I was shocked when I heard that Prince had died on Thursday. Someone told me in school and I thought it was a hoax. My mom always told me he was one of the greats; knowing how to play countless instruments and how to command a whole room when he was on stage. When I came home from school, we put on MTV and they played Prince videos and we even watched "Purple Rain". I didn't realize how many songs of his I knew. My mom always wanted to take my sister and I to see him, but we never got tickets. She told me about when she got to see him perform at the MTV 10 Year Anniversary party. Here's what she said:

"It was a very hot night and I had tickets to see an unusual concert line up of  Alice In Chains, 3rd base, LL Cool J and Fishbone at The Academy theater in NYC (which is no longer there). Unfortunately that was also the night of the MTV 10th Anniversary party which was for employees only.  Prince was putting on a private concert for our party.  The concert at the Academy was being taped for a concert series called ABC In Concert.  I went to the show.  It was awesome.  All 4 acts were amazing.  You wouldn't think the audience for such different performers would mesh, but it was a great show  and everybody had a great time. Shows like that don't happen anymore.  I got out late and I was sweaty and exhausted but I decided to head over to the MTV party  to see if I could still catch the Prince performance. I was a huge fan of Prince's earlier work and of course Purple Rain, but wasn't crazy about the new stuff he had put out at that time.  Still, I had always heard about what an amazing performer he was and didn't want to miss out on seeing him perform in such a small intimate environment.  All I have to say is thank god I went.  I got there just in time to see his set.  He performed for about an hour and he was nothing short of amazing.  To this day I have never seen an artist perform the way he did.  The only way I can describe it is as a religious experience. And a corny as that sounds that's the only way to describe someone who's been truly blessed by God with so many amazing gifts.  Years later I was supposed to work on an MTV Prince project at Paisley Park but had the flu.  The MTV party was the only opportunity I ever had to see Prince perform"

*The link to that concert my mom was at is at the end of the blog post. There is no video to Prince's performance at the MTV party.*
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   These past few days I've watched so many videos and clips of him, and he was really such a respectable man. They said he wrote enough songs that there's enough to put out an album every year for the next 100 years, and more after that. It blows my mind that someone could have so many original thoughts and ideas while being an extraordinary performer at the same time. Prince gave us everything he had, and it makes me happy to know that people everywhere are cherishing his talent. I only hope one day to have a fraction of his talent.

Thank you Prince.
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​If you haven't seen anything from Prince or want to watch more of him, here are some of my favorite performances of his:

Here's Prince performing with the word "slave" written on his face in the midst of a battle with his record company.

Don't mind the drunk "celebrities" around him.

If you want to see what real concerts used to be like. 👆

     
     
                       💜💜💜

      Over the past holiday weekend I took my first trip to New Orleans, Louisiana. Traveling is really one of my passions and I always feel lucky to have any opportunity to explore a new place, especially with my family. I actually was the one to suggest going on this trip, because I've always been fascinated with the city's energy. I also thought this trip would be especially fun for my grandmother, because her mother's family is from here. (Fun fact: Her mom was even baptized in St. Louis Cathedral). Last Thursday (the night before I left), I was really run down and fighting a cold, but I slept it off and was so ready for my Nola experience (And beignets!!!!!).

Day 1: We got to the Hotel Monteleone and it was the nicest hotel I've ever been to. The lobby is breath taking and was extremely classy. The hotel is famous for being a literary landmark and inspiration to influential authors, it's revolving carousel bar and it's ghosts (P.S. I didn't see anything, but my dreams the first night were so bad, I swear something haunted them). For dinner, we ate in the hotel (which was quite good, but their breakfast is AMAZING). That night we went on a Haunted History Tour. Our guide was a little tipsy and I'm not sure if all of his facts were right, but a lot of the stories I knew about already, like the Axe Man and the most famous story of Madame LaLaurie's house of horrors. At night, everything looks so much different and beautiful.

