With it being officially springtime, I feel it is necessary to provide you with a playlist of songs that remind me of spring. This week I am trying out links so you can find the song more easily! Let me know how it goes! Unfortunately, here in Detroit the high was 45 F today. So here is to thinking spring and the warmer weather.

1.Mine - Phoebe Ryan
2.Dreaming - Smallpools
3.Cough Syrup - Young the Giant
4.Delilah - Florence + The Machine
5.YOUTH - Troye Sivan
6.Electric Love - BØRNS
7.Cardiac Arrest - Bad Suns
8.So Close - Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness
9.Reflections - MisterWives
10.Hannah Hunt - Vampire Weekend
11.Getaway - Saint Motel
12.Black Butterflies and Déjà Vu - The Maine
13.Cocoon - Catfish and the Bottlemen
14.Hotel Anywhere - Cold War Kids
15.We Sink - CHVRCHES
16.Trainwreck - Banks
17.Breaking Free - Night Riots
18.Falling - The Naked and Famous
19.Aristocrat - New Politics

I have lived in the Metro Detroit area my entire life, and as I get older, my love for this city continues to grow. I have fond memories of attending sporting events and concerts with my family and friends.I love how Detroit has its own unique quirks that sets it apart from other cities. Where else can you find the combination of Cars and Music? Or more affectionally referred to as the Motor City or Motown.

I love how Opening Day for the Detroit Tigers is a practically a holiday in this city, along with St. Patrick's Day, and the festivities of Thanksgiving morning.

My first Red Wing game was at Joe Louis Arena, on December 30th, 2008 and they played the Chicago Blackhawks, an original six match up.

My first Tigers game was at Tiger Stadium, on September 25th, 1999. I watched them take on the Kansas City Royals.

I saw Kiss play the last ever concert at Cobo Arena, before they remodel it to be an extension of the  convention center.

I attended Wayne State University, like my father did before me. The commute to the city is something I would never thought I would miss, but I do. I love watching the Ren Cen get larger as I drive down i75, or the historic drive down Woodward as you pass the Model T factory, a historic landmark for Detroit.

But, not everyone has this love for the city. I know many people, even some who live in Michigan, who are still afraid of Detroit. Even after hearing it a couple times, it is still mind blowing to me.

The city of Detroit has premiere concert venues and casinos, amazing food and bars, museums, ice skating rinks and even a walking trail.

Soon Detroit will have an new sporting arena, a future home to both the Red Wings and the Pistons, and a new transportation system, the Q-Line.

One of my favorite things to do on the weekends, is explore the city. If you follow me on Instagram @Hannah_Livernois, I have tons of photographs from some of my adventures downtown.

A recent adventure of mine was the Science Center, After Dark. I recently attended their Mardi Gras event, and I must say it was entertaining. I hadn't been to the science center since I was in high school. But it was nice to see how much the facility has changed and not to have a ton of kids running around, as this event was 21 and up.

With Detroit on it's revival, it got me thinking. I want to share my adventures. I want to share the amazing parts of Detroit, and hopefully inspire some of your own adventures. I was born and raised in the city. It is my home, it is where I belong.

 I have been on so many internet dates, well, let's just say, if they went well, I wouldn't be writing this post. Good and bad dates are just a part of life, and the bad ones just make it interesting. I wasn't always for internet dating, and when my friends hopped on this bandwagon, I thought they were all nuts. But as one of my best friends always told me, "Hannah, you're on there, they are normal guys on there", however, I never find them. Instead, I get guys who lecture me when I oppose coming to their house to watch movies on a first date or who try and break it off with the kidnapping of their mom. Those are just some extreme scenarios, I did meet a guy for coffee once, and he was nice and a gentleman, but I got the vibe would be better as friends.

Dating has always been confusing, especially for me.  I feel like it's just gets worse as technology is evolving. Now, you can Facebook-stalk a guy before the first date. But, when you do that you have to act surprised when he tells you about his recent trip or his dog.The purpose of this post isn't to bash anyone I have met through apps or dated recently. In fact, each of these dates has taught me something, even the extreme cases.

