Okay, so Happy Summer! And Happy Pride Month. The weather in Rochester is finally beautiful and I’m so excited to just relax and hopefully visit some friends, go to the beach, and do some things I’ve been waiting all winter for. But the first thing I can’t wait to do, of course, is read! So a few weeks ago (like two) I had an article out about upcoming Spring/Summer book releases that I was excited for. So please check that out. I just finished working for the magazine Study Breaks and it was so much fun so shoutout to Kris for the amazing opportunity. ANYWAYS. You can read that article, here. But those books are a mixture of genres. (So yay me for pushing my boundaries and if anyone is tired of me talking about romance, you’re welcome. *haha*). But THIS list is romance. So if you really are tired of me talking about romance...too bad. Let’s get into it!
One Last Stop-Casey McQuiston (june 1) Next up on the bucket list? Sunset Boulevard. So maybe I’m in the wrong state but did you know you could take the train there? I didn’t. (and sunsets are ~summer-y~) But this book revolves around the TRAIN! Ugh. The city girl in me is thriving already. August doesn’t believe in love and at 24 all she’s focused on doing is waiting on tables, navigating her interesting roommates and perhaps deterring her gaze towards the gorgeous girl on the train. Except Jane doesn’t look like she’s from this year. In fact, she’s stuck on this train in a time loop where she’s actually from the 70s. So of course it’s August’s job to help her get back home...and perhaps start to believe in love all the same. I still have “Red, White, and Royal Blue” on my TBR so I need to jump on this right away and you should too. Let me know how you like it! The Heart Principle-Helen Hoang (August 17) Summer ice cream flavors include: chocolate, vanilla, pineapple, raspberry and this book. (I’m so good with these puns, sign me up for dad of the year). But the third book in the Kiss Quotient series is the perfect story to add to this list of sweet & savory treats. Violin, youtube sensation Anna Sun finds a hard time with recapturing the moment that launched her career and after a surprising breakup, Anna decides the only way to get over her career burnout and boyfriend is through a series of one night stands. Enter Quan Diep {Hamilton’s voice}. Motorcyclist, tattoo ridden hottie is Anna’s three strikes you’re...in? He becomes something more than a one-night stand and when tragedy strikes Anna’s family, in order to fight for each other they have to first learn how to fight for themselves. I’m sooo excited for this book. In college, I’m apparently drawn to books with characters who overcome burnout struggles and a bad boy in theory is always going to be my favorite book boyfriend. Sign me up! The Road Trip-Beth O’leary (june 1) I’m not one for camping but you know road trips always require a good sleeping bag. Or a backseat. *winky face* And who’s better to share the back seat for a cramped period of time other than exes with a tragic breakup story? Addie and her sister are on their way to a friend’s wedding and after they crash into Addie’s ex, Dylan and his friend’s car they have no choice but to carpool–they are headed to the same wedding after all. So will the ride allow them to rekindle what they once lost or confront the past and allow them to move on for good? I’m not one to predict successful outcomes but it’s a romance! I can’t wait to see how they fall in love again. Better yet, spill the tea on their history and give me all the drama of four people on the road because that’s bound to have a good story. Lucky for you, we can all read it now. The Hellion’s Waltz-Olivia Waite (june 15) The perfect summer date will not be complete without a night under the stars. Ooh a Ferris wheel at night? What a vibe. To all the parents who tell their children not to read in the dark...you’re right but the ~romance~ of it all. Anyways, this book is the perfect book for a starry night. The third book in the Feminist Pursuits series, I’ve heard great things about this author and her first book “The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics”. But a piano teacher and a swindling silk-weaver? Sign me up. Sophie and her father want the chance to start over without anyone else disrupting their lives, since the last time someone conned her father out of his shop. And Maddie just wants the chance to fund her weavers’ union–and the best chance to do it is through the greedy man Sophie works for. It sounds like a good enemies to lovers and I can’t wait to see how Sophie and Maddie get together. Okay, so we already can tell that some of these dates are past. That’s why this title is “New Book Releases I’m Excited For” as in, just recently released, not yet released (left to creative interpretation), and not yet read by me. All the same feelings apply. So I hope you enjoy, happy reading, happy summer! I hope it’s nice weather wherever you guys are. I hope you can rest and relax even if you’re working or interning. And I’ll talk to you guys soon. Until Next Time! With love, Ariana
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Ladies and gentlemen, buckle your bootstraps because I’m taking you to Texas and I don’t think I’m ever coming back home… First let me start out by saying, I had in no way planned for this blog post to happen. I hadn’t even planned to read these books and certainly not so quickly. But alas, here we are. Let’s first start with the fact that I'm stingy--and I mean stingy--with my five star ratings. But after I finished reading the first book, I didn't even hesitate and even after sleeping on it, I have yet to take it back. Though, I must admit it was well deserved. I feel like these books go beyond what I liked personally but also how much I valued the writing for each of these novels; between the characters—for their differences, relatability/likeability-- and the overall theme and plot for these stories. Kate Stewart is by far my new favorite author because of the way she can tell a compelling story about people; which is all I can ever aspire to do as a writer, and everything she accomplished by giving me something I had always looked for in novels and finally found. But enough ranting and raving, let’s get into the elements of the books: what I loved, comments on character, style/format of writing and recommendations! Intro: This series is a new adult sports romance based in Texas (hence my cheesy Intro line) set at a fake university...in Texas. It’s got sass and cowgirl boots and a whole lot of heart so let’s get into BOOK 1! The Guy on the Right- Rating 5Summary: This story follows a guy named Theo whose a band geek. At the beginning of the book he’s just coming out of a heartbreaking relationship and so his goal is to loose his virginity. With the help of his more popular, football playing roommate things don’t go as well as he had hoped and on a drunken night that’s where he first meets Laney. Laney is tired of dating assholes who don’t respect her and so she’s swearing off men for the rest of her senior year (Theo is a junior) and they embark on this hilarious and loving friendship. Things I loved: The characters. I think the theme of this entire trilogy that you’ll see as being Kate Stewart’s strongest points in these books is how well she