Happy Day after Gaga!

I was supposed to continue April's A-to-tha-Zizzle Challenge yesterday with the letter H, but I was so busy getting ready for Lady Gaga's Monster Ball Tour that I completely forgot.  So, tomorrow I'll be posting on the letters H and I, which I will refer to as the HI post (yeah, that's funny isn't it? I promise I didn't plan that!)

My sister, cousin and I decided to dress up for the concert since we figured when else is it acceptable to dress ridiculous (besides Halloween and Mardi Gras, that is), and this is what we looked like:

We also added fake eyelashes on the way, so just imagine us with hot pink, lime green and rainbow-colored eyelashes in addition to the other stuff.  We were HOT. 

When we got to the arena people started asking us to take pictures with them.  We met all kinds of Gaga freaks and took dozens of pictures with them.  Our tickets were in the nosebleeds because we bought them a few weeks after they had gone on sale, but while we were walking around on the main floor a security guard let us in on the first level.  We were PSYCHED!  We went from awful seats to excellent seats. 

She put on a great show!  We had a blast. 

However, due to the excitement over Gaga I neglected my studies all weekend.  Time to study!

Totally Rad Like, For Sure 90s Week: Day Three: The Music

This is the one a lot of you have been most excited about.

We all love music, and the 90s provided a plethora of great hits, as well as some really awful ones. Although the songs that hit #1 on the charts varied from Wilson Phillips to Tupac, a review of the Billboard charts shows that the 90s were basically dominated by Mariah Carey, Madonna, Boyz II Men and TLC. To select all of the number ones would take all day, so I've decided to list a few of the most popular hits of the 90s. Some of these are songs I still love and some of them I never liked, and never will.

Paula Abdul - Opposites Attract

As a kid I thought this video was awesome. Paula dancing with that cartoon cat who rapped: greatness.

Madonna - Vogue

The queen of reinvention topped the charts for weeks with this hit.

Blackstreet - No Diggity

I remember being a tween and my mom overhearing us singing this song and asking, "What exactly does 'no diggity' mean?" Haha

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

I know this was supposed to be like a youth anthem, but I really just never cared for it. Sorry Kobain lovers. I preferred "Come As You Are."

Sir Mix-a-Lot - Baby Got Back

Big-bootied girls everywhere embraced this song as their own personal theme song.

Hanson - Mmmbop

Ugh.

Counting Crows - Mr. Jones

I never understood why that guy's hair was like that. Good song though.

Spice Girls - Wannabe

Although the Spice Girls fad was short-lived, it made its mark. Over and over again. I've seen this video more times than I ever cared to.

Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy

I still think one of the funniest thing in the world is watching a grown man dance to this song.

Lisa Loeb - Stay

Seemingly shy little glasses-wearing Lisa Loeb had a huge chart topper with this one. Then she disappeared.

Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It

I hate this song, but at the same time I love it. Just me?

These are just a few of the hits that topped the charts throughout the decade, but here's a compliation of a few more for your enjoyment:

Check back tomorrow for Day Four of Totally Rad Like, For Sure 90s Week: The Fashion!

Guilty Pleasure Confessions....OR Reasons I'll lose all of my followers

Yes, ladies and gents, it's time for a little soul-searching, deep, dark secret-telling slumber party discussion. Let's talk about guilty pleasures. Obviously I have to go first, but you have to promise you won't tell my mom.

Pinky swear?

Okay. Let's do this.


There are some things I take a great deal of pleasure in, and of course the most pleasurable things are the ones you can't share with others. If you did, they'd know you were cheesy, a nerd, a whore, et cetera. However, I think it's healthy to admit such things to our friends. If we can't share our love of Justin Bieber (not really), then what good is our friendship? Besides, having to keep it secret just makes it that much better, right?

NOTE: If you have an affection for cross-dressing prostitutes, animal sex, Martha Stewart and/or necrophilia, this is not the time to divulge. Sorry. Tell your therapist about it on Friday.


First up:

That's right, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. No I do not have a lesbian crush on them. Well, maybe a little one. I do love their movies though. Every single coming-of-age, teen crush, feel good movie they've made. Love 'em all. My favorite is Winning London.



Moving on...


Playing dress-up Barbie with my daughters.

I know this isn't that big of a deal, a lot of women play dress up with their daughters. My secret is that I persuade my daughters to play with their barbies so I will have the excuse to play too. Did the same thing with my little sisters before they grew out of the doll phase.



