ThirtyFour

Woah. Hey. Thought I forgot how to blog, didn't you? I didn't. I have just been unmotivated as of late. In fact, I had decided not to do my annual birthday wishlist post but Emily pretty much told me I had to and as you all know, that girl can get me to do pretty much anything.

Here is a look back at all my previous wishlists:
Thirty
Thirty One
Thirty Two
Thirty Three

The same rules apply, meaning there really are no rules. Weird things, repeat things, funny things, attainable things and things that will most likely never happen. It's all there. It's my list and I can wish for what I want!

So anyway, here you go. 34 wishes for my 34th birthday.

1.) A Fangirl movie. (Good Lord, this would make me happy)

2.) For Emily to play Cath in said Fangirl movie. (She practically IS Cath in the real life anyway, so it makes perfect sense.)

3.) These Harry Potter prints for my yet to be redesigned kitchen --------> HP coffee prints

4.) To go back to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

5.) For Rick to shower/shave/get his haircut on The Walking Dead. Come on, SOMEONE has to know how to cut hair during the apocalypse, right?? Not all the barbers turned into walkers, did they!?

6.) For The Tragically Hip to come to DETROIT. Not Windsor. Detroit.

7.) To see The Killers in concert again. Soon. Please.

8.) To go to San Diego Comic-Con.

9.) And hang out with Nathan Fillion.

10.) To have lunch with Rainbow Rowell and let her know how much I admire and respect her fan interactions and her brilliant writing skills.

11.) For Belle to stop being so damn annoying on Once Upon A Time. And for her to not wear all that clown makeup. And have regular eyelashes. And just to stop talking. She needs to pretty much just read books.

12.) For my neighbor to stop smoking. The smoke wafts into my house through the windows and I hate hate hate hate it so much.

13.) For people to stop using "are" instead of "our". For example: This isn't are invoice. Uhhh, whose invoice isn't it???

14.) For someone to make me a Harry Potter cake. With a tiny Ron on it.

15.) To be able to apparate.

16.) A Lego room.

17.) This Ed Sheeran book ------> Ed Sheeran: A Visual Journey

18.) This coffee mug ---------> Accio Coffee

19.) A 4 day work week.

20.) Mandatory nap time every day.

21.) For you to help out this wonderful family who means a lot to my family:
Kathy Houghton's Angels

22.) To enjoy working out. I hate it. I hate it with every fiber of my being.

23.) To not be so rushed all the time.

24.) A personal chef.

25.) For people to be nicer to each other.

26.) For the end of White Collar to be really great. (It comes back this Thursday, November 6th!)

27.) An invisibility cloak. (Then I could hide from people at work)

28.) One of those new futuristic pop machines in my house. ALL the vanilla coke I want!

29.) A personal grocery shopper (to go along with my personal chef).

30.) For Carrie to move back to Michigan.

31.) To go on a real, honest to goodness vacation with Jeff and Charley.

32.) For Bristow to stop licking Logan's ears.

33.) To take C to a Red Wing game.

34.) To visit my parents when they go to Arizona.

I didn't put Midnight Sun on this year's list. I think I have accepted the fact that it just isn't happening and I am okay with it. As usual, I really just want all the people in my life to be happy and healthy. That would be the best present of all.

I'll end this year's post with Ewan McGregor wishing me a Happy Birthday. What?? It could happen!

Quick Thoughts

Some quick thoughts about the Emmy's (mostly thought last night and texted to Carrie):

-Seth Meyers did a great job. His opening bit had me laughing throughout it. He wasn't obnoxious and he played off the audience very well.
- I love, love, love how all the old SNL cast members still laugh at each other and very clearly love one another.
-Jimmy Fallon just seems like a genuinely great guy.
-People are really angry about that whole Sofia Vergara bit. I know they were trying to be funny and clever while talking about boring stuff but they managed to distract everyone from paying attention to all the boring stuff by getting them riled up about putting a talented (beautiful) woman on a turntable and making everyone stare at her. I thought it was a little weird and went on for way too long.
-Sofia Vergara is real irritated that everyone is so mad about it. She says she was making fun of herself.
-Weird Al was wonderful. I loved his new theme song mashup so much.
-I am really super bummed Matt Bomer didn't take the award home for Best Supporting Actor. Every single one of the actors in The Normal Heart deserved to be recognized for their phenomenal portrayals in that film.
-Good thing it did win for Outstanding Television Movie. When they all went up on stage, I couldn't get over all the talent standing up there. Again, it's such an extraordinary cast.
-I love Ricky Gervais.
-Game of Thrones was shut out of every category. Balls.
-I could listen to Lena Heady talk all the livelong day.
-As soon as Modern Family won for best comedy I knew people were going to be pissed. It's a great show but I don't know if it deserved the Emmy for this past season. Don't get me wrong, it was good, it just wasn't as great as it normally is and I know people are sick of it.
-I am convinced Jessica Lange is always drunk.
-Why so many Pepsi commercials? Newsflash: No one likes Pepsi.
-I was sad for all the Sherlock fans out there for not being able to see Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman make acceptance speeches. I have never watched the show but I know how loyal and obsessive the fan base is so it would have been neat to see.
-Do any of you watch The Amazing Race? How does that show keep winning year after year? I don't know anyone who watches it.
-Are we ready for people to stop saying "Alright, alright, alright" to Matthew McConaughey yet?
-Speaking of McConaughey... He's quite tan, no?
-Handing the typewriter to George R.R. Martin made me LOL
-The Billy on The Street bit was very funny.
-While I thought Sara Bareillis was absolutely stunning (STUNNING), I was a little disappointed in the Robin Williams tribute. I thought Billy Crystal was good but I wanted more. I don't know. Everyone says it was beautiful and I guess it was... I just wanted more.
-Good for Breaking Bad taking home ALL the awards. I should probably start watching that soon, eh??

And finally...

-Matt Bomer is the most handsome, isn't he? SIGH. So dreamy.

Quick book update:

Landline by Rainbow Rowel. Read it. Love it. As in keeping with all her others, this book made me laugh out loud and swoon and connect and just love. I am obsessed with her writing. Obsessed.

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes. I absolutely adored this book. I did that thing that I do where I go back and reread bits of it as soon as I finished it. I love when that happens.

Man, I love good books. They make me so happy.

Quick TV update:

We have been watching The Quest on ABC (Thursdays, 8pm) with Charley these last few weeks. It's a reality competition set in a fantasy world. It is hardcore geeky. HARDCORE. GEEKY. But it's really, super fun and I know Jeff would jump at the chance to join those contestants every week in solving whatever nerdy, magical thing they have to solve in order to save the day.

The True Blood finale aired.

**SPOILERS**

I don't have a lot of thoughts on it. That's not true. I have lots of thoughts on it but they don't really matter. The show ended on a very mellow note. A far cry from the way it burst onto our television screens all those years ago.

Bill made Sookie kill him. I guess because he was already dying and he felt like he needed to be with his family (his original family), even though he kept saying how much Sookie and Jessica meant to him. He wanted her to be able to live a normal life without him. The way they had Sookie do it completely grossed Jeff and I out. I felt like it took away from the moment. I know their vampires don't die all nice and neat like a Buffy vampire does but ugh. Just gross. Anyway, I expected him to die so that was whatever. Two things I was really impressed with: 1) The way they handled the Jessica/Hoyt reunion. It was completely unexpected and the way they got those two to find each other again was very sweet. 2) Jason Stackhouse's progression over all the seasons. I felt like his character, more than any other made the most development and he will go down as one of my most favorite television characters of all time. I love Jason Stackhouse. Eric and Pam provided some comic relief as usual, but there wasn't nearly enough of them. I read that they didn't think they would have Alexander Skarsgard for even the little bit that they did because of scheduling conflicts, so we should be happy with what we got I suppose. They sure made Sam Merlotte fade away, didn't they? Tara got dead-dead. That's all I'll say about that though because I hated that storyline so much it's almost not even worth mentioning. Lafayette is happy with Jessica's ex-boyfriend, James. Arlene is happy with her vampire boyfriend. Andy and Holly love each other and Jason is happy with Hoyt's ex, Bridget.

Oh! Did you all catch Charlaine Harris's cameo at the end?