develops her characters. They’re well rounded with quirks and flaws that aren’t just there to say they’re there, but we feel and understand the character’s motives for everything they do. This book focuses heavily on insecurities as being the driving force of the plot’s conflict but it was built up so well throughout the rest of the novel and we get to see a lot of the character development in a way that’s just enough so we feel the angst but understand why the tension is there and how things finally develop into something real. Also, Kate Stewart is freaking hilarious! The banter between this couple was so incredibly funny, the moments they share together were just awesome and real and I love how this trilogy is called The Underdog Series because Theo really was portrayed as a regular guy with fears and ranging emotions and they were compatible for each other but he was the underdog. The plot. There was a never a point in the book where things didn’t make sense for the characters to not be together. As I mentioned before, the insecurities were the main things that were driving this couple away but I thought that because this novel did so well with developing a story between characters, it made sense that there wasn’t some dramatic plot twist that drove them away. Instead it were the flaws of these characters that we saw sprinkled throughout the rest of the story rearing it’s ugly head. I think a lot of times, novels can try too hard to make for an interesting plot in order to drive the story along, but I loved that it stayed between the people we had been following throughout and nothing was too dramatic and it was realistic. I love how this story gave us scenes and moments that were slice’s of life but the scenes always added something more to the story. There was never a point where things felt like a filler or that it was too cheesy, everything was well rounded and came full circle at the end. I also liked how the characters got together about 50 percent into the story because usually I read stories where the characters come together at the end and they get their happily ever after and it makes sense. But there are few that I’ve read where the characters come together so close to the beginning were it feels well developed and then the big conflict happens and the end still feels as well rounded as this one does. Which is also why I appreciated the slice of life moments we were getting, especially after they got together because it wasn’t always happily ever after. The scenes were doing something to either add to character development or lead us up to the overall conflict at the end. Any problems: There weren’t too many problems that I had with this book except the ending of the conflict and how that was handled. I definitely understood why the conflict happened, there was definitely a good build up to it happening but I think this is the only time I felt that there was slightly unnecessary miscommunication. Though, the characters had their motives explained, our main character took more time to coming around than I would have thought but I feel like this was so minor on the grand scheme of things. I think this can be a point made on how people can’t just overcome their insecurities so quickly which I can still appreciate. Even the epilogue, which I felt could have probably been the cheesiest moment in the entire book, was well placed and written and this book was just phenomenal. Extra thoughts: I also want to point how despite how strong our main characters were, how equally strong and developed our secondary characters also were. They weren’t just cardboard cutouts used to drag the story along, you felt their personalities and some of their motivations as well, at least pertaining to the main story. Even though I couldn’t say I was so eager to read about the second person in the trilogy, I think that’s only because I loved this first story so much, I still loved Troy, the second book’s hero, just based off of this book and was definitely interested in his story by the end of this. The Guy on the Left- Rating 4.5Summary: This story is the second book in the trilogy and follows Theo’s roommate named Troy, and Clarissa a single mom. Troy’s a football player with a lot more responsibility than let on and Clarissa is a teacher. This is sort of a second chance romance as Troy tries to be a part of his five year old son’s life. Things I loved: First of all, I’m a sucker for kids in romances when they’re written well and this was simply spectacular. Dante was a little spitfire with interests and personality that were so beautifully portrayed in the novel making him just as important and well rounded of a character. Which I think is so important when writing kids because they shouldn’t just be things used as an end goal to get our main characters together and this definitely was a story about them as a family and them trying to make things work aside from just the romance. Again, the characters were well rounded although I definitely felt that these characters were more consistent and this story wasn’t so much focused on character development as it was the main theme of the story driving our characters motives and how they were challenged to react in their environments. I definitely had stronger emotions towards whose side I was on when conflict arose but I don’t think that had to do with the writing per se, and I appreciated that we were never told who to root for. I definitely felt like this story was supposed to show more of an overall theme of family and loyalty and trust in relationships more than the characters in a relationship themselves. This was a true slow burn in terms of the romance. There weren’t even any steamy scenes until the end but because it was so well written, I didn’t mind. I also loved that Troy’s story was happening at the same timeline as Theo’s story and how many pop up surprises we got from recurring characters. I think this story does an amazing job of building on the characters that we see in the first story, giving them an ending in this story or allowing us to see more relationship building, using this story as a way to cross over from one story into another (whether that be from the first book to this one or preparing us for the characters in this story for the third one). The plot: As I mentioned before, this story definitely was showcasing themes about love, relationships and parenting and I think this story does a great job of developing these themes and explaining this theme in a way that’s not necessarily unconventional, but in ways that make you think and offer different perspectives. I like how this story wasn’t like the first one and instead didn’t build up to a final conflict, instead there were many small conflicts scattered throughout the story that the couple had to jump through and cross together as they discovered who they were with each other and what they wanted to be in the future. I really love how our main character found himself in the end, because I think a lot of romances focus on the characters together and who they are without each other when they are apart but not so much who they are alone (unless it’s at the beginning of the story) so I thought this did that very well. Any problems: I think my two thoughts on this story were how often I didn’t like our heroine. She