My Favorite TV Shows

     Happy Thursday! Today was so long coming back from two snow days! Thankfully, we had a double period for Latin today and my Latin teacher let us go to First Watch for breakfast (yeah, he's pretty chill). It was a nice transition from snow day to school mode. However, once we got back to school and had to actually have class, it wasn't long before I was craving the couch, a bowl of ice cream, and a good TV show. I love television, and there are so many great TV shows that I have to record up to three shows almost every night! Here's my schedule: Sunday is Downton Abbey Day, Monday is for How I Met Your Mother and The Carrie Diaries, Tuesdays are for New Girl and Pretty Little Liars (don't judge me), Wednesday is for The Middle and Modern Family, Thursdays are for The Vampire Diaries (again, no judging), and I use my Friday nights to actually watch all of those shows! As you can see, TV keeps me very busy. :)
     I decided to make a list of all of my favorite shows and why I like them!

1. The Carrie Diaries

This show is new on the CW, and I love it! I seriously can't get enough of it. It's based on the series which serves as a prelude to Sex and the City, featuring the teenage years as Carrie Bradshaw. It's the perfect show for any teenage girl. Anna Sophia Robb is so great as Carrie, and the guys in the show are so hot! Great acting, great storyline, great everything.

2. New Girl

Every Tuesday, I get so excited to watch this show at 8 o'clock on Fox! It's about a girl named Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and her experience as the only girl rooming with three men. And it's hilarious. Jess and her roommates are in their early thirties, and they still don't really have anything figured out with their lives. I can't even describe it, you just have to watch it.

3. How I Met Your Mother

This show makes my Mondays so much better. I'm literally laughing out loud throughout the entire show. Ted Mosby tells his kids in the future the story of how he met their mother, and it's clearly a very long story (so far it's been almost eight seasons and we still don't know who his wife is yet). But it's definitely worth the wait; the writers of this show are comic geniuses.

4. F*R*I*E*N*D*S

I watch this show mostly on the weekends, it seems to always be on! I've fallen in love with this show; I somehow feel like I'm one of the friends in the show! Each character is perfect in his or her own way, and once again, it's hysterical. Each episode is better than the last. My goal is to watch all ten seasons (summer project?)!

5. Downton Abbey

This show. I can't even. It's just. Oh my God. It's my absolute favorite show, and every time I talk about it, it just gives me all these feelings and it makes me want to laugh, and scream, and cry. I love it. It's absolutely the most melodramatic show in existence, but it's not cheesy. It's written perfectly, and (if I'm not mistaken) it was the most-watched show in 2011 and 2013. The third season just ended, and the ending of the last episode was just so sad. The plot twists are incredible, Julian Fellowes (the writer) always keeps his audience on their toes. It's perfect.

Carpe Diem,
Brooke
 
 
 

Harry Potter Appreciation Post

     Happy Wednesday! I hope the first half of your week has gone well! Today we had another (and probably our last) snow day. It was so nice to have four much-needed days to just relax and forget about school! Although these four snow days have been great, I'm kind of ready to get back in the routine. Four extra days of sitting on the couch can get a little old after a while. Fortunately, I happen to be a HUGE Harry Potter fan, so we spent our snow days watching all eight Harry Potter movies! It was honestly the best way to spend them. Today we watched the sixth, seventh, and eighth movies, and by the last one I was ready to watch them all over again!
     Some of you may be wondering, What's so great about these movies anyway? Well let me tell you: the Harry Potter series is the most popular series of novels in the history of the world (with over 400 million copies sold worldwide) so I'm obviously not alone in my love for the series. If you haven't read the books, I strongly urge you to do so, no matter how old you are! I'm not exactly sure how many times I've read the books (certainly not 40 times like some crazy die-hard fans who clearly have too much time on their hands) but I have been reading them in a cycle for as long as each book has been out (don't worry, I usually only read like two to four pages per night because I'm so exhausted).
     I'm actually not entirely sure why I feel so personally connected to the books. They've just always been apart of my childhood. Whenever something wrong was going on in my life, I used Harry Potter for comfort; it was my escape from reality. It gave me happiness at times of great sadness. It's as simple as that. I really wish that I could meet J.K. Rowling to express in person my sincerest thanks. She is the person responsible for my happy childhood. In her books, I felt like I'm going on adventures with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, not just reading about them. The world of Harry Potter is so completely opposite from our own, and that's the best part about it.

