Sunflower blogger award!

Hello everyone. It has been a long time!

I am on summer vacation right now, and for a brief moment I started feeling bad about not posting more on this little corner of the earth. But then I realized how very lucky I am to have so much going on in my life. So I'm not going to apologize. NEVER APOLOGIZE for living your life to the fullest! The best part of living is being out in the world, with the people you love, DOING what you love. 

Anyway. A long, long time ago, Natasha from Savouring Each Moment nominated me for the Sunflower Blogger Award. She is a great blogger so you should definitely check her out! Thanks Natasha :)

The rules:

1) Share 11 facts about yourself.

2) Answer the questions asked by your nominated blogger.

3) Nominate your bloggers 

4) Set 7 questions for your nominated bloggers.

11 facts about myself:

1) I'm learning how to surf this summer (YAYY!)
2) I just came back from a trip to Paris with my best friend a few days ago.
3) Cats. Cats. Cats. KITTEHS. ♥
4) I am 15 years old.
5) When I was little I imagined that at age 15 I'd be living the life of Gabriella Montez from High School Musical.
6) Indeed, when I was little I was OBSESSED with High School Musical.
7) My obsession has now moved on to the movie How I Live Now (GO CHECK IT OUT).
8) I overthink. I'm not going to say "way too much" because I personally think that it's great to THINK.  I'm not even sure if I agree with the term overthinking. 
9) I am vegetarian.
10) Sometimes I'm slow. I tend to enjoy the process instead of getting right to the point.
11) I made a pact with myself that I will NEVER, EVER be a smoker. 

Natasha's questions:

1.      What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?(lame, I know… ><)

This is not a lame question, Natasha, NOT LAME!!! But there are sooo many flavors!!! I have to say that I absolutely love Ben&Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup (I think it might actually be heaven under the form of ice cream) but I also love a good mint-chocolate-chip. Hmm.

2.      What’s your favorite kind/brand of chocolate?

I don't think I can answer this question. There are too many brands of chocolate. And so many of them are exquisite! But am I allowed to say Reese's? I know it's not really a chocolate brand but it's still my favorite.

3.      If you could change your name, what would you change it to?

I never really thought this through... I'm actually quite happy with my name! I don't know many Carmens. :) 

But I have thought about what I would name my daughter: India, Olivia...

4.      What’s your favorite sport?

I'm not sure I have a favorite sport! I love dancing, yoga, swimming... Even running!

5.      What was something you believed to be real (when it actually wasn’t) when you were younger?(sorry… I just can’t phrase it right :[)

Ummm... :] probably many things :]

6.      What was the weirdest food you’ve eaten? 
It might not sound "weird" at first, but... Cheese. Cheese is a very, very peculiar food. Cheese is rotten milk. 

7. What is one thing you wanna do but know you can never (or most probably not be able to)accomplish?
Never say never! Unless you have unrealistic dreams like "living forever", with enough determination, ANYTHING is possible. It's true!

The bloggers I'm nominating:

Amy-Anne Williams @ The Blog Hermit

Emily @ According To Em

Kyra @ Blog of a Bookaholic

Ayesha @ Defining Me

+ anyone else! If you want this award comment below and I'll add you to the list :)

My questions:

1) What's your astrological sign? Does your personality actually correspond to what it says about you?
2) What is your favorite social media?
3) If your home burst into flames, and you could only save three things, what would you grab?
4) What book did you last read?
5) If you had to stay the same age your whole life, what age would you pick?
6) What is your favorite snack?
7) Why did you start blogging?

Thinking of a new blog design... HELP PLZ?!?!

Hi everyone,
Just a quick word: I've had this blog for a year and six months- and I'm starting to wonder if it's not time to update my blog design.
I like my background pattern, and my bio... but I feel like changing the shape, or the display, or SOMETHING on my blog.
 So I was wondering... how did you design your blog? Could you give the names of blog designers, or free template websites? That would be a HUGE help. :]
Or if you have any suggestions?

Thank you!

OVER 100 POSTS!

Hey peeps.
I JUST REALIZED that I've written over one hundred posts on this blog!!!
This post is number #105, in case you're wondering.

It feels surreal to me, and although 105 posts might not seem like a lot to you, it feels like a lot to ME, me who is on a quest to being a writer.
I'd like to thank all of my followers and supporters for reading my blog, following, and commenting!
Somebody once said that writing is a muscle that needs to be exercised every day, or else it will seize up (remind me who said this? It's brilliant).
I believe this is true and although I don't write every day, I come close to doing so, not only on my blog but in my homework agenda, my diary, sticky notes, and letters. Writing truly is a passion and this blog has helped me in so many ways to become a better writer.