seemed unnecessarily hostile and untrustworthy at times. I understood her reasons why, she was definitely built up enough as a character for me to feel this way but there were times where I felt she was being immature or just extra and I felt those minor internal conflict battles were getting annoying to an extent. Though again, this critique isn’t about the writing per se, and more so personal thoughts and feelings. I did, however, think this ending tied up a little too fast. Maybe a few more pages could have done things well for me in order for me to feel like the couple had actually gotten to the place they needed to by the end of this book (mainly involving ways to make the reader feel like our heroine should be trusted in wanting to make things work with our hero) but I also think that’s another small part to make this actually a problem for me because in the end things tied up in a nice full circle which I enjoyed. Extra thoughts: I loved the ending of this book and the secondary characters were phenomenal. I thought this book was definitely a heart tugging story and we were always rooting for the characters to get together (even when our heroine was making our hero work so freaking HARD. Lol) This book was also not as lighthearted as the first which isn’t a bad thing but prepare for the deeper plot line but overall I loved it. The guy in the middle- rating 4.5Summary: This story is about the third roommate of Theo and Troy, Lance, and how he comes to be in a relationship with Harper. This is a brief friends with benefits turned loving relationship as well as forbidden romance trope though under more than one different conflict (personal and external) which I enjoyed, along the way. Things I love: Sooo, originally I was going to rate this book 4 stars, but based off of the last five chapters I bumped it up to 4.5. I’ve never felt so compelled to up a rating so late in a book but I had to because Kate Stewart really is Just. That. Bitch. Gosh that ENDING SLAYYYYYED ME. But I’m getting ahead of myself so let me start from the beginning. I loved the romantical development of this relationship. It definitely was a faster slow burn but that was only because this story focuses a lot on their relationship over the course of a few years instead of them actually falling in love. With that being said, I did enjoy the discovery of the problems between the couple and for them individually and how they tried to work through that within the novel. I also enjoyed the characters. Between all three books, I feel like this book started out with the most very sure-of-themselves and well-rounded characters, so there didn’t need to be much self discovery but of course there was which made it make sense for why the plot was more of the driving force keeping our characters apart. This also made the introspection more interesting and allowed it to focus more on the characters surrounded by their conflicts and how to interact with those in the plot which I thought was amazing. This book also dealt with bullying as teenagers and the trauma it causes in young adulthood and mental health; though it was mainly brought into the limelight towards the end it didn’t feel misplaced with the theme of the book and the hints placed throughout which I appreciated and thought made things feel very realistic. The plot: I know for the second book I talked so deeply about the themes being the driving force of the plot, mixing character development and environment to make that story full, but if you take all of my comments that I talked about for that plot, put it towards this book, and just change the themes, that’s this book just….10xs more plot and theme driven. Which I know might make things so confusing and redundant but I hope you can stick with me here. Lol. With this book being the most conflict and plot driven, I love how real-time it felt. There weren’t any spontaneous plot twists that didn’t make sense. I do want to mention the impact of the ending again and how I felt that it was beautifully written, tying up the overall conflict of bullying and depression. This book definitely was more serious than the other two, and the problems that our hero faces is so relatable at least to me which I thought was great. It never felt like the the problems in Lance’s life were “other” than him, they definitely defined him as a character and we got to see the affect of that on him and his relationship. I love how we got to see his family so well flushed out as this book also deals with the impact of being the oldest and responsible son. I also loved how the book made a point to show how things weren’t happily ever after but emphasizes that life isn’t that way but things can still be worked out and be good as long as you have hope and faith and family. (Which is to say, despite this, the book didn’t end on a depressing note at all, so it was a very satisfying pay off to all of our struggles as a reader). And omg THE EPILOGUE! I definitely could have written this under one of the main things I loved but I think putting it under plot is good because the things that I loved about it was the fact that the epilogue ties up all the themes of the books individually and as a series so well. It brings back all of our main characters, shows even more development from the first two couples since we’ve last seen them, and ties in the bigger theme of realism in relationships and life, together so so well. 10/10. Any problems: It’s not a big problem, but the layout of this story was definitely different than the last two in the sense that we follow our main characters over a few years and months and I didn’t love the way the time jumps were woven together. They definitely made sense, and I love how within these time gaps we get to see the personal growth and successes of our main characters, though I thought the way they got back together the first time was a little cheesy but I can forgive it. There’s also the time when they’re in the midst of working things out and he’s such an asshole. Which I know seems so biased but I’m still unsure as to where the anger is coming from to explain these actions. I definitely plan on re-reading this series in the future so hopefully I can I figure it out then and edit my thoughts but my goodness, it was so angsty to read. Though, I thought the inner dialogue was well thought out to try to explain the actions and reactions. At times, it just felt like it was a little too much, especially in the beginning. But again, that might just be me or due to the fact that during this time we got mostly our heroines perspective. My main problem though has to be with the side character and best friend of our heroine. He has an accent and his character is written in the accent in which he speaks. That was hard to read and I admit I definitely skimmed some of the things he said because they just made the reading jarring and hard to concentrate on. I definitely think there could have been a way to allude to the accent and also continually bring it up in order to remind our characters of the ethnicity of the character, though I’m still not sure what ethnicity that is (even though I can guess, I don’t want to assume but I will be asking for opinions to make sure). I’m not sure if I would call this problematic per-se, just very hard to read and unnecessary. Extra