Celebrating HIMYM? Splendid!

Kids, I'm going to tell you an incredible story.  A story about How I Met Your Mother. 

Tonight the series finale airs for one of my favorite sitcoms.  I'm convinced I subconsciously forgot to wear mascara today, because I didn't want to ugly-cry it off during tonight's HIMYM viewing.  I didn't start watching the show when it premiered in 2005, but I think I picked it up in the 3rd season, catching up on previous episodes through Stacey's DVDs.  I've been hooked ever since.

I think one of the reasons I love it so much is because when I started watching it, I related to the characters.  They were about the same age as me, they weren't all working insanely high paying jobs with little experience (except Barney, PLEASE.).  Through the years we've seen the characters all go through some pretty dramatic changes, and I like that.  Because your twenties and thirties are full of change, at least in my experience.  I love that the characters always come back to each other because they are the family they've chosen.

Also, I love Marshall & Lily.

I love that for the duration of the series, the writers have given us so many quotable moments, so many callback jokes, so many high fives. 

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I wanted to do a Top 10 list of my favorite episodes, but that was just too difficult, so I had to set some parameters for myself.  Below are my favorite episodes from each of the nine seasons, plus my all-time favorite episode.  Spoilers abound, yo.

Season 1 - "Zip, Zip, Zip"
Marshall and Lily abandon their plans for an anniversary weekend away in favor of a low key weekend at home.  This weekend includes a Quantum Leap marathon that makes my heart, well, leap.  Unfortunately they get stuck in the bathroom while brushing their teeth as Ted and Victoria return to the apartment.

Ted and Victoria are finally ready to sleep together, and the build up to the main event is full of cheesy lines like "I wanna know you, like know your soul."  After Lily and Marshall finally make it out of the bathroom, they mimic the absurdity of Ted and Victoria's conversation, including Lily asking Marshall, "What makes you cry?"

In the same episode, Robin agrees to be Barney's wingman for the evening for his "Bro-ing About Town."  This is some lovely foreshadowing for future seasons and also includes the Freeze Frame Five:

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Season 2 - "Slap Bet"

The gang finds out Robin refuses to go to malls but she won't tell them why.  Barney is certain that Robin starred in a porno and sets out to find evidence.  He and Marshall enter into a Slap Bet, with Lily as Slap Bet Commissioner, about the real story behind Robin's past.  To throw them off the scent, she creates an elaborate lie that she got married in a Canadian mall.  Through Barney's search, we find out the truth is that Robin was a Canadian teen pop star named Robin Sparkles.  We are then treated to the masterpiece that is "Let's Go to the Mall", and it is truly magnificent.

This also begins the anticipation for the remaining slaps between Marshall and Barney, as Marshall won the right to slap Barney in the face, as hard as possible, five times throughout eternity.

Season 3 - "Spoiler Alert"

Marshall lost the password to the website where his bar exam results are posted.  Meanwhile, everyone in the group finds out their annoying habits through moments of clarity from their friends.  Lily chews loudly, Robin says "literally" all the time, Ted is a corrector, Barney has a whole slew of issues, and Marshall sings about the mundane things in his life, including but not limited to paying bills and doing laundry.  Robin points out that sometimes he sings nonsense, but since it's always so catchy, the rest of them end up with the ditties stuck in their heads.  For example:

AOBCD8663 turns out to be the missing password, and Marshall can finally find out that he has passed the New York bar exam.  Other highlights include Ted doing ASL, like when he first met Barney at MacLaren's.  I love that Josh Radnor actually knows ASL.

I also find the glass shattering metaphor is so true to life.  Once someone's annoying habit has been pointed out, it's all I can focus on.

Season 3 Honorable Mention - "Sandcastles in the Sand" because Robin Sparkles, y'all!  And the video is jus so magnificent with James Van Der Beek reprising his roll as Simon, plus cameos from Alan Thicke and Tiffany.

Season 4 - "Murtaugh"

Basically Ted has his Murtaugh List of things that he is too old to do anymore.  Barney accepts a challenge to complete the entire list before Ted can complete Barney & Robin's list of "old folks" things.  Hilarity ensues.  Also, Marshall starts coaching Lily's kindergarteners at basketball, and they don't have similar teaching philosophies.

My favorite quote from the episode is when Barney says, "My ear hurts so much and I can hear it," after his self-pierced ear becomes infected.  Barney and Robin attending a rave was also pretty spectacular.

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To this day, I still laugh out loud at the teen wolf playing against Lily & Marshall's kindergartner basketball team.  It's so absurd! Lily's request that the kids make him feel welcome despite the fact that he looks different is great.

By far the best part of this episode, for me, is how they tried to hide Alyson & Cobie's pregnancies with flowy shirts, laundry baskets, basketballs & guitars.  The entire second half of the season is pretty spectacular because of that.

Season 4 Honorable Mention - "Naked Man" because it works 2/3 of the time.  And I love the callback to this episode in season 9.

Season 5 - "Say Cheese"

Marshall has planned a great birthday for Lily, but Ted throws a wrench in the plan by bringing a girl he just started dating to the intimate party.  Also, Robin tried to get Barney to take a bad picture.

Anyone who knows me knows that Lily's love for her birthday rivals only mine.  I love that Marshall is as excited about Lily's birthday as she is.  He even creates two games for her: Lillial Pursuit and Gilding the Lily.  I freaking love it.

Robin's eventual success at getting Barney to take a bad picture is also tremendous.

