Easy Like Monday Morning

I'm about 10 seconds away from jinxing myself, but I am having an oddly good Monday morning. Having said that, it's still 6:45am on a Monday morning, and my list of things I need to accomplish before going to work is a long one. So I apologize, but we're going with a quick and easy post today.

1. I noticed in a mirror last night how awful and terrible my posture currently is. No wonder my back hurts so bad after long work days at an athletic event when I'm on my feet for 9 hours. Or why it hurts so bad when I'm at the office sitting in a computer chair for 8 hours. So I'm on Operation Better Posture. I found a few Pinterest articles like this one and this one that I might try, but I'm always open to suggestions. I vaguely remember about a year ago that I mentioned my posture and Brooke told me to do planks. Planks could be good for a lot of things I'm working on, so I might do a plank challenge for the month of October if anyone wants to join.

2. I'm up before the sun an awful lot, but I'm usually doing a million things in my apartment so I rarely actually see the sunrise, but Saturday morning I was in a hurry trying to get ready for a long, long work day at IU for the football game and I just happened to glance over and I saw the most beautiful sunrise out of my living room window. I even took a few minutes to get my phone, go outside, and take a picture. Pretty, pretty.

3. I feel that especially since I started blogging, I'm on my phone way too much. It's a natural hazard for this whole blogging thing, you always need to be connected. I've talked about the term "unplugging" back in March and what it meant for me. Personally, one day a month "unplugged" would not be beneficial or fix my problem. In March I said that every day I just wanted to be on my phone less every day, and that still applies. I did okay with that for a while, but like anything else, it's time to reevaluate. I have this hugely long list of Netflix shows and movies I want to watch and an even bigger list of books I want to read, but I "don't have time" for any of them. Last night I gave myself 90 minutes to read and just leave my phone alone, then I went straight to bed. Usually my morning routine consists of flipping through my social media, emails, and news for at least 30 min before I even think about actually getting out of bed. Today, I didn't. I still haven't checked my phone. And it feels good.

4. I'm not that girl that is addicted to Starbucks, in general. I mean, I think their coffee is good, but I'm usually just as happy, sometimes more so, with the coffee I make at my apartment - in my old fashioned coffee maker, by the way. No Keurig for this girl. Coffee also isn't something I drink every day like most people. I do not want to become addicted to it the way some are and I think, for myself, that coffee (and caffeine in general) would continue to be more effective if I saved it for the days I really needed it. BUT I am very addicted to Starbucks' Passion Tea Lemonade. For over a year now I've been trying to make it at home, but I just can not seem to get it just right! Part of my problem is that I'm trying to use the least amount of sugar possible, so I can't get the taste just right. If anyone has the perfect Passion Tea Lemonade recipe, throw it at me!

yes, this is the same damn picture i used in last thursday's post. i'm a terrible blogger.

5. I forgot to mention on the blog last week that I got my hair colored. I had been itching to do something drastic for a long time and so I just did it. I really like it, but I don't actually love it. To me, it's just hair, so I'm not too broken up about it and since I do like it, I'm not rushing back to change it. Probably in early November, before the holidays I'll go back and maybe do something different, who knows, I haven't really thought about it yet. As I was growing up my mom had every color of hair, long hair, short hair, permed hair, straight hair, etc. etc. Seriously, she's done it all, so I not afraid of hair color or change and I'm not days away from my wedding or anything, where I'd want my hair to be perfect. I'm mostly just damn glad I did something crazy, because I was getting a little stir crazy in my routine/life.

I know people do "Five on Friday", but I think we need to work on making "Five on Monday" a thing. Who actually has time to put out a thoughtful or thought provoking blog post on a Monday morning? Bravo to those people - teach me. Remember when Sami did a Weekend Recap linkup? Ahh, the good ol days.

Weird Day.

I had zero intentions of blogging today, because STUFF, but I need a second to regroup and I'm going to use blogging to do that.

Today has been weird.

I've not been sleeping well. I wake up a hundred times in the middle of the night, then when I finally get into a good, deep sleep, my alarm goes off and I'll press snooze every 9 minutes for over an hour, sometimes almost 2 hours of pressing snooze. No, I'm not kidding. OR I'll sleep okay, but then wake up at 4am and not be able to fall back asleep, but I'll also feel very lethargic and not want to actually get out of bed to be productive with those extra hours. This has been an ongoing problem for over a month now and I'm pretty sure I know all of the causes. There just isn't a quick fix to any of them at the moment, so I'm just hanging in there.

So, naturally I didn't sleep well last night. Actually, last night I woke up twice in the middle of the night, but then also woke up at 5:15am and couldn't fall back asleep. I entertained the idea of going to the gym, but instead I turned on Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince. That's the HP where Aragog dies, by the way.

