I’m back with this week’s playlist post! Considering that it is a federal holiday, I think most people have President’s Day off, so I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend! Since this is also a popular week to take a vacation due to school being closed, I decided to go with a vacation theme playlist. Sadly, no, I’m not going anywhere. But I think just listening to songs about vacation makes me a little bit happier, even if I’m not going anywhere at all. So with that in mind the following songs are meant to put you in a better mood, by easing your mind and getting you into vacation mode (because eventually you’ll go somewhere, right?!) I started this playlist off with some classic 80s vacay hits and then eased into some late 90s and 2000s songs about traveling (road trip!) and partying. And Party Rock Anthem is, like, my favorite song ever so I added that for fun! So for anyone going on vacation and even if you only have Monday off – relax, recharge, & enjoy!
Week 6 2019 Playlist: Vacation Mode
1. Kokomo – The Beach Boys
2. Holiday Road – Lindsey Buckingham
3. Vacation – The Go-Go’s
4. Holiday – Madonna
5. Roam – The B-52’s
6. Cruise – Florida Georgia Line & Nelly (because Nelly♥ made this song 100x better!)
7. Miami – Will Smith
8. Been Around the World – Diddy, The Family, The Notorious B.I.G., & Mase
9. Party Rock Anthem – LMFAO, Lauren Bennett, GoonRock
10. Pimpin’ All Over The World – Ludacris & Bobby Valentino
11. Take You There – Sean Kingston
12. California Love – 2Pac, Roger Troutman, Dr. Dre
I hope you enjoy this playlist! You can find all of my playlists on Spotify here.
It’s Sunday night and I am back to post this week’s playlist! Since I really hardly ever post mushy, cheesy songs and in honor of Valentine’s Day being this week, I decided for this playlist to be chock full of some of my favorite sappiest songs. And It’s a little boy band heavy because they really come out with some of the best slow songs!
Week 5 2019 Playlist: V-Day Lovey Dovey Mix
1. If You’re Not The One – Daniel Bedingfield
2. Tell Me It’s Real – K-Ci & JoJo
3. Two is Better Than One – Boys Like Girls & Taylor Swift
4. I Do (Cherish You) – 98°
5. This I Promise You – *NSYNC
6. How Do I Live – LeAnn Rimes
7. You’re Still The One – Shania Twain
8. When You Look Me In The Eyes – Jonas Brothers
9. Can’t Fight This Feeling – REO Speedwagon
10. Angel – Aerosmith
11. We Belong Together – Mariah Carey
12. Truly Madly Deeply – Savage Garden
I hope this little playlist made you feel the love! I mean is there any song more cheesy and mushy than Truly Madly Deeply?!?! I think NOT. And a few songs totally took me back to 7th grade dances (Lee Ann Rimes does like no other!) but if you know me, then you know that I think 7th grade rocked, so I love it!
As I type this the Super Bowl is about to begin, but I wanted to quickly post my weekly playlist for this upcoming work week! Ever since I came up with the early 90s playlist last weekend, I have been nonstop hooked to 90s music!! I keep on finding old songs that I had totally forgotten about and then the second I play them all of these memories come flooding back! So I decided to keep with the 90s theme for this week and go with mid 1990s hits.
Week 4 2019 Playlist: Mid 1990s Hits
1. Return of the Mack – Mark Morrison
Such a classic party song! ♥
2. Come and Get Your Love – Real McCoy
Feeling old because I can remember listening to my sister’s cassette tape of Real McCoy and loving them!
3. Sittin’ Up In My Room – Brandy
Cannot even tell you how many times I played this song while literally sittin’ up in my room writing in my diary. lolol good times.
4. Barely Breathing – Duncan Sheik
This song plays a lot on 90s on 9 and I listen every time!
5. Someone to Love – Jon B. & Babyface
Whatever happened to Jon B.? I think he had this one great slow song and then disappeared.
6. Fantasy (Bad Boy Remix) – Mariah Carey ft. ODB
Mariah has done soooo many remixes over the years, but I might say that her Fantasy remix with ODB is the best one.
7. On Bended Knee – Boyz II Men
We can’t really talk about mid 90s hits without talking about Boyz II Men, can we?!
8. Twisted – Keith Sweat
I love Keith Sweat and his whiny sounding voice!
9. Where Do You Go – No Mercy
This song I had almost forgotten about. Then the second I played it I was like “OMG this song was on the radio nonstop back in the day!!”
