Music Monday: Alexz Johnson - American Dreamer

Okay, confession, I might have been addicted to Canadian teen dramas when I was in college. Degrassi. South of Nowhere. And Instant Star.

Instant Star was my jam.

LOOK HOW COOL THEY ARE!

Mostly because Alexz Johnson is an amazing singer who just makes you feel all the feels. Like, she's crying so you're crying. So, basically, go watch that show. You're welcome.

But on to today! I remembered my love for Alexz's vocals a week ago and conveniently she released a new EP. So I've been listening to it and loving it. And you should too!

xoxo
Amanda

Friday Favorites: v.1

It's Friday! Yay! We're going on a brewery tour here in the city tomorrow so I'm pretty excited to get my drink on. Other than that, I'm not sure what our plans are. Outside of sleeping. I plan to sleep A LOT.

Let's move onto some things that I'm loving this week!

Have you seen the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy? If not, are you living under a rock? It looks HILARIOUS. I know mostly nothing about this series and I'm still crazy interested in this movie. Why? Because of this trailer. So, watch it.

I love these. They're by Karen Hallion and she is amazing anyway. But these Disney Princesses as Doctor Who companions are just phenomenal.
Go here and buy them. 

I have also been super into Youtube lately. I blame the stars of this movie. And also insomnia. Either way, I watched Camp Takota last week and it was fun! I loved it! It made me miss summer!

Go here and buy it.

This shirt is funny and true to life. I get hangry a lot. And it's not nice for those around me. So I should wear this shirt when I'm hungry, which is always.

Go here and buy it.

That's it! Just a few favorites! Happy Friday!

xoxo
Amanda

PS - YES I have done Friday Faves in the past. So why is this v. 1? Because the other ones had a theme. And were part of an old blog. So I'm starting back at one. Like Brian McKnight suggested.

Power Ballad Thursday: Metallica - "Nothing Else Matters"

Having Monday off from work makes me forget what day of the week it is.

But I'll tell you right now, it's Thursday.

And you know what that means! It's #PBT!

It also means that I'm just crazy exhausted. So I asked my coworker what song to write about and share with y'all. And he said "Metallica". I will tell you this right now, listening to Metallica power ballads is not waking me up. Mainly because they intro for over a minute on each song. And I fall asleep a little more each time.

So here's Metallica, with "Nothing Else Matters". Taking forever to get started. Putting me in a trance for 1:00 exactly until they start actually singing. And also, they play instruments with nude pictures near them. Which I find so weird.

at least they blurred it?

But they also have some serious facial hair in this video. So serious. What a montage. Give it a listen.

Then go and listen to something more upbeat so you can wake the eff up.

xoxo
Amanda

"Angel" - The Great Buffy Rewatch of 2014

Previously on Buffy the Vampire slayer...

We've only missed one episode! And in that episode, Xander was posessed by a Hyena and ate a pig. And was a general asshole. But he's okay now!

Season 1 - Episode 7

I wanted to be sure to write about this episode because it really has a lot to do with the over-arching story for the whole show. 

The show opens with the Master and the anointed kid skipping stones. And talking about sending in "The Three". Whoever that is.

The Bronze is filled with cockroaches. So much so that they're having a party to close the whole place for fumigation. But it's a perfect setting for a little girl talk about boys between Buffy and Willow. And a good excuse to talk about Angel. And swoon. And smoosh cockroaches.

But Buffy is sick of depressing everyone so she's peacing out of that party. Unfortunately for her The Three are some badass vampires in armor apparently. I think she would break her hand punching it, but she doesn't, so whatever. Just when it looks like she's in trouble, Angel is there to save the day. But I wonder where he learned all those moves and got so strong! Hmm. No time to question, it's time to run home! Everyone inside!

And also, she just made him take off his shirt. I'm flustered now. He's so baby faced here. And they really do have some serious chemistry. Ooo la la. He just can't stop keeping eye contact! Broody broody eye contact! Buffy's mom's here to cock block though. She should probably be wondering why this smoldering hot older man is here. And why his name is Angel. It's a weird name.