So then I got into my car, where I had left the windows halfway down all night, and there was a giant, huge, enormous spider just chilling on the passenger seat. I named him Aragog, obviously, and freaked the hell out. Spiders don't really bother me so much, not like ants do (omg i can't handle ants), but this was a big, scary spider.

Also at work today I've been listening to Glee songs on Spotify all morning. I have no idea why. Every time I hear a song with Lea Michele and Cory Monteith singing together my heart hurts a little. Especially when it's some cute love song. Ugh.

Oh and this morning I was included in an email that I had no business being included in. Way above my pay grade and I don't understand at all why I was included. Especially when none of my peers were included. I mean, if the email came with a raise, I'd be all for it, but unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

I didn't intended to be a Debbie Downer and complain-y today, but damnit, it happened anyway. Sometimes I put so much effort into making sure my stress doesn't show for others that occasionally I come crashing down. Right now I'm sitting at the office by myself and I'm just tired of being stressed.

But a couple deep breaths and plastering a smile on my face and I'll be good as new.

That Time I…

Last week I put so much work into my blog posts that today I'm not sure what to do today. I feel like this gif.

So, let's just talk today. I feel like I need to catch you guys up on my life because I spent a week just forcing you guys to love my TV shows. Did I mention how much I loved last week though? Seriously, I need to find a way to get paid to watch and review TV shows. I'd have a perma-grin.

That time I was super obnoxious and force fed you old blog posts.
Yea, I'm going to link my blog posts from last week again, because I loved them. I mean, I bookmarked my own blog posts, so I'm either super vain or they're super legit. It's really quite the toss up. Regardless, here they are again:
Monday - Pretty Little Lying Bitches
Tuesday - So many September premieres! Lots happening this week!
Wednesday - October premieres and I'm freaking out waiting on some of these shows!
Thursday - The newbies! Fall's new shows! Lots of potential in the ranks this year.
Friday - NETFLIX BINGE-ABLE SHOWS. Guys, seriously. Some of these are on my actual, real life, list. Because of course I have an actual list of shows I want to watch.

That time I got angry at a small town festival parade.
I went to two different small town fall festivals this weekend. I made chit chat with adults I haven't seen since last year's festivals, I watched high schooler's sing and dance on the same stage I sang and danced on in my day, I avoided as many people that I went to high school with as possible, I smelled a 1,000 homemade candles, I bought a fake Michael Kors wallet, and most importantly, I had a banana and red raspberry snow cone.

But I also went to the parade with my dad and my grandparents, because we're obsessed with people watching. We all wear sunglasses so we can people watch without being too obvious. Honestly, we have the whole situation down to a science. If you've never been to a parade, let's me school you for a second - It is parade etiquette and just down right respectful to stand when the color guard passes at the beginning of the parade with the American flag. AKA - get your ass out of your chair and stand up. My blood pressure soared when I noticed how many people were still sitting. Grrrrr.

That time I missed Vegas.
I watched all of the Ocean movies this weekend. Ocean's Eleven was on TV late Friday night. Ocean's Twelve was on TV on Saturday morning. Ocean's Thirteen was on TV on Sunday afternoon. I watched them all. All of them. I love those movies and I have for a long time, but can I just say that watching them now, after having been to Vegas, I love them so much more. Every time they showed something that I recognized or the hotels I went to, I got excited. I want to go back already. My sister agrees. My parents have created monsters.

That time I woke up at 6am on a Sunday morning.
Not really sure how it happened, but I woke up and oddly couldn't fall back asleep. I stayed in bed for a half hour trying to force myself to fall back asleep, but just couldn't. I ended up going to the couch and watching A Cinderella Story, because I love Chad Michael Murray. Then after it was over, Another Cinderella Story started, with Selena Gomez. I had never seen it, so I kinda just started half watching it and then when it was time for me to get ready, I DVR'd the rest of it so I could watch it later. Turns out, I love teeny bopper movies, a lot. I refuse to become a boring adult.

That time I realized I have too much alcohol in my apartment.
So, after the parade on Saturday, I went to a Harvest Wine Festival. So I actually attended 3 festivals this weekend. Anyway, we did a little wine tasting and listened to some of the live bands, but then we noticed they had bottles on sale. So I bought 2. Then I got home and noticed that huh.. I have a lot of alcohol going on at the moment.

In my defense, a lot of that liquor I have because I had bought it to mix in jello shots or other drinks I've made in the past, so I just haven't finished the bottles. I have a lot of wine, because some of them were gifts, some of them are for last minute gifts, and sometimes I just buy a bottle when I go to the store. Because I live in Indiana and you can't buy alcohol on Sundays, so you stock up the other 6 days a week. Ya dig?

