Happy HO-lidaze!

Merry Christmas to all!

For all you non-Christians, Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy Chrismukkah! (sp?) No matter what you celebrate, this holiday season should be approached with a couple essential things:

1. nostalgia 2. happiness!

Why is it necessary to be nostalgic you might ask? Well sometimes when a year comes to an end, it's easy to forget the particular awesome times you had. In a sense, the year becomes a big blur. You may look back and think, oh, there was swine flu. MJ died. Uh, what else happened? But when you really think about it, I'm sure there are some particular moments that kicked ass-- and that is what matters! Think about the good times because, ultimately, no year is "perfect" in itself.

After reading way too many Best of 09 lists, I decided to talk to people, look through old pictures, etc etc, and come up with my own "Best of '09" list. It's in no specific order -- just a list of the great times I shared with family, friends, and myself.

1. New Years Day, '09- After my parents offered their newly purchased house last year, we decided to throw an epic NYE party... And we kinda did. Overview: Sin city themed, way too much alcohol, at least a bottle of bubbly per person, sexy decor, lots of make outs and LOTS of dancing. Anyways, it wasn't just the party that rocked, but New Years Day itself. On Jan 1st, 2009, my mom walked into her new house to find my best friend passed out in the backyard on an air mattress (with a beer bottle in the air hole) and the worst amount of damage that can be done to a completely empty house (I guess we got a little carried away). After receiving verbal threats from my parents, my friends came over, we drank our hangovers away, jammed to good music and CLEANED HOUSE. This was then followed by one of the best lunches of my life (appropriately accompanied by many comments like "remember when" and "wow we were really fucked up last night."). Nice start to 09.


2. Dinner on top of Mount Tibidabo, Barcelona- Being abroad in Barcelona this past Spring was just incredible. But we're sticking to the moments, so here's my first one. When a few of my friends from home came to visit, we hiked up Mt. Tibidabo-- a mountain overlooking BCN with an old, famous restaurant on the top (fun fact: the carnival scene in Vicky Cristina Barcelona was shot on this mountain top as well). The hike was long (two hours?), it was cold and pitch black out. Basically my friends who were visiting wanted to kill me. When we finally did make it to the top, we found out the restaurant was CLOSED. At that point, my friends had the right to kill me. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I went over and knocked on the restaurant window where the owners were sitting down to a family dinner (they were not happy). After much pleading, they opened the restaurant for us and we had our own private dinner. With so much wine. With such good food. With so many laughs. Ah, perfection.

3. Watching the Obama inauguration in an Irish Pub, Barcelona- Need I say more? I am so in love with our President. And Irish pubs. And Barcelona. The end.

4. Late night drinking games & dance party with Irish dudes in a house in the suburbs of Dublin- ....I cannot even divulge these ludicrous details. I mean Alli, how are we still alive?

5. When Alyssa visited me in Barcelona- when Ms. BFF, Alyssa Navia, came to visit me during her SB09, we decided that she would stay a night in Barcelona and then we would do a little Parisian honeymoon for the rest of the break. Although Paris as a whole was wonderful, the night in Barcelona was even better. We started out with a delicious meal celebrating her February birthday then went to my favorite bar in BCN for a gluttonous amount of booze and hipster eye candy. After getting wasted to the point where some Spaniards started throwing peanuts at us, I was reminded why this girl is my ultimate partner in crime. P.S. Alyssa, so sorry you puked on the way to Paris the next morning. P.P.S Sorry I just told everyone you puked on the way to Paris.
6. "Eurotrip '09" in Berlin with Erina- During my Easter break I went to Berlin, Prague and Budapest with my close friend for years, Erina. Even though my poor little Erina threw out her back while we were sightseeing in Berlin, we still had one of our favorite times during our last night there. We stumbled from one German bar to the next and found this underground candle-lit hole in the wall where the bartender loved us so much that he served us never-ending alcohol and played non-stop classic rock. We had so much fun that night that we missed our morning flight to Budapest. Oopsies.


7. Dinner with parents in Granada, Spain- After study abroad came to an end, my parents and I did some traveling together through Spain. We rented a car and road-tripped through the southern countryside-- it was gorgeous. While visiting Granada we had a delicious and hilarious dinner after seeing the Alhambra all day. The 4 course meal was accompanied by jokes, tasty food, wine, wine, wine and funny Asian tourists that were sitting at the table next to us. I am stopping there before I make any non-PC comments about awk Asians. Gracias!
8. Kings of Leon concert, University of Miami- When I got back home after being abroad, this could not have been a better start to my summer. Pregaming with tequila shots in my kitchen + my best friends from home + KOL up close and personal (floor seats, baby) + post gaming and reminiscing about my Barcelona experience = just what I needed. Oh yeah, and Caleb Followill is hot.

