Crazy for Katniss

Yup, I said it. I'm Team Katniss! Actually, I think technically I'm supposed to be Team Peeta and Gale, but whatever.

It look me a while to get on board with the craze, but I read The Hunger Games this week in preparation for the movie. Of course, like a logical person, I started reading a book people said I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PUT DOWN during one of my busiest work weeks in recent history. Ah, well. Live and learn.

Anyway, I loved the book (even though it was incredibly predictable) and am so excited to see the movie.

Suzanne Collins isn't the greatest writer ever (please, no JK Rowling comparisons...) but in terms of writers whose books have turned into blockbuster movie franchises lately, she's way better than Stephanie Meyers. So, thank the Lord for that. We're celebrating not-horrible writing again!

The books was so engaging and fun to read. She used the ol' love-triangle-in-the-middle-of-a-fight-for-your-life method to hook me in, and gosh darn it, it worked. If you haven't read the book yet, I think all you need to know is that Collins used to write for Clarissa Explains It All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Convinced? I thought so.

In honor of the movie coming out this weekend, I could launch into a deep review of the book, but like I said, it's been a super long week, so instead I've compiled a list of my favorite outfits from its star, Jennifer Lawrence, who has amazing style. And amazing hair. She's right up there with Connie Britton for woman whose hair I most covet. And I think that now marks the second time we've discussed coveting Connie's hair on this blog. We can't help it!

Anyway, without further ado, here are her best looks as chosen by me:

Helllllllllllo, bombshell! It's like the Baywatch bathing suit on top, but then it's a dress, and it's perfect.



She looks like a cross between Anna Kournikova and Emily from Revenge here. Not a bad combo.



LOVE this. Love it. If I were planning my wedding, I would seriously consider this for my wedding dress, and I'm not kidding.



Here we are at yet another Hunger Games premiere. I love the bold lipstick and simple - yet daring - dress.



This one is cute and fun, but also a little cleavage-y. I think Cinna would dress her in this.



OK, so, her hair's not real here, right? It's too perfect-looking.



Not her best choice, make-up wise (looks like me going to the winter formal dance in 9th grade), but I love the bright pink color of her dress.

Kate Middleton is Bringing Field Hockey Back!

Kate Middleton, you are my favorite Brit (except for maybe Marcus Mumford, who was too busy serenading the Obamas last night).

Field hockey, you are my favorite sport.

London, you are my favorite city.

The Olympics, you are my favorite cultural event.

When you all combine forces, it is almost too much for me to handle.

That is all.

(Also, where do I get those jeans?!?)

Playlist: Gettin' Hitched

Today, I’m listening to a mix I made on Spotify called “Gettin’ Hitched.” And since that’ll probably show up on my Facebook feed, I want to clarify that I don’t just randomly listen to wedding-themed music. Normally. But tonight, I’m going to a wedding, and I get pretty excited about seeing good friends get married, so I wanted to celebrate love and marriage all day long by listening to my favorite wedding-ish songs.

Here’s my “Getting’ Hitched” mix – let me know what I’m missing!

1.       Going to the Chapel – The Dixie Cups (of course)

2.       Let’s Get Married – Jagged Edge (love seeing the bad-boy groups get all sweet and romantic)

3.       I Do – Colbie Callait (current favorite)

4.       Let’s Get Married – Al Green (of course)

5.       Marry Me – St. Vincent

6.       Love and Marriage – Frank Sinatra

7.       White Wedding – Billy Idol

8.       Wedding Day – Rosie Thomas (shout out to Kristin – who had an amazing, beautiful wedding, btw – for introducing me to Rosie)

9.       January Wedding – The Avett Brothers (a favorite of the bride and groom)

10.   Wedding Bell – Beach House

11.   I Do (Cherish You) – 98 Degrees (Am I right, other girls who grew up in the 90s?)

12.   Wedding Day – UB40

13.   Love Like a Sunset Part I – Phoenix (not necessarily a wedding song, but Laura’s list yesterday made me remember how beautiful this song is)

Desert Island Albums

I don't know which came first, High Fidelity or the concept of the top five, but either way, the concept is now so much a part of the "cultural conversation" that even The Office casually references it, when Jim Halpert suggests the play the "desert island" game in "The Fire" (a classic Office episode, if only for Dwight's amazing delivery of "Ryan Started the Fire"). This "desert island" angle actually adds something to the original concept--if these are literally the only five albums I will ever be able to listen to, ever again, I need to be sure they're not five sleepy folk albums (a major temptation). Balance is key in the desert island situation.

