obsessing over : the olympics

There are very few things in life that I enjoy more than the Olympics; every time the olympic torch makes a new stop I am glued to my couch for the next two weeks. During which I am more of a sap than I ever am the other 50 week of the year. Seriously, I cry like a baby whenever 1) an athlete's parents are interviewed 2) an American wins and the national anthem starts playing 3) a story of overcoming obstacles is told. I love the triumph and pride that comes with simply competing, don't even get me started on people winning.

When my mom and I visited the Olympic Training Center in CO Springs last year, where I might or might not have seen John Orozco training!

Being the Anglophile that I am, London being the host city only makes me even more pumped. I was supposed to be in London right now soaking up the awesomeness that is a country hosting the games and I guess taking some classes, but sadly (really sadly, I cried for like a week when I found out I wasn't going) the program was cancelled due to some scheduling conflict. So instead I'll be back on my couch, as per usual, which is fine I'm not still bitter about it. Kind of. I won't let my intermittent pangs of sadness damper my Olympic spirit though! I will yell and cry and survive heart palpitations along with the rest of the country.

Rumor has it that the opening ceremony will include a 40-foot Voldemort battling an army of Mary Poppins, James Bond, and of course ending with a sing-along to 'Hey Jude'. And the Spice Girls are reuniting for a closing ceremony performance. Be still my platform loving, girl powering, 90s heart. Oh yeah, and Rupert Grint carried the torch today. SO GREAT.

Here are some of my favorite Olympic Moments:

 Beijing (2008) Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay

 a.k.a- the day Jason Lezak became a beast. remember sitting on my grandparents' couch freaking out while watching this. I'm not sure I've every been more excited about something that I was in no way involved in.

Athens (2004) Paul Hamm Horizontal Bar Routine

Comebacks seem to be a theme... If you don't know what happened, Paul had fallen on a vault attempt and landed in 12th place. After the next rotation of parallel bars he had made his way back to 4th but the chances of a gold seemed out of reach. He scored a 9.837 on this routine, nabbing the gold and also my love.

Beijing (2008) Men's 100m Final

INSANE. Just like I don't believe the Chinese gymnasts are over the age of 7, I don't believe that this being is a human.

Atlanta (1996) Kerri Strug Vault

Duh, does it get any better or more tissue-worthy than this?

2008 Beijing Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony is an awesome way to integrate culture and creativity into the games, and Beijing complete upped the ante with this one. It was so cool. Danny Boyle is going to bring it this year.

This is but a smattering of the Olympic moments that take up valuable space in my mind, and I am so looking forward to see what London will bring me. Phelps-Lochte showdown. Misty May and Kerri Walsh spiking the competition. Gabby Douglas dougie-ing all the way to the podium. Voldemort trying to figure out how a muggle like Usain Bolt is using magic to run that fast.

Don't miss anything, keep this schedule open at all times!

repeat, repeat, repeat : ed sheeran

Ed Sheeran first caught my attention when he released his video for "Lego House" which featured Rupert Grint as a ridiculous, obsessive fan. As my friend Kara said when I told her about it, "Now I understand why you love him." It's true, I do have a special place in my heart for the miniature pig raising, ice cream truck driving ginger, so his connection to Ed certainly helped.

But what kept may attention after that was how every song on his debut album "+" is great. I am a sucker for an acoustic guitars and for the British, so the red-head was already pretty high in my book. But the album is a perfect mix of jaunt ("Gold Rush","Little Bird"), heartbreak ("U.N.I", "Small Bump"), and attitude ("You Need Me, I Don't Need You"). He's got a way with words that reminds me a little of Jason Mraz (except 50x better), he can spit them out like rapid fire but with an awesome fluidity. On the flipside there are times, such as on "Wake Me Up", when he's pretty much just talking and still manages to keep me hanging on every word. Call me a softy, but the line, "See I could do without a tan on my left hand, where my fourth finger meets my knuckle" gets me every time. His gentleness is conveyed in the former, but the he evokes such power on "Give Me Love" that it gives me chills.
Needless to say, I'm slightly obsessed with him right now. He not only writes all of his own music but also has a writing credit on One Direction's first album and has recently been writing with Taylor Swift. I am real pumped about the latter.

If you like Ed Sheeran, then check out: Tracy Chapman, Of Monsters and Men, Birdy

three things thursday!

here are a few things i'm loving this week.

 finally getting into the millennium trilogy and loving it.

via google images

emmy nominations for new girl and best actress/supporting actor nods for zooey deschanel and max greenfield!

via google images

"Therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

-Colossians 3:12

five ways Hello Giggles ruined my life.

To say that I'm obsessed with Hello Giggles would probably be an understatement. I have tried time and time again to get others hooked too, but it just doesn't seem to be working. I post articles to my friends' walls... multiple times a week. I mention it in everyday conversation- while we're watching New Girl, whenever I happen to be mentioning my love for Zooey Deschanel. What else can I do? Maybe this will help to convince all four of the people in the world who read my blog (disclaimer: I am very content with that number) to follow the gigglers as blindly as I do.

1. They steal all of my thoughts.
Seriously, not a day goes by where I don't read something that has gone through my mind before. Somehow they manage to convey my thoughts better than I ever could. Everything I've ever thought about Call Me Maybe, right here. My thoughts on crafting (a.k.a my life)- here.  The truth about Melissa Mccarthy, this guy. I am now paranoid that every time I think a thought, it will end up on Hello Giggles within the next week, which leads me to...

2. They blog everything I'm going to before I do it.
A few weeks ago my suitemates and I made a fort, and I was going to write a blog about it. Because I like forts and think they're cool, so therefore I should blog about them obviously. I was in the middle of writing the post when I saw this- Fort Life. This is a true story, and also why I haven't blogged in quite a while. I literally think that they have implanted a camera into my brain and are watching the inner workings of my mind.

