Letters From Liz.

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Hey, guys – welcome back to TNTH!

So, it’s 2018. It’s crazy to believe that 10 years ago was 2008. 2008 was one of those years you look back on and remember your youth and the memories that are forever a part of that specific year. I thought it would be fun to reminisce about the person I was and the memories that made this year one to always remember. I wrote a #TBT post about 2008 a while ago if you’d like to read a more detail description of this year. If not, here’s a summary of 2008 through my eyes.

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In 2008, I was 14 years old. I vaguely remember my birthday being during the school week and I went to school with my pretty outfit I bought at Fashion Bug and I straightened my hair for the big day. I never straightened my hair in middle school so whenever I did get it straightened, it was a big deal to my friends. Another person in our class also shared the same birthday as me which never happened because I don’t really know that many people who are born in January, let alone on the same day as me. My birthday was a fun day; I got birthday wishes from all of my teachers, I got my various birthday punches (a middle school tradition), and I got mad love by my friends. I spent my after-school hours auditioning for the school play, which was an experience of its own. Eventually, I got the role of “Queen of Hearts” in the production of Alice in Wonderland.
I was really big on music at this time. I listened to such a variety of music that I look back now and remember a lot of different music from 2008. That summer, though, I started to get into the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, and I was literally that girl. My friends who were still into the mainstream music actually began to judge me for my music tastes, but guess who didn’t give a fuck!
My 8th-grade class literally made my year. We were considered one of the smartest classes in the middle school yet we were one of those classes that raised hell in our classes. Something would happen every single day, whether it was rumors being spread around about our teachers hooking up, causing havoc in our math class because we never did a damn thing in Math, and even when someone stole a few things from one of my teachers one time, we all stood together like a family.
The greatest day of 2008 was opening day of my school’s production of Alice in Wonderland. For months, I spent my after-school hours rehearsing for the show, making friends along the way, and it was bittersweet to see the show come to life after months of getting it together. All my friends and family came out to support, I owned the stage whenever I was in character, and it was just one of the things I am so happy I did, even years after the fact. This production really made my passion for singing and acting a lot stronger, and I was excited to continue my studies in performing arts high school that Fall.
When the weather began to get warmer, my friends and I would always hang out on Fridays after school. We either went to the park in our area and played basketball (I would be the one watching), or we would go to the movie theater in Bay Rudge and watch something. The first ever movie hangout we all went on was to see Iron Man, and surprisingly it was amazing! It was more fun that there were, like, 15 of us in that movie theater just hanging out and having a good time. One of the best movies we all went to see in theaters was Batman: The Dark Knight. Seriously, that movie to me was put together amazingly. It was one movie that all of us wouldn’t have dared to talk through because it was so good.
In our grade, everyone knew who were the best singers in our grade. I was known to be one of the best. I participated in every talent show since the sixth grade and I was in both of the school productions while being in that school. I was even chosen to sing a duet with another one of those singers for graduation, and we sang our asses off. Because I went to a regular junior high-school that wasn’t specialized, it was a big deal to my friends when I told them I got accepted to Brooklyn High School of the Arts.
My class was chosen to be a part of this middle school Ballroom Dancing program and I was one of the people chosen to be a part of something called the Rainbow Match Competition. In each round, we were assigned a color and our hand-picked dance couples had to compete with other schools in that category. I did something similar to this in the 5th grade where we made it all the way to the semi-finals; I was assigned as the merengue couple with a boy from my class. In middle school, I was assigned to do the Tango with a boy I really didn’t like because he didn’t take me or the competition seriously. But we did what we had to do, and we ended up getting third place.
Although I was a singer, I started to take myself more seriously as a writer as well. I was even chosen to share an original poem about ballroom dancing during out school performance. Eventually, I even started to keep a journal that I eventually wanted to make an actual published book in the future. I don’t know if future me would do that now, but I wrote everything down and made sure I recorded the memories I was making in 2008. I even made a scrapbook of all the 2008 memories; I’m glad that I did. It was definitely the start of me writing down everything for the sake of sealing the memories for a lifetime.