9. Manayunk Bike Race- In June I visited my brother in Manayunk, PA for the annual bike race (thank god he moved to center Philly because I would not stop calling this place "Trashyunk"). We drank lots, befriended many, and owned as the "Daly sibs" team in a tailgate beer pong tourney. What was awesome about that day was not the race itself, or the partying, but just being with my broski. After having a not so great summer in NYC, it was so nice to visit Sean, talk about life and just enjoy his much needed company.

10. Austin City Limits Music Festival, Phoenix - I wish I could put "Austin City Limits" as one big, wonderful moment, but if I had to choose my favorite performance from that weekend, I think it would be Phoenix. Maybe they kicked so much ass because it was their first big U.S. music festival? Yeah that could be it. Or maybe because they are just perfect? That could be it too. Basically, just imagine sitting under a hot sun, surrounded by sexy hipsters, drinking huge beers, and watching the beauty that is known as Phoenix. I don't know what was more perfect-- watching Thomas Mars lie on stage during Love Like A Sunset or touching him when he ran through the crowd during Lisztomania. WOW. God Bless France.

11. Girl Talk, Vanderbilt Gymnasium, Barcelona Reunion- Wow. Where to begin. In a nutshell, my abroad friends came to Vanderbilt for a sleep deprived, party infested reunion weekend. And Girl Talk was there. We spoke to Greg Gillis after, he's a cool dude. And for those that said the show was "ehhh," well you can go SUCK IT.


Ones that almost made the cut:
- Dinner with Italians, Barcelona- Sexy Italian boys made us dinner in their apartment- 2 courses of homemade Italian, dance party to The Killers, and endless drank.
- Jay Z, Vanderbilt Homecoming '09 - UH... Can I get an encore?
- Austin City Limits, Bon Iver- Pouring rain, ridiculous hippies, huge mud fest, beautiful music and an amazing moment with a DILF, his raincoat, and his lighter...
- Tiesto, Nashville- Too bad I remember NONE of this. I will take everyone's word on it though.
- UF/Vandy Tailgate at UF- FUNNEL CITY with my Miami peopleeee! Yeaaaah! Best birthday gift ever. Oh yeah and I know Vandy sucks as football.
- Wine night with best friends at the Daly household, Thanksgiving break- I mean these nights happen all the time. But this one, which included sing along's and deep convo till the wee hours, was particularly exceptional.


If you have the time to sit down and make up this kind of list, I highly suggest it. In the end, the whole is not always greater than the sum of its parts-- when looking back at a year, it's the moments that count.... Good memories take you back to the good times. Which is why nostalgia --> happiness! yeah!

For next week: Best Films of 09.

Till then, Happy Holidays!

Mommy what am I gonna be when I grow up?

If you are a senior, I am sure you have heard this before: "So, what are your post graduate plans?" Recently, my answers have come out in the form of indistinguishable sounds: "eh, er, eek, mehhh, meow." It sucks because I am usually semi-articulate and personable-- but to be honest, I am still figuring it all out! Strangely enough, I knew this answer at the beginning of my junior year. But things have changed-- I have changed. I am writing this post because if you are a senior too, I have a sneaking suspicion that you have gone through/are going through the same thing, or at least something like it. Is what you are going through OK? Yes. But is it normal? Yes. (Or at least I keep telling myself that). Should it freak you out? Not yet! (Or wait, should it!? AHHHH! YOUR LIFE IS OVER.... I kid, I kid.....P.S. remind me to ditch the advice posts in the future).

Before I went abroad, I pretty much had it down. Law school. (Yes, I actually thought I was going to law school. I know it's funny). But then I went abroad, I saw other parts of the world, met new people, traveled, traveled, traveled. Things change when you go through these experiences-- your life changes. Overall, I think that the change was, and has been, very positive. Great things happened to me while abroad but, when I came back home, I realized that I had no idea what I wanted to do. I did know this: I wasn't going to be a lawyer. What next?

When I hit this wall, my dad did what he always does. He challenged me. What do you love? When you really think about it, figuring this part out isn't hard. I love writing, film, music. I spoke to people about it, read a lot, checked out different classes I could take, did some hobby/job researching. And I actually found a lot of stuff: this semester I took a Creative Writing class, added a Film Studies minor, started writing for Versus magazine, started writing in my blog. I realized I love doing all these things. What's next? Helping out with the Vandy Film Festival next semester, taking MORE film classes, going to MORE concerts (gaaaah I love concerts), checking out even MORE cool, artsy stuff around Nashville (thanks again, blog!). Ultimately, even though I still don't know my "life plan," I'm starting to get an idea of what direction I want to go in. For now, I think that's good enough.