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Season 6 - "Natural History"

Admittedly, I never liked Zoe.  At all.  And I wanted to like her, but mostly because I went to college with the actress' younger brother.  But no, Zoe was just totally unlikable to me.  Her husband, The Captain, was also pretty ridiculous, but I love that when Ted introduced himself as Galactic President Superstar McAwesomeville, he went with it.  More people should be able to name themselves.

Hands down, the best storyline in the episode is Barney and Robin going through the museum touching things.  Robin carrying around the penguin and saying he's stuffed gets me every time.  Things take a turn for the touching when Barney finds out that the man he called Uncle Jerry as a young child was actually his father.  It's kind of heartbreaking that he didn't have any more contact with Jerry throughout his childhood because of the trouble Barney caused at the museum as a kid.

Season 6 Honorable Mention - "Hopeless" because of the opening sequence:

Also, because "Bad News" is too sad to make this list.

Season 7 - "Ducky Tie"

This is kind a confusing episode, bouncing back and forth between dinner at Shinjitsu teppanyaki restaurant and the Architect's Ball.  During dinner at Shinjitsu Barney bets Marshall that he can complete all the tricks the chef does in exchange for seeing Lily's boobs (now larger due to her pregnancy).  If Barney loses, he must wear Marshall's ducky tie for one year.  While all this is going on, Ted recounts to the group what happened when he ran into Victoria at the Architect's Ball, which he attended with Robin.

I loved Victoria in Season 1, so I was so excited to see her come back in Season 7 (initially - not a fan of her in the rest of her episodes)!  The best part of the episode for me, though, is Robin's constant reminders to Ted to pick up where he left off in the story.  We all know how annoying it can be to be constantly interrupted during a story, and I love that she keeps reminding him to finish.

Season 8 - "P.S. I Love You"

It's Robin Sparkles 4 y'all!  After Robin comes to Ted's defense when their friends say his new girlfriend is a stalker, Barney goes on another hunt for evidence of why Robin feels this way.  It's revealed that she recorded a song called "P.S. I Love You" and was obsessed with a Canadian celebrity.  We later find out the celebrity was Paul Schaffer.

Highlights of the episode include a conversation of Dobbler vs. Dahmer in terms of pursuing a love interest.  As a way of illustrating the difference, Ted uses Marshall and Lily as an example.  The flashback of Marshall playing ukulele to Lily in major (Dobbler) and creepy minor (Dahmer) keys is lovely.  Also, I love any time Jason Segel plays an instrument - especially a ukulele!

The video for "P.S. I Love You" is a fantastic reference to fellow Canadian songstress, Alanis Morisette's video for "You Oughta Know".  Speaking of "You Oughta Know", Dave Coulier has a cameo, as do Paul Schaffer, Geddy Lee, Jason Preiestly, Alex Trebek, Steven Page, and k.d. lang.  It's like the Canadian lottery!

Season 9 - "How Your Mother Met Me"

This season has been a little more disjointed that previous seasons, since it's supposed to take place during the wedding weekend, but flashes back and forward multiple times each episode.  This episode explains what the mother was doing throughout the series till we meet her - all the instances where she and Ted had near misses.  It also starts with the adorable mother-centric opening theme:

This is a pretty amazing episode full of callbacks since we see the last 9 years through her eyes.  I must admit that I cried within the first 3 minutes of the episode when she loses someone close to her.  I cried especially hard when I saw that he had given her a ukulele for her birthday!  We get to see her at the St. Patrick's Day party where she loses her yellow umbrella, which she leaves behind when she takes her former orchestra camp counselor, Mitch, back to her apartment to give him her cello for his underfunded orchestra program.  That's when she finds out that Mitch is the Naked Man from Season 4.

We see how she meets her roommate Cindy during the lecture on Ted's first day teaching.  We see the aftermath of Ted and Cindy's breakup, which leads to Cindy kissing the mother and telling her, "I might have some stuff to figure out."  We see the mother meet her next boyfriend, Louis, after a gig with her band.  There are Save the Arcadia posters in the background when they meet!

We see her meet some of the gang and anonymously buy Ted a drink.  We see her make the conscious decision to move on with her life after a proposal from Louis.  It's all very sweet.

And now...

All Time Favorite Episode!  From Season 1 - "The Pineapple Incident"

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After a night at MacLaren's where Ted drinks multiple shots in succession, the next morning is spent piecing the evening together.  Questions Ted needs to answer include how he sprained his ankle, what happened to his jacket, what phone number is written on his arm, who the girl in his bed is, and of course WHAT ABOUT THE PINEAPPLE?!

The each scene of the episode builds on the knowledge of the previous episode.  We learn that Ted gets put to bed multiple times by his friends, each time, returning to the bar and shouting, "I'm back, babydolls!" Throughout the night he repeatedly calls Robin, he sings Cheap Trick to everyone in the bar, and talks about breaking into the zoo because, "I gotta see some penguins, like, right now!"  (I can relate to this feeling.) Danica McKeller guest stars as Trudy, which is awesome, because WINNIE COOPER FTW!

This episode is just full of hilarious moments as Ted recreates what happened the night before.  Easily my favorite episode ever.

And thus ends my love letter to How I Met Your Mother.  Even the episodes that could be better are still good.  I've grown to love the characters, and the actors for that matter, and I'm going to miss them!  Thankfully the show is all kinds of syndicated, and our apartment has two nearly-complete sets of the series on DVD.

Fighting Sexism? Splendid!

At the beginning of the month, the American History Teachers' Collaborative held a focus workshop on the history of feminism in America.  It was an amazing day, and we had phenomenal speakers.  Amy Richards and Jennifer Baumgardner gave a joint keynote address in the morning followed by historian Barbara Berg giving an afternoon keynote address.