Carpe Diem,
Brooke

Succumbed to Consumerism

     Happy Tuesday! Today we had another snow day, and tomorrow will be our fourth snow day! Tomorrow I plan to finish my Harry Potter movie marathon (which has been the main reason I've been loving these snow days). The days off have also given me a lot of time to do some online shopping. Recently I have become a terrible "brand snob," according to my mother. I have become obsessed with brands such as Lilly Pulitzer, Kate Spade, J. Crew, and Vineyard Vines. All of these brands are rather expensive and I have to buy anything from those websites with my own money because they're pretty ridiculously over-priced, and my mom is definitely a bargain shopper. But I justify it by buying items from those websites only when they're on sale.
      I bought a Lilly dress for $39 during their New Year's sale, and it was usually $98! I bought the Kate Spade "Arm Candy" Bangle also for $39 during their sale, which was usually $89. On Sunday I bought a headband that was usually $30 for $12.49 and a belt for $19.99 that was usually $60. Today there was a Lilly Pulitzer agenda sale, so I bought a large agenda for $12 that was normally $26. Although these purchases may seem reasonable because they were a lot cheaper than their normal prices, if you add up all of them and include shipping, the total is about $130, plus I also bought a new coat and a pair of skinny jeans from Old Navy on Sunday, the total of which was $50, which means that in just a few weeks I spent $180 on clothes and accessories. That $180 definitely could have been spent on something much more useful (like, my college education...). To be honest, I really didn't need most of those things. Even worse, I hadn't even wanted most of those things before I knew they were on sale. I only bought them because they were on sale and because they had a name on them.
      I used to always consider myself to be above consumerism, I realized that the important things in life aren't things, and it doesn't really matter what you look like on the outside; what matters is who you are on the inside. However, recently, I've noticed that girls at my school wear clothes from certain brands, and the clothes are so cute. And, somehow, the girls seem like they're confident in themselves because of the clothes they're wearing. I started seeing these brands on Tumblr and Pinterest and other places. I became obsessed with the bright, colorful patterns of Lilly Pulitzer (oh my god their dresses); the fun yet classy style of Kate Spade (oh my god their purses); the individual, elegant look of J. Crew (oh my god their jewelry); and the simple yet classic pieces of Vineyard Vines (oh my god their Oxfords and totes). I signed up for their email updates so I can be notified of sales and I check their websites religiously. These are just a few brands, believe me, there are many more (Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch, and Kiel James Patrick to name a few). However, I need to realize that there is more to life than just names on over-priced clothes, which is why I'm setting up a challenge. My goal is to not buy anything just because it has a name on it. This means that I will buy something if it is very reasonably priced and I actually need it. I might let my birthday be an exception, for which I can splurge a little for myself, but until then I will be saving every cent of my babysitting money! Wish me luck!

Carpe Diem,
Brooke

Winter Blues

     Happy Monday! Haha I bet that phrase isn't used very often. So you might remember that in a previous post I mentioned that humans tend to be less positive and less productive in the winter because we feel the need, like most mammals, to hibernate. Seriously, how did we miss out on that? I would love to just gather a bunch of junk food (nutella, anyone?) in November and just sleep, eat, and watch movies until March. That sounds much more appealing than having to trek out of my house into the dreary days of winter. If I had it my way, it would be summer all year because I love the heat. Being cold is one of my least favorite things ever.
     Maybe I'm the only one who experiences this, but in the winter I also feel a bit more depressed than I usually do. I'm not sure if my mood is directly related to the weather, but I do know that it's much harder to plaster a smile on my face during the winter months. Lately, finding the motivation for anything seems absolutely impossible. I just become this lazy, unpleasant person in the winter even though I generally consider myself to be a happy person. Sometimes I find myself being impatient, mean, and downright selfish in the winter, and being selfish has to be the least attractive quality in a person. So what is it about the winter that makes me someone completely different? I may never know the answer, but perhaps it's because instead of being surrounded by life in the verdant seasons of spring and summer, I feel like I'm surrounded by this horrible sense of death and closure. I've mentioned before that I have a weird phobia of aging, and maybe winter reminds me of that fear even more; that even though I'm young now, one day soon I will realize how precious life is but it will all be too late. I fear that I will regret not doing things, but now I fear that I will regret actually doing things (like working at that restaurant...). This blog has made me realize how many issues I have!
     I'm 99% sure I'm having a snow day tomorrow, so I'll work on those issues tomorrow. :)

