Author Archives: @Naomi_ML

Get exactly what you want with Ziftit + contest

Posted in Confessions of a Shopaholic by

We’ve all been in that situation: you’re given a gift by a family member/friend, it’s wrapped all nicely and you excidetly tear off the wrapping paper only to discover the worst smelling perfume or most horrifying sweater you’ve ever seen. In front of you though is the giftgiver’s anxious and smiling face as they say, “I didn’t know what you want, but I hope you like this!” You give your widest smile back, nod and mumble thank you as thoughts like “Can I return this? I hope there’s a gift receipt! Who can I regift this too?” spin through your head.

Well let a past situation like this stay in the past. With Ziftit, a shopping and gifting website (and even an app) that allows you, your friends and family to create wish lists for any occasion, the days of unwanted gifts may cease to exist.

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On Ziftit, users can add their most desired items from any store on the web to their Zift Lists. Friends and family members can purchase gifts on others’ Zift Lists and have the gifts directly sent to its users. As college students, we don’t always have a big wad of cash in our wallets to spend on stuff, so Ziftit has a Barcode Scanner on its mobile app that allows you to scan products anywhere! It will then show you a list of where you can find that product and the different prices it is listed at, so you’ll never have to buy an overpriced product again.

As if that’s not cool enough, Zifit also has a Trending Feed where you’ll see products that match your interests and style appear. If you’re ever stuck with that feeling of not knowing what you want, well something on the Trending Feed will definitely catch your eye. You can also create events online, send out invitations and receive RSVPs from your invitees with their Events page. Lastly, if you’re dying for that higher priced Marc Jacobs watch your one friend can’t afford for herself let alone you, Ziftlit’s upgraded account allows you to split the cost of gifts with your friends!

Ziftit is giving away something that’s on everyone’s wish list: $10, 000! 
They’re hosting a contest that challenges participants to gather unique products from all over the web and place them onto their personal Zift Lists via Ziftit’s Browser Plugin or product search. Just like in Pinterest, your goal is get as many followers as you can on Ziftit by adding products that they believe will appeal to your followers. You’ll increase your “influence rating” by having the most amount of new followers and products re-added on other Ziftit lists.

The one participant with the highest influence rating on December 15 will be crowned “The Trendsetter of 2013″ (sounds so much better than prom queen don’t you think?)  and walk away with the amazing prize of $10, 000!

For more information on the contest and to start your own Ziftit list, head over to Ziftit.com.

Please note this is a sponsored post.

How to get over a (band) breakup

Posted in Confessions of a Concertgoer, Confessions of a Twenties Girl by

One day everything is great. Your speakers are on full blast, your dance moves have no limits and your voice is at its highest level singing along to the lyrics. You’ve got tickets to see your favorite band next week. The outfit has been picked, lyrics have been memorized, signs have been made. You’re overcome with joy and happiness and nothing will come in the way of your perfect day.

Until suddenly a tour is cancelled, a twitter account is deleted and the band falls silent. Your heart shatters and your world breaks. What. Is. Going On. Band break-ups are hard for everyone: the band itself, its label, management team, fans, venues, and even the media who have to work extra hours to give readers the latest breaking news.

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But alas, here are some tips to help get your through this tough time:

1. Don’t believe rumors.
Drug abuse, violent arguments and baby barriers: the media will publish any crazy but completely untrue facts to help satisfy fans. Unless it’s from a reputable source or heard on live TV (thanks Good Morning America) from the band member’s mouthes themselves, don’t trust anything you read on the internet. It’ll only make you more upset and confused.

2. Control your emotions.
Speaking of being upset and confused, you may be feeling a crazy mix of emotions that range from anger to sadness to even denial. It’s completely normal, but what you don’t want to do is start ripping off posters from your wall and throwing them into the fireplace to burn while you scream your hatred towards the group you once loved. While the band may not reveal all of the details to the press about the reasons behind their decision, remember that they’re humans just like you. They get into disagreements, they lose interest, they want to try something new and they’re millionaires who ride Mustangs. Just believe that they’re always thinking of their fans and doing what’s best.

3. Find a support (Facebook) group.
Your mom might think your crazy and your best friend may think you’re annoying. The thing is, they just don’t understand what you’re going through. That’s why it’s crucial and so helpful to find other superfans like yourself whether it’s on facebook, tumblr or twitter. These fans have been there since the first album, been to every tour and know everything and anything about the band mates. You can relate to them and bond over this shocking news.

4. Reminisce on the good times.
 Instead of focusing on all the “never’s” like how you’ll never hear a new song and never attend another concert, take this time to think about all the great times you’ve had with the band. All the new friends you’ve made because of them, moments you’ve shared while listening to their songs, voices you’ve lost from screaming and concerts that gave you post-concert-depression. It’s been a wild ride, and it was bound to happen sooner or later, though of course later (like when you’re old and grey) would have been the better option. But hey, as those pictures with a vintage background that has nothing to do with the quote on tumblr say, “life doesn’t always go your way.”

5. It’s okay to find a rebound band, just not a replacement.
 There’s no denying that music has always been the best tool to get you through the tough times. So don’t stop using it now. For some, listening to totally new bands and albums will help to put this sad band breakup news at the back of their mind, while others may prefer having an album listening marathon of the band that’s no more. It’s really up to you but there’s no need to completely disown them.

