live with kelly & michael at disney world!

on tuesday, i went to my first-ever talk show taping at the magic kingdom. i had been hoping for ellen, but no dice. kelly & michael were fabulous, regardless, and michael strahan is now my favorite person in the world. disney was a total cluster that day and made me hate everyone, but it was a wonderful time aside from that. :)

ripa is such a skinny-minnie

diggin' into some turkey legs

zach braff was the guest! 

and ne-yo! not too shabby.

                                       

teaching 'em some dance moves.

some silly family double dare-ish game

while waiting to go onstage, gaston told us he had a picture of himself hanging above his fireplace. love that dude.

confetti for e'rryone!

around town: harbour nights at loews portofino bay hotel

friday night combined just a few of my favorite things: food, wine, good company, a swanky hotel, and did i say wine? i had the pleasure of attending an event called harbour nights at the loews portofino bay  hotel near universal studios with some lovely ladies, and it was a great time.

as we entered, we were each given a wine glass and set free to run wild amongst a bunch of food and wine stations. the individually-sized plates, which included grilled flat iron steak/marsala risotto cake/mushroom ragu, olive oil & herb poached salmon, and ravioli with ricotta/spinach/brown butter sage porcini sauce and black truffle peelings (whoa) were incredible and i had no shame about scarfing down the entrees. and then...DESSERT! triple chocolate gelato and valentine's day-themed vanilla panna cotta with raspberry coulis, take me away. 

there was live music, which included a jazz band, cover band, and opera singers. it really felt like an awesome wedding, minus the drama. they even had free starbucks coffee to cap off the evening which i totally appreciated because i'm old now. of course, i went with decaf. if you're in the orlando area, or visiting, i highly recommend you attend this awesome event! check out some pictures below.

5 things i love right now

1. the VW superbowl spot

as i tweeted on sunday, my new mantra is totally "sticky bun come soon."



2. better oats organic oatmeal

um, chai or cinnamon plum spiced oatmeal? that's like, all healthy and shiz? YES YES YES! i'm a longtime oatmeal fan, so i'm not sure how you'd feel about it if you're not into the whole hot cereal scene. but it's delicious, trust.

3. new hanson music soon!

FINE WINE. can't wait for this video.



4. "the match.com for friends," girlfriend social

i happened to be reading  this article  about the difficulty of making platonic female friends after college, and someone posted a link to this website, girlfriend social, in the comments. i clicked on it thinking that there wouldn't be anyone on it near me, and to my surprise, saw that there were tons of women AND a planned get-together brunch (which i attended this past saturday). it was a fun time and it's kind of a cool concept to be able to meet up with people you wouldn't otherwise come across. and, in my case, without the potential creeper dude factor.

5. the fact that macaulay culkin and adam green are BFFs who make weird art together

you can't make this stuff up.

"that was such a tommy move"

if you haven't seen "workaholics" on comedy central, please go watch immediately. i'm just off a 5-episode bender and my face hurts from laughing.

best & worst dressed: golden globes 2013

last night was a mixed bag, in my opinion. i was pretty much either IN LOVE with the look or absolutely hated it. here are a few of the standouts for me! what did you guys think?!

BEST:

eva longoria

sultry, sexy, but classy. love the sleek hair, too!hayden panettiere

i'm usually not a huge fan of hayden, but her dress and makeup last night were simple and elegant. she looked stunning!jennifer lawrence

love the color, love the neckline, love the contrast of the belt.WORST:emily mortimer 

YIKES. just yikes. is that aluminum foil?olivia munn

livs, honey, did you confuse the golden globes with that tacky bar on the sunset strip?

lucy liu

maybe in a different color. with a different pattern. but this just isn't working for me.

100 things to do in 2012: month (and year) in review

i figured that since i'm housebound with a cold, i better just churn out this post before it's 2014. with the items i crossed off last month, i hit the 40 mark on the list (just 1.5 less than last year's - weird!) with a bunch of "almosts" - i.e., i have almost memorized the busta rhymes verse but wasn't quite confident enough to youtube it, and i have a 3.96 GPA instead of a 4.0. hopefully paring down my list to 50 this year will give me a better chance of accomplishing most of my items! here's a look at what i did in december:

28. send christmas cards: COMPLETED.

they were ecards, buuuuut it's fine. right?

