Reality Check

As most young adults in the Miami area already know, this past weekend was Ultra Music Festival at Bicentennial Park. Although I did not goto Ultra Fest itself, I was in Miami saturday night with my friends to check it out. While there, I realized that people were paying around $200 to goto a concert for the weekend. Don't get me wrong, Ultra Fest looked like it was amazing and everyone said it was worth it and it was their most fun weekend all year. I would have loved to have gone, but unfortunately by the time I had tried to buy my ticket, they were already sold out. I was disappointed at first, then I realized this might not be such a bad thing. As we were walking down the streets of Miami, I noticed there were homeless people everywhere, I felt so guilty that there was nothing I could possibly do for all of them at the time. A random homeless man came up to us and was so friendly, he started telling us jokes and we bought him a hamburger so he could sit and eat with us while we all kept talking. He was so grateful that we had gotten him the hamburger and now I can say that I know 100% that it is the little things that do count in life and in true happiness. It is better to give than to receive. It made me appreciate even more how blessed I am to have the life that I have. Meeting this man and seeing how unfortunate his circumstances are, yet how happy he can still remain, makes me think even more about how I can pursue my dream of opening a Same Cafe of my own someday.

More information on Same Cafe: http://www.soallmayeat.org/

To Each His Own

This past week I tried telling some of my friends about this dream of mine and I have very mixed emotions about the reactions I got in return from them. It seemed like no one was as into this idea as I was and I did not understand why. When I would tell some of my friends about wanting to own my own Same Cafe someday they would just say something like, "oh yeah, that's cool, you should do that", which was a disappointing reaction for me. They would act semi-interested, but not ask questions to find out more about it, the problem with that was, I desperately wanted them to show more interest and ask me more about it. I wanted them to be more encouraging and maybe even want to help me further this idea. Everyone has their own way of giving back to their community, but I feel like this idea would be truly beneficial to the less fortunate people all around us and has a lot of potential to grow and become a more popular trend. Whether my friends take me seriously or not, this is still something I would love to accomplish. I'm going to keep learning more about this unique cafe and I hope that I will be able to find someone with the same passion about this that I have to help me with my goal.

A New Twist

This week my new twist is to stop shopping and start helping. The second I watched this news clip I knew this is something I want to do in my life. This video went straight to my heart. I have always known that I want to do something non-for-profit to help those less fortunate than I am, I just didn't know exactly what that should be. When I thought less fortunate, I did not realize how extreme that could really mean. It is so hard for me to imagine what it would be like to even go a day without being able to eat if I am hungry, much less having no idea where my next meal will come from and when. I have been sitting here writing blogs about what I have been buying at the mall when there are people out there who can't even afford to buy enough food to live off of? This was a wake up call for me. It is something I have to admit that I have always known, but don't keep in mind nearly as much as I should. I feel like it is that way for a lot of fortunate people though, which is a shame. It would be an amazing dream come true for me if I could eventually open my own "pay what you can" cafe just like Same (So All May Eat) Cafe. Hopefully someday it will be possible. Until then, less shopping and more helping.

My New Boots

Last weekend I went into Nordstrom's shoe department and I knew right away that I wanted to buy the Steve Madden 'Tyller' flat boots in black suede. Something about them caught my attention right away.

They were just what I had been looking for and cost $78.95, which I considered affordable. I had been searching everywhere for cute, comfortable, slightly dressy, yet still casual, flat boots for under $100 that I could wear over my jeans as well. However, when I went to purchase them, the demand was so high for these particular boots that they only had one pair left, which was in the wrong size for me. A Nordstrom's sales associate offered to order them and have them shipped to me without a shipping fee. I was very excited and gladly accepted this offer and they were delivered to me three days later. I am so happy with them and they were definitely worth the wait!