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I had the honor of going to dinner with Amy, Jennifer, and some teachers from the AHTC the night before the workshop, and they were just such lovely women.  Their presentation the next day was wonderful and inspiring.  They met while working for Gloria Steinem at Ms. Magazine.  At the end of the day, Amy hugged me.  This person who is amazing and important (and has undoubtedly hugged Gloria Steinem) hugged me!  That basically means I've practically hugged Gloria Steinem.

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Barbara Berg's keynote posed a couple of really interesting questions that got me thinking about my own life in terms of sexism and feminism.  I have lived a relatively privileged life, but I've encountered sexism since I was a small child.

The first question that got me thinking was "When was the first time you encountered sexism or gender inequality?"

The first time I remember being on the receiving end of sexism was when I was probably 6 years old.  My parents signed me up for instructional league baseball.  In my hometown, there was no softball option for girls that young at the time, so those of us interested in playing either sport had to play baseball.  There were probably 6 or 8 teams in my league.  The league didn't have tryouts, but the coaches all got together to draft their teams.  They tried to split the girls evenly among all the teams, but my team was "stuck" with two girls.

One of the main differences between instructional league and regular little league is that the parent coaches pitch to the batters.  Otherwise, everyone would get walked, and games would take for-ev-er.  As I stepped into the batter's box at my first game, my parents immediately noticed something different about how the coaches behaved.  With my helmet on my head and my hands choked up probably too far on my 14oz aluminum bat, I waited for my first pitch.  My coach took the baseball in his hand, rocked back and lobbed me an underhand pitch.  After I made contact with the ball and ran to first base, one of my male teammates took his place at the plate.  This time the coach sent an overhand pitch toward the batter.  In fact, as we cycled through the next few batters in the lineup, they all hit overhand pitches.  Then Karla, the other girl on my team came to the plate.  Once again the coach lobbed an underhand pitch toward the plate.  It was obvious at that point that she and I were being treated differently from the rest of the team.

After the game, my parents approached the coaches to discuss what they had just witnessed.  The coaches tried to justify their behavior by saying that as girls we would eventually be playing softball and should get used to underhand pitching.  While it's true that both Karla and I would go on to play softball in summer leagues and high school, that wasn't the point.  We were being treated differently based solely on our sex.  At 6 years old, there's not much of a difference in the strength, speed, or agility between the sexes.  Hell, with our hair in ponytails and hidden under ball caps, you couldn't even tell that there were girls on the field!  There was no need to treat the girls on the team any differently than the boys on the team.  My parents assured the coaches that I was prepared to play the same game in the same way as my male teammates.  After that my coaches pitched overhand to both of us for the remainder of the season.

Would I have been any less of a ballplayer if the coaches had continued to pitch underhand to me?  Probably not.  At 6 years old, in a league where everyone bats every inning, and no one is ever considered "out", it's not like I was destined to become the next great baseball player.  The situation did illustrate that even at age 6, boys and girls are treated differently in athletics.

I'm grateful my parents saw the inequality and put an immediate stop to it.  I was never raised to believe I couldn't do anything based solely on my sex, and I think this incident illustrated that for me.  It made a mark on me at a very early age that my sex was not an excuse for anything.

Of course now that I've written about this event from when I was 6, I'm remembering that the real first time I remember encountering sexism was when I was 3 years old and in preschool.  While playing outside on a particularly hot day, I remember the boys in my preschool class were allowed to take off their shirts.  Since I was also hot and sweaty, I tried to take my shirt off as well.  I was admonished by the teachers and told that it was only okay if the boys took off their shirts and not the girls.

Now, I developed early, but I can promise that I certainly did not have boobs at age 3.  Had I taken my shirt off, there would have been no difference between my body and that of my male classmates.  The teacher really should have adopted an all-or-nothing approach to the subject.  Either everyone gets to remove their shirts or no one does.

So I guess that's really where it started for me.  The more I think about it, the more stories from my own history I remember.  I've got a great one from high school that involves Scholastic Bowl, the Assistant Principal, and No Doubt.  Stay tuned for that.

What about you?  Do you remember the first time you encountered sexism?

Valentine's Memories? Splendid!

This is me acknowledging that I haven/t written anything in a month.  This is me moving on.

So.  A long, long time ago, I started hanging out with this boy right before winter break during my freshman year in college.  We spent a lot of time messaging each other on AIM (nobody texted yet, and he didn't even get a cell phone till years later) and getting to know one another.  I visited him during break, and he introduced me to his favorite movie, The Blues Brothers, which I had surprisingly never seen.  We continued talking throughout break, and when I got back to campus for the spring semester, we made our relationship official.  Ten years later, we just celebrated our anniversary with a trip to the Chicago Art Institute and a show at Second City.

Recreating a masterpiece at the Art Institute.  Obviously.

Seeing as how this relationship was still very new at the time, this boy still felt the need to woo me on our first Valentine's Day.  (For the record, he still tries to woo me every once in awhile!)  He asked me the super obvious, but still sweet, question of what my ideal date would be.  I answered him honestly: 

I kid!  I kid!  I told him it would be having Italian or Chinese food (my two favorite cuisines) for dinner and seeing Led Zeppelin (my favorite band) in concert in San Diego (my favorite city in the US).

Valentine's Day was on a Saturday that year, so we planned to celebrate on the actual holiday.  My roommate and I went shopping and picked out a snazzy new outfit for me to wear - a pair of black pants with thin red pin-striping and a black wrap shirt with a red sparkly cami underneath.  The idea was that I could wear the outfit again to events other than Valentine's dates.  We went back to the dorm where I spent way too long trying to straighten and smooth my frizzy curls.  I had no idea what the plan was for the evening, but I was ready for anything!