And who did Sookie end up with? That's question of the day. No one knows. Some boy.

The end.

Bottomline: I had no expectations going into this episode. Finales are never what you want them to be (with the exception of Lost. I loved the Lost finale. Yeah, yeah. I know I'm pretty much the only one in that party), but this show has been on such a downhill slope for so long that I knew the last episode was going to be meh. I'm still grateful for the characters and what little storylines they had that made sense and for Alexander Skarsgard bringing Eric Northman to life (perfectly) and for taking Steve and Sarah Newlin; two mundane, one dimensional book characters and making them some of the funniest parts about the show. I'm grateful for being able to see Merlotte's come to life, just like how I saw it in my head (same goes for Fangtasia) and for taking a gamble on this little vampire book series to begin with. It may have gone off track. It may have gone askew but I refuse to regret watching something that brought me the Sherriff of Area 5. So with all that being said, Thanks Charlaine Harris and Alan ball.

ALLL the pop culture!

What an explosion of fun pop culture events this week!

Let's begin with the most important, shall we?

J.K. Rowling wrote a quick, 1500 word short story (I guess that's what short stories are, aren't they? Quick?) for Pottermore in regards to the Quidditch World Cup. I'll be honest... I've let my Pottermore perusing slack this last year. I was greedy and was frustrated with how slowly they were doling out the chapters for us to explore, but when news broke that Rowling wrote an update on our favorite wizards? I jumped right back in (after I figured out what my screen name and password were. Ha). Under the guise of Daily Prophet reporter, Rita Skeeter, Rowling gave us a little insight as to what Harry, Ron, Hermione and a few others from Dumbledore's Army have been up to. I won't go into to the details of it (it's 1500 words, people. Go read it yourself!) but I will share with you how much I adored it and how wonderful it was to have JK's voice in my head again. I wasn't prepared to get all goosebumpy and emotional about a silly short story but I did.  It's funny and cute and just right. The perfect antidote for a Harry Potter fanatic sorely missing the series. Pair that with Diagon Alley opening up at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and us muggles are having an absolutely fantastic week! From the pictures and videos I have seen, it looks spot on. I cannot wait to go back and experience the rides and new stores for myself. It will be a long while, though. This girl does not have the patience to stand in line for 47 hours anymore. Regardless, I'm sure it's awesome and having these fun little tidbits come about this last week has filled the void in my Harry Potter loving heart. And as much as I love all the Potter talk going around, I cannot tell you how irritating it is to me that as soon as that new short story came out, the media started asking Daniel Radcliffe about reprising his role as Harry. WHAT. It's a SHORT story! Do people honestly believe that the gang is going to get back together to film a 1500 word newspaper article? Stop it, media. Stop it. Just enjoy what J.K. Rowling wants to give us for heaven's sake! Anyway, if you haven't read the quick update or seen any of the new Diagon Alley stuff, what are you waiting for?! Get to it! Also, it's a Harry Potter Weekend on ABCFamily this weekend. How perfect is that, right?

They released the Gone Girl trailer this week. Holy moly, you guys. I cannot even explain how excited I am for this movie. SO excited.


Speaking of Gillian Flynn's brilliance, they also made a movie for Dark Places which I am equally as excited about. It is coming out September 1st and stars Charlize Theron as the main character, Libby Day. There is no trailer for that one yet, which I find odd but I am stoked to see it nonetheless. Also, while we are already on the subject of Gillian Flynn's books, they are making her debut novel, Sharp Objects into a television series and it's going to be written/run by Buffy alum, Marti Noxon!!

Seriously... pop culture explosion this week. I'm telling you. But wait, there's more!

While we are on the subject of books, I can tell you all what was released this past week. Spoiler alert: So much!

Rainbow Rowell's, Landline came out on Tuesday and she tweeted that there is an update on one of the couples from one of her previous books in this story. I do not know which one and if you know, please do not tell me but I am so excited about this it practically makes me giddy. Honestly, I could squeal in delight! But I won't. Yet. I'll do that when I read the book. !!!!

Veronica Roth released Four: A Divergent Story Collection as well on Tuesday. This is a collection of stories told from Tobias's perspective. I have read a few scenes from his point of view and I absolutely love them so I am really looking forward to reading these.

One of my other favorite authors, Heather Webber, released a new book from her Lucy Valentine series, Undeniably Yours this month. I absolutely, positively adore this series. You should check it out if you are looking for a fun series about an aura reading matchmaker who helps solve mysteries, has adorable pets and a super awesome boyfriend. They are happy books and make me smile. They will make you smile too, I promise!

Has anyone read the new Charlaine Harris book, Midnight Crossroad? It's the first in a trilogy and from what I can gather by looking at the reviews on Goodreads, they seem really mixed. I will probably check it out because I'm curious but I'm not really in any hurry to do so. We'll see.

Speaking of trilogies, the 3rd book in the All Souls Trilogy, The Book Of Life comes out next week. I loved the first book of this series (A Discovery Of Witches). The second one (Shadow Of Night) was really, really, really hard to get through. Really. I'm ambivalent about reading this new one. I do want to know what happens but I don't know if I can endure a 576 page snoozefest. Who am I kidding? Of course I'll read it.

They didn't cast Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel as Anna and Elsa for the Frozen Once Upon a Time story arc but they did cast Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet from Lost, AKA: my most favorite Lost character!!) for a role in the upcoming season. They haven't said who she will play yet but rumors are, she might be bad and she plays bad real, real good.

I'll end this bit of pop culture goodness for the week with Matt Bomer getting an Emmy nomination (!!!!) for his portrayal of  Felix Turner in the exquisitely done HBO movie, The Normal Heart (directed by Ryan Murphy and starring a billion fantastic actors). This movie is no joke, guys. It was written by Larry Kramer and based on the play of the same name. It focuses on the rise of the HIV-AIDS crisis in 1980's New York and is told from the perspective of writer/activist, Ned Weeks (played by the stellar Mark Ruffalo). It is absolutely phenomenal and not only does every single person in the cast deserve to be nominated, the movie itself does too. It is heartbreaking and gut wrenching and  heartwarming and any other heart adjective you can think of. Do me a favor and check it out and see how well deserved this nomination is for Matt Bomer. It's nice to see what I have known all along; the fact that he is such a great actor, becoming recognized among everyone else. Well done, Mr. Caffrey. Well done.
Here is a link to a really good interview with him:
Matt Bomer Talks Surreal Emmy Nomination

In continuation of mine and Jeff's summer television viewing, (which seems to consist of only period shows) we have been watching The Tudors on Netflix... But Sarah! You still have Doctor Who and Orange Is The New Black to finish and you STILL haven't even started Breaking Bad! Listen dudes, I know all of this and I will get to those... eventually but we are having fun with reliving the olden times right now and I am okay with that so you should be, too. Anyway, The Tudors... It's set in 16th century England and is based on King Henry VIII of England. It was on Showtime from 2007-2010 and starred Jonathan Rhys Meyers as King Henry. How do we feel about Jonathan Rhys Meyers, guys? I feel like he overacts every scene he's in. He yells a lot and gets this crazy eyed look in his eyes when he is trying to be serious about something. He whines a lot too... come to think of it, he reminds me a bit of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. Yes, that's exactly who he reminds me of. Aside from that little bit, I am enjoying the show so far. We are about halfway through the first season. Henry Cavill plays Charles Brandon and all you really need to know about him is boy oh boy, is he handsome. I know he's Superman now and all that jazz but my goodness. Handsome.

I heard this week that Disney is developing a live action Dumbo movie. I have just one thing to say about this: NO.

