I loved watching the Olympics. The U.S. women’s gymnastics team impressed me. I can’t imagine all the time, dedication and practice it takes to get to the Games, much less participate in them. The ladies of the team looked so happy doing what they love to do– and they did it well!

For me, the gymnastics competition was kind of like watching a football game where it comes down to the last minute to see who wins. Midway through their events, the U.S. team led by four points and then they came in first place outdistancing their biggest competition, Russia, by 8.209 points. This was a pretty big deal because it was the first time the U.S. women’s gymnastics team won back-to-back Olympic golds. They were #1 in 2012 and now they’re #1 again– that’s pretty amazing.

I also liked how the team chose a nickname, “The Final Five.” It reminded me of how you have to not only think of what you want your goal to be, in life, but also write it down, name it, tell others about it, etc. These ladies– Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Gabby Douglas– showed the world how young ladies can reach their dreams. They sure did inspire me, and I’m thinking there’s a whole generation of young women who look up to them, too.

xoxo, Lizzy

Are you traveling somewhere new this summer? With the weather generally being sunny and warm in most places, summertime is prime traveling time, isn’t it?

Here’s the thing: while we often like to be pampered and enjoy things like pools, spas and all that good stuff, what about doing something kind for others while you’re on your trip?

I’ve got an idea to make your summer trip more interesting. Go to the local store and buy several supplies you can put in a nice bag to give to someone who is homeless. Shop for things like an umbrella, moist towelettes, sunscreen, chewing gum, a comb or hairbrush, socks, and anything else you think would be practical, useful gifts for someone less fortunate. If you don’t have a lot to spend, try shopping at the Dollar Tree or Wal-Mart where you can find many great items.

Pack a bag, or two, or three, or more and take ‘em with you on your “vacation.” Then, make a point to look for someone in need. Unfortunately, underpriveleged people are not hard to find– you’re likely to see panhandlers on the streets of most cities, in parks, or along highways… especially at exits where cars line up to make their turns. Hand them your bag of goodies and wish them a happy day! Trust me, doing something kind and unusual like this will be a highlight of wherever you go this summer.

Life is complex, isn’t it? In the old days, most people got one job and stuck with it through retirement. Today, however, it’s not unusual for people to have multiple sources of income. For example, I might be working on a music project while also doing other things to make money, and that’s okay. It’s not a bad thing to have more than one job or more than one passion.

What are you passionate about? For me, I love singing and performing. If you can find things you’re passionate about, pursue them!

When life gets intense, try multitasking. It’s when you juggle a bunch of things “to do” at once. Make lists so you can cross things off as you do them. For instance, a typical day might include doing laundry, paying bills, catching a favorite TV show and exercising for an hour. It’s good to have multitasking lists each day. Accomplishing goals makes people feel good. Of course you will need to remember that balance is key. You don’t want to get too busy such that you’re overwhelmed and literally just shut down.

Time management is something I give serious thought and consideration to on a daily basis. I “take stock” of what I have to do, and then figure out how to work my schedule so I can get things done. I make sure to leave time for rest and relaxation, too.

Keep this mind and be aware XO,
Lizzy

Hello friends! For those of you who don’t already know, my new song “Always Be There” co-written and produced by David Pramik and mixed by Mitchell Haueszer is out NOW on Soundcloud and Bandcamp!

Links Here:

https://lizzysmall.bandcamp.com

Feel free to keep listening and spreading the word! Thank you so so much for over 130,000 plays in the first 24 hours! I am beyond happy and grateful! THANK YOU <3

Hello Hello,

New music to come, new music to come….yes. But beyond that, releasing new music or sharing anything at all whether you are having a conversation with your best friend and divulging a secret, giving a speech to your graduating class, or releasing a new song that was written by you, doing any of these things is not easy. Being open and vulnerable is probably one of the most difficult things to do in this world and everyone knows how it feels to be waiting and anticipating a response. I love writing music because it makes me happy and is immensely fun. If you are enjoying yourself, go for it. Who cares about what the reaction or response of everyone else will be because you can’t control that anyway. We must live life doing things for others of course because we all care about other people. But we also must live life and do things for ourselves. Am I nervous to release a new song and anticipating whether people will love it, like it, hate it, (the list goes on)…. of course. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do it anyway and shouldn’t share it with the world. So share what you love with the world….

