Spring is in the air!

Happy Monday! And more importantly, happy Opening Day! That's right, my most favorite season is back and I couldn't be happier about it! Doesn't today seem like the perfect day for baseball? I know our own home opener is still a week away, but today's weather and the fact that there will be a Cardinals game on TV, is just the best!

This time of year always makes me so happy! And I hope it brings happiness your way as well! Knock on wood, we're finally out of the woods in terms of winter weather and we can enjoy sunshine and warm temps!

Again, let me apologize for no post on Friday. I may not have one this Friday either, but no worries. We'll get into a groove here soon and I'll post on Fridays whenever I can. For now, it will just be a free for all.

Does anyone watch How I Met Your Mother? Will you be tuning in for tonight's series finale? Personally, I've always really enjoyed it and am looking forward to how they'll wrap up after 9 seasons. I may have to go back and binge watch to pick up on things I missed the first time. If you do watch, do you have a favorite episode? Favorite running gag? Let me know! I'd love to hear!

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As always, I hope you have a great start to your week and take the advice of that most wonderful person, Neil Patrick Harris. Or rather, his alter ego, Barney Stinson. Happy Monday!

My Patronus is a Bookworm Thursdays: Emma

Happy Thursday, you beautiful unicorns! Hope you've all made it to the end of the week intact, unfrazzled and with a bottle of wine to enjoy. It being Thursday, that means it's time for another My Patronus is a Bookworm installment! This week we're looking at Emma by Jane Austen. I'm currently on a classics kick, making my way through the books I either read too long ago and forgot about, or haven't read at all.

Emma was written in 1816, Austen's fourth novel and is considered by many to be her finest. I'm partial to Mr. Darcy and Pride and Prejudice, but that's an entry for another day. The heroine at the center of the novel is, of course, Emma Woodhouse. Emma is of the persuasion that she knows best for everyone and engages in the art of matchmaking for her friend, Harriet Smith. For me personally, the character of Emma is one that's hard to connect with. At 21, Emma is just 7 years younger than myself and she's a character I wish I could shake her shoulders and say "Get your shit together, girl!" A common phrase I'm sure in 19th century England.

While attempting to match Harriet with unsuitable suitors, Emma quickly realizes she understands the feelings of others about as well as she understands her own. Written with an irony and wit that surprised me, the language and story itself is really quite good. And that Mr. Knightley? ME-OW. Mr.Knightley is not one to fawn over Emma and tell her what she wants to hear, he tells her what she NEEDS to hear. Whether she listens is up to her. And I think you all see where it's going. SPOILER ALERT.

Happy almost Friday :)

Ladyfriend Wednesday: Tina Fey

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Happy Wednesday! You've almost made it through another week, just two more days to go! :) Welcome to another installment of Ladyfriend Wednesdays! Obviously by starting off with Amy Poehler, you knew her BFF couldn't be far behind! Tina Fey is all of us, you guys. SHE IS THE BEST. I cannot tell you how many times I've come back to re-read Bossypants, her hilarious, best-selling book, when I needed a laugh. I'm telling you, her book is the only book in the world that has made me laugh so hard I'm in tears. If you haven't read it, what the hell are you waiting for?

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There is not enough space in this post for me to put all of the quotes that have given me such pure joy from Tina, or her delightful alter-ego, Liz Lemon. Seriously, I binge watched all 7 seasons of 30 Rock this winter and it may have been the best decision of my life.There's a part of me that feels I AM Liz Lemon. Except for, you know, not living in New York or working on a sketch comedy show. OTHERWISE, MY SPIRIT ANIMAL.

I cannot have a post about Tina, without mentioning her BFF and truly beautiful unicorn, Amy Poehler. The last two broadcasts of the Golden Globes have convinced me that I want them to host everything from now on; to book clubs, their own variety show, and even my trips to the grocery store. These women are fierce, intelligent, hilarious beings who I think rock the hell out of everything. And with Amy coming out with a book this fall, I hope you know, I will talk of nothing else. EVER AGAIN.

I want to leave you with this, my most favorite Tina and Amy moment. It is magical, it is the God's honest truth, and it's the way we reclaim the word.

OWN THE HELL OUT OF IT. Cheers to you!

Travel Tuesday: Santorini, Greece

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Happy Tuesday, you beautiful, tropical fish! It's time for another installment of Travel Tuesdays! This time, we're heading to Santorini in Greece, because.....well, you see the above picture, right? An island in the south Aegean Sea, Santorini has become top on my list of honeymoon destinations (because clearly, that's a decision I'll be making soon). Not only does it grab my attention for the crystalline waters, but for the fact that essentially, it's the remnants of a huge volcanic explosion that destroyed the island's earliest settlements.

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Waking up to this view in the mornings? I'm not mad at it. The calmness and serenity of the island is also what draws me in. Completely cutting yourself off from any and all technology for days on end is so incredibly appealing to me, I cannot even begin to describe it. The sunsets alone are worth the trip. I mean, COME ON, YOU GUYS.

