21 Things To Do While 21

There are plenty of lists telling you of things to do before you’re 21, or on your 21st birthday, but what about the 12 months during it? Well as I recently celebrated my 22nd birthday, I put together a list of things I have and would have liked to have done during that milestone year. Believe it or not, you’re not going to be forever 21, so might as well make the most of it. Truth be told, you can do these things at 22, 30, 46, 67 and 99 and if you’re a trust fund kid living in Montreal even 18, but 21 things to do at 55 just doesn’t ring as a title.

1. Buy yourself a drink you’ve never had.
You’re legal all over the world dammit, so flash that ID like you mean it. Step out of your comfort zone and steer clear of the words “cranberry” and “vodka”, especially together. Try that weird looking name like the Freddy Fudpucker or Dirty Diaper, or that concoction that couldn’t possibly taste good with all the random ingredients in it. It just might win the title of your new favorite drink… or may end up spit on the floor, but you’ll never know the outcome unless you try!

New Orleans French Quarter2. Visit a place you’ve never been.
A new country would be nice. But hey, by the look of your dinner menu that consisted of mac and cheese and ramen noodles for the past oh I don’t know five months, I understand cash is low. So let’s settle for a new city. Somewhere you can get to if you just jump into a car or a bus.

3. Update your wardrobe.
It’s about time those Hollister and Abercrombie graphic tees are thrown into a trash can Salvation Army donation box. When shopping, instead of going for straight for the sweatpants, opt for something more dressy. You’ll soon be making the transition from classroom to office and it’ll be nice to have some staples already waiting for you in the closet. Sweatpants will soon be a thing for inside your house/apartment.

4. Show appreciation towards your parents/guardians.
If you’re lucky, you still live with them which means home cooked meals are the norm, you have an endless amount of fresh underwear (thanks to a mother who’s gracious enough to do your laundry), the words “electricity” and “bills” are non-existent and you get a goodnight kiss before bed. Your parents, whether you live with them or not, have taken care of you for a long time and now is a good time to let them know how thankful you are. Apparently folks also appreciate a nice dinner out, flowers or a monetary gift. They’ve spoiled you for 21 years, maybe instead of opting for that keg, you can use your spare change to give back.

5. Write a letter to yourself in ten years.
Your life is going to be drastically different when you’re 31. If life goes the way society expects it to, you’ll probably be married maybe even with a kid or two. Tell yourself the hopes and dreams you have at 21 and what you wish you’ve accomplished by 31. Spill your problems and decisions that you’re currently dealing with, which when you read this in the future will all end up seeming trivial.

6. Invest your money.
If you have money to spare, take a risk and invest it whether in a stock, a bond or a thing. You may be rewarded financially greatly in the future.

firend7. Get in touch with a long lost friend from high school.
Can you believe it’s been four years since you’ve left the comforting (or constraining depending how your experience was) walls of high school? The supposedly second best four years of your life (first is college, again depending how your experience was). I’m sure if you pull up that dusty yearbook and take a look through, you’ll come across some not-so-familiar faces that you saw every day. Look up your friends on Facebook and shoot them a simple, “hey how’s it going” message. You may get R-bombed, you will may get a “who is this?” response but with some people you’ll go back to talking as if nothing has changed. You can thank Mark Zuckerberg later.

8. Delete all your exes on social media.
If you still talk to them and are friends, cool. If not, unfriend and unfollow and make moving on Facebook official. There’s no need to be reminded of what you missed out on every time you scroll through your newsfeed or dashboard.

9. Quit something.
Whether it’s a bad habit, a job that you hate, or even a deadly relationship. Now is as good a time as any to say goodbye to the things or people in your life that are bringing you down. Obviously, go through the pros and cons first and make sure it’s a good decision.

10. Start something.
Honestly you’ve never know how good you are at something until you try. You may have not had parents who you signed up for every single sport or class as a child, but that doesn’t have to stop you from ever trying tennis or cricket or ballet. You may have passed your prime age to take the sport to the competitive level and become a professional, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be the star player on your house league team. Convinced you have not a single athletic bone in your body? That’s cool, embrace what you were gifted with and start something using that. Writers can start a blog, leaders/go-getters can start a business. The possibilities are truly endless.

11. Create a blog.
Maybe you’re not super talented when it comes to writing or photography, but that shouldn’t stop you from blogging, even if it’s just for yourself. Creating a blog gives you a free platform to express yourself and share your interests. I understand that WordPress can be daunting for beginners, so just sign up for tumblr and join the simple world of reblogging.

Nasty Gal #Girlboss book by Sophia Amoruso12. Read a self-help book.
Enough of that unrealistic fiction, try reading something that will help you become a better person, achieve your goals and motivate you. Okay so maybe unrealistic fiction can in fact do all of the above, but maybe try something that’s sole purpose is that.

13. Spend some time volunteering.
During this time in your life, a time when your wallet is usually starving, and your drowning in debt, working for free is probably the last thing on your to-do list. However, there are many rewards that come with helping out, though they aren’t financial. Just one hour a week can make a difference in your community, a person’s life or in the larger spectrum, the world. Volunteering also gives you one extra thing to add to that oh-so-important resume.