It now seems essential to me that at any moment I be prepared to rattle off a list of my top five movies, books, songs, albums, etc. Who knows when someone will demand my list! Since today is my birthday, and I can listen to music at work (thanks Spotify, you're the best!) I decided to spend the day listening to my all-time favorite albums. Of course there are more than five albums that I love, and this just will not do, desert-island-wise, so I decided that by the end of the day I would have narrowed my list to my top five, absolutely most essential, desert island albums.

So, without further ado, here they are...my top five desert island albums:

"Pet Sounds," The Beach Boys
When I was growing up, we used to spend one week every summer at my grandparent's house in Ohio, and they had a great pool with a bar and we blasted Beach Boys all week long. So the Beach Boys are a sentimental pick for me. But beyond that, this album is just so, so classic. In fact, Rolling Stone named it the #2 album of all time. It seems like every other album references it in some way these days. As they should: the Beach Boys did everything well. Relatable yet sophisticated songwriting? Check. Creative instrumentation? Check. Gorgeous harmonies? Check and check. And bonus: they sound like summer, always! But this is their masterpiece, the album that, after he first heard it, made Paul McCartney cry.

"Graceland," Paul Simon
Another absolute classic. Paul Simon actually has no nostalgia factor for me; the only music we really listened to growing up was Motown, The Carpenters, and Amy Grant. And Psalty, followed by all things CCM a few years later. I discovered Graceland as an adult, but it's one of those albums that just feels like it's always been a part of me. It's got such an energy, one that makes me excited about the possibilities of life.

"Live at Java Joe's," Jason Mraz
Jason was my first musical love. I still remember the first time I ever heard him; I was driving down 322, past my high school, in my friend Toni's Jeep, and "The Remedy" came on the radio. She turned it up and said, "Oh I love this song! Have you heard of Jason Mraz?" And from that moment on, I was obsessed. I immediately bought his album "Waiting for My Rocket to Come" (back when you had to go to an actual store to do that!) and listened to it on repeat for, literally, months. It was only replaced by "Tonight, Not Again," his live album from the Rocket tour, and then when I got to college and figured out how to download music, I started hoarding live bootlegs and rare demos. I found out he had released an independent album, "Live at Java Joe's," before being signed, and bought a copy off eBay. I thought I had loved him before, but this album...wow. Every song is perfection to me. I will never love Jason more than I do on this album. And I'm okay with that.

"Age of Adz," Sufjan Stevens
This was tough. "Illinois" is also an incredible album, and the first Sufjan I loved. But this album...it just makes me FEEL things. Actually, it makes me feel EVERYTHING, all at once. The title song sounds somehow from a sterile, mechanical future and primordial at the same time, which makes the feelings it describes seem to have always been, even as they feel so particular and personal. This album also has the best dance party song ever ("Impossible Soul"). The best word I can think of for this album, other than "essential," is simply "interesting." When I first heard it, I didn't like its radical departure from the "Michigan"/"Illinois" Sufjan, but the more I listen the more it becomes one of my favorite albums ever, exactly because it takes risks and taps into something even more intrinsic to what it means to be human.

"Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix," Phoenix
This last spot was the toughest. Lauren pointed out that I really didn't have a good poppy, peppy album in the bunch, and when considering a desert island reality it's good to remember that there are days I would just want to escape into something light and fun. Enter Phoenix. This is not fluffy, mindless pop, but it doesn't ask you to think too hard. I'm not even sure what any of these songs are about, except maybe "Love Like a Sunset" since that is wordless, and is more about expectations of what a song should be. But Phoenix brings a smile to my face more than probably any other band. And, bonus, this album reminds me of some truly awesome people and some truly amazing concert experiences!