2008 was that year I had after having a year of uncertainty and self-doubt. 2007 was a year of tears and fakeness and losing friends for stupid things and 2008 was the opposite of that. I felt more like myself in 2008 than I had prior to that year. I guess I hold 2018, ten years later, to that same expectation. I hope that 2018 is great for its own reasons, but I hope it has the same amount of happiness and positivity that 2008 had. 2008 Liz was a girl who was a force to be reckoned with; 2018 Liz is going to be the woman version of that.

I hope!

-Liz. (:

Travel Diary: Lacawaxen, PA.

January 3, 2018August 7, 2018 liz

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Saturday, December 30th, 2017 – The Arrival

Saturday morning, my family and I got our bags (and Christmas gifts) together and waited for my aunt to come pick us up. Nobody in my family that was going knows how to drive (and hopefully that changes this summer) so we usually have to get picked up by another family member in order to go to other states. I was really excited to go to Pennsylvania to see my extended family for New Years because we never rang in a new year with my mother’s side of the family. I was also very excited to get up and out of the city and enjoy a Pennsylvania winter where there’s going to be snow on the ground until possibly the middle of April. We left New York around noon and we were on the road for about 2 and a half hours. I know.

We finally got to my grandparents’ house around 2:30 in the afternoon and my god was there so much snow on the ground. It was also freezing because they do live in what is considered “the mountains” so it just felt like my breath was constantly being taken away from me. It was bad. We all ran inside, got settled in, and at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, we had dinner. I know.

Because we don’t see each other before or even on Christmas, we typically do Christmas in January to celebrate Christmas, my cousin’s birthday which is in December and my birthday which is in January. This year, we did all of that while up in PA for the weekend. We all opened our gifts around my grandparents’ little Christmas Tree. It’s funny how many of the things we all got were really warm pieces of clothing because we all expected that we could use it while we were up there; I got a heavy blanket, a heavy sweater, heavy pajamas, heavy socks, pretty much heavy everything. I also got a couple of things from Bath & Body Works, a pair of really nice jeans, and a couple of gift cards which definitely came in handy. Then my grandparents gave me my birthday gift, and it was this beautiful navy blue coat.

After opening gifts, we got the table ready to have dessert, which meant it was time for birthday cake. My grandmother made an all chocolate cake with a green cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. She also made some chocolate cream pie which was crazy because my mother forgot to make one for Christmas, so I was really happy for that. All in all, it was great to spend birthdays and holidays and celebrate them all with my extended family.

Later in the night, we all went and watched a couple of holiday movies that my grandmother recommended us to watch. One of them was good, but it began to get extremely awkward when my teenaged cousins (both boys) began to make inappropriate jokes about one of the movies, and honestly, it killed my vibe a lot. But other than that, we spent the night hanging out, eating a lot, and catching up.

Sunday, December 31st, 2017 – New Year’s Eve

The first full day being in Pennsylvania and honestly, by the time it was over, I was completely over being up there. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, but as I get older I began to realize just how much I can actually handle them, and a day and a half is pretty much my limit. NYE always feels like the longest day of the year because you anticipate the new year coming and all of that, but NYE in Pennsylvania was brutally slow. At the start of the day, it was fun; my sister and I took pictures out in the snow because we’re two basic NYC bitches that don’t get to see snow like this. Despite it being frozen the first 5 minutes being outside, we managed to get some pretty nice snow pictures:

*Beginning of the basic Instagram photo…*

*The result of the basic Instagram photo.*

After we came in and defrosted from the outside cold, we had some lunch, Megan went to take a nap and I went to color in some adult coloring books in the dining room. Because my grandparents live in the countryside, there’s no cell service and no wifi either. I mean, my grandparents are pretty old, and they don’t want to invest in getting some wifi even though everyone says they should. Because of that, it’s very easy to get bored up there. What I do to pass some time is definitely do some coloring. Coloring passes about 1 to 2 hours, and then I would probably just go and hang with my sister.