I finally gave in and watched The Odd Life Of Timothy Green with Emily last weekend. I know it's a Jennifer Garner movie, so I should have been all over it when it first came out... and I was. Until I realized that it was probably incredibly sad. I put off watching it. Put it off and put it off and then I caved. Well, I am happy to say that I did not cry. Maybe I hyped it up too much or maybe I was just frustrated with it. I wanted it to be more than it was, I suppose. I don't really get the point it was trying to make. SPOILERS AHEAD----> Jim (Joel Edgerton) and Cindy (also the names of Mr. and Mrs. Walsh on 90210 but that's neither here nor there. I just had that in my head every single time they introduced themselves) can't have kids. It's super sad and devastating, especially when she's crying in the baby room they have in their house... Sidenote: why would you put a baby room together before you're even pregnant? I don't know but let's just go with it... Through a little bit of gardening magic, they get Timothy Green. He has leaves on his legs... Let's fast forward a bit... Once all these leaves on his legs (also representing attributes that they wanted their child to have) fall off, he goes away. He goes away because...??? I don't know why. Just because? And they get to adopt a girl who looks about 9 or 10. Oh. Kaaay. I don't know guys. I just didn't get it. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED JG in it. She was awesome as always and there were some cute parts, I just did not understand the message they were going with. Truly fall in love with a kid who goes away and you'll get to adopt a different kid of the same age?

I also made her watch Center Stage because it is one of my most favorite movies. Yeah, I said it. I love it. And she liked it too (don't let her tell you otherwise). Next time I will be introducing her to Moulin Rouge!. Because Duh. It's Moulin Rouge!.

How about that World Cup, eh?? Hahaha, just kidding. I don't care about the world cup.

I still blog?

I promised Emily I would blog since I haven't in awhile. Actually, we made a deal; She would start writing again and I would start blogging again. I think it's a lovely deal, so here I am.

I'll start with all the finales that happened recently (and not so recently). Beware of some spoilers. I'll give warnings, no worries. 

How about that Game Of Thrones finale, eh?? It felt like the quickest season of any show I have ever watched and that is probably because I enjoyed it so much. The actors (Peter Dinklage in particular) are so freaking wonderful that you are mesmerized the entire hour the show is on your screen. It feels like every episode is 15 minutes long. Anyway, it was a great season and I loved the finale. I'm not so keen on the battle episodes... that has nothing to do with the show, though. I just get bored really quickly or I have to close my eyes because it gets too icky.

Reign was really good. I love that show. Mostly I just love looking at all the clothes they wear and it's lovey dovey and really cute sometimes and what can I say? I'm a sap.

 I was really happy with the Once Upon A Time season finale (it was probably my favorite episode of all the seasons) but I'm just a tad irked (SPOILER ALERT) by the Frozen reveal. That movie hasn't even been out a year and they are already introducing Elsa?? It makes me feel like the show is just a free for all with no real objective. It's all good, though. As long as I have Colin O'Donoghue on my TV as Captain Hook, I am absolutely fine. Also, if they can get Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell on to reprise their characters?? SOLD.

Oh my goodness, Vampire Diaries! My beloved Vampire Diaries let me down big time this season. Ugh, I was so bored and confused by the storylines. It was chaotic and jumped all over the place and I didn't care for the new people they brought on...with the exception of Enzo, I suppose. I'm cool with Enzo. But yeah... chaos, whining, blah blah... until the finale. SPOILER ALERT... I freaking loved the finale. Especially the last 10 minutes or so. ALARIC (Matt Davis) IS BACK! My phone autocorrects Alaric to ALARIC now because I was so excited when I was texting Natalie about it I was using all caps (CAPSLOCK!!). SO. EXCITED. Alaric is one of my most favorite characters and I was heartbroken when he left the show. My favorite episodes since then have been the ones where he showed up as a ghost of some sort. I know I am in the minority with being so happy about the episode, particularly because Damon is dead-dead with Bonnie (but who cares about Bonnie, right?) as far as we know which means less Ian Somerhalder on the show, I suppose? I am assuming that anyway. He won't be off of it. I'm sure he will still be on in some way and they will find a way to bring him back but I am just going to go ahead and make a confession here... I hate Damon and Elena together. There. I said it. In the beginning I was all about them getting together but I have come to realize that they annoy me together. Don't hate me Delena lovers! I'm really, really looking forward to next season. Really. All along I have been saying they need to go back to basics. Go rewatch that first season and remind themselves how simple and great it was. Hopefully they will do that for next season.

I was meh about the New Girl finale. Honestly, I was meh about all of last season. I still enjoyed watching it but it didn't make me laugh as much as last year.

Grey's Anatomy was whatever. I can't decide if I am going to continue watching next season or not. Pretty much every episode I watch irritates me but I have come this far... I feel like I have an obligation to stick with it until the end. I don't know. We'll see how I feel come September. With as big of a deal as they made about Cristina (Sandra Oh) leaving you would think they wouldn't have overshadowed her last episode with some stupid explosion catastrophe at a mall. It was completely unnecessary. Most things on that show seem unnecessary the last few years, though.

The Castle finale... so disappointing. It was a stupid episode about (SPOILER ALERT) them running around trying to get Beckett's "husband" (that no one knew existed until this episode)  to sign divorce papers so she could marry Castle. The last 3 minutes consisted of everyone getting ready for the wedding and ended with a shot of Rick's car flipped over in a ditch, on fire. He was on his way to the wedding, of course. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

The Modern Family finale was cute. My favorite parts were the Andy/Haley scenes. Those two belong together. They are adorable.They are each other's lobsters.

True Blood starts back up this Sunday. The final season. I'm not too sad about it. It should be ending. It has gotten way too crazy these last couple years for me to take the storyline seriously. Not that I could ever take it that seriously (it's about vampires for crying out loud) but I was always invested in the story because it was entertaining. I couldn't even tell you what last season was about. I remember being thoroughly disappointed after the finale last year, though therefore, I have zero expectations for this last season. Obviously they aren't going by the books, which is fine, I wasn't happy with the direction those went either (apparently I am just too hard to please) but it would be nice if they chilled out a bit and stopped trying to be gory for shock value and water cooler talk. One other thing: If Eric Northman is not in this final season then all is done. True Blood will be dead to me. True death dead.

Speaking of HBO shows... The Leftovers premieres June 29th at 10pm. This new drama is brought to you by Damon Lindelof (yay!!) and Tom Perrotta (and executive produced by Peter berg!) and it is based on the book (by Perrotta) of the same name. You can watch the trailer below to see what it's about but be sure to keep an eye out for all the awesome people starring in it (Christopher Eccleston!!). I'm pretty excited about this pilot.



I am almost done with season one of Orange Is The New Black. I think I have 3 episodes left to watch and then I will get into the 2nd season. I know I'm late to the game. That's what happens when one wants to read ALL the books and watch ALL the shows at the same time. It just doesn't work.

Jeff and I have been watching The White Queen the last few days. It was a show/mini series on Starz last year and chronicles the love, life and betrayals of all the people vying for the throne of King of England in the 1400's. It stars Max Irons (whom I refer to as Not Quite Robert Pattinson) as King Edward and Rebecca Ferguson as Queen Elizabeth. We are really enjoying it even though there seems to be an abundance of naughty bits (which I guess could be a good thing depending on if you enjoy naughty bits but it seems unnecessarily excessive sometimes). I am constantly asking Jeff what is going to happen next and he always refuses to tell me. You know I normally hate spoilers but I like the people who I like and it's based on true events and I want to be prepared when bad things are about to happen to the people I like, you know? If you like period shows (as you can tell I do; Game Of Thrones, Reign etc.), you should check it out.

Charley and I have been watching The Goldberg's whenever they show a rerun on TV. What a great show that is, not only for nostalgia purposes but the acting is excellent and I love listening to C giggle whenever they do something silly.

If you have not yet seen The Fault In Our Stars movie, might I suggest you do so? It is so true to the book. I really couldn't find anything to complain about other than the quick progression of everything, but that's just how it is with book to screen adaptations. Shailene Woodley is a wonderful Hazel Grace and Ansel Elgort is THE perfect Augustus Waters. He's perfect. I laughed, I cried, I cried some more and I thought and thought about it afterward. It's fantastic. They did a phenomenal job with John Green's material. He should be so proud.

Speaking of books...

I just read Emily Giffin's new one, The One & Only. This book. Holy moly. It is something. Emily Giffin is a phenomenal writer and a wonderful story teller. She makes me think about things I would never think about and she makes me want to be a better writer. And she's fun and she genuinely appreciates her fans. I love love that. If you like stories that aren't the usual boy meets girl, boy falls in love, boy and girl get married then check this one out. Or any of her books for that matter, she's awesome.