Speaking of passions, most of you haven't ACTUALLY met me PHYSICALLY, which means you probably don't know that I play guitar... I don't blog about it much. The reason for that is, I have way too many activities going on in my life and I feel I can't consecrate time to practicing guitar outside of my one-hour class each Wednesday... so I'm thinking of giving up on it.
But thinking of GIVING UP on something makes me feel terrible about myself and I am overwhelmed with a deep sense of guilt. I feel that my dad, with his "it's your choice, I guess..." is extremely disappointed in me, that my guitar teacher is extremely disappointed in me, and, most importantly, I am disappointed in me.
This question, whether I should continue guitar or not, has brought on a lot of stress to my thoughts lately and therefore, I ask you, do you have any insight to offer?

Any piece of advice will help.

Love you all. :)

Liebster Award #2!!!

Around Christmas, I was nominated for my second Liebster award. :D
I know, I know, we're in FEBRUARY now, but at least I'm participating, alright?!

I am super honored to be part of Ayesha's nominees. Thank you, Ayesha! <3

Here are the rules of the Liebster award:

• Link back to the nominator 
• State 11 Facts about yourself
• Answer the 11 questions given to you
• Nominate 5-10 New Bloggers with less than 200 followers
• Give those nominated 11 new questions

Eleven facts about me:

1. I started Irish Dance and Modern Jazz (which I used to dance when I was seven until ten years old) this year; and I love them both!

2. I want my career to involve writing. Recently I've been thinking about script writing.

3. I have two little kitties who snuggle with me at night <3

4. I want to travel the world.

5.I ride my bike to and from school every day, even if it's raining, snowing, and if it's super windy!

6. I have a needle phobia.

7. Cleaning and organizing makes me feel very calm and in control.

8. I'm an overachiever and overthinker. It gets bad, sometimes.

9. I read. A lot.

10. I like debating. I recently learned this about myself.

11. Friends are one of  the things I value most in life. I love my friends! But I do cherish "alone" time; just being by myself to sort out my thoughts when things get too hectic.

Ayesha's questions:

1.When and why did you start blogging?

I started blogging in September, 2012 and why? There are so many reasons! First of all, I want to be a writer and journalist so I thought it would be good practice and second of all, I feel that there is always so much I want to say to the world and never enough ways or time to say it... I thought blogging might be a unique opportunity to do so. And it has! Lastly, it's because I'm vegetarian and I LOVE baking and cooking so I wanted to teach people how easy and important it is to respect animals all while eating fabulous food!

2.Who is in your family?

This question would normally have a very long answer, but I'm going to make it as short as I can.

In my immediate family there are my parents, my little brother, Lorenzo, and my baby kitties, Olive and Gaspy. The rest of my big, big family lives in the US (my mom's side of the family) and in Argentina (my dad's side). Then there is my non-blood-related family: my friends. I could not live without them. They are such a big part of my life; that's why I feel I can consider them as "family".

3.What is your favorite food?

My favorite food? Only ONE?! You need to know I am pretty much obsessed with food. There is an endless number of  taste combinations out there, and I just love trying them all! 

I guess I would say my favorite foods are chocolate, peanut butter... watermelon, apples...

OH, and how could I forget? I ABSOLUTELY ADORE INDIAN FOOD. 

4. 5 things that make you happy?

Your questions are killing me, Ayesha. 5 things that make me happy:

reading and writing;

running;

dancing;

baking;

chilling with my friends!

5. What is your favorite piece of jewelry?

Earrings, definitely. I wear them every day. 

6. If you had to wear only one color all your life, which would it be?

Hmmm... I wear a lot of black and gray, but I find  bordeaux red just beautiful. But you can't go wrong with black. So I'd choose black.

7. Whats in your handbag?

Besides the obvious items (phone, wallet, keys) I always, always, always carry a hairbrush. Otherwise my hair would constantly be a total mess! I also carry a pocket mirror, lip balm, a little pen and notebook, a guitar pick (yes, I play guitar) and... a snack (nuts, or dried seaweed...)!

8. What is your favorite beverage?

Tea. Tea. Tea. Always tea. 