52. wear red lipstick: COMPLETED.

i stopped by the lancome counter for this one on the afternoon of new year's eve, pretending that i was going to some fancy party instead of dick clark-ing it (ryan seacrest-ing it, rather), and trying on a shade called "retro rouge." i felt kind of like a clown and wanted to take it off, but my dear mom informed me that it made me look like i "stepped out of a fashion magazine" and convinced me to wear it for the rest of the day. "you're getting so many looks!" she said. um, probably because i looked like a clown?!

73.  try on clothes i can't afford: COMPLETED. 

i went into nieman marcus and i'm sure the fabulously flamboyant male employee had my number (it's 21...forever 21) from the moment i strolled in and picked up a $300 rhinestoned alice & olivia top and $200 jeans to try on. I'M ALLOWED! and they did look cute, right?! i still felt slightly bad just

flouncing out without anything, but meh.

91. buy a scratch ticket: COMPLETED.

every year, my uncle buys all of his nieces, nephews, and grandchildren a shit-ton of scratch tickets. and on average, i win like $0. sometimes $2. but i went of my own volition to the machine at my family's local grocery store in NH and picked out a glitzy $2 one called "holiday gold" and promptly won $20. show me da gold!

99. play a dance game on wii: COMPLETED.

it was xbox, but semantics. i am the undefeated champion of "just dance" in my aunt & uncle's household.






OTHER PICTURES FROM BREAK:

my parents' living room, full of holiday cheer

one direction cardboard cut-outs in newbury comics....so lifelike!

providence, RI on the way home from visiting family

NH in a photo at lull farm

don't even ask

winter wonderland!

wine tasting at labelle winery (so good)

my uncle's birthday celebration in NY - he made us all kir royales

fondue fun with some lovely ladies!

50 things to do in 2013!

for the first time in a long time, i am REALLY looking forward to the new year! besides the fact that 13 is my lucky number and i'm slightly superstitious, i have a bunch of fun things like finishing grad school and hoooopefully getting my second full-time job on the agenda. in the past, i've made a list of 100 things, but i typically only do half of them anyways (post on that to come), so i scaled it down a bit. i've culled some ideas from my wonderful friends and twitter followers, and also carried some over from previous years that i still want to accomplish. i'd love to hear your goals for the new year!

1. complete a 5k
2. standing in the middle of a big (safe) city, walk for 15 minutes in one direction and see what i find
3. learn one song on harmonica
4. receive my master's degree
5. ...and secure a full-time job!
6. see blue man group, because i've never seen it and that's just wrong
7. ride in a hot air balloon
8. visit the pacific northwest (preferably portland, OR)
9. make something crafty for my home
10. write a missed connection on craigslist
11. dance on stage at a concert
12. take a photo of a famous movie/TV house
13. see the same band twice live
14. eat at the "be our guest" restaurant at disney's fantasyland
15. meet shaun white
16. have breakfast in bed
17. pay for a car behind me in a drive-thru
18. receive a tweet from a celebrity
19. go to a museum i've never been to
20. swim with dolphins
21. eat at an michelin-starred restaurant
22. drink a mint julep
23. hit a home run
24. hula hoop
25. play a musical instrument
26. go somewhere that requires a passport
27. find and follow a yellow brick road
28. send a query letter to an editor or literary agent
29. buy fruit or veggies from a farmers market
30. crash a wedding
31. go on a picnic
32. finish my europe scrapbook
33. go ice skating
34. visit nashville, TN
35. make my own marshmallows
36. go vegan for a week (SO SKEPTICAL)
37. make a playlist with one great song from every year since i was born (1986) to 2013
38. visit st. augustine
39. visit the town that inspired stars hollow in "gilmore girls" (washington depot, ct)
40. take 5 photos of 5 different natural landmarks
41. compliment a stranger every day for a week
42. sing karaoke
43. fly first class
44. meet someone from twitter in person
45. do 5 things to pamper myself
46. have a conversation in a different language
47. cook one of julia child's recipes
48. host a dinner party
49. have a midnight kiss on new year's eve
50. party with celebrities

the top 15 songs of 2012!

i started out with 20, and thought that was a bit much. then i tried to narrow it down to 10 and just. couldn't. do it. so 15 seemed like a nice in-between number. without further ado, my 15 most favorite ditties of 2k12. i also made a playlist for your easier-listening pleasure (minus bass drum of death because...SPOTIFYYY!).