10. Candy Rain – Soul For Real
Did anyone else ever picture Reese’s Pieces just raining down from the sky when they heard this song?
11. How Do You Talk To An Angel? – The Heights
I loved this song then and still do! I think it was first on Beverly Hills, 90210 which was totally too mature for me at the time, but I would try to catch snippets here and there and I remember loving this song & Jamie Walters!
12. Baby, I Love Your Way – Big Mountain
Great reggae sounding remake of an old hit.
13. Wonderwall – Oasis
I normally just do 12 songs per playlist but there were just too many good songs this week! Wonderwall is such a cult classic that I just had to add it!
I hope everyone had a great weekend! In preparation for the work week ahead, I am posting a new playlist with all hits from the early 1990s. I love this time because I was fairly young and this is when I really started listening to the radio! I added to this playlist the very first song that I ever got on CD: “Live and Learn” by Joe Public! I won it from a local radio station during a contest and I was SO excited! I kept that CD forever in my collection because it was so meaningful to me. Nowadays I’m pretty sure that I only have a few random CDs lying around!
Week 3 2019 Playlist: Early 1990s Hits
1. One More Try – Timmy T
2. I’m So Into You – SWV
3. Set Adrift on Memory Bliss – P.M. Dawn
4. Come Undone – Duran Duran
5. I Will Remember You – Amy Grant
6. All That She Wants – Ace of Base
7. Vogue – Madonna
8. Here I Am (Come and Take Me) – UB40
9. Live and Learn – Joe Public
10. What About Your Friends – TLC
11. Remember the Time – Michael Jackson
12. Please Don’t Go – K.W.S.
I hope some of these songs take you back! You can listen to snippets of them all on the side and listen to all of my playlists here on Spotify!
It’s Sunday so I wanted to add a new playlist to the blog! I decided that since it is still January and most people are still upholding their resolutions of exercising more, I made another workout mix of upbeat songs! Be sure to check it out on Spotify and I’ve also added my previous playlists as well! You can find all of the playlists here and you can listen to snippets of each song from this week’s playlist right here on the blog!
Week 2 2019 Playlist: Workout Mix Vol. 2
Oh Boy – Cam’ron ft. Julez Santana
Got Money – Lil’ Wayne ft. T-Pain
Better Off Alone – Alice Deejay
Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) – Backstreet Boys
Lapdance – N.E.R.D. ft. Lee Harvey & Vita
Lose My Breath – Destiny’s Child
It’s Not Right But It’s Okay (Thunderpuss Mix) – Whitney Houston
Good Morning & Happy Friday! Wishing I was at the beach getting a real tan…
But since I’m not, today I wanted to discuss one of my absolute favorite things to do: getting a spray tan! You know that scene in Legally Blonde where Elle is looking for something to cheer her up after she finds out that Warner has an awful fiancée and they cut to her heading to a nail salon? I’m like that, except with tanning salons! Nothing like freshly tanned skin to brighten my mood! I was definitely tanorexic by the end of high school and for all of college I had unlimited tanning packages. But for the past 5 years or so, I’ve ditched tanning beds altogether and solely go spray tanning. If you have ever been an active tanning bed user, then you would most likely agree with me that it is kind of therapeutic. I do miss the days of it being freezing cold outside and relaxing in a nice, warm tanning bed, but those days for me are over. And honestly, going spray tanning is also therapeutic because it totally changes your mindset once you see your tan. Being tan just makes people feel happy! I just got sprayed last week for the first time in 2019 and I always feel so great after! I go spray tanning a few times in the winter and I’ll go if I have a wedding or event that I want to be tan for. Being tan just makes me feel better and I know a lot of others feel the same way, but are maybe apprehensive about going spray tanning. Spray tanning is nothing to be afraid of, but it does require a little bit of planning. So today I am sharing my top tips for getting the best tan possible!
Booking the Appointment
Call the salon and book an appointment to get sprayed in the evening around 5 – 6pm. This is the optimal time to go because you DO NOT want to shower for at least 12 hours after in order to let the tan set. So the best thing to do is go at night, then relax at home, sleep, and shower in the morning.
Exfoliate Before the Tan
Before you go to the salon, make sure that you shower! It’s super important to have fully exfoliated and shaved before you get sprayed so that way the tan adheres to your body. You also DO NOT want to put on any lotions after this shower. Simply towel off and get dressed.