9. Who is your role model?

Ayesha. I cannot have one role model. It's simply not possible. I admire Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Taylor Swift, Gary Yourofsky, John Green... and many, many more!

10. Which do you pick? Comfort or glamour?

I'm not sure I can answer that. Comfort is much more important; I know that. But how fun it is to be glamourous! 

11. One thing you can't live without?

Ummmm books? Tea? Friends? Physical movement? My laptop? ;)

Probably optimism. A negative mind will never bring you a positive life.

My nominees:

1. Beth Claire @ bethiquette

2. Mindy @ ~Broken Eggshells~

3. Crap Teenager @ Crap Teenager

4. Mathilde Mounier @ La Saison des Gâteaux

5. Laura @ Laura Plus Books

6. Emily Beth @ oh, how {sweet} it is

7. Ajeng Adianti @ Basic X Classic

I realize, my dear nominees, that you might not all be interested in participating, but if you are, here are my questions to you!

1. If you were of the opposite sex, what would you want your name to be?

2. What is your favorite season?

3. What meal do you like the most in a day?

4. How many hours do you sleep at night?

5. Books or movies?

6. A skill you wish you had but don't?

7. What is your favorite social media?

8. Your favorite type of vacation?

9. What is it you like the best about blogging?

10. Do you have any siblings?

11. Your most cherished possession at the moment?

I hope you enjoyed reading this! Thank you again, Ayesha!

I'm on Instagram!

Just a quick word today to let you know that after giving it a lot of thought, I finally opened an Instagram account!
I'm loving it so far.
I haven't spent much time on it with everything else going on (yes, I only posted two pictures up until now), but if you leave me your account name I'll definitely follow you and we can be Insta-Friends (can you say that?)!
I added an Instagram badge to the side of my blog underneath my Pinterest button, but you can just click the link to my page right here:
I'm @carmenpriotto (http://instagram.com/carmenpriotto).

Do you have Instagram? Link up!

Have a nice week everybody.
Xx

P.S: These are Instagram cookies I found on Pinterest! How awesome is that?



(http://www.bakerella.com/homemade-graham-crackers/)

2014, welcome!

My family and I

Just wanted to wish a very happy 2014 to all you lovely people out there.
Please know that anything is possible if you set your mind to it, and that you are totally capable of accomplishing your goals. I hope that in this year you will grow- I wish for you to gain experience, wisdom, and for it to glow everywhere within you.

Blogging was a big part of my 2013, so I'd like you to know, again, how much I love you all.

How did you spend new year's eve?
I spent it with my friends. We had a ball! This is us with our "champagne" ;)

Left to right: Andrea, Minnie, Me and Bailey

Happy new yeeeeeeear!

TGIF!

My lovely readers!
I am so GLAD to be here writing for you after such a stressful week. You can't even imagine.
It's Friday! Thank goodness! I SURVIVED A WEEK OF SCHOOL!
Last Thursday I wrote a post explaining my dissatisfying class situation. I'd tried changing classes because I wasn't content with mine... In fact, I was in crisis. I had no friends, and several teachers that I'm not fond of.
The school did not accept my request to change classes.

And I'm grateful for that. Because a week later, everything seems less scary. That is the truth. I've met really nice people. I've made friends. Come to think of it, it's almost insulting to them how badly I wanted to change classes that first day.

To summarize my week, it was mostly fine, if not good. I've come to understand how BUSY this year is going to be for me.
My teachers have crammed so much information into each hour of class about the projects for the year and what they will mean for my future.
For example, in December, like all 9th graders in France, I will be attending a "stage", which is a week in the enterprise of my choice to observe how business works.
It could be anywhere from a bakery to a police station.
By the end of November I need to know where my stage will take place: this means deciding where I want to go, sending my CV and a request letter, and being confirmed.
I'm still not completely sure, but because I want to be a journalist I'm thinking a stage in the press.

Anyway, on a total other note, I wanted to announce a few changes to my blog. With my recent blogoversary, I decided I need to promote my blog a little and make it a more elaborate.
The first change you will notice is my new "Moi" picture:

The second change you will notice is the "About Moi" page. What do you think?

Also, (I still haven't done this but plan to this weekend) I am going to make a facebook page for The Veggie Polyglotographer.

For some reason, I was opposed to it the whole time I've been blogging. But I know it's a great tool for blog traffic and connecting with others. So I'm pretty excited about this!

Let me know in the comments if you have a fb page for your blog, and I'll definitely follow. :)

I hope you all have a relaxing friday night, and a weekend filled with fun!