The landline (we still had those back then!) in our room rang as someone from the front desk called to tell me I had a visitor.  He couldn't have picked me up at room, because I lived in an all-girls dorm, and my room was protected by no fewer than 4 secure doors, otherwise I'm sure he would have made the trip to my door.

As we drove off campus, he told me that unless we had wanted to eat dinner at 4pm or 10pm, all the nice Italian restaurants in town were booked, and he hadn't found a "fancy" Chinese restaurant in town, so he hoped I would be okay with Japanese food.  I assured him that would be fine, and we pulled into one of our local Japanese restaurants.  

I had only had teppanyaki (wah-cha-cha food, in my family - an onomatopoetic phrase to describe the sound of the chef cooking your food) once before, and I was excited to be seated at a teppan table that night.  Of course since it was Valentine's Day, the restaurant was crowded.  Teppan tables that usually sat 8 people were crammed with 12 patrons all expecting their dinner and a show.  To our left sat a couple in their early to mid-thirties.  They were married, and we later found out (read: overheard) that they had a couple kids at home with a babysitter who was charging them extra because it was Valentine's Day (rude).  They started bickering long before we were seated next to them, and the close proximity of strangers who could hear every word of their conversation did nothing to deter them from picking at one another for the duration of the meal.  

The couple to our left looked to be in their late teens/early twenties.  They seemed pleasant enough... until it came time to order.  Despite the fact that the guy had specifically requested they sit at a teppan table, neither partner felt compelled to order from the teppanyaki menu.  He ordered chicken teriyaki, and she ordered shrimp tempura.  Luckily I was still on my best behavior on this fancy date in this new relationship, otherwise eyes would have been rolling and sarcastic comments would have been stage whispered.  Watching the chef prepare your food is a pretty entertaining part of the meal in a place like that, but when you order from the regular dinner menu and don't show an appropriate amount of love for the onion volcano, you need to rethink your restaurant selection.  Despite the lackluster table neighbors, and our pathetic chopstick skillz (Yes, with a Z. Duh.), we managed to have a great time and thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

After dinner we headed to our next location, which was still unknown to me.  He made a cute little joke that even though we were heading west, no part of our date was actually going to take place in San Diego, but we could pretend if I wanted.  We ended up at Parkland College at the Staerkel Planetarium.  The planetarium offers the typical star show fare, but until a couple years ago, they also did laser light shows.  It just so happened that on that particular Valentine's Day, they were showing a Led Zeppelin laser light show!  I was ridiculously thrilled about that.  The planetarium also did Pink Floyd and The Who shows, but it seemed like fate that it happened to be Led Zeppelin on that night.  It was so dorky and so silly and so perfect.  

After that we went back to his place for dessert, where I found out he had made me brownies.  No boy had ever baked for me before (and come to think of it, the only thing he's baked me since then was a loaf of bread), and it was sweet (pun intended).  The whole night was so well planned and so thoughtful that to this day, I refer to it as the best date ever.

Since dinner out on our first Valentine's Day proved to be crowded and full of unpleasant people, we started a new tradition the next year.  Now we take turns making each other a nice dinner.  We eat it at the table instead of in front of the TV.  There's often more than one course and definitely more than two food groups.  There's music playing in the background.  He usually sticks with simple food prepared well - he knows I'm a meat and potatoes kind of girl.  Also, the year he made whole trout, I had to cover the head of mine with a napkin, because delicious as it was, I don't like being able to look my entree in the eye whilst I consume it.  I usually get in a little bit over my head, and try to do something extravagant as evidenced by last year's meal.

Spending a cozy quiet Valentine's Day at home is perfect for us since we celebrate Christmas, our anniversary, Valentine's Day, and both of our birthdays in four consecutive months.  We typically go somewhere fancier for our anniversary, when it's less likely that reservations will be so hard to book.  This is one of our traditions that I really cherish, and I hope it's one that we continue for a long time.  Though I won't argue with the man if he wants to take me to a Led Zeppelin reunion show or to San Diego for Valentine's Day in the future!

Favorites from 2013? Splendid!

I'm either a day early or a week late in this, but this is basically a list of all my obsessions from 2013.  Here's to 2014 and a whole NEW list of obsessions!

Hair - Eufora Curl'N Defining Solution

Changed. My. Life.  Little known fact: I didn't know I had curly hair till well into high school, despite the fact that it stopped being straight sometime in 6th grade.  Throughout middle school and high school, it was mostly just frizz (orange frizz in 7th grade thanks to my trusty bottle of Sun In!).  My hair gets bigger and curlier in humidity, so imagine the mess I was trying to contain with my first flat iron that was a steam straightener.

Yeah.  Not the best move for me.  I continued to combat my curls through college, and only in the last few years have I really started embracing my hair as it really is.  Everything changed when I started going to a great salon and seeing a stylist who specialized in curly hair.  For the first time ever, I asked my stylist to keep my hair curly, and teach me how to style it myself, instead of having her straighten it.  She used the Curl'N Defining Solution on my hair, and I immediately knew I needed it.  It formed lovely, bouncy curls without frizz or the crunchiness that often accompanies gel or mousse.  Never before one to spend a ton of money on hair products, I was shocked to find out that it cost more than my haircut.  Luckily one can of the foam lasts for months and months.  I don't claim to have great hair on the daily now, but this Eufora product is certainly the reason for fewer bad hair days.

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Don't worry, each description won't be this long.  I just needed to show you the ridiculous contraption I tortured my hair with in high school.

