LYBS - Shows I'm Addicted To

Welcome to "phoning it in" week on the blog.  I kid, but I have been picking posts that have been pretty mindless to write, which is nice, my brain just needs a break.  So today I'm linking up with the Let Your Blog Shine prompt of "Shows I'm addicted to."  

We actually don't watch that much TV overall, especially in the summer, but some nights it is nice to unwind with something and sometimes we just enjoy binge watching our favorites. Today I thought I'd discuss my tried and true faves, the shows I'll watch again and again and why I love them.  

Friends - So I've been a fan of Friends from the very beginning.  I was probably too young to even really be watching when it was first on the air, I think I was in 7th grade when the first season aired. But I watched anyway and while some of the jokes I appreciated much more as I watched in re-runs later, I've just always loved it.  It has the right amount of humor and heart.  There is something relatable in each character.  And I think while they were a good 15 years older than me, I could relate to them sort of coming of age from their twenties to their thirties while I was coming of age from my teens to my twenties.  I still cry when I watch the finale.  I live my life in "Friend-isms."  I'll just always love this show!

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Everything about this show is so wrong it's right.  It's actually the anti-Friends in a way.  There isn't a single likable thing about any of the characters and yet, I just love the show.  The scenarios seem almost unbelievable at times.  So I just can't say why I love it and yet I can watch it again and again because while all the things I said are true, it just makes me laugh so much.  

Corner Gas - I've talked about this cute Canadian show before.  It's clean, wholesome and light hearted and we just love it so much. We own the entire series on DVD.  It takes place in a small town and has that small town charm about it.  Sometimes we just need some basic fluff.  We pretty much watch this series beginning to end about once a year.

Snuff Box - This was a British show that ran for one season only and many British seasons are only six episodes long, so there aren't many episodes of this show.  It's kind of a sketch comedy starring Matt Berry (who plays the boss on The IT Crowd if any of you have ever seen that show) and American actor Rich Fulcher.  They work as hangmen and much of the series is about the time they spend in this club where the hangmen get to relax and unwind.  Rich is kind of a doof and Matt is pretty much a jerk, but the little sketches interspersed with the main storylines are pretty funny.  And we like dark comedy so we just love this show and pretty much quote it all the time at our house. And being that it's British, it is a bit crude at times too, but we don't mind that much!  We watch this pretty much once a year too.

Black Books - Another British show that is hilarious, it takes place in a book store run by a guy that's pretty much kind of a sloppy drunk and the mis-adventures he has with his employee and female friend who runs a shop next door.  My favorite episode is when Bernard the owner and Manny, his employee, decide they're going to write a children's book because there are no good children's books and they end up getting drunk (happens a lot on this show!) and write a book called The Elephant and the Balloon.  It's just classic.

Dead Like Me - Fantastic show that was only a couple of seasons long but so well done.  I believe it was a Showtime show or maybe HBO when it first ran.  The main character is killed by a toilet seat falling from an airplane (it's another dark comedy) and she ends up becoming a grim reaper.  She becomes part of a family of grim reapers and has to deal with her life in the afterlife while still on Earth where she lived her previous life.  I don't know how else to explain this one, but it's just a great show, definitely a little bit darker, but actually has a lot of humor and heart too.

Psych - LOVE, love, love this show.  I'm not usually much for police/crime type shows, but when Nate got me into this show he hooked me by saying there were a lot of 80's references because of flashbacks and things like that and I was pretty much sold from the first episode.  Shawn the fake psychic has a lot of charm and you just can't help rooting for him.  It has some more serious moments but overall never lets itself get too dark and heavy, though there is an episode they do that recreates some famous Hitchcock moments that gets kind of intense at times.

The Muppet Show (original) - You knew this would be on my list right?  The original Muppet show was intended to be mostly for adults.  I have always loved the sort of "Saturday Night Live" feel to it. It's definitely the show I go to as a pick me up when I'm feeling down.  My favorite episode has always been the Steve Martin one. I'm beyond excited for the new Muppet show coming out this Fall, I love that they're going to be doing it in sort of that faux-documentary style similar to Parks and Rec and the Office.  There was a long extended preview released yesterday and I can say it just fueled my excitement even further if that is even possible!

There you have it.  I frequently discuss what we're currently watching and what some of our favorite shows are, but the ones I just listed are the ones I'll watch again and again until I die and would want on my iPad or something if I was on a deserted island (provided I got to have an iPad with me that is).  What are your tried and true favorite shows that you'll watch again and again?