honorable mentions: tyga - "rack city," sleeper agent - "get burned," justin bieber- "boyfriend," nicki minaj - "va va voom," walk off the earth - "red hands"

15.  one direction - "what makes you beautiful"

my boys barely cracked the list (why did i just call potentially underage lads "my boys"? god i'm pathetic), but they had to make an appearance. a soaring chorus, slight british accents and a generally shiny-happy vibe made this one the clear winner from them, though "kiss you" from their new album was also a contender. i mean, what? kidding. i don't know any other one direction songs.

14. FIDLAR - "got no money"

and now for something COMPLETELY different, because FIDLAR might be the anti boy-band. i say this because one of the lyrics to this song is "i got no money for speed." a fun ode to beavis-and-butthead-style slackerdom, that begins with a quote by a surfer from a local news story that went viral.

13. taylor swift - "we are never ever getting back together"

oh, swifty. i really despise you and your slutty songwriting ways, but ya done good, girl. i still mostly just enjoyed this track because every time i heard it, i entertained the possibility that it was about john mayer. which for some reason is really amusing to me. 

12. electric guest - "this head i hold"

a delicious, retro indie pop nugget with a sorta cabaret vibe that i'm guessing you'd either love or hate. "sit back, don't think. get high, take drink." sounds good to me! 

11. walk off the earth - "somebody i used to know" (gotye cover)

at least 5 times better than the original. possibly 10, IMO. every member's part adds something special to this rendition, and i much prefer gianni's voice to gotye's (the one who looks like jesus and sings the chorus). also, BEARD GUY!

10. bass drum of death - "white fright"/"i wanna be forgotten"

i cheated a liiiil' bit with this one, but i just couldn't decide between the two singles that one-man-band BDOD released this year. pure lo-fi, garagey goodness with ridiculous hooks. i can't wait to hear the full-length he's planning on releasing next year. 

9. superchunk- "this summer"

superchunk can do no wrong in my eyes, but their last album left me a little disappointed. so when they released this perfectly-timed single that quite honestly could have been put out in 1993, i was STOKED! i'd missed you, superchunk.

8. bruno mars - "locked out of heaven"

this had to make the list, solely for being the first and only bruno mars song that i actually liked. and i more than liked it. is this guy's voice real life? oh yeah yeah yeah yeahhhh!

7. natural child - "baby"

these dudes released not one, but TWO full-length albums this year, so i had plenty of pickins when it came to their amazing brand of pure rock 'n roll. i kept coming back to this one, though...just about two minutes of smoky, '70s-style goodness. and i found a great live version!

6. pujol - "mission from god"

the first time i heard this song, i think i jumped up and ran around at hyper-speed like kevin mccallister in that home alone scene when he first realizes that he made his family disappear. by the end, i was almost definitely jumping on my bed and eating popcorn, shouting "i gotta know about youuuuu!"

5. the cadillac black - "tennessee mojo"

without a doubt, the cadillac black is one the best bands you've never heard of (unless you know me, that is). while their entire self-titled debut album is full of down-home, toe-tapping tunes that are perfect for drinking whiskey and donning cowboy boots, this one rose to the top of the heap for me. i want to marry the lead singer's voice. it's like sexy, southern-fried butter. couldn't find a video of the album track, but this live acoustic version might be even better. can i be from tennessee so i can get this mojo, please?

4. the mowgli's - "san francisco"

i didn't hear this one until november (after seeing the mowgli's live), but it was quickly thrown into heavyheavyheavy rotation on my ipod. like, i think i commuted back and forth to school for two weeks straight without listening to anything else. DO YOU FEEL THE LOVE? 

3. carly rae jepsen - "call me maybe"

as i noted in a previous post, i still contend that this is the best pop song of all time. what's to say that's not already been said? this was one of those little earworms that you just couldn't avoid this year, no matter how you tried. but why would you want to? as my favorite writer, rob sheffield, said about this one: "This song once made me loiter two hours at an Arby's in Queens, nursing my curly fries, waiting for it to come on the radio. I could have just plugged in my iPod, but I wanted to hear it blast out loud and light up the room."

