N E W J A K E B U G G A L B U M

                Surprisingly (or not?) I am a huge fan of alternative/ folk/ blues music. Relevant because my FAVORITE musician has just released a new album, and here I am writing a potentially irrelevant review of it. I say just because I needed a week or so of listening time before I really formed an opinion, I believe the official release date was June 17^th or so?

                Jake Bugg- a UK musician has won me over, musically and otherwise. He’s released 3 albums thus far and I’ve been a fan of all 3. The first was a self-titled debut album, the one with lightning bolt on the track list. You may not know him, but you’ll certainly know this song, it’s been used in adverts and was the theme song that Gatorade assigned to Usain Bolt for his TV advert after the 2012 Summer Olympics. After the 2012 release of his album he went on a world tour, ended in California, and set to work on his second album. Shangria La, produced with Rick Rubin, may have only been written and recorded just a year after the first album, but sounded musically more mature and advanced without actually changing Bugg’s gritty, raw, and real sound. He again signed some of his music off the second album to be used in adverts, and one of the songs is featured in “The Fault in Our Stars”. Bugg quickly turned back to the touring scene and did almost two full world tours (ahem, which I was lucky enough to see part of). After most likely wearing himself down, he went on a sort of hiatus… until recently.

                The most amazing part to me, is his consistency in sound, and rhythm. While his albums feature ballads, acoustic tracks and hardcore rock music, he keeps a sort of reliability in style that is kind of rare when musicians change producers. He writes his own music, and is heavily involved in the production of his tracks and I think that’s what had made his first two albums such a success. This being said, I am really enjoying the newest album, although I find it to be a bit different than the others. Not bad different, just… different.

                When the first word came out that he’d be making a third album, in an interview he had said he was looking to make a sound with more of a ‘country’ vibe. I was skeptical. And rightly so, because he ended up partnering up with Mike D- the lead of The Beastie Boys to make some of the album. It is called On My One, and was released just about two weeks ago, I find the tracks on this album to reflect that greatly. There isn’t the gentle mix of soft ballads and hard rock, on this album it’s either bluesy acoustic, or loud rock, with heavy picking and loud bass. EXCEPT for the one track that basically could have come straight off The Beastie Boys latest album. I certainly do not know if this album will be a favorite of his current fan base, but I certainly like it. It’s one of those where it’s almost so bad- that it’s good, like very good.  If you’re into alternative and folk- check him out, MAKE SURE you don’t give up on him, some of the songs (new or otherwise) just need more than one listen, others need many more than one… if you check him out, let me know what you think!

Here's a YouTube playlist if you're interested -

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN_VJ8EBWmB_3p6uCfyK-vy3lSPrArN1q

That’s all for now, Enjoy!!

                                                                                                                                                                Cheers!! xoxo

S T Y L E I C O N

What makes style? How can you determine who is stylish and who is not? Is it someone who follows all the trends to a T, or someone who does their own thing? I believe real style is pushing the boundaries of your own wardrobe, dressing to impress yourself first, and quite frankly- not giving a shit about what other people have to say. Queen of these rules is the one and only Iris Apfel, the Queen of Fashion.

                Iris is a 94 year old boss lady, the original boss lady if you will. She is a businesswoman, interior designer and the ultimate style icon. She’s got an eclectic sense of style which she first portrayed through her home décor, which then influenced her eccentric style. This woman has some of the most famous fashion quotes with her name behind them. She’s an inspiration to many, and certainly one to me. Her most famous eminence is the fact that she doesn’t care what anyone else thinks of her style, she dresses to impress herself, she doesn’t necessarily dress for comfort (because we all know beauty is pain sometimes, LOL) she dresses so that when she looks in the mirror she says “WOW, this looks incredible!”

                

                 She is a big advocate for feeling great in your own skin- a message that I think should be promoted more often. As much as she loves fashion, she does admit “If you are not comfortable in your own skin, you’ll never be comfortable in your own clothes.” I think this really sets her apart, she is real, and she knows she has flaws and she embraces them, she doesn’t try to cover them up. I think that it is important to note, while fashion can boost your confidence, fashion does incredible things for you if you are already confident.