Twin Cities Live Experience

Yesterday was the Twin Cities Live Top Blogs show and it was so much fun to be in the audience!  I have never really seen a TV show filmed up close before, so this was a really neat experience!
Before the show, a few friends and I met up across the street from the studio at Cupcake - because you can't be that close to Cupcake and not stop in for, well, a cupcake.  I had a dulce de leche cupcake and while it was sweet enough to make my teeth hurt a little, it was delightful.

We then made our way over to the studio where we got to have a social hour with all the other bloggers who were going to be in the audience.  The producer of the show also explained what would be taking place during the taping and answered any questions we had.  He then escorted us out into the studio.  I was surprised to learn just how small the audience section is.

As you can see, not a huge area of chairs.  I'd say there was maybe 30 of us total?  I didn't really get a chance to count.  We each got a goodie bag of items to take home with us too.  Before the show started, a few of my girls and I were in perfect position for a selfie, so of course we had to do it because what kind of bloggers/Instagrammers would we be if we didn't?  I think ours is cuter than the Ellen Oscar selfie.

We were encouraged to take pictures and use Twitter/Facebook/Instagram what have you during commercial breaks.  We were also given directions on how to clap (faster than you normally would) and that it's ok to react to what's happening on stage.  And then they brought out hosts Steve Patterson and Elizabeth Ries and started the show.

The set is warm and cozy feeling and it has a nice feel.  Steve and Elizabeth kicked off the show with their host chat and then throughout the show they featured several different blogs that have kind of "made it big" in different ways and it was neat to hear each story and what they've done to get their blogs off the ground and turn them into a business venture.

They also had a panel of expert bloggers that they feature on their show on a regular basis and they also gave out some good tips and information as well.  The hour seriously flew by and pretty soon it was all done.  After the show was done we were allowed to wander on set and take pictures if we wanted.  I decided to pose on the couch and pretend to be Elizabeth for a minute.

And then my group decided to grab a group photo with Steve and Elizabeth too.  They're warm and friendly people - they did a great question and answer session right after the taping was finished too. I sure wish I was home more often and could watch them every day!

And this last picture I stole from my friend Sara from Writing with Bangles, she DVR'd the show and got some screen shots of us clapping in the audience!  So I guess I'm pretty much famous now?

Overall it was a super fun afternoon, it was really neat to hear other bloggers stories and get some of their tips and tricks and it was fun to connect with other bloggers I hadn't met before, as well as get some quality time in with the bloggers I already know!  Thanks again to Twin Cities Live for having me!

High Five for Friday

I haven't done a High Five for Friday post in months.  I thought today would be a good day to do so as it's a good way to share what's new with me a little bit too!  So here are five of my favorite things at the moment.
Haircut - It seems like I've been making changes to my pixie cut a lot in recent months but I think I finally stumbled onto what I have really been wanting to do.  Basically I was tired of my side swept bangs, so it was either try to grow them out or go all out on cutting them super short.  I'm not a very patient person so I bet you can't guess which option I chose.  Short spiky bangs for the win.  I'm just not meant to have longer hair.  I'm a short hair girl for life I think.

Bye Bye to Bessie - As long as Oliver does well with bottles of only almond milk (the dairy free alternative we chose after confirmation of his cow's milk allergy), we have made the decision that I will stop my daytime pumping sessions.  I had still been pumping twice a day, especially after he was so sick and only really able to handle breastmilk for a bit, but now that he's well it seems like a good time to try.  I've been mixing his bottles to be half breastmilk, half almond milk, but now we're going to just go straight to almond milk.  He seems to like it in his oatmeal and I think he's going to be fine with it. I am SO happy to be done pumping I could dance.  I am going to continue to nurse Oliver for now a couple of times a day though - he'll get his morning and evening nursing sessions and probably a little cuddle at lunch during the workweek.  We'll work towards weaning those eventually too, but for now he still seems to enjoy and need it - and quite frankly so do I.  Nate said the other night, "you seem to enjoy the nursing, just not the pumping, so I don't see any reason for you to totally stop right now." But otherwise, farewell Bessie the Breastpump - you served me well, but I'm glad to put you away now!

Shows returning from break - We have a bunch of shows that we love that seem to come back at this time of year instead of the Fall.  Shameless, Parks and Recreation (last season, sob), Portlandia and The Americans will all be back with in the next couple of weeks and I'm super excited about it!  Of course we would start another show from the beginning at the exact time all of our favorites are coming back - we started Homeland and man, we're hooked.