There you have it! My desert island top five. For now, at least. And since I'm incapable of actually limiting things, here are a few albums I also love that almost made the cut:

"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots," The Flaming Lips
"Letters from a Flying Machine," Peter Mulvey
"A Creature I Don't Know," Laura Marling
"Kansas," Jennifer Knapp

Mindless Photos for your Morning

Full disclosure: I'm actually not totally sure what Fashion Week is. From what I've learned by looking at fashion blogs this morning, it seems like it's mostly an excuse for Sarah Jessica Parker to wear an outfit that showcases her bra choice. Sarah, it wasn't OK when you were on Sex and the City, and it's certainly not OK now. And now I've admitted I watched Sex and the City, and you know far too much about me.

Anyway, Fashion Week. Can I be that person, who (with the anonymity that blogging allows me) says I really don't get high fashion? I mean, I like beautiful, well-made clothing (not enough to buy it, as you'd see from looking at my closet full of Target items), but I do like it. But some of it is ridiculous. Seriously, go there for a good laugh. It'll make you wonder if the fashion industry is just one big joke that us common folk don't get yet, even though they're making it so hard to continue taking them seriously. Here's my favorite:



Anyway, the runway stuff is mostly too weird for me, so I prefer to look through the pictures of people who attend these shows. So, below are some of my favorite "on the street" shots from Paris Fashion Week, because apparently if you're Parisian you are just way more stylish than anyone else in the world:

Songs That Make Me Excited About Heaven

To clarify: I don't need a song to get me excited about heaven. The hope and promise of an eternity in God's presence is enough! But. One of my favorite bands in the world, Milano, recently released a single of their song called Festival and it is just...I have no words. Let's look at theirs:

a song in our throats, with bells in our hands 

a thunderous sound from the old marching band 

an old soldiers hymn, a victory anthem 

bang on the drum with your old calloused hands 

because all is a gift. We finally own everything! 

praise him, you gauze bandages! 

antique hospital beds! 

all is mended in the festival! 

praise him, you ex-patriots! 

all displaced citizens! 

creeping things! flying birds! 

presidents! senators! 

all my wells! all my springs! 

you consume everything! 

finally, we're going to the festival!

I just picked the last couple verses, I wanted to just copy and paste the whole song in here because IT. IS. SO. BEAUTIFUL. I cannot even...I wish I could figure out how to embed the mp3 here but you're just going to have to do me a favor and go listen to it at the link above, or here if you don't even feel like scrolling back up. But really, this song is an absolutely perfect example of a song that makes me just so, so excited about heaven, even more than usual. On a daily basis, as I encounter the general crappiness of this world, I look forward to the day when I won't have to deal with it all anymore, but this often feels like more of an exasperated wishing away of current troubles than a jubilant anticipation of the very real, coming day when the things we long for on this earth will actually become a reality, where divisions will be gone and death will be no more and we will dance in the presence of God forever!! If anything is ever deserving of two exclamation points, that is it. 


So I have listened to that song over and over and over again since it was released last week. Sitting at my desk, I thought to myself, 'Does it get any better than this?' But then I thought about how much better it's going to be LIVE (I love live music more than almost anything) , and I got even MORE excited thinking about the next time I'll get to be part of that. And then I went to church on Sunday, and I remembered--the only thing better than worshiping with a big group of people in a crowded bar is worshiping with people who are a significant part of your life every single day and know who you are and where you've come from and what you're dealing with and have shred all these things with you!