                This confidence that Apfel is armed with is incredibly inspiring. One of my favorite quotes, and something she says quite often is how she knows that she isn’t pretty (See above image). She is pretty, but she isn’t a supermodel, she hasn’t been accepted in society as stunningly beautiful, and she knows, and she doesn’t mind. This confidence makes her a deadly spirit in the business and fashion world, she knows she’s got nothing to lose, and is ultimately a fearless entity in the business.

                Not only (in my opinion) does Iris have an amazing sense of style, she is a confident, fearless leader in the fashion industry, and just a general bad ass. She has paved the way for many women to get out and really make an amazing impression, in their own right, on the world, in whatever they choose to do. There is an incredible new documentary on Netflix about the lovely Iris, I’d certainly recommend it if you’re looking for a bit of inspiration!

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed!

                                                                                                                                                Cheers!! xoxo

F E A R L E S S

             I’d like to talk a bit about being fearless. Something I’ve arguably struggled with for some time. I have recently read a few articles talking about entrepreneurial success, and although I am not necessarily looking to be an entrepreneur I found them incredibly inspiring.

The first article I read last week was called “The Advantage of Not Knowing- Key Advice From A Disruptor” (https://medium.com/smartup-io-the-ultimate-founder-guide/the-advantage-of-not-knowing-key-advice-from-a-disruptor-co-founder-of-made-com-be66e897d61#.u7lhssbvh). It was about Chloe Macintosh, one of the co-founders of made.com. She very clearly says sometimes to be truly successful you’ve got to take the risk and cannot be afraid of getting burned, because from time to time it happens. However she puts a completely new spin on that mindset that I found not only completely refreshing, but also compelling. In terms of skill set, she believes “Not knowing how to do something, means not knowing that it cannot be done.” Thinking in these terms almost completely eliminates the fear of failure. A sort of ‘everyone starts somewhere’ method of approaching a task makes it easier for the ‘task doer’ to learn along with the process without getting discouraged when they hit bumps in the road. This sort of thinking is the method which allows you to broaden your skillset almost unknowingly (we could call it multitasking).

But what about that skillset?! Macintosh makes it clear that there needs to be a shift in thinking- one should not base their decisions solely on which skills you have, but which opportunities your skills could potentially grant you. So you haven’t studied marketing, but with your skills you could thrive in a marketing agency AND learn marketing skills at the same time, and once it’s time to move on, you’ll have those new skills to take with you. Basically (and I’ve said this before)- NEVER stop learning, and more importantly, don’t be afraid to learn, don’t be afraid to have someone teach you something you didn’t know before, you don’t know everything… and neither do they.

I think all of these things that Macintosh presents are strong representations of being fearless in not only business, but also in life. This is easy to apply to everyday life as well- and I think that this is important because in general, fearless people often are able to achieve more in their life.

The Next article I read was about the founder of Daniel Wellington Watch Co. (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-story-of-daniel-wellington-the-180-million-watch-empire-2016-6?utm_content=buffer98baa&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer) who built a $180 million dollar empire of online watches in 5 years. Tysander, the founder of the company used $24,000 to start this business which all started as taking a risk. The CEO perfectly embodies an entrepreneurial mindset- identifying a problem and seeking a profit- and coming up with a solution. I mean really this guy had no money, was fired from his job, and didn’t let that discourage him. He pushed on, he knew that there was a demand, and that with careful execution it was possible. This lead him to enroll in business studies, which enabled him to become even more a success because he then had the soft skills and the drive, and with those two qualities you’ve got a basis to do amazing things. Long story short, Tysander has had immense success recently, and should inspire anyone… but especially those of my generation that anything is possible, if you’re fearless.

           Being fearless in your work and career is helpful, but those who are fearless in their lives, live better, happier, and ultimately with more success. They aren’t afraid of risk, because they don’t know what’ll happen until it happens. So even if it is just a small change, take a step out from under the safety shadow you’ve cast around yourself, just as I will with mine- let’s all try and me a little more fearless!

