Friday, September 26, 2014

Pop and Circumstance

Pop culture - music, movies, TV shows, we're going to talk about it all.

You know, Chris teases me that I'm all about the Top 40, but really, I'm just not a music person. I enjoy music! I love dance parties! However, I don't know lyrics, I don't know titles, I don't know band names. I can't sing a single note on key. But, when I do like something, I listen to it over and over, which is kind of embarrassing when the weather is nice and our windows are open, but not embarrassing enough to stop.

1) My friends had their friend from Canada visiting last month, and on Saturday she was casually playing her guitar and singing for a bunch of us. I couldn't believe how beautiful, calming and effortless her songs were. Like an idiot, I would tell her, "Oh wow! You need to record your music!" after each song. She politely chuckled each time not letting me know that, oh wait! She already did! I didn't find out until I saw a CD left for us and, oh, she was on the cover.

Well, Kathleen Claire  has now become our morning music, and Ryan quickly makes me forget that he woke his brother up way too early when he sings her introduction song, "Make me small, make me humble, make me new. Make me nothing at all besides in You." We aren't really fans of the typical Christian music; nothing against that genre of music, we just don't really connect with it. Kathleen's music is subtle, simple, and delicate. I'm not very good at describing music so listen to previews of her songs here or buy Kathleen Claire on iTunes if you are interested in supporting a Catholic female artist!

2) Since getting to know Blythe, I've been introduced to The Head and the Heart's music, and it has become my afternoon music. I can't get enough of their sound. Basically, indie rock + folk music married and had the best offspring ever.

Here are my favorite songs:
Rivers and Roads
Honey, Come Home
Winter Song
Ghost
Down in the Valley
Okay, okay ALL of their songs (not an actual song)

3) Don't let this negate my other two recommendations, but my song as of late is without a doubt, "Shake It Off" brought to us none other than Taylor Swift.

4) And don't let this one wipe away my first two recommendations either, buuuut "Everything is Awesome" from the LEGO Movie is played frequently in our household as well. 
Maybe I love the song because this walker/stomper gets awesomely happy whenever the song comes on. 

5) Two weekends ago, Chris and I watched Man of Steel together for a cheap little at home date. Now, I'm the biggest fan of spending time with Chris (quality time is overwhelmingly my love language), but I'm not always the biggest fan of watching movies with Chris because we don't normally agree on movie choices. He is more into depressing movies whether they be historical or not, and I am more into happy movies. We have not finished a movie a few times because I couldn't handle our choice for the night or I have cried-yelled at him. Don't I sound like the best movie watching partner? My poor, patient husband.  

Action films are usually a perfect happy medium because there is a better plot than my normal rom-com selections yet the guy still gets the girl in the end or if romance isn't really in the movie, it normally still has a happy ending. Man of Steel made me cry a lot, but in a good way. I mean, it's Superman. Watch it! 

Other movies that we have enjoyed semi-recently that weren't action films or romantic comedies:

The Tree of Life as I wrote about here.
Gravity
Children of Men

Do you have any good movies to recommend that you think we would both enjoy?


6) And Grace asked about shows. I have quite the trashy line-up of Grey's Anatomy and  Nashville that makes folding laundry, doing dishes, ironing, etc. much more enjoyable.  I enjoy Parenthood and Downton Abbey like pretty much every other woman in the states. I really like MasterChef even with all of the judges over-the-top scripted lines, and I have been watching old seasons of Top Chef recently. 

(I just searched through Hulu under my "Shows You Watch" section to see if I forgot anything, and all I found were Dinosaur Train, Arthur, Sesame Street and a bunch of other baby shows). 

Here are shows that Chris and I watch together:

Shows that we watch while doing other tasks: Parks and Recreation, Community, and Modern Family although P&R and Community aren't as good as they used to be. Ron Swanson is still the man though. 

Shows that we give our undivided attention: The Walking Dead and Person of Interest. Jim Caviezel is one of our personal heroes. I cannot wait for both of these to start up again. 

What shows are you watching? 

7) And this isn't really a pop culture thing, but painting my nails has become my frivolous pick-me-up. I used to never wear nail polish because I would buy the cheapest on the shelf that would crack 7 second after it dried. I didn't realize that there was a thing such as quality nail polish. I mean, how unimportant right?  Well, with its mom-soothing ways, it is an important thing for my sanity just like my mother-in-law is. I just paint my nails before I get on the computer after the boys are in bed if I'm feeling frazzled, and then they dry without me smudging them. According to a quick Google search, a bottle lasts 30-40 uses so I don't feel bad about giving myself a $0.20 manicure a couple times a week. 