I also just re-re-read (I've read it a lot) Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Good lord, I love this book. SO MUCH. It makes me so happy. She has a new one called Landline coming out on July 9th and I'm super excited for it. I feel like Rainbow and I could be bff's. We could hang out, drink coffee/tea and talk all things nerdy. It would be great.

Ed Sheeran's new album X comes out on June 23rd! I love him and I cannot wait to listen to it. He's also coming in concert to The Palace in September.

I shall end this long and rambling post by asking you all to send congratulations and good luck wishes to my Jeffrey as his last day at FYE is tomorrow (LAST day!! Tomorrow!!) and he starts his new job June 30th. NEW JOB!!! We are so insanely excited!!! Also, you can send congratulations to my mom on being a 5 year breast cancer survivor!!! The best news ever!!

I love happy things!!!

Watching any new shows? Reading any new books? Want to yell at me for not writing in so long?? Or yell at me for writing again??  Or yell at me for my Delena comment up there? (because let's be honest, some of you are really mad about that, I know it.) Let me know! I like your thoughts just as much as I like mine... Sometimes.

Monday Snark

Forewarning: It's Monday. My head is pounding. I'm a little cranky.  I apologize in advance if this post contains more snark than others.

Let's talk about spoilers, guys.

Your favorite show is on tonight and for whatever reason, you can't watch it the second it airs. Maybe because you have a small child whom you have to get ready for bed or you have prior commitments that evening. Whatever the reason, you aren't able to watch along with the rest of the world so you set your DVR to watch it later, maybe tomorrow... only to have a major plot point completely spoiled for you by some super awesome person on your Facebook feed... or your Twitter feed... or by just browsing some news site and they blatantly put the spoiler right there in the headline.

I always think to myself, "how is this still happening??" Haven't we all collectively reached an agreement in this Social Media driven age not to be a hole and spoil a television show for the rest of our fellow couch potatoes by stating exactly what happened in our status updates? I know it's not a law. I know it's not set in stone but isn't it like, some unspoken nod to each other that we will keep really important facts and exciting occurrences from the episode that evening to ourselves? At least for a little while?

I'm not saying you shouldn't talk about TV shows at all. Look at me, for crying out loud. I have an entire blog based on my love for pop culture. I have no qualms with discussing a particularly thrilling event from one of my favorite shows. Here's the thing, though... I input those thoughts into a controlled area on this here blog. You won't just stumble upon a crazy spoiler here. Also, and here's the big thing... I give freaking SPOILER WARNINGS! I am always shocked and amazed by how quickly people are to spoil a huge, significant event from a TV show on social media. I get it. If I choose not to watch a show live (or the evening it airs), I am basically asking to have the plot ruined for me. It's my own fault, right?

Just stay off the internet for 12 hours until I am able to watch the episode.

Sure.

That'll happen.

If I go on Twitter and cast members from say, The Following are live tweeting tonight's episode but I am not watching it, then hello?? My dumbass should stay off Twitter. If I am 4 episodes behind with The Following and I end up getting spoiled by a picture that some pop culture site posted two weeks after an important episode aired, well then, of course that's my fault. But if I am unable to watch say, oh, last night's Game Of Thrones live because I have to work and the second it ends, people are posting status updates about what happened? THAT SUCKS! I use last night's GOT as an example because my lybf decided not to watch it live. As soon as the credits started, I texted her and told her to either watch the episode last night or stay off the internet all day today, otherwise she would absolutely get spoiled. Five minutes later, people on her newsfeed were posting about the crazy thing that happened in the episode. No worries, my warning saved her. She watched the episode before seeing the spoilers. But still.

STOP. IT.

I get the excitement. I know you want to talk about it. No one loves talking about pop culture more than me but please, please, please have some consideration for your fellow TV watchers. Wait a couple days or for crying out loud, if you feel compelled to post something, be general. Be vague. Don't flat out say exactly what happened. Being surprised by a plot twist is exciting. It's one of my most favorite things EVER. Having it ruined for you absolutely blows and can completely wreck a person's day. Sure, it's insignificant in the grand scheme of things but if you spent all day looking forward to finally watching an episode that you weren't able to catch live and you just happen to go on FB out of habit, and someone posts word for word what happened in the episode, you are going to be devastated.

I know I sound like the spoiler police. "Who is she to tell us what we can and cannot post??" I'm just asking that we not post major plot points the second after they air. Can't we just wait a bit?? Let's just have an unspoken agreement between social media buddies not to ruin a show for the next person. Watching, experiencing, discussing TV shows is one of my most favorite things in the whole world but I would feel absolutely horrible if I ruined the end of a really great episode for someone else. Everyone should experience that feeling of being shocked by their favorite characters. I almost miss the olden days when we had no chance of finding out any information of any kind about the shows and movies and books  that we love, but that's not the world we live in anymore. Just take a second before you post that major spoiler and think to yourself "am I going to completely ruin the show for someone else if I post this?" if the answer is yes, then dude, don't do it.

I'll get off my high horse now and move on...

I'm going to talk about The Walking Dead now. SPOILER ALERT (see what I did there?) if you have not watched all of season 4... The first half of the season, I was pretty disappointed. I didn't care about everyone getting sick and watching people cough in the prison every episode. I was bored. I didn't care about Carol killing that Karen lady and that other boy because I was not invested in those characters. It almost felt like Nikki and Paolo from Lost the way they were trying to get us to care about them being murdered. I still don't really understand why Tyreese was so upset about it. She was his kind of girlfriend for like, a day. To still be as upset as he was about it 6 episodes later? I just wasn't buying it. As soon as The Governor came back though, I was totally invested again. I loved almost every episode of the second half of the season. I liked seeing the relationships between characters you wouldn't normally see (Daryl/Beth). I have never cared for Beth but Daryl is so great that I was able to tolerate her the longer they were together. Having Rick gone for so many episodes made me appreciate him so much more when he finally showed up again. Man, I love Rick. I don't know anything about those Terminus people. I have a few theories floating in my head but I loved how the season ended. I love Andrew Lincoln so much, I just long for the day that he is able to shave and put a clean shirt on.

As I alluded to earlier, I am way, way, way behind on The Following. I was super bummed with the first few episodes. They all just felt like they were trying shock viewers for the sake of shocking them. There was no real story or content going on. From the things I have seen in promos and on Twitter and other sites (yes, I was spoiled), it looks like it has gotten way better and that makes me happy. I'll get back to it again soon.

I love, love, love the new show About A Boy (Tuesdays at 9, on NBC) with Minnie Driver, David Walton and Benjamin Stockham. That show warms my heart so much. I absolutely adore it.

Chris Lowell from Veronica Mars and Private Practice fame, started his own Kickstarter campaign (I know. Again with the Kickstarter campaigns, Sarah??) about 3 weeks ago. He wrote and directed a movie; Beside Still Waters, with his friends and is using the Kickstarter fund to help distribute it. His goal was $63,021 in 30 days. He reached the goal in a day. He may even triple it when all is said and done. I'm fascinated by it. Anyway, he filmed some of it in up north, Michigan and there are some really cool people in the movie. Check out the campaign and the trailer (donate if you feel like it) when you have a second. Chris is a super, super funny dude. I love following him on Twitter and Instagram.
Beside Still Waters: A Chris Lowell Film 

Speaking of pop culture campaign funding... Zachary Levi launched his own campaign to try to keep Nerd HQ at the San Diego Comic Con. It's a completely free event FULL of panels with your favorite nerdtastic actors and actresses (Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Joss Whedon, Matt Smith etc.). You can have pictures taken with these guys if you donate to Operation Smile and you get to participate in a huge party as well. If you are unable to attend these events (like me), they put all the panels on youtube and you can even watch some of them live... for free. It makes my pop culture heart very happy to see things like this. They ran into some issues last year with sponsors and whatnot and they are asking for the general public (IE: us) to help with the funding of the event. Zac can explain it better. Here's the link to the campaign:
I Want My Nerd HQ

I heard they are splitting Allegiant by Veronica Roth into two films. I'm not too happy about this. I liked the Divergent movie. I had a few issues with it but for the most part, I was pretty happy with it. I'm just not sure they need to continue on with the rest of the books. Don't get me wrong, if they are going to make them, I will see them. If only because I would get to stare at Theo James for 3 more movies, but I just don't think two movies is necessary for that book. I can sum it up pretty quickly for you; -SPOILER ALERT- They leave the factions behind, find out they were being watched this whole time, genetically damaged talk, fighting, death, sadness. Lots of sadness. It's not like Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows... That one needed to be split into two. It was a 780 page book with a TON of content. They could very easily make Allegiant one movie. Easily. To be honest, I don't even think Mockingjay needs to be two movies. I guess it's just a way for producers to make a whole lot of money. If they are going to make it two movies and keep every single detail/dialogue from the original book and put it in the movie then heck yeah, I am all for it but that is never how it goes. And the difference  between two Allegiant movies and two Mockingjay movies, is that the two Mockingjay movies are going to make a ton of money. I don't think two Allegiant movies will do all that well. We'll see, though. I'm no expert. Just a pop culture enthusiast.