thoughts: Despite my criticisms and initial thoughts before the last five chapters, I still thought this book’s message was the most powerful of the three. There’s always that question of: talk about a book that’s changed you and why/how? and I never had one until now. It definitely changes the way I view the world and people, especially us women in the way that we talk about each other and judge. Insecurities about looks can do so much damage and they can really destroy a person’s life and it just makes me want to think about being more conscientious about my first impressions of people. And even if society has programmed us with some of these toxic traits, I too am human and have flaws and make mistakes and it’s always about what you can do to change and grow as a person and I love that this book emphasized that mentality, at least for me. Again, I’m going to mention how the epilogue nearly destroyed me. Just reading the POV after finishing the last chapter brought tears to my eyes because I knew I had come to the end of the book with these amazing characters and their stories. I did not want it to end, I still don’t want things to end and I would love to just have more, but Lance and Harper definitely were the couple that resonated as the most realistic to me and I loved that so much. Final thoughtsKate Stewart really is my new favorite author at the moment and her books are everything I’ve ever needed and now have found. I want to read more of her backlist sometime soon but I have a mile long tbr list right now and I really want to get through other authors and genres first but I will most definitely be coming back to read more of her work in the future. I’m also so glad that I found her now because I would have died if I had to wait for the third book (the guy in the middle just came out in 2020). I read this on kindle unlimited which I highly recommend if you guys are avid readers, especially for romance, they have an amazing selection. I think you get the first month free and then it’s 9.99 after that so, from someone who doesn’t like to pay for anything, it’s totally worth it. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of ebooks for long term but I’m making plans to collect the entire trilogy for my shelves, so if you like to read things to see if they’re worth owning (like I do) I recommend kindle unlimited for this purpose as well. I love how different Kate Stewarts books are each from each other even within the trilogy. She stands out from other authors because of how well developed her characters are which I so heavily enjoy. "My everything is yours"- Troy, The Guy on the Left I know this is a long one but I had been talking about this book series too long not to write to you guys about it so here I am. I hope I did a good enough job of explaining things without giving away too many spoilers. I really just hope you read these books and tell me if you do and what you think because so far this series is my most favorite of the year so I’m pretty happy about that. I actually took a break after reading the second book because I didn’t want the books to start blending together and I’m so glad that I did. I then waited a little while after that to write this review because I wanted this to be my raw and unfiltered thoughts post-reading high so that I could trust my emotions on these books haha. So, I hope you guys are doing well and are reading and watching Netflix at leisure if you can. Stay tuned for my next adventure (reading or other)!
Until Next Time! With love, Arianna P.S. What are some books that have changed you and why? 5/11/2020 0 Comments Ex(pose)sureWhen sunlight hits against,
Elevated cheekbones without your favorite highlighter; And golden hues reflect on uneven toned skin. Your lashes close, dusting your cheeks And your lips are chapped and shaking. You are vulnerable. You are selfish. You are vain. You are skin. When your palms are dry and cracked, Aching, as skin is stretched taught as it reaches for tangible dreams in the sky; Your fingertips graze the clouds of possibilities, But only raindrops fall and drench your sleeves; Your wrists are wet and damp uncomfortably. You are yearning. You are eager. You are hopeful. You are skin. When the light is no longer working for your bathroom mirror, And you’ve run out of acne cream; When your favorite waxing salon has closed down, And you really can’t afford another pair of new jeans… When there are no longer any more clothes to hide under, The dark circles are big enough for everyone to find; When you are naked and standing in the mirror, With no one but yourself to look you in the eye. When your heart aches for the things your hands cannot touch; And your voice is but a whisper after all the words you still didn’t say, Your body reflects the life you’ve lived; And your body is all the love you are. You are torn, You are broken, You are scars, cuts and bruises… And you are skin. I know this kind of ended on a depressing note but first I want to say HI! How are you? I know it’s been so long and the world is really crazy right now. I debated giving a life update--I finished my first year of university (yay!), I made some amazing friends (who really do make the world go round), I’m developing a strong mental, emotional and physical health (we love a growing Queen), and I’m going through this pandemic crises just like all of you. So with that in mind, I decided against the update and created this instead instead. This was an idea that I had in mind for a really long time and I finally created the aesthetic and the pictures to go with it but had no idea what I wanted to create with it until I finally thought--poetry, duh! It's been awhile since we've seen any on the blog so I was excited to share it. Anyways, in spirit of us all going through similar life experiences, (though completely unrelated), I wanted to share a poem about how societal pressures of beauty force us to see things as these imperfections that need to be fixed or covered up. When really, our raw and most authentic and unedited selves are the most beautiful because that’s who we really are and how could we not want to love ourselves? Even though it can be hard. We have to learn and love and appreciate that inner self so that it can reflect to our outer selves before we allow these corporations tell us what they think we’re missing from our lives. After we understand that: "Makeup or no makeup, I’m still beautiful", then we can pile on everything else materialistic and superficial because makeup is fucking fun and it makes you feel fun and sexy and confident. And in the end, that's all any one of us wants to feel on the inside. The point of this or anything really is to help us truly understand who we are and what parts of ourselves we want to reflect to the world--of course the best parts, but are those “best parts” truly you? Or are they the metaphorical “makeup” that we choose to hide behind because we think people will like that version of ourselves better? So make sure you're doing things to feed that inner beauty and not because society tells you there's something wrong with who you really are. Either way, I really thought this poem could help some of you guys to look at the inner and outer beauty being reflected differently through words. DISCLAIMER! I am not calling anyone selfish or vain, I am speaking to the corporations who tell us that we need something more/other than ourselves in order to feel or be beautiful. I definitely played with words and meanings behind punctuation in this poem so I really hope you guys enjoyed. I’m hoping to learn how to reclaim and define definitions of words in life and through my writing that are used to tear us down so that’s kind of my intention behind this. I love you guys, I really hope you guys are all staying safe, staying healthy and I’ll talk to you soon. Until Next Time. With love, Arianna 9/17/2019 0 Comments New beginningsI recently just changed my description handle for blog from “fashion and lifestyle” to “poetry and lifestyle." -And I’m loving the change.