But now Buffy is sneaking him upstairs for bedtime since she's scared for his safety apparently. Smooth. Now she needs to change in front of him. BTW, Buffy gets changed in front of her friends sort of a lot. I'm not that kind of person. I don't get it. But as Angel said "she's even pretty when she goes to sleep". Bitch. I love her.

The way that Buffy is talking about Angel at school is so accurate. Like, this is legitimately how girls swoon over things. The only difference is that Buffy's right when she thinks everyone's swooning back. I'm just going to keep saying swoon.

Okay, conveniently, "The Three" just offered up their lives to fruit punch mouth as penance. They're so easily defeated. No longer an issue. 

Training segments between Buffy and Giles are just adorable. He is so well trained but she's the Slayer so she kicks his ass every time. 

Um. Can we just talk about the fact that Buffy's plan for Angel was to have him stay in her room for the entire day? Like, he must really like her a lot to stay there for so long. But she was right to think that he read her diary. That'd be my first instinct too. 

AHH! Angel just said how he just always thinks about kissing Buffy! 

AHH! AND NOW THEY'RE KISSING! And now Angel's face turned into a vampire and she screamed and he ran away! OMG! That's why he's so good at fighting, duh!

I've seen this so many times and I'm still just so excited. I love watching her friends reactions to it. And how from day one Xander suggested killing Angel. A theme that he sticks with forever. He's the jealous type.

I would also like to point out that we're seeing Angel's place of living for the first time. And Darla's there. Since they have a past apparenlty. A very long past. Like, Kimonos and history. I'm just excited to get a little back story to Angel's story. He's not human. But he's not really like other Vampires either. In what way, you ask? Well, there's been mention of a curse now. So I bet that has something to do with it!

People in Sunnydale read very quickly! Or I bet they skim. Either way, it's impressive. So the Scoobies are reading up on Angel, or Angellus as he was called, and his 240 years as a vampire. He was a cold hearted killer for like ever and then all of a sudden he's in America not killing. Shunning his vampire buddies. So strange!

Isn't it fun that I'm playing stupid? I'm just along for the ride! 

Seriously though, I wonder if the Master can change into a normal human face like everyone else does. And just chooses not to. It's something to ponder. Hmm.

Oh no! Darla is at Buffy's house with Joyce (Buffy's mom). Claiming to be a tutor. Asking for a snack. What a total bitch. Great, now she's sucking her blood and Angel is busting in to save the day. Unfortunately for him, Buffy just walked in and assumed the worst (that Angel was trying to kill her mom). But can you blame her? he's got vamp face and Buffy's mom is missing some serious blood.

I do love that the hospital excuse for vampire bites is that they fell on a fork or something. Why do people just believe that? This should be like a gunshot wound! There should be inquiries! I guess they're not equipped to deal with the supernatural though. So it makes sense.

Anyway, now Buffy's effing pissed. So she's loading up her crossbow and gunning for Angel. But Angel's ready for her and he has Darla on his side! *fight music*

Also, I love that Joyce just think's the school is awesome and has a great librarian. Not that it's weird for this older guy to be hanging out with kids so often. It's a little weird. But now he knows that Darla is the one who bit Joyce, not Angel. So we'll see what he does with that info.

On to the fight scene! Buffy is questioning Angel about his motives. And Angel is telling her all this stuff about how awful he is. But now he's sharing the story about his curse. The curse that made it so that he has a soul. BUM BUM BUM! So now Angel can't kill anyone because he cares too much. He's so close to human. But so far. And he understands Buffy's struggles. Perfect combination, right? Too bad Darla's here. Talking about her relationship with angel as his Maker!

And she's shooting guns! What a weak little bitch. Vampires don't fight with guns. That's just dumb. Thankfully, Buffy is the fucking slayer so this isn't all that big of a fight. Just avoid bullets. Easy enough. Plus, Angel just staked his maker! So she's no longer a big bad either! Man, he must truly like Buffy to give that up. But he's just walking away! 

Cut to the master throwing a fit in his little cave about losing his favorite - Darla. And the weird fucking anointed kid is comforting him. With promises to kill everyone. It doesn't make much sense considering he's this non threatening little kid.