What to Wear
When you get dressed after taking the shower (where you fully exfoliated and shaved), you want to wear your junkiest clothes possible. Wear something that you won’t care if you get some spray tan on it, because you most likely will. I wear a black pair of sweatpants from Old Navy that are definitely over 10 years old with some ratty t-shirt and sweatshirt over it.
The Plan After the Tan
You want to make sure that your evening is cleared for just coming straight home after the salon and lounging around on the sofa for the night. This is definitely NOT the time to make a pit stop at the grocery store after the salon. You will most likely bear a slight resemblance to an oompa loompa and this is will inevitably be the one time that you stopped for milk and ran into some old ex flame that you DO NOT want to see unless you look your best!!
The Actual Tan!
I use the Versa Spa to get spray tanned which is an automatic spray tan in a small booth that you stand in. They offer a few different colors of the spray in order to match your skin tone that you pick with a worker once you arrive at the salon. ( I always go for the darkest one, I went one shade lighter the first time I ever went and I could barely see a tan.) You walk into a room, strip down, put on a hair net, stand in the stall and push a blinking light to start the process. You definitely can’t stop the spray once it has been started, so it is really important to memorize all of the positions that you need to do in order to get an even tan! There is usually a picture of all the poses on a wall, but if you are unsure then ask a worker to review them with you before you start. You definitely don’t want to mess this part up! The whole spray process probably takes all of 3-4 minutes, which is awesome! But since it goes quick you need to make sure you get all of the positions correct. Once the tan is finished, use a hair dryer (most salons provide this) to blow dry your body. The tan is slightly tacky for a few minutes after you exit the booth, so it’s really helpful that they offer the blow dryer to be sure that the tan is fully set before getting dressed.
After the Tan
I throw back on my junky clothes and immediately head home. For the rest of the night I try to avoid getting any water on my body in order to keep my tan intact and go to sleep. In the morning it’s fine to shower or if you can wait until later in the day, I would. I think the recommended time to wait is 12 hours, but if I can push it off a little longer, then I do. You also want to keep shower time minimal so that your tan doesn’t all wash off! Then be sure to fully lotion your body to ensure optimal tan results! I use my Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer and some Aveeno as well. For legs and arms if I am going to a wedding or just want to be glowing then I also apply Lorac Tantalizer, which is a really great shimmery self tanner that is pretty dark and dries quickly. I wait maybe 15-20 minutes after applying before getting dressed.
Final Thoughts!
Spray tans usually last me about 5-7 days. They slowly fade and once you start noticing a discoloration on your skin, you can just wash the rest of it off with a loofah.
The most important tip that I have is to remember that if you absolutely hate the spray tan, then you can immediately go home and shower it all off. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard customers ask the staff at my local tanning salon 20 questions about the spray tan process and they all sound so worried! It’s just a colored spray and it’s NOT permanent! It easily washes off if you don’t like it, so there is really nothing to worry out about!
I think spray tans are such a great way to boost your mood during the winter. Many people experience Seasonal Affective Disorder and getting a tan is a great way to help combat that. It’s also just about the only way that I can wear white in the winter! Normally, my bronzer somehow gets all over anything cream-colored, so I save the white for when I’m sprayed!
That’s all for my tips! I hope you found them helpful. Have you gone spray tanning before? Let me know in the comments!
Hope everyone is enjoying 2019 so far! Mine had been pretty status quo but this morning was a little rough. First, a pot holder managed to catch on fire on my stove setting off all my smoke alarms and throwing my daughter into a tizzy over how loud it was. “It’s ok baby, momma just nearly set the whole house on fire! NBD!” lol Then we went to Walgreens for what was to be a quick 5 minute stop (probably a little too close to nap time) and she had a full on meltdown because I forgot her goldfish. She starts screaming “FISH-SHES” and I mean she really wanted to do a full on sprawl on the floor kicking and screaming but I managed to wrestle her into my arms, carry her screaming, find the goldfish in the store’s snack aisle, and luckily she stopped screaming once she could hold the bag, but omg – note to self: NEVER forget the goldfish. lol
So anyway that was my day thus far! Moving on – Today I am posting about some of favorite things that I have been enjoying lately!