Not All Guys are Bad
If you go into a date thinking this guy is probably a jerk and have your guard up, the date probably isn't going to go so well. Truth of the matter is not all guys are jerks and not all guys are the same. Some will be jerks, that's inevitable. But starting your date off on the wrong foot isn't going to help the situation either. In fact, the guy I met for coffee was actually really nice and I had a good time, but there was no chemistry.

First Dates in Public Places
The first internet date I went on, I tried to convince my best friend to come too and sit a different table. At the time, it sounded like a great idea. I even came up with a hand signal for her to come get me if the date went bad. While she thought I was crazy for wanting to take this route, but you never know who you are meeting, and I have seen too many episodes of catfish to be this naive. But if you agree to meet in a public place, you don't actually need a friend there. But if you feel safer, by all means, do whatever it takes to make you feel comfortable.

Be Smart and Trust Your Gut Instinct
I can't stress this enough. Use your best judgment. For example, one guy, I met through a dating app, seemed normal at first, but there was something I just couldn't place my finger on. After talking a little while longer, he wanted to meet up, and when I suggested coffee, he immediately responded with "I don't drink coffee" and he countered with "Why not just come back to my place and we can watch movies." Mind you, I have never met him before in person. He then got offend when I turned his invitation down, and I ultimately called off the date.

You Don't Owe Him Anything 
You should never feel that you owe him something in return since he paid or since he took the time out of his day. Any guy that makes you feel bad because you won't, isn't worth your time. It is your body, so it is your say. Peer pressure while commonly associated with high school, still exists well into your 20's.

Keep an Open Mind
As Taylor Swift says "It's either going to last forever or it will go down in flames," which is true, you are either going to marry this guy eventually or you won't. But, keeping an open mind will just make the process smoother. This is something that I am still trying to work on, actually. I am a highly analytical person, so just going with the flow and keeping an open mind is something I have rarely done. But I found when I live in moment and only worry about the task at hand, my dates go so much smoother. For example, the coffee date guy, I mentioned earlier. It was super relaxed and fun.

Make a List
When my best friend originally told me to make a list of everything I wanted in a guy, I thought she was crazy. As much as it pains me to admit this, she was right. When you have a list in mind of your ideal partner, it makes dating easier. For example, you know what questions to ask on a first date. For me, I am afraid of spiders. So, if he is willing to kill them, that's a plus in my book. It also reminds me to never settle. For me, I rather be in a relationship with someone not only I respect, but he respects me in return.

Dating can be scary, but confidence is key. Just be yourself and have fun, and nothing else will matter. In time, you will find the right person and all these dates, good and bad, will not even matter anymore.

I feel with all the negativity in the world, we need some positivity. Something to keep your head up this week! These songs always put me in a better mood. Also, crazy amount of music has been released in the last couple of weeks. So I sprinkled some in. Enjoy!

1. Shoes - Vacay
2. Too Much- Rendezvous at Two 
3. Road Trippin - Dan + Shay 
4. Circles - Hannah Epperson 
5. Song Like You - Bea Miller 
6. Kill for Candy - Dreamcar 
7. Stay - Zedd Ft. Alessia Cara 
8. History- Olivia Holt 
9. Green Light- Lorde
10. Let Me Love You - SJUR
11. Heavy - Linkin Park feat. Kiiara 
12. Machine- Misterwives 
13. Oceans Away- Arizona 
14. September Song - JP Cooper 
15. Light - San Holo 
16. Talk Too Much - Coin 
17. Now and Later - Sage the Gemini 
18. Final Song - MO
19. Something Just Like This - Chainsmokers feat. Coldplay

Today's story is about the time I dyed my hair blonde. Yes, blonde. I was born with very dark brown hair. But when I was 20-21, that it just wasn't for me anymore and to prove my point, I dyed my tips blonde. In my defense, it wasn't the worst decision I made, but it definitely wasn't the best.

