February Favorites | 2018

1:44 PM

Reads
I read a lot of good stuff this month - and it wasn't all just books (okay, most of it was books). I'm trying to read more articles, interviews, things like that, but I always forget or just scroll past. I'm working on it.

  • The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
    • I wrote a review for this book, which you can find here. I loved it so, so much. It tore me apart and put me back together again - more than once - and Leni is a character that will stay with me for a very long time. This isn't an easy read by any means, but it transports you to a time and place where there is one key to everything: surviving.
  • The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
    • I also wrote a review for this one, click here. I have had my eye on this book for a while and I've always been kind of interested in it, but that interest jumped way up when I heard it had some queer characters. It still took me a little while to read it but I am so glad I did. What a piece of fiction. It is all at once contemporary and historical and features incredible women.
  • "Hunting -- and Haunted By -- a Serial Killer" by Alexandra Alter for The New York Times
    • This article is about Michelle McNamara and her posthumously published book, I'll Be Gone in the Dark, which came out yesterday (the 27th). This book is definitely one of my most anticipated of the year and it is now sitting in an unread stack, waiting to be picked up. Alter's article kind of goes through the process of putting this book together after McNamara's death and it was really interesting to read.
Screen
I think it's going to be a trend that this category always has the most things to talk about. From the movie screen, to the TV screen, to my laptop screen, I watched a lot of good stuff in February.

  • Black Panther
    • This movie is everything. I have not watched a lot of Marvel movies, I'll be honest, so I don't consider myself a fan or an expert or anything like that. This one blew me away. The cast is beautiful and amazing and so, so good at bringing these characters to life. The story is great, the villain is great, the music is great (more on that later), everything is great. The moments of humor throughout really added to the film and the parts that were meant to hit on sadder emotions excelled at that, as well. The buzz for Black Panther is greatly deserved.
  • The Winter Olympics
    • Like the rest of my Twitter feed, I was watching the Olympics. While I mainly enjoy figure skating and curling, I also found new love for snowboarding and the more extreme skiing. It's always nice when your country medals, but I wasn't too worried about that. Instead, I just loved watching skaters from everywhere wow me on the ice and get huge air on their snowboards. Adam Rippon is my new hero, though.
  • Down to Disness
    • This is a series of YouTube videos done by Sarah Sterling. Each month (more or less), she takes a Disney animated movie and really breaks it down. She talks about the animation processes it uses, the voice actors, the overall impact that film has on Disney and the animated film industry as a whole, and she does it really, really well. It shows that Sarah puts a lot of time and research into these videos. There are 31 of them as of now, I think, and I watched all of them this month. 
  • Other YouTube
  • Stuff About Food
    • I love watching reality shows about food and this month I watched a few of them. The Great Australian Bake Off came back for a new season (in January) but I didn't know until this month, so I got all caught up on that. I don't think any Bake Off can replace the original British version (with Mel and Sue and Mary and Paul), but I will watch them all anyways. This season, I'm rooting for Barb and Raeesa. 
    • Speaking of The Great British Bake Off, how did I not know that winner Nadiya hosted a cooking competition show called The Big Family Cooking Showdown?! I found it on Netflix and immediately binged all of it. Love, love, love. Please let there be a season two.
  • Waco
    • I will admit that my interest for this show immediately stemmed from the fact that it stars Michael Shannon and Taylor Kitsch. I do like shows that deal with real events and while I had heard about this one, I didn't know the exact details around it. My sister and I are watching this together (there is one more episode left as of me writing this) and I am not ready for that finale (because I read up on what happened and... oh boy). I will say that I do have some qualms with this show; for one, I feel like it could have done a better job establishing the Branch Davidians because I definitely didn't know (but I probably should have) that they were a thing outside of Karesh. Overall, though, this has been a really enjoyable series and I will always love Michael Shannon.
Music
Really good music was released in February. Some of it was from artists I have never listened to, some of it was from those that are familiar to me. Whatever the case was, February was a month for straight-up bops.