New skills - Oliver is learning new skills by the day it seems - he is actually starting to try to repeat words when we say them to him, and while it's still mostly gibberish, things are starting to make sense.  I love listening to him babble, he has the sweetest little voice.  He's getting more and more interested in his toys and independent play. We're getting soooo close on the walking front but not quite there yet, any day now I think. And he totally understands taking selfies with mama, I pull the phone out and he smiles immediately.  It's pretty freaking cute.

Tea - Nate had a bit of a chest cold last week and decided to start drinking hot tea at home again - I love tea too, what I love the most is while there is caffeine, I seem to have no problem drinking it into early evening and having it keep me awake the way coffee does.  If anything, tea relaxes me.  So my favorite thing right now is we'll make a pot of tea to share in the afternoon on the weekends.  It's been great since it's been so crazy cold!  Nate bought himself some items to allow him to make tea for himself at work during the week and I have to say, I'm slightly jealous!
So there you go!  I'm celebrating surviving an entire full week of work for the first time since I believe the second week of December.  I'm looking forward to the weekend though!  Hope you all have a great one!

Five on Friday - TV

So my work computer contracted Ebola yesterday which totally blows.  I'm still going to be dealing with the aftermath of that today.  So I'm kind of phoning it in with my post today and just doing a five things on Friday type post.  Today I will give you my five favorite TV shows of the moment.

Masters of Sex - It's not as dirty as it sounds if you haven't heard of it before.  It's currently just finished it's second season on Showtime.  We're a little behind, we are halfway through season one.  It's very similar to Mad Men but instead of an ad agency it takes place in an OB/GYN setting.  Dr. Masters is a doctor who is known for his work in treating infertility.  He becomes fascinated with human sexual behavior and starts a study to learn more about the science of it.  There is much more to the story besides that though, he and his wife are trying to conceive but cannot because of fertility issues.  He starts to fall in love with his secretary turned research assistant.  She has her own issues in life to deal with.  Overall it's a really entertaining show and I love the time period it's set in!

Manhattan - This is a show that is a fictionalized version of the Manhattan Project.  Again, this is a time period that is always been interesting to me.  This show has been really interesting so far, they are keeping things pretty historically accurate while developing the characters involved.

The Lottery - I'm a sucker for dystopian type stories.  This is another one of those futuristic type shows that reminds me a little of the movie Children of Men.  The premise is in the 2020's the world encounters a fertility crisis, no one is able to get pregnant any longer, and the human race as we know it is threatened to become extinct.  A group of scientists are able to fertilize an embryo and it's determined they can fertilize 100 embryos.  The US Government decides to hold a lottery to choose 100 women to carry the embryos.  Of course it isn't all tied up in a pretty little bow, there is a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes.  Lots of intrigue.  It's interesting so far.

Parenthood - I have only seen the first episode of this final season and it's going to be an emotional roller coaster this year - but when is this show NOT an emotional roller coaster?  It's such a heartwarming show and over the years I've really grown attached to this family - it will be sad when we say goodbye to them for good!

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - We've been fans of this show for years.  We just found out the entire series is on Amazon streaming so we started it from the beginning again.  It's crude, rude and well, we find it hilarious.  We need some fluff after all of these serious shows every night so, we watch at least one of these before we go to bed!

So there you go!  We also love The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family and Parks and Recreation.  We have other shows we love that don't come back until later in the winter like Shameless.  And of course I've professed my love for Orange is the New Black a ton on here before too!  What are your favorites?  Any good new shows this fall we should be checking out?

That's Entertainment

I tell you guys - I am so behind on entertainment and pop culture right now!  Even though we have been lucky enough to get Oliver to bed early enough to watch TV a little bit in the evenings, we've been choosing to watch old shows in favor of our current ones because we're just nerdy like that.  Right now we've been making our way through The West Wing.  I never watched it the first time around.  We just started season two, I am so hooked!  We've also been re-watching Dead Like Me for the third time through I believe. Sometimes the tried and true shows are just more fun to watch.  Some of our regular shows are just not as good anymore and I feel that now that my time is more precious, I'd rather not waste it on something that I'm just lukewarm to.

The one show I have made sure we've stayed current on is Shameless - it is a show that has yet to let me down in terms of entertainment quality.  I find that to be true of most of the shows from Showtime or HBO. It is definitely not a lighthearted show or one for the faint of heart though!  This season has gotten exceptionally dark. Thankfully Portlandia is back now too, so we always have that watch and decompress after we watch Shameless!

