 5th grade, I was 10 years old when I was placed into my school orchestra and I've had 1 instrument at a time ever since. 

Viola

You never forget your first ;) and I never have, the rarely known instrument looks exactly like a violin but is slightly larger, thicker, and a fifth down (1 string lower). Viola definitely wasn't my favorite, they're always given mediocre parts that are only meant to be heard as background sound so I switched rather quickly but I'll always be grateful for this instruments gateway into the rest of my musical career.

Violin

As soon as I could I switched to violin, learned the whole new clef, very challenging but I caught on, and moved to the coveted 1st chair within 6 months. This one is my mom's favorite and I do love the sound but I find it hard to compare different types of instruments like air versus string because I think they all sound so beautiful and have their own special place in the magical world of music. 

Clarinet

After moving, my new school only offered band and there was no way I could quit music so I took up the clarinet, an easy beginning to a whole new world. However I didn't like clarinet very much, like viola the parts were all boring and I didn't see much creativity with the instrument. 

Alto Saxophone

Then one day I went to a local music shop and got to try out this beautiful new instrument. I then begged to switch as soon as humanly possible and joined the altos. This was one of the best decisions ever. I loved this instrument and miss it terribly, it has a huge beautiful sound and has the most amazing solos. I didn't play it long enough to master it but I really wish I'd known about it before. 

Guitar

This is my current love. It has opened so many doors for me, I learned how to write songs from it and increased my multitasking exponentially. I love having to try so hard to figure out such complicated songs and being able to sing along to an instrument, you can't really do that on a saxophone. This is the most passionate I've ever been about an instrument but I haven't lost any love for the violin or alto.

Piano

I don't actually play piano but it's next on my list, I feel at a loss for never learning the base instrument of music. I love learning new ones but I don't want to lose my time in guitar at all and I have absolutely no room to fit a piano. Maybe after school's over I'll have more time for an extra instrument and I can start out with a simple keyboard, I'm excited :)

Anyways, those are all of the instruments I've played. I love violin, saxophone, and guitar the most, they all have their strengths and I love them all so much I could never choose a favorite. I love playing so much and I miss all of my old instruments all the time.

Do you play any instruments? Tell me in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

Mia B

My Favorite Series'

Dear you,

I've gotten back to reading a lot lately and with all of these new series, I've been thinking back to some of my old favorites so these are my 5 all time favorite series in no particular order, I could never decide which one's best. 

1) The Goddess Test

I read this one last year and fell in love within the first book. It starts out as realistic fiction with strange occurrences then moves into a dystopian story with Greek mythology which I used to be obsessed with and an overarching, amazingly told love story that I can only dream of for my life... 

There are 2 other books (1.5 and 2.5) that I think are essential to the story but some just stick with the original 3. This author also has a new book called Captive which I just finished, fell in love with, highly recommend, and am highly anticipating the sequel

2) Percy Jackson Series + Heroes of Olympus

I realize these are 2 different series but for all intents and purposes in this post they are combined because it's a continuation of the story with a much bigger twist. There's definitely a common theme of Greek mythology in these favorites but the series is based on Percy Jackson, son of the god Poseidon and a human, and his other demigod friends saving the world, going on life-threatening godly adventures, and occasionally falling in love

I think the two different series have different writing styles and the overarching problem in the first series was resolved with the 5th book which was an epic adventure but this amazing author found a way to continue Percy's story with a new character Jason from the world of Roman mythology which definitely adds to the interest. I'm waiting to get my hands on the 4th book but eager to read

3) Trylle Series

The Trylle series definitely focuses far more on the main characters love stories so it's similar to the Goddess Test series but I think it contains more character development than that one. This one, again, starts out as realistic fiction then gains a fantasy twist. There's a lot of actions scenes for a story about what are technically trolls, but who are essentially humans with a couple of extra powers. The main character is cast into the world and has much responsibility put on her at once and I found her struggles rather relateable. 