Makeup - BareMinerals Matte Foundation
I started wearing BareMinerals many years ago.  Throughout this year I tried wearing a few different foundations, a foam and a liquid style, but I never really liked any of them.  I ended up switching back to my old standby, but this time with a twist.  I had only used the original formula till this year when I decided to give the matte formula a try.  I was weary initially, so I started by mixing the two formulas together.  I've found that the matte formula isn't too mattifying, but it does keep everything in check.

I love BareMinerals because it doesn't cause breakouts for me.  I like that with the powder foundation, I can choose the level of coverage I wear on a given day.  If I'm having a great skin day, I can easily just buff a little bit on and get on with my day.  If I need fuller coverage, it just takes a few more swipes with my brush.  It's great.

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Nails - Sally Hanson Nail Strips
I mentioned Sally Hanson Nail Strips in a post this fall when I talked about my first day working at the music store.  I've used these multiple times this year, and I fully recommend them.  They're simple to use, and they have surprisingly excellent staying power.  The nail strips alone often last longer than a traditional varnish with base and top coat.  My only complaint is that I wish there were more colors.  I like the permanent designs, and they release limited edition designs for each season.

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Skincare - Yes to Tomatoes
The Yes To line is a variety of products made from mostly natural ingredients.  The Yes to Tomatoes line is specifically aimed at acne control.  I've tried three products in this particular line: the blemish clearing facial wipes, the daily clarifying cleanser, and the clearing facial mask.  While the wipes and cleanser are both great products, the standout to me was the mask.  All of the products worked well together, and I definitely felt like they improved the condition of my skin.

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Kitchen/Food - Homemade Pasta
After deciding to make homemade pasta for our Valentine's dinner in 2013, I kind of became obsessed with it.  Using my Kitchen Aid pasta rollers made the whole thing such a breeze that I found myself making fresh pasta on weeknights.  When we made pasta growing up, we typically used white all-purpose flour, but to make things more authentic, I began using a combination of semolina and AP flour.  The duo gave my pasta so much more flavor, and the final product was a delicious noodle.  With the pasta water salted liberally, and the noodles boiled just to al dente, my fresh pasta was always flavorful and delicious.  In 2014, I want to give spinach pasta a try, too!

TV - Doctor Who

Last year I read a lot of books.  This year I watched a lot of TV, and I'm not ashamed of it.  Yes, I did still watch Real Housewives of New Jersey, but I started paying more attention to British shows (Downton Abbey, Sherlock) and Joss Whedon's work (Buffy, Firefly/Serenity).  The standout for the year, though, absolutely was Doctor Who.

I started watching "New Who" right after Christmas.  My brother has been suggesting it for a couple years now, and I always told him I didn't have time to start another series.  I don't think he understood that I'm a hardcore binge watcher, and once I started the series, I wouldn't be able to stop till I consumed all. of. it.  It became apparent to him the day after I started watching it, when I texted him my feelings on David Tennant's first episode as the Tenth Doctor, which happens at the beginning of the second season.

I had watched all of the new episodes by my birthday in Mid-March, and for my birthday LP Stacey started watching the series with me.  Since then we've finished the series (again for me), watched the 50th Anniversary Special, and the 2013 Christmas Special.

To say I became obsessed would definitely be accurate and possibly even an understatement.  Case in point?  I was the Eleventh Doctor for Halloween this year.

Also, my phone's ringtone is an excerpt from the music played in the show.

And Scott bought me Dr. Who art for Christmas even though he had no idea the significance of the print in relation to the show.

Book - The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The first time I read TFIOS, I read the entire thing in one sitting.  I laughed; I cried; I had all the emotions.  I immediately read all the other John Green books, even the novels he co-wrote, and I loved all of them.  I always come back to The Fault in Our Stars, though.  It sounds so depressing when I tell people it's a book about teen cancer patients who fall in love.  I mean, it is a book about that, but it's so much more.  It's beautiful and real and poetic, and no matter your gender or age, I think you need to read it.  Just keep a box of tissues nearby.  If you can finish the entire book without crying, then you should probably see a doctor, because it would appear you have no heart.

Furthermore, the book has become kind of a cultural phenomenon, at least within my communities.  It was number one on the Amazon and Barnes and Noble bestsellers lists before the book was even released.  More than 150,000 copies of the book were pre-orderd.

It's a beautiful and real and poetic story, and no matter your gender or age, I think you need to read it.  Just keep a box of tissues nearby.  If you can finish the entire book without crying, then you should probably see a doctor, because it would appear you have no heart.

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Also, the film adaptation starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort is set to be released in June.  I hope it does the book justice.

Music - "This Year" by the Mountain Goats

I was introduced to this band and this song while watching the Evening for Awesome concert on YouTube.  I had just started watching Vlogbrothers videos, and I hadn't read any of John's books or listened to any of Hank's music yet.  The video for the Evening for Awesome kept popping up in the recommended videos list on YouTube, so eventually I spent an entire evening watching it.  John and Hank Green are huge fans of the Mountain Goats, so naturally they asked the band to perform at the show.  They closed the entire evening by playing "This Year."

I was immediately struck by a line in the chorus, which I find to be both funny and sad: "I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me."

Last year was kind of a tough one for me.  I ended up places physically, emotionally, and mentally that I never thought I would be.  Places I never really want to be again.  I believe I connected with the song on a deep level because of my situation at the time.  When I had an hour-long commute this summer, I would usually end the drive with this song.  

Movie - Much Ado About Nothing
Who would have guessed obsessions over both Doctor Who and Joss Whedon would have led to yet another obsession over Shakespeare?  

