I have decided to end the week with a little couch and YouTube session. It resulted in pure delight so I figured, why not share?
The first one is from some crazy game show called "Hole in the Wall," and was introduced to me by my wonderful roommate (who, by the way, is now a CPA - woot woot!!). I don't even want to mention how many times this video was replayed. Needless to say, we got quite the kick out of it...
After enjoying some comedic videos, I moved on to my "puppies playing" search (the ussg). Thanks to the sidebar of suggestions for other videos you may like, I came across this puma/chimp playtime montage. It inspired a few happy tears and I think my cheeks are still sore from smiling...so cute.
I hope that if you decided to watch, you at least experienced a little chuckle or cracked a smile. Have a wonderful weekend!
Is everyone else crazy busy lately? It seems like with work and other random happenings, I haven't been able to just sit and take a breather lately. Woof. Although, I did manage to sit outside today for a mere 45 minutes and sustained a pretty serious sun burn. Other than that, I don't have much to show for my week besides a failed recipe. So instead of pretending I enjoyed my avocado-lime pasta (which by the second time I tried eating, gave me the urge to vomit) and encouraging you to try it yourself, I'll just say Happy Monday with some music.
The first song that's been on repeat for me lately, is Jason Mraz's The Woman I Love. He recently came out with a new album and this is definitely one of my personal faves. I've heard that The Fray are known as 'women whisperers,' but I think Mr. Mraz may just take their place.
Next up, is Adele's I'll Be Waiting. 'Old news,' some of you might say. While that is correct, I have been hearing it in on the radio a lot more recently. Not that the classics like Someone Like You and Rumor Has It, are no longer enjoyed, but stations seem to be realizing that the girl's got a lot of other great songs available. If you like riding around with the windows down, blasting your tunes and belting out Adele, I suggest you go with this one.
I was introduced to this video a long time ago, but have been finding it a fun, 3-minute way to kick of my day lately. Not only do these people show off some pretty sick moves (is it too late to learn?!), but it's to a cool version of 'Lights,' by Ellie Goulding. Check it out, and have a happy Tuesday!!
I can't say my weekly routine would be the same without these actors gracing my television screen. As pathetic as it may be, two things on the top of my "what to look forward to" list of the week, include the new television shows, 'New Girl,' and 'Up All Night.' Although it helps to watch all the episodes in order, it's not completely necessary (but you will grow to love the characters more if you watch religiously...duh).
Zooey Deschanel, Max Greenfield, Jake Johnson, and Lamorne Morris are basically my best friends on Wednesday nights. Zooey plays Jess, new roommate to three cute and funny men. Nick is the laid-back bartender, Schmidt is the anal perfectionist, and Winston is the cool ex-NBA playa. The dynamic between them is quite hilarious. I know some people may find Zooey to be a little too quirky at times, which is why I can't 100 percent guarantee you're going to love this show. But personally, I think the occasional, over-the-top quirk factor, is easily overlooked thanks to the remaining brilliance of the show. And I absolutely love Zooey (idol of the year, so far). Watch this short clip. If you're intrigued, I encourage you to block out 30 minutes of your next Wednesday.
Will Arnett, Christiana Applegate and Maya Rudolph are my Thursday night besties in 'Up All Night.' It's on at 8:30 though, so many times my electronics are powered down by then and it's something to save for the weekend. Basically, Will and Christina are new parents, Chris and Reagan, and Maya plays Ava, one of their self-absorbed best friends. Essentially, a comedic dream team if you will. Chris and Reagan go through all the stereotypical "firsts" of parenthood, while Ava does her best to support them. It really didn't take me long to get hooked, as these three actors were already a few of my faves. I can bet you'll want to marry Will after a couple episodes and become BFFs with Reagan and Ava. Love.
Can't help but show you another clip of just Chris and Reagan. Very, very funny.
For some reason, I've lately been thinking about that wonderful decade of the 90s. The primetime of my youth years, I'd venture to say. I was not yet an awkward middle schooler with bad hair and a skewed sense of "fashion," nor was I mixed up in the intricacies of teenage politics and gossip; but instead, a carefree pre-double digit youngster, loving all the offerings of the 90s. And...I miss that.
There are many things that seemed to be solely "90s," that I look back on with such nostalgia. Let's take a gander down memory lane.
Beanie babies. My obsession with beanie babies was as big as, if not bigger than, my modern day obsession with the color pink. I remember my Mom taking me around to different stores that sold Beanies (JT Puffins, anyone?) to see if they had any new ones I had yet to collect. I dare say she enjoyed it almost as much as I did, wink. I also collected every.single. 'Teeny Beany" from the Golden Arches. More accurately, two of each. One to open and play with, and one to keep safe in the plastic wrap. Psychotic? Perhaps. When I think about it now, these miniature stuffed animals were pretty dumb...I kept them (tags on, of course) under my bed in huge drawers and they were barely cuddleable, as they were the size of my adult hand. An incredibly fond memory, nonetheless.