Oh well! We'll finish the episode at the post fumigation party. And Angel is there to talk/dance with Buffy. He's got some 'splaining to do. They're discussing how they could never work and shouldn't be together. Which they obviously sealed with a kiss. Because, why not? 

Episode over! Romance started?

xoxo

Amanda

Music Monday: Pentatonix - Natural Disaster

This week's Music Monday features Pentatonix. If you happen to have been living under a rock for the past few months and don't know who they are - they're the acapella group that won season 3 of The Sing Off and is just killing it on the internet lately.

Anyway, John and I went to see them in concert a week ago and it. was. awesome!

They do a lot of covers and a lot of mashups which are all amazing. But they've also got a lot of original songs that are great too. Case in point? This song here. It's great!

You know what else is great? Sitting on the couch in my sweats because it's President's Day and I don't have to work. It's extremely confusing for a Monday, but I like it.

xoxo
Amanda

"Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" - The Great Buffy Rewatch of 2014

Welcome to another installment of my Buffy Rewatch. This is a place where I'll be long winded and you'll only want to read if you like Buffy (most likely). Seriously, this is a play by play for the episodes. And it is awesome!

Previously, on Buffy the Vampire slayer....

Okay, I've watched 3 episodes between the last one and today. So I wanted to make sure you're all caught up on what's happening. So, the master (fruit punch mouth) was trying to break free from his underground pergatory by sending a vampire troop to The Bronze (local hangout) to kill EVERYONE! But Buffy was there to kick some ass so that was unsuccessful. Woo! 

Then there was an episode where Buffy was trying out for cheerleading and there was a witch casting spells on everyone. Obvi - Buffy took care of it (noticing a trend?). But we were introduced to Amy - daughter of the witch and someone to pay attention to later.

The last episode I watched involved Xander falling for a substitute teacher who happened to be a giant praying mantis in a sexy lady body. She wanted him to fertalize her eggs. Oh, Xander.

But okay, now we're moving into today's episode (season 1, episode 5).

First scene involves Buffy killing a vampire in the cemetery while Giles critiques from afar (plunge! and move on. plunge! and move on.). They found a ring on this vamp and Giles is super worried. Because he must hate jewelry on men.

Okay, fruit punch mouth is back to talk about "The Anointed One".  Which is apparently going to be a great big weapon to bring the Slayer into hell. I think hell in this scenario is his weird little cave.

I am shocked that Buffy can wear some of these outfits at a public school.  We had to have like 2 inches past our fingertips. But she's in mini dresses galore!

Okay, there's this guy coming into the library now and Buffy clearly likes him. But I don't really know why. He's here to get a copy of Emily Dickinson because he lost his copy and he loves to keep it near by? I mean, I love books. But Buffy does not. Which is funny because she's clearly feigning interest because he's a cutie. (Has she just forgotten Angel already?)

Giles is so business all the time. And has a lot of layers on in a warm climate. British people, am I right? 

Okay, Willow is talking to Buffy about how sexy and broody Owen is. Just so you're aware - Buffy clearly has a type. Broody. She LOVES broody. You'll see that later. You'll also notice that Cordelia often has the same taste in guys as Buffy. They are just at odds all the time over dudes. 

We're also getting another dose of how Buffy can never have a normal life. She wants to go on a date but she can't! There's evil a-brewin'. Too bad she went to the Bronze before the evil actually brewed. Now a bus load of people are going to die and we're going to have to hear a crazy guy talk about judgement. Great. Thanks, Buffy.

The kids at this school go out to this club like every fucking night. And I think this Owen guy uses Sun-in. Remember Sun-in?

Xander just has the coolest collection of ridiculous shirts. And the saddest unrequited love for Buffy. He just has to sit by and watch her love all these broody dudeys and never him with the Tweety Bird watch. Womp womp.

btw the Master is stupid. Like, even if he gets free he's not just going to automatically be the ruler of the entire world. Which is absolutely what he thinks will happen.

OMG! Giles is here to ruin Buffy's date (again). People are dead! We should go to the funeral home! And now Owen showed up and is confused about the school librarian being at her house. As he should be!

"If the apocalypse comes, beep me!" So 90s!