Ever since I started my blog, I knew I wanted to write, I just didn’t know about what. If you’ve followed me since I started last year, I wrote a post on Niche’s-what they are, how do we fit into them, should we care and what it means for our (if you’re a fellow blogger) or my blog. I came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter. Create your own niche. But now... I'm not so sure. I still stand by my views of creativity and nonconformity but not fitting into a niche is, in itself, fitting into a niche. (Funnily enough.) And it’s not a bad thing! But at the time, when creating my handle, I felt that, because I watch a lot of fashion and lifestyle vloggers and read similar bloggers that I was built to do the same thing and write the same way. But I don’t actually like to write and talk about fashion. So then came the question, “So what do I write about?” “And what the HELL do I put into my handle?” I ended up deciding to write whatever makes me happy, whenever I felt like it (and keeping the original handle because, why not?) But only part of that’s worked for me. I thought, maybe one day I will decide to write about fashion. Maybe one day I’ll love it. Of course the time never came but I could never come up with something else to go with lifestyle. To be honest, I’m not sure why I thought I had to. (Maybe because having two titles has a better ring to it than one. Who knows.) Anyways, deciding to write whatever I want has made me happy and I’d say extremely successful in the sense that I know my readers enjoy my content because I enjoy my content. It’s quality work, I take time and effort into everything I do, and sure I make mistakes but my readers can feel my passion through my writing. If I didn’t write what I liked, if I didn’t have FUN then neither would you. However, I recently read an article about how prioritizing your blog is so important because it’s my brand. It’s an extension of who I am personally and who I want to represent professionally should someone ever hire me to write for them someday. But my inconsistency has been my downfall. I’m a student first and foremost. Moving from high school to college, things are only going to get harder but I’m an adult now and when I graduate college I’ll have my degree, expertise and my blog to show for myself. But if I don’t post frequently, or I don’t engage with my readers the way I should, then what am I really doing? This is essentially a really long intro but when I first started my blog, things were different. I started it for different reasons with a different goal in mind and now things have changed. Here’s why. When I first started my blog, I was writing for myself. It was my first public platform, I hadn't even created a personal Instagram account yet! But my mom encouraged me after seeing how many fake blog posts I would make. They were silly things about celebrities but I really loved the artistic side of it. I loved making the posters and putting them together, but more than anything I loved writing to you guys, my imaginary audience. lol. Back then I couldn't even fathom that someone other than my mom (thanks mom!) would read my blog posts. But even now, I get comments and dms about how people genuinely love what I have to say and that's what it's about for me now. Writing so that people 1. know that I have something to say and 2. sharing whatever wisdom I can with the world. I know what it's like to look elsewhere for some personal or even professional advice so anything I think could be helpful: about school or life, I want to be there for you guys. My community is slowly building but I want to continue to nourish it so that it can grow. So now when I write, I think about you guys, What will you think about this? Can you relate? I wonder what you guys are going through in your lives right now as I go through mine. And it’s important for me to write for you guys, and to you guys because I want to inspire and I want to help you pursue your own dreams and aspirations; I want to inspire confidence and show a good example of what a real life person goes through. And part of that process is emotional and academic struggle. Don't be alarmed! School is good and I'm actually getting better at maintaining my metal health but creating a schedule and keeping a healthy balance is hard. And even more so now that I'm in college. (I currently just finished a 27 page essay and have two midterms this week but balance is taking that break to write and maybe watch a movie before I have to start studying for my next exam. You may be sitting here wondering why I'm telling you all of this or why should you care but it's basically so you guys can know and understand that things are going to be changing. I want Intuitive Minds to be actually what it stands for: a group of intrinsic minded souls connecting with one another. And I'm someone who has a hard time staying connected online but this blog, this platform means so much to me that it has to be up there on my list of priorities along with school, family and friends. So, it's time to adapt with the times. Expect more creative content, a better look into the life of me. I'm taking more photos to show you guys what my life looks like and hopefully you guys can follow me through this process. You are now why I do this. And it doesn't sound as bad as it seems, I want to do this. I write so that we can share our lives together, so that you know you’re not alone and life can be free and fun and messy. I’m allowing you guys to follow me on my metal health journey so that you know that it’s OKAY to be sad and have bad days but it’s okay to share it and lean on other people if you want to and that you’re not alone. And I'm telling you about my favorite books because fuck, reading is fun man when you have the time to do it and maybe you've read it too and have a different opinion or maybe you've never heard of the title and wanted a different perspective. It’s a huge world, and often we can get lost in the crowd but this blog platform has allowed me to share my voice in ways I didn’t think I could. But now I can. So I’m figuring out my social media for you guys, so definitely follow me on my Instagram. (I made one just for the blog!) And I just want to end by saying thank you for sticking around and reading and allowing me to fumble my way through THIS process because it’s still a process but it’s one I’m looking forward to mastering in the end. Until Next Time! With love, Arianna Wallflower (Noun)- a person who has no one to dance with or who feels shy, awkward, or excluded at a party.