3. I now think that everyone thinks like me.
Since it has been affirmed that there are people in the world exactly like me, I now think that I am unoriginal. Okay, not really, but it does make me think that I can bring up things that pop into my head and that other people will understand. This is not so. Apparently not everyone is constantly thinking of how their life relates to episodes of Saved by the Bell or why ABC Family is genius like me and the ladies of HG.

4. I now realize that I will never be as awesome as Zooey Deschanel.
Hello Giggles was founded by Zooey Deschanel and her two BFFs Sophia Ross and Molly McAleer. Zooey participates in running this shindig while being hilariously quirky on TV, singing retro folky songs and hanging out with Joseph Gordon Levitt and Mindy Kaling. All I do is go to college. Lame.

5. I never look at anything else.
When I open my computer there are a number of sites that I check immediately, but I go to Hello Giggles last because I know that it will consume the rest of my day. In my many open tabs, there is always an HG article open for me to read next. I even have it saved as an app on my phone so that it is always accessible. I am not ashamed to say that I have a problem, because it is a disease that I wish would spread as girls like me take over the world. Too far?

it's a beautiful day.

Today is February 1. Today, it is also 61 degrees outside. I'm wearing a short-sleeve shirt with no jacket, and it's February. I can't decide whether I'm happy about this or not, because it's supposed to be the thick of winter. I should be wearing 20 layers and be able to see my breath. What if the flowers get confused and come out before they should and then winter actually does come and they all die? Why is this such a dilemma? I'm not sure, but I do know that I'm going to take advantage of this weather while it's here. Our campus is so pretty and there are a lot of things you can do when it's nice out, but these are the best:

just my friend Maria doing some "quadnastics"

Hang out on the Quad (duh). On the first nice day of spring, students are notorious for skipping classes to sit on the quad and do nothing. In the springtime, it's difficult to even walk to class without seeing someone you know and being tempted to stay outside with them. Whether you're playing frisbee, reading, or just staring at the mountains, it's impossible not to fall in love with the quad.

a peaceful nook downtown

Walk around Downtown. Our town may not be big, but it certainly is charming. Taking a stroll down South Main in the sunshine and passing The Yellow Button, Dave's and Cat's Cradle is a staple in the life of a Duke.

isn't it lovely? thanks google.

Go for a swim in Newman Lake.


...just kidding, I don't really want to die.

Now go outside and breathe some fresh air.

p.s- Something to help ease everyone's mind, T-Swift will NOT be playing Eponine. Who will, you may ask, be taking the part? Well that would be none other than Samantha Barks!  Thank you for coming to your senses Cameron Mackintosh! I dreamed a dream and it came true!

three things thursday!

here are three things that i'm loving this thursday:

it's awards season! thanks for the pic TLO

ingrid's new album!

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others."

-Philippians 2:3-4

where you lead, i will follow.

One of my suitemates was home-schooled until college and also lived outside of the continental U.S for a good portion of her life. Because of this, there are a lot of things that she's never seen or heard of. For someone like me who constantly checks the Entertainment Weekly website and could tell you any useless fact that you wanted to know about the world of pop culture, this is basically a sin.

At the beginning of last semester she had never seen an episode of Gilmore Girls; not okay. Thankfully, we have two sets of the entire series in our suite, so that problem was easily solved. We started the journey through Lorelai and Rory’s lives, and it only took until the moment Dean steps onto the scene to get everyone hooked. We finished all seven seasons (154 episodes) of Dean’s hair, Jess’ mysterious ways, Luke’s dry wit and about 1,000 cups of coffee in one semester.

thanks for the picture!

One point even required us to have an intervention because Gilmore Girls was on too often in our common room. We might have watched seven episodes one Saturday. Maybe. It’s just really hard to stop watching when you know that something is about to go down in the Dean-Rory-Jess love triangle.

My dad likes to make fun of the show, saying that no one could ever think or talk that fast, but I find it hard to believe that anyone could actually dislike it. They think on their feet, which I think is perfectly normal. 

One of the many things that makes the show hard to hate is the set of characters. From Kirk to Paris to Mrs. Kim, there isn’t a character that is so annoying or infuriating that you want them to disappear from the show. Just when you think you can’t stand them anymore, they do something to pull you back in. Paris Geller may be one heck of an annoying person, but she is loyal to Rory and I would totally want her on my side if I were ever in a bad situation. She does know pretty much every martial art known to man after all. She would hurt you just for hating her.

It also must be kept in mind that this is the show that introduced the world to the geniuses that are Lauren Graham and Melissa McCarthy, although people like to think that McCarthy did nothing at all before Bridesmaids. She did; she was Sookie St. James and she was brilliant. And don’t even get me started on the fact that Lauren Graham never won an Emmy for being Lorelai Gilmore; I’m still not over it.

thanks for the picture!

Last Friday, we finally reached the end, and I’m pretty sure every one in the room cried at least a little. It’s the end of an era in the Retirement Home, and I’m happy to say that we will never be the same because of it. Now I can make all of the Gilmore references I want to and people will actually understand them now!

“Oi, with the poodles already.”

We were supposed to start Friends next (she’s never seen that either!), but we accidentally put in the first season of The O.C last night and are currently on episode seven. Oops. I’m the only one in suite who has seen it, so they are just now experiencing the greatness that is Seth Cohen. At last, my undying love for him is being understood.

So, thanks to Amy Sherman for her masterpiece and thanks to my suitemates for letting me share my obsessions with them and allowing us to live in Starshollow for a semester. And sorry to them for letting it take over their lives. 

p.s- Melissa McCarthy just got nominated for an Oscar! See- genius.