Call Me, Maybe

So a few days ago I was introduced to the song "Call Me, Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen. I got on Youtube to find the video, and found a cover of the video that had Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, and Ashley Tisdale in it. Now, it's no secret that I love Selena Gomez and kind of wish I could be her, so obviously I watched the video. It was such a fun and simple video. Just a bunch of teenagers hanging out, being goofy, and having fun. So after talking to some of our friends from New Jersey, me and my roommate decided we were going to make a video as well!

Here's the original video:

And here's the moment you've all been waiting for. The WORLD premier of OUR very own version of the video. We had a blast making it, and it was fun that we got to do it with our friends from a whole different state!

What's Going On?

What has society done to us? I’ve always heard stories about how powerful the media can be in influencing how girls feel about themselves. However, I always figured I was educated enough and smart enough to rise above the media influences. But lately I have realized that I too have succumbed to the influences and pressures of society. For example, today I was watching Dance Moms (judge me all you want, as a former dancer, it’s intriguing) and I found myself actually envying the girls bodies. Yes, they are strong and full of muscle, but that wasn't what I was envying. I was envying their size. The size of their arms, the size of their thighs, the width of their hips. How ridiculous is that? These girls are 8, 9, and 10 years old. They are young girls who haven’t fully developed, and I’m jealous of their young, thin, predeveloped bodies. I actually found myself getting upset about my own body. And it’s not just them I'm envious of. And it’s not just me who is envious. With waif thin, modelesque women all over the TV, internet, and magazines, it can be hard to even find a woman who has the shape of an actual woman! We are told by society, by the media, and by ourselves that this is normal. And that having hips and thighs that jiggle is not. Here’s an example:

One of these girls is 11 years old. One of them is 30. By looking at their tiny, childlike legs, you would never know who was who. For the record, the one on the left if 30 year old Nicole Richie, while the one on the right is 11 year old Paige Hyland. However, we live in a society that tells us that this shape is ideal, no matter what age, no matter what the cost. And with my everyday media consumption, I have become complacent. I’ve become used to this idea and even accepted this idea as my own reality. So my message to you, and especially to myself, is this: Be actively aware of what you are taking in. Be mindful of the media images. Separate reality from the rest and realize that no one can tell you who to be or what to look like except for yourself. Stop comparing yourself to people younger than you, or taller than you, or thinner than you. And start loving yourself.

And if you need a little help, you can check out @TeamTrueBeauty on Twitter, or some of their wonderfully inspiring celebrity interviews on body image and self-esteem. Check out these interviews by Daphne Zuniga, Allison Munn, Amanda Schull, Eliza Dushku, Shantel Van Santen, Sara Paxton, Lisa Goldstein, Beverley Mitchell, India de Beaufort, and Jodie Sweetin.

Courage

This was my past. This is a part of who I am. This has made me who I am today.
http://brooketoffolon.blogspot.com/2011/12/overcoming-past.html

And this is true.

Yes, I have fallen many times in my life. We all have. We've all made mistakes and fallen short. We've all been scared and let it affect our choices. That's not what's important. What's important is that we get back up and try again. That we learn and grow from the mistakes we make. Because that is true courage. So go ahead and make mistakes. Take risks. Don't be afraid to fail. Because failing isn't as scary as we make it out to be. But not trying, not getting up again, that's what should scare us.

Emily said YES!

It was 1995 and we were in Mrs. Bazemore’s 1^st grade class together. That’s where I met my best friend, Emily. We first bonded over the fact that we were both painfully shy. But our friendship grew from there. I’ve had some of my best memories with Emily.

Fast forward 17 years and here we are. This morning I got the most exciting text from Emily. It read “I’m engaged!!!” She’s getting married to her now fiancé, Jeff, and I couldn’t be more excited for them. Honesty, I wanted to write a long, heartfelt, emotional blog post about how grown up we are getting and how much I love Emily, but I can’t sum up 17 years of friendship in one post, so I’m going to let the pictures speak for themselves. But for the record, I’m so happy for her and can’t wait for her to start this next chapter of her life!

Playing orphans in a wagon in the driveway.

 Jungle Rapids waterpark

 Swinging in the backyard

Playing at Wrightsville 

 Hanging out in the backyard

Before the 5th grade dance

Dancing

 Ike and Michelle (our imaginary mice) wedding

Boogie boarding

Being Santa

 5th grade graduation dinner

At a baseball game

My journal entry from 1st grade. 

 Fancy dinner

 She's engaged!

A Letter to Ellen DeGeneres

Dear Ellen,

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the world is supposedly coming to an end this December. Doesn’t that suck? My roommate and I watch your show together every day and have always said we wanted to make a video or send in a picture to be on the show before we die. Well if the Mayans are right, we are running out of time. You might not see where I‘m going with this, but hear me out. At the age of 23, Adele has a collection of 8 Grammys. I’m also 23, but unfortunately only have a collection of gummy bears and student loans. I feel like I have to accomplish something cool if the world is going to end soon, and I probably won’t be winning a Grammy before December, so it would be awesome if my roommate and I could come be on your show. You may be thinking, “well, what’s your talent? Why would I have yall on the show?” and that’s a valid question. My roommate, Lindsey, can rap all the words to “Ice Ice Baby” at a supersonic speed, and I make a pretty good hype girl. Plus we’ve been practicing our British accents and are totally willing to wear tutu’s. If that’s not enough for you, we could tell you a very entertaining story about the time we got trapped in someone’s private garage while visiting Beverly Hills. It’s a real knee slapper. Long story short, we love you and we hope to talk to you very soon (or at least before December)!