As the night came and we all went to eat dinner and dessert (it’s a ritual to do both literally one another the other together), it was time to bring out the snacks and stuff in preparation for the new year. My grandparents were too tired o stay up until midnight to ring in the new year, but my family and my aunt’s family managed to stay up until the new year came in. My aunt’s family is… unique. Needless to say that something happened, and the family was divided for most of the night; my sister and I were with my mother, and they were in the kitchen playing cards. Because of the little things that began to add up across the weekend, my family was pretty much over everything and were ready to go to sleep and head back to Brooklyn the next morning. In some context, my mother’s side of the family does not live in New York and they live comfortably. My actual family does not. We also live in a city of diversity, so we don’t have any opinions on other types of people. These people, although my family, sometimes literally get me sick because of their one-minded perfect world lives. Like, I get it, you work hard for what you have and you’re doing great at it, but not everyone is as fortunate as you and not everyone is like you. There are different types of people in the world and it just makes you look ignorant if you don’t acknowledge that it does. Because of feeling like this and many other personal things, I got a little bit upset once the new year was here. I expected the night to be more than it really was. I guess I wanted to feel like I was ringing in the new year with positivity and love, and I didn’t feel it. It was there, but then it wasn’t. I went to bed telling myself that I would’ve rather been back in NYC with my partner, ringing in the new year with him and having a fun time.

But I digress and I am still thankful that I was around family ringing in the new year.

Monday, January 1st, 2018 – The Departure

Despite going to sleep at around 1 in the morning, my family and I had to be up and ready to head back into the city by 11 in the morning. We packed up our things, ate some breakfast, and allowed everyone to do their thing before we headed out on the road. In the meantime, I spent my time waiting in my room, hanging out with my grandparents’ dog, Foxy.

We said our goodbyes and headed on the road back to the city. I was completely exhausted from the night before that I don’t even remember much of the ride because I fell asleep through most of it. We got back to NYC around 2:30 in the afternoon, and that was that. I did enjoy my time up in Pennsylvania. My family and usually get to go up there doing the summer once a year, so it was great to have been up there during the winter time. When I was younger, my family and I went to Pennsylvania a lot of the times, especially during the winter time for Thanksgiving. Some of my favorite Pennsylvania memories come from those times. I’ve met some family I never met before, my step-cousin, Cara, and I used to put shows together for my family to come and see, all of the kids would go upstairs and blast music in the biggest room of the house and throw dance parties. It used to be extremely fun being up there and maybe it’s because we’re all older that we don’t get to do fun things like that around the house, but other than that, I do enjoy getting away from the city once and a while to just be around quietness and peace. All in all, I enjoyed my time there. Winters in PA are cool, but they don’t compare to the Summers up there. Hopefully, there’ll be a summer edition to this diary later on this year; we’ll see!

-Liz. (:

TNTH's Anniversary Blogging Celebration, Voiceless Rant: The Series

A Voiceless Rant: January 2018 Edition.

January 2, 2018February 8, 2018 liz

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Hey, guys – welcome back to TNTH!

How’s everybody doing? Everyone came into the new year feeling refreshed? If not, I hope the feeling of starting anew happens very soon for you, because everyone deserves to reset at the beginning of the year.

I wanted to begin the year with one of my favorite series on the blog:

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This month’s topic of A Voiceless Rant has to be one of the most underrated and overlooked things in our lives: patience. Patience is one of those things that people easily dismiss, especially if you live in a city like NYC. Being a New Yorker puts this lack of patience in you because this is the city that never sleeps. We are constantly on the go and in order to survive somewhere like NYC, you have to be quick with everything. With that being said, we tend to always miss the small things in life. Those small things could even potentially be game changers in one’s life; who knows? But being a young adult in NYC makes us prone to always move forward to get what we want and what we need I order to survive and be successful. For many of us, slowing down isn’t an option, sometimes slowing down is something one never does in their lifetime. I, for one, am learning about the value of time, yet the importance of patience and how those two connect into a positive, healthy lifestyle. I swear I’m not going crazy.

One thing I failed to realize and do for the majority of 2017 was to let life do its thing. I constantly had to have control over many situations and if they didn’t turn out the way I had planned it, it would stress me out completely. I’ve always been the type of person that needed to have everything under my control or else I felt like I was losing control, and this past year I lost a lot of my control because I didn’t have any patience to balance myself out. I was constantly working yet I felt like I wasn’t doing enough, I was constantly trying to change my look to bring myself back to my life yet I felt like everything I was doing was simply a cover-up and fake version of myself, I constantly tried to make things better, yet I always felt I was making things worse, and in retrospect, I did make things worse. I learned that bad things don’t go away after being happy for one day. Just because my stressful Fall semester of grad school is over, doesn’t mean I’m not going to fall in the same hole I was in during my Spring semester (which I probably would). In order to see progress and change, you have to have patience.

