wrapping it up part 1

2010 was a great year--mostly since i finally made the decision to go back to school and grow up a little bit. i'm not good at documenting my life in pictures though, so i'll use my favorite medium to look back at the year--pop culture.

part 1? the music i loved in 2010.





i'm a huge fan of taylor because her songs are honest, earnest, and she's just so gosh darn likable. did any see her thanksgiving special? it was so fun--i loved getting a behind-the-scenes look. favorites: last kiss, enchanted, speak now, dear john


sara bareilles is easily my favorite musician. i went to her concert back in september--portland was her first stop on the kaleidoscope hear tour!--and was blown away at her amazing-ness. no one writes songs quite like this girl. if you haven't listened to this cd, please do so now. you won't regret it. favorites: hold my heart, basket case, gonna get over you, breathe again (really? i love every song.)

completing my trifecta of favorite female singer-songwriters, ingrid. her lyrics are so sharp and beautiful at the same time. i got this at the very beginning of 2010 and i'm still listening to it. favorites: sort of, are we there yet, everybody


can't leave out glee, right? "forget you" and "poker face" are all-time favorites, but i also love "don't rain on my parade," "take a bow," "i dreamed a dream" and "teenage dream." can't wait to see what they come up with next.

i just bought mumford & sons a month ago so i'm still getting into it, but i love it. it's different from what i normally listen to but the music is so stunning. i love their voices and the music helps my living-in-the-uk fantasy. favorites: awake my soul, after the storm, white blank page



broken bells. part of my goal to listen to different types of music, this album was a great find. i just love how it sounds, that's all. favorites: the high road, the ghost inside



totally an impulse buy, but i ended up loving rihanna's darker sound. this album was definitely all i listened to for a month. favorites: fire bomb, te amo, russian roulette, stupid in love



decided i'd see what all the fuss over paramore was about. i'm not much for screamy music but there's some pretty good stuff on here. that little hayley williams sure can rock. favorites: only exception, brick by boring brick


i just get a kick out of vampire weekend and this album especially. the music is great, but mostly it's just so fun to listen to and i always dance a little bit. which can be weird when i'm alone in the car, but oh well. favorites: white sky, run, holiday, cousins

2010 was a great year for music. what did you love? what are you listening to in 2011? i'm already working through my wishlist with my itunes giftcards. thank you, christmas.

we need a little christmas

all i want to do is relax in front of a few of these movies while i wrap my presents and make a treat or two.

the favorites:


little women


elf


the holiday--and don't you just love iris' little cottage? i'm dying to live in a little place like this




family stone



you've got mail


and these next two aren't technically Christmas movies, but they're magical and i love watching them at this time of the year.


enchanted


stardust


and some old classics i've always been meaning to watch:


holiday inn


meet me in st. louis


white christmas



just noticed that claire danes is in three of these movies. weird? maybe i should just invite her over for Christmas.

All I want for Christmas . . .

a cozy scarf like this one from secret pocket.




clogged boots like these from madewell. or the much more expensive swedish hasbeens.



a pretty, delicate gold necklace like this one from elephantine.



i'm in love with this vintage pajama set from j. crew



i checked this cookbook out from the library and while the recipes look delicious, i really want it for all of the food and health explanations.



i'm totally shocked that i'm saying this, but i think i want an eReader. i love the experience of reading a book, but when i have 10 books checked out from the library at one time, the thought of being able to carry them all in one is very appealing. i actually went in and played with some at borders and that helped win me over. i like the amazon kindle the best, although the touch-screen sonys were nice, too.



the 4th season of FNL, so that i can catch up before the 5th season starts




an itunes giftcard so i can buy some new music, like bruno mars, kings of leon, brandon flowers, and florence + the machine


what are you wishing for?

a little late to the game

i came for the jennifer aniston episode but stayed for the funny. seriously, has everyone seen cougar town but me? i don't know why i wasn't already watching it, seeing as i own all 10 seasons of friends, but i guess i thought it wasn't very good. boy was i wrong.



do yourself a favor and watch this week's halloween episode and prepare to laugh nonstop. the characters are a tad ridiculous, but with a good balance of heart and humor, it's hard not to love. i'm watching the current season and watching it from the beginning on DVD, so it's a little confusing but it is definitely a new fave. as a last-ditch effort to win you over, here's one of my favorite Laurie lines (Busy Phillips, comedic genius)



"owned is when you dominate someone over a long period of time. served is a swift takedown often marked by a dance celebration."

where i've been lately

lately implies recently, but these trips actually happened in august and september, but hey, better late than never, right?

august i made the trip once again to utah, this time with a heavily sedated sister by my side [she'd had some last minute minor surgery and was undriveable, but entertaining none the less] and a mom in a caravan. it was quite the trip. and do i even have to tell you that it was all about the food? we did the old standbys: guru's, zupas, costa vida [where we excited at the same time the football team was entering. what a parade of men! made the mistake of calling my dad to relay the news and he nearly cried at the missed opportunity] and a new favorite: pizzeria 712. i'm sure everyone has already eaten here, but i moved just as it was getting big, so i'm still a newbie. the food was seriously amazing. i had to keep reminding myself i was in provo, and not new york. anybody that can make pickled eggs the best thing i ate all week is pretty awesome.

i also had the pleasure and great fortune of seeing the lovely meg in a wonderful production of romeo and juliet in the park. everyone did a great job and it was so fun to be outside. putting shakespeare in the park on my list of things to see.

september i flew with my sister to oahu to check her into college. we had so much fun and met a lot of great people. driving back to the airport in honolulu from laie, where the school is, was so beautiful. it felt a little bit like being in the jungles on LOST. and how cool is it that the hawaii 5-0 reboot is being filmed in honolulu? more on that later. here's some proof that i was really in hawaii:



temple beach. not as amazing as the beaches down in waikiki and honolulu, but surprisingly empty and peaceful.


the laie temple.


these plants were all over the island and i couldn't get over how much they looked like little birds!


me and mallory on the beach.


we went to the evening show at the Polynesian Cultural Center and even though it's a little expensive, i highly recommend it.


mal's dorm.


i need to start planning my next trip. ideas?

i have a blog? oh riiight.

so it turns out that when life gets really busy, i don't blog. i don't know how other people do it, but it's often the last thing on my mind. still, i've been racking up the things i want to blog about so i figured i should make some time.

i had the crazy idea this summer that i should go back to school. i wasn't finding a teaching job and i didn't have anything else going on, so why not? so i did it. i'm back in school full-time, working on my masters in education. it was a rough transition back into a daily schedule and while i'm still grumpy at giving up some [most] of my leisure time, i love that i'm learning and being productive.

i'll be playing catch up for a while, so bear with me while i figure out how to be a full-time student and not lose my mind.

welcome, fall.

fall is my favorite. i love these pictures from my east coast fall. the colors are so amazing and make me want to go back right this second.

pictures circa november 2008, harper's ferry, west virginia and gettysburg, pennsylvania