After thoroughly enjoying the fourth season of Doctor Who and the chemistry between David Tennant and Catherine Tate, I found out they did a production of Much Ado About Nothing in London's West End a couple years ago.  The production was filmed, and through Digital Theatre, I was able to download it to watch till the cows came home.  For Whovians it's pretty amusing to see Tennant and Tate take on the roles of reluctant lovers Benedick and Beatrice since their characters on Doctor Who were never the slightest bit attracted to one another.

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Early in 2013 I found out that Joss Whedon was directing and producing a film adaptation of Much Ado.  By that point I had already watched watched all of Firefly (all 1 season of it), Serenity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog, as well as the first season of Angel and The Avengers.  I was deep into the Whedonverse when I first heard about his adaptation.  Joss Whedon is known for using the same actors throughout multiple projects, and I love them all.  I figured watching the film would be kind of like watching a reunion.  A reunion composed of Shakespearean English, but a reunion nonetheless.  Set for limited release, I scoured the list of theaters with screenings in hopes of seeing it on the big screen.  At the time of its initial release, there were only two theaters in the state that were set to screen it, and I made sure I could attend one of them.  It was lovely and funny and everything I wanted it to be.  I even mentioned it in this post.  Thankfully I actually got a second chance to see it on the big screen when it came to The Art Theater in town a few weeks later.

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Place - The Art Theater
We're lucky enough to have multiple theaters in town, including The Art Theater.  It's great to have a place that shows indie films, has late night screenings of "classics" and basically does everything an independent movie theater should do in my opinion.  I saw so many movies there this year, and I didn't even make it to all the films I wanted to see!  Manager Austin McCann took over in 2012, and I think he is doing a great job.  There's a great mix of genres, and they do interesting festivals and events with local groups.  Also, they have a liquor license, so that's a bonus.

Season of Giving 2013 Continues? Splendid!

So I had this great plan to expand my Season of Giving this year.  I was going to pick more charities to donate to, and I was going to find really great companies that partner with charities to give back, and I was going to write beautiful posts about all of them in the two weeks leading up to Christmas.

But then, you know what?  I got busy with work, SAI, and social obligations, and I haven't gotten around to writing any of my "scheduled" posts.

I didn't want to completely abandon the concept, and I still donated to charities, so instead of doing multiple posts, I'm just going to do one, giant, big-ass post with the remaining organizations.

I did manage to write another post about the Eastern Illinois Foodbank to kick things off this year.  You can read that here.

In addition to the EIF, I gave money to the American Red Cross specifically in my area.  Back in November tornadoes swept through Illinois.  An EF4 tornado ripped through Washington while an EF3 tornado hit Gifford.  Other towns throughout Illinois were hit with severe weather and tornadoes that day as well, but Gifford and Washington are especially important to me.  Gifford is a small farming town 20 miles from where I live.  Two of my coworkers live in Gifford, and though their homes were thankfully and luckily untouched, they shared stories of the terrible damage caused by the weather.  I took a special interest in the recovery efforts in Washington because one of my dearest friends and her family live in Washington.  They were fortunate enough that their property sustained no real damage.  However good friends of theirs lost their entire house and all their belongings.

Knowing that I would not be a real help to the relief effort, the best way I knew to help was to make a donation to the Central Illinois Chapter of the Red Cross.

The next two charities were suggestions from my friends.

Bryan suggested I donate to the Wounded Warrior Project.  The ten year old organization helps veterans through a number of programs.  They have projects to help them stay connected with other vets, programs to help them find civilian jobs appropriate for their experience, projects to help with physical recovery from injuries sustained while on active duty, and programs aimed at mental health.  One of the things that struck me about the WWP website is that on the Programs page, it shows the mental health programs first, which I appreciate.  I love knowing that there is an organization that is making a concentrated effort on improving the mental health of the men and women who have been in combat while serving this country.  The Wounded Warrior Project casts an even wider net by offering a grant program to help other nonprofit organizations that support our veterans!

The final charity for this year was suggested by Elizabeth.  Girls Inc. is a nonprofit aimed at inspiring girls to be "strong, smart, and bold."  I love that mission statement!  I want all girls to be strong, smart and bold!  The programs Girls Inc. offers cover a wide range of subjects including economic literacy, community action, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills, and preventing teen pregnancy, among others.  The organization has more than 1,400 sites in 350 cities in North America.  Each year they serve 136,000 young women ages 6-18.  Unfortunately there are no affiliates in Illinois, but there are plenty in the surrounding states!  The website has some great resources explaining their programs, how you can support the organization, and resources for parents and their daughters.  One of these resources is the Girls Inc. Girls' Bill of Rights.  It's wonderful.

If you made charitable donations last year, I would love to know which organizations you supported!

Season of Giving Kickoff 2013? Splendid!

To kick off my Season of Giving 2013, I'm donating to one of my favorite local charities.  Yes, I did give the Eastern Illinois Foodbank a donation last year, but I find their work so invaluable to my community that I definitely planned to give to them again this year.

If you didn't read last year's post on the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, you can check it out by clicking this link.

During my time of employment limbo this spring, I signed up to volunteer at the Foodbank.  I was able to attend a couple of the repack volunteer nights before my work schedule eliminated that possibility, but it was a really great opportunity for me.  I enjoyed seeing a bunch of strangers work together really efficiently to repack food from giant bulk bins into manageable family-sized servings.  It was a really diverse group, too!  I would say the ages ranged from 17 years old to 65 years old, and the group worked together so well.  At the end of the evening, it was obvious that we made a huge dent in the work that needed to be done, and for me at least, it was nice to have a sense of accomplishment during a time when I didn't get much of that feeling.