2. japandroids - "fire's highway"

words that come to mind when i hear this song: LIFE!!! YEAH!! WHOAAAAAAH! YEAH!! LIFE!! WOW!

...just listen and you'll see what i mean.

1. walk the moon - anna sun

this song has all the hallmarks of a truly great tune, in my opinion: it makes me smile, it makes me tear up, it makes me want to dance, and most importantly, it makes me want to sing along. YES! check out the lead singer's moves at 1:53. love.

what were your favorite songs from this year?!

the funniest "elf on a shelf" pictures i could find

i was inspired by my pal tony, after seeing this hilarious picture of the creepy "elf on a shelf" toy, to scour the internet in search of some more hilarious placements. people are pretty damn creative, i'd say.

movember elf

oh, behave!

tebow time

kitty cuddles

gone fishin'

100 things to do in 2012: month in review

ahhhh it's december! i just finished my comprehensive exams this weekend for my master's (to graduate in the spring!) and am so looking forward to a nice month-long winter break in new hampshire in just about a week. :) this month was a little slow, but i managed to check some more items off of the list.

speaking of which, i'm starting to come up with ideas for my 2013 list. if you have any great ideas, leave 'em in the comments!


7. take a boat ride: COMPLETED.

so this might be kind of a cheat, but i went to disney with my friend & her hubby and we did both the jungle river cruise as well as the "tom sawyer's island" thing, which involved a barge/ferry ride over to the island. close enough for me!

56. pop champagne: COMPLETED.

i spent thanksgiving solo this year, but decided to spice it up a bit with a breakfast of french toast and mimosas before my big meal of savory crockpot chicken sandwiches, stuffing, and broccoli. i managed to pop the cork without hurting myself, hooray!

77. find one new song that i like each week: COMPLETED.

lots of great new tunes! check out my november playlist for some of 'em. i also made a christmas playlist that you can enjoy while baking cookies, trimming the tree and binging on 'nog.

the running of the turkeys

okay, so...i had a flashback to a commercial that used to make me laugh every thanksgiving/holiday season when i was a child, which involved a turkey running away from the thanksgiving table. i swore it was for butterball.

...but i just tried to find it and all i can find is this swanson chicken broth ad which appears to be from the last few years. am i going insane, or does anyone else remember the original running turkey spot? THANKSGIVING PROBLEMS!

show review: walk off the earth at the social

last night was SO MUCH FUN! as some of you probably recall, upon discovering the viral youtube sensation that was walk off the earth's cover of gotye's "somebody that i used to know" in january of this year, i went through a few-week-long obsession where i pretty much watched it and their other amazing videos all day, err'day. i've since calmed down a bit, but i was able to see WOTE at their sold-out show show here in orlando, and it was legit so magical, guys.

stuff!

1. i had gotten my ticket, but my friend didn't get a chance to get hers before the show sold out. i had posted on the band's facebook page to see if a fellow fan had an extra ticket, and the super-sweet lady in the band, sarah blackwood, responded and told me to email her. she put me on the guest list (!) and i gave my friend my ticket. SO NICE!

2. the opening band, the mowgli's (above), are my new favorites despite the grammatical incorrectness of their name. they were all fabulous california flower children and i'm sensing that they're ones to watch. great energy and i had total crushes on all the boys in the band. loving their song, "san francisco," which you can check out below.

3. julia nunes followed. i had never heard her music before, and she had a phenomenal voice. she was pretty amusing on stage and sang a song about pizza burning her mouth. in between her set and WOTE's, the dude from the mowgli's came into the crowd and serenaded a birthday girl with an acoustic version of say anything's "alive with the glory of love" (a song about the holocaust, so that was weird).

4. walk off the earth was fanfriggintastic. they played a great mix of their originals & covers,
which included rihanna's "man down," B.o.B.'s "magic," fun.'s "some nights" with julia nunes, and a live re-creation of their video for "the backin' up song." there were confetti and beach balls and balloons released into the audience at several points (loving the chaotic photo i captured of that madness), more than one sing-along, a panoramic crowd shot with the band, and plenty of instrument tossing.

pictures!!

below is the mind-blowing video for their fantastic first major-label single, "red hands," which was shot in one take, and directed by a kid i went to emerson with. the unedited version is worth a watch, too, and basically made my brain explode! i have also been digging their cover of nirvana's "polly," so i threw that on here as well.