My 1st blogoversary!

Today my blog is one year old.
WOW!
I'm looking back at my first posts right now, some of them are REALLY funny... I've definitely improved my content and writing technique! :)
I can't believe how much has happened in a year.
I must admit I'm pretty proud of myself.
This blogging thing has been difficult at times- the networking, photo-sorting, designing and strategizing- but I always knew better than to give up. And I'm so HAPPY with the results of all this effort!
Through blogging I feel I am exposing a part of myself to the world which doesn't always show otherwise.
Knowing I have readers out there is a tremendous source of joy. I thank all of you who've supported me with your comments, subscriptions, tweets and e-mails...
Building my bloggers community has helped me realize how many people out there share the same thoughts as me, and how many people out there care about the same things I do.

Which means it's time to celebrate! For this special occasion I decided to make...
White Chocolate Blondies! YUM!

I got the recipe from EatsWellWithOthers.com For some reason it had more of a cakey texture than a brownie texture... Maybe I used too much baking soda?
I was in the mood for the chewy-gooey-ness of a brownie but these were so damn good it didn't matter!
After all, what's better than a cake to celebrate a birthday?
I would honestly give a brownie to each and every one of you out there who's helped me in some way, bloggy friend or not! You mean so much to me.

Have to be brave

Today was my first day back to school. I'm not going to lie and pretend that it was wonderful, because it wasn't.
I was put in a class where I have no friends. Nobody with whom I can gossip with about the teachers, nobody whom I can rush to when we are assigned group projects.
My friends are all in classes - together.
Without me.
So frankly, it sucks.
BUT, after madly trying to petition to change classes, I decided to be open-minded about the whole situation. Because it may not work out the way I want it to. And I can't just run away from people because they already know each other, but they don't know me.
And after all, the magic mostly happens when you're put out of your comfort zone.
I'm going to be strong, because I've realized that this is not a big deal and it's just what a billion other teens are going through right now: change.
And I know that so many good things are coming. I can feel it.

It's almost time to say bye-bye to summer... so here's a recap of my blogging:

July:             Summer
                     The Absolute Best Carrot Cake Ever
                     "Fill your house with stacks of BOOKS, in all the crannies and all the nooks!"
                     Paris, me voici!
                     In which I explain my roots
                     Paris, oh beautiful Paris

August:        Da Vinci da veggie :)
                     2 ingredient ice cream: Bananas and Peanut Butter.
                     My first camp experience
                     Climb every mountain, follow every stream...
                     A hiking week in pictures

September:   DIY Necklace Holder

Hope you enjoyed all my posts!

Liebster award!

Hi! :D
I'm in a really good mood today because I have two days off from school AND the weather has turned awesome... so I went on a picnic followed by a long bike ride! Ahh. The good life.
To top it off I'm excited to announce that I have been nominated for my very first blog award!
Thanks Stacey <3

The Rules:

 - Link back to the person who nominated you.

- Answer the eleven questions your nominees has nominated for you, list eleven facts about yourself and set eleven questions for your nominees.

- Nominate eleven bloggers who have less than two hundred followers and who you think really deserve it.

Stacey's questions:

Favourite book and why?  

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Simply because John Green is the best. And the book has so much wisdom to offer. I actually wrote a whole blog post about it!

What do you imagine yourself doing when you're older? 

I want to be a writer or a Journalist!

Favourite teddy when you were younger.

Ummm... I didn't really have a teddy bear, actually. I had an African doll. :)

Twilight or Harry Potter?

Twilight, I guess, though I don't adore either of them (sorry!)

What's your favourite memory from the past?

Whoa, that's a hard one. There are so many! I can't choose! I'll just tell you about the first happy memory that popped into my brain. It was when my brother had his first ice cream, one of the times we visited my grandparents in the States. He was five months old.  My mom, my grandma, my brother and I went to the mall and we bought him his first ice cream cone and he was just ADORABLE when he started slurping at it. I'll always remember that moment!

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

This is also a really difficult question for me, because I love to travel and I want to go everywhere! I think I'd choose India.

Favourite TV Program?

Friends! :D

What are you reading at the moment?

Petals On the Wind by V.C Andrews.

A random act of kindness you've done for somebody.

The most recent one I can think of is swimming to the bottom of a swimming pool to get a little kid's goggles.

Name of your first pet.

My first pets are Olive and Gaspy, and I got them a little over a year ago.

