This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. The following content is intended for readers who are 21 or older. #passiondefinedremyrefined #CollectiveBiasDo you ever stop to think about what you did in a past life? And I don’t actually mean past life in the literal sense, but thinking back to how different you were years ago, and how much your life has changed. Even when I think back to 6 years ago {I was just finishing college, whoa!}, I was so different than I am now. For one, I thought I was going to be a high school English teacher for the rest of my life {clearly that didn’t end up being as awesome as I thought it would be!} and most of my free time was dedicated to music – whether it was performing in community theatre, taking voice lessons or dance classes, or just taking in a show – music was a big part of my life.

Music has always been a passion of mine, ever since I discovered that musical theatre was “a thing” while watching Lawrence Welk on the couch with my grandmother as a little girl {in retrospect, that show was pretty ridiculous, but as a 6-year-old I took my Lawrence Welk time very seriously!}. From putting on rather embarrassing one-woman shows to Hello Dolly in my living room, to staying up way past my bedtime belting songs from The Little Mermaid, my poor parents realized at a very early age that they had a singer on their hands – and one that loved to sing really loud 😉

As I grew up, music continued to be a big part of my life, especially when I joined show choir in high school. It was very Glee-esque {without quite so much drama}, and I spent all of my free time choreographing dances for shows, practicing solos and making sure I didn’t screw up too many of the dance moves when they decided to put me in the front row. In college, I tried to take voice lessons every chance I could and made it into a few shows, even choreographing a few college productions too.During my junior year of college {and after having vocal issues for a few months} I found out I had nodes, which are basically calluses on your vocal chords from overuse {and maybe a few too many belting karaoke sessions in the car…}, which forced me to stop singing for almost a year to get better. I don’t know if any of you have had to give up your passions for a little bit, but I was seriously depressed for a few months, and not being able to sing was incredibly hard. It was also a huge blessing in disguise though, because so much of what I thought made me creative was wrapped up in singing, and given the opportunity to take some time off made me realize that I could actually be pretty good at other passions I had too. I started exploring photography with my mother’s old film camera, and even started doing social media for a few organizations on campus that helped me realize that content creation could be a job in “real” life. All’s well that ends well, right?

And now, years later, music is still a huge passion of mine – even if it doesn’t involve me singing everyday or being in too many community theatre shows. I love seeing music, cheering on my incredibly talented musical theatre friends and having some good jam sessions in the shower or car whenever I get some time to myself. And after taking some time off {uh, a lot of time off…} I’ve been thinking of getting back into it by taking voice lessons again – I’ll keep you updated on how that goes 😉

So why am I blabbing on and on about music this morning? I teamed up with Rémy Martin Cognac to bring awareness their Passion Defined/Rémy Refined Sweepstakes. Basically Rémy Martin Cognac is giving you the chance to win a $5,000 and a mentor for a year in something you’re passionate about – from music to art and everything in between. You can also win tickets to see Jhené Aiko and other prizes, all the info is below:

● To enter the sweepstakes, the Entrant must log on to his/her Twitter account and (i) follow @RemyRefined (if he/she does not already), and (ii) Tweet an image of Entrant showing their life passion and including the hashtags #RemyRefined and either #ChicagoSweepstakes, #DetroitSweepstakes, or #StLouisSweepstakes, depending on Entrant’s state of residence.
○ Grand Prize (1): The grand prize winner will receive a mentor for one (1) year to help winner live out his/her passion and a check for $5,000 (“Grand Prize”).
○ First Prize (15 [five (5) per location]): Each first prize winner will receive two (2) tickets to a Jhené Aiko concert on either August 12, 2016 for Michigan winners, August 16, 2016 for Illinois winners, or August 17, 2016 for Missouri winners, a meet and greet with Jhené Aiko, and a Rémy Martin gift bag (“First Prize”).
○ Second Prize (30 [ten (10) per location]): Each second prize winner will receive two (2) tickets to a Jhené Aiko concert on either August 12, 2016 for Michigan winners, August 16, 2016 for Illinois winners, or August 17, 2016 for Missouri winners (“Second Prize’).
● No Purch. Nec. Ends 8/31/16. 21+, IL, MI, MO only, Rules: RemyRefined.com

And because I happen to be a fan of Rémy Martin Cognac {especially their VSOP cognac!}, I whipped up this delicious cocktail I’ll be making for Ravinia later this summer {an outdoor summer concert series that always has some pretty incredible performers in their lineup!}. Rémy Martin VSOP is a Fine Champagne cognac and has notes of vanilla, ripe apricots, baked apple and floral notes – making it the perfect ingredient for a refreshing summer cocktail.

What you’ll need:
● 1 oz. Rémy Martin VSOP
● 1 oz. Cointreau
● Sparking water in raspberry
● Fresh Blackberries
● Lemon for garnish and some juice
● Sugar for the rimDirections:
Start by juicing the rim of your glass and sugaring the rim. Next, muddle 3-4 blackberries in the bottom of a glass, and then fill with ice. Add 1 oz. Rémy Martin VSOP, 1 oz. of Cointreau and then top with sparkling water of your choice {I like to use raspberry!}. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon to top and extra blackberries for garnish. Enjoy!

Want know more about how to enter the sweepstakes? Get all the info you need here, and follow along on Twitter for more updates!