I am patiently waiting for my hair to grow back healthy and long after messing with it for 8 months straight in 2017. I am patiently waiting for new, positive hobbies to turn into habits so that I have a more organized and constructive lifestyle. I am patiently waiting for the doctor’s appointment I’ll have next to tell my primary doctor that I would like to seek therapy to prevent myself to fall down the rabbit hole of depression I was living in for most of 2017. I am patiently waiting for good things in the future because I know I still have obstacles to face in the present. I am patiently taking things one step at a time (i.e. my social and school anxiety, my mental/physical health, etc.) so that in the long run, things like this are conquered and resolved and don’t play such a heavy and negative role in my life. This year, I am practicing patience, because I feel like it’s the thing in my life that I never allowed in it.

I advise everyone to practice it. Stop and smell the roses.

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-Liz. (:

TNTH's Anniversary Blogging Celebration

2018 is Going to be a Great Year.

January 1, 2018January 1, 2018 liz

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Happy New Year, TNTH readers!

Today is the first day of the new year, which means a new start, new beginnings, and another chance to make the year absolutely yours. I am currently in Pennsylvania celebrating the new year with my family, and this is my reminder to you guys that I hope you spent New Year’s Eve with friends, family, or with people that mean most to you. Take on this new year by leaving everything behind and see this as the official first day of change.

Speaking of that, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t use the new year as a way to make changes in your lifestyle. Your problems from 2017 don’t just disappear on January 1st. Most people are right; the issues you had the previous year don’t just go away, they carry onto the new year, but it’s up to you to resolve them to make your new year a good one if that’s your goal. Three years ago on 12/31/15, I came into the New Year determined to make 2016 a great fucking year. I was ready to be happy again. By the time 2016 was coming to an end, I looked back and saw just how amazing and happy I was in 2016. I wanted to maintain this newfound happiness in 2017, but things don’t work out the way they’re supposed to, and that’s okay.

It just makes me even more determined to make 2018 a great fucking year, and it will be because 2018 is going to be a big year for me.

For one, I’m graduating with my master’s in the Spring. Yep, your girl literally has 5 months left of grad school and I’m finished for good! It feels bittersweet that in May I’m going to be in another gown (now Masters) and doing what I did 2 years ago in 2016. Can we talk about how 2016 was two years ago? Seriously, time is fucking flying by. But yeah, I graduate in 5 months and I’m both excited and terrified for it.
Piggybacking from that, I am most likely going to get my first official job when I graduate. I had a job three years ago, but I was degreeless and it was an internship. With two degrees under my belt, I hope to get a starter job that I enjoy having. It’s just weird that I won’t be returning to school next Fall, but it feels good to finally feel like a functioning adult.
I’m turning 24 in eight days! I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do for my birthday, but I’ve come down to the point where I wanna spend it with my family and my partner. I really want to go bowling, but we’ll see…
Last but certainly not least, I plan on being happy this year. 2017 was a really rough year for me because I had to do a lot of growing up to do. I hope that this year I took everything that I learned in 2017. All I want out of 2018 is to be happy. Nothing more, nothing less.

On another note, today’s the first official day of TNTH’s Anniversary Blogging Celebration! I am going to try to daily blog for all days leading up to TNTH’s Birthday/Anniversary, January 9th! I feel like I’m going to slip up on a few days, but it’s the attempt that counts! 😀

Anyway, I hope everyone has such an amazing year not because you should, but you deserve to have one! Whether you have resolutions or not, make this year one of the best you had.

Cheers to a new year!

-Liz. (:

Twelve Days of TNTHmas: 2017

Merry Christmas! 🎅

December 25, 2017December 23, 2017 liz

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Hey, guys – welcome back to TNTH!

