Happy Monday/Ten Happy Things #9

Okay, so I know it's not Monday. But Monday was a Bank Holiday here in the UK, so it was all about R&R and kitties (and Deep Heat on my niggling back injury). I didn't want to miss out on the chance to round up the week though - I love these posts. Which is why I'm joining up as ever with Katy and Jasmin (she's currently on a brief hiatus, but I still like to give her a wave!) for a lovely, positive start to the week, albeit a little later than usual! Here are my ten happy things from the last week and the present time :) 

1. Phone calls

I actually loathe phone calls most of the time. I love meeting in person, I can rock the snailmail, and emails and tweets come easy...but phone calls I enjoy with a very small portion of the population. Phone calls with two of the faves, however, have made me laugh and smile a lot recently. My tribe, man. So good.

2. Books, books, books

This could pretty much be a weekly addition (and it crops up often!), but I'm really excited to read a tonne of things - proofs from publishers, books I've treated myself to, the long list of recommendations I received on facebook when I did a 'what-should-I-fill-my-kindle-with' call! Bookworm for life.

3. Pizza Club

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Happy Gilmore Girls Day!

In these current times, rife with unrest, uncertainty and the most odious of political machinations (the UK parliament is like a soap opera at the moment. If it was a soap opera it would be gripping; as a government it's kind of terrifying), I find myself looking for rainbows amongst the storms and clouds. This has long been my nature - I love to find the reasons to celebrate, the uplifting asides, the moments of joy - and by doing so these propel me through the tougher times.

When I read earlier this week that Netflix was adding all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls to their platform in all territories from today (except in China, it turns out), I was delighted. I'm a longtime fan of Lorelai, Rory, Luke, Lane, Richard, Sookie and Emily (life goals), as well as the rest of the characters, and my little boxset of all seven series has been watched and rewatched several times. I'm so glad that Netflix has added all the existing episodes to their roster, and cannot wait for the new special episodes when they arrive. With that in mind, here are my 7 reasons why Gilmore Girls is a series to treasure....through the medium of gifs. 

1. Bookworms are represented beautifully.

Rory Gilmore is right up there on the list of bookworms of brilliance with Hermione Granger and Jo March for me. Her voracious reading and the obsession with books are good for the soul!

2. The Gilmore ladies love their coffee. Excellent stuff.

3. The Friday realness. A lot of shows for this demographic show endless partying and a vast array of solo cups. I know the Friday nights of my teenage years were more about pizza and movies!

4. The supporting cast is fantastic. Whether it's Sookie being all warm and ditsy, Luke being the kind curmudgeon, or Paris being....Paris, I love how the writers create a real and vivid world filled with so many unique and interesting characters.

5. The family feels are exquisite. The central realtionship between Rory and Lorelai, and the relationship beween Richard and Emily and the 'girls' is so well handled and rich - some shows have a tendency to make familial realtionships very black and white; with Gilmore Girls we get to see the shades of grey.

6. Lost-ness. I love the capacity that Gilmore Girls has to let their characters fail, and then to flail a bit while they find a new route, idea or challenge. This is often how life is, and I love that the show allows its characters the growth that failure or being a little lost can bring.

7. The relationships- in much the same way that the show creates a real family, the friendships and realtionships in the show are very real too. People fall out, make up, disagree, grow, break up...but in a way that feels so relatable.

There are so many other things I could mention - the fashion, the pop culture, the quotes, the theme song, the movies....but ultimately (as is so often the case) the show itself says it best:

Have you watched Gilmore Girls before? Will you be watching it on Netflix? If you have watched it, like me are you considering watching it all over again?

Happy Friday! Or rather, Happy Gilmore Girls Day!

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In praise of Gilmore Girls

Image source

I came very late to the Gilmore Girls party.  I didn't really watch much TV or read many magazines from 2000-2005, so its heyday passed me by.  It wrapped in 2007, and was sporadic in its scheduling over here anyway, so the phenomenon pretty much passed me by!

This all changed about two years ago, when I bought the first season on DVD, and promptly fell in love with all the quirky inhabitants of Stars Hollow.  I love Lorelai and Rory (qualifier: I love them most of the time.  Sometimes they are so pigheaded and/ or capricious I just want to shake them), adore Sookie, and definitely want to be Emily Gilmore.  Seriously - those suits?  The pearls?  Amazing.  When I discovered she was a Junior League member I literally clapped with glee.  There's a very real danger if I ever procreate and it's a girl, then her name will probably be Emily Lorelai or Lorelai Emily!

Ha.

What can I say, after watching seven seasons in two years, I'm a little attached to the characters.