That time I spent hours going through my phone so I could download iOS8.
Listen, it says it needs like 4.6GB to download. I have 1.1GB available. Screw you, iPhone. So I'm deleting approximately 600 photos/videos, deleting all of my music, and deleting all of my apps, so I can download this POS update. Then I'm going to have to take the time to redownload my apps. I'm so annoyed. But I did find lots of things on my phone I had forgotten about. Like a video of the waves from NSB, that I watched 3,239 times yesterday and also these pictures of my sister and I.

Obviously, she's adopted and we look nothing alike and we definitely aren't similar when we're drinking, at all.

That's all I'm going to leave you with today. I'd hate to bombard you with too much on a Monday.
Catch ya on the flip side!

Netflix Binge-able TV Shows

It is the final day of TV Week! This week has been my favorite thing I've ever done on the blog. Which probably says a lot about me. Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me this week, I appreciate you more than you know! Things should go back to "normal" on Monday. #LaughingOutLoud

Today we're talking about Netflix shows that you can binge watch. Now, obviously you could technically binge watch every TV show currently on Netflix and then watch the new episodes as they aired. So I had to narrow down my criteria. I've decided to share with you shows that are either Netflix Originals or shows that are completed - meaning you could watch the entire show beginning to end as quickly as possible.
P.S. If you don't have a Netflix account (or if you don't have parents who have a netflix account that you have the password to) then you need to get one immediately. Best thing you'll ever do.

***P.S.S. because someone asked - NO, I'm not getting paid or perked or anything at all for talking about Netflix today OR for talking about TV shows all week. However, if someone could find a way for me to get paid for talking about TV and telling you to purchase Netflix, please send your ideas my way. Because #dreamjob***

30 Rock

7 Seasons - 2006-2013

I've only ever seen random episodes, but Tina Fey.. Do I need to say anything else? It's funny. You'll laugh. End of discussion.

Angel

5 Seasons - 1999-2004

The Buffy spin-off. I recommend this as much as I recommend Buffy, which is a lot. However, I don't recommend that you watch this without having watched Buffy. You'll miss so much if you do. I liked Angel, not even close to as much as I loved Buffy, but I did like it, especially once Spike was back.

Breaking Bad

5 Seasons - 2008-2013

I mean, come on. What are you doing with your life? Why haven't you already watched this? Get it together.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

7 Seasons - 1997-2003

This was the first TV show I ever really watched and I watched the last few seasons live with my mom. It was our thing. I've seen every episode an embarrassing number of times. Buffy is SUCH a good binge-watch show! Do it, do it!!

Charmed

8 Seasons - 1998-2006

I've never seen it, but the reruns are on TV ALL OF THE TIME. Three witchy sisters, battling evil, etc. etc.

CSI: Miami

10 Seasons - 2002-2012

I used to love all of these CSIs. I DVRed them for years and in high school when my parents came home they'd catch me watching reruns of CSI all the time. CSI Miami is my favorite one to make fun of though, because of the ridiculous puns that Horatio makes and his sunglasses! I love it so much! I don't usually get grossed out or squeamish, but there is one episode where one of the detectives gets a nail shot through his eye and I CAN'T HANDLE IT. I seriously can't handle that episode at all.

CSI: New York

9 Seasons - 2004-2013

This was my favorite CSI of all of the CSIs. I've actually rewatched a ton of these episodes on Netflix already, because they are the perfect background noise! Seriously, love this show!

Desperate Housewives

8 Seasons - 2004-2012

I've actually never watched this show? I don't really have a good reason why, I've heard excellent things. When I went to LA in 2005 I got to see the set of this show though, so that's kind of cool.

Dexter

8 Seasons - 2006-2013

I've only really season the first 4 seasons of this show, but I did watch most of the final season, because I'm weird like that. Anyway, I did really like the show, especially the first 3 seasons, but I hated the ending. Hated it. So if you binge watch this show, just beware that you'll probably want to throw a brick at the TV when it's done.

Ghost Whisperer

5 Seasons - 2005-2010

I actually loved this show. Jennifer Love Hewitt isn't always the best and there are definitely some very obnoxious story lines, especially towards the end, but overall this is a show worth watching.

Gossip Girl

6 Seasons - 2007-2012

Oh this show is so good! Definitely binge-watch worthy! Although, I wasn't impressed with the ending and the "reveal". I felt that maybe the writers didn't have a real plan, so they just threw that one out there and tried to make it work. I wasn't a huge fan, but I got over it.

Greek

4 Seasons - 2007-2011

So many people have told me I need to watch this show and I just keep forgetting about it! Has anyone seen it? What did you think?

Hemlock Grove

Netflix Original - 2 Seasons

This show is not for everyone. It's different and a good show, but definitely not for everyone. I've warned you. Also they've announced that season 3 will be the final season.

House M. D.