After checking out the Eastern Illinois Foodbank on Charity Navigator this year, I'm even more impressed with the organization.  According to the data, more than 95% of the Foodbank's expenses are put toward the services and programs it provides.  That's an incredibly high percentage.

A year later, I'm still amazed at the sheer amount of people (over 100,000!)who are served by the Eastern Illinois Foodbank throughout 14 counties!

November Favorites? Splendid!

I know you've been waiting with bated breath to find out what I dug the most in November.  Luckily for you, I'm ready to share!

Miscellaneous - My Charitable Giving Plan for 2013
I started this blog to share the stories of the places receiving donations from me last Christmas.  I really want to know what organizations you think should receive my donations this year.  If you have suggestions, please fill out this form.

Hair - Say Yes to Carrots Scalp Therapy Shampoo & Conditioner
I started using products in the "Say Yes to" line last spring, and two of the products I've really liked are the Say Yes to Carrots Scalp Therapy Shampoo & Conditioner.  Especially now when the weather has dried out, my hair and scalp can use a little TLC.  I like to use this line a couple times a week in conjunction with products formulated for curly hair, as well as the Macadamia Hair Masque I mentioned last month.

Makeup - NYX Deep Purple retractable eyeliner
Purple naturally brings out brown eyes, and I've been adoring the NYX Deep Purple water proof retractable eyeliner lately.  NYX is a really affordable brand found online and at Ulta, and I'm really impressed with its staying power.  I typically only line my upper lid with it, so I'm not sure how durable it would be along my lower water line, but seeing as how it's water proof, I think it would stick.  This color is a deep enough purple that I find totally wearable on a daily basis.  The formula is really creamy, the color is really pigmented.  I'm a fan.

Skincare - Aveeno Clear Complexion Daily Moisturizer
Aveeno is known for making great moisturizers, and I especially love the Clear Complexion formula.  The main difference between the Positively Radiant (which is also great) and the Clear Complexion formulas is that the latter also contains salicylic acid which helps clear up breakouts.  It can be difficult to find a product that keeps skin soft and moisturized without exacerbating any greasy or oily skin issues, and this one does a great job.  I've been using it for years, but it is especially helpful when the weather starts to turn colder, and the air dries out more.

Nails - Essie Mesmerized Polish
I refer to this color as "TARDIS Blue" because I obviously think the shade is similar to my favorite time traveling police box from Doctor Who.  Essie color 776, Mesmerized, is a beautiful medium blue shade.  As with nearly all Essie polishes, Mesmerized isn't too thin, and you only need 1-2 coats.  I definitely painted my nails this shade to watch my favorite TV show this month.  See below.

Kitchen/Food - Thanksgiving leftovers
Normally I'm the kind of girl who doesn't really like it when my food touches.  Thanksgiving is the only day when that preference flies out the window, and this is especially true when it comes to leftovers.  Turkey? Great! Stuffing? Delicious! Potatoes? Throw 'em in the bowl! Gravy? Pour it all over the top!  Perfection.  I may or may not have eaten leftovers just like this for three meals in a row last weekend.  Hint: I did.  

I could share a picture of it with you, but let's be honest, delicious as they are, Thanksgiving leftovers aren't so glamorous.

TV - Doctor Who "The Day of the Doctor"
The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special aired on November 23rd, and it was nearly everything I wanted it to be.  David Tennant and Billie Piper returned for the special, and they were just lovely.  We got a glimpse of the 12th Doctor, Peter Capaldi, who will begin his run after Matt Smith leaves during the Christmas Special this year.  John Hurt was a joy and a delight as the War Doctor.  The story included so many jokes and references to the show throughout its run that it definitely made me want to go back and watch Classic Who.

Music - Fitz & the Tantrums
Duh.  I listened to both albums by Fitz & the Tantrums countless times throughout November.  The concert Stacey and I attended was so amazing, I wrote an entire post devoted to it a couple weeks ago.

Book - Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster
I've mentioned before that I like to listen to books using Audible.com.  I read Such a Pretty Fat, as well as Jen's other books, last year in the Year of Books, and I loved the way she told her stories.  Such a Pretty Fat details her quest for better health through various programs with varying degrees of success.  I've taken to listening to chapter while at the gym so I can keep my brain engaged instead of focusing on how much I hate my life while exercising.  I love that Audible allows me to automatically pause the book at the end of a chapter.  I like to set myself a goal of one or two chapters, depending on their length, and then I know I only have to get through so much of the book before I can go home.  In general, I highly recommend Audible, and in particular I recommend Jen Lancaster's books.  She's funny and sassy, and she tells it like it is.

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Place - Orange You Splendid Etsy Shop
So I did this thing...  I opened an Etsy Shop!  There's not much for sale yet, but I'll be adding a lot of inventory in the next few weeks.  My plan is to offer the handmade items that I typically give as bridal and baby shower gifts.  Two different friends have mentioned my hooded bath towels to me today, so I think a few of those will be making their way into the shop very shortly.

Fitz and the Tantrums? Splendid!

First order of business: have you read my last post on Charitable Giving 2013?  Tell me where to give my money!

Now, on to this ridiculously long love letter to the band I saw last night.

I first heard about Fitz & the Tantrums back in April when I saw this mention of them on Hello Giggles.  I immediately purchased the first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces, based on the iTunes clips of the songs.  I also pre-ordered their sophomore album, More Than Just A Dream, that was set to come out a few weeks later.  

