This Is Our Youth Broadway

I saw This Is Our Youth for my 17th birthday. I've heard amazing things about this play and had to see it. Honestly, I was expecting to hate it. I thought that it would be the same as when I read On The Road by Jack Kerouac. I heard all these people rave about it and everyone telling me to read it because it is amazing so I did and I hated it. Now the reason I hated the book is because I did not imagine the characters complexly like I couldn't imagine people that are mean to each other complexly. I couldn't imagine that the people being mean to me in school were just dealing with their own issues. Now I have clearly evolved into a person that does not see everything as either black or white but, complex things that deserve our thoughts and attention. I loved this play and is now my favorite play of all time.

The play is set in the 1980's in New York City with three main characters Warren, Dennis, and Jessica played by Kieran Culkin, Michael Cera, and Tavi Gevinson. These three people that are not yet adults and not a teenager anymore trying to figure out life. I think we have two different ideas of what life is like as a teenager and as an adult but what about the awkward middle? This play explores the awkwardness. I constantly feel like I don't belong in either category. Some people have their own perceptions of which one I'm in. I just feel stuck. I have felt stuck many different times in my life, but what I'm feeling now is a very different kind of stuck. I feel stuck in being too much a kid and then being too much of an adult and most of all I feel stuck that I don't know which category I belong in. This play understands the complexity that is being young and not an adult yet. It is filled with great metaphors and so many emotions that I just sat in silence for a bit after trying to understand what I was thinking. I think the play really welcomes the silence that comes after. When you feel so many things at once that you could never tell them all so your only choice is to say them in your head. Imagine if those thoughts that you thought about in silence were said aloud you get This Is Our Youth.



Love,
Maddie

Fall

Dress: Vintage Marc By Marc Jacobs
Shoes: Steve Madden 

Bag: Phillip Lim for Target
Leaves: Backyard 

I am in love with fall and I always have been. I love the smell of leaves and how beautiful they look. They are colors you wouldn't put together normally, but somehow nature makes them look beautiful. I love how it's cold enough to wear boots but you're not freezing your butt off. I love going to pumpkin farms and drinking pumpkin spice lattes. I am also in love with Halloween. It is the one night where you can pretend to be someone else. You can be anyone you want for a day.

Fall is also the time when school starts again. It's been crazy trying to blog because I have a lot going on, but I will get better at it. I've also been having a hard time writing too. I know I'm making excuses, but it's the truth.

Now for the dress origins, this is anther one of my lucky NYC vintage finds I paid 19.99 for it. If fall was a dress this would be it. Needless to say I came home from New York with more then I went with.


Love,
Maddie

The Infinite Sea: The Second Book of the 5th Wave Review

During this book I was in a constant state of what the hell is happening. I was waiting for this book for a year. I bought it on the day it came out (Sep 16) because I read the first book when it came out and loved it! The 5ht Wave by Rick Yancey is about aliens that invade in five waves and follows a girl name Cassie that is trying to survive and trying to get back her brother. They are turning the first book into a movie and Chole Grace Mortez is playing Cassie. I think she will be amazing as Cassie because of Kick Ass. The Infinite Sea is so different from the first book. The whole book is contradicting and questioning everything that happens in the 5th Wave.

I was always thinking about everything that was happening. There was absolutely no part where I could just read. You really had to understand and rethink everything. Imagine the first book as a table and then the second book as the crazy person who flips that table (the crazy person is Rick Yancey). This book literally question everything we were taught in the 5th wave. Is it the government? Is it really aliens? I want answers Rick! But, of course in true book fashion I will not know until next year.

Overall I give this 100% for what in the world is going on category.


Love,
Maddie

Where She Went Book Review

I recently read If I Say by Gayle Forman and this is the second book. Review Here. It is about what happens after If I Stay. The after is just as important as what happened before. So, many times in books and media it ends with, "They lived happily ever after." In real life things never end like that and it teaches us that the after is unimportant. This book shows that the after is compelling, complex, and just as important. I loved how we got an after for Adam and Mia.