(FYI my current "direction" involves following the footsteps of Ms. Sofia Coppola. Check it out: she is GREAT screenwriter & awesome director. Her music taste also kicks ass-- this is evident in both her film soundtracks and the fact that her baby's daddy is Phoenix lead singer, Thomas Mars. Oh and she also makes me feel a lot better about my most recent fashion choices-- dressing up in boy'ish clothes can be cute! I mean what's cooler/comfier than converse, boyfriend jeans and cotton t-shirts?).

...One more thing: I am only going to have these "advice" posts every once in awhile--PROMISE! Happy holidays!

Music can change the world!

....It's true. Music is awesome. Others think so too:

"Music the great communicator" - Chili Peppers

"Music is my religion." -Hendrixxxxx

"One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain." - Bob Marley

"Music and rhythm find their way into the secret place of the soul" - Plato (sorry, I'm a philosophy major...)


I think I made my point?

Finals are approaching... The next week and a half will not only include lots of library hibernation, binge eating, no eating, illegal study drug smuggling, lack of sleep and too much sleep (shit! I'm late for my exam! FML!) but MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC.

I have this terrible tendency of listening to the same kind of music over and over again because when I like a song, I become obsessed. This is a problem when it comes to studying though because sometimes the song becomes a broken record in my head (Which can be really annoying to say the least... Especially when studying Ancient Philosophy... which is next Tuesday... which I haven't opened a book for all semester....).

ANYWAYS, thank god I happened to walk into Urban Outfitters the other day to do some pre-X mas shopping-- if I hadn't, I would not have stumbled upon this hidden music gem. While at the cash register I spotted a double-disc compilation album called "Give.Listen.Help."-- a $15 dollar benefit CD that gives proceeds to 826 National (a nonprofit that raises money to help low income students improve their writing/reading skills). I didn't recognize some of the music on the CD but still wanted to buy it because 1) it's a great cause 2) the music that I did recognize included some of my fave artists.

Basically, music really CAN change the world! And in a cool way!

The CD includes all different types of music, with some acoustic and remixed recordings from a wide range of awesome artists. Some really great songs that I would like to point out: Demons (The Dears), Santa Ana Winds (Cold War Kids), Lisztomania (Phoenix remix), Help I've Alive (acoustic, Metric), Animal (Miike Snow, remix by Peter, Bjorn and John), The Reeling (Passion Pit, remix by Shuttle), Give Blood (Rain Machine), New Moon Rising (Wolfmother), Slow Hands (Interpol cover by Zee Avi)

Did I not convince you yet? Below is the link to the Urban Outfitters site with the complete track list. And you can buy it too...

Good luck with exams! And life.

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=17455270&navAction=jump&navCount=

For all you cinephiles...

It's a weekday or even a weekend and you are thinking, "HMMMM do I want to go out to the same bars? Drink the same drinks? See the same people? Make out with the same people?" As a senior, I can say that I am not the only one who thinks this (Actually, I am pretty sure I was thinking this as far back as the first semester of my sophomore year). Just a little FYI- there are other cool, cultural things that you can do with your free time. Why not start with the Belcourt? Yes, that cute little theater that shows all the new indie and foreign films in Hillsboro Village. If you haven't been, GO.

The week before Turkey Break I went with some of my suitemates to an event there -- a wine tasting/catered buffet reception before the screening of the new film "Coco Before Chanel." The movie itself was great, very much a chick-flick, but overall a fantastic performance by the wonderfully adorable Audrey Tautou (remember her in Amelie?) as Ms. Coco Chanel before she hit fashion stardom. But what I loved most about the night was not just the film but the experience itself-- being surrounded by hipsters of all ages, drinking, talking and eating yummy little appetizers from Whole Foods.

The Belcourt is the epitome of an untapped resource-- most of the time people just go to Green Hills to watch the new stoner/bromance/Seth Rogen/Jennifer Aniston flick that just came out. Or they just go to a frat party. Or go on Facebook. But the Belcourt is kickass! Trust me. Not only does this hidden gem offer a nice selection of indie films, it also shows screenings of the classics (this week- "Rebel Without a Cause" with hottest man alive, James Dean). And there are concerts! I saw "Stars" play there a couple years back. The concert was awesome because the theater is tiny and intimate-- very fun way to see a live show.

So instead of going to a bar you have been to WAY to many times (yeah, that bouncer knows you on a first name basis), why not do a wine night with friends followed by the Belcourt? (I swear to god I am not a senior citizen-- this place is really cool). It will be a perfect change of pace.

http://www.belcourt.org/

now playing: revanche, red cliff, coco before chanel, rebel without a cause, female trouble, the room

next "wine, food & film"- jan 11
next event you must check out- Sundance Film Festival screenings (with some filmmakers included!)- jan 28