8 Seasons - 2004-2012

House is a goodie. I still haven't ever seen the last 2 seasons, but I've seen the other 6 and they're good. I get into medical shows like that though, so I could be biased.

House Of Cards

Netflix Original - 2 Seasons

No one who has watched this show hasn't liked it. I'm pretty sure that's an actual fact. Everyone likes it.

How I Met Your Mother

9 Seasons - 2005-2014

In case you missed it while it was on, you can now binge was the whole series right on Netflix! I liked this show a lot, it's funny most of the time and the original story concept was so, so good! I'm one of those people that didn't like the ending, along with almost everyone else I know, just saying. Good show, minus the last episode.

Friday Night Lights

5 Seasons - 2006-2011

This has been on my list for forever! I know it's a show I'd love and I don't know why I haven't gotten around to watching it!

Fringe

5 Seasons - 2008-2013

I am actually currently in the middle of watching this show. I just started season 3! It had been on my list for a long time and I have a friend who swore up and down that this show was so good, so I finally started watching it. It is good so far. There's a whole 5 season series story arch and that's rare and a real treat! So things that happened in season 1 actually had a purpose. My only complaint is with the lead female actress. She's not very expressive, so every emotion she's feeling looks exactly the same. But Joshua Jackson? WOW, so surprised how good he is! LOVE him. But the STAR of the show is John Noble. Holy wow, he deserved an Emmy for his work on this show. Amazing.

Lost

6 Seasons - 2004-2010

I never jumped on the Lost bandwagon and I don't have any intention of doing it now, but a lot of people seemed to like the show, so feel free to jump on the bandwagon with all of them.

One Tree Hill

9 Seasons - 2003-2012

I've very attached to this show. I explained it all on the blog a long time ago, you can read it here. But yes. If you listen to one thing I say, binge watch this show. It's amazing.

Orange Is The New Black

Netflix Original - 2 Seasons

I mean, if you haven't seen this show all over every single form of social media and all of the news and TV award programs, then what are you doing? OITNB is in a Buzzfeed article every day. So yea, add this to your list.

Prison Break

4 Seasons - 2005-2009

This one has been on my list for a while too. My sister loved it and Wentworth Miller is a hottie.

Private Practice

6 Seasons - 2007-2013

Where are all my Grey's Anatomy fans at? This is your show, I promise. It was a spin-off with Derek's ex wife. I didn't watch the last few seasons, because I forgot and was busy, but I've heard such good things.

Psych

8 Seasons - 2006-2014

So funny. This show is so funny. I haven't seen every episode, but I've loved every episode I've seen. It's got a lot of "smart people humor" in it, if you know what I mean and it's hilarious.

Roswell

3 Seasons - 1999-2002

Honestly, I don't know a lot about this show and I've heard mixed reviews, but I think I'd probably like it. It's only 3 seasons, so I could easily binge watch it in a week (-end, I could binge watch 3 seasons in a weekend, let's be honest here).

Scrubs

9 Seasons - 2001-2010

My friends and I used to watch this show so much in high school. It's funny, definitely a good show for a good laugh. While I did like the show, I can see why some people don't. Some of the humor does get kind of old and annoying the further along the series goes. I still recommend it though, because it really is really funny.

The 4400

4 Seasons - 2004-2007

Over several decades 4,400 people go missing. Then one day they all show up again, at the same as they were went they went missing. I don't know very many people who watched this show, but I will say my interest is peaked.

The Killing

Netflix Original - 4 Seasons

A murder mystery, so it's my kind of show. It's on the list, I'll get to it when I get to it. I just looked it up though and checked it's rating and it's high. Like oddly high, so now it might be bumping a little higher up my list.

The Office

9 Seasons - 2005-2013

I'm pretty sure I'm one of the five people who haven't seen this show. I know what it's about and I know it is supposedly really, really good, but I still haven't seen it. It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I have a lot of other shows I'd rather watch first.

The X Files

9 Seasons - 1993-2002

I don't really have a huge desire to watch this show, except that a ton of movies and a ton of other shows make reference to this show all the time! So I feel like I NEED to watch this so I'll get the references better!

Weeds

8 Seasons - 2005-2012

I haven't ever seen this show and honestly, it's not on my list either. I had a friend in college who loved this show and always had to be home on the night of a new episode, but she was never able to convince me to watch it, so I don't have a lot of hope for anyone else being able to convince me either.


Above are the only shows I'm going to discuss today. That should be enough to get your started on a good healthy Netflix binge. Of course, I'm always looking for MORE, so if you have one that I forgot, let me know!

Here's a quick run down of this week, just for reference:
Monday - Pretty Little Liars
Tuesday - September 2014 Premieres
Wednesday - October 2014 Premieres
Thursday - Fall 2014's new shows

This concludes TV Week!
I love you people.
Thanks for playing and I'll see you on Monday!