ALSO, big thank you and shootout to my amazing co-writer and producer David Pramik. He was a wonderful artist to work with and he taught me so much about the process of creating music. We had a blast in the studio and becoming friends, I am lucky to know him! Check out his music on sound cloud.com/DavidPramik

Love you all, thanks for reading and waiting for my music 🙂

XO,

Lizzy

Thank you so much to Genlux Magazine for having me at your holiday issue launch party at the Rodeo Collection in Beverly Hills on Rodeo Drive. It was amazing to see Beverly Johnson, the first African American woman to be on the cover of Vogue, who was the cover girl for this issue of Genlux! I love being involved with a magazine that combines high end fashion, art and philanthropy. The people apart of this magazine continue to put me in awe of their excellence and execution in creating such a respected publication. Thank you to Glam Squad for helping me get ready for this event. My favorite product for this look was the sparkle shimmer bronze eye shadow from Stila! Check it out at Sephora or online. Wishing everyone a Happy Holiday season and New Year!

Xoxo,

Lizzy

Here I am on the red carpet last night….

Hello everyone,

I am back and with a story to tell. October has been quite the month. I experienced some amazing highs and some shocking lows, but this month has taught me so much about my resilience and about being grateful. As most of you probably heard, I got into a major bicycle crash in my college town. Another biker head-on collided with me and I flew through the air, over the bikes and landed face-first onto the concrete unconscious. The biker who hit me ended up leaving the scene but thankfully my friend who happened to be biking past, found me on the ground and held my gushing blood face with his socks until the ambulance came. I got extremely lucky in this accident and although they suspected I could have had some severe brain damage, I made it out alive and okay (for the most part). I had stitches and some injuries that will take a while to heal but it’s already been 3 weeks and I’m feeling pretty good. This accident put everything in my life into perspective. It gave me a new found strength and I have been much more grateful recently, to simply “be alive.” Incidents like these can never be predicted or explained and you don’t ever think it will happen to you until it does. All I want to urge anyone to do is to never neglect someone they get into accident with (small or large) whether they are directly involved or just a bystander. Use your compassion to its fullest potential. I am so thankful to be okay and have such incredible family and friends who have been by my side through this traumatic experience. This is an experience I will never forget, but forever be stronger from. Like I said, “a few stitches never stopped me.” You are stronger than you think, you must believe that.

xo, Lizzy

The saying: “Follow your Instinct” sounds simple, but it is actually quite challenging. When you see the same person three times in one day, run into your high school crush at the grocery store, or have a recurring dream about your best friend, FIND OUT WHY! Follow that instinct and launch yourself into the curiosity of where it might take you. There could be a reason our instinct is signaling something to us and following it could make all the difference or lead us to some kind of answer we’ve been looking for. Whether big or small in significance, sometimes our instincts can guide us to a message or wake up call that we are in need of at a certain point in our lives. Following our instincts is a part of our natural human drive! Don’t ignore it or quiet it down; try really listening to what your mind, body and soul are telling you and leap from there. You may find something you were really searching for….
XOXO

My acting class is seriously a life class. Anthony Meindl’s acting studio is a force to be reckoned with. Filled with so much inspiration, the studio informs us as much about the skill of acting as it does about our individual lives. It’s easy to get wrapped up in our own thoughts. We hold on to things even if they are not positive and are not serving us for a multitude of reasons and sometimes we can’t find the courage and freedom to let that go. As an actor, I sometimes find myself placing judgement on myself during a scene, or questioning my actions during a scene and when these thoughts come to my mind, they often take me out of the moment and alter the scene. The ongoing challenge for me and many others, is learning how to let those thoughts go and just trust my instinct and let it fire. This is something that transcends into my own life. Because I’m a perfectionist and obsessive hard worker, its hard to let go of what I think is “supposed” to happen and just let what is happening, occur. I am working on not giving too much power to thoughts or situations that aren’t serving me. I am working on letting go and I think it’s valuable for all of us to at least think about..

Thanks for listening friends <3