Merry Christmas, TNTH readers! And if you don’t celebrate it, Happy Holidays. We finally reached day twelve of TNTHmas and it has been absolutely amazing to write for TNTH again. Thank you so much for those who came and read any of the posts these last 12 days; it’s been great to get into the holiday spirit with you guys! In celebration of Christmas, I wanted to show you guys some Christmas memories of my family and me over the years. I feel like this is the reason why we need to bring back film camera; you can’t get these moments of your life back.

Before we start, I just want to remind you all that TNTH will be coming back on MONDAY, JANUARY 1ST, 2018 for the start of TNTH’s Anniversary celebration! Previously, I was going to daily blog for all 31 days of January, but knowing that’s not going to be physically possible, I am going to be daily blogging leading up to the day of TNTH’s Birthday (and mine), January 9th! After that, TNTH will be back on a regular schedule, which is Tuesdays and Saturdays.

For one last time in 2017, thank you for supporting TNTH. ❤

*Why am I sitting so politely in front of all these gifts?*

*There’s an infamous photo of my sister with the “ugly excited” face when she opened this.*

*My aunt and I. This photo screams Christmas.*

*Fun fact: I got one of these sweaters too that year and it was the softest thing ever.*

*Fun fact: I was so excited to get this game. I found out days later it was broken.*

*My grandmother and mother in the late 90’s.*

*My cousin and I in 2003. My hair was thick and knotty; can’t you tell?*

*All the women in the family (minus Megan).*

See you in 2018!

-Liz. (:

Twelve Days of TNTHmas: 2017

Christmas Eve: A retrospect of 2017.

December 24, 2017December 24, 2017 liz

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Hey, guys – welcome back to TNTH!

Today is Christmas Eve. Man, time flies.

A week from now, we are going to be celebrating the new year: 2018. It makes me look back on the year I had, and although it was a rocky one, here are the top 3 things I definitely learned in 2017:

Life is too short. My uncle passed away spontaneously in February, and since then it’s scarred me. He was living with my family and me when this happened, and every now and then I think back at the last time I saw him leave the front door to go out for the night. Who would’ve known that would be the last time I saw him? It was hard, and it’s still hard to think about, but it’s definitely taught me that life is way too short to be negative and to let it take over you. After he died, I always tell myself that I don’t ever want to go to bed angry at someone I love or go to bed sad or upset. I also don’t wanna go to bed knowing that I had the absolute worst day of my life. I mean, bad days are going to happen, but make sure that you did everything you can to turn the day around, and always look at bad days as lessons.
Acknowledge your anxiety, stop using it as a crutch. For a while, I allowed myself to slack off and act in a certain matter because I have anxiety. Before, I never expressed it because I felt ashamed of it. Now, I feel like I deal with it better now that I acknowledge its presence in my life. Yeah, it prevents me to this day to do things I want to do, but to allow it to take me away from doing things I did once before is using it as a crutch. Oh, I didn’t do my assignment because I was anxious about it. I didn’t want to go to class tonight because my anxiety was acting up. I found myself falling into that deep hole this year, and it’s taught me that yes, I do struggle with anxiety and there are just certain situations where I’m not ready to be in because of it, but using it against something that I would do without it ever being a problem makes it a crutch, and no one should use their mental illness or issues as a crutch to get the easy way out of things. Try it first. Overcome it. You never know.
“Make room for the entrees and stop getting full off of the appetizers.” My partner, Obie, told me this little gem the end of 2016 and it didn’t make any sense to me until I saw the effects it left on me this year. Whether it was “minor” people, “minor” problems, “minor” life events, or “minor” annoyances that were considered appetizers, I learned that not everyone is meant to have your time, problems have solutions, you will bounce back from minor life events, and annoyance is a temporary feeling. Your entrees in life are the things that motivate you, inspire you, support you, and constantly lift you up. Making room for your entrees simply means that you are separating the major things and the minor things and taking into consideration what are the important things in your life. If you keep getting “full” off of the minor things/issues in life, you’re not getting fulfilled. You are constantly looking for that fulfillment to keep you satisfied. This year I always wondered why one month I felt really great about myself and life but the next one that came I felt absolutely horrible. The appetizers in life will distract you from what you really came for: that juicy ass steak in the entrees section!

I plan on making 2018 my comeback year. There are going to be so many amazing things happening in the next year that I am so ready for. 2017 you’ve been rough, but 2018 is gonna show me how tough I really am. Thank you, 2017, for making me wiser & stronger.