2 things that make you smile.

So many things make me smile! Cookie monster and vintage typewriters.

Eleven facts about myself:

1. I'm vegetarian.

2. I was born in Kenya, but I'm half American and half Argentinian.

3. I play the guitar.

4. I LOVE Asian food, and watermelon.

5. I used to live in Paris until I moved to Lyon two summers ago.

6. Cats are my favorite animals.

7. I want my career to involve writing.

8. I run and do yoga.

9. I could never live without books.

10. I have an injection phobia.

11. I CAN'T STAND THE HOBBIT.

Questions for my nominees:

Favorite author? Why?

Are you a romantic?

Do you believe in horoscopes?

What do you eat for breakfast?

A celebrity you find ridiculous.

Pet peeves?

Favorite color?

If you saw a shooting star, what would you wish for?

If you could go to space, would you?

Favorite animal?

Sneakers or flip flops?

A list of bloggers that I want to nominate? There are so many! The problem is deciding on who would like to be nominated... If you're listed here, I love your blog, and if you don't want to do anything with this award that's all right, you'll have known that I admire your posts, and I think you deserve more followers!
 

Super-duper bloggers who deserve attention (my nominees)!
India @ India's Purple Dragonfly

Book Lover Recommends @ Book Lover Recommends

Georgia Brennan-Scott @ C'est la vie

Nina Marinkovic @ Read All About It

Jemimah @ Exploring Intrepidity

Micheline @ Holistic Chick

Rachel @ The Vegan Mishmash
Maelo Manning @ Life of a blooming child
Amber Sylvia Worsley @ Amber! 
Jade @ The Life and Times of Jade Lee Wright 

Erin @ Olives for Dinner

Interview #1: With Eileen Li, of ***Singing and Reading in the Rain***

 

Encore une fois, je m'excuse au lecteurs français, car l'article d'aujourd'hui n'est pas traduit de l'anglais. C'est trop de travail, vous voyez, c'est un interview, et c'est très long, à chaque fois que je traduis mes articles je prends le double du temps.

 

 I'm sorry I took five days to write another post everyone, shame on me! Oh well. Today I'm super-duper excited because...Guess what? I'm starting a series of interviews! Introducing Eileen, my first interviewee, a totally awesome-crazy-cool blogger! I first got interested in her because she is 13, like me! And there aren't a lot of young bloggers out there - I mean this young. She is an avid reader, another point in common between us, and she posts book reviews on her blog.

 

 

Eileen!

Name: Eileen Li

Age: 13

Blog: ***Singing and Reading in the Rain*** (If you Google it, it comes up! I’m so excited about this because it’s not everyday one of your creations is the top forum on the Google page! Then again, you usually don’t have a totally long title that’s a pain to spell out constantly.)

 

Why did you start blogging?

Simply enough, because The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa (my favorite series of all time) totally got me and I freaked out over them like insanely. This was also the period of time where I discovered I wanted to actually do something about my singing career (I want to be a singer when I grow up), so instead of opening a YouTube channel like the next sane guy over there, I opened up a blog. That blog later got accidentally deleted (don’t ask; this is a story for another time) and I started up a new one and I think it’s gone pretty well!

Describe yourself in three words.

Singer, insane, Asian (Because I am actually the stereotypical Asian.)

Where are you from? What language/languages do you speak?

I am from the great country of The United States! But my parents are both 100% Chinese, so technically I am an ABC—American Born Chinese. So I’m like 100% Chinese appearance-wise, but the personality is all American baby! And I speak English—who doesn’t? This language is ridiculously easy people. I also am learning to fluently speak Chinese. Dude. You can’t even fake your way through this language! If you don’t know a character, you don’t know it and can’t PRETEND to know it. Any of you know what this is: 我的名子是我不要告诉你因为我不知道你是 ? No I didn’t think so!
But, can you pretend you know what this is:
Hola me llama no está diciendo a tú porque no te conozco.
You trust your eye for the above words, and you attempt to read them. I don’t know if I got the sentence right, but I’m sure if you can read, you can get close to how you’re supposed to pronounce that. BUT, if you’re reading Chinese or some other characters, it is virtually impossible to guess what those words are unless you have training in that specific language. I also take Spanish as a language requirement in my school. However, I focus more on Chinese because contrary to what you may think, I suck at Chinese. I should probably be doing my Chinese homework now, in fact. But nope. I’m on the computer being the wonderful human being I am.

