Project Happiness Part 4

Project Happiness part 4: Sit back and watch an old musical

I've always loved old musicals. They always bring sunshine to my soul. Some of my favorites are Calamity Jane, Singin' in the Rain, Hello Dolly, The Sound of Music, and Funny Girl. Funny Girl came on tv today, which reminded me how much I really do love old musicals. Funny Girl is hilarious. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. Barbra Streishand is a hoot. I'm a fan. So watch an old musical and happiness will very quickly follow. Mmm hmm. It will.

Project Happiness

My sister Tamara had a real good idea to start a "Project Happiness" to help us get out of the winter blues. To read more about it, go here. It was a brilliant idea and many of her friends have started doing it. I have decided to join in on the party! I can't promise there will be a post everyday, but I'll try my best. Project Happiness is a GO!

I think I should try to catch up on the last couple of days that I missed first, so...

Project Happiness part 1: Listen to some good music

TANGENT RAIN

I posted about them a few weeks ago and how much I love them. Listening to them really makes me happy. We went to another one of their shows here in Provo last week. They are so great! They also recorded a new single. Go here to listen to it. It's awesome and I listen to it at least 5 times a day. They will be big someday. I just know it. :)

Project Happiness part 2: Hang with some great friends.

I went to Park City and the cabin last night with some great friends from my ward. They are a fun group of people and being with them definitely brings happiness. While in Park City I saw two celebrities. Not huge timers, but they were definitely recognizable. The first is Mary Lynn Rajskub, or Chloe from 24. She just walked in the restaurant past us pretty quick so I didn't get to talk to her. But Col and Ash got their picture with her later. The second one I saw no one else recognized, but then again, I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in this world that watches Smallville anymore. I saw Cassidy Freeman, or Tess Mercer from the Superman TV show Smallville. While we were waiting to be seated at the restaurant, she was at the door putting on her coat. I totally could have talked to her, but I got nervous. I get nervous when approaching people randomly that I don't know, even famous people. And plus she's so freakin' gorgeous I think I just stared for a while. ha!

After we ate dinner on Main Street, we headed up to the cabin to spend the night. It was way too fun for words, so I'll just give you some pictures:

I'm excited to keep up Project Happiness. Stay tuned for more posts. :)

Tangent Rain

So, last night I went to watch one of my friends from my ward, Wade, perform with his band Tangent Rain. They are so awesome! I'm kind of now obsessed. And in case you haven't noticed by now, I really like to post about new obsessions. Hence, this post. The lead singer's voice reminds me of a combination of something like Regina Spektor/Adele. I could listen to her forever. My friend Wade is the bass guitarist. I recorded a little bit of them singing some of their songs. They write all of their songs. Except the last one on this video is a cover of Greg Laswell's "High and Low." And she sings it brilliantly. I love them. So, here is Tangent Rain:

What's in a Game?

I like playing games. They are great. And fun. One of my favorites is Apples to Apples.

If you haven't played this one (I'd be surprised if you haven't), I suggest you do. Soon. It's a good one.

Another favorite is Curses.

Real fun. There are curse cards, that you can use against other players. Once I was cursed as Captain Hook and had to talk like a pirate for the rest of the game. It gets pretty hilarious.

Tonight's game of choice was Word on the Street.

The girls won. Of course. I would recommend this one too. It's great.

Play some games! It's great bonding time.

Happy New Year everybody! I hope 2010 is going to be a good one. I have a feeling it will be.

P.s. 40 days until my birthday. the big 2-0. party on.

P.s.s 112 days until my European adventure. I get more and more excited every day!

Random Funnies

Here's this weeks random funny. I was laughin' pretty hard. So, here it is. :)

And here's another one. Sue is one of my favorite returning characters from SNL. Ba HA! Love it. :)

Noteworthy!

I don't know if y'all saw the Sing Off last night on NBC, but if you didn't, you MUST watch it tonight!

There is a group from BYU called Noteworthy that is on it! They are the only all female group to make it in and the are AMAZING!

My friend Siri is on it! She went to Alta! And now she's in my Northern Ren. class. She's my claim to fame. Oh! AND she won "Alta Idol" my sophomore year.

{as a quick post script here: do you people realize she is the 2nd Alta Idol from my three years there to make it to a prime-time television singing competition show? Cuz she is. As well as Jessica Seringue (or "Mariel" as her name was on "Dance Wars: Carrie vs. Bruno!" or whatever it was called...) We can't forget to mention the lovely Julianne Hough, famed country star and two-time winner of "Dancing With the Stars." Anyway, just to show Alta is great and poppin' out stars left and right! Maybe I'll be next... HA!}

I had no idea Siri was part of it until I saw them on the tv last night.