What are some of the things you learned in 2017?

-Liz. (:

Self-Appreciation Saturdays, Twelve Days of TNTHmas: 2017

SAS: Let People Change for the New Year. (12/23/17)

December 23, 2017December 22, 2017 liz

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Hey guys, welcome back to TNTH!

This is going to be a quick little post about something that we are all going to start seeing as the next weeks comes, goes, and we start a new one in the new year.

There is always some negativity around holidays. Someone always has to make a negative post on a holiday just to be edgy and “different” and their post about New Year’s Eve or the new year is something of this sort:

Just because the clock turns midnight and a new year comes, doesn’t mean all your problems from the year before just disappear.

I never understood these type of posts. Who are you to judge how someone welcomes the new year? Do you know what a person goes through in the year? I say this because there are people in the world who have genuinely bad years. Sometimes, the hope one has during the year diminishes because they do not know how or when things get better. Sometimes, people need the new year to get the courage to drop every negative thing and start anew. The new year symbolizes this. The new year is supposed to make you want to start fresh, to do your wrongs, to make sure you don’t make the same mistakes. Yeah, things are bound to happen and people may gain new problems in the new year, but you telling people that their problems are just going to carry on into the new year is pretty much saying why bother trying to get happy?

Personally, I had a rough year and I’m not afraid to admit that. 2017 was not my year. I’m still grateful for everything that I learned and that I get to see another day each and every morning. The new year is a breath of fresh air. It’s a restart button. It’s taken everything that went wrong the previous year and making me better in the new one. Yes, I’m aware that life doesn’t just have a reset button and everything just disappears. I think everyone in the world knows that this is logically impossible.

Let people interpret the new year the way that they want to. Let people allow the new year to push themselves forward and change for the better. Let people set resolutions and if they don’t keep them, how does it affect you? At the end of the day, you live life the way you want to live it, and people will live it the way they want to live theirs.

And if you’re a dreamer and believer of all the pure and innocence of the new year like me? Keep it close to your heart and indulge in the magic of it all.

-Liz. (:

Twelve Days of TNTHmas: 2017

December Music Favorites!

December 22, 2017December 21, 2017 liz

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Hey guys, welcome back to TNTH!

So, it’s been awhile since ya girl wrote about some music favorites on here, and since my last post, a lot of great music came out! I don’t know why everyone is releasing new music at the same time, but I am seriously loving it.

In case you guys need some music to listen to this winter, here are some of the songs I’ve been obsessed with in the recent weeks. Again, you can follow my Spotify playlist here if you’re interested in what I listen to.

Without further ado, here are some of my music favorites of December:

1.) “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Ninja Sex Party

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In the recent months, I’ve been watching a shitload of Game Grumps videos on YouTube. One of the hosts, Dan Avidan, is in a band with Brian Wecht (another behind-the-scenes Game Grumps member) and they released their second cover album on October 27th. This song was originally sung by Def Leppard, and although I’ve heard the song before NSP’s cover of it, I have to say this version of it is just as good, if not better than the original one. Dan’s voice in this song is angelic and rockstar-like, and whoever produced this song was a genius because the harmonies just give you that 80’s vibe and it’s tough. Plus, Dan looked amazing in the music video with his goth-like eyeliner, just saying. Seriously, this one’s a bop!

2.) “Deny U” by Superfruit

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When I first heard this song on part 2 of their Future Friends album, I wasn’t thrilled about this one. It wasn’t until I saw the music video for this song (it’s always the music videos that get me) when I started to like this song. I don’t know why, but this song gives me 90’s R&B vibes, and I dig that. Mitch’s voice is mostly heard in this song, and he doesn’t disappoint with the high notes he belts at the end of the song. Scott’s bass voice compliments Mitch’s voice in the chorus; seriously they are meant to sing with each other. If you like Pentatonix and/or Superfruit, listen to their music. It won’t disappoint!