What are your hobbies?

I sing, like, ALL the time! I have a YouTube channel, and I cover songs on there (http://youtube.com/eileenli08) and I’m always practicing songs for there and just jamming to random songs. My parents always tell me to shut up, but it’s a total passion and I really can’t stop doing it. Seriously. I want to be a singer when I grow up, thus the constant singing. I also love writing songs and playing the piano! I’m self-teaching myself Für Elise by Beethoven, and I have half the song down, except the thirty-second notes, which aren’t that fast, it’s just a relative sight-reading issue.


What is your worst nightmare?

My worst nightmare (life-wise) is probably not getting to do something I would’ve loved because I didn’t take the chance when it was offered to me on my silver platter. For example, if somebody gives you a chance to accomplish your life-long dream—say, singing—and you don’t take it because you’re scared, that’s your fault. I don’t want that to happen to me, no matter what happens.


If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I would go to Los Angeles (or Nashville) or England! So many record labels are based in Los Angeles and Nashville, and it would be a dream to go there and see if I could get someone to sign me to their label. England because I have so many friends there and I just love British accents, they amuse me way more than they should!

If you could wave a magic wand and grant one wish to make the world a better place, what would it be?

I would want everyone to get a fair chance at life. I don’t think that just because some people’s parents are poor that they shouldn’t not be able to do things that they could do if they had more money, like go to dance camp, or something. And, if everyone started off with a fair chance at life, you could make your own choices on what you want to do without many restrictions. Well, obviously you can’t do something if you don’t have the ability or talent, but I would just love if everybody could pursue one thing and have it based solely on their talent and their capability, not the amount of money they have or who their parents are.

If you were to transform into an animal right this second, what would it be, and why?

I’d turn into a bunny! Does anybody know the Chinese zodiac? If you don’t, simply put, the Chinese zodiac is basically giving you an animal sign for the year that you were born. It repeats every twelve years I think, and I was born in the Year of the Rabbit. I always loved bunnies as well, so there you go. Although I hate carrots. Don’t know how that would work...

Who is the biggest inspiration to you?

I think it’s definitely Taylor Swift! Her music and her personality just inspire me all the time and I really want to be at least half as successful and talented as she is when I grow older and hopefully become a singer! That would be my number-one dream, no doubt, to be able to inspire someone the way that she inspires me one day.

Who is your favorite author?

Can you give me a Julie Kagawa?!?! I love that woman to pieces! Seriously, I have screenshots of almost everything she ever said to me, no. Joke. Her Iron Fey series got me to start blogging and start the chain of events to me creating my YouTube channel and if I ever become a successful singer, I’m dedicating her (and Taylor Swift of course!). They both did so much to help me discover who I am.

What's on your bedside table?

Okay, the full rundown of my bedside table:
My bedside table is more of a cubby, and I have clothes and old Chinese DVDs piled up on the two open cubbies. The counter space on top has my reading lamp, a book, two pads of sticky notes to tape onto my wall, a few pens, lip balm, receipts, bookmarks, my iPod charger, deodorant, and hair ties. No books, guys! I’m OCD about putting books back onto the shelf as soon as I’ve read them, so they’re nowhere near my bedside table, except for that one book. It’s a library book I never brought downstairs.

What is on your Christmas list?

I don’t usually ask for a lot, but this year I want a few fairly expensive things (and some things that are just pure wishes to the world)
1. A guitar
2. A professional recording microphone
3. Taylor Swift concert tickets
4. For everyone to be okay after Hurricane Sandy, even though it already happened. I was in the storm, I lost power for 10 days, and it was brutal. But I cannot imagine what it must be like for the people who lost every piece of their house, all their furniture, every memory they ever had in that house, and even the people who lost their friends and family members. Personally, I just want everybody to end up okay. Even if that may be wishful thinking, I think that we all just need to stop for a second and say, “I really hope you’re doing okay today” to someone who was directly in Hurricane Sandy. Totally sappy, but I have a temporary classmate whose house was destroyed, and I feel so, so bad for him.

What song is stuck in your head at this moment?

JUST ONE?!?! That is brutal, my friend. I’m covering The A-Team by Ed Sheeran very soon so I guess that would be the one since I’m trying to learn all the lyrics. But other than that, pretty much every song I’ve ever recently heard and liked is running through my head on repeat.


Thank you Eileen, to have taken the time to answer these questions! You're fabulosa (hey, how do you say that in chinese?) ;)