Part of the reason why I made this decision was I wanted change. I was in college, and, let's be honest, everyone experiments in college. For me, I just took the hair route, and decided that dark brown hair just wasn't appealing anymore.

I started with dyed tips, although I wanted an ombre, this was the result I ended up with. Unfortunately, the hairstylist I saw didn't have an idea how to achieve this look, but she just applied a lot of bleach to the ends of my hair, because that's what the picture looked like.  But nonetheless, this is what I wanted, and at the time, it was the greatest thing I had ever done.  I felt so cool, I felt so mature, it felt so right.

Looking back at pictures, I just question why I did this to myself. In fact, I deleted most of this hair era off my Instagram, because the less prove the better. My hair actually looked super dry and damaged. This look wasn't cute and at 20 years old, I loved it.

But, I first saw a problem with my hair after the photos came back from my dad's wedding, which was the summer of 2014. I,immediately, made an appointment at the salon. Don't be fooled, I didn't go to get the blonde taken out. I got more added in and in this trip I had a melt-ombre.

Now with my hair looking much better than before, I felt more confident. But I didn't feel like me. Unfortunately, one key component I never measured was how blonde hair would look on me. While I thought it looked great, something still felt missing.

I am of Irish decent, so I have naturally pale-pink skin and, of course, freckled. While my hair screamed beach-bum with a hint of style, it didn't fit my complexion. But, hey, it only took me another year to figure it out.

By July 2015, I was back to my dark brown hair, and all felt right with the world.

But my intent of this story wasn't to turn you off from the ombre or dying your hair blonde. For me, it was the beginning of learning to love myself.

I was made this way for a reason. I was given dark hair and pale skin. It makes me, who I am. While occasionally, I add a red tint to it, I have stayed in the dark family for a while, and I love every minute of it.

Of course, I wish I could pulled off the sun-kissed blonde waves, but that's not the way that was intended. But I feel that experimenting was the only way to prove it to me. Life is full of what-ifs, and if you never act on them, you never know.

Now that I have ended with a cliche saying, I hope you have some insight on your next hair adventure. I hope it opens doors for you, and allows you experience how the other half lives. But most of all, I hope it teaches you to love yourself, no matter what your hair looks like.

My sister recently saw my playlists and complained that there wasn't enough Kings of Leon, so below are some songs, I think she would appreciate. 

1. This is War - The Dangerous Summer 
2. She's Got a Boyfriend Now - Boys Like Girls 
3. Atlas- Man Overboard
4. All My Friends- The Summer Set 
5. Poppin' Champagne - All Time Low 
6. Elevate - St. Lucia 
7. Love is Mystical - Cold War Kids
8. Waste a Moment - Kings of Leon 
9. Fire Escape - Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness 
10. Move - Saint Motel 
11. Red Hot Lights - Moon Taxi 
12. Tongue Tied - Grouplove 
13. Sleeping with a Friend - Neon Trees 
14. Snow Cats - AFI
15. Daisy- Goodbye June 
16. Happy Pills - Weathers
17. Around the World - Kings of Leon 
18. Us & Them - Mona
19. Burn the Witch - Radiohead

This week's theme is songs I play on constant repeat, and by repeat I mean 20 times in a row. These are some of my favorite songs, hopefully soon to be yours.

1. Bad Behavior - The Maine 
2. 20 Dollar Nose Bleed - Fall Out Boy 
3. Addicted - Simple Plan 
4. Take What you Want - One Ok Rock 
5. Dreaming - smallpools
6. Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons
7. Nothin' Like You - Dan + Shay 
8. Hometown - Kane Brown 
9. House Party - Sam Hunt 
10. T-Shirt - Thomas Rhett 
11. Kings & Queens - Thirty Seconds to Mars 
12. As She is Walking Away - Zac Brown Band 
13. Mr. Brightside - The Killers 
14. Somebody Else - The 1975 
15. Love Triangle - RaeLynn
16. Colors - Halsey 
17. Treat You Better - Shawn Mendes 
18. The Verge - Owl City 
19. LA Devotee- Panic! At The Disco

One OK Rock - Ambitions / Album Review

I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical of this band. I have heard one or two of their songs before, and just wasn't impressed. It sounded so much of the same, and I seemed to have forgotten them with due time. In fact, I even saw them opened for All Time Low on the Back to the Future Hearts Tour.