I will end this post with Ed Sheeran performing his new single on SNL this past weekend. I love this boy so much:


 

A Long Time Ago... We Used To Be Friends

Veronica Mars premiered on September 22, 2004 on UPN. A little show starring a then unknown Kristen Bell, about a teenage sleuth trying to solve the mystery of her best friend's murder, had an extremely loyal cult following and lasted a much too short 3 seasons. Rob Thomas (the writer, not the singer of Matchbox Twenty) is the creator of this brilliant, witty, snarky and so damn addicting television series. The cast included Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls), Ryan Hansen (Dick Casablancas), the fantastic Enrico Colantoni (Veronica's dad, Keith Mars), Percy Daggs III (Wallace) and Francis Capra (Weevil). Not to mention the plethora of phenomenal guest stars throughout the three year run (Sam Huntington, Ken Marino, Jane Lynch, Jessica Chastain, Max Greenfield, Aaron Paul, Alyson Hannigan, Michael McMillian, Krysten Ritter, Kevin Smith, Michael Cera, Paul Rudd, Charisma Carpenter, Dianna Agron... to name just a few). It was a fun show. A show with heart and a show that made you think. It was so smart and so fresh and so much better than most everything else that was on at the time...

So naturally, it was canceled.

In a last ditch effort, Rob Thomas pitched a season 4 idea to the CW (which UPN turned into after the 2nd season) but they decided to pass on it:


Not only did they pass on the idea, but the series was left completely hanging. There was no pretty bow to tie up the series. Fans were literally left wondering what was to come of every character on the show. Every story ended on a ciff hanger. Talk about not getting closure. As the years went on after Veronica Mars, the question that was constantly asked of Kristen Bell, Rob Thomas and anyone else associated with the show was this; Will there ever be a Veronica Mars movie? Each of them always said the same thing, "if we had the money and the studio backing, we would do it in a heartbeat". The possibility of that happening seemed absurd. What big name studio was going to back a tiny show that was on UPN/CW for a mere three seasons? The answer? None.

Until they had the idea to start a KickStarter Campaign:


Warner Bros. told them if they could get their fans to raise a million dollars in 30 days, they could start production on the movie. So on March 13, 2013 they launched their idea to fans all over the world. It took off more brilliantly than anyone ever could have imagined. Ever. They raised the million dollars in 12 hours. TWELVE HOURS. Rob was shocked. Kristen Bell was ecstatic. Every single person associated with the project was thrilled. Including the fans. I was addicted to watching the website over that month. Watching the dollar amount go up and up. To see fans and creators so passionate about the same thing was wonderful.

On April 13, 2013 the Kickstarter came to a close.

91,585 backers (including myself) raised $5,702,153

$5,702,153 in thirty days!!!!

I'll be honest, even if I wasn't a fan of Veronica Mars, I probably would have donated. I loved the entire idea of it. To see the creators and actors so passionate and thankful for their fans just made my heart swell. I'm still blown away by it.

There were different tiers of rewards for the amount of money that you donated to the campaign.

Ranging from receiving exclusive backer updates for donating $1, all the way to a speaking role in the actual film for donating $10,000. I donated $25 which got me exclusive updates, access to the backers only website (which was updated daily during film production), an exclusive backers only T-shirt designed by Rob Thomas and Co. (we got to choose from 2 different designs. Those designs were modeled by the oh so handsome Jason Dohring), a personalized PDF of the script the day the movie premiered, a thank you on the Veronica Mars movie website and super awesome stickers... Oh, and the feeling that I contributed to something awesome and fun.

Over the last year, I was sent updates every time a cast member signed on, every time there was a new stage in production, every time Rob just felt like sending out his love and appreciation to the fans (which was quite often).

Did I mention that almost every single original actor from the show signed on to do this film? For free? Not only did they sign on to do it but they were excited to do it.

They started filming the movie on June 17, 2013. Just two months after the Kickstarter campaign ended. They shot for 28 days and that was that. It went into production, Rob sent regular updates on their progress, thanked everyone relentlessly and never failed to show his gratitude to the thousands of backers who were just as passionate about getting this little film made as he was. They held a few Kickstarter movie premieres in Texas, LA and New York. The backers who were able to attend those premieres got to hang out with the cast at the after party.

Listen, I cannot stress enough how great Rob Thomas, Kristen Bell and every single person associated with this show are. These people are wonderful. I have never seen such devotion to fans in all of my pop culture obsessions. This movie is 100% a love letter to the fans. From the get go, they did this to make their Marshmallows happy and my goodness, let me tell you; they succeeded. Above and beyond, they hit the mark. Bullseye. Dead on. Spot on. They hit it out of the park.

Tickets went on sale for the movie February 14, 2014. I bought them for opening night, March 14, 2014. Almost a year to the day that the Kickstarter campaign started.

One year.



I was jumping out of my skin excited for the movie. I wore my backer t-shirt. My parents watched C for us and we were on our way. We went to dinner beforehand and as we were sitting in Red Robin, I noticed that the girls at the table next to us were each sporting a Veronica Mars shirt (TEAM LOGAN and TEAM MARS to be exact). I giggled and pointed them out to Jeff. He laughed. We heard the waiter asking them about their shirts and they responded with as much excitement and enthusiasm as I was feeling. Then I noticed them noticing MY shirt. When we got up to leave, Jeff walked over to their table and asked them if they were excited for the movie. We all started talking at once. They asked me if my shirt was "the backers only shirt", I responded with a proud "yes!" then we said we would see them at the show later.

We had an hour before the movie started. Much too early to show up at the theater but not really enough time to do anything else, so we just went to AMC20 and figured we would wait it out in the lobby. Good thing we got their early. Not only was there a line, almost everyone had on Veronica Mars shirts. Backers shirts, Cafepress shirts, homemade shirts. It was like being at a Harry Potter or Twilight premiere. I was shocked. And maybe a little bit giddy. Jeff and I got some $4.50 mochas and picked our seats. That theater was packed. People were pouring in right up until the film started. It made me so happy.

It started and I don't think the smile left my face the entire 2 hours it was on. They did a nice little recap of the series right at the beginning. Refreshing old fans memories and introducing the story to new ones. Believe me when I say I loved the movie. It exceeded all of my expectations. There were inside jokes, shoutouts to the fans and reminders of why this show was so freaking fantastic to begin with. I giggled, I cheered and I jumped at some spots. They worked The Dandy Warhols theme song, "We Used To Be Friends" into the beginning of the film and the entire audience cheered. Every time a fan favorite showed up on screen, there were whoops and hollers. It was awesome.

For two hours, this three season television show that never got the respect it deserved, delighted fans endlessly. Every scene, every take, was a thank you to the fans that believed in Rob Thomas's vision from the beginning. He sent out a thank you to all of the backers Friday evening. Saying how grateful he was for each and every one of us.

"Today, Veronica Mars returned and it's all because of you."

He said that he didn't understand why every fan he encountered would thank him. He said it should be the other way around. The movie happened because we made it happen, sure. But it never would have been possible if he hadn't listened to his fans. We wanted closure. We wanted to hang out with his characters one more time. We wanted to live in Veronica's world just a little bit longer and he said "let's do it". What other creator would willingly listen to his fans so intently? I don't know of anyone else. The way they have taken care of their marshmallows overwhelms me with gratitude and I cannot thank them enough. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in something so groundbreaking for the television/film industry. Who knows if it will happen again? Who knows if there will be a sequel to this Veronica Mars film? What they did over this past year was nothing short of brilliant and each and every single person involved should be so proud of themselves.

Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined, bloodshed. EPIC.

We got a Veronica Mars movie made, Marshmallows. Be proud.

Slogger.

Yikes.

It's been a long time since I last posted. After promising to blog more, I have blogged less. I am a blog slacker. A blacker (HA), a slogger, if you will. For those of you who anxiously await my posts, I profusely apologize for making you wait so long. For those of you who could care less about what I have to say, well, suck it. I mean that in the nicest way possible, though.

Winter is making me grumpy, as I am sure winter is making you grumpy. Yes, I live in Michigan. I KNOW the winter's here are usually hard but good Lord, this winter sucks ass. It's the worst winter ever. I am stir crazy and I am tired of being cold and yeah, I complain when it's 100 degrees in the summer time too, but that is only because I do not have central air conditioning, so it is allowed! I'm not all that in love with nature. I don't NEED to be outside all the time but I do enjoy having my windows and doors open and I do enjoy taking a quick trip to Target without my ears falling off from frostbite that occurred during the 2 minute walk from the parking lot to the store.

-End rant-

Sorry about that. Anyway, February is just about over.

Sidebar: February. Do you pronounce it FebRuary? Because I don't and whenever I hear someone say FebRuary, it always takes me by surprise. I mean, that is the correct pronunciation I am sure, but it sounds dumb.

So yeah, tomorrow is March and that means Spring is just about 20 days away. I bet you one million dollars* that it snows on the first day of Spring.

*I do not actually have one million dollars.

But Spring, yeah. Think warm thoughts and all that. This cold weather is sure to break sooner or later... Forget the fact that it is currently one degree outside. SPRING'S A BUZZIN'!

Just a warning: This post might be longer than most because it has been so long since I have written. I'm winging it. I have a list of thoughts that I have been jotting down the last two months and I am just going to discuss them all willy nilly like.

Ohhhhh, where to start? I'll start with the Kris Allen concert from a few weeks ago. He had a show in Lansing. Natalie and I had meet and greet tickets and we were real, real excited. It was at The Loft, this small venue that looks like, well, a loft. Stage in front, chairs in back, a bar off to the side and windows overlooking the street below. It was cool. We were able to get a table because we were considered VIP's. We waited in the cold for a few minutes (it's cold out, didn't you know?!) before being allowed in. Kris was there, in all his bundle of cuteness. He sang a new song for the small group of us very important people and was very charming. We got an autographed poster (which I still don't know where to hang),  talked to him for a second and had our picture taken with him. They had him standing in this really dark corner of the room, so our pictures turned out all demon eyed and we were bummed about that. He really is such a sweet guy, though. He commented on how much he loved our accents. Natalie and I laughed and said "you think we have accents??" and he was all, "yeah, they're great". So cute. He has kind of a lazy drawl when he speaks. It's (you guessed it) real cute. He had two openers; Taylor Taylor (yeah, that's her name) and Caroline Glaser, who was on The Voice? They were both decent. Caroline had ALL the fans there. In fact, quite a few of them left once her set was over. Nat and I were having fun but we were antsy and feeling old and wanting to get home before 1am. He finally came out around 930ish and sang some new songs and some old songs and sounded really great. He has such good stage presence and he's so wonderful with the audience. I just love his voice and he makes me smile. I did think it was a little odd that he was touring before his new album was out but who am I to complain about getting to see him live? I look forward to seeing him again after the new album is released.

-Rhonda and I went to see Endless Love last week. For those that don't know (and I really hope you all know this), the Endless Love that came out this month is a remake of the 1981 record breaker (it wasn't a record breaker at all) Endless Love, starring a super young Brooke Shields. A very long time ago, Rhonda and I would watch the original EL and quote it and laugh and laugh. Why would we laugh? Well friends, it is absurd and insanely inappropriate. Naturally, when we saw that it had been remade, we HAD to go see it together! So after a super delicious sushi dinner, where the waiter thought I was 16 (when in fact, he was probably younger than me... more on that in a bit), we spent our $10 on this romantic movie. We thought for sure we would be the only ones in the theater. Not only were we not the only ones there, there were boys in attendance. A couple teenage boys with a gaggle of girls (that's what you call a bunch of teenage girls, right? A gaggle? I made that up), a fella around our age with his girlfriend/wife/sister and a middle aged man with his wife, who we were convinced were the only people in the room (besides us) who knew that this was indeed a remake. The movie started and Rhonda and I were that annoying couple who talked through the whole thing. We weren't the only ones, though. All the other people were freely voicing their opinions (distaste) throughout the film. We laughed and cringed and waited for it to end. It was... endless. I find it really hard to be objective about it. The original and all of its awfulness is so burned in my brain that I don't know how to judge this one. The main girl, Jade (Gabriella Wilde) is absolutely stunning. She's a gorgeous girl, which I guess made up for the ickiness of Alex Pettyfer's David. This new story is a little more tame compared to the 80's version, which I was grateful for. There is no Brooke Shields cameo (I was really bummed about this), they do not play Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's Endless Love and they did not incorporate the best quote from the original:

Jade: What would you do if I died?
David: I'd die. I'd die, too.

Ahh, to be young and creepily obsessive.
Overall, it was a movie. If you enjoy teen romances that border on uncomfortableness, go for it. If you want to compare it to the original, go for it. Otherwise, I think it's safe to say that this movie will get lost in teen drama oblivion.

-Speaking of oblivion...
Last August, I saw that Emily's friend Jules was reading The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. I asked her what she thought of it and her response was "I read this book twice in two days. It is easily one of the best books I have ever read. Yes, it will make you cry...I was hysterically sobbing for over an hour and I had to put the book down because I couldn't see through my tears! But I definitely recommend it, the tears are worth it. Smiley face"

Smiley face.

HYSTERICALLY SOBBING

You guys know I do not like sad books. I want to read to be happy not to be depressed. I specifically avoid these stories/movies at all costs. They make me feel wretched. Of course, I then refused to read it. Then my co-worker read it. Then my other friend read it and another friend. Then Emily read it and asked me to read it (and let's face it, Emily can get me to do pretty much anything), so I caved.

      *********************SPOILERS AHEAD*************************

I am happy I caved. I'm not going to recap the story here. I hate when reviews basically re-tell the story you just read. If you want to know more about the story itself, go ahead and click that link up there. I will tell you, however, that I loved this book and I hated this book. It is beautiful and heartbreaking and lovely. The characters are exquisitely written and much like a song can get stuck in your head, I have lines of dialogue floating around in my head from this book ("I lit up like a Christmas tree, Hazel Grace"). This story is so quotable that I could list pages and pages of memorable lines. I tried my hardest to keep the tears at bay but all my efforts were useless. The story is too good and in the end, I couldn't help but cry. Jeff came home when I was at the part where Hazel Grace goes up to Agustus's casket. Of course that's the part when he came home. He didn't want me to read it in the first place because he knew it would make me sad. He went so far as to hide the book on me! Anyway, I ugly cried at that part and loudly blew my nose several times, all with Jeffrey shaking his head at me. I cried because that part is so sad and so well written and so wonderful all at once. I love that Augustus refers to Hazel by her first and middle name. I LOVE IT. I love how he is with Isaac. I love Hazel's wit and unforgiving views on the world. I loved the seriousness of it and overall I loved their relationship. Sweet but not overly dramatic. Just two kids who fall in love and want to be together for the limited time they are allowed. After all, the world is not a wish granting factory.

Read this book.

The movie comes out June 4th. I am looking forward to taking Emily with a box of tissues for each of us and admiring Augustus Waters from afar:

-I took Charley to see The Lego Movie a few weeks ago. It was fantastic. I love hearing his laugh when we watch stuff together. This movie is funny and smart and so damn clever. Even if you don't have kids you should go check it out. It's really great, I promise.

-Speaking of Lego... The Lego Kids Fest is coming back to Novi, April 25th-27th. We bought tickets for the morning of the 27th. Join us, won't you??

