The Regular

"Sometimes you want to go...Where everybody knows your name,

And they're always glad you came,

You wanna be where you can see, 

The troubles are all the same

You want to go where everybody knows your name."

For as long as I can remember, I've always had this sort of fascination for diners. I love the idea that you can see the same people on a daily basis in small towns. Everyone knows your business, everyone checks to make sure that you're okay, and it just has this really cozy feeling that even if the rest of your world sucks, you have that one place that is considered to be your safe haven. I've always wanted to be a "regular" somewhere, where they know my name, they know my story, and they remember what I order. 

Until I find that special place, I thought I'd give you a list of fictional diner/restaurants that I wish really existed.

1. Luke's Diner (Gilmore Girls):

I don't think there is anything more charming than Luke's Diner in Stars Hollow, CT. It's a town where it's generally always Fall time and the leaves are always an orange/yellow color, Babette and Miss Patty are always gossiping about someone, and the coffee is always brewing. What's not to love about that? I love the fact that the Gilmore Girls went to Luke's for just about every meal, yet you never got tired of it. In fact, some of their greatest moments and best dialogue happened here. The pacing of the diner and Luke's sarcastic, yet gentle personality makes it the kind of place that would never leave you starved for entertainment. Especially when Kirk shows up.

      2. Central Perk (Friends):

One of the most recognizable sets of all time has to be that of the famous coffeehouse from Friends, Central Perk. It didn't matter what time of day it was, you could usually find the gang, just having a cup of Joe, while Gunther is staring at Rachel from behind the counter, dreaming of the day that she'd be his. I love that just by watching an episode of Friends, you feel like you're included in their tight knit group, and that's the genius of it. When you turn on an episode, you feel like you're hanging out with your friends. You're always guaranteed for a laugh! Besides, who wouldn't want to drink out of one of those awesome coffee cups?

   3. Karen's Cafe (One Tree Hill):

Ah, Karen's Cafe. It always just gave that sense of home; you know that as soon as you walk in, things are going to get just a little bit better. Karen was always there with some sort of word of advice, and later on in years, she passed that torch to Haley and Brooke. Tree Hill had to deal with a lot of crap, as I've talked about before, but even if just for a few minutes, you could forget all about your problems, and spend time with some pretty great company. 

     4. Mystic Grill (The Vampire Diaries):

Alright, maybe I don't wish this was necessarily a real cafe, because as much as I love the show, I don't want to deal with vampires in my normal life. But, let's face it, who wouldn't want to run into one of those good looking Salvatore brothers? Or maybe you could have a conversation with Elena, and ask her how she deals with her life. I mean, really, if she can turn into a vampire, while still staying calm, you can pull through whatever it is you're going through. Just to put things into perspective, of course.

What are some of your favorite fictional places that you wish were real? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.

That's all for now,

Shelby :)

Goodbye Speak Now, Hello Red!

Taylor Swift's brand new CD, Red was released yesterday, and this is just the beginning of "Release Week." With Taylor, nothing is ever done just halfway. She goes all out for every occasion, and makes the fans feel as if they are part of something just as special with her. She makes plenty of appearances around New York (mainly) and LA, saying thank you to the fans and launching a new era and time in her life.

I love that each of her CD's really does become a theme in its own way. We were introduced to "Taylor Swift" with her first CD; a girl who believed in the beauty of dreams and made us fall in love with love again, as well as country music. Then, she taught us to be "Fearless"; go for those opportunities that seem a little terrifying, because they're usually the most rewarding. Next up, was "Speak Now"; If you know what you need to say, then you should say it, because you don't know when you'll ever get another chance. And that brings us to "Red"; love is a lot of shades of red, and each one causes a different emotion for us, and that's how powerful it is on us. I also believe it's such a classy color, and Taylor wears it so well. As she gets older, she becomes even more elegant. I think this "Red" era not only reflects in her music, but her personal style evolution over the years, as well.

A couple years ago, in 2010, my mom and I went to the Ellen show taping for the album release party of Speak Now. There were no available tickets in the audience, but because my mom had been writing in to Ellen, they invited us into the Riff Raff Room, which is basically show overflow. We watched the show from the back room, and when Taylor sang "Back To December," they let all of us sit on the steps to the stage to watch her perform. She came over after to shake some hands, and to sign autographs for a few people, and I got a little bit closer to her. It was a fun experience to be part of. We were going to attend another taping for her Speak Now special on Hollywood Blvd., but it didn't work out. In the end, it was totally fine.

This years release week, we should have been attending the Ellen taping once again for a mini concert (which airs tomorrow), but we weren't able to, due to the Carrie Underwood concert being the same night. Obviously, there is a reason for all of these missed moments, so we shall see what the future holds. A majority of her events took place in New York, and she truly turned it into one big party. A ton of my Taylor friends were able to attend whether it was from winning a contest or being a "Taylor Follower" giving official updates and keeping everyone in the loop. Seeing everyone's pictures at David Letterman, The Katie Show, Good Morning America, and others made me wish I was there. One of these days, I'll be there!

Even if you weren't able to attend release week tapings or any special events, you can catch them on TV when they air (like I am) or catch up on a fan site dedicated to all things Taylor. You can catch her performances from The View, The Late Show with David Letterman, and Good Morning America, as well as a few other surprises in between. Be sure to catch her on:

• The Ellen Degeneres Show (Check your local listings for times)
• The Katie Show on Friday (Again, check local listings) 

What an exciting launch to a big change for Taylor! I'm excited to be on this new journey with her.