4) Gregor the Overlander Series

This series was far more of a children's series, the stories are shorter and simpler with far less romance and far more action and I loved it all. This marks the story of two siblings who find an underground world with giant, talking animals and prophecies that Gregor was foretold in. I honestly want to reread it even though I'm almost an adult. 

5) Harry Potter Series

And of course the famous Harry Potter series, I wasn't allowed to read this as a child but secretly watched and loved the movies and read them last year as quickly as I could. I cannot express how much I wish I could receive a letter from Hogwarts and have my own wand. 

I've never been to Florida but I really want to go just to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and buy myself a wand and all of the things muggle children are deprived of :)

Anyways, those are some of the insanely amazing series I have read over my bookworm years. I think I love series so much because I get attached to the characters and fantasy world that they live in that I never want the story to end.

Comment below: What are some of your favorite series? I'm almost out of new books so I might end up reading them :)

Thanks for Reading!

Mia B

Playlist- Pop Loves

Dear you,

Recently I've discovered a lot of new music that I have been absolutely loving and wanted to share them with you, today's list is all upbeat pop songs... so here are a few!

The Vamps- Can We Dance

The Vamps- Wild Heart

The Vamps- Last Night

So the Vamps are this British teenage boy band that I have fallen in love with. Their album isn't available in the US :( but I've listening to the 3 songs they have on Youtube a ton. These are all upbeat dancey feel-good pop songs that capture the teenage spirit perfectly with a catchy beat and infectious lyrics. 

R5- I Can't Forget About You

R5 is a sibling band whose front singer leads a Disney show, their old music wasn't amazing so I had low expectations for this one but it was surprisingly good, I've been listening to it a lot the past month and still haven't grown tired of it. 

Colbie Calliat- Hold On

After so long without any new music I was pleasantly surprised when I heard her new tune which isn't conventional pop but has a slower beat but still very catchy lyrics.

New Politics- Tonight You're Perfect

This song is more alternative than the previous songs and again has a bit of a slower beat but I still love the sound and can easily dance around my kitchen and loudly sing to this one 

Neon Trees- Sleeping With A Friend

This is definitely an altogether calmer song and the music video is a little odd but I still like it. This is less of a fast dance-like pop song but I love writing or doing homework listening to this one. 

5 Seconds of Summer- She Looks So Perfect

This is probably the one I find myself singing long after I've listened to it. There's a definite rock sound to this pop song and I'm pretty sure it could be classified as an anthem with loud drums and guitars. Easily danceable (I seem to be judging songs today by how well I can dance to them) but I love running around the house singing to this one, when I'm alone of course or everyone might think I'm crazy... ;)

Well that's some of the pop songs I've been listening to as of late

I'm always looking for new music, have any suggestions for me? Tell me in the comments below please! :)

Thanks for Reading!
Mia B

Books I've Read Lately

Dear you,

I've been reading about a book every week lately, a great improvement over last semester and I've read some really amazing books and some sub-par ones. Here's my thoughts on all of the ones I've read lately starting with my favorite...

Pawn

This was my favorite out of the list because even though it didn't have any huge problematic romantic plot line, Carter managed to create a dystopian society (you'll notice a theme of these in this post) with enough action to be perfect all on it's own. She expertly concealed information in a realistically unrealistic way: took an unrealistic world but the characters had perfectly realistic responses to every twist and turn. 

I would definitely recommend this book and I'm really excited for the next book to come out in November. Carter also has a series called Goddess Test, with a much more pronounced love story which I loved all the same, especially with the Greek Mythology base. She may be my new favorite author. 

The Selection

This was another dystopian (of course) and I thought it started out slow but I got more into it later on. It definitely divulges every little girls dream to become a princess but shows the readers a more realistic girl competing for the crown. It is a whole different world of course and I know that nothing like this would ever happen but I couldn't help but want to be put in this corrupt world. I enjoyed how well Cass made the reader want to relate to the story. 

