Sunday, February 28, 2016

MY EXCELLENT NEW HOBBY

Stop the presses. THE most fantastic new idea has come to TV and I totally cannot get enough of it. It makes karaoke sooo passé. What can it be, you may ask? Easy: it's the new lip syncing battles all over television and it's FANTASTIC. I so love this. Mainly because any of us can do it and any of us would be great!

I love it so much, that I was up for hours and hours the other night watching hordes of lip syncing clips on YouTube and though I marched into the bedroom barely able to stand up any more, it was so well worth it. Well... okay. I had to also watch a zillion other videos since I always seem to get led from one clip right smack into another but whatever. I think I finally ended with Pink and Nate Ruess singing JUST GIVE ME A REASON, which I adore, btw.

In the meantime, how I even came across this brand new delight I don't even remember. Oh wait... I do. Over a year ago I began watching videos of Jimmy Fallon and guests battle it out with lip syncing and they were way stupendous. In fact... if you so desire and have loads of downtime, definitely check them out at: Jimmy! You won't be disappointed, I promise. I particularly love Kevin Hart singing Katy Perry's Roar... totally great!

Then about a year ago, James Corden from the Late Late Show decided to do an even better deal.

He decided to get top notch great singing stars to ride in a car with him, and just like you and I do, they not only chit chat but also sing to that particular star's music via CD I guess. OUTRAGEOUSLY great viewing. And listening. Each segment is about 10 minutes long, so you get to hear several hit songs being sung by the two of them. Btw... I cannot beLIEVE how well James knows every word to every song but then again I can do the same for every song from about 1950 I bet. Granted, when you begin getting near the year 2000 my personal lip syncing playlist ability goes down like a submarine, but still... there are plenty I do know, believe it or not. In the meantime, you so should head over to James! to watch all of his incredible videos.

Now as if THAT'S not enough....

Along comes Spike TV where LL Cool J hosts a show on which out and out actor celebrities lip sync on a show called LIP SYNC BATTLE so now for SURE I'm in my musical glory. DEFinitely check out: LL Cool! and watch. Soooo up my musical alley! My alltime favorite btw is the battle between Emily Blunt and Anne Hathaway. 

Not only does Emily sing Janis Joplin PERFECTLY but when Anne climbs upon the wrecking ball I went nuts with delight. Speaking of which... EVERYone in all these lip syncing battles sings each and every word to a tee!!! Here... check this out and see if you agree about Emily vs. Anne. Not a single mistake in the whole bunch! Spoiler alert btw... you absolutely need to record LL's show because you'll want to see the battle itself only... the other parts suck... so you'll want to fast forward for sure. Or... just watch the YouTube clips. Anyway...  

Some of my alltime favorite car rides were always when I was with whomever and together we would belts out songs aplenty while the CD ... dare I say even with cassette tapes, too... blared out our best loved musical tunes. In fact once, while on a 3 hour car trip from Chicago, Illinois to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin I sang EVERY song that came on the doo wop rock and roll station, delighting my husband to no end. And best of all... forget about the fun you will have singing with friends, but talk about making the entire drive seem to fly by!! Anyway...


In my next life I always said I wanted to come back as a stunning, famous, wealthy singing star. Being Tina Turner would be ideal save for Ike beating me up. On the other hand, if I returned as a male then the genius of Elton John would good... bypassing my being gay though. I do love dressing up however, so maybe it could work out afterall. In any case, having a voice would definitely help and unfortunately mine is totally flat which I guess accounts for my not being famous in this life. I'm not even stunning nor wealthy so all in all, I'm doomed until I reincarnate. 

I do have a microphone in my kitchen area though so anyone who DOES have great voice is always welcome to put in some music and happily entertain me for an hour or so. Being entertained IS a favorite delight of mine, don't forget. Btw... what is really great about all these battles is the fact that each contestant chooses the song rather than the artist which almost always means: a he is singing a song by a she. And a she is singing a song by a he. No gender barriers at all, in other words. Just great music.

And speaking of music... yippee. Tonight is the Oscars and I'm counting on it be wonderful viewing. I've seen alot of the nominated movies and frankly... would love to see Spotlight win as best film. I also loved Brooklyn. The Big Short is a must see btw just to affirm the fact the entire financial sector of our country is crooked and wicked. Kinda like our Republican congressmen. Just saying.

Monday, February 15, 2016

PINK... THE NEW NEUTRAL


When I was a little girl my Mother always dressed me in pink and my sister in blue. Especially if it was for special occasions. And frankly, I was pretty happy with those color choices. In fact, not until I became blonde and now silver, did I ever wear shades of blue. Thus pink was always a favorite of mine, and so it remains to this very day. Not hideous, garish shades of neon pink... but soft, pale, happy colored pink. Which reminds me...