My very best memories of Wheaton are of All-School Communion, a completely voluntary worship service that took place a few times a semester during which we observed communion as a student body. Some of these services were attended by nearly every student at Wheaton, and some were only attended by a few hundred, if even that. In my four years I only missed a few, and then not happily, and I have even considered going back as an alum--they were that good. There was this song we used to sing, "We Will Dance," and it always came toward the end of the service, after Communion, and when the music began everyone knew what was coming. People would clap with the beat in anticipation as the musicians slowly built up to the first verse, and by the end everyone was just straight up dancing in the aisles. 

We will dance on the streets that are golden

The glorious bride and the great Son of Man

From every tongue and tribe and nation

Will join in the song of the Lamb

These lyrics are great, but the power really comes from the experience of singing it with other Christians who are looking forward to that same reality. 


Even if I went back to All-School today, I don't think the experience would be quite as powerful. Yes, we would all be worshipping the same God, but a big part of what made those experiences so meaningful was the fact that we were already part of the same community, and by breaking bread together and singing together, we were reminding ourselves of the real purpose of our little community--we shared classes and dorms and a common eating area, but really we shared our God, and a hope and a longing for this new reality that defined the lives we just happened to be living in the same geographical area. Worship unifies these bonds of community, and is most powerful, to me at least, when it is with people you are already sharing life with. That is now my church family, and, unsurprisingly, I have recently realized that I feel most connected, both to them and to God, when we are observing communion together and singing together--most especially when the song voices this shared longing and hope for Heaven. My recent obsession has been "You're Beautiful" (by Phil Wickham), particularly this verse:

When we arrive at eternity’s shore

Where death is just a memory and tears are no more

We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring 

Your bride will come together and we’ll sing

You’re beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful

This song has nearly brought me to tears multiple times over the last few weeks. Both images, of a boat arriving to shore, and a bride entering the church and walking toward her groom, evoke images of longing and anticipation fulfilled, and connect the reality that is to come to the reality we already know and can imagine. 


So what songs make YOU excited about heaven!?! Please share in the comments!

Killing It

I like to think of myself as someone with pretty great taste in TV shows. Yes, sometimes I watch King of Queens (I like Kevin James. Sue me.), but I also watch Dexter, Homeland, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. AND I legitimately enjoy them. It's not like when I go see a critically-acclaimed movie and I force myself into thinking it was amazing, but somewhere deep in my subconscious, I just wished it was a Drew Barrymore movie the whole time.

It's so much easier to have great taste in TV than music or movies, because you basically just watch anything on HBO, FX, Showtime, and AMC, and bam! you have great taste in TV shows. It's so easy.

Since those channels listed have such consistently good shows, I pretty much try to watch any new TV show on any of them, except The Walking Dead (I KNOW it's amazing, but... the gore... I just can't.) and Game of Thrones (I'm staunchly anti-fantasy).

Last year, I tried watching a lot of new shows - Lights Out (awesome, but it was cancelled), Boardwalk Empire (great, but I decided to stop subjecting myself to it after the face-carving incident), and The Killing. 

And The Killing was amazing. I loved it - interesting storyline, engaging mystery, great acting, beautifully shot, based off a European show... If the Europeans did it first then their version was probably better, but the American version will probably be pretty good too (The Office, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Survivor, etc). And there were a lot of people on the bandwagon with me, until the finale, which about 99% of watchers - according to the blogs I read - absolutely hated. And I was like, WHAT?! I thought it was fantastic. The twists and turns kept me hooked the whole time, and I loved that they ended the finale with a huge twist. Was everyone just upset that they used "Who Killed Rosie Larson?" as the season 1 tagline and then never answered that question? I guess that's fair, but I personally didn't care. I'm so used to TV shows being so formulaic and predictable, and I didn't mind having to wait until season 2. So I was so pleased to hear that it's coming back in less than a month, on April 1. Most AMC lovers are more excited for Mad Men, but honestly, I am actually a little more excited to get back into the rainy mysteryland of The Killing. 

So... watch it. I promise people are never let down by my TV recommendations. And for the record, I have never recommended Basketball Wives to my husband (yes I have).

What about you? Have you ever loved a TV show that nobody else could get on board with?