I screamed a little bit.

Okay a lot.

Just ask my roommates.

Siri's the one with short blonde hair on the right in the front most of the time.

Anyway, they made it past the first round and will sing again tonight! I'm so excited for them! Watch it and cheer for them! K k k?! Just do it!

Here is a clip from last night:

Oh Glee, how I love thee.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

I LOVE GLEE! It is just so so great. This last weeks episode topped them all. The songs they sang were AMAZING! I especially loved THIS song. I can't stop listening to it. And THIS one and THIS one too. Oh and THIS one. And THIS one from a few weeks ago. ba ha. Really I just love them ALL!!! Mmmm if only I had a voice like the people from Glee. My life would be complete.

How will I live until the Spring without Glee?!

Also, my new favorite Christmas song HERE! Can't stop listening to it. I guarantee you'll love it.

This is how we do it.

It's been a while since my last post. And yet it's been quite eventful here in P-Town. Here are a few things that have been occupying my time:

1. Club Style

We've been keeping busy with Club Style while we've been learning lots of new stuff. Things are going great with it. I finished my choreography for one of the dances we'll perform a lot this year. I was going to upload a video but it won't for some reason. Maybe soon. :)

Also, we've decided we want to do a Michael Jackson tribute dance this year! It is going to be crazy awesome and I can't wait. I especially got real excited and pumped after I saw....

2. THIS IS IT

AMAZING! If you haven't seen it yet, get there. Michael Jackson's This is It is unbelievable and I can't even believe some of the things they were planning for his 50 concert sold out show. It would have been unreal. Go see it. It's fabulous. Michael was the man.

5. Thriller

Last Thursday, Courtney, Tara, Kaycie and I went downtown to see Odyssey Dance Theater's "Thriller" at Kingsbury Hall. I think that was maybe the 6th time I've seen it. And it never gets old. Love it. Then we went to the Pie afterwards and had some delicious pizza. It was a way fun night. Kayc and I at the Pie:

4. Halloween

We hit a huge party at Alpine Village that was crazy fun. We all threw on some makeshift costumes and went. And partied hard. I went as a pirate. Kind of. ha. I just wore what I could find, but it ended up working out. :) Here we have the Pirate (the best parts were my socks and boots, but you can't see them in this picture), CRAZY!!!?!, and a thug. We had way fun.

Oh yeah. Look who showed up to dance with us:

MJ is still alive folks. haha. Good times.

5. School

School has been kicking my butt. Lucky, thanks to some long hours spent in the library, I haven't been doing too bad. I got an A- on my art history midterm, which was a huge accomplishment because I was so nervous for it. I wrote a paper for the same class on Robert Campin's Merode Altarpiece, I got an A on an italian oral exam and B+ on an oral presentation in my other italian class, I absolutely love my LDS Marriage and Family class with Professor Brooks, I'm working on my 2nd New Testament exam... Things are great. Let's hope I can keep it up for six more weeks. Since six more weeks is about all I've got left in this semester. Crazy!

6. Applications

I sent in a few applications last week for two things:

1. Art History Europe study abroad: This program will travel to Europe for Spring term and I would be there studying art for two whole months. Cities we would visit are: Athens, Delphi, Rome, Florence, Pompeii, Ravenna, Venice, Vienna, Bruges, Brussels, Amsterdam, Ghent, London, and Paris. Amazing right? So, pray that I get accepted. I had my interview last Friday and I should know by the end of this month whether or not I get in. Cross your fingers!
2. A job in the Art History Slide Library: This one happened real fast. My Northern Renaissance professor mentioned they were hiring. I picked up an application. Dropped it off the next day. Got a call 3 days later saying to come in for an interview in 3 days. I went in for my interview. 5 hours later I got a call and I got the job! I'll officially be starting today. Can't wait. Real excited. Love it.

Eventful right? Can't wait to see what's in store for this next week. :)

I Love...

These dances from the last two weeks of SYTYCD. So great.

Ha... I just noticed what the still shot of this one looks like, and I promise, it's not what it looks like... :)

Wade Robson is so crazy... Love it though!

I Love...

Alias!!!

Seriously, I think it is the best tv show that was ever created.

Sydney Bristow is definitely my hero. I wish I could be just like her.

She is the best super spy ever and saved the world like a bajillion times.

Awesome.

I just finished watching the 5th and final season of it last night. It was so great.

I've seen the first three seasons at least 5 times now. And they never get old!

Love it.

A lot.

Here are some YouTube vids I found about Alias. So watch 'em and then watch Alias. You'll love it too, I'm sure of it. :)

I always laugh hysterically at bloopers from this show. I think it might be because in the show they are all so serious. Ha!