Also, this small town in California has a new cool band at their under 18 club every night of the week. I don't get that. But I like it! And I like their dance moves. And now Cordelia is here with super crimped hair. She's just fashion forward.

Now Giles is going to the funeral home alone to look into this 5 dead people, who's the anointed thing. And of course the second he gets there he's attacked by vampires. For someone who trains the slayer, you'd think his fighting skills would be better. Or at least exist. I wouldn't picture him just shoving a cross in their faces and running away. But I guess it works for him (sort of - he is stuck in a room now).

Thank god Willow and Xander witnessed the whole incident and can now go tell Buffy he's in trouble. 

bahaha Angel just came in and Cordelia actually said "Hello, salty goodness". But of course he's here to warn Buffy about trouble. And get jealous of her date. He is SERIOUSLY adorable in season one. Broody and over protective. None of that soul stuff. Just being cute. oof.

quit being a creep, Angel!

Xander and Willow finally showed up and want to take Buffy to the cemetary. Date over. Let's go rescue Giles! Oh wait! Owen's here too because he likes danger and is curious about dead bodies. Because, of course he is. He won't find it weird that the librarian is here too. If I went to that school I'd think Buffy was boning Giles. 

These wacky kids have such zany adventures. Just barricading ourselves in a room in a funeral home! Whatever! This is totally normal, Owen! But again, he's excited about dead bodies...so he probably wouldn't question the fact that a vampire is about to kill him. (A vampire who keeps saying "pork and beans").

Is he the anointed?

This vampire "killed" Owen now. And really pissed off Buffy in the process. And by "killed" I mean knocked him out for like 30 seconds. Just long enough to fuel her desire to dust that vamp. Get it, girl!

Of course, now Owen is stand offish and wants to just go home. Because heaven forbid a girl be powerful. He went home alone and concussion heavy. But he slept on it (which you shouldn't do with a concussion) and he loves her and the danger around her! Because he's death guy! A poet! An idiot! Thankfully Buffy sees past it and dumps him. She deserves someone who wants to be with her, not just danger.

And just when you think the episode is over, we flash to fruit punch mouth. Oh, you thought Buffy killed the anointed? NOPE! "The slayer shall not know him" remember? The anointed was the little boy on the bus! DUN DUN DUN 

I hope you're enjoying the Buffy rewatch. And maybe joining in? You probably should.

Tune in next time!

xoxo

Amanda

PS - Happy Valentine's Day!

Power Ballad Thursday: Celine Dion - The Power of Love

Okay, guys, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Some people love it, some people hate it. Very few people are indifferent about it.

I happen to LOVE it. 

Who would have guessed that? (everyone) I mean, I love a good theme. So, a holiday built around a color scheme and design aesthetic is just right in my wheelhouse.

Anyway, back to the music! 

This music video features the scariest bed I've ever seen in my entire life. It's made of iron and is totally scary. It's got these spikes that could just kill you. It also features some of the most quintessential 90s fashion choices I've seen. Florals. Fuzzy shirts.

But that music!! I'm sorry haters but Celine Dion can SANG.

Happy Galentine's day!

xoxo

Amanda

Hump Day - Now with more humps

Happy hump day, guys!

As a special treat, I wanted to share this video that I have shared on every other media I possibly could.

Evgeni Plushenko is the Magic Mike of the skating world!

Don't believe me? Check out the comparison:

If you're drawn in by that here's the whole scene:

Yay! Hump day! 

xoxo

Amanda

Music Monday: Pixies - Here Comes Your Man

I'm basically half deaf today so I'm not listening to much music. But this song makes me happy. And makes me want to dance. And just because I can't listen to anything doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy your day filled with songs!

And reminds me of JGL singing it at karaoke in 500 Days of Summer. Swoon.

Isn't it crazy how I can type so little today after writing a novel in yesterday's Buffy post?

Crazy, I tell ya!

xoxo

Amanda

"Welcome to the Hellmouth" - The Great Buffy Rewatch of 2014

Season 1 - Episode 1

Oh my god. I love this show so much. I've watched it more than most people watch anything. I own it on DVD. I have art based on it. I read the comics. And I want a Buffy tattoo. But seriously, it's the greatest show. It has something of everything for everyone and you'll love it. I think you should consider watching with me.