Carpe Diem,
Brooke

(Not) Grown Up

     Happy Sunday! So I'm going to turn eighteen in less than two months, and I could not feel less like an adult. Today I applied to work at a breakfast, brunch, and lunch restaurant. I was really excited because my best friend works there and she told me about how much fun it is and how much money she makes getting tips. I really need the money for college, it sounded fun, and they were hiring; it seemed like the perfect opportunity.
     I was nervous all day; being a waitress always seemed like a very hard job to me. And the hours could range as long as 5:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. What if I needed to do a lot of homework? My friend said that she was able to get her work done, but she goes to a public school, and the work at my school is much more rigorous. What if I wasn't able to balance my homework with real work? Also, I'm the kind of person who really needs to relax every once in a while, which, surprisingly, tends to happen on the weekends. And would I really be able to wake up at 5 or 6 on the weekends when I already wake up at 6 on the weekdays? What if I messed up someone's order and the customer got mad at me? Knowing me, I would probably start crying right there in front of everyone, and that would be really embarrassing. As you can see, there are a lot of "what if"s, which is never a good sign. So I walk into the restaurant, planning on meeting with the manager. My first thought was that I couldn't do it. I immediately went into panic mode when I saw how hectic everything seemed: the restaurant was absolutely filled with people, there were a ton of employees rushing around looking incredibly stressed, and no one even noticed I was there. I just knew that I couldn't work in that kind of environment. The manager said that they were too busy for him to interview me, so he would take a look at my application and give me a call. I'm praying that I don't get the job.
     During the summer, I work as a camp assistant at my school, where we have a summer program that offers fun classes for kids in Kindergarten through fifth grade (some of my favorite classes were "Ice Cream Delight" and "Harry Potter"). This job is, for the most part, relatively low-stress. It's mostly glorified babysitting. I do that pretty much every day during the summer, so the money adds up. It also goes directly into my banking account, so I don't get tempted to spend it (although, I did just have to buy a car because I got in a wreck, so most of that money is gone now). But almost every weekend I babysit, and I make quite a bit of money for that, so right now money isn't the issue.
     If I did neither of those jobs, then I would probably have had to suck it up and work at this restaurant. I'm so glad that I don't have to, because the more I think about it, the more I realize how stupid it was for me to apply in the first place. I don't work well under pressure, and I feel like I would constantly be under pressure in that environment. There is, however, another part of me that knows that I failed. This was the first real job that I applied to, and I'm so scared that I wouldn't do well, that I'm giving up before something bad happens. It's what I do. Why try if you know you'll be rejected? Why work hard if it's all going to be for nothing? This doesn't apply to me for homework, but in almost every other aspect of my life, I figure that I'll be rejected if I try, so it's better to not risk the pain of not being accepted. I really need to get over this problem of mine, because one day I will actually have to get a real job, and I won't be able to say "Oh, I don't like how busy everyone looks, so I'll just curl up in a ball on my bed so I don't have to actually do work."
     I may be almost eighteen, but there are so many things that I'm scared of. The big one: growing up. Everything about aging frightens me. You only have a few years to be young, and I feel like I've been wasting mine. I basically sit in my bed every day on the weekend instead of going out and actually doing something. I have attended the same school for fifteen years, it's all I've ever known. I have no idea what the real world is like. I'm probably one of the most sheltered people alive. Like how do you buy insurance? How do you change a tire? How do you make lasagna? What the heck is a mortgage? Maybe they should teach us these things in school. I may not know how to pay bills, but if anyone needs to know how to graph an inequality (which, obviously, everyone does at least twice a day), then I'm your girl. Sorry for writing such an annoyingly long post, but this is something I've bottled up for a really long time.
    Have fun watching the Oscars tonight!