But the other day, they popped up in my suggestions playlist courtesy of Spotify. And I fell in love with their new album. In fact, I have played it on repeat since Friday.

This is the eighth full length album for the band, and the first one since they signed with Fueled By Ramen.This album reminds me so much of the early All Time Low circa Weightless. These vibes hit right at home for me. Ironically, I have a small vocabulary for having a blog. But seriously, check it out.

Some of my favorite tracks on the album are Bombs Away, Jaded, Hard To Love, American Girls, I Was King, and Take What You Want.

I love the lyrics, I love the melodies, I love the finish package. So much of the 2006 me/scene era is revived in this album.

I feel like I could talk forever on this album, but I highly suggest it and I would recommend it to a friend.

My grades for the album:

Lyrics: A-
Melodies: A
Cover Art: B
Vocals: B+
Featuring Artists: A
Overall: A-

My Favorites

My new extension of my blog is My Favorites. Every Saturday, I hope to post my favorite song, my favorite album, and my favorite artist of the week. Some may be new releases, some may be throw backs. But I hope it shows more dimension than compared to my usual Thursday Playlists.

This week my favorites are:

Favorite Song: Castle on the Hill by Ed Sheeran. As it comes to shock to no one, I have been playing this song on constant repeat since its release almost 2 weeks ago. I love the message of this song, especially as I, myself, am moving out of my dad's house. While Ed has been on the road for a while, and took a break and is excited to return to his boring old hometown, I hope to have the same nostalgia as I return to my Castle, even if I am moving 8 miles down the road. I also, recently, learned that this song's music videos features kids from his high school, which makes me appreciate him more as a person and as an artist as it brings a realness to his music.

 

Favorite Album: As I often get teased about, my current favorite album is The Warblers from the Glee soundtrack. I know, it is crazy to me that I wrote that and I am willing to admit that on my blog. But I love this album. I love the arrangement of these covers, I love that it comes from an array of genres, which seems like it is all over the place, but the album is still cohesive. I enjoy listening to this while I am driving. I feel like Darren Criss' voice also brings a lot to this album. He power vocals and personalty add a lot to this album.

Favorite Artist: I recently had gotten back into Katy Perry. I heard an acoustic version of her song "The One That Got Away" and it just made me appreciate her lyrics. She has a powerful gift of song writing and the catchiness of this song in particular, and especially the stripped down version, just resinates with me. While, I understand that some of her music can be overplayed, her ability to song-write is something that should be appreciated and recognized.

Another Thursday, another playlist.  Hopefully this country music will put you, mentally, in warmer weather.

1. Nothin' Like You - Dan & Shay
2. Young & Crazy - Frankie Ballard
3. Small Town USA - Justin Moore
4. Riser- Dierks Bentley 
5. As She is Walking Away - Zac Brown Band 
6. Drink in my Hand - Eric Church 
7. Little Toy Guns - Carrie Underwood 
8. Take Your Time - Sam Hunt 
9. Fly - Maddie & Tae
10. White Lightning - Cadillac Three 
11. Hell on my Heart - A Thousand Horses 
12. City Boy Stuck - Granger Smith
13. Ain't Starting Tonight - LOCASH
14. Comin' To Your City - Big & Rich 
15. Dirt Road Anthem - Jason Aldean 
16. Confession - Florida Georgia Line 
17. Stay A Little Longer - Brothers Osbourne 
18. Bad For You - Waterloo Revival 
19. Crushin' it - Brad Paisley 