  • Black Panther Soundtrack and Score
    • As I mentioned earlier, Black Panther is everything and the music is no exception. Both the score and soundtrack (curated by Kendrick Lamar) are multiple fire emojis. I am obsessed with three particular sounds on the soundtrack: “Pray For Me” (The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar), “All the Stars” (Kendrick Lamar and SZA) and “Black Panther (Kendrick Lamar)”. On another note, can you tell I like Kendrick Lamar? The score fits so perfectly with the film and these themes and cultural influences flow over seamlessly onto the soundtrack.
  • Janelle Monáe
    • She is back and better than ever. Monáe’s two new tracks, “Make Me Feel” and “Django Jane” are completely different but still undoubtedly Janelle. While the former is my personal favorite of the two, with it’s heavy Prince influence and incredible bisexual message (I was trying to put this eloquently but really I just wanna all-caps the shit out of it), the latter is also impeccable. Her new album drops in April and I cannot wait.
  • Rae Morris
    • I listened to this song “Do It” on a whim, right, and it was fine and I wrote the album release date in my planner and listened to it when it came out and then – WHAM! New obsession. “Do It” is so much more than fine, it’s a highly contagious B O P. This album combines the catchiest of pop with ballads that shine. Other favorites include: “Atletico (The Only One),” “Lower the Tone,” and “Rose Garden.”
  • The Aces
    • The Aces released a great EP last year (and an equally great acoustic version of it this year), and they are now promoting a new album due out in April. They have released three new songs: "Fake Nice," "Volcanic Love," and "Lovin is Bible." Of the three, "Volcanic Love" is definitely my favorite but they are all so good. If they release anything else before the album, I'm not sure if I will listen to it, just because I want to have as much new stuff as possible, but I highly recommend that everyone listen to this band.
Other
Same ol', same ol'. I liked Disney things, boyfriend things, getting my life in order things.

  • Valentine's Day
    • I love this commercial holiday. I love my boyfriend. After having a panic attack on the night that I was supposed to drive down to him, I honestly didn’t think that we were going to spend this holiday together but I made it and we did and it meant so much to me. Besides the anniversary of us meeting each other in real life for the first time, we haven’t spent a holiday, birthday, or other anniversary together – this was the first one! We had a really nice dinner and he took me to the Disney store and it was a really good day.
  • Disney Puzzles, Pins, and Pop!s
    • Puzzles are still my favorite way to relax when I want to be away from the screen (I mean, books, I guess, but you know what I mean) and I got a lot of new ones this month thanks to my tax refund. My favorite one I put together was this Cinderella one that had a bunch of other characters scattered throughout. I got a couple new multi-packs that include another The Little Mermaid image, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast, among others. I also got an 101 Dalmatians one that is AMAZING.
    • I got a couple of new pins this month that I'm in love with. I opened a Kingdom of Cute mystery pin box and got Dumbo and he is adorable and a great addition to my pin board. On the first of the month, I got the pin that became my favorite before I even had it in my hands: the limited edition Little Mermaid flip pin. Also, neither of those photos are mine.
    • To continue with the Ariel and Eric theme, the Funko Disney Treasures box included these exclusive Ariel and Eric wedding Pop!s (again, not my photo). I don't think I need to say anything else. Just look at them.
  • Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Nourishing Facial Water with Clary Sage
    • I've been trying to find a skin care routine that works for me. I have super dry skin that, if left neglected, turns into a dried out corn husk. I use a lot of Burt's Bees products (for both my sensitive and dry skin needs) and I tried this one for the first time in February. I don't know if it's marketed as a toner or cleanser or whatever, but it does take some residual grime off of my face after I cleanse. It also just leaves my face feeling super refreshed and ready to go and pairs great with the night moisturizer from the same Intense Hydration line.
  • Blogging
    • I'm back at it (as evidenced by this very post)! For now. Er... for good? For now. I'm trying to come up with some ideas that I will be super excited to post for my readers. I also had a really great opportunity this month; I read and reviewed a baseball novel for a new blog, All Heels on Deck. The book was Squeeze Play by Jane Leavy and you can find my post here! This blog is dedicated to giving women of all backgrounds a voice in the baseball world. It's really exciting and important and everyone should read it.

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