That's all for now,
Shelby

The Vampire Diaries Commentary

I've been wanting to try commentaries on a show for quite some time now, and since The Vampire Diaries is my current obsession at the moment, I felt like this was the perfect timing. My friend and I did a commentary for the last episode over the weekend, and I finished editing it and putting it together just in time for tomorrow night's episode. We'd really like to keep it going for the rest of the season, so we'll see! These are the videos: here (Part one), here (part two), here (part three), and here (part four). It's the length of a full episode- about 40 or so minutes, but we think it's totally worth it. Though, we might be a little biased.

Your feedback is much appreciated. Let us know what you think or what else you'd like to see in the comments below or on our Twitter accounts, which are featured at the end of the video. Hope you enjoy! :)

That's all for now,
Shelby

The Weekend Review

It wasn't an ordinary weekend, as I guess most of mine haven't been lately. I woke up close to 11, which was a lot later than I had planned on, but I was wiped out. My parents had some things to take care of, so I just took care of some things that I needed to around the house.

Ian Somerhalder's nephew follows me on Twitter..WHOA!

After we were all ready to go, we decided to go to Outback, and I ended up running into one of my friends I haven't seen in awhile. It was good catching up with her, and the food was so good as always! We came home for a little while, because we were having a new couch delivered, and they were actually on time, which was good.

After getting things set up, we realized we needed a few things at Wal-Mart, so we headed over there for a little while. I ended up getting the Country Weekly with Taylor Swift on it and some snacks when my friend, Sarah came over.

My parents dropped me back off at the house to run an errand, they came home, and pretty soon, my friend, Sarah, came over. We had been talking for the longest time about getting together, so we decided to have a "sleepover." We had so much fun together! It was honestly the first time we've ever really hung out for any length of time, other than texting, which doesn't count. We talked for almost four hours about life and catching each other up on our high school years. We covered a lot!

Then, we decided to make a commentary video of the latest Vampire Diaries episode, because we're both obsessed with it. You can be expecting the full show pretty soon; I'm going to try to post it later this week before episode three. We had a lot of fun just rambling, and taking some pictures. We ate pizza that my parents brought home and chatted with my mom for a bit, then went back to my room to finish the video. After that, we sat on my bed, listened to some T. Swift, and just talked some more, while tweeting random celebrities (Justin Bieber and Ian Somerhalder) and comparing followers, because we're cool like that. I think we both finally fell asleep around 2:30 or so.

Sunday: 

The next morning, we woke up around eight, so we had plenty of time to get ready. Sarah curled my hair with "the wand" and I absolutely loved it! I really need to think about getting one soon. We had fun just chillin and getting all purdied up. When we were all dressed up, it was time for church. It was a really great service about having faith in a BIG God. It was about truly stepping back and letting God do all that He is capable of, in our relationships, career, etc. I truly believe that He is going to do BIG things in my life, but sometimes it's hard to remember that when we go through dry spells.
After service ended, we visited around for a few minutes, saying hi to people we knew. My mom also bought tickets to see Mercy Me tickets in December when they come to our church, which is extremely exciting!

We decided to have lunch at Chilli's, but we had to stop at my aunt's house, so my mom could check on her cat. I called ahead to put our name down, but I ended up saying, "I'd like to place an order for four.." Or something really lame like that, and felt like complete idiot. Sarah and I decided to take a ton of pictures to document this special weekend, while my mom ran inside and I finished the phone call to pass the time.

We headed to eat after that, and there was a lot of conversation with Sarah; talking about everything from traveling to American Idol, and a lot of other random things in between. It was really good getting to spend time with her. When we finished, her mom picked her up, and we said goodbye. It was such a wonderful time, and I can't wait until we're able to hang out again.
A lot of the afternoon, I tried to work on homework, because I realized that I had waited just a little too long on everything, so I had a lot of catching up to do. I was extremely stressed out, and didn't have the ability to focus for whatever reason. I am feeling really discouraged by this whole college experience, and the math class I'm taking especially. I keep thinking that one of these days, some big moment is going to happen and everything is going to change, and I won't feel this way anymore, but no such luck so far.

After awhile, my parents and I decided to check out the pumpkin patch not too far away from our house. I was really excited to finally be doing something festive for this month, and going to the pumpkin patch is always a highlight for me. It's perfectly set for fall, with leaves changing color, a small lake at the center, surrounded by pumpkins, squash, and scarecrows. Luckily, a cooler breeze was blowing, and it wasn't hot like last year. There's nothing worse than it not feeling like the season you're in. Thank you, California. We looked around for quite some time, in search of the "perfect pumpkin," but it just wasn't there.

We decided to go to Save Mart, because my dad had mentioned they had some good ones. Boy, was he right! We each found one that was just right. We picked up a few other items, and came home. We picked up dinner a little after that, and ran another errand. I wasn't in a good mood, and wasn't feeling great, and just wanted to be home. It was a pretty nice night, just watching TV on our new couch; getting homework done, and anticipating the new CD from Taylor Swift, Red, while talking to friends. I also watched Married To Jonas. Alright, so maybe it's not exactly anything glamorous, but it doesn't have to be. I'm learning to be content with whatever I'm doing, whoever I'm with, and wherever that may be. Gotta enjoy the ride, wherever it takes me.

It was a really great weekend, but it went way too fast! Now, it's back to more homework and planning, because life slows down for no one.

That's all for now,
Shelby