I would easily recommend this to a girl because of the heavy romance and princess themes throughout the book. 

Legend

This is far more of a gender neutral book than the other two, not like that many guys read but still. This book had far more to do with the corruption of politics and government than my usual books but I still enjoyed it immensely. I couldn't help but envy one of the main characters, June, for her bravery and cunning, I related to her strongly which doesn't always happen for me. 

I think books should be recommended in relation to the reader because while I know many who love dystopian, the lack of romance and slow parts wouldn't strike well with some while the action and politics would take well with others. 

Matched

I'd heard about this one being popular for years and I finally got around to reading it but I wasn't particularly impressed. It was your average dystopian novel, the society wasn't all that interesting, the characters lacked much development, and the plot was slow at best. 

Teardrop

I think the premise of this book could have been good but I didn't enjoy it. The plot was confusing and skipped around a lot, some parts of the fantasy side weren't that well explained. However I did like the love story, it's creepy in the necessary-to-the-fantasy-side way but nice all the same, but I wasn't fawning over the characters like I did in the Goddess Test series so it's all relative.

(I would totally take fun, artsy pictures of these books but I only checked out e-books from my library's system so... yeah)

Those were my thoughts on these books, I've loved reading them and am currently in the middle of Divergent in preparation for the movie this week (!!!)

What books have you been reading lately? Tell me in the comments below!

Thanks For Reading!

Mia B

Author Focus- John Green

Dear you,

Awhile back I read the most popular young adult book, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Green is an amazing author, creates interesting Youtube videos, has multiple charitable functions, and is all around a pretty awesome person. Recently I started reading all of the other books he's written and have really been enjoying it.

The Fault in Our Stars

This was the first of the ones I read and definitely my favorite. The movie for this comes out June 6th and I'm quite excited. It's an unconventional love story of 2 cancer kids, without the sympathy but still containing the epicness in any good tragedy and characters unique to their own extent. You can get a signed copy for no extra cost (normal book cost+shipping) if you contact the publishing website here. They always have extras. 

Looking For Alaska

This is my second favorite of his books. It revolves around an intellectual teenage boy going to prep school and the unique friends he finds. The characters are unique and the development is unmatched. Green captures the spirit of the modern teenager better than any teenager I know could, which is saying a lot considering I am one. I'm normally not one for all too much realistic fiction but this one was immensely interesting. 

An Abundance of Katherines

This one had a rather funny story. It begins on the premise of a smart teenage boy who has dated 19 different Katherines consecutively and the logical reasoning that there must be an equation that fits every single one. I got bored near the beginning but thought it was more interesting later on. It can be slow at parts but the overall story was definitely great. 

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

This book involves the interwoven lives of two teenage boys who meet by chance both named Will Grayson and the lessons they learn from each other. They both have issues, which I think most teenagers feel they can relate to but there is a common theme in Green's books that breaks the teenage stereotype. None of his characters are ever the normal types or popular types. They're the outcasts, the ones who don't belong with the crowd but hence belong with all of the others who don't fit the quota. Something not every kid can relate to but I'm glad the ones who are commonly overlooked in YA fiction are finally getting a voice. 

Paper Towns

This one may have been my least favorite. I love John Green and I think he is an amazing author and this book was still better than many others I've read, this one just wasn't for me. There's nothing wrong with it, the characters are well developed, the plot is "cleverly constructed", and it had a really good message about life and getting stuck. I enjoyed the message but for some reason I just didn't enjoy this particular book as much as the others but still I'm a huge fan.

Overall, I love most of his books, he's an amazing author, and I'm excited to see what he works on next but for the meantime I'm content watching his interesting Youtube videos (name: vlogbrothers). 

Let me know what you think about John Green, if you've read his books below. If you haven't read any of his work, what's your favorite book?

Thanks for reading!

Mia B