14. Edit your resume.
Think about the last time you opened up your resume. Was it three years ago when you walked through the entire mall handing one to every store? Regardless, you’ve gained many more skills and experiences since then and now is a good time to update the piece of paper that’s going to sell you to employers. You may have already graduated college or will be soon, and it’s nice to have a more recent document to work off of instead of trying to desperately remember what you did during the past three years as a sales associate.

Business Card Design for writers and journalists15. Create a business card for yourself.
They say networking is key to landing a job. Who is they and is what they’re saying true? I have no clue. But it doesn’t hurt to have some professional cards in your wallet at all times, if you do run into someone important or helpful.

16. Recreate an old photograph.
You’ve probably seen them take over the internet. Those brilliant two pictures, one from 1999 and one from 2014, where its subjects are in the relatively same location wearing the relatively same clothes in the relatively same pose. Why not go ahead and follow this fabulous trend yourself, whether it’s with family members, friends or solo? When you look at that photograph, every time you do it’ll make you laugh. (Get my Nickelback reference? No? I don’t blame you.)

17. Clean out your computer.
Our mothers and roommates constantly nag us to clean up after ourselves. We take the time to clean our rooms, clean our closets, clean every inch of our homes but when do we really set aside time to clean our computer. From the documents to the downloads, I’m sure there’s hundreds of unwanted files taking up space. You know it’s about time for a cleanup when you can’t even see what your desktop background is any more.

18. Film a vlog.
Whether it’s while you’re at an event, or on vacation or just sitting at home, a vlog is basically a fancy modern way of saying home video. Keep it for yourself to view in the future or share it with others. It’s just a great way to capture memories.

Filming on camera19. Post a video on YouTube.
Whether you do so with the intention of becoming the next big YouTube guru with your DIY tutorials, to make that home video of your hilarious baby cousin go viral or so you can look back on how you talked twenty years from now, it doesn’t really matter. From vlogs to channelling your inner Steven Spielberg by creating a short film, YouTube is the perfect outlet to post your stuff. And you don’t even have to make your video public!

20. Sign up for a community class.
It’s the perfect way to start something new, or refine and practice a skill you already have. And you get to make new friends doing so! When you commit to signing up for a class you actually paid money for like Kickboxing, you’re more motivated to actually go and do something, rather than saying, oh I’ll just exercise at home.

21. Set some goals for the future.
Think about your future. For the first time in a long time it’s probably unplanned, and unexpected. You’ve most likely been a student for the past 16 years of your life and now it’s time to move on. Few of you will know exactly where you will be in one or two years, let alone an entire decade from now. This is the time to plan out exactly what you want to do, where you want to be and how you’re going to get there. Time to go HAM on life! (No one says that any more do they…)

…and if you think you’re going to be forever 21, then repeat every year.

As published on Thought Catalog.

One Direction & 5 Seconds Of Summer Concert Experience

I’ve always had a thing for boy bands. It started when I was 7 with the Backstreet Boys, reignited in high school with the Jonas Brothers and three years ago I came to love these four Brits and one Irish lad. I’ve had some pretty awesome concert experiences with these boys at the Molson Amphitheatre and Air Canada Centre thanks to VIP tickets, but this year with just a regular ol’ ticket (VIP offered nothing special anyways unless you’re into One Direction watches) I had just as good a time.

On their first stadium tour performing to over 50, 000 fans, it’s pretty awesome that Toronto is the first city in North America to see the Where We Are Tour. If only fans knew Where They Were hiding out. Seriously, every time they come to Toronto it’s an intense game of hide and seek and the fans never win. Anyways, instead of sitting here wondering what to do with my life, which is one of symptoms of post-concert depression, I figured I might as well write about my concert experience while it’s fresh in my mind and give you guys some pictures.

I plan on putting together a video of the experience and hosting a One Direction related giveaway, so stay tuned for that! Also for those wondering what it’s like to have VIP this year, my sister experienced that last night and will be sharing her story and pics soon as well!

The Seats: A7, Row 15
In my opinion, these seats were almost perfect. You’re probably thinking that the only spot to place your butt that could be perfect is first row. But when they’ve got a humungous stage and a catwalk leading to a secondary stage at the back, this first row is not the greatest. From where I was sitting, I had a perfect centre view of the entire stage, I was located right next to the catwalk and at the exact spot where they all seemingly decided to stop and pause to sing during their walk from big ass stage 1 to mini stage at the back. And here’s the thing, I got these seats THE DAY BEFORE THE CONCERT. You think you have to stick with your nosebleeds that you bought a year ago, but you don’t! When they set up the seating, most venues find that they have room for more seats and they usually put them up for sale that day. So I highly recommend checking ticketmaster a day or two before and the day of for more seats. You can call to exchange your old ones for just a $7 (and totally worth it) fee!