[wol-flour] Do you guys like my made up pronunciation of the word? I thought it was pretty clever. Lol. Anyways... I am not a wallflower, and I'm glad for that I guess, but I do think that any modern day teenager can relate to some of the thoughts and emotions Charlie was feeling in this book. I'm writing about this book because this book meant so much to me when I read it. I didn't know how much of a tough time I was having until I finished the book at two o'clock in the morning and I was just...numb. But I'm learning to be more vulnerable with the world and trusting with myself which is why I'm sharing my thoughts on here with you. And I'm learning to trust myself to handle my emotions and allowing people in to help me with the things I can't do on my own. Aside from that, Perks of a Wallflower inspired me to write. It inspired passion and emotion and creativity. When you go through these growing pains, as I like to call them-when you begin to question your confidence and your identity- I feel like books like this one are the books you need that will bring you to that dark place of self reflection. It will help you discover what you need. I needed to confide in someone in that moment, and the next day I did. I've never felt better. But my journey isn't over. Maybe one day I'll be able to share all of it with you guys but for right now I appreciate the constant support of always sticking by me and reading whatever midnight thoughts fly through my brain. I'm at college right now, learning how HARD it really is and I really love it here but I'm not 100%. It has nothing to do with the place or the people but just because of me. I'm trying though, and I know I'll get there eventually but a professor of mine recently told me that I've always been confident because I've never had a moment where I've needed to challenge that confidence. Who am I really? And the truth is, I don't know. I'm trying to learn that that's okay. I've been giving some pretty not-so-subtle hints about my struggle with mental health through my Instagram so definitely follow me on there, but college is teaching me that this part of my life is a new, fresh start and I get to chose who I want to be, so I refuse to waste it. As a result, I've made a list. Four steps to emotional success: 1. Have a good cry at least once a week. (Preferably with someone close to me so I can learn that it's okay to trust people who care for you.) 2. Confide in someone close to you. (I need to learn that it's okay to be vulnerable because the lack thereof will only make it hard for me to build real, genuine relationships and I don't want to live my life like this.) 3. Take a chance. (I need to take emotional risks and fail if I ever want to gain my confidence back.) 4. Go to therapy. (This is an idea I've already committed to and I'm very excited and nervous. But I know I can't do everything on my own so, it's time to go to a professional.) 5. Try something new every week (Whether it be yoga, working out, running, throwing karaoke and movie night in my dorm, I have to allow myself to take advantage of how great life is because it's phenomenal.) These are four tips I wrote for myself but if you're going through anything I highly encourage making a list of your own or using mine to help you through your journey. Just know that doing everything alone only makes you lonely. And even if you're not going through anything right now, you can never be too confident or self-assured. Let yourself be 100% authentic and real with your emotions. Treat them as a part of you, don't shun or turn them away. Embrace them and they'll only help you grow more strong in the long run. So, I realize I've been talking to you guys for awhile now and you're probably tired of reading by now so stayed tuned for PART 2. That's where I'll share all the quotes and paragraphs I absolutely adored from this book. Until Next Time! With love, Arianna 5/1/2019 0 Comments LOve Actually After creating the title I realize that it’s the title of a movie and one that I’ve actually seen. Haha. Though, this post is going to be about Five Feet Apart which I actually adored. There were some slow parts, and the setting was stagnant (in the hospital), and to be honest there wasn’t a lot of character development...now that I think about it, the movie wasn’t all that fabulous but I loved little aspects of it and oh my gosh the music. I went with a friend of mine and we laughed more than anything else but we also shed some tears so if you can go on a Tuesday for 5$ then it’s worth it. Anytime else, I wouldn’t highly recommend.