In conclusion all of the above are lies. You’ll. Never. Ever. Get. Over. The. Jonas. Brothers. Your. Fav. Band. Breaking. Up. Ever. So grab a tub of ice cream (preferably birthday cake flavored, have you not been to Cold Stone?), a box of tissues and all of your live tour DVDs and just mope around for a few days. It’s not the end of the world, just a great part of your life. Who knows, the band may even release four new songs just for you!

ripjonas

-@Naomi_ML

Giveaway: Free Subscription to Seventeen Magazine

Posted in Confessions of a Twenties Girl by

Ever since I was a young girl, I’ve been devoted to magazines. By the time I was 16 I had at least 6 subscriptions and I would devour each and every issue. Each copy was precious to me. I would never use it as a placemat or a fly swatter, and I would handle it with tender loving care, turning each page carefully to ensure it didn’t rip. Then when I was done  absorbing every word from the front to the back it would be added to my evergrowing collection of magazines under the bed. Never would I think to throw out or recycle an old issue like most people do.
By this point I had subscriptions to a lot of Canadian favorites like Owl Magazine, The Magazine, even Faze Magazine (the amazing company I intern for now).

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I’m kind of a cheeseball who takes the age number I’m turning every year a bit too seriously.
At 16 I would blast Hilary Duff’s Sweet Sixteen on repeat for days and I watched the movie Sixteen Candles, and at so when I turned 17 in addition to Metro Station’s Seventeen Forever taking over my iPod, naturally I would purchase my first subscription to Seventeen magazine. It’s been four years and it’s that time of year when I have to renew. As a journalist it’s important to keep up-to-date with the popular magazines and I just can’t get enough of the celebrity interviews in this mag.

Anyways, with my subscription comes a gift subscription and I’d love nothing more than to give it to one of you amazing readers.

To enter to win a 1-year, 10-issue subscription to Seventeen magazine:

YOU MUST:
1. Like my brand spakin’ new Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Confessions-of-a-Twenties-Girl/172271422978078 and like the post about this contest!

AS A BONUS (and if you don’t have Facebook), you can:

3. Follow this blog, post a comment on this post and tell me what your first magazine subscription was and/or what your current favorite subscription is!

Contest open to U.S. residents and closes November 1, 2013.

Confessions From… The Maine

Posted in Confessions From... by

One of the highlights of my summer was definitely meeting and interviewing one of my favorite bands The Maine. They blew up in 2008 with their album Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop and Everything I Ask For was the anthem of my youth-pop-rock-loving days. They’ve developed and changed their sound a lot during the last two albums and thanks to Faze Magazine and Jessica, I had the chance to sit down with Jared Monaco, Patrick Kirch and Kennedy Brock in their tour bus while they were in Toronto for their 8123 tour. (Stepping into a band’s tour bus is always pretty damn cool.) The full article can be found in the back-to-school issue of Faze and below I’ve included a few questions from our interview for this week’s Confessions From…

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Out of the 12 tracks on the album, Forever Halloween, do you have a favourite? Is there one that’s more meaningful to you?
Jared: It’s been kind of changing a lot because it’s only been out for a few weeks
Pat: It’s hard to pick your favourite especially with all the songs so new.
Jared: Yeah and we haven’t been able to play everything live yet. But I think I feel like sad songs right now, that’s my jam of the record.
Pat: I can’t pick.
Kennedy: It’s hard to pick. I’m happy with all the songs.
Jared: Good, so Kennedy’s favourite song is Happy.
Pat: And I hate it.

You’ve been on tour with so many bands, from Lydia to Taking Back Sunday and Mayday Parade, but is there one artist or group that you haven’t toured with that you really want to?
Kennedy: Oh there’s a bunch. There’s a lot.
Jared: The Replacements are back together which is cool.
Pat: If The Foo Fighters would like to go on the road with us that’d be nice. I’d go on tour with a lot of people.
Kennedy: The Killers!
Pat: If there was going to be one last Rolling Stones tour, if they don’t die, I mean yeah if they wanna take us, sure.

Most important thing for you when it comes to creating music?
 Pat: I think we just enjoy the process of it all, it’s really fun to write songs and extremely fun to be in a recording studio for a month and a half and just be like a little kid doing whatever you want. I think at that point we do it more for ourselves when we’re writing and then it’s really awesome to go and share with other people and see how they experience it and perceive the songs.
Jared: Yeah it’s a werid translation to if we like a song we wrote a lot, we don’t always necessarily know if our fans are going to like it. I think Forever Halloween was a success in that aspect. The response from fans has been awesome so we feel even better about the songs that we wrote.

What else are you guys planning?
Kennedy: First of all, a whole lot of touring, we are going to do a lot to support this record, we’ve got a lot of things planned.
Pat: Yeah we’re going to be on the road for a while, we’re always doing something new, that kidn of stuff just comes out of the blue, you get inspired and some idea to record, some EP, or make a book, or make a DVD.
Kennedy: Yeah it’s inevitable we’ll be doing something along those lines.
Pat: You know the goal, maybe, hopefully by the end of 2014 by the time we make the next record, just make The Maine’s own recording studio. Like maybe something we’re beginning to talk about. Big project in the distance.

Ultimate career goal?
Pat: The goal is just to be able to put ourselves in the position to be able to make as much music as possible. So that’s the goal for the band for the rest of year.

Be sure to check out The Maine’s newest music video for Love & Drugs:

-@Naomi_ML