The Camera: 
Also, not to brag or anything but you’ll notice these pictures are pretty damn awesome. I wish I could take the credit and say it’s all me but all the glory goes to the best digital point and shoot camera to ever exist: the Canon Powershot SX240 HS. Sure being 10 seats away from the catwalk helped, but you do not understand the power of this zoom. It’s my go-t0 for concerts… and life. Whoever says the end of digital cameras is coming thanks to smart phone have not tried this beaut. And Canon isn’t even paying me or bribing me to say this, I truly honestly from the heart recommend it.

The Opener: 5 Seconds of Summer (who are totally ready to headline their own show by now) 
They looked so perfect standing there (sorry, just had to use that line)!

Picture taken WITH NO ZOOM. Not bad, am I right?

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Luke doing his thang, because that’s what lead singers do. Their thang.

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A perfect “Caption This” photo.  Clearly so many things were going on in Michael’s head, he’s overwhelmed, or he’s trying to use his telepathy powers or something.

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DAT ASS(ES).

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Look at those pink cheeks!

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The Main Event: One Direction
While the band’s professional photographer Cal was on stage, I could arguably take his job. Here are a few of the masterpieces I captured on camera.
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The F Word Red Carpet Premiere With Daniel Radcliffe

Red carpets are always a fun affair. As a journalist, they’re not as glamorous as instagram pictures may make it seem (try waiting an hour or two for talent who never arrive on time, therefore making you miss the first ten minutes of the movie screening and having to sit in the first row… or third, if you’re lucky).

But it’s always a great experience and incredible opportunity I could never pass up. I mean, the other day I had the chance to meet Daniel Radcliffe. Harry Potter IN DA FLESH. Who might I add, is a lot shorter than I pegged him to be.

Post Harry Potter, this talented actor starred in an Irish-Canadian rom-com that was filmed here in Toronto two years ago, The F Word (or What If? for American audiences) a movie that is not about the actual F word that first popped into your head and is instead referencing FRIEND. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September, but had an official premiere this month before its theatre release on August 22nd.

Mother Nature gifted us with perfect, sunny weather for an outdoor premiere and eOne really pulled out all the stops for this red carpet.

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I’ve seen Daniel Radcliffe many times before. On the big screen while watching Harry Potter, on my laptop screen while watching Harry Potter, on my television while watching Harry Potter, and oh and in my dreams, while I dreamt that I was Harry, Hermione and Ron’s fourth best friend living the life at Hogwarts. (In reality, I’m still waiting for my acceptance letter or at least Hagrid to come barging into my house to tell me my parents have been hiding those owl-delivered letters all along). But nothing compares to seeing Dan in real life. Of course, as a journalist, the number one rule is that your fan-girl can never show. No screaming, no jumping around. Just very subtle eyeball bulging at the sight of one of your favourite actors IN DA FLESH.

Just take a look at how close he was while he was being interviewed by the media outlet before me, with this blurry photo taken on my phone WITH NO ZOOM:

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While Daniel was definitely a huge highlight, the premiere actually had a majority of its talented cast in attendance including Meghan Park (Secret Life of the American Teenager), director Michael Dowse, screenwriter Elan Mastai and co-star Zoe Kazan (Ruby Sparks).

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For more pictures and the actual interviews, you’ll have to keep a look out on faze.ca.

As for the film itself, it’s definitely something you should check out when it’s released in theatres in August. The big screen has been lacking rom-coms in the recent years and this is one that isn’t afraid to poke fun at it’s genre. It’s realistic, it’s funny, it’s dirty (in a make-you-laugh way) and Daniel Radcliffe got to keep his British accent. 4 out of 5 stars!

-@Naomi_ML

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Alex Bilodeau makes his way to Hudson’s Bay in Toronto

Hudson’s Bay on Queen Street in Toronto looked much like it would on Boxing Day with tons and tons of people crowding the area on April 1, 2014. However while great deals were present as always, what drew so many people to their flagship store was Alexandre Bilodeau, the two-time winning Olympic freestyle skier.

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As the face of the Sochi 2014 HBC Team Canada collection, it was only fitting that the 26-year-old Montreal native came out to speak about his Olympic experience and meet and greet fans. He also brought along two of his closest friends—gold medals from Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014. Dressed in red and white with shirts that proudly read Canada and many of HBC’s Olympic gear including the famed toque and mittens, fans lined up early for the chance at snapping a #selfiewithalex and his medals. Also present was Hudson’s Bay Company president, Liz Rodbell who spoke with Alex in front of the excited crowd before the selfie session.

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“It’s been very busy but there’s a lot of challenges in front of me,” said Alex. “I’m going to finish my studies in Accounting, it’s a bit boring compared to skiing in the Olympics but I have a great passion for it, and there’s a lot of changes, I’m also getting married this summer.”
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Though he may be putting his professional skiing career behind him, Alex definitely left his mark as an athlete. In his final World Cup race, he snagged the title of most World Cup medals by a Canadian with an impressive 19 wins.  After winning gold in the men’s moguls at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he made history by becoming the first Canadian to win a gold medal at an Olympic Games held in Canada. And in February at the Olympics in Sochi, Alex became the first man to ever successfully defend the men’s Olympic moguls crown.

Congrats to Alex, be sure to keep up with his future endeavors by following him on Twitter @ABilodeau_Ski.

–@Naomi_ML