Don't you love when that happens with shows or characters?  I will always have a soft spot for Claire Danes and Joshua Jackson, primarily because of the 1990s based awesomeness of Angela Chase and Pacey Witter.

Do you have any characters you are inordinately fond of?  Let's geek out, friends.

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Things I Like

1. Pumpkin Spiced Lattes!  After years of hearing about these from the States I finally tried one last week and it was delicious!

2. Visits with both of our families coming up soon.

3. The return of Take Me Out.  The ultimate in guilty pleasure television!

4. Kitty cuddles when I get in from work.

5. Colder nights - is there much nicer than being snuggled and warm when it's cold outside?

6. Making lists.  Checking them twice.

7. Soup season.  I made a spiced butternut squash number last week that was loooooovely (if I do say so myself!).

8. The smell of chips on cold air.  I'm not going to eat them (hello, Weight Watchers!), but I can sure enjoy the aroma!

9. Impromptu dances with my class :-)

10.  It's half-term break!

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Goodness...

...I'm so excited!



LOVE a good bit of Strictly in the winter months. :)

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So. Excited.

If being hugely excited for the return of Downton is wrong.....

....I don't want to be right.


Yay, the Crawleys are back!

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Lazy Sunday, TV fest

Oh, how I love bank holiday weekends!  It's sheer bliss having three days to spread the work-house-social stuff across.  Yesterday was fairly busy (and slightly infuriating as Ikea failed to do their delivery again.  Sixteen days and counting...) with house stuff, but also full of fun girl time - Kaz and Vixie came over for tea and cake and Eileen joined me for dinner and The Voice.  Today Hannah headed over and we brunched, watched chickflicks, and generally vegged.  Awesomesauce.

Yesterday was also the day that we got our TV dish installed, so I've enjoyed reprogramming in all our fave shows to record (thank heavens for Sky+!).  I thought I'd share a few of my current favourite programmes.  I wouldn't say I watch a tonne of TV, but sometimes it's just divine to curl up on the couch and be entertained!  Here are a few shows I'm digging at the mo...

 I just love 30 Rock.  Witty, funny, silly.  I am constantly giggling at one liners and set pieces from thsu show!

"There ain't no party like a Liz Lemon party, 'cos a Liz Lemon party is...mandatory."

 I really like the current series of TBBT - I feel like Amy and Bernadette have really added something to the mix.  Sheldon's still my fave though.  The episode where he can't get his hair cut by his regular barber made me laugh out loud!

 I gave up on Grey's Anatomy after the first few seasons, but have picked it up again.  It's a little frothy and the do-gooder wrap ups by Meredith at the end of each ep can still grate a little, but on the whole it's entertaining and moving.  Most every episode this season has made me cry - Matthew is very good and doesn't laugh at me tearing up!

 It's the finale of Homeland tonight, and I'm excited to see how it ends.  I've really enjoyed this show - tense, gripping, and more slippery than an eel smothered in custard.  I hope there's a second season.

 Trash TV alert.  I am so into The Voice (UK) at the mo.  So refreshing to have acts in a singing competition....who can actually sing!  Love will.i.am as a judge (so much so that I actually just conformed to the oddly punctuated version of his name, as he prefers) - funny, odd, and quirky.

Mad Men season 5 started over here last month but we were finishing up season 4 on DVD.  I'm excited to get started on the new season - Matthew and I only have comedy shows and Mad Men in common and it's nice to hang out together and watch TV!

This video makes me giggle.  You have to love Don Draper!

What do you like to watch on TV?

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Pinterest: Love this (part 2 of three)

Part one is here, if you missed it :) More of the cute/silly/fun things I've recently noticed on Pinterest.

From: eeuphoriaa.tumblr.com

I *love* the movie 'Easy A'. It had such a limited cinema release here in London, but Eileen and I dutifully sought it out, and it was well worth the work - charming, witty, clever and funny. I need to watch it again soon....maybe a girls' night at the new house?

From: blogs.babble.com

Big? Nah. Clever? Nope. But so help me, when I'm tired, when work's crazy, when it's all a bit much....I love me some photobombs.

From: brotipshq.com

Shoutout to my brother Peter, who first introduced me to Epic Meal Time! Caution - swears, rudes, and a huge amount of calories. But oddly stops me feeling hungry!

From: picsauce.com

How I Met Your Mother is one of my favourite shows, and I love Marshall so much. I flipping love charts too.

From: verydemotivational.memebase.com

This just makes me laugh!

Yes.

From: efordholstege.tumblr.com

And some eyecandy to finish. Ah, le Clooney. He can certainly rock a suit.

Have a great day, all!

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