Though I just wanted to talk a little bit about it because the aspect of love in today’s world, or should I say generation, is such an abstract concept-at least to me. So often we discuss the idea of online dating, or the “hook up culture” which is so prevalent in today’s society but what about the fairytales and Cinderella stories we used to dream up of as little girls? Are they completely lost or do we still have a chance at finding our Prince Charming? I think deep down we all want to find love; to be with our significant other for all eternity because that’s how we were created-as emotional beings meant to connect with other emotional beings-but the fear of being foolish or vulnerable by putting yourself out there puts so many barriers between us as people which leaves so many disconnected and single. Not saying that single is a bad thing and that every single person is lonely and sad and pining over a guy/girl they want but can’t have, but what happens when you have the money and the car and the dream job? When you have the nice house with no family? No one to turn to, to go home to, and even if you don’t want kids, I believe soulmates should always be someone to have. Best friends are great but if they get partnered up, where does that leave you? Just a little food for thought. I don’t really have any answers or advice, I just thought I’d rant and rave and talk about these things with you guys. In a way I tie it into Five Feet Apart only because when faced with impossible circumstances and nothing else to loose there’s no way to be anything than who you are and to put yourself out there because you don’t have the time to waste. I think some of us forget that we are mortal and our time is not our own. The more time we waste being scared of something that has no real power over us only leaves us more unfulfilled in any aspect of our life. So, risk it all like you have nothing to loose because you may not be dying at the moment but we will die and you don’t want to go through this life alone. Fall in love, believe that there’s someone other than yourself in this world willing to do the things you want. Soulmates do exist. Song: Don’t Give Up On Me Until Next Time! With love, Arianna 11/22/2018 0 Comments The Poet Poetry wasn’t something I always enjoyed writing. I didn’t think I could do it, that it had to sound a certain way and be “perfect”; but the thing about poetry is that it’s not perfect. It’s rough and raw but that’s what makes it so amazing. It can be forgotten thoughts, tangents of an old conversation, or the whispers of a dream only you can hear. It doesn’t always have to be lyrical, you don’t have to worry about punctuation if you don’t want to; it doesn’t even have to be in a straight Line. It just IS. And as soon as I stopped being so intimidated by it and gave it a go, I found that I could use poetry as a way to develop my skills as a writer. I just read something on Pinterest the other day and it said: “It takes years to develop your craft. Do not romanticize the idea of an ‘overnight success’.” And it really hit me that I’ve been writing so long because I love it, but how can I call myself a writer if I don’t try every writing style there is; If I don’t branch out of my preferable genre, if I don’t read the “odd” books in the bookstore, just to see how it is? Maybe I’ve romanticized myself as an overnight success. Maybe I’m too hard on myself for my imperfections not realizing that in order to get good, I need to know how to fix what’s wrong; and in order to get really good, I need to know what I can improve. Maybe I just need to accept the fact that I’m still a student in my field and I’m growing and learning every day. I’m not even in college yet and I still have so much to learn and apply to my life so my writing may not be perfect for a long while and that’s okay. But when there are all these doubts and negative emotions whirring through my brain, that’s when projects begin to build up and my hiatus begins to become more of an excuse not to write rather than a break to think about what I want to write about next. When I don’t write for long periods of time, my writing obviously isn’t as good as when I’ve been writing everyday. And if I’m not writing, I need to be reading, but if I’m doing neither... This is where poetry comes in. It’s not easy, but writing never is. Though, when paragraphs are too long and sentences seem pointless, poetry is a great way to keep up with your skill. And it’s so much fun to read! If you have a good poetry book, you can keep it in your everyday bag and pull it out for ten minutes as you wait for the train, or while you pump your gas. It gets your mind whirring, and your creative juices flowing and for me, it allows me to try something new. But it can be hard to just switch over sometimes. When we get in our comfort zones then it’s to hell with everything else, and even if we didn’t try it, we don’t like it. But why not give something new a chance? Write a mystery story instead of sci-fi for once, see where it goes. Write in prose instead of poetry, try poetry instead of short stories; And you never know, you might discover something new about yourself, and 'Bonus!', you’d have unlocked a new skill in your creative writing. So these are three poems I wrote awhile ago. I’m trying to read more during the break, but school has been keeping me occupied these last few weeks so I’m hoping to find some poetry books that really strike my fancy. A few friends recommended some but if you have any others, let me know! Poem: The Red Queen The world did not end in a bang, or a whisper, but rather, one scream at a time. “Everyone knew that this world would soon be mine.” The Red Queen sat, gleeful as she claimed her throne Those below her, watched; fear had claimed their homes. Terror had taken over the town and death had claimed the ones they loved. She had wanted the crown and now that she has it, the world must fall. The world would crumble, before it was to rise again, but those who stood by her side would be spared of the wrath her reign would begin. The Writer: My mind is a mess my head a myriad of ideas. I tend to forget so excuse me if I forget your birthday this year. My brain moves too fast, faster than I can type so one project just piles up after the last always incomplete never quite right. But I have a passion that runs deep, and knowledge that I’m not afraid to show. I can correct your grammar in a heartbeat and I hate it if you read too slow. I’m a romantic by default It was programmed into my genes. I love to sit where the flowers bloom and then write about it as they seem… so… distant. I can be lost for days. Disappear into my own head, my room I get cranky about early mornings; That’s because I hate waking