Music & Books - Episode 5

this episode is packed full of goodies... i have found some keepers.

Music

Broken Bells

Broken Bells

Genre: Alternative/Indie Rock

Rating: MMMM (out of 5)

Top 3 Songs: The High Road, The Ghost Inside, Mongrel Heart

this band is composed of artist-producer Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) and James Mercer, the lead vocalist and guitarist for The Shins. totally digging them. highly recommended. i am not a huge Shins fan so i was a little worried. ended up being there was no need to worry. it is pretty awesome stuff.

Joshua Radin

The Rock and the Tide

Genre: Folk / Singer Songwriter

Rating: MMMMM (out of 5)

Top 3 Songs: Here We Go, We Are Only Getting Better, You Got What I Need, Wanted (ok...4. i can't help my self!)

OMG! one of the best albums ever. Joshua is just pure amazing here. if you like his other stuff you will LOVE this and if you haven't heard him before you will LOVE this. his voice will grab you right after the first word and the lyrics, beats, and everything else are just plain yummy. this is what i call great music. he is coming in March and i will be there. let me know if you would like to join after listening to this!

Quietdrive

Self-Titled

Genre: Alternative Rock / Pop Punk

Rating: MMMM1/2 (out of 5)

Top 3 Songs: C'est la Vie, Fading Light, Until the End (but i also really like Always & It Says Alot)

Quietdrive has done it again! Deliverance was a great album and this one totally meets its expectations. Quietdrive definitely knows how to put what you want to say into a song. i wish i was that talented. i wish they would get more songs on the radio...they could do some good for all those punk kids out there!

Books

Moonraker's Bride

by Madeleine Brent

Genre: Historical Romance

Rating: MMMMM (out of 5)

this book has made it to my top list. i loved it. written in 1973 it tells a story of a young british girl who has lived in China her whole life and knows nothing else until she goes to England and life takes some crazy turns for her. i just looked up the author on wiki and come to find out Madeleine Brent is the fictious name for Peter O'Donnell a british writer of mysteries and comics. wow...who would thought? this book is out of print and i am sure his others are too but i would like to check them out.

Hate List

by Jennifer Brown

Genre: Honestly not sure...it is a novel though :)

Rating: MMM1/2 (out of 5)

don't judge a book by its name...or its description. this book is about Valerie. one day at school her boyfriend brings a gun and shoots a ton of people that were on a hate list they had created (which she thought was just for funnies) and than himself. the story is about her coming back to school and dealing with everyone blaming her for what happened and the lose of her boyfriend who she thought was someone else. by the end of the book you want the best for Valerie and you feel her pain. i love books that make you fall in love with the characters and this book did just that.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

by J.K. Rowling

I hope you all have read this... i think this was my 3rd time. i had to read it before the movie came out (which you have to see if you have not) so i thought i would add it to the list. it so gets 5 M's!

Christmas, New Years, and more..

Tis the Season to be Jolly!

the joys of Christmas:

(the Christmas Tree all ready to go Christmas morning)

the family Christmas day:

(being the photographer means you are in no pictures so i had to get a snapshot of myself!)

the dinosaur hats were a hit...in all kinds of ways:

i got some pretty awesome gifts this year:

RECORD PLAYER!

it also plays cds, cassettes, radio, and mp3 players. it is da bomb

my first official record: Sara Barielles

my parents have old ones but this is the first new one. i love to listen to it on the vinyl

Camera Bag:

i got this bag from Jo Totes. i finally have a cute way to carry my big camera. it also fits the extra lens, notebooks, and more. love love love it!

i also got the first 2 season of The Big Bang Theory (one of my favs)

such an awesome Christmas!

2011 is going to be a great year. i can feel it. i know i said the same thing about last year but you know what? it was totally true. 2009 was crappy...really really crappy. but 2010 was amazing. nothing big happened but life was just better and i was happier. what more can you ask for? i have a feeling some exciting things could happen for me in 2011... i hope that means i will have things to show for it shortly ;)

(me, Kelsey, & Heather @ about 12:14am January 1, 2011)

p.s.. my room is coming along good. can't wait to show pictures. here is a sneak peak of one of my favorite additions:

isn't she gorgeous?? i think i have a girl crush on her!

