Favorite

Not to sound like Julie Andrews, or rather Maria Rainer, but here are a few of my favorite things.

Favorite Book(s): Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Pride and Prejudice by Austen, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Favorite Author(s): Jane Austen, Leo Tolstoy, Dorothy Parker
Favorite Song(s): Skinny Love by Bon Iver, Dark Blue by Jack's Mannequin, Heartbeats by Jose Gonzales, and Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy (Honorable mention: A Comet Appears by the Shins and Mixed Tape by Jack's Mannequin)
Favorite Band: Jack's Mannequin (i love Bon Iver so much though.)
Favorite Singer(s): Gavin Degraw
Favorite Artist: van Goh
Favorite food: Queso ( and Green Bean Casserole on Holidays)
Favorite type of food: anything Mediterranean (I love Mexican too)
Favorite TV Show(s)(still on the air): Glee, House, Bones, Chuck
Favorite TV Show(s)(no longer on the air *sigh*): Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, Pushing Daisies, and Friends
Favorite Movies: Funny Girl, A League of Their Own, The Sandlot, Love Actually (And a whole host of others, if I'm being honest)
Favorite Musicals: Wicked, Spring Awakening, Rent (those are the Big 3 but there are so many more I could add to this list)
Favorite Sport: Baseball (Go 'Stros)
Favorite Team: Dallas Cowboys (Favorite Player: Jason Witten!)
Favorite place to be: the lake!
Favorite thing to do there: cook out with friends and family and wakeboard!

Ok so that was mostly pointless. I'm not entirely sure where the sudden urge to blog my favorite things came from, but there you go.

6:38pm

Perfect.

This morning I awoke to the sound of my alarm. Bon Iver's "Beach Baby" serenaded me into wakefulness and I opened my eyes to thin strips of sunshine glittering through my Venetian blinds. It made me smile and I took my sweet time getting out of bed. Seriously, there is no better way to set the tone of your day than to wake up smiling.

In honor of my near perfect morning and the beautiful art that Bon Iver creates when they make music, I thought I would post a video of them performing one of my favorites, "Skinny Love". Then, I stumbled on to something wonderful... Ingrid Michaelson singing a cover of "Skinny Love" and suddenly my day is actually perfect. Seriously, its gorgeous and she's another favorite of mine (introduced to me by my best friend! Thanks, R!) so I was delirious with joy for a few seconds.

It's different, and her voice almost feels more like a plea than Justin Vernon's when they sing it, but maybe that's why I love both versions so much. Two wonderful things, together and apart at the same time. Plus it makes me happy that she says it's one of her favorite songs. I was inspired to post this after reading a similar post at my friend Sarah Elizabeth's blog, which I loved; Regina Spektor + John Lennon. (http://sarahelizabethgriffin.blogspot.com/2010/04/real-love.html).

So here it is...


and Ingrid's cover...


12:54pm

Music Monday

So it's Monday morning. Very early Monday morning. And in honor of everyone's least favorite day of the week, I am going to give it some little bit of goodness to make it better. Starting now, every Monday will be Music Monday. Well, every Monday that I remember to post something music related at the very least. So here are a few of the songs that have been playing on repeat on my iPod recently...
1. A Comet Appears- The Shins. (This song is pure poetry. Favorite line... "Every post you can hitch your faith on is a pie in the sky, chock full of lies, a tool we devised to make sinking stones fly".)
2. Heartbeats- Jose Gonzoles (Love.Seriously.So good.)
3. Swan Song- A Fine Frenzy (I really love this song. And Alison Sudol's musical talent)
4. Spring Awakening album- Original Broadway Cast (Literally the entire thing.)
5. Dark Blue- Jack's Mannequin (because it is in my top five from my very favorite band)
6. Hey, Soul Sister- Train (This song just makes me happy.)
7. Skinny Love- Bon Iver (A go to song of mine. Along with almost every other song
that comes out of Justin Vernon's mouth)
8. Revelry- Kings of Leon (I'm just in love with KOL right now)
9. Notion- Kings Of Leon (Case in point.)
10.Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)- Jack's Mannequin (Because I really think Andrew
McMahon wrote it for me.)

Okay, I could go on forever because music is totally my Anti-Drug but I won't because that might border on excessive.

2:25 am