up. When the sun comes out, that’s when the inspiration stops. So I’m a night owl, that’s why I’m always up. Late. Too late, everyday Going to bed early just isn’t my thing but as soon as I’m awake and this poem is done then you’ll see, that I can change people’s worlds With only a few verses and fancy words… And here comes the sun. Who am I? Fireworks: The first time you kissed me, I tasted the sky. Weightless, limitless, endless, You were my oxygen keeping me alive. My helium keeping me afloat. It was from that first kiss that I knew, You were the one. When you kissed me the second time, I tasted fireworks and orange popsicle. It was bursting, and exploding, and nerve wracking to my core, But then you pulled away with a smirk, Leaving me panting at your front door. But every time I kissed you or you kissed me, The moment our lips touched home, I breathed you in like my life depended on it. Because every time you pulled away, you left me gasping for more. So every time we kissed, I tasted the sky. You are my life line, Every. Single. Time. "There are always three choices in life: give up, give in, or give it all you've got." -Charleston Parker
Thank you so much for reading! Until Next Time! With love, Arianna 8/12/2018 0 Comments A Note to myself about self-love
Listen to the audio, (use headphones for better sound), watch the clips. Enjoy! A note to myself about self-love
Loving yourself isn’t just about having confidence or loving how you look in the mirror. It’s definitely a part of it, maybe even the most important part, but it’s not all of it. Loving yourself is about learning to love your failures and your flaws. Your mistakes, your regrets, and learning that they aren’t so bad now, because they made you into the person you are today. Loving yourself is learning to forgive but not forget. Knowing when it’s time to let go and keep moving on with your life because dwelling on the past is only going to keep you from seeing your future. And stop constantly blaming others. It only takes the blame off of you for a little while, but it doesn’t change the situation. Loving yourself is learning how to say sorry-to others- but more importantly, to yourself. Learn to apologize to yourself for being so hard on yourself for things you had no control over, Or for things that you did, and you just messed up. We all mess up sometimes, but learning to love yourself is learning to understand that it's only sometimes, not all the time, and we’ll get better at these things as we grow older and learn. It teaches you empathy; and that even you have your limits, despite how perfect you may think you are or may want to be. Learning how to love yourself may entail getting hurt in the process. You may loose a few friends, have a few bad relationships or just have a really bad experience, And you want to beat yourself up about it over and over again, but learning to love yourself means accepting this terrible phase in life and knowing that it will pass -The pain, the confusion, the regret-it doesn’t last forever. And loving yourself is trying to figure out the real lesson you’re supposed to learn from all of this, not dwell on “What if?” Learning to love yourself is not learning “a better way to love others.” Learning to love yourself is learning to love yourself. All parts of yourself-the good and the bad-and being happy with that person. No regrets, no mistakes. Acceptance; and eventually...happiness. It’s something we all want to achieve-self-love-and something we all need to work at. It may take a while, or you may wake up one day and suddenly feel like your best self. But until then, here’s a gentle reminder on How to Love Myself. Hi guys! Did you enjoy hearing my voice? I hope the file opened for you with no problem. Putting this together was such a struggle but I finally got it up and I’m so excited! I’m trying to get more acquainted with making videos and editing for you guys. I want to keep things interesting on here because as you all know, I can talk (write) all day but sometimes it’s nice to change things up a bit and I thought recording this would be fun. I don’t own any of the images, in case you were wondering. I have them all on my Pinterest account though so follow me on there at MusicManiac and you can see all the stuff I pin, including these photos. I hope you all enjoyed this little bit of prose and Until Next Time! With love, Arianna Song in recording: Hearing-Sleeping At Last 7/30/2018 0 Comments Niche's: wHAT DO THEY REALLY MEAN?A niche- Interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population. Adj.
At least this is what the dictionary says it means. When I first started my blog, this word was getting thrown around too often. It was mainly to describe how you can ‘figure out your own niche’ and ‘how to find bloggers in your same niche’ until I eventually had to stop ask myself what it is that I wanted my blog to be about? I think as people who are so used to putting themselves out there on different mediums, it can be hard to stay relevant because we’re always competing, especially when you’re just starting out. Whether it’s with other bloggers or YouTubers (just as an example) who are on an entirely different scale, you’re trying to gain attention and show your readers that you have something to say. So, you try to fit yourself into this little box of ‘most popular genres’ and hope your blog lands on the next Top Ten Must Read list on Buzzfeed. But what happens when you realize you fit into more than one niche? We are complex beings. We have our likes and dislikes, things we’ll tolerate, things we’re passionate about, our jobs, our hobbies and all of these idiosyncrasies make us into the people we are, but I don’t think a title has to define us entirely as people and especially not as creators. I think it’s important to label yourself with the more dominant parts of your personality so that you and your readers can say who it is you represent on your blog, but you don’t have to limit yourself once you’ve created that platform and name. It’s okay to branch out and talk about things that challenge you as a writer just to show your readers that there is more to you than what meets the eye. As long as you stay true to yourself, you will find your audience and you can develop a genre that’s entirely your own all the while staying within your niche-whatever that means. They never said the definition couldn’t be swayed a little, so why not change it so that it means something to you? Besides, I’m always one for a good plot twist. Until Next Time! With love, Arianna |
AuthorI'm an 21 year old girl who lives in NY. I love to read and write and fashion is my life. Follow me to find out more! Archives
January 2023
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