P.S.- If you need more proof that we're fun people, please enjoy this picture.

Valentine's Day

Yay! It’s Valentine’s Day! The time of the year where you gorge yourself on insane amounts of chocolate, until you’re a plump, greasy, mess. The time of the year where couples get to be couple-y (apparently, that can’t happen the other 364 days of the year). The time of the year where single people curse and cry and start looking up cat adoption on the internet. Now don’t get me wrong here, I haven’t always hated Valentine’s Day. In fact, when I was a kid, it was one of my favorite holidays. I loved decorating a bag and leaving it out at school for my classmates to fill up with treats. I loved getting the class list, bringing it home, going to the store to pick out the perfect Valentine’s, and then picking out all of the best ones to give to the popular kids, who ultimately would never be my friend, no matter what card I gave them. I feel a little cheated, honestly. No one told me that Valentine’s Day would soon turn into the second worst holiday of the whole year (the Tour de France being the worst. And yes, that is a holiday in my household). Here’s a hint for all of you out there, unless you have a Valentine, the day just gets worse as the years go on. Your friends get engaged and married and have babies and flaunt their love all over the place, while you’re elbow deep in self-pity and Reeses cups. So Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you, whether you are the lucky turds who have someone, or are fabulously alone, like me! How will you be celebrating the most Hallmark holiday of the year?

These are a few of my favorite things...

There are few things I love more than a good book, a great song, or an inspiring quote. And if I were Oprah, this would totally be my "Favorite Things" episode and I would toss out freebies left and right. You get a book and you get a free download and you get some inspiration! But I'm not Oprah, so instead I decided to write a post about my CURRENT top 5 favorite books, songs, and quotes.  These things change on the daily, but for now these are my thoughts:

Books:
-The Hunger Games trilogy (Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay) by Suzanne Collins (I absolutely couldn’t put them down!)
-They Cage the Animals at Night by Jennings Michael Burch (A really sad, true story about the foster care system)
-The Orphan Sister by Gwendolen Gross (A light read about 3 sisters)
-Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult (One of my favorite Jodi books)
-The Things We Do For Love by Kristin Hannah (An emotional and exciting book about family dynamics)

Music:
-Cry by Alexx Calise
-Reckless One by Sunday Lane
-What I Love About Your Love by Jana Kramer
-Home by Edward Sharpe
-We Are Young by Fun

Quotes:
-“Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster. Your life will never be the same again.” - Og Mandino
-“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

-“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

-“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” -Apple Inc.

-“You know what music is? God's little reminder that there's something else besides us in this universe, a harmonic connection between all living beings, every where, even the stars.” -August Rush

ENJOY!
*You can get any of these books off Amazon and buy any of the songs off iTunes.

Hop, Shuffle, Step, Flap, Step, STOMP!

If you know me at all, you've probably heard me say "Oh, I used to know a routine to that song", or "Oh, my second solo was to this song!". This is because I used to be a dancer. Dance was my life for 9 years. I did ballet, pointe, lyrical, modern, acro, and tap. Tap. Tap was my absolute 100% favorite, and it was what I was good at. I love tapping, watching tap, listening to tap, anything. Which is why this amazing piece literally brings tears to my eyes. The sheer talent is absolutely amazing, the technique is nearly flawless, and their sounds are incredibly clear.

So whether you're a current dancer, a former dancer, or have never danced a day in your life, I think you will appreciate this:

I can't watch this without the overwhelming urge to do flaps, shufflse, times steps, buffalos, drawbacks, and wings, all across my room!

Compare and Compete

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "Comparison is the thief of joy", and boy was he right.

As a human being, and especially as a girl, I have been found guilty of comparing myself to others. I compare myself to my best friends, my parents, my classmates, and even complete strangers. Admit it, you have done it too. Whether we mean to or not, we tend to end up comparing ourselves to others and gauging our accomplishments based on other people’s lives. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there. We don’t stop at making comparisons. We judge. We judge ourselves, and we tend to be our toughest critic. When we perceive someone to be prettier, smarter, funnier, skinnier, taller, shorter, braver, than we are, we are putting ourselves down and selling ourselves short. It’s the way we are wired. We crave organization, a systematic approach. So we compare.

But wouldn’t life be so much better if we stopped comparing ourselves to others and starting looking more deeply at our own lives. We are growing and changing and learning every day. So here’s a thought…compare yourself to yourself. I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. I am a drastically different person than I was 7 years ago, 3 years ago, and even last year. So for comparison, what can I do today that I couldn’t have done 7 years ago? Easy. Today I can go to school and leave my house and go to the grocery store without having a panic attack. What can I do today that I couldn’t have done a few weeks ago? Easy again. Today I could get on an airplane and fly. Today I am a different person than I used to be. I have grown and changed, some things for the better, some not. I am still a work in progress. But I can look back and compare and see the areas that I have grown. Comparing ourselves to others is useless. They don’t have our life or our circumstances, so there is no way to accurately compare ourselves; the measuring stick is completely different! So today, right now, I am making a promise to myself. To try to stop comparing myself to every girl I see. I will stop comparing my relationships, academics, clothes, looks, and personality to those around me. I don’t promise to be perfect, I just promise to try. And maybe this time next year, I can look back, compare, and see how far I’ve come!

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