Un-following me yet? No? Let's continue...


N'Sync. I love them, even still. I remember the first time I ever saw Justin Timberlake and company. They sang "I Want You Back" on an episode of TRL. I took one look at that curly blonde hair and those beautiful eyes and declared to my sister, "I'm going to marry him!" (Hey, give me a break; I was 13.) I bought every magazine with their picture in it, bought the N'Sync VHS of them in concert and watched it until it stopped playing altogether. I entered every N'Sync-related contest - I even won once; the prize was a heart-shaped cd that played three versions of "Tearin' Up My Heart" AND an autographed picture of them. (You're jealous as hell right now, aren't you?) I even saw them in concert.

All these years later, I'll be driving down the road and get an urge to belt out the group's pop songs at the top of my lungs. Even with untinted windows, you ask? You betcha.




Now I'm starting to worry that I'll wake up tomorrow and have zero followers again, so I'll share one more, but that's it...



Secret Life of the American Teenager and Make it or Break It

This is one of the hardest guilty pleasures for me to admit. I always feel guilty - literally - for watching it, like God would be disappointed in my wasting entire hours of my life on these whiny, bitchy, premarital-sex-having kids. Half of the time I'm yelling at the television because some of the characters are so idiotic or slutty. Regardless, every week I tune in to watch teenage angst as portrayed by beautiful, pimple-free kids.


With the above confessions now made public for all the world to see, I would feel SO much better if some of you - my loyal followers - would share a guilty pleasure or two, forever uniting us in the bonds of embarrassment.

Anyone? Anyone?

Put your records on (or in today's case, your iPod)

You're having the worst day possible. Nothing is going right. Your boyfriend dumped you for some younger, hotter chick. You got fired from your mediocre job. While carrying the contents of your desk to your car you drop your cell phone and it breaks. You reach your car to find you have a flat tire. On the verge of a total breakdown, you slide into your car, crank the engine and plan to take a moment to collect yourself before imposing your awful luck on everyone else in the world. Suddenly a song on the radio catches your attention. It's a pop song from your teen years. Back when you were unexperienced, untainted and completely optimistic of the future. Before you know it, you're driving down the road, singing along and you're actually SMILING. How did that happen? It's the music, man....

It's amazing how music can alter a mood. I've been having days like the one mentioned above, and the right song comes on, and suddenly everything doesn't seem quite so dreary. I've been in a great mood, heard a sad song, and suddenly felt melancholy. Alternative music seems to fuel my angry moods, and love songs make me appreciate my husband more. How does that work?

Obviously, not everyone has that emotional tie to music. My husband is one of those people. He hardly ever listens to the lyrics of a song, and never ever sings along. Frustrating. I'll be all mushy sometimes and ask him to listen to a song. Halfway through it I realize his mind is somewhere else entirely. "Are you even listening?" I'll ask, exasperated. "Of course," is his usual reply, until prompted to repeat the chorus, which he cannot.

There are songs on my iPod that I always play when in particular moods. These songs for some reason made me have an emotional reaction, and in return end up in my list of all-time favorites. A few are so personal to me that I don't even like listening to them unless I'm alone.

I won't give reasons for why each of the following songs are on my favorite list, but I'm sharing a few in the hopes that someone will listen to one of them at the right moment, and it will leave an impression on them the same way it did me.


I'm Moving On - Rascal Flatts
It Ends Tonight - All-American Rejects
Something To Belive In - Poison
Don't Stop Believing - Journey
Mexico - Incubus
Stained Glass Masquerade - Casting Crowns
Learn To Be Still - Eagles
She's Got A Way - Billy Joel
Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
Help Me Believe - Nichole Nordeman
The Reason - Hoobastank
November Rain - Guns 'N Roses
Hey Jude - The Beatles
3 a.m. (acoustic) - Matchbox Twenty
Acoustic - Goo Goo Dolls
Nearness of You - Norah Jones
Soul to Squeeze - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright
Jaded - Aerosmith
Nobody Knows It But Me - Babyface
Voodoo - Godsmack
Old LA Tonight - Ozzy Osbourne
Look What You've Done - Jet
Cry Me A River - Justin Timberlake
Papercut - Linkin Park
The Memory - Pantera
Broken - Seether
Groovy Kind of Love - Phil Collins