That’s all for now, I hope you’ve enjoyed!! Until Next Week!

                                                                                                                                                                Cheers!! xoxo

T R A V E L B U C K E T L I S T

Obviously, travel is something really important to me. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know that I value experiences over (almost) anything else in this entire world.  You would also know that I’ve just returned home from months of living abroad, but nonetheless, I am starting to plan my next adventure.

This reminded me that, a while ago, before I went to London, I made a travel “bucket list” of sorts. Lucky little me has been able to check quite a few of these destinations off my list since first writing it. I always enjoy watching artsy travel videos about the destinations I dream to visit someday. Here I’d like to talk a bit about some places at the top of my list, and I’ll link my favorite videos about them! Enjoy!! (The order of these in NO WAY indicates the order I’d like to or will travel to them in.)

#1 INDIA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubV0LYc8gvs

I find India to be one of the most captivating countries in the world. The fact that their everyday life could be so similar yet differ so much from everything I am used to intrigues me to no end. Religious differences are also a huge part of why I am so attracted to India, because as a highly analytical person I feel the constant (annoying) need to understand EVERYTHING that interests me (weird, I know), and not understanding religious their religious practices or cultural norms makes me all the more interested. I do know how far away India is, and how expensive it would be for me to get there, but the fact that I have an incredibly large interest means I’ve done PLENTY of research on taking a trip there. If you’ve also been looking into Indian travel/ have some more time, I recommend JacksGap’s series (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCz4fqxNcuDmmA-Z_m1F6BJ3IXC5hQwdR) about their philanthropic race across the country; or photographer Joey L. and Videographer Cale Glendening’s short documentary about their photography mission to Varanasi (https://vimeo.com/55246312).

#2 NORWAY

https://vimeo.com/140088872

Norway is beautiful. Did you watch the video? Well, then you know what I am taking about. The incredible fjords and nature look amazing, and coupled with those little village towns! How I’d love to explore one of those! I also really like that Norway has a fair amount of modern, fast paced cities as well as the quaint country side. The best of both worlds? YES PLEASE! I’ve really got a thing for the quaint Scandinavian culture, but as to not bore you, I’ll leave Norway as the only Scandinavian country on my list, but ideally I’d visit them all, order unspecified.

#3 RUSSIA

 https://vimeo.com/44059207

Russia is a place that seems (and is, duh) far away but has a relatable feeling to it. I particularly like how this video features more than one Russian city, but let’s be honest here Russia is HUGE, and it would take WAY more than one visit to really encapsulate the real culture of Russia. There are many factors that draw my attention to Russia, the interesting weather, the mysterious people, plus the fact that they don’t smile very often- we’d get along very well, I believe…

#4 MOROCCO

https://vimeo.com/66659080

WHO HASN’T DREAMT OF GOING TO MOROCCO? For EXACTLY the same reasons I’d like to visit India, I’d also like to visit Morocco. Cultural differences, and religious differences intrigue me, and I long to learn more about them. Also, THE ARCHITECTURE in Morocco makes me absolutely melt. It is GORGEOUS. Morocco is such a dynamic country too, it has multiple different environmental regions, which provide a plethora of activities that you could do on your visit! Incredible!

#5 BRAZIL

 https://vimeo.com/100030671

Boozy beaches and beautiful scenery are only a few things that Brazil has to offer. I AM AWARE there aren’t particularly favorable things happening at the moment in Brazil, but I do not believe that these things will be going on forever, and girl’s got to dream, you know. I’ve always been a sucker for a beach vacation, and it looks to me like Brazil’s lively culture might just be the perfect accompaniment- just a thought.

This is not the end of my list, but just some of the (potentially unrealistic) highlights. Of course, I’d like to travel through all of Europe, and some of Asia, as I find Southeast Asia particularly charming in a way. The next trip I’d like to go on would absolutely be Switzerland, and then to more of Germany. Then I will get back on track with these that I’ve listed above. I’m think about doing a post on my favorite travel videos- similar to this post, so look out for that soon!

                                                                                                                                                                Cheers!! xoxo