Well, I got a job. Yep. I’ve been working since July 5th! I’m done with my schooling. It’s the end of an era! But I ain’t even close to done learning. I’m on to the schooling of LIFE. This is my excuse for not blogging in awhile. That, and before I started working I was spending all my days unpacking. The apartment is basically in order so I’ll post photos of it soon, maybe next weekend :]
I’ve been busy and tired. Yes, I’m getting 8 hours of sleep a night, but I’m used to getting 9 or 9 and a half! Haha, what a douche thing to complain about. OOPS. I’m very happy though, and EXCITED. Already getting used to my new routine. Oh, how I love a good routine! Bruce has been so happy to get up with me in the mornings, because he hates the heat and the temp is below 90 before 7AM. I’m having to buy an entirely new wardrobe (“business casual”)! I’ve worn hoodies and t-shirts for the past 5 years. Am I finally a grown-up?
Anyway, this past Thursday I had a fantastic night. I was so excited by my situation that I had to take some pictures! From 8-9PM, DJ played xbox while I took a bath and watched last week’s episode of Pretty Little Liars. Not only that, though. I had a bottle of Moet on the edge of the tub in a homemade ice bucket that DJ had prepared for me. He added salt to the ice. Whatta way to relax, my friend! I recommend it. And I held good company with Bruce, rotating from rug to rug.
So here’s the set up: a step ladder to elevate my laptop, external speakers are plugged in through USB, dog wondering what the hell is going on.
Ice bucket, check. Champagne, check, Champagne stopper, check. Lush bath bomb, check. Pretty Little Liars queued up on itunes, check. Gay cowboy rubber duckies, double check.
Do I really even need to tell you that this was a fantastic night? I should make it a weekly thing…
This set of eight books is the Pretty Little Liar’s book series that I obsessively read last fall after the show on ABC Family started last summer! I remember seeing a preview for the show about a year ago at the movie theater before the coming attractions started. I distinctly remember laughing it off, pretending I thought it was way too cheesy to watch, but DJ turned to me and said, “I know you’re intrigued”. That I was, haha! They played the first half of the first season last summer then took a hiatus until the beginning of this year to finish it off (Second season starts this summer, can’t wait!) I needed a fix during that hiatus so I inhaled the book series. I got my best friend Renee addicted to the show and books as well, she has also seen and read it all. Anyway, it is completely indulgent, and I am all about my self-indulgences in this short life. Never heard of Pretty Little Liars? Here’s the ABC Family site and the Official book/show site. I’d offer to lend out these books to whomever is interested but I traded them on paperback swap last fall :X Each one was snatched up within an hour of being posted, they’re pretty damn popular!
The show also has an amazingly lovely selection of music every single week, and I have heard so many different songs on it which I’ve wanted to know and hear more often that I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make a playlist. So the playlist to the left is of songs I’ve heard and loved from the show (and a couple that I already knew but like a whole lot).
All of my most favorite songs from the show seem to be really girly ballads, but what can ya do!? What is especially silly is that I can hear a few of these songs and know the exact scene in which they were being played :{ The playlist is actually chronological for the series. I spent many hours looking up what songs were played in each episode and the ones I have chosen were played in this order throughout the first season.
Which are my favorites? Well, the first song Secrets by The Pierces is the theme song for the show and is really awesome. There is a lot of Katie Herzig played on the show and I kind of liked all of her songs, so it was hard to narrow down to only two for the playlist, but Jack and Jill was an easy choice; really loving that song. The two Brooke Waggoner songs on here are gorgeous as well: A Fresh Pair of Eyes and Go Easy Little Dove, I’ll Be Fine. Some stuff on here that I already loved… The Fray, Josh Ritter, Cat Power, as well as Florence and The Machine.
I’m a huge fan of the music they play on the show and therefore a huge fan of this playlist! I’ve had it built and ready for a few weeks, just wasn’t ready to write out the entry itself but I’ve listened to this thing at least ten times already. And being that my upcoming week will be spent with my headphones on, doing project work, I imagine I’ll listen to it ten or so more times :]
***You definitely don’t need to have seen the show, read the books, or know anything about Pretty Little Liars to enjoy this playlist***
What is a guilty pleasure? Your definition is probably different from mine, and what I may feel guilty about… you may be proud enough of to shout it from the rooftops, or vice versa. Anyway, to me, a guilty pleasure is something you indulge yourself with, something that you’d prefer not to advertise which makes it all that much sweeter.
I think this is an interesting subject. Learning the guilty pleasures of your friends and family can be an intriguing little peak behind their curtain, a little-known nugget about what makes them tick. What is it about this particular indulgence that makes them feel guilty about it? I’ve decided to share three of my favorite guilty pleasures, and I’d love for you to leave a comment on this entry revealing a few of your own!
One of my biggest, if not the biggest musical guilty pleasure I have is U2. I cannot help but love them. If a U2 song comes on the radio, my mood is instantly picked up. So, yeah, I indulge myself with a good U2 song now and again (three great ones are available for a listen over there to the left), but why do I have that nagging little guilt-itch over it? People hate Bono; he’s toolish, and I totally get that. He’s always wearing those damn sunglasses. Doesn’t matter though. Bono can be a class-A douche til the break of dawn and I’m still going to get the itch when I listen to U2. Listen to those three songs and maybe you’ll get the itch too.
I have a LOT of TV guilty pleasures… to name a few: America’s Next Top Model (seen every ‘cycle’… dear lord I think it has been on for like 10 years), sitcoms (The Nanny, The King of Queens, Caroline in the City… I could go on, but these are among the more guilt-worthy), and iCarly. Heard of it? Its on Nickelodeon! The first few times I watched it were simply because there wasn’t anything else on, but then I realized how freakin’ funny it is. So, now I’ve seen every episode a few times over. It has its dumb moments, but generally I find it to be a surprisingly well-written and witty show! My personal favorite character is Sam, the bad-ass blond chick best friend. I’ve even managed to get my boyfriend DJ to love the show :] His favorite character is Carly’s big brother Spencer who is an artist (sculptor). Check out the video to the right to see one of my favorite scenes from any iCarly episode! It is a montage of Spencer playing pranks on the ‘gang’.
And now, of course, we reach the food sector of guilty pleasures. We’ve all got some of these right? I don’t even want to open my mind to all of that right now (trying to be on a diet, keyword: trying), so I’ll just skip straight to the mothership of my foodie guilty pleasures… Chewy Sweetarts. See the picture to the left of the bulk box? The kind that you see at gas stations? Yeah, there’s one of those in our pantry. And there was one in my dorm room when I was in college. And there was one in my parent’s pantry when I was in high school. THEY ARE SO GOOD YOU GUYS. They may also lead to my demise, but that is besides the point! Point is, you need to try them if you haven’t. CHEWY SWEETARTS.
Your turn! What are some of your guilty pleasures?