Carpe Diem,
Brooke

Senior Schedule

     Happy Saturday! Day three of my four-day weekend has been relatively uneventful. I finally finished all of my homework (oh my God that feels so good to say) and as a reward for myself I bought a headband and a belt from Vineyard Vines. They were both super cheap (like 75% off) and I don't usually buy things for myself, so I thought, why not? I'll be very excited to get my purchases in the mail!
     So the hot topic at my school right now is our course selection for next year. Usually, this isn't such a big deal, but this is the big one: the senior schedule. Why is this such a big deal, you may ask? Our schedules as seniors are super important because colleges that you apply to are going to see how seriously you are about academics. At first, I had no idea what I was going to take next year. For example, I've been taking Latin since I was in sixth grade, and since Latin isn't exactly popular at my school, there has been only one class, which means that I've been in Latin with the same other kids since sixth grade, so we all know each other really well.
     But the problem is that I just don't love Latin anymore (if I ever really loved it...?). And next year I would have to take AP Latin. I have absolutely zero interest in taking Latin college, so I just really don't see the point in taking it. Also, I've heard that AP Latin is extremely hard. However, I'm pretty good at Latin, but I'm absolutely terrible at every single science class ever. Like, really bad. But I'm also not very good at math... And none of the history classes looked very interesting, which left me with...English. That was the only class that I was sure I was taking. I was kind of secretly hoping there was a way that English could be my only class...alas, no, I have to take at least five core classes. Darn it. So I talked to my advisor, who also happens to be my college counselor, and the results of the conversation are thus: I will be taking AP Environmental Studies, Calculus (yikes!), AP English, Chorale (fancy name for choir), Introduction to Psychology (which is a Global Online Academy class - super excited!), and AP European History. It seems like a pretty hard schedule to me, but in all honesty it's probably one of the easiest senior schedules, so I'm content with it. Wish me luck (I'll need it)!

Carpe Diem,
Brooke

Snow Day: Part Two!

     Happy Friday! I was lucky enough to get not only one, but TWO snow days! You could say I'm pretty happy. Remember yesterday when I said that I was going to be more productive on this snow day since yesterday I was super lazy? Yeah, that didn't happen. I woke up, watched TV, and didn't stop until a few minutes ago. Okay, so I did bake some snicker-doodles and I gave myself a mani-pedi, but other than that I just sat on my butt and watched Harry Potter movies 1, 2, and 3. Perhaps I'll watch 4 and 5 tomorrow! Ugh, but seriously, I'm having some major issues with motivating myself to do anything. Any advice? I legitimately need to read 60 pages for English, reading for Latin, and finish my term paper, but it's so hard for me to start any of those projects. Fortunately, I've read that humans do feel the need to hibernate in the winter, which is why it is so difficult for us to do actual work during this time of year. This sucks because the third quarter of junior year at my school is super tough. Whoever planned out the whole schedule for school and work must be a truly awful person. I mean, five days of school and two days of rest? Nine months of school and three months of summer? Even worse in the real world; there's no summer at all! Where is the logic?? It will never make sense to me.
     Wish me luck on being able to get work done tomorrow!

     Carpe Diem,
      Brooke

Snow Day!

     Happy Thursday! Today, an extremely rare thing happened: my school got a SNOW DAY! Usually, it doesn't matter how much it snows; we almost never get snow days. But since we got over a foot of snow, they kind of had no choice to cancel school not only for today, but for tomorrow as well! Needless to say, I have been very excited about all of this snow. I decided to make hot chocolate for my mom and my brother while we watched TV. My dad had to go to work (he's a journeyman carpenter) but he left early, and it took him two hours to get home, even though it's only a twenty minute drive! We were very worried about him, but he got home okay. Whew!
     So I really wanted to have a snowball fight with my brother (he's a freshman) but he didn't want to, so I had to play with my dog, Maggie. She's a two-year-old boxer and I love her to death. I thought it would be really fun for us to chase each other around, but Maggie was mostly interested in trying to bite the fingers of my gloves, which was rather unpleasant. I did manage to get a few pictures of her though!

She really wanted to play with the ball!

     For the rest of the day, I spent most of my time on Tumblr, Polyvore (my new addiction) and Pinterest. Nothing new there. Hopefully tomorrow I'll spend my snow day tomorrow more productively!

Carpe Diem,

Brooke

My Average Day

     Happy Wednesday! I thought I would share with you my typical day so that you could have a better idea of what my life is like. It's usually pretty boring, but I thought it would help you to get to know me. Therefore, here is an average day...