-Speaking of watching things with C, we love the new show Enlisted (Fridays at 9pm on Fox). Is this show appropriate for an almost 7 year old to watch? Probably not but a lot of the humor goes over his head. He thinks the brothers Pete (Geoff Stults), Derrick (Chris Lowell) and Randy (Parker Young) are hysterical together. Especially Randy and I love (LOVE LOVE) Chris Lowell. I love him. Love. Him. Anyway, we giggle like crazy when we watch it. Throughout the week he will say, "Mommy, did our show tape? Can we watch it tonight?" Come on, people... How cute is that? So, check that show out when you get a chance.

-Charley lost his first tooth this week. Blows my freaking mind how much that kid is growing up. He'll probably lose another one in the next couple weeks.

-Ever since I started letting my hair grow back out, I am constantly told how young I look. I had three different people in one day tell me I did not look old enough to be a mom. My sister showed my picture to a bunch of her co-workers and their answers ranged from 13/14-18/19. I am not complaining about this by any means, I just find it funny. Did a couple inches hacked off from my hair really make that much of a difference?? Oh! And when Rhonda and I went for sushi last weekend she ordered a beer. After I ordered an iced tea, the waiter said "I didn't even think to ask if you wanted a drink... I guess I should card you. You look 16." Then he ramblingly went on to say that it was a compliment and I should feel good about that and I laughed and told him not to worry.

-Jeff bought me the movie Austenland for Valentine's Day. I read the book awhile ago and couldn't wait to see the screen adaptation. Keri Russell plays the lead, Jane and Jennifer Coolidge plays Miss Charming, a ridiculous side character who I found a little annoying in the book but absolutely loved in the movie. She cracked us up. Even if you aren't a Jane Austen fan and even if you haven't read this book, check out the movie. It is funny and happy and so fun. I absolutely adored it.



-I am obsessed with the band American Authors. I believe they have a full length album coming out on Tuesday, March 4th but they have a few songs on Spotify right now. I love, love, love "Best Day Of My Life" and, what Carrie and I refer to as our theme song, "Believer". Give them a listen:



-You know those futuristic pop machines they are starting to put in all the fast food joints nowadays? The ones where you can make any combination of any soda pops imaginable? Well, I am ddicted to the Vanilla Coke. I crave it and I love it. Try it next time you are at Noodles and Co. or Five Guys. It's delicious. I wish they sold it in bottles.

-I broke down and bought a space heater yesterday on my lunch hour. I went out in the cold to Target to buy a machine that shoots out warm air. IT'S THE BEST THING EVER! No more mittens, scarves and blankets. This space heater kicks ass. It's also red. So it's pretty.

-I've been disappointed in The Following so far this season. They are relying heavily on the kill factor and not so much on the story. I don't even know what the story is supposed to be so far. People are Joe Carroll worshipers... they like to kill people with ice picks... there are masks and clueless FBI agents who I feel should be much smarter than they are and Kevin Bacon who chases people A LOT and always ends up losing them. The last episode ended pretty good, so I am hoping the rest of the season returns it to its former mindblowingness.

-What have you all thought of The Walking Dead since it came back? I'm digging it. I like that they aren't stuck in the prison anymore. I like the secluded stories, though, I hate Beth's narration. Poor Daryl getting stuck with her. Ugh. The first episode back I was seriously starting to think that Carl was rivaling Joffrey for television's biggest teenage asshole but then of course, he redeemed himself. As much as I love Rick Grimes and as much as I know there is a zombie apocalypse going on, I wish he could keep a tshirt clean for longer than one scene. I get so happy when he puts on fresh clothes, only for him to sweat through and completely destroy whatever article of clothing he has just washed during some zombie related encounter. Seriously though, I don't think anyone sweats more than Andrew Lincoln/Rick Grimes. I'm cool with it, though. He can sweat all he wants as long as I can listen to his voice.

-I was a touch disappointed in The Olympics this year. I don't know if it was Bob Costas's pink eye or the poor coverage of the events but I just couldn't get into it and that makes me sad.

-They are rebooting Heroes with the same showrunners they had originally. I think this is a terrible idea but no one listens to me! I will be shocked, SHOCKED, if this second coming succeeds when the first one could not. The first season was almost perfect. It was perfect until the finale and then I was like, "uh oh" and then it took an absolute nose dive in season two. They had no idea what to do with the characters and added a ton of new ones. It was frustrating. It's such a great concept, they just didn't know how to sustain it. We'll see how Heroes 2.0 fairs.

-I bought my tickets to The Veronica Mars movie which comes out on March 14th. I AM SO EXCITED TO SEE IT!

-Finally, I will end this overly long blog post with some fantastic news: My sister and her boyfriend, Adam got engaged on Tuesday!!! They were in Las Vegas and after an already incredible stay, they were at an intimate Bon Jovi concert specifically for fan club members. There was a question and answer portion and Adam got picked to ask a question... but he didn't ask Jon a question, he asked Natalie one. She was shocked and ecstatic and I am over the moon happy for them!!! SO happy! Beaming with happiness! They have been together 7 years and our whole entire family could not be  more pleased about officially welcoming Adam to the family. So, join me in congratulating my beautiful/wonderful/fantastic sister and super awesome soon to be brother-in-law, Adam!!! CONGRATULATIONS you guys!!!!! We love you!! XOXOXO

TwentyThirteen

Hey friends!

It's 2014.

Another whole year has gone by. That's so absurd. People say it all the time but time really does fly the older you get. Flies. By. You make all these plans and resolutions and intend on making big changes for the year ahead and before you have a chance to make good on any of them, it's New Year's Eve again. Speaking of NYE, I find it completely overrated. Midnight is supposed to be this magical time when you start with a clean slate and begin the year anew but really, you are still the same person you have always been. That's not a bad thing... It just is what it is (I hate that saying). I suppose it comes down to hope. People are hopeful for a wonderful year ahead and there is nothing wrong with that. Hope is a good thing.

As I sit here typing this, Jeff and Charley are watching The Lone Ranger and eating popcorn. The movie is boring. So, I figured, why not write my annual faves and not so faves from the year before while they snuggle all cute together watching Johnny Depp with ALL the makeup on and a bird on his head??

As per usual, not all of my faves/not so faves necessarily came out in 2013, it's just when I was introduced to them. This is allowed because it's my rules. My blog. My rules. Fun times.

I'll stick with movies for now...

We don't get out to the movies all that much.We always have good intentions but really, we usually only go when there is a kids movie that C wants to see or a movie based on a book that I want to see, or a movie based on a president or historical figure that Jeffrey wants to see. Charley usually wins when it comes to this which means I saw quite a few children's movies over the last year; Turbo, Jack The Giant Slayer, Walking With Dinosaurs, Monster's University... I loooved Jack The Giant Slayer. "But Sarah, you only liked that movie because Ewan McGregor is in it." Duh. Have you seen him in that movie?? Gorgeous. That man is a work of art. Plain and simple.

-I adored Silver Linings Playbook. I know that came out in 2012 but I saw it early last year and I was so happy it won so many awards. That movie is authentic and fantastic and Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper are phenomenal. I want them to love each other in real life. They are so great together.

-I enjoyed Oz The Great and Powerful but I gotta be honest... I really don't think James Franco is a good actor. He plays the same character in every single thing he's in. I also thought Mila Kunis completely over-acted her part. I know she's supposed to be angry and heartbroken or whatever but really, she only knew Oz for about 5 minutes before she went batshit crazy and started screaming at everyone. I loved Zach Braff as Finley the monkey. He makes everything better.

-Iron Man 3 was so much fun. I think it's my favorite of the three movies. Robert Downey Jr is so freaking awesome. I could watch him for hours and hours.

-You can probably guess my favorite movie of 2013... Want to guess? Go ahead. I'll wait...


Yeah, you're right... The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I blogged about it already but I was so happy with how it turned out. So true to the book and so fantastic.

Weirdest movie I saw? One Direction: This Is Us. Look, I like boy bands. I'm cool with them. From NKOTB to 98 Degrees, they make me smile and the bottom line is this: those boys work their asses off. They sing catchy songs and know hot to work a crowd and you can tell they have a great time while doing it and you know what? It makes me happy. So yeah, while it may have been weird for me to go see a movie about One Direction, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and got to spend time with my sister at the same time. Also, Harry is real hot, guys.