Alexandra started me off with Chinchilly by Essie when she visited Conor and me in the hospital last October. What a sweet friend. Since then, my collection has expanded to a lovely red in OPI Red, the perfect neutral in OPI Tickle Me France-y, and my most recent polish as gifted to me by Chris' stylish Aunt Marie, the perfect dark, dark, dark purple or bwack as Ryan says in OPI Lincoln Park at Midnight. Next, I want to get the top coat that the beauty expert recommended here

Aaaaaand that is that. 

Happy Friday! We've been invited to a Michaelmas celebration this weekend - my first ever! I don't really know what to expect. Any tips? 

Head on over to Conversion Diary for lots of blog posts with seven items. 

Other posts from this week:
A Giant of a Wedding Post
There She Goes, Talking About Her Kids

19 comments :

  1. No tips--but let me know how the celebration goes! And lots of fun links. Way to keep me entertained and awake nursing the baby!

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  2. I have one thing to say: Props to you for ironing. No matter how trashy the TV you get a big fat pass if you're ironing.

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    1. Ha, well the ironing gets piled up and up and up until I get sick of looking at it or I do it half asleep on the fly in the morning if Chris needs something!

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    1. We saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", that was really good.

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    2. Theresa, yes! Well eight to ten steps at a time - does that count? Ha!

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    3. Renee, I didn't know if I wanted to see that one! We will have to put it on the list.

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  4. I second Walter Mitty.... It's all kinds of awesome.

    I thought White House Down was hilarious. It's so goofy, I love goofy. Two older movies that you'll both probably love that I really love are Shawshank (which you both have probably already seen) and Amelie.

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    1. I just reread my comment, and you probably won't love those movies I recommened..,. But they're a good watch. Especially Amelie, it's so beautiful.

      I rarely watch TV, only The Amazing Race, Masterchef and Parenthood. I'm from Canada, and on top of the American editions, we have Canadian editions of The Amazing Race (which I find infinitely more entertaining, because Canada!!) and Masterchef... So that keeps me occupied. I cycle through The Office when I'm folding laundry. I used to love Gilmore Girls too.

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    2. Ooh, I also indulge in anything with Gordon Ramsey, if I notice it on TV during the time I'm flicking through channels.

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    3. Haha Cynthia, I did actually enjoy both Amelie and Shawshank Redemption (although I did get mad at Chris for having me watch Shawshank in the middle of it. Excellent movie!).

      I can only take Gordon Ramsay on MasterChef!

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  5. Yes, very good. My children ages 6, 7, 10, and 12 liked it.

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  6. I am loving Shake it Off too. So embarrassing. My kids love it, my husband not so much. We also been all about "That Bass". My 3 year old calls it "Grab that bass".
    I totally get what you are saying about Christian music. My mom always says it never goes anywhere. You are waiting for the song to build and it never does. I will have to check her out.
    Thank you for the recommendations.

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    1. See, I'm so out of it, I just had to look it up, and of course, I love it. My neighbors will be thankful I can add another song to my list!

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  7. I really need to check out The Head & The Heart - thanks for sharing some of your favorites! I'll start there. We watch Parenthood, Downton Abbey & Modern Family too. And I just got some dark purple nail polish for my birthday! Looking forward to trying it out!

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  8. Seriously the Lego Movie is one of the best movies I have seen recently. I jam out to Everything is Awesome all the time and I dont even have kids as an excuse.

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    1. Isn't it sooo funny?? I was very impressed with the movie, and the lyrics to the song make me laugh every time.

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  9. Michael and I busted a move to Shake it Off today after a day from hell-oooo. Does wonders for the soul.

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  10. I love Shake It Off! So catchy! I virtually never get to pick the movie around here because I'm surrounded by men. Which means action films. Thankfully, I usually like them, so it's fine. Occasionally I can talk Jim into a rom-com. Maybe. Our favorite sit-com is The Big Bang Theory. Totally love that. We also watch stuff like NCIS, Elementary, Blue Bloods, Hawaii 5-0. We also LOVE Person of Interest. And we have started watching Madame Secretary because my BIL is the script supervisor on the show. But it's actually pretty good.

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