Europe pt. 1: London, England

SO much stuff has happened over the last 4 days. Too much to even put into words, really! I've been journaling every night, so that's good. I don't want to forget any of it! I also don't want to bore you with the details, though.

I arrived in London on Wednesday morning and we did some sightseeing there for 2 days and then had a flight to Pisa, Italy on Friday morning and  now I'm currently in Florence. Pretty insane! I'll keep you posted as I go. We're doing everything so quickly, it's so surreal that I'm here! I look at pictures of all these places all the time and I can't believe I'm standing, walking around, and looking at all these amazing cities.

As I said, the first stop was London and it was so pretty - place I could actually see myself living. Plus it's fun being able to go out and buy drinks! I feel so free! The first day was mostly spent battling jet lag, so to be honest I don't remember too much from that day, but the second day was spend walking around seeing everything we could. It was so pretty, I'm sad I only got to spend 2 days there!

I think I'll post pictures city by city whenever I get the chance. The next city I'm headed to is Venice, then Pisa, and Siena, and then I'll post Florence. Then it's off to Rome!

Hope you're doing great! 

Brooklyn, NY

I found this apartment on Tumblr or something. It's in Brooklyn - how cute right?! Lately Brooklyn and Queens have really caught my attention. (Maybe just because of #hewillnotdivideus). It seems like that area's really come up though!

Sorry this post was so random! I had it in my drafts and it was on my mind a bit today. I'll upload some pictures from my travels soon enough!

Ciao, America!

Well, this is probably my last post for a bit! I want to take time away from my computer and focus on Rome and my internship. I fly away tonight and am spending 2 day in London, then going to Florence for 2 weeks, and then finally moving into my apartment in Rome. I'm excited, but quite nervous! I watched The Lizzie McGuire Movie last night to get pumped.

These next few months will be super different for me, but I'm anxious to see what I learn about myself. Wish me luck! As I always say when it comes to new things, I'm just one step closer to my dreams (living in Manhattan and being an art therapist). Ciao!

PS Have any of you been watching Shia's HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US livestream? I'm legitimately hooked ...which is not good considering I want to step away from the internet for a bit. I even made a Twitter just for the lifestream because I felt like I was spamming my main one with it too much. At least it's going on for 4 years straight. I really really want to visit. I keep telling myself, maybe in 4 years time I will be living in NYC, eh? Pretty cool.

Hope you're all doing FANTASTIC! I feel really good about 2017.

Home

"For more and more of us, home has less to do with a piece of soil than, you could say, with a piece of soul. If somebody suddenly asks me 'Where's your home?' I think about my sweetheart or my closest friends or the songs that travel with me wherever I happen to be."

Pico Lyer

Inauguration

*I meant to post this yesterday, whoops!

I know this is political and very opinionated and wordy, but just bare with me. I want to write out a little something about my thoughts from yesterday and the future.

I first wanted to say, I feel really lucky that I was alive while Barack Obama was our president. I was thinking about it tonight in the shower, and I just feel like we'll never have a president like that again - at least not for a long time. It's hard to believe those 8 years are up and he'll never take that position again. Despite what people say, a lot of positive changes were made. Those are my views, personally, and I agree with a lot of what he says.

I go to a super liberal school and have learned a lot with all the people there. I know we have to accept that Trump is our new president and I'm not rooting for him to fail. I think it's going to be tough to adjust after having a liberal president for almost a decade. I hope not too much changes, but the future is definitely uncertain. If you're concerned about anything, practice self care and get involved. Yes, the president has the power, but we are ultimately in charge. Set something in motion and do what you feel is right. I feel like at this moment we all assume the worst and if we have a bit of positivity it'll be ok.

I'm totally bummed Obama isn't our president anymore and I definitely cried while watching him give his farewell speeches and get in the helicopter today. Change is good and we all new it was coming.

So, now I want to give you some resources:

If you know me, you know I love when Shia LaBeouf does lifestreams. In his most recent one that he started yesterday, it's on the side of the Museum of Moving Image in New York and people come and say the mantra HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US for as long as they want. The message behind it is great and it's something we need to remember. However, it's also fun to watch. It's kind of like a social experiment and I've (no joke) been watching it for hours. I love it and every now and then Shia will pop up. It's going on for the next 4 years 24/7. I'm hoping to visit it at some point in there. Check it out here.

Here are a list of self care ideas. They aren't anything out of the ordinary, but I think it's important to know some simple things we can do everyday to feel better and stay on track with ourselves.

Barack and Michelle Obama have started a new foundation and after they take a break for a bit, they are going to move forward with it. If you go to the website, you can speak your voice. It's a place to give your input on what you would like to see happen in the country. It's about what we can achieve together and how to be a good citizen. I think it's fantastic and I'm so happy this family, even as citizens, is still working hard to better the people.

That's all for now. I hope you're all doing well! I usually don't post anything political and it took me a while to decide if I wanted to actually publish this or not. Sorry about that! I hope it helps a bit though.

Perks of Being a Wallflower, 2012

"Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn't stop for anybody."

Love

"Mom listen, I haven’t been together with Topanga for 22 years, but we have been together for 16. Ok, it’s a lot longer than most couples have been together. I mean when we were born, you told me that we used to take walks in our strollers together around the block. When we were 2, we were best friends. I mean, I knew everything about this girl. I knew her favorite color, I knew her favorite food. Then we got to be 6 and Eric made fun of me because it wasn’t cool to have a best friend who was a girl or even know a girl. So for the next 7 years I threw dirt at her. I like to call those’ the lost years.’ And then when I was 13, mom, she put me up against the locker and she kissed me. I mean, she gave me my first kiss. She taught me how to dance. She was always talking about these crazy things and I never understood a word she said. All I understood was that she was the girl I sat up every night thinking about. When I’m with her I feel happy to be alive, like I can do anything, even talk to you like this. So that’s what I think love is, mom…when I’m better because she’s here."

-Cory Matthews, Boy Meets World

Rome in film

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I really love these photos taken of Rome by Rebecca. She took them with Film and I think they look so beautiful! Something about film gives it a really cozy and comforting feeling.

I'm thinking about getting a disposable camera or 2 to bring with my on my trip so that I can take a some pictures in every city I visit. Obviously I'll have my real camera too, but I think it would be so fun to have a film camera as well. I can't even decide if I want to bring my DSLR because it's so big. It's a good quality camera, but I feel like the iPhone cameras are so good now, that's all I need.

What are your thoughts? Help!

Emma Stone's Press Tour

The other day my friend and I saw La La Land because we were super intrigued by the trailer and then when the film won a bunch of Golden Globes, I definitely knew I needed to see it. It didn't disappoint! Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling have such great on-screen chemistry. We were laughing when we first sat down because we were the youngest in the theater - it was full of old ladies, haha!

Here are some of Emma Stones looks for her press tour for the movie. She's so stunning!

Venice Film Festival

Venice Film Festival Opening Ceremony

Toronto International Film Festival

Mill Valley Film Festival

Denver Film Festival (photo with the director, Damien Chazelle)

Paris Premiere

These are some of my favorites! To see more, head over to the Hello Giggles article where I got all this info!

Did you see La La Land? What did you think?