(NOTE TO READER: this post was finished with my eyes being half dilated. please disregard anything that doesn't look right because i don't see right)

outpouring of quotes...

i have so many i need to share...i hope one is what you are needing in your life right now:

-"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." - Mother Teresa

-"When I was 5 years old my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and i told them they didn't understand life." - John Lennon

"Sitting next to you doing absolutely nothing means absolutely everything to me." - Anonymous

"Everday is an opportunity to be creative.
The cavas is your mind,
The brushes & colours are you thoughts and feelings,
The panorama is your story,
The complete pictures is a work of art called 'My Life',
Be careful what you put on the canvas of your mind today,
IT MATTERS" - Anonymous

"Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule" - Buddha

"To live a creative life we must loose our fear of being wrong." - Joseph Chilton Pearce

"To be nobody but yourself in a world thats doing its best to make you somebody else is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Never stop fighting." - E.E. Cummings

"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet." - James Appenheim

that is all for this evening! i hope you all had a Merry Christmas. someday i will get time to post pictures. i am so excited to share with you what i got!

p.s. it is a freakin blizzard outside.. time to curl in a ball, cry, and guage my eyes out... that doesn't sound depressing at all.

life these days...

most people know i am not a fan of winter. but sometime last week i woke up to a winter wonderland. snow can be a very beautiful thing. this particular morning it was. it was that really fluffly snow that sticks to the trees. snow covering trees = beauty. snow cover streets = panic attacks. as you can see from the pictures below it was a snow that covered the trees but left the streets in good condition, i had to snap some pics on my way to work, it was to hard to resist:

this last week we had Mia while my brother and the rest of his family went to Hawaii (not fair). i totally tried talking my little nephew into taking his place but he wouldn't go for it. crazy huh? someday i will go.. someday i will go... (i just have to keep telling my self that).

she was so precious. i miss coming home from work and having the little girl come running up to me smiling, welcoming me home.

(me & mia enjoying some Tigger Movie...she totally has my bottom lip ;))

i apologize for my lack of blogging. i could go on and on with excuse but don't we all not have enough time this time of year?

instead i will update you on life which is pretty much the same thing:

work is busy. busy, busy, busy. there have been some changes which give me a lot more work to do. it does make the days go by faster. yay!

i have had christmas parties galor. i have a nature to plan things so i usually end up being the planner for most of them. i had a friend, work, and church one to plan this year. they are all over and were a succesful hit. phew!

i have also come to the conclusion that i am a hoarder. maybe just like 1/4 hoarder. don't think i am crazy. at least i admit unlike all you unadmiters out there. i have recently moved into a new living space and i have so much crap. i hoard. but i am improving and throwing a lot of unnecessaries away. thank you!

i will post pictures of the new space shortly. i need to make a trip to Ikea asap to get some additional furniture and it will not be complete until that is done. i am excited to show ya!

i hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and do not forget the reason we celebrate this time of year: the birth of our Lord & Savior.

oh, and just in case: Happy New Year!

i am absolutely loving Joshua Radin's new album. i can't get enough of it. you gotta check it out!

my near death experience...

ok not really...

but we can pretend.

so Saturday evening about 8ish i am sitting home alone in my room watching Hawaii 5.0. (new favorite show)

all of a sudden i hear all thes loud banging noises

freaked out

i paused my show and just sat there. i literally had nothing in me to move my body. i couldn't yell or move an inch. i thnk i may have blinked a few times but that was it

after about sitting there for 3 minutes in totally silence i got the nerve to get up

i had some scissors sitting on my floor from Christmas wrapping. i grab them and held on for dear life

as soon as i reached the doorway to leave my room i heard the garage door go up

i booked it up the stairs and saw as the door was going up my dad pulling in

for a moment i thought it was him doing something outside and a waive a relief washed over me

and than it hit me that he was just barely pulling in, it happened over 3 minutes ago

as soon as he got out i asked him if he did anything outside and he said he just barely got there

great, i thought....

now i have to search the house

oh of course my dad wouldn't come do it so i held on to those scissor, went downstairs, and started searching

at last i came to my mom's old salon and found this:

now can you realize why i was so freaked out?

three doors falling over makes A LOT of noise.

do you get the music chills?

i sure do! all the time. some music just hits the spot and gives me a skin orgasm as this article says... eek, who knew?? (never thought i would write something like that on my blog)
you gotta read this article:
http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/12/10/5619731-messiah-give-you-chills-thats-a-clue-to-your-personality?gt1=43001
i tend to get them on my scalp more than anywhere else.
i am curious if you all do too... let me know!

oh the joys of Christmas!

owls

i am having a tiny obsession with owls these days. they are super cute.

i found this blog called My Owl Barn where you can choose from a variety of cute original owl pictures to make your own 2011 calender. i did it and now have the cutest calender for my desk for this upcoming year! yay!

here is the link once more. enjoy!

slacker... but i am making up for it.

i am a slacker...

this what winter does to me. i am to cold to do anything! and blogging tends to fall at the bottom of the list to do. this week has been a crazy work week. i have had two early days (one extremely early) and it has thrown me all off. my body likes a set schedule M-F and than a not set schedule Sat/Sun. its just how i roll.

but i have been keeping up with my blogs and wanted to share one. you a fan of freebies like me? check out Benign Objects. they are having 25 days of freebies and giveaways. so far i have gotten me quite the collection of free printable gift tags. now i just need a printer to print them...hmm.

today has been a good day, which i am determined means it will be a great weekend. hopefully that means i can get all my Christmas shopping done. hope yours is wonderful!