I first discovered Trey through Facebook. A video that he posted about “Basic Bros” came up on my news feed because a “facebook friend” had commented on it. I was laying in bed half asleep still scrolling on my phone and decided to stall a little more before actually getting up, so I played the video. And wowwwww, I was dying with laughter!! He really hit the nail on the head with this video making fun of white guys in their 20s. I’ve been out of college for 10 years but I still seriously related to practically every single thing that he said and was giggling away. Once I finished watching that one, I watched several others and quickly became a fan of his. He’s super funny, easy on the eyes ♥, and I LOVE that he is so wholesome! He is Christian and makes it a point to not swear in his videos or be disgusting and honestly, it is SO refreshing to watch!! It seems like no one is like that anymore and that the F word is basically every day lingo for kids so I love seeing someone have tons of fans and not be this way. He has a bunch of videos making fun of “basic” girls and guys, white people, and all the ones of him dancing to make chores fun are hilarious. He’s great and if you want to laugh then search for him on Facebook or YouTube and watch!
I hope everyone had a great weekend! I know with the new year in full swing many people head back into the gym for a good sweat session, so I wanted to resume my weekly playlist and I’ve put together a real upbeat one that is perfect for working out!
I also created a Spotify account (Omg I’m really getting with the times!!) and you can listen to the playlist here if you also use Spotify! So fun! I will posting all of my playlists there! I’ve also added this handy little widget on the right hand side that plays snippets of each song for your listening pleasure. ♥
Week 1 2019 Playlist: Let’s Sweat
It’s All About the Benjamins (Remix) – Puff Daddy ft. The Notorious B.I.G., The LOX, & Lil’ Kim
I See Right Through to You – DJ Encore ft. Engelina
My Last – Big Sean ft. Chris Brown
Get Buck in Here – DJ Felli Fel ft. Diddy, Akon, Ludacris, & Lil’ Jon
Sexual (La Da Di) – Amber
Bananza (Belly Dancer) – Akon
Poison – Bell Biv Devoe
Satisfaction – Benny Benassi & The Biz
Move This – Technotronic
Ayo Technology – 50 Cent & Justin Timberlake
Say I – Christina Milian ft. Young Jeezy
Digital Getdown – *NSYNC
So originally I had “AM to PM” by Christina Milian on this playlist, but it’s not coming up on Spotify! How rude – but “Say I” is a decent substitution! Also they didn’t have “Sexual” by Amber which is such a good, techno dance song so I replaced it with “Tootsee Roll” which is a Jock Jams classic. They actually have a decent selection of Jock Jams songs on Spotify which is great but owning the CDs is still better because the “Jock Jams Megamix” (I believe it’s on Vol. 3), you can NEVER find ANYWHERE & it’s basically the best song ever! The CD was well worth the $3.99 that I paid for it off eBay a few years ago!
All of these songs are older because most of them I got off of a workout playlist that I listen to on my old iPod and let’s face it, the 90s & early 2000s music was just better than today’s stuff!
Ok, I could really go for a Java Chip Frappachino right now! Does Starbucks still offer them?! That was my favorite drink, like, 10 years ago!
Anyway, today I’m talking about one of my most favorite things…coffee & coffee related items! I’ve always loved coffee flavored foods like, ice cream or candy, and of course milk! Once I got to college I don’t know why, but I REALLY wanted to like iced coffee. So I would go and order it “extra, extra” and honestly it still tasted AWFUL. I don’t know why I was making myself drink this! Anyway, this was back before Dunkin’ offered any real delicious flavors like caramel swirl. French vanilla was really the only good flavor and it wasn’t even that good. So basically long story, short – years later I finally grew into really enjoying coffee and now that I’m old as dirt I HAVE to drink it every single morning within two hours of waking or I get a headache. Figures!
I know I’m not alone in my love for coffee, so since Christmas is only days away today I am sharing 12 gift ideas that any coffee lover would enjoy!
Today I decided to post about Christmas movies!! In general, I don’t love movies because I feel like it’s kind of a waste of two hours and I’d rather just watch TV, BUT I make an exception for Christmas movies. There are just SO many good ones out there and it’s really tradition to watch the same ones year after year that you watched as a kid. So today I am sharing the holiday flicks that I’ve seen 8,000,000 times and will continue to watch year after year! They are in random order aside from my favorite which I put first!