It's been far to long since I've watched the series start to finish so I thought a fun thing to do would be to rewatch it and maybe write a little as I go. I won't do a writeup for every episode, but I'll check in here and there and let you know how things are going in Sunnydale with the Scooby Gang.

So, we're starting with "Welcome to the Hellmouth" which is the beginning of an amazing run of a series. Seriously, if you haven't watched it, go to hell(mouth). Then sign up for Netflix and get watching.

Keep in mind, I'm going with a stream of consciousness viewing experience. So I'm writing this as I watch.

It's day one at a new school and we're introduced to our titular character, Buffy Summers. She has amazing hair and great style. She's so amazing that Xander just ran into a stair rail while skateboarding. 

And we've also been introduced to Willow Rosenburg who is super nerdy and adorable. And clearly in love with Xander. And wears sleeveless dresses with collared shurts underneath.

I also just noticed Principal Flutie has a wedding ring on. Which is sad later on.

So, Buffy is going through her transcript with her new principal. Here's the rundown, we're picking up where the movie left off. So, Buffy just burned down her old school's gym because it was full of vampires during a school dance. Do they say thank you? Nope. They expel her. And she gets sent to Sunnydale High where we begin our journey.

Oh man, we were just introduced to Cordelia - popular beauty. She looks STUNNING (and not high school aged). This is the brief (very bried) period where Buffy was in with the popular girls. Thank God she just showed such disdain watching Cordelia being a total B to Willow. We now know Buffy is an okay girl who isn't cool with making fun of "losers". 

OMG! So much happens so fast in this show. We're 5 minutes in and we've been introduced to Giles - the school librarian/Buffy's watcher. However, at this point he's a total creep giving her the major wiggins by bombarding her with Vampire stuff. Giles! Come on! It's her first day!

Oh hey dead guy in the locker! What's up?

God, Willow is wearing opaque white tights. I love her. 

Oh, we're also being introduced to this guy who's named Jesse. Don't get attached. He's Eric Balfour and won't be around long. Because he's awful. He's like a way less great version of Xander. We don't need two Xanders. Just the one, thanks.

Oh Buffy. She's making herself out to be such a weirdo by asking about how the dead guy...died. She's so pretty and fashionable and LA. But then there's this whole slayer business getting in the way of popularity and normalcy. I love it. 

BTW the way they talk on this show is amazing and I love it so much.  She's so quippy and phenomenal.

Ugh. And we're also introduced to Buffy's mom Joyce. Single mother. Art museum curator. Over protective mess who is so naive to her daughters nighttime behavior. It's not sex, Joyce! It's vampires!

Seriously? This episode is so good! We've just been introduced to a shay figure who's lurking behind Buffy. Spoiler, it's Angel. We'll learn more about this handsome devil in the episodes to come! But for now, Buffy's holding her own and kicking his butt for being a stalker. A gorgeous stalker. Ooo baby. So cryptic.

Oh, did I mention that the name of my apartment on Foursquare is "The Bronze" which just so happens to be the name of the super cool underage club in Sunnydale? No? Well, it is. I'm that big of a nerd. You can tell by how long winded and annoying this post is.

It's weird how much I relate to Willow now that I'm more aware of myself. I wish I was a Buffy, but I'm more socially awkward and weird like Willow. And that's okay! She's so great!

This episode is a lot of character introduction and not too much real conflict yet. I could see how it could be rough to get into it. But trust me, it gets crazy real fast. 

Here it goes! Finally! more vampires! Out in the real world! Here! At the Bronze! Chatting up Willow! Not our dear, sweet Willow! Go get him, Buffy! Rarr! 

Well, instead of getting him she set herself up as the school freak by attacking Cordelia with a stake. Oops! Now her reputation is in as much danger as her new friend.

Oh, there's Jesse. Chatting up the Vampire we were introduced to in the first 30 seconds of the show. That bitch, Darla. 