I Love...

SYTYCD!!!!!!!!!

(for non-watchers, that means So You Think You Can Dance)

It is just the greatest. I'm quite sad I will be out of town when they hold auditions here in SLC.

It's cool though cuz I'll just be in Scotland!!! Baam.

Anyway, here are my two favorite dances from this week. The first is a Mia Michael's Contemporary piece with Kayla and Kupono, my favorite couple. Love them.

The second one is a craaaazy Wade Robson jazz routine. He's crazy. And I love him. The idea is that they are two robber criminal-like characters. Awesome.

I love SYTYCD!

A new blog series: I Love... & Part one of I Love...

So I'm starting a new series here on this great thing I call my blog. It is entitled "I love..." and each post will be about a thing I love! So now for part 1!

I Love...

To read!!!

I love in the summers when I can read what ever I want and have time to do it! I've created a summer reading list (which you can see on my side bar) and have already completed two of those books. I'm a little behind. The first book I've read this summer is Water for Elephants. I really liked the theme of it and parts of it were really great, but I don't know if I would really recommend it. There was quite a bit of scandolous-ness in there. But overall I think I would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars for the theme and storyline. :)

The second book that I am almost finished with is The Time Traveler's Wife. This book completely blows my mind! The story and idea of it is so creative and I love the main characters. Again, I don't know if I would recommend it though because of quite a bit of that scandalous stuff and several mentions of the 'f' word. But I can't wait for the movie that will be coming out this December! I love love love Rachel McAdams and she is perfect for the title role. So if I were you, don't waste time on the book and wait for the movie. I've posted a preview below. :)

So that's all for this part of my new series...ha ha. Stay tuned for more things that I love! :)

Movies, oh how I love you.

I love movies.

Yes I do.

Probably more than I should.

But who wouldn't love the idea of escaping for just those short 2-3 hours and being part of a whole other world?

I love all kinds of movies.

Romance

Action

Thriller

Drama

They're all so great.

I love it when a movie makes me cry, because that movie did more for me than just entertain for a short time. It moved me. It made me feel something more.

Extreme happiness.

Sadness

Perhaps it brought back memories of a situation I've been in.

Maybe it inspired me.

Movies like this are always put close to the top, if not at the top, of my list of favorites. Movies such as

Braveheart (my all time favorite)

Gladiator

The Last Samurai

La Vita É Bella

La Vie En Rose

The Secret Life of Bees

Hotel Rwanda

And then there are those films that just make you want to fall in love and smile or just get up and dance. Movies such as

Pride and Prejudice

The Notebook

Return to Me

Singin' in the Rain

Calamity Jane

And then there are those that you may not cry in, or you may not get that warm fuzzy feeling, but they are just plain great. Such as

Forrest Gump

Charlotte Gray

Man From Snowy River

V for Vendetta

Blood Diamond

Get Smart

My Fair Lady

In honor of all the great movies out there (because there are so many more than just those that I have listed) I have written this post. And with it (because I think that a huge reason that movies can be so great is because of the music in them), have found songs and quotes from as many great movies as I could find.

The Magic of Movies.

Let's hope they stay magic, inspiring, uplifting, and just plain awesome, and hope they don't sink along with the values of those that tend to make them! :)

My Movie Greats Playlist that you are now hearing:

1. "The Braveheart Theme"

2. The Freedom Speech from Braveheart

3. "Now We are Free" from Gladiator

4. Music from the "Honor Him" scene in Gladiator (I cry every time...)

5. "My name is Gladiator" from Gladiator

6. "Main Title" from The Notebook

7. "I'll Be Seeing You" by Billie Holiday. From the road dancing scene in The Notebook

8. "Top of the World" from Pride and Prejudice

9. "Darcy's Letter" from Pride and Prejudice

10. "Mrs. Darcy" from Pride and Prejudice

11. The theme song of La Vita É Bella

12. Music from The Last Samurai

13. "Singin' in the Rain" by Gene Kelly

14. "Secret Love" by Doris Day in Calamity Jane

15. "Black Hills of Dakota" from Calamity Jane

16. "The Power of Ideas" quote from V for Vendetta

17. "Jessica's Theme" from Man From Snowy River

18. "Non, Je ne Regrette Rien" from La Vie en Rose

19. "Forrest Gump Theme"

A bit of this and a bit of that

First off, I went to the midnight premiere of Angels & Demons last night. I must admit, I was slightly disappointed. It was very different from the book and in my opinion, they left out some of the most important stuff. Such as the important link between science and religion that was very very prominent in the book. And a lot of the characters were way different, and things surprised me because they were so different from the book. But overall, I think they did a pretty good job. Everyone should still go see it, despite my slight disappointment. But be sure to read the book because, of course, it is WAY better than the movie.