Sweater - Love 21, swap

Pants - Herbergers

Bag - Shiraleah via Zulily

Necklace - S&D

In other entertainment news in my world - there are about five movies coming out this month that I want to see and not enough time or babysitters to make that happen. Mostly it's time - we have very willing babysitters actually.  But anyway,  Muppets Most Wanted, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Divergent and the Veronica Mars movie are all out very soon or maybe are already out and I'm dying to see all of them.  Who knew March was such a big movie month?  Someday I'll get around to all of them!

For the love of Orange

So due to technical difficulties with my lousy camera, this is the only picture I got of my outfit today.  Sad panda.  Oh well. I wanted to share it because I learned that today is "Wear orange for bully awareness" and while I didn't originally choose this outfit for that reason, it's definitely a cause I can get on board with.

Shirt - Zulily

Dress as skirt - Merona, Target

Necklace - S&D

Shoes - Xhilaration, from Lori

I'm actually reading a fascinating YA book right now about the topic of bullying - it's called Eleanor and Park and it's very good and thought provoking.  I became interested in it when I learned that a school district in our county chose it as the summer read for teens,  but then parents got a hold of it and demanded it be banned because of language used in the book. The controversy went so far that a talk to be held with the author at one of our county libraries was actually cancelled.  I think it's a shame - it's a very good book so far even though I am only about halfway through it.  I think it's an important read and yes, there is some tough language, but it fits with the tone of the book.  I'll have more thoughts on this when I finish it I think.

And the other thing about orange?  I am still crazy in love with Orange is the New Black and we only have a few episodes left.  I am going to be in withdrawal when we finish that show!!  Have any of you watched it?

Wild and crazy gal

Figured it's been awhile since the crazy pants have made an appearance.  I decided to wear this cute little bow shirt from Cambria to hopefully dial down the crazy a little bit.  I just love these pants though, crazy as they are!

Speaking of things that are crazy, I was watching this week's Saturday Night Live on Hulu this morning (cause I'm old and never make it to the live version on Saturdays!) and just about died when Steve Martin and Dan Akroyd brought out their "Wild and Crazy Guys" during the "It's a Date" sketch.  And I realized that these pants are rather similar to the ones that they wear.  Just give me a flowered button shirt...or maybe not.

Long sleeve shirt - Gap, thrifted

Bow t-shirt - H&M, from Cambria

Pants - No Boundaries, thrifted

Necklace - Bead for Life

Shoes - Mossimo, thrifted

Here is something else that is wild - yesterday I got home from work and it was nice enough outside to go for a walk, so I did.  It was so nice to get some fresh air.  Today however, we woke up to another blanket of light snow.  Come on winter, time to pack it up and go home!

I'll leave you with a clip of the original Wild and Crazy Guys sketch from the 70's - this is one of my dad's favorite sketches, apparently he and my uncle used to act this out all the time.  I love the classic SNL!

Put a bird on it

It's technically my Friday, so I felt like a jean skirt was acceptable for today!  It's kind of cloudy and damp, yet warm, so I kind of went for layers too.  As I said yesterday, I love the bright colors, but today I felt a craving for the muted tones of Fall.  And of course, a bird never hurts either. 

The last time I wore this sweater and was talking about birds, the lovely Vivienne linked me to the "Put a bird on it" segment from Portlandia.  Around that same time we had some friends who had been talking about the show a lot too, so the Pants Monkey and I obtained the first two seasons and watched them all in like two weeks.  And we've now gone back to watch them again, we loved it that much.  We're into the weird, quirky kind of shows like that.  If I had a full day with nothing to do, I'd sit and watch shows like Portlandia and Flight of the Concords all day long.

My jewelry is on track to be delivered tomorrow.  It'll come while we're at the Fair darn it!  Oh well, our UPS guy comes pretty late actually, so I'm not too worried about the box sitting outside all day.

I am getting so excited about the Fair tomorrow.  I never went much with my parents when I was growing up, but once I started dating the Pants Monkey, I've gone every year.  It's something special for he and I and we've never missed it, even when he was out of work one of the years.  We love to eat all sorts of different food, but for me, I like to people watch even more.  It's crazy entertaining.  Also, new this year is a MN Craft Beer exhibit with beer flights and as you all know, we love beer.  I told Mr. Monkey we have to be careful that we don't just spend the whole day at that booth!

I'll be sure to share my "State Fair" style!  I'll leave you with the "Put a bird on it" clip if you've never seen it.  I highly recommend Portlandia.  It's hilarious.

Outfit rundown:

Sweater and tank - Mossimo, Target (old)

Skirt - Cliche Mpls

Sandals - Mootsie Tootsie

Necklaces - Charming Charlie, S&D

Bracelets - S&D, gift