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That's everyone's happy place, right? If not, now it should be. :) Go pour yourself a glass of wine and pretend you're on the Greek beaches. You deserve it!

Movie Monday: Frances Ha

Happy Monday! You've made it! :) I'm not sure that every Monday will be movie-based, so bear with me. Now, if you remember, I spoke last week about a movie I had seen that brought up so many questions. That movie was Frances Ha. The questions that it brought about were not questions of any sort of negativity toward the movie itself. I found the movie to be so wonderful and relatable and I cannot recommend it enough. The questions that it brought about stemmed from the one damn question Netflix insisted on asking me after the movie was over: "Do you prefer movies with a strong female lead?"

Alright, I'm about to go off on a very feminist rant (because they're kind of my thing). So, if you don't enjoy that, I'd suggest stopping here. Look, Netflix and every other entity in the free world, it is 2014. 14 YEARS INTO THE 21ST CENTURY. When will movies, books, art, etc. stop being described with any kind of feminine connotation and just be about the work itself? After a Bruce Willis movie, you're not asked "Do you prefer movies with a strong, bald white man in a lead role?" I am so baffled by reviews that I read that insist on describing women's work with as much feminine verbiage as you can shake a stick at. Can you not just describe a work of art/literature/music as being whatever adjective you so choose without basically screaming to the world that it was done by a woman? If you wrote a great book, you wrote a great book. Who cares if you have a vagina? Which brings me to another point. Can we all stop being scared of the word vagina? That's what it's called. Deal with it. You're a grown up.

I hope to one day live in a world, and raise my daughters in a world, where the merit of a work is not based on gender at all. HUZZAH! How wonderful would that be? I want to be able to look at a work of art, read a book, what have you, without the artist's gender thrown in my face. If I feel a genuine connection to your work, that's all that matters to me. And should be all that matters to anyone. Don't let your sons feel ashamed for liking something that may be predominately seen as "feminine." I was reading this incredibly interesting article the other day about YA novels and how, because of the cover design, boys are being taught to steer clear of them. Who gives a damn about the cover? If you want to read it, READ IT. Literature is something so deep and close to my soul, that I cannot imagine picking over something because it seemed "too masculine." Honestly, that's such shit. I would be more concerned with raising my sons to be polite, well-mannered, intelligent, productive members of society.

Annnnnd, that was quite the tangent I just went off on. Clearly, the title of this post is also a bit misleading. Oops. Sometimes a good feminist rant is just needed. Tomorrow we'll be back to more lighthearted fare :)

Free For All Friday

Like I mentioned earlier, this has BEEN A WEEK, you guys. Sometimes, being a grown up just doesn't work for me. Then, I pour myself some whiskey and tell myself to get over it. Because I'm so exhausted, if I make it to 9 PM it will be a miracle, I leave you to start your weekend with this glorious photo of Branson himself, Allan Leech. Is he not the most adorable Irishman you've ever seen? YOU ARE WELCOME.

Also, if you don't watch Downton Abbey, hopefully this picture makes you start. BECAUSE IT'S GOOD TV, MAN. Sorry, I'm yelling. British period dramas are just my jam.

Happy Friday! 

My Patronus is a Bookworm Thursday: The Book Thief

I actually read The Book Thief a few months ago, but had to come back to it as it has made its way permanently onto my list of favorites. As an avid and voracious reader myself, I knew before I started reading, that this book would quickly be one that I came back to time and again. And usually for me, that's hard for a book to do. I have very few that I will continually come back to (Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter) but this book is special. I felt a kinship to Liesel Meminger that I hadn't felt with a main character in a long time. Granted, I did not grow up in World War II era Germany, but as Liesel stood in the library, running her fingers over the spines of books, I couldn't help but feel connected to her in a way.

The book is written in such a hauntingly beautiful way that it's hard to put down. Not only are the characters written in such a way that you can imagine them as if they were standing in front of you, the story just seems to leap off the page and transport you to 1940. I had a hard time reading some parts, as I imagine most people did, to think of what life must have been like then. While fictitious, it's still an eye opening and absorbing look into a world none of us can even imagine comprehending.

It's also a huge reason why I'm hesitant to see movie versions of books and why I have yet to see this one. In my imagination, I have concocted such a vivid world, that if it doesn't match up onscreen, I don't want the book to therefore become less important to me. Though it's rare that that happens and I tend to be quite pleased, I still haven't forgiven The Great Gatsby, and that's going to take some time to heal, Baz Luhrmann. I mean, Jesus. We may be in a fight for a long time, sir.

If you have yet to read The Book Thief, if it's on your list of to-reads (everyone has those, right? Bueller? Bueller?), do yourself a favor and start it as soon as possible. You won't regret it. It's a book that will have you recommending it to everyone you've ever met and also to people you've never met. I very nearly said to someone in the bookstore who had a copy, "BUY IT. READ IT. LOVE IT." I get very intense when I talk about books, obviously.

Happy first day of Spring! Hope you were able to get out and enjoy it! :)