Have any clue just how many shades of pink there actually are?? Oh man... so unbelievable. Case in point: you want flamingo, salmon, dusty rose, vintage pink, blush, bubblegum, fuchsia, raspberry or even cotton candy maybe?? And if that's not enough, this is a mere short list of the pinks from which you can choose! Seriously. There are hundreds of shades and most of them make me nauseous. I don't want a lavender pink. I don't want a peachy pink. I don't want a major saturated pink. I don't want a frilly, 11 year old girly pink. I just want a stunning soft, pale, sophisticated pink.

I found it in a pair of my shoes. I found it in several of my shirts. I found it in a favorite handbag. I even found it in a soft fur like infinity scarf that I love wearing around my neck to keep it nice and toasty with my winter coat . And then... OMG. I FOUND IT IN A COTTON/QUILTED BEDSPREAD. Don't even ASK. I am so delighted I cannot even tell you! You see it up above in the picture and I just couldn't be happier.

Talk about a total stroke of luck btw, since it was such a fluke that I even walked into the store to begin with. Of course there is a slight glitch I must admit; however I shan't let that stop me from being madly in love. Turns out the only matching shams they have, come in either standard or euro size and no matter how often I search online, I can't find the king sized. Damnit. However I can live with that since apparently I had to sew my own pair of matching shams, but no big deal. I was totally up for the challenge.

This is so going to be a banner year for me btw, given this pale pink is the color of the year. YIPPEE. IT'S ABOUT F'ING TIME is all I can say. Thus my many many thanks to Leatrice Eiseman, from the Pantone Color Institute, who selects the top color each year. Forget about emerald. Forget about orchid. And surely forget about tangerine... all past colors of the year, I might add; let alone 4 million other colors. FINALLY IT'S PALE PINK'S TURN. In fact, the official color is named ROSE QUARTZ but as if that's not enough... 

THIS year they couldn't even decide on just one color... SO THEY WENT WITH TWO!! The other being Serenity Blue but that color sucks in my book. It looks way too much like Wedgewood blue but who's counting. Pair up the pale pink with pale beige or even white sheets and a couple of upscale-y looking throw pillows and bingo. You've got a home run. 

Plus... this pink is also now considered a perfect neutral so as not to comPLETEly freak out men joining you in the bedroom... always a consideration if you ask me. I mean seriously. If Mamie Eisenhower could get Ike to live within HER floral pink bedroom and bathroom, then THIS color will be a breeze for men to live with, trust me. 

Well, as long he's sharing the room with a woman, that is. Otherwise I'd have to think twice about the guy. Just saying. Besides... men should have way more interest in other bedroom concerns than a highly sophisticated pink, if you catch my drift. On the other hand, switching out the pillow color is major easy to help the look more manly if need be. After all, pale pink coupled with a chocolate brown color is considered major stunning.  In the meantime...

I had gone out to dinner tonight and as soon as we were finished I hightailed it right smack over to my local fabric store to see what sort of choices I had for making matching shams and/or pillow cases. I had already ordered some sheets online, and am pretty psyched about them, too. Turns out the pillowcases and the sheets go perfectly with the bedspread am totally sitting pretty in pink. Oops. I mean sleeping.

BTW... don't come over to my house today. All this bedroom linens deal lit a fire under my ass and next thing you know, I went through all my entire linen closet, purging huge amounts of linens. Hence there are old pillow cases and sheets strewn all over my family room as we speak. Case in point: I never use a top sheet... merely my comforter, microfiber blanket, duvet cover or bedspread. 

Consequently I have about 6 or 7 top sheets I need to discard unless I first decide to make extra pillow cases out of them first. I've already cut apart 2 sets so whether or not I do the others will depend on just how lazy I am. Which has a better than good shot at being the end game, believe me. Regardless...

I'm so loving my pink quilted blanket. It makes me smile everytime I enter my bedroom. And yes... I do normally make my bed almost every day. I have to, given I love to get into a well made bed each night. As in: nice shower, nice night gown, nice inviting bed. Boom. I'm ready for lovely dreams. Which is pretty well timed if you ask me given Valentine's Day was just yesterday. Which naturally means: chocolates on the nightstand. It's kind of like a rule, right?


Anyway... just in case you're wondering... here are two pictures of me in pink. The first is at my brother's Bar Mitzvah. I know... don't ask. What totally ass holy little girls Claudia and I looked like. Trust me... we still cringe at what utter dorks we were back then. I was 8 and Claudia was 7. What can I say other than: barf. 

Regardless... the other picture is me as a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding. Big difference, right? Talk about thank God for small favors. BTW... how much do I love the gloves!! I still do, to this day.