Tamagotchis. Looking back now the idea seems so ridiculous. But this handheld technology was absolutely genius. Feed it, play games with it, clean up it's dumps. How did this not get old? My parents actually gave these to my soccer team in place of a trophy, which was amazing.
Saved by the Bell. I longed to be Kelly Kapowski, punch Jessie Spano, be best friends with Lisa Turtle, date Zach Morris & AC Slater, and do some nerdy things with Screech Powers. Remember when Jessie went bat shit cray and took all those caffeine pills and Zach stopped her?! You will now.
The Spice Girls. Tell me whatcha want, whatcha really really want. Baby and Ginger were my idols. I dreamed of one day being just like them. I had SG Barbies, SG pencils, SG lollipops, Spice World: The Movie, and they were my first concert. Needless to say, I thought I was the shit when my Mom took to Ragstock to outfit myself for what I will remember as one of the best nights of my life. Don't you just wish platforms and around-the-arm barbed wire tattoos would come back into style?
Honorable mention:
Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Da Bulls (two 3-peat NBA Championships! Cray.)
Surge
Fresh Prince/Family Matters
Starter jackets
Goosebumps
Babysitter's Club
I did my best to recall some great 90s moments and memories. I think it's safe to say it will always be a fun decade to look back on.
A minor detail about me that I wanted to drop one of these days, is to express my love for the color pink. If you take a quick look around my room, you can't help but notice that about 87 percent of it is pink. Ok...perhaps that's an exaggeration. Really though, I have a deep and somewhat crazy obsession with pink. In fact, I'm surprised I didn't just call my blog, 'I Love Pink.' The point of my story is that I have found my dream car. Along with piercing my nose, going bungee jumping, and having a [pink] cast on my arm or lower leg, owning a pink car has been in the back of my mind for years now.
I can't tell you when I will be cruising around in these wheels (sooner rather than later would be my obvious preference), but I think it's safe to guarantee you it's one of my greater life ambitions that will come true someday. Can't you see it? Ohmygosh I'm just so excited.
So my current position, serving for the Minnesota Reading Corps as a kindergarten-focused literacy tutor, has been an absolute joy. An average of 3.5 days out of 5, that is. During the first few weeks of the school year before my caseload was established, I was able to spend time in the kindergarten classes just getting to know the students. It was such a blast and I fell in love with (most of) the students. I started off working with 20 kids (mostly K, but some 1st/3rd). Throughout the year I was able to exit students if they were making good progress. For example, some kids I started with knew anywhere from 0-6 letter sounds and after a few weeks/months of working with me, were able to name more than 50 in a minute (SO exciting!!). Anyway, my students have changed over the course of the year and I finally have this little boy who I had already met and gotten to know in the beginning of the year. We'll call him Nick.
Nick has pretty much every speech impediment you can imagine. He cannot pronounce his Rs, Ls, Js, Fs, Gs, or Ss. At least they're very hard to decipher. For example, it took me 3 weeks to figure out his cat's name. He kept saying what sounded like, Awwduh. My guesses were Alder, Olive, Otter...the list goes on. He became very frustrated with me on a daily basis because I was determined to figure this out. So finally I sent a piece of paper with him to give to his mom that said, "My cat's name is _____." Nip this question mark in the bud. The cat's name was Oliver. Who woulda thunk. Anyway, Nick is quite cute. The stories he tells are adorable (especially because of his speech), and he's so polite.
Today, when we were reading our book, Miss Bindergarten Stays Home From Kindergarten (highly suspenseful), I noticed Nick kept quietly saying, "exkuthe me." After about 3 or 4 times, I finally said, "Nick, are you trying to get my attention?" He shyly (very unlike him) looked up at me and shook his head. A few more times I heard him say it so I said, "Nick, why do you keep saying excuse me?" ....... "Becuthe I keep fawwting!!"
I should have known. The younger ones somehow are always FULL of farts. Walk into any room and it's a different world of stank in comparison to the hallway. And I'm lucky enough to get to work with the little stink bombs. When do we realize it's not socially acceptable to crop dust your way through life?
I don't know if you've heard the news, but Beyonce and Jay-Z have had a child. It was only a matter of time before SNL commented. This is probably my favorite part of the whole episode. Maya Rudolph and Jay Pharoah are incredible as B & J, and Kristen Wiig as T. Swift, and Justin Timberlake as Bon Iver are also must-mentions. Ch-ch-check it.
