A Very Lucky Girl

Blaming podcasts for my short-ish reading lists lately. Cold ( detailing the disappearance of Susan Powell in Utah) created a monster and now I can’t stop listening to true crime. HELP ME. Crime Junkie is my current audio of choice and I'm surprised I'm sleeping at night tbh. self-portrait anytime Chris Harrison isn't on my TV screen What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera 3 stars A little more YA than I anticipated, but cute dialogue and relatable sentiments. It was infinitely more fun reading this after a trip to NYC because I definitely understood “there are a million and a half people in Manhattan, but none of them make eye contact unless you already know them.” But even several references to Levain bakery didn’t make up for a relatively shallow storyline and the theory that “the universe” works for us and against us. The Never List by Koethi Zan 3 stars Even though I’ve been listening to true crime podcasts like villains are going...

Because really, it shouldn't ever be forgotten. No matter what calendar day it is. 12 years ago I was in the fourth grade in Mrs. Robertson's class. My biggest fear was the cafeteria running out of cupcakes on cupcake day. But on this day, the carpool line for school pick-up was a little bit more frantic. On this day, my parents were more somber. I remember gathering in the living room of our white-painted Raleigh home, and hearing two announcements. First, our Tennessee home had finally sold and, as promised, we were going out to celebrate. Second, some bad people had crashed into important buildings in NYC and were attacking the government of the United States of America. I listened, not fully understanding (do I even understand now?), and innocently asked, "But our house is white like The White House, are they going to crash into our house?"  I was honored to be a part of the Sigma Alpha Lambda flag project on the South Oval yesterday. We pressed flags into the g...

"I deserved it more than he did." "He deserved it more than she did." Entitlement was the name of the game in Bachelor Pad's grand finale on Monday night. $250,000 was up for grabs and each player thought they deserved it more than another. None of them DESERVED the money. They are regular people like the rest of the world. They got lucky enough to be cast in a show that sees fit to dole out half a million every year to one of twenty-five sluts. If anyone DESERVES that money...it's the families that were immediately effected by the tragedy that occurred eleven years ago. The one that altered America, and New York City's skyline, forever. It seems petty to witness the irrational twitter fights that broke out all over my timeline today, a day that should have been reserved and observed. So you lost out on $250,000. Did you lose LIFE? A Very Lucky Girl and America should never forget. 

New York City turned me into the Taylor that never sleeps. And the Taylor that never sleeps is not a pleasant person to be around (Megan and Hannah are angels for putting up with me). I probably got a grand total of 12 hours of sleep from Wednesday night to Saturday morning. When we boarded the plane from Newark to O'hare Saturday morning at 6:45 AM I vaguely remember taking off, jabbing that seat-back button as soon as I was allowed to do so, and drifting off until I was jarred awake by our landing in Chicago. It was a much needed nap, since I was getting to that point of dizziness in my lack of sleep and I needed to be a alert to navigate the three hour layover at O'hare. Believe me, I had an unbelievable time. New York is a true treasure. But it's a treasure that comes at a cost of high stress and exertion. Walking all day long (if I hadn't counteracted all that exercise with endless slices of pizza I could likely fit into my old jeans by now--but I'm not worri...

***Spoiler Warning: I'm tearing apart this movie. So if you haven't seen it or haven't read the books then please save this for later*** First things first, I read the second two books in 48 hours. Literally devoured those words. Consequently, I was on the edge of my seat for this movie. I knew I shouldn't expect Hollywood to accurately portray the scenes the way I saw them in my mind, but I had high hopes. I saw the premiere in New York City. Quick moment of silence for how bad-a** that is, please. I have never seen such a line in my life. The entire block was wrapped in people. And when I say entire block, I mean ALL four corners. The line was even longer than the line at Shake Shack (I have a horrible first world problem: I now want Shake Shack for every single meal. NYC ruined me.) and that's saying something, I thought I'd never get that promised burger. I clutched Hannah's hand as the movie began, unable to contain my excitement. But as the...