Honorable mention goes to: Joss Whedon's, Much Ado About Nothing. This movie is so pretty and lovely and Nathan Fillion is the icing on the cake in it.

Worst movie? Freaking Beautiful Creatures. That movie is a travesty. Stupid, stupid, stupid movie. I screamed at my TV throughout the whole thing. They changed every great thing about the book. It infuriates me that Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl agreed to have their story butchered the way that Warner Bros. butchered it. Just awful.

Oh, The Host was pretty crappy too. An absolute Snoozefest.

Music now? Sure...

-Barenaked Ladies came out with a new one; Grinning Streak. It's pretty good but I've said it 47 thousand times and I will say it again... it's just not the same without Steve. It's just not.

-The Killers came out with a greatest hits in November called Direct Hits. There are a couple new songs on it. "Shot at the Night" and "Just Another Girl" make it a great album. I always love hearing a compilation of really great Killers songs all in one spot. It makes me smile.

-Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones came out with an album together covering The Everly Brothers entitled Foreverly. It's really fantastic. Their voices so so wonderful together. This was probably my favorite album to listen to this year.

TV!

-My absolute favorite new show of the season is the CW's Reign (Thursdays @ 9pm). I LOVE this show. It follows the early years of Mary, Queen of the Scots (played by Adelaide Kane) in 1557 France. Mary is engaged to Francis (Toby Regbo), France's future King. The show is about their courtship and the trials and tribulations of politics back then. We waited until my Christmas break to start watching all the episodes so we could watch them back to back and I'm pretty much obsessed with it now. I love the relationship between Mary and Francis. They kind of make me swoon. My heart breaks whenever they have a heartfelt moment and I giggle whenever they are cute with each other. It's not just about their relationship though. Francis's mother, Catherine, is convinced that Mary will cause his death, so she does all she can to try to keep them apart. There is also a psychic (Nostradamus) and a creepy creepster named Clarissa who lives in the tunnels and underground of the castle and helps Mary out whenever someone is out to do her wrong. It's basically Game Of Thrones mild and I adore it. It doesn't hurt that Francis and his brother Bash (Torrance Coombs) are easy on the eyes. Also. I LOVE THE CLOTHES. I want to wear every single thing that Mary wears. I love watching just to see what they'll dress her in every episode.

So yeah... I love that show. I can't wait for it to come back from break in a few weeks.

-Oh! And The Following. I love The Following and Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy. That show is ridiculous and disturbing and scary and so damn entertaining.

-It's no secret that I have been disappointed in True Blood the last couple years. I'm kind of glad that this upcoming season will be its last. The direction of the show has just been all over the place and wonky. Completely wonky.

-I started watching Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. at the beginning of the season but it just didn't captivate me enough. I liked all the characters. I love Agent Coulson, I just thought it was kind of boring to be completely honest. We only lasted about 3 episodes and that breaks my heart because you all know how much I love Joss Whedon.

-2013 was the year we decided to stop watching Bones. I'm over it. See my previous blogs for reasons why.

BooksBooksBooksBooks:

You know this is always the longest section. Goodreads said that I read 39 books last year. That is way down from 2012 (60). I'm not really sure why. I suppose I just took my sweet time on the books I read last year. I also re-read a few of my favorites (The Night Circus, Love Letters) but it was still a good year for books nonetheless.... Here are my favorites in no particular order. Mostly because I really loved them all and I can't put one above the other. The following are all books I rated 5 stars on my Goodreads page...

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell- Words cannot describe how much I loved this book. You can click on the title over there to read the synopsis but I don't think it does the story justice. Rainbow Rowell has such a way with writing dialogue. It's so authentic and completely genuine. The relationships in her stories are absolutely believable and they make me want to be friends with all of her characters (almost all of them). I could not stop smiling when I finished this book and then I went back and re-read all of my favorite parts, which was pretty much the entire book, so really, I read this book twice in a matter of days. I loved it. A lot. If you want to smile and swoon and giggle, read this book. You won't regret it.

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes- This isn't a book that I would normally read. It had the potential to make me sob with all the feelings and emotions packed within it but it was on a list of the best books of 2013 so I decided to give it a go. I am so happy I did. This book is heartwarming and funny and really lovely. It will make you take a look at yourself and your life and the choices you have made. I guarantee you 100% that it will stick with you for days, weeks, months after you read it. It's an absolutely wonderful read.

Divergent by Veronica Roth- This is the first book in the trilogy. It came out in 2011 but I decided to break down and read it because I knew the movie was coming out this year. I loved this book. It made my heart pound and I fell in love with the growing relationship between the two main characters. The story itself is compelling and so very interesting. The second book, Insurgent (2012) is just as good as the first and the third and final book of the series, Allegiant came out just a couple months ago. The last book does the series justice. The entire trilogy is a back and forth, turbulent, emotional roller coaster ride. Veronica Roth is a fantastic writer and I look forward to what she will come out with in the future.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn- This book came out in 2009, but after I read Gone Girl, I devoured the rest of Flynn's books. She has three. Each one is absolutely enthralling and dark and disturbing and gutting and wonderfully, phenomenally written. Gillian Flynn is BRILLIANT. I wish I could see inside of her brain to see how she comes up with the ideas for her stories. Read this book.

S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst- This book came out in October. J.J. came up with the concept and pitched it to Doug Dorst and Doug wrote it. This book makes you feel like you are apart of it. Like you are literally living inside the story. It is filled with treasures and surprises and it's a story within a story within a story. It makes you think and theorize and the look and feel and smell of it is so enchanting. I really, really enjoyed this book. It was so creative.

Honorable mention will go to Night Film by Marsha Pessl. The concept of this book is totally intriguing and believable. It almost feels like it's a biography or a True Crime book. I wanted it to be just a little bit more than it was though. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it but I felt like there could have been just a bit more oomph to it. If you do get around to reading it, download the Night Film app that goes along with it. It turns the book into a creepy interactive experience that is super cool.

Disappointment? I was bummed with the new Nora Roberts book, Dark Witch. I can't quite put my finger on what didn't work in this story. I think it was just packed with way too much content and that made it difficult for her to write an ending to it. It just felt weird. This is the first of a new trilogy though, so maybe the next two will be better. I hope so. The end of the Sookie series was OK. It ended how I thought it would. The last few books were so mediocre that I wasn't expecting a whole lot. Charlaine Harris has done a good job of disappointing me lately so I doubt I will be reading anything she comes out with in the future.

Favorite Moments:

-My sister and I meeting Kris Allen and going to his concert. He literally could not have been nicer. He was so nice that I could not believe how nice he was. I will remember and cherish the hug he gave me and the Happy Birthday song he sang to Natalie FOREVER. That boy is a classy, stand up dude. I was so impressed with him.
-Chris Osgood became a sports analyst for Fox Sports and I squealed with delight like a 15 year old girl. I love seeing him at every game, in his suit and tie, with his little headset on. He's a work in progress with being comfortable in front of the camera but the boy KNOWS his hockey. He is so knowledgeable and so smart. (And really, really, really, really handsome).
-Ben Folds Five and BNL came to Pine Knob together. It was a concert handpicked for Sarah Scott (yeah, I'm talking in third person) and I got to see them with some of my best friends.
-Charley was a ringbearer. The most handsome ringbearer there ever was!
-We had a couple great vacations to Kentucky.
-Spent lots of time at my parents house with their new pool.
-Welcomed new family members.
-The alumni games for the 2013 Winter Classic. I could not have been happier with the events and players and games from that weekend. It was absurdly fun. I wish it could happen every year. There was something magical about it. I love love loved it!
-The success of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter for the Veronica Mars movie
-The success of the Zach Braff Kickstarter for his new film, Wish I Was Here.
-The Red Wedding from Game of Thrones.
-Slice of The 80's 5 year Anniversary.
-Mine and Fred's 10 year wedding Anniversary.
-Watching Charley play T-ball.

I'm going to end this post now and (if you are still reading this anyway...) I thank you for indulging my love of writing nonsense every now and then. I wish you all a happy, healthy New Year. Have the year you have and remember to love and cherish your family and friends all throughout the year XOXOXO