So now I am a TEENAGER!!!! BEWARE!!!!! Haha. Or at least that’s what everyone else says anyways.  I don’t think I’m any taller or smarter, and I don’t even feel any older. But 13 is more awesome to say than 12!

For my birthday I played a show in the North Carolina Mountains.  What a pretty place!  It was a great place to get inspired to write songs.  People probably feel that way about Florida too, come to think of it.  But I’m just so used to it around there, that it was inspirational to see a different type of place.

The coolest thing was when I got home my band threw a surprise party for me!  At first, I didn’t get it. I walked in, and everyone yelled SURPRISE and there were streamers everywhere, but I just said, “O, hi.”  Then my mom had to tell me that this was a surprise party for ME.  Then I finally got it!

So fun!

So, here’s to the teen years!  One step closer to driving!!!!

Suite Caroline and Reba McEntire

So the coolest thing happened to me on my last trip to Nashville.  I had a performance at the Bluebird Cafe. The show started and IN WALKS REBA MCENTIRE!!!  Ya know, only the Queen of Country Music.  She came over and talked to me, watched my show, and then talked to me afterwards about my songs, telling me which ones she liked best, and giving me advice.  It was like an out of body experience.  Did that really happen to me?? She was the nicest person and could have just blended into the crowd if she wasn’t REBA.  She was so soft spoken, even though she is usually larger than life when she hosts awards shows and plays concerts!!  This was definitely one of the highlights of my career so far.

Suite Caroline playing in Nashville at the Bluebird Cafe.

Big things are happening with me and GTE Federal Credit Union! I love being a spokesperson for the U22 Account!

First,
the new Suite Caroline U22 Debit Mastercard is out and I tested mine out at the mall today! My little sis is turning 11 soon, so I wanted to get her a crystal. She collects Swarovski crystals. I got her a little duck. She’s gonna love it! The cashier told me how cool she thought my card was, and I told her I agree. Of course, I felt a little awkward saying it was the Suite Caroline card, so I just smiled. She said she had never seen a card decorated so cute! She said it made her happy just to look at it. I smiled again. “Me too,” I said.

Second,
I will be singing the National Anthem at the Rays v. NY Game at Tropicana Field on July 31, 2010, and for me, that is going to be a really big deal! The game is supposed to be sold out and that means thousands of people! oooooo! I prepare differently to play the anthem than I do for other shows, because it is such a song of reverence. Not only that, but everyone knows it so well. The pressure is really on not to mess up. Plus, the whole place goes quiet for it, for a little added pressure. I hope you come to the game, and that you get to your seat early.

I will try and do a good job!

Lastly,
Make sure to enter the U22 Takes Over the Trop Contest and you could watch the game and hear my National Anthem rendition for FREE.

This is your BIG CHANCE to get involved in the big time!! If you are between the ages of 12-22 (like me) you can enter to fill one of four VVEERRYY cool positions:

1. You could be the junior bat boy/girl for the game (just don’t stand too close to home plate .. u know why!)
2. You could throw out the ceremonial first pitch (notice how we have to say ceremonial, so you realize that you are not actually pitching to the first professional batter up in the game LOL)
3. You could be the junior announcer, and help call all the action as it happens (this one would be good for my cousin Danny, because he knows A LOT about the team)
4. And this one may be my fave … you can sing during the 7th inning stretch!!!Oh, and I bet now u are wondering how to enter….

All you have to do is submit a video or photo at http://www.u224u.com/get-in-the-game before July 14th. Good Luck!!!!

I’M A DEBIT CARD! I’M A DEBIT CARD! Well you may think I meant to say that I HAVE a debit card. But nope, I meant to say that I am one!

GTE Federal Credit Union’s U22 Account now has a Suite Caroline U22 card and if you have ever seen my website or my myspace then you will know what this card looks like. It has pretty colors and peace signs and flowers. Totally love it!! If you already have a U22 Account just tell your branch you want to get the new Suite Caroline card and they will handle it. Or you can call the awesome people at member services 888.871.2690 x 40401. Or if you don’t have a U22 Account, now is a great time to become a member of GTE Federal Credit Union so you can get the cool design! Check it out!!!

The U22 Account is for 12 to 22 year olds! Learn more about how you can become a member. Click Here

I went to my branch today and asked them to order mine and they said it would arrive in the mail in about a week!! Can’t wait hope you like it too!!

I had the best day today! I got to play a concert at the new GTE Federal Credit Union branch in St. Petersburg, FL. It is such a pretty new building!! It is across the street from Perkins Elementary School. I played a concert as a reward to some of the classes for their hard work on the FCAT. They could just walk across the street from the school, and GTE Federal Credit Union is right there! I got to tell them about the U22 checking account. Some of the kids were 12, so they were old enough to sign up for one. The kids even had signs asking me to sing some of my songs that they like. I played about 6 songs, and then I did a question and answer session. After that, I signed autographs and the funniest thing happened!! A mom asked me to sign her BABY! I’ve never been asked that before!! I signed on her onesie!! She was soooo sweet!!!! (Jennifer-My mom will send you a pic of that and maybe one of the concert too) The branch manager even had cake for all of us. It was so cool to see how GTE Federal Credit Union is more than a credit union to that community. The branch manager also invited some St. Petersburg officials and some parents and grandparents to attend the show. Everyone had a great time (especially me!) and I thank both GTE Federal Credit Union and Perkins Elementary School!! You really made me feel special!!

Suite Caroline Jamming Out

Sooo, I am super excited! The design for the Suite Caroline U22 card just came out, and man do I love it. It matches all my other web sites, which is really cool.

