Post Grad Blonde: July 2012

Monday, July 30, 2012

Twerk it Out! My Favorite Work Out Music

One thing I love about summer is how motivating it is to work out / exercise! I guess wearing minimal clothes, not to mention seeing yourself in a bikini all the time, is a great driving force. In winter when I'm constantly in yoga pants and hoodies I definitely don't hit the gym / pavement as much.

For me, the biggest factor that goes into a good run is my music. Not kidding, if I am at the end of a run and my Workout Playlist doesn't shuffle to a good song it is the deciding factor to stop. And on the other hand, if I am near the end of my goal (say 4 miles) and ready to stop but a good song comes on I keep going! Before I go up a hill I prepare a "favorite" song to help me. When I am done with cardio and lifting weights, the same theory applies. A good song motivates me to keep going a couple reps when I might have been ready to mosey over to the water fountain. Music seriously effects my workouts so much.

Unfortunately, I have days where I hate every song on my playlist, and it is so frustrating. I also have complete music ADD I tend to change songs every minute or so and get bored / annoyed so quickly. Because of this I am constantly looking for new songs to add my Workout Playlist to keep me interested and keep me running longer!

I wanted to share a list of some of my all-time favorite workout songs, please comment any songs you would like to add!

(PS I can only workout to Rap / Hip Hop!)

Chillin - Wale ft. Lady Gaga

Run The World (Girls) - Beyonce

All the Above - Maino ft. T-Pain

Dope Boy Fresh - Three 6 Mafia

I'm Going in Dirty - Lil Wayne ft. Young Jeezy

Sky is the Limit - Lil Wayne

Right Above It - Lil Wayne

On To The Next One - Jay-Z

My President iz Black - Young Jeezy ft. Nas

No Hands - Waka Floka Flame

We Found Love - Rihanna

Cockiness - Rihanna

Birthday Cake - Rihanna Ft. Chris Brown

Look at Me Now - Chris Brown Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne

Forever - Chris Brown

Turn Up the Music - Chris Brown

I Can Only Imagine - David Guetta ft. Chris Brown

Best Love Song -T-Pain ft. Chris Brown

Don't Wake Me Up - Chris Brown

(Can you tell I like Chris Brown??? :) )

Cinema - Benny Benassi ft. Gary Go

Good Feeling - Flo Rida

Turn Me On - David Guetta

You Make Me Feel - Cobra Starship

Blackout - Breathe California

So Good - B.O.B.

Get Low - Waka Floka Flame

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Gillian Flynn

There is one word I have for Gillian Flynn: Obsessed.

I love summer because it is officially pleasure reading season (unlike textbook season at school). I got sucked into 50 Shades of Grey as my first summer book which I thought was disappointing after all the buzz. I am a huge sucker for Best Sellers and my second book was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and I LOVED it!

I love the murder mystery aspect, I have never been into them before but now I'm hooked. And the characterization in the book is amazeee! The two main characters are so three dimensional, I honestly felt like they were people I knew. And as an amateur writer (I took a couple creative writing classes in college ;) ) I am so beyond jealous of her writing. It's amazing. Her analogies and metaphors and style and voice is so cool. That's the only way to put it. I am going to include one of my favorite passages at the end.

After Gone Girl, which I read in a couple days, I knew I had to read Gillian's previous novels. I read Sharp Objects next, which was just as great at Gone Girl, but a little darker. The plot twist at the end is crazy, and the characterization once again is awesome, so convincing. You love and hate