Where She Went is in Adam's point of view, were the last book it was in Mia's point of view. It's set three years after the accident. Adam is a famous rock star, Mia graduated Juilliard early and now a professional cellist. Adam and Mia are brought together for one night by chance in New York. Adam has lost his way, his love of music is dying because of how much freedom he lost from being famous. Adam feels like he lost the one thing that he loved, Mia. He hates being famous and people always putting him on a pedestal. This makes him feel utterly alone.

They have this one chance encounter where they have time to be honest about how they feel. This book was gut wrenching. It touched on so many tough subjects. Adam really let fame destroy him because he feels alone. In society we tend to look at famous people life's and think they are perfect. This book really shows 1. How fame is not all it's cracked up to be 2. Fame is not always a choice. Sometimes you do what you love and other people love it too so you become known. That's sometimes the price you pay to be able to do what you love. You just need people that can keep you grounded and that support you.

Overall I give this book a 85%

Love,
Maddie

Altuzarra for Target

Shirt: Altuzarra x Target
Skirt: Asos
Jacket: Vintage

Shoes: Dr. Martens
Bag: Topshop

One has to love Target Collections. Were people like me who cannot yet afford the clothes and designers we want. Can actually have clothes that well made, well designed, and affordable. Now I live in the middle of nowhere which usually I hate. But, for Target collections I can go any time of day even a few days after the collection comes out and it will be completely stocked. So these Target collections have been good for my wardrobe and my relationship with the town I live in.

It was a great collection with some great pieces. Although this was not my favorite Target collection. Mainly because it was about making the Target customer feel sexy. When to say that one, all woman want to be sexy and two that a woman can only be sexy if she is wearing six inch over the knee boots. When woman can feel sexy even if she is wearing sweatpants. But, if it does make some woman feel empowered, then it's great. Just it wasn't my favorite collection. My absolute favorite Target collaboration was with Missoni. I think I bought everything from that collection I just sold the stuff I had because I wore it so much. I only bought the blouse that I'm wearing which was 29.99. It was very reminiscent of the Alexander Mcqueen fall/winter 2014 collection where everything had these amazing huge bows. But the best part of the Target collaborations is guessing what the next one will be.

Love,
Maddie  

If I Was at Fashion Week

Skirt: Topshop
Leather Jacket: Lauren Conrad's Collection
Shirt: Topshop
Sunglasses: Nordstrom

Shoes: Miu Miu (vintage)

If I was at New York fashion week this is what I would wear. My invitation sadly got lost in the mail, but that is okay. There is always next time. But, I assume the best part of NYFW is what you wear. So, I planed out what I would wear and this is my first outfit. These shoes I found at the bottom of a bin at a vintage store for 20 dollars. I love them because they have this really awesome and different heel. I think this would be a great first fashion week outfit.


Love,
Maddie

5 Ways to Style a Pizza John (Green) Shirt

Black, White, and Red All Over
Skirt: Peter Pilotto for Target 
Shoes: Topshop

McQueen and John
Skort: Topshop
Scarf: Alexander McQueen
Shoes: Marc by Marc Jacobs (vintage)

Festval John
Denim shirt: AE
Skirt: Lulus
Shoes: Minnetonka (vintage)
Hat: random shop in Florida 

Causal Pizza Friday
Jeans: Rag and Bone
Shoes: Converse

Pizza and Pizza
The Best Way to Wear a Pizza John shirt 

What exactly is a pizza John Shirt? Well, this is the face of John Green. If you are unaware of who he is or my love for his books read this:http://maddiereece.blogspot.com/2014/09/why-i-love-john-green_4.html There are many ways to have pizza. Pepperoni pizza, pineapple pizza, and breakfast pizza the possibilities are endless. The possibilities are also endless for how to wear a Pizza John shirt. This is just a few ways of how I wear my Pizza John shirt. I think we can all agree that pizza is the best food in the world. Just saying.


Link to buy the Pizza John shirt: http://dftba.com/product/1d5/Pizza-John-Shirt 



Love,
Maddie