6:00 Wake up and eat breakfast (which usually consists of cereal and tea or coffee)

6:30 Do hair and make-up

7:00 Yell at my brother (who's a freshman) to hurry up

7:15 Leave for school

7:35ish Arrive at school, chat with friends

8:00 Latin IV

8:50 Pre-Calculus

9:40 Meetings (a period to meet with teachers and catch up on homework)

10:30 English

11:20 American History

12:10 Physics

1:00 Lunch

1:25 Choir

2:15 Free period

3:30 -- 6:00 Rehearsal for the musical (which is Into the Woods this year!)

6:30 Arrive at home, eat dinner

7:00 Shower

7:30 -- 9:30 (sometimes earlier, sometimes later) Do homework

9:30ish -- 10:00 Watch TV and surf the internet (usually Tumblr or online shopping at J. Crew, Kate Spade, Lilly Pulitzer, or Tory Burch)

10:15 (usually later) Go to sleep

     Like I said, my days are not usually very interesting! But it does show you how busy and hectic my life is. I hope the rest of your week goes smoothly, and if you live around me -- keep warm and enjoy your snow days!

Carpe Diem,
Brooke

How to Deal with Stress

      Do you get stressed every once in a while? I know I do! Whether the stress is from your school life, work life, social life, romantic life, or your family is having issues, stress seems to stem from every aspect of our lives. I've been a little stressed recently about my school life because I have so much homework every night and I also have to go to rehearsal for the musical every night (even though I'm in the chorus), and I have to work on my term paper on top of that. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite ways to reduce stress when my life becomes overwhelming:

1. Drink a cup of tea. For me, tea is like a hug in a mug. It's a quick break from real life -- just enough time to stop working and gather your bearings. My favorites are green tea with mint and spiced chai.
2. Listen to music. If I'm feeling like I have too much going on, music is my escape. I can just put in my headphones and tune out the world. I highly recommend Coldplay and Eddie Vedder for moments like these.
3. Read a book. Along with music, reading is a way for me to forget about my crazy life and jump into the interesting world of someone else. I've recently started reading The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh which is very good so far, but the Harry Potter series is usually my go-to; it's so comforting.
4. Make lists.  Have you ever felt like you have so much to do that you can't possibly begin your endless tasks? I feel that way all the time, and I find it helpful to plan out what needs to be done and how much time each task will take. It really helps me to organize my crazy days.
5. Paint your nails. Maybe this only helps me, but if I'm feeling even more stressed than usual (I'm pretty sure "stressed" and "tired" have become a part of my personality description), I try to take an even longer break. Painting my nails takes about fifteen minutes, then half an hour to dry, so it's a perfect excuse to not do any work for at least 45 minutes, which is actually very hard for me. I always try to push myself to get more work, and that stresses me out, but it's hard for me to take a break once I get going!

     I hope some of these tips will help you in the future, and please leave any comments if you have any ways for reducing stress that help you!

Carpe Diem,
Brooke

The Frightening Future

     I hope you've had a relaxing long weekend! Mine was restful for the most part...until today! My friend and our moms and I went to Washburn University today and it was our first college visit. My mom graduated from Washburn and she and my friend's mom and her dad all worked at Washburn. My parents met at Washburn. My mom was also a Kappa Alpha Theta at Washburn. Needless to say, I have a lot of history with this school, and a lot of people expect me to go there. 
     Don't get me wrong, I would love to go to Washburn! It's the perfect size, everyone on campus was really nice, the buildings are beautiful, and I can really see myself going there. However, I'm very interested in working with children with special needs, and Washburn doesn't have the program I'm interested in. I really want to go to Washburn, but is it worth changing what I want to do with my life? I'll have to think about it. I'm visiting a few more schools over the next few months, so maybe I'll change my mind about Washburn, but right now it seems like a really good choice for me. Hopefully I can figure it out! Please feel free to let me know if you have any advice, if you've gone through a similar situation, or any other thoughts you have!