Second, I'm way excited to go to the Taylor Swift concert in two weeks. She is one of the few country singers I like. And Bug showed me this music video the other day and I thought it was so great, so I'm sharing with you all. :) (bad news is that the column in my blog is not wide enough for this video, to see it at full size go here)

Third, I love summer. 'nuf said.

Yes, it is true...

So, I watched the Hannah Montana movie.

I loved it!

Yes, I am just finishing my freshman year of college, and I enjoyed the Hannah Montana movie.

There was so much good music in it, and better acting than normal from that Miley girl...

It was great!

Nat, take your girls if you can. They'll love it.

Tam, take Preslee if you can. I'm sure you'll both love all the music and dancing in it too.

And I bought the soundtrack... it was too hard to resist. :)

Finals start tomorrow! I have a few reviews today and then I think I'll take a final each day so I don't feel rushed in studying. I thought that would be the best way. Wish me luck one and all!

La Vie En Rose! "Non, je ne regrette rien!"

I just wanted to make a quick post about a film I recently saw and really really loved:

Loved it. It's the life story of the French singer Edith Piaf. Marion Cotillard won the Oscar for Best Actress for this movie last year, and I must say it was more than well deserved. She was amazing in it. It's a french film, so if you have the patience for subtitles and are up for a fabulous flick, I highly suggest it. I even posted one of my favorite songs from the movie on my playlist for your enjoyment, "Non, Je ne Regrette Rien" - "No, I Do Not Regret Anything."

Rent it. Watch it. Love it. As I did. :)

Also: I HEART MATT GIRAUD.

Vote for him on American Idol. :)

And Allison Iraheta...

Coming soon: Pictures from Hare Krishna Holi:the Festival of Colors. I'm leaving right now! :)

Two Films

This past couple of weeks I found some time to watch two great movies that I highly recommend!

If you are in need of a good laugh, and are a fan of the one and only Dwight Schrute, you MUST see "The Rocker." Hilarious! It's about this drummer for a band in the 80s. His band, Vesuvius, was offered a record deal but were told they had to get rid of the drummer "Fish", so they do. 20 years later, Vesuvius is the biggest band in the world and Fish is still hung up on it. His nephew asks him to be the drummer for his band for a gig at the prom so he agrees. Then it goes on to show how he carried them to the top. It is so so funny. Watch it!

The second film I found totally awesome is "Charlotte Gray". Lately I've become a huge fan of Cate Blanchett. She is definitely one of the best actresses of this day and age. The other day I was reading a list of her movies and this one struck me as something I would love. I've always loved books and movies about WW II.

In this movie Cate Blanchett plays Charlotte Gray, a Scottish woman living in London. She speaks fluent French and has been approached about possibly going undercover in France to help the resistance. When she hears her pilot boyfriend's plane was shot down in France but he made contact saying he was alive, she decides to become an agent and go to France to try and find him. She is placed in a small French town that is in an area of France that has not yet been taken over by the Germans. She meets Julian, the son of a farmer who is also a leader of the resistance. She stays on his father's farm and helps take care of two Jewish children whose parents were arrested. One day she is waiting for a train to Jillais, which is a city that her contact told her her pilot was in. As her train pulls up, loads of Germans unload the train. She then decides to stay and help Julian and the resistance stand up to the Germans. And it goes on and on. I love this movie so so so much! It is definitely now up close to the top on my list. And Cate Blanchett is just amazing. Go rent it! You'll love it. :)

Some more random thoughts:

My paper for my 19th C. Euro. Art class is going to be the most rockin' paper ever. What is my topic, you ask? Paul Delaroche's artistic treatment of women in conjunction with the social treatment of women in France in the 1830s. Brilliant. I know. Wish I came up with it on my own. Thank goodness for professors that are brilliant and willing to help.

I still am obsessed with Veronica Mars. I thought I'd share this love with you all by posting below a video I found on YouTube of a lot of the funny scenes from one of the seasons. Enjoy.

And last, I heart 3 day weekends.

Random bits

First random thing: I found an apartment! Yay! They are way nice and I'm excited to live there next year.

Party on.

Second: I love music. And I bring this up because I'm watching the Grammy's. I heart Jennifer Hudson. And Justin Timberlake. And Carrie Underwood. And Beyoncé. I think they are all performing.

Yes.

Third: I watched "The Secret Life of Bees" last night. It is now one of my favorite movies.

Phenomenal.

Fourth: I have an obsession with Veronica Mars. If you have never seen an episode, I highly suggest you do. I wish I were as clever and witty as that teenaged P.I.

Awesome.

That's all I have to say for now.

Ciao.