3.) “Real Friends” by Camila Cabello

This song is very different to the ones Camila Cabello released in the last year. This song is unplugged and stripped with mainly just a guitar playing for most of the song and her voice. I like this song because the lyrics are hella relatable. No, I think I’ll stay in tonight / skip the conversations and the “oh I’m fine”s. If that opening line doesn’t scream out “REAL AF”, then I don’t want is. Camila admitted that “Real Friends” almost didn’t make it onto the album because it was written really close to the deadline of her tracklist submission for her debut album, Camila. I’m not one of those people who chose between Fifth Harmony and Camila Cabello because they are both good at what they do. I actually find it immature that people who used to be fans of 5H are now talking a whole lotta shit about the group ever since Camila left. I prefer Camila as a solo artist because her voice merely didn’t match up with the other four girls of 5H. The girls f 5H now have such a smoother harmonic range that resembles butter. It is what it is and I’m just as excited to hear Camila the same way I was excited to hear Fifth Harmony.

4.) “Say It To My Face” by Madison Beer

I didn’t know Madison Beer was a singer. I thought she was just this person who dated a famous celebrity and that’s how she gained her fame. That is not shade, I just don’t follow J14 magazines being the almost 24-year-old that I am. Anyway, I’m shocked that I fuck with this song! This song has some early 2000’s R&B vibes to it that I live for, and the lyrics are just relatable too. Her voice though… I mean, I’m not saying that she can’t sing, but she definitely doesn’t have the vocal control that will take her to the next level. But besides that, this song is sassy, and ya girl loves her some sassy music.

5.) “Already Won” by Kehlani

You know ya girl loves some Kehlani. Seriously, her debut album that came out earlier this year has been one of my top albums of 2017. Hell, she’s the top artist I listened to on Spotify this year. I am officially a Kehlani fan and when I heard this song at my partner’s house, I was digging it. The song is the definition of #HumbleBrag. She sings about her success as an artist, yet she’s like “there’s no award big enough to label my art” and I fuck with that message; heavy. This is the song you put on at a celebration around your friends who are also succeeding and doing their thang and everyone is happy that everyone is making something for themselves. Kehlani is always singing about good vibes and I will always like her music because of that.

It was hard to pick through a whole list of gems on my Spotify, but here are the Top 5 that I can say have been on repeat most of my days. What are some of your favorite songs at the moment? Let me know and maybe i’ll fall in love with it too!

Happy listening!

-Liz. (:

Twelve Days of TNTHmas: 2017

It’s Capricorn Season! ♑

December 21, 2017 liz

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Hey guys, welcome back to TNTH!

Today is December 21st, which means it’s the official first day of winter and Capricorn season begins!

Uh, Liz, so what?

It’s Capricorn season, which means that it’s my season. My birthday is on January 9th, which means that my zodiac sign is Capricorn. Now, I’m not one of those people who read their horoscope every single day and believe that shit is a fortune teller or something. I occasionally read them for fun and yeah, there are times when I’m like “wow, this is currently my life to a tee”, but I do have an open mind about them, and it’s just something that was assigned to you because of your birthday.

When it comes to Capricorn personality traits, though, I feel like I am a legit Capricorn to heart. Capricorns are notoriously the most serious sign out of the zodiacs. They are the workaholics of the signs and I honestly feel like as I get older, I see just how hardworking I’ve become. I’m always working on something whether it’s for school, my personal life, and TNTH. As much as I say I’m too overworked and burnt out, I know that without it, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.

Some other positive Capricorn traits are that we are typically very helpful, ambitious, determined and loyal. Although we focus in on our work and the things that have to get done, we still are able to be there for those around us when they need us the most, and I’m definitely that type of person. As much as I focus in on my workload, I make time for those around me, especially my family and my partner because it’s always important to come back and take a break from your individual busy lives. We may be one of the more “boring” signs out of the bunch (which is true to an extent; we don’t stand out that much), we are still very chill people to be around.

Some negative traits that Capricorns have are that we appear to be very shy, which I can say that’s completely me. No matter how hard I try to open up and express myself, I still become extremely shy and awkward, which is also another Capricorn trait. We’re awkward because we don’t do well in social situations. We’re the type of people who go to parties because our friends invite us and we have a miserable time there because our friend is off somewhere partying with everyone else and you’re sitting at the table in the corner of the room. I remember going to a quinceanera with a couple of my middle school friends and I was practically at the table all night. Because we don’t know how to socialize right, we appear to be self-centered, which I can say this is me at times. I forget that those around me have feelings as well and that my feelings are just one side of the story. I occasionally get into arguments because I tend to not take into consideration for other people’s feelings, and I try my hardest to not let that happen. But it does, and it sucks.