Episode 1 and we're introduced to the big bad of the season within the first half! His name is "The Master". Or fruit-punch mouth. He's this totally gnarly looking old vampire who's incapable of leaving this one area of the underground beneath Sunnydale. He's sort of stuck there. Like a cork that can't get uncorked from this bottleneck. I'll go out on a limb here and say he's the only vampire that looks like this 24/7. It's weird how bat like he is.

This vampire is taking Willow to the cemetery on their way for ice cream. I mean, she's so naive that it's cute. And also frustrating. Oh great. And here's Jesse. Bitten by Darla and really stupid. Thank God Buffy is here to save the day! And provide witty conversation!  And dust a vampire! That's a first. The first of many.

But not without trouble. We're also introduced to Luke. The neanderthal looking lackey of the master. Who shows us that Buffy isn't just going to waltz in here and kill everyone. She's going to be met with some difficulty. And that's okay! She's the slayer - she can take it.

Oh my god. I forgot that the series premiere is a cliff hanger! That's amazing. We're left with a to be continued message. I love it! So intriguing!

Don't you just want to watch more?? I know I do! But I'll wait. And also, I probably won't post a recap of every single episode. I'll check in every so often.

But feel free to join in on this amazing show with me! We can rewatch together. And fall in love together. And get our hearts broken together. And root for the good guys together. Emphasis on together.

Happy Sunday!

xoxo

Amanda

Roadtripping: Milwaukee, WI

What kind of person travels to Wisconsin in the middle of winter? The kind who has a birthday in the middle of winter, that's who!

For John's birthday, we traveled north 1.5 hours for a mini-vacation. It's so close!

And we discovered that Milwaukee is really similar to Grand Rapids. It's like a small big city. That likes beers. And fattening foods.

I mean. It has a cheese castle. Which sadly is not made of cheese. But it does house a lot of cheese. So it's a solid start to the weekend.

After checking into the hotel we promptly jumped in the free shuttle and headed down to a nice little bar called Milwaukee Brat House.

This bar was our jam! It was low key. And playing motown. And had cheap beers and nice bar tenders. I would have stayed there all night if we had been to the city before. But nooooo. We had to explore!

So we headed one block away to this german place called Mader's. It looked nice! But it was just dead. Like, we were the only ones there and the bartender was just sweating like crazy behind the bar making us uncomfortable. Needless to say, we left pretty quickly.

We ended the night at some bar called Ugly's that was full of 20 something professionals ordering complicated shots. But it wasn't a bad way to end our first night in Milwaukee.

Saturday involved heading to the PBR Tour early in the afternoon (after buying some girl scout cookies). I was really surprised about how awesome it was after reading reviews on line. The owner of the old brewery is the one who gives the tours. And we got to drink PBR and watch a commercial involving Patrick Swayze dancing to Disco. Not bad at all!

What do you do when you're done at one brewery? Head to another! We headed over to Lakefront brewery where we intended to do a tour but were way too hungry and settled for a flight of beer and a cheese plate. Solid compromise if I do say so myself.

I'm not sure what compelled us to go to ANOTHER brewery. But after LAkefront, we headed to MKE. Honestly, we just wanted to go to the brewpub there. But when we got there it was the location for the tours. We were turning around to leave when a super nice guy came up and asked us if we wanted free tours because his friends had cancelled. It was the BEST tour. We had like unlimited beers and learned a lot and had an entertaining tour guide. I loved it. And we ended up so drunk. But that's neither here nor there.

Sunday morning involved waking up way earlier than I wanted to leave town. We stopped by the Bronze Fonz to say "Eyyyy" and then headed home. Seriously, look at my face. That's the face of waking up early. Boo!

Anyway, that's our super fun (cold) trip to Milwaukee!

xoxo
Amanda

Music Monday: Mumford & Sons - Winter Winds

Was there ever a time that didn't involve daily space heater usage? A time when I didn't constantly have hat hair from excessive use of a beanie? Were there days when I didn't wonder about the temperature at which eyeballs would freeze?

If so, I don't remember them.

I've heard they were called Summer. Or even Spring.

Basically, I'm cold. And I need these winter winds to knock it off!

So, I'm playing Mumford & Sons and day dreaming about warmer days.

xoxo
Amanda