Day 2: On Saturday we went on a Garden District tour that I really wish was a walking tour. The homes were luxurious and made you feel like you were in Gone With the Wind. After the tour, I got to experience three New Orlean's foods that you must try: the famous Muffuletta sandwich made at Central Grocery, beignets (pronounced bin-yay-s, not bin-aye-s) at Cafe Du Monde, and Banana's Foster at Brennans. I'm a relatively healthy person that is usually conscious of what I eat, but I let everything go and just indulged in some awesome food. My mom and I walked around that humid night and waltzed into a random art gallery. It was pretty special

Day 3: Easter! My favorite holiday! My family and I went to church at St. Louis Cathedral. The church is so beautiful, so I guess that's why we couldn't even get a seat! It was so hot and we standing in a huge crowd made it hotter. We got to see all of the southern locals in their colorful dresses and big hats, which was pretty special. After church, we went on a plantation tour which was great to see. For dinner, we went to the Court of Two Sisters, and the food was good. This was a great end to my trip.

I had a fantastic New Orleans experience. It made me feel really connected to my grandma's family who was from there. I never met them, so I enjoyed learning about their roots, and I think it made my grandma remember a lot of things from her childhood. I'm so grateful for this trip and I can't wait to be back.

 After Hamilton, we decided to go have dinner at one of my favorite places, P.J. Clarkes. There were no cabs to be had, and someone actually took ours. Jaime, Sophia's mom, randomly blurted out "imagine if a limo pulled up and was like 'you wanna ride?', haha". What LITERALLY happens a second later? A limo pulls up says "Do you need a ride?". We couldn't believe our eyes. We got in right away, and I sure felt fancy. My mom proceeded to say "Hey Jaime! Can you say 'wow I sure wish we one the lottery?'".

      For months I have listened to the Hamilton at least once a day: with my friends, during my commute, (possibly during class), in the shower, you name it. I've been so obsessed with it that my constant rapping of the constitution has actually made my family not want to see the show (they're already sick of it). If you live in the New York area, you know that Hamilton is the hottest and hardest ticket to get in town and it's basically all everyone in my school talks about (keep in mind that I go to a performing arts high school). If you've somehow missed the band wagon on Hamilton (maybe you have recently relocated your home under a rock or something to that effect), I'm gonna catch you up:
Hamilton in a nutshell: So this super awesome guy name Linn Manuel Miranda wrote a few super awesome musicals, and proceeded to go on a much needed vacation. The workaholic got bored and went to a library where he found a lengthy biography on Alexander Hamilton. He read up on his life and was intrigued on how he spoke and made so many speeches and he thought "Hmmm...what if this was put into a rap?", He proceeded to write a musical based on that idea. And casted himself as the lead. The show is basically a story about Alexander Hamilton's exciting life told in rap and pop music. It's pretty fricken awesome.
  My best friend Sophia got 2 tickets to Hamilton and very graciously decided to take me. When I found out I was going, I could not believe it. I couldn't believe my eyes even more, when I saw our seats.

    Before the show, I was a little scared that I might have ruined it for myself by learning the whole soundtrack and having my expectations be so high. That was most definitely not the case. The show was everything I imagined and more. I loved it so much. I didn't realize how much dancing there was. The set doesn't change at all through out the show, but the choreography some how makes you feel as though it does. (I can't explain it). The singing was identical to the soundtrack and it blew my mind. In a certain part of the show, (I won't "spoil" anything, but you can seriously just read a text book), I started to actually cry and I still can't decide if it was because of the very sad part of the show I was watching or that I was just so overcome with happiness that I was watching something so amazing. I'm forever grateful that I got to see this American musical. Thank you Sophia❤️‍

    At the end of the show, the Hamilton cast spoke about what most of the Broadway shows talk about this time of year. The charity Broadway Cares is a foundation that gives to numerous causes. I really suggest supporting them. Here's Renee Elise Goldsberry, who plays Angelica Schuyler, rapping about it.😂

   Speaking of Harry Potter, this is a spin off of J.K. Rowling's masterpiece. It just so happens to star one of my favorite actors, Eddie Redmayne, and the movie looks quite good. Judging by the trailer, it seems to share the theme of a spectacular magical adventure, (that's my favorite genre of movies). It might be a hard read, but I will definitely be ordering this book on amazon before I go to the theater.

​2.  Me Before You

    I've taken the oath. I'll read all three books and now when I go to the movies and someone says "Did you read it?", I can confidently say YES. I'm very excited to see this movie! Let me know if you recommend these books!