I hope I haven't been too boring!
Carpe Diem,
Brooke

My Favorite Music

Hey there! So there are very few things that I pride myself in, but my taste in music is definitely one of them. Music is amazing because it has the power to make us feel all of these emotions, like sadness, joy, heart-break, and the sheer desire to dance. My favorite band ever is The Beatles, but I also love Mumford & Sons, Coldplay, Adele, Bon Iver, the Black Keys, the Lumineers, Radiohead, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder, Muse, Ed Sheeran, Death Cab for Cutie, Lana Del Rey, U2, Fleet Foxes, The Smiths, The Killers, Augustana, Simon & Garfunkel, John Mayer, John Lennon, Queen, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Kid Cudi, MGMT, Prince, Regina Spektor, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and an assortment of Broadway musicals. Sorry that's such a long list, but I love a lot of music. I thought I'd share my favorite songs by each of the previous bands/artists so you can have the best playlist ever!

Artist/Band              Up-Beat Song          Slow Song

Mumford & Sons     I Will Wait               White Blank Page

Coldplay                  Paradise                    Fix You

Adele                       Cold Shoulder           Make You Feel My Love

Bon Iver                   For Emma                 Skinny Love

Black Keys               Lonely Boy              Too Afraid to Love You

Lumineers                Ho Hey                     Slow It Down

Radiohead                Creep                         No Surprises

Nirvana                    About a Girl               Man Who Sold the World

Pearl Jam                 Better Man                  Last Kiss

Eddie Vedder           Society                         Guaranteed

Muse                        Bliss                             Undisclosed Desires

Ed Sheeran               Firefly                           Give Me Love

Death Cab                Soul Meets Body           I Will Follow You Into the Dark

Lana Del Rey           Blue Jeans                      Dark Paradise

U2                            Wild Honey                   With Or Without You

Fleet Foxes               Mykonos                        Blue Spotted Tail

The Smiths               This Charming Man       Asleep

The Killers               When You Were Young  White Demon Love Song

Augustana                 Fire                                 Twenty Years

Simon & Garfunkel  Mrs. Robinson               Sound of Silence

John Mayer              Daughters                        Heart of Life

John Lennon            Mind Games                    Oh My Love

Queen                     Somebody to Love           Bohemian Rhapsody

Elvis Presley          If I Can Dream                  You've Lost That Loving Feeling

Johnny Cash          Ring of Fire                       I Walk the Line

Kid Cudi               Soundtrack 2 My Life        Pursuit of Happiness

MGMT                  Time to Pretend                  Electric Feel

Prince                    Little Red Corvette             Purple Rain

Regina Spektor    Laughing With                     Eet

RHCP                   Californication                   Otherside

     My favorite songs from musicals include On My Own from Les Miserables, My Friends from Sweeney Todd, and The Music of the Night from the Phantom of the Opera.

     Last but not least, my all-time favorite song EVER is "Here, There, and Everywhere," by The Beatles. I am convinced that there has never been, nor will there ever be, a better song than this. Its simplicity is what makes it so beautiful.

     I hope you listen to some of these songs if you haven't heard them before and that you enjoy them as much as I do! I think I might do some more posts like this in the future, but with different songs. Please comment what you think, and feel free to ask me for more music recommendations (this list is only the beginning).

Carpe Diem,
Brooke

Let Me Introduce Myself...

     Hey! So I decided to create a blog because I've tried the whole diary thing many times, and failed miserably each time. I feel the need to write because I have this issue where I bottle everything up until I feel like I'm going to explode. So hopefully this will help me to just get things off my chest. I'm not exactly sure what kind of things I'm going to post or what kind of blog this will be, but I'm super excited!
     A little bit about myself: I'm a junior in high school and I'm just trying to get through this year. I love learning, but I hate school. I attend a college prep school in the Midwest, and I really want to travel when I'm older. I'm not sure where exactly I'm hoping to go to college, but I'm fairly certain that I'm going to stay in-state. I'm very interested in working with kids with special needs when I'm older! My hobbies include watching TV (my favorite shows being Friends, How I Met Your Mother, and Downton Abbey), reading (my favorite series is Harry Potter and my favorite novels are Jane Eyre and Gone With the Wind), watching movies (my all-time favorite movie ever is Forrest Gump), and eating (God I just love all food). I'm going to be honest: I do not live a very interesting life. In fact, I'm rather boring. But I imagine myself in the future doing great things.

I hope this blog turns out to be more successful than my diary attempts!

Carpe Diem,
Brooke