This week has been especially hard on me, as I begin a new chapter in my life. Some of these songs I have posted before. But mainly, the point of this week is simple muted pop. Sometimes you need to take a step back and take a deep breath. As I am often told, "you'll be okay"

1. Dirty Old Town - Craig Cardiff
2. This Town - Niall Horan
3. Make Me Cry - Noah Cyrus 
4. Castle on the Hill - Ed Sheeran 
5. Can I be Him? - James Arthur 
6. Don't Leave - Snakeship & MO
7. It's Gotta Be You - Isaiah 
8. Please Don't Go - Joel Adams 
9. Worth Fighting For - Taylor Henderson 
10. Start Again - Conrad Sewell 
11. When You Love Someone - James TW 
12. Don't You Cry For Me - Cobi
13. All Is Well - Austin Basham
14. She is Love - Parachute 
15. Be as You Are - Mike Posner 
16. Rise Up - Ben Lee 
17. Over & Over Again - Nathan Sykes 
18. Believe -Mumford & Sons 
19. Mess is Mine - Vance Joy

1. Ooh Love - Ria Mae
2. Home - Max Jury 
3. Hell of A Girl - Grace
4. I Wish - Tom Misch 
5. Rise Up - Andra Day 
6. Here I am - Tom Odell 
7. Drag - Day Wave
8. Shine - Mondo Cozmo
9. I Heard it Through the Grapevine - Colouring 
10. Ain't Got Far To Go - Jess Glyne 
11. Take Me Dancing - The Maine 
12. Shine - Years & Years 
13. Elevate - St. Lucia
14. Fire Escape - Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
15. Electric Love - Borns 
16. In My Home - Young the Giant
17. Harlem - New Politics 
18. Sleepwalking - The Chain Gang
19. Come With Me Now - KONGOS 

A little pop-punk to start your weekend, along with some throwbacks. Let's just say middle school me would be stoked!

1. A Change of Heart - The 1975
2. Caroline - All Time Low
3. Oh Well, Oh Well - Mayday Parade
4. Scotty Doesn't Know - Lustra
5. America's Sweetheart - Elle King 
6. Manners - We Are The In Crowd
7. Drive - Halsey 
8. Don't Mind - Hoodie Allen feat MAX
9. Sugar, We're Goin Down - Fall Out Boy
10. Misery Business - Paramore
11. I'm Not Okay ( I Promise) - My Chemical Romance 
12. In Too Deep- Sum 41
13. Ocean Avenue - Yellowcard
14. The Rock Show - blink 182
15. Addicted - Simple Plan 
16. Swing, Swing - All American Rejects
17. Miss Murder - AFI
18. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous - Good Charlotte 
19. Stacy's Mom - Fountains of Wayne 

8 Apartment Hunting Tips

It is crazy to me that I am now in a position in life that I have to apartment hunt. That I am at the point in my life where I can venture on my own and have my own life. But I never expected all the ins-and-outs that come with apartment hunting.

Here are a list of rules to keep in mind when you are apartment hunting:

1. Test the faucets - you don't want to sign a lease and have poor water pressure.

2. Always go apartment hunting when it is rainy- this allows you to see if the roof leaks or if the driveway floods.

3. Have a list of questions prepared- i.e. "If you move in on the 15th do you get pro-rated rent?" "Are pets allowed?" "What is the typical [insert any utility bill here] payment?"

4. Visit properties you are serious about at night, you get a better feel for it when all the other tenants are home, i.e. open parking spots, noisy neighbors.

5. Keep in mind apartment hunting is a lot like buying a car, you want to shop around before you settle on one you like.

6. Rank your choices. Knowing which properties are your top 3 and why they are your top 3 will help you know what you are looking for and narrow your searches

7. Keep your selections to a neighborhood or two, limiting your choices is helpful when you are going through open houses

8. Check more than one search engine or place. It is good to check apartments.com, but also check craiglists, and the newspaper classifieds as well. Not all landlords are tech savvy.

Detroit