When it comes to compatibility with other signs, I find myself not fitting into that aspect because I feel like I get along with everyone in every sign, but I do find myself looking back at all the best friends I had in my years and most of them were Taurus (which is the most compatible sign of friendship for Capricorns). My college best friend is a Virgo which I never knew were friendship compatible because I never had a friend that was a Virgo, so it’s crazy to see just how different we are as people, yet are still really good friends.

It’s funny to see that Capricorns and Gemini’s are like the sun and moon. Geminis are literally the sun, and Capricorns are the moon. My partner is a Gemini at heart. I’ve encountered a lot of Geminis in my day and you can just tell that they are Geminis. Capricorns and Geminis clash a lot; Geminis are the life of the party, sociable, and are constantly on the moveCapricornsns are quiet, antisocial, and have to plan things before they move. They do say opposites attract, so maybe that’s the reason we work out, but we do have our moments and we do have our miscommunications.

Typically, signs get along with their own signs because they’re literally the same. Me? I really dislike people who are Capricorns. When Capricorns interact with other Capricorns, they usually have to be “the better, smarter person”. I’m constantly looking at other Capricorns like ugh they think they’re the shit, they are smartasses, they think the world revolves around them, etc. Whenever I do that, I tend to have to look at myself like, “do I appear this way to people? Am I like this?”

Something special that is happening this Capricorn season is that the first time in three decades is that Saturn is going to be in Capricorn, and Saturn is our ruling planet. This means that Capricorns are going to have a positive, life-changing experience that helps us grow and strive in the long run. As great as that sounds, I really hope that this Capricorn season treats me good. I mean, this time of year is usually a good one for me, but if it actually helps me blossom and be the person I’m working towards, then so be it.

Happy birthday, Capricorns!

-Liz. (:

Twelve Days of TNTHmas: 2017

Three Semesters Down, One to Go!

December 20, 2017December 17, 2017 liz

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Hey, guys – welcome back to TNTH!

I lived to see this day. Two final papers later, and my last fall semester as a graduate student is officially over! I won’t lie, this semester was rough for many reasons that are not school work or time-related. This semester, I took an independent study that would meet up for an hour every week, and a hybrid literature class that met up once every other week. I had time to knock out a lot of assignments, but my time management was not the greatest. Because I physically didn’t have to be at school some days, I would not take the work of that week seriously, and sometimes it left me hanging on submitting subpar work to my professors. On top of that, I did a lot of independent work that didn’t require submitting something until later on in the semester, and that’s when things got tough. I didn’t start my final papers until literally the last minute because I still had major projects due for my classes. Overall, it was rough because I felt like my mind was all over the place. I made it through, and now I hope I got myself some good grades!

Next year, I might just die. No literally, I might die over exhaustion or some crazy shit; I can feel it already. I have to take three courses next semester because my grad program screwed a lot of us over, but hey – it is what it is: an infancy master’s program. I am taking a renaissance literature as a pre-100 requirement with a professor I keep getting mixed feelings about, but hey – it is what it is. I am also taking another class with a professor I had already during my grad career, so I’m not really worried about her class. Finally, I am taking my thesis supervision course, which is basically me working on my MA Thesis until I’m burned out and submit it to my thesis advisor who will tell me to burn it some more and once it’s completely in ashes, I submit the paper to the graduate committee and see if it will pass, fail, or receive honors. I am a nervous wreck for next semester.

In the meantime, I am going to spend these next couple of days of 2017 relaxing and taking time to myself. Once the new year comes around, I’ll be back working on my thesis so that I don’t have to do that much work during a semester that is packed with reading and writing.

I’ve had my fair share of complaining this past year and a half, but I know that once it’s over, I’m going to miss it. I mean, that’ll be a whole post of its own, but for now, I can’t wait to graduate in six and a half months!

I hope everyone who finished their semesters of school is relaxing and enjoying their time off; you deserve it!

-Liz. (: