Share Christmas joy with someone else without breaking the bank, or you could risk being on the naughty list and keep it for yourself!
Buying gifts on a budget can be tough, but it's even tougher to show up without a gift. Leave the gift giving to Santa and reach for one of these stocking stuffers that will leave Santa himself in shock because they're all that good!
By: James McDonald
A three-and-a-half-hour runtime. Nine Eras. Eleven outfit changes. Three surprise songs. Zero breaks. One unforgettable evening. In the past century, no other performer has put on an electric performance quite like Taylor Swift, surpassing her fans ‘wildest dreams’. It is the reason supporters keep coming back to her shows each year. Days later, I’m still in awe of the spectacle ‘Miss Americana’ puts on every few days in a new city. And, like one of Taylor’s exes, has me smiling as I reminisce about the memories of the night we spent together.
Swifties from around the Delaware Valley flooded South Philadelphia for a three-day Swift-a-palooza, with many bejeweled in ‘style’ from head to toe, symbolizing the eras of the Reading, Pennsylvania natives' decade-long career in the music industry. Fans camped out overnight just to get their hands on the tour's well-made merchandise to commemorate the upcoming evening. You could feel the anticipation building inside and outside the sold-out stadium as Swift was set to take the stage hours from showtime.
Fresh off a Grammy nomination for song of the year, GAYLE was first to open the tour with seven genre-blending selections that had a large majority of fans rise to their feet. The ‘abcdefu’ singer had such poise and pureness in her vocals, and the chemistry between her bass player and drummer was unmatched. My favorite part of her set was a rock-infused tribute to Elton John's 1973 iconic hit, ‘Bennie and the Jets’. It’s a tough song to cover, and GAYLE did it justice and more.
Phoebe Bridgers followed moments later, dressed alongside her band in their signature black skeleton suits. Bridger's folk-infused hits were a delight to hear live, and I love the storybook visuals that portrayed how each song felt like a new chapter in her life. Matt Healy, frontman of the 1975 and Swift’s rumored-to-be boyfriend, was on guitar for the entire set, which was a surprise to the audience.
With a 46-song set spanning the ‘eras’ of Taylor, the twelve-time Grammy Winner took fans on a musical journey through her dozen album discography, beginning with Lover and ending with her latest album, Midnights, released late last year. It’s been nearly five years since Swift performed back in her hometown with her Reputation Tour in 2018. Since then, she has released four projects and two re-recordings of her albums Fearless and Red, each of which has never been performed live until now. In a previous interview, Swift said she wants fans who have seen her previous shows to have a completely different feeling each tour, and this statement couldn’t ring more true. She knows what the fans want ‘all too well’. And unsurprisingly, Swift and her team have outdone themselves once again. The tour is a testament to Taylor’s pure genius and a creative visionary mind, bringing her songs and sets to new heights in imaginative fashion.
It’s so fascinating to see live how strong the connection is between Swift and her fans. Unlike some of her colleagues in the industry, Taylor has songwriting credits on each of her timeless songs, focusing on topics such as heartbreak, depression, and childhood innocence. The personal anecdotes and honesty in her music make fans feel like they know her through her art of songwriting. Even with over seventy-thousand in attendance, Taylor made each fan feel like they were seen and heard as she gracefully danced her way around the stage, waving and blowing kisses to everyone she could see in her field of vision. From beginning to end Swift had such swagger and charisma on stage. She was born to entertain, and the audience was bedazzled by her presence.
Fans had immense energy from start to finish, singing every word and ad-lib as if they wrote it themselves. Mid-way through the show, fans gave Swift a rapturous ten-minute standing and cheering ovation that was loud enough to hear miles down the road. Taylor matched the energy and more and was filled with so much vigor and vibrancy in her performance. She took time throughout the show to speak directly to her fans with humble, down-to-earth interactions.
“Hi, I’m Taylor. Whether or not you intended to, you’ve ended up at my hometown show. I grew up right down the road.”, Swift said. Wearing a sparkling gray dress and matching boots, Taylor kicked off the show in her Lover Era with ‘Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince’ as her backup dancers paraded around her in elegant peacock-esque outfits. The visuals made me feel as if I was in the clouds as Swift danced on a box that rose above the stage. Swift seamlessly transitioned into her hit ‘Cruel Summer’, and the stage was filled with purple and pink aesthetics that looked like milky ways in the night sky. My favorite song of the Lover Era is by far ‘The Man’, a song about the mistreatment between men and women in our culture. With a creative three-story office set, upbeat liveliness from Swift and her suit-wearing dancers, and dramatic facial expressions, it felt as if I were inside one of her music videos.
Each Era felt perfectly timed and refreshing with new costumes, vibrant aesthetics, set design, and song choices, with the production quality of a broadway play. While I thought each Era brought something special, my personal favorite was Red. Sprinkled in with upbeat jams like ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ and ‘We Are Never Getting Back Together’, Taylor brought Phoebe Bridgers back on stage to sing their duet of ‘Nothing New’. Their soul-stirring voices were succinct and in perfect harmony as they ricocheted throughout the stadium, and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the building after it was over. Taylor ended the set with her ten-minute version of ‘All too Well’, and the song gave me chills to hear live. The LED light-up bracelets given to every concert-goer transformed the stadium into a sea of red that looked like twinkling stars. If this is what heaven feels like, then I can’t wait to go.
The Eras tour is a dazzling delight, a first-class concert experience that is pure euphoria, bliss, and happiness. It’s a must-see show that will make everyone who witnesses it leave feeling ‘22’.
These powerful lyrics remind us how much good is inside each of us and that sometimes we are too blinded by our imperfections to see the other side of the coin, to see all of that good.
The song was sent to me late in the middle of the night. I was still awake enough to plug in my headphones and listen to it immediately. I always did this when my best friend sent me songs, never wasting a moment. She had sent a message with this one too, telling me it reminded her so much of both of us and what we have each been through in the past couple of months.
"This song holds so much weight," she had told me. It means something. All the way across the world, living in Germany and training as an elite athlete, she had changed drastically over the past year. The same could be said of myself after leaving for college this July, and the majority of my thoughts lately have been constantly plagued with doubts about whether or not I made the right decision to move so far from everyone I loved. I pulled up the song on Apple Music that night and Sara Bareilles' voice encompassed me. Music has always had great power over me, something that could flip my emotions like a switch and speak a whole new meaning into my life. That was exactly what I experienced as these lyrics unfolded. Every word fit somewhere, spoke to who I was and who I am.
Sara Bareilles' song "She Used to be Mine" is about a young waitress with an abusive husband wondering how she got so disconnected from who she used to be. But here's what its lyrics mean to me, and what I feel they can speak to any girl who is struggling, anywhere.
This song hugely touches on change and what it's like to lose your former self. I'm sure at some point or another we have all, or someday will, experience a feeling similar to that: the feeling that you have lost who you used to be. For college students, this is so common because our entire lives are changed within the course of a year. New friends, new home, new schedule, new school. It's easy to sometimes look back on the person you were in high school and feel as though you no longer recognize her. Sara Bareilles tells us that if you miss the person you used to be, you must fight for them. We can see this gutsy resolve in her lyrics, "To fight just a little, to bring back that fire in her eyes, that's been gone but that used to be mine." These lines teach us to not give up so easily just because our lives have changed or our circumstances are difficult, Bareilles shows us that the girl you used to be is still inside of you, and you will find her again.
Once the song builds to the chorus, Bareilles attempts to show us how hard we all are on ourselves, and that for every flaw, there is a beautiful and perfect quality within us that makes up for that flaw.
"She's imperfect, but she tries.
She is good. but she lies.
... She is messy, but she's kind."
These powerful lyrics remind us how much good is inside each of us and that sometimes we are too blinded by our imperfections to see the other side of the coin, to see all of that good.
There is also a subtle message that speaks to traumas induced by broken relationships, a line empowering and uplifting any girl trudging through heartbreak. "For the girl that I knew...who'll get hurt, but who learns how to toughen up when she's bruised and gets used by a man who can't love." Those lyrics cut me to the heart when I first heard them because they reminded me so much of the girl that sent the song to me in the first place, who had just escaped an emotionally exhausting and degrading relationship. I thought about how strong she had to be to recover and be secure enough in herself to push through the heartache, despite being across the world from her family and utterly alone. These words were so powerful to her at that moment and can be powerful to so many other women who have felt "used" at any point in time.
Bareilles tells us that we are so much stronger than we think and that we all have a fire inside of us that will carry us through this season of hurting. It's a good reminder to hear and feel especially with Bareilles' powerful vocals carrying it across an empowering and raw chorus.
The power of music is boundless, and Bareilles proves that here. In the midst of the most trying stages of life, the most confusing seasons, and the moments when we don't even recognize the face in the mirror, I believe that a simple song could truly be something to soothe our souls and to maybe even remind us who we are.
What's your sign? It's one of the first questions some of us are asked when approached by someone in a bar, at a party or even when having lunch with some of our friends. Astrology, for centuries, has been one of the largest phenomenons out there. There's a reason why many magazines and newspapers have a horoscope page, and there's also a reason why almost every bookstore or library has a section dedicated completely to astrology. Many of us could just be curious about why some of us act differently than others and whom we will get along with best, and others may just want to see if their sign does, in fact, match their personality.
When talking to most of my friends about this topic, most of them would agree that they act like their sign. However, there are some who are more skeptical than others. Sometimes, I'll hear people say things like, “I’m not emotional,” or “I'm not introverted,” and "Why is it saying I am?" This is because we are not just made up of one single sign, but actually multiple signs (13 to be exact). Depending on where and when you were born, each of us have a different astrological chart, and each part of the chart represents a different aspect of life. The sign that part of the chart is under represents how we approach that aspect. To understand an astrological chart, though, it's best to understand what each sign means and stands for first.
Each sign, its principal symbol and what it stands for:
Aries: The Ram (March 21–April 19) — passion and competition
Taurus: The Bull (April 20–May 20) — stability and toughness
Gemini: The Twins (May 21–June 20) — communication and wit
Cancer: The Crab (June 21–July 22) — emotions and nurturing
Leo: The Lion (July 23–Aug. 22) — courage and friendliness
Virgo: The Maiden (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) — analysis and reliability
Libra: The Scales (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) — harmony and balance
Scorpio: The Scorpion (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) — intuitive and secretive
Sagittarius: The Centaur (Nov. 22–Dec. 21) — experience and honesty
Capricorn: The Goat (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) — ambitious and responsible
Aquarius: The Water Bearer (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) — politics and humanity
Pisces: The Fish (Feb. 19–March 20) — imagination and the mysterious
To better understand each astrological sign, as well as compatibility between all of them, there's something called sign elements and sign energy. Each sign is categorized in one of the four elements: fire, earth, air or water. Signs that are under the same element are typically ones that get along the best because they all have similar characteristics to one another. The 12 astrological signs can also be subdivided into two different categories — masculine and feminine signs. Fire and air signs are said to have more masculine energy, while water and earth signs are said to have more feminine energy. Signs with the same energy are supposed to get along the best, as well. To find out which signs get along the least with each other, spot the signs whose energies are directly opposite from one another in the chart below:
Elements + masculine and feminine signs
Feminine Energy
Earth: Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo
Water: Scorpio, Pisces, Cancer
Masculine Energy
Air: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
Fire: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
As I mentioned earlier, we are not made up of just one sign. Our personalities are dictated by 13 unique signs. The first of the 13 is known as your sun sign, and it's the main sign we know ourselves as. The 12 other “houses” in the chart, all represent a different aspect of life. The rest of the items in your chart matter almost as much, if not more, than your sun sign. For example, a person can have Virgo as their sun sign, but if nothing else in their chart is Virgo or even a sign similar to Virgo, the person may not act too much like a Virgo. What makes up your chart and where it's placed can make your sun sign not make sense. Most Capricorns are known to be quiet people, but if a person has a talkative, outgoing sign like Gemini ruling their third house, the House of Communication, they might not be as quiet or as introverted. Below are the 13 parts of an astrological makeup and what each part represents:
Your sun sign — your general approach towards life
First House — actions/temperament
Second House — personal values/money
Third House — communication/thinking
Fourth House — emotions/settling down
Fifth House — expression/confidence
Sixth House — health/preservation
Seventh House — partnerships/love
Eighth House — change/intimacy
Ninth House — philosophy/spirituality
10th House — career/reputation
11th House — visions/Insight on society
12th House — imaginations/tolerance
Although astrology is cool and can be fun, it is also best to take everything you read with a grain of salt.
Whenever I post a picture to Instagram, it takes me so long to come up with a caption. I want to be funny, clever, cute and direct all at the same time. It can be frustrating! So I just look for some online. I really like to find a song lyric that goes with my picture, I just feel like it gives the picture a certain vibe.
Here's a list of song lyrics that can go with any picture you want to post!
"This is life in color, Today feels like no other. And the darkest grays, The sun bursts, cloud breaks, This is life in color."
"Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter. Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here. Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun, and I say, It's all right."
“There’s nothing not to love about me I’m lovely."
"Running out of pages in your passport"
"Heartbreak is the national anthem"
"Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree bending beneath, the weight of His wind and mercy"
"All my flowers grew back as thorns. Windows boarded up after the storm. He built a fire just to keep me warm."
"On an island in the sun, We'll be playing and having fun, And it makes me feel so fine, I can't control my brain. We'll run away together. We'll spend some time forever."
"I'm falling so I'm taking my time on the ride."
"And if you like midnight driving with the windows down, then baby I'm perfect for you"
"I hope you find a way to be yourself someday"
"I only love my bed and my momma, I'm sorry"
"If the whole world was watching, I'd still dance with you"
" God blessed the broken road, that led me straight to you"
"When You don't move the mountains, I'm needing You to move. When You don't give the answers, As I cry out to You. I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You"
"Take my hand and we'll make it I swear"
"Trippin' on skies, sippin' waterfalls. My youth, my youth is yours. Runaway now and forevermore."
"And now I'm changed, And now I'm stronger. There must be something in the water. Oh, there must be something in the water."
"You are, the only exception"
"I keep a close watch on this heart of mine"
Enjoy this GIF of a doggo living his best life
Being a good person does not depend on your religion or status in life, your race or skin color, political views or culture. It depends on how good you treat others.
We are all born to do something great. Whether that be to grow up and become a doctor and save the lives of thousands of people, run a marathon, win the Noble Peace Prize, or be the greatest mother or father for your own future children one day. Regardless, we are all born with a purpose. But in between birth and death lies a path that life paves for us; a path that we must fill with something that gives our lives meaning.
However, there are times where the obstacles of life seem to get the best of us and we often let it go to heart. And by obstacles, I mean people who often take advantage of mistreating others. But, instead of taking each and every negative thing or action that happens to you as a personal attack on your character, remember one thing: you're a good person.
I know it sounds corny, but it's true. It's so important to remember that you're a good person and you don't deserve to be treated or feel like otherwise. The biggest problem that people often face is that struggle of others taking advantage of you and your good heart. But, don't let this get the best of you. Instead, let it be a lesson for you to realize that not everyone will truly appreciate your kindness and those are the people whom you should eliminate from your life.
No matter how many people try to tell you otherwise, never change who you are for anyone. Keep doing things for other people out of the goodness of your heart, not for the sole purpose to please others. It's so important to stay true to who you are in order to serve as a role model for those who look up to you. Even though you may not realize it, you serve a huge significance in someone else's life where they feel as if they have been influenced by the person you are to the point where he or she only aspires to be as good of a person as you.
I also know there are times where being a good person seems like the worst possible thing; almost as if it's a trait that works completely against you. There are times where people walk all over you, or not include you in their plans, or maybe act like you don't even exist because you're just convenient to them when they need you. Those are the worst kinds of people. But you need to remember something, you matter. You treat people the way you would want to be treated and that is one of the biggest indicators that you are human in the sense that you see the goodness in others as well.
Being a good person is a lot more than what others seem to give you credit for. People don't understand that those like us whom have good hearts and are just always there for other people, have to deal with a lot of negativity because people tend to associate kindness with weakness. But actually, it's the complete opposite. When you're a good person, you are the strongest type of person there is. You are the one who people confide in whenever they need comfort or advice. You are the one who your friends come to whenever they have good or bad news.
At the end of the day, you are the one who are the one people will always be thankful for because their lives wouldn't be the same without you.