The U22 card is a Master Card/Debit Card. So, what exactly does that mean???

It is more flexible than I even knew!!

Every time you use it, the amount is deducted from your checking account. But there are 2 ways you can make a debit card purchase. You can enter your pin (debit) or sign the receipt (credit). Don’t ya love choices?

Here are the differences between which option you choose. With credit, you can dispute charges on the account, but on debit there are limits to that. The credit option is free while debit is 25 cents. With credit, you sign the receipt, but do not enter your pin number. (A pin number is a super secret 4-digit number assigned to you when you get your account.) With debit, you don’t have to sign anything, but you do have to enter your pin number. You can earn rewards points on some MasterCard charges, but not if you use the debit option. Just ask the cashier if you can run your card as credit! It’s that easy.

I love having my U22 card! (PS-Stay tuned for really cool stuff that’s coming up in the near future with the is card!!!)

Suite Caroline Talks about Expenses

I have had 4 TEETH PULLED in the past few months. It is so painful. It also makes it hard to sing because I have to get used to new spaces in my mouth! It is all part of making my teeth pretty . . . eventually . . . I’m sure braces will be involved here soon. I heard my mom talking to the doctor about it and I couldn’t believe how much they cost!

Check out these crazy stats from 2004 – yea like 6 years ago and it’s still crazy!!! We’re talking thousands for braces! TOTAL SHOCK! http://www.archwired.com/HowMuchDoBracesCost.htm

We also went to a wedding over the weekend. And I heard the mother of the bride talking about how much the flowers cost. I couldn’t believe that either!

Just because I was curious, I also looked up wedding flowers! Again – it’s pretty nuts. http://weddings.lovetoknow.com/wiki/How_Much_Do_Wedding_Flowers_Cost

So, now this has got me thinking about all of the expenses I will be facing one day. When I went to the mall yesterday, I decided not to buy a new shirt. I thought that maybe if I think about all of my purchases that way, then I’ll have more money saved for important expenses in the future.

And besides, I want to have pretty flowers at my own wedding one day.

So, with my checking account, comes actual checks!

If you have never written a check before, and a lot of kids haven’t, it is really easy.

This is how I typically do it:

1. The simplest thing is to write the date on the date line first.
2. Then you have to fill in the line “To pay to the order of.” Sometimes that is a person, sometimes it is a business. I had to pay my Macy’s bill with a check, ouchie!!
3. Then you write in the dollar amount like this, $25.14. On the line underneath you have to write out the amount in “long hand.” That means you write “Twenty Five Dollars and 14/100.” I guess this is so the people with really bad writing have two shots at the bank being able to read the real amount! LOL.
4. The last thing is very important!! YOU HAVE TO SIGN YOUR CHECK!! Sounds like no biggie, but with all of the other writing you have already done at that point, it can be easy to skip over. Hahahaha. Does this all make sense??

I actually use checks a lot! Sometimes I even write my mom checks when I owe her money. I also write checks off my GTE Federal Credit Union U22 account when I need to pay my band. Sometimes when we play a gig they only write us one check, and they usually make the check out to me. So I deposit it and then pay the band their part of it. I just love writing checks. My mom says it is not nearly as thrilling when you are older. LOL. But for now, it makes me feel responsible. And maybe when I’m old it will still be fun because I had such a good start at it!!!

I will never think of strawberries or strawberry jam the same again!!! As for the strawberry jam, that was the name of the contest that GTE Federal Credit Union put on to find a super talented kid to perform with me at the Stingray Chevrolet Tent at the Strawberry Festival 2010.

The winner was Matt W. from Bradenton, Florida, and we had a great JAM last weekend!! It was fun getting to play a duet, and he did awesome for his first big performance – didn’t seem to have any major nerves at all!!!

As for strawberries, well, what can I say about the FLORIDA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL??? WWOOWW~!!

I got to the stadium really early in the morning the day of my concert, and as soon as I rounded the corner to do sound check I saw my U22 Billboard looking right back at me! I dropped my jaw, and started jumping up and down! I knew it was going to be a great day!! AND IT WAS!!!! Lots of you got to use your preferred seating tickets from the GTE FCU branches. And that was great to look out into that huge crowd and see so many of you that were there to be a part of my big day!! I think the concert went great, but I think the biggest hit was the U22/Suite Caroline guitar pics that I threw out from the stage!! I am still getting requests for those, but they are ALL gone!!! And did you see the awesomely cool ATMs all over the festival grounds? Yep, I was on those too. I have to say that little cartoon of me makes me smile. So thank you GTE FCU, U22 and all the really nice people at the Strawberry Festival. I like to sing about DREAMING BIG, and this was a big one come true!!

Hello!

Suite Caroline here! This will be a very busy month for me. I have a lot of concerts and a lot of work to do to make sure I am “show ready” for all of my performances. It really is a lot of work to follow my dream of being a professional singer/songwriter. I practice and song write every day a couple of hours at a time. It makes for late nights and I am often tired in class and working hard to keep up because I miss a lot of school. BUT I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is what I love. I guess it’s like the people I am watching in the Winter Olympics right now. Even when they weren’t having the best day, they still got out there and gave it their all. That’s what got them to the world Yelstage!! I want to be on the world stage!! (Just not in ski jumping!!) The cool thing is that I do get paid to do this. I just got my year end tax statements. I will be filing income tax as a 12 year old! My parents like to laugh about that! But it makes me feel like I am on my way. What is the message of this blog?? Hard work+time+effort+more hard work+earning money for working hard=the road to success!! Find your road, get on it, put the pedal to the floor and see where the road takes you!!!!!