A Christmas Story
This is definitely my all time favorite Christmas movie. I love how to plays on TNT/TBS for 24 hours on Christmas Day every year. I find that day sooo busy but I can always catch most of this movie since it is always on! Last year I was up so late on Christmas Eve cooking and baking that I caught it before I went to bed at 2am. Needless to say, I was pretty exhausted on Christmas Day, but it’s so fun that I was basically running on adrenaline!
I love this movie so much for so many reasons. First, I love to look at how life was decades ago. This movie takes place in the 1940s and I love everything old-fashioned about it from the clothes to the home decor! I also think Ralphie is just about the cutest little kid I’ve ever seen. Kids with glasses are just the cutest!! And Ralphie with his big blue eyes and darling little personality is just so lovable! I can’t get enough and I never tire of this movie no matter how many times I’ve seen it.
Home Alone – The Original
Dreams! I love how he’s wearing this enormous bib to eat a gigantic sundae in a leather chair.
I know a lot of people my age who actually like Home Alone 2 better than the Home Alone 1 and I respectfully have to disagree. Partially because I’ve only seen Home Alone 2 probably twice in my entire life and I’ve seen the original at least 850 times, if not more! I don’t know – all I really recall from Home Alone 2 is the scene of Kevin in the shower using that Talkboy toy that EVERY kid wanted and an old homeless lady with a lot of pigeons around her. Hahaha I have to say, it just didn’t make for a compelling storyline in my book! The original is just SO CLASSIC – how could anything top that?? He got lost AGAIN?! OK, no. Too farfetched. Let’s just stick with #1 leave it at that!
Christmas With The Kranks
When this movie first came out, I totally ignored it and thought it looked dumb. Then I really got into it about 8-9 years ago when it started playing on TV a lot. I would just have it on as background noise while wrapping gifts and I ended up getting sucked into it one day and watched the whole thing and I thought it was pretty good and cute! I continually watch it year after year and I think it’s pretty funny – Tim Allen & Jamie Lee Curtis are great in it! I especially love the scene where they go tanning in the mall and the priest catches them!
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The original National Lampoon’s Vacation movie where they go to Wally World is probably one of my all time favorite movies. I just think it is SO FUNNY and I love the 80’s, so I can’t get enough of the movie fashions and decor. So naturally, I would love Christmas Vacation! Chevy Chase is just so good – I really feel like I relate to him in the scene where he goes up to the attic and gets caught up looking through old memorabilia and gets trapped up there! I’m such a hoarder – I keep everything old in the attic and I’m always up there searching through it all! Plus, I love all the old crazy relatives, like Cousin Eddie and the dog named Snots! lol I love the scene where one of them has wrapped a cat – bahhaaha it’s so good!
The Family Stone
I feel like whenever I tell people that I love this movie, I get a lot of mixed feelings back. A lot of people just don’t seem to really like it – I think maybe because the ending is a little cliché? But I think the all star cast in this movie is AWESOME and sometimes cliché endings are ok! Also, I cannot watch it without crying at the end no matter how many times I’ve seen it!
Emmett Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas
It was a tradition in my house growing up to watch this movie together as a family before every Christmas. My mom basically ingrained in me a love for anything muppet related. This movie is by Jim Henson and it’s a spin on the classic Gift of the Magi story. It’s super cute and fun for all ages!
It’s a Very Muppet Christmas Movie
As I just stated above: I love muppets, especially Miss Piggy and I love most of their movies! There are quite a few Muppet Christmas movies, but this one is from not that long ago (2002) – ok wait, 16 years doesn’t seem that long ago to me. #old! This movie has a cute, heartwarming storyline and I love the mix of celebrities in it!
Holiday in Handcuffs
OK – any movie with Clarissa and AC Slater has GOT to be good and this one is awesome! It’s always on Freeform as part of their 25 days of Christmas and I can always find it for free On Demand. This movie is the ultimate far-fetched storyline! Clarissa kidnaps AC because her boyfriend dumps her and she NEEDS to bring home a boyfriend for Christmas. It’s ridiculous and over the top and there is THE BEST cheesy ice skating scene where Clarissa is this amazing skater doing all these jumps and spins somewhere out on a random iced over pond out in the country. This movie is the ultimate in cheesy Christmas movies aka the BEST and if you grew up watching these two on their respective sitcoms, then you need to catch this movie!
That’s it! These are the movies that I always try to watch year after year, but I do also like those sappy Hallmark ones once in a while! What is your favorite Christmas movie? Let me know in the comments! I’m always up for a new Christmas movie to watch!