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Lead singer (and band namesake) Michael Fitzpatrick has said in interviews that the band is heavily influenced by the classic soul music that was produced in the 1960's, specifically at Motown and Stax.  That was evident to me from my first listen.  The opening vamp on the second track, "Dear Mr. President" sounds like it could be the opening of an Aretha Franklin song.  I think that's a large part of why I like Fitz & the Tantrums so much - it has the edge of new rock and pop music paired with the comfortable familiarity of decades old soul music.  The marriage of the two styles works so well for this band, and I feel like it's a style that isn't represented as much in current music.

The band also differs from many current rock bands in that there is no guitarist.  James King plays guitar on a few tracks, but more often than not, he's manning the keyboard or wailing on bari sax (he even plays flute on a few tracks!).  All of the musicians in the band are great, but it's no secret that there is real power in the combination of lead singers Michael Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs.  Their voices mingle so well together, and by having both a male and a female lead singer, it opens up a lot of lyrical choices.  They can sing about love and heartbreak, and it's like the audience is watching an actual couple sing their feelings.  The chemistry the two have on stage is so fantastic that a lot of people actually think the two are a couple.  (They aren't - Fitzpatrick's girlfriend gave birth to their son while he was on tour in September.)  The strong chemistry isn't only seen on stage; it can also be heard in their voices.

Both albums have been in heavy rotation on my playlists since then, so when I saw that the band was coming to Assembly Hall (sigh... State Farm Center) in November, I was thrilled.  LP Stacey and I bought tickets weeks in advance.  The Bright Futures Tour was co-headlined by Capital Cities and Fitz & the Tantrums.  They tapped fellow LA musicians, Beat Club, to open for them each night.

Beat Club is a band that is clearly wet behind the ears.  The music was more electro-pop than I prefer, but it wasn't wholly unpleasant to listen to.  I was not a fan of their lead singer and his unnecessarily foul mouth.  As a fellow potty mouth, it's not that he was dropping f-bombs that bothered me.  It's more that it felt forced, like he was trying to be edgy.  It also seemed to be the only adjective he knew, and he applied it liberally between each song.  Lame.  However, I did think it was kind of adorable that the drummer was wearing a Fitz & the Tantrums shirt.

It's hard to see, but trust me, it's there.

Following the Beat Club set, Capital Cities took the stage.  Honestly, I hadn't really listened to Capital Cities till last night.  Of course I do hear "Safe and Sound" on the radio about a million times a day.  I did try to familiarize myself with their album, In a Tidal Wave of Mystery, over the week.  I didn't dislike the music, but I think my excitement over Fitz was clouding my honest judgement of the music.

Capital Cities put on a thoroughly enjoyable set.  They have great energy, catchy hooks, and my favorite (of course) - a trumpet player!

Okay, so his moves were kind of cheesy, but he was still a great horn player.  And the crowd loved him.  At one point he swapped his trumpet for a purple pBone, which also went over well with the crowd.  They unsurprisingly closed with "Safe and Sound", and the crowd went wild.  It seemed like the song would never end, and that was okay, because we were all having a fantastic time.  We were safe and sound.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy the Capital Cities set as much as I did.  But it was so lively and energetic, and just plain fun.  I may not have known many of the songs before the concert, but I woke up with them in my head this morning.  Catchy jingle writing jerks.  I decided that Capital Cities may be less of a "listen at work" kind of band and more of a "bathroom/kitchen dance party" kind of band.  And I'm okay with that.

At long last, the house lights went back down, the LED heart lit up, and Fitz & the Tantrums took the stage!

They opened the set with "Keepin' Our Eyes Out" from their second album.  They followed that up with "Don't Gotta Work it Out" from Pickin' Up the Pieces.  The whole set was a nice mix of songs from each album, which was great.  Because let's be honest, when you go to a show, and the band only plays songs from the new album without honoring its own past, it's disappointing.  

The middle of the set had lots of energy, sandwiching "Breakin' the Chains of Love" between "Break the Walls" and one of my favorites, "Spark". 

One of the strangest and most enjoyable moments of the show for me was the cover of the Eurhythmics' "Sweet Dreams".  I feel like even Annie Lennox didn't have as much fun performing this song in concert as the Tantrums have.

During the second half of the set, they played "Out of My League" which has been getting regular air play for the last couple months.  It even made it to the top of the Billboard charts in September.  

They played some of their slower tunes after that, but they closed the show with "L.O.V." which was a total blast.  The band vamped on the ending for quite a while.  They even brought Capital Cities trumpet player, Spencer Ludwig, out to improvise with James King on saxophone.  The best descriptor for the end of the show would be raucous.  The crowd was going wild, everyone was dancing, and the band was clearly having a great time.

Despite the fact that the show was not as well attended as it could have been, the audience was deafening at the end of the show.  The band came back out to perform a two-song encore.  First they played MoneyGrabber from their first album.

They closed the show for realsies with uber-catchy tune, "The Walker" from More Than Just a Dream...

 complete with confetti cannons.

I just had such a great time at this show.  Sure, my ears were still ringing when I went to sleep, my body physically aches from dancing so much today, and getting out of bed this morning was nearly impossible.  But it was all totally worth it.  I enjoyed the show so much that I looked at the rest of the tour schedule today to see if I could make it to another show.  Sadly the only two shows that are remotely near enough are both sold out.

I've been really lucky to see some really excellent shows this year, and this was most certainly one of them.

Oh yeah! You also might recognize some of the Fitz & the Tantrums songs from various commercials and TV shows.  I made a playlist on YouTube of all the commercials I could find.  Grey's Anatomy also featured the band three times: "Dear Mr. President" in season 8, episode 4; "Spark" in season 9, episode 19, and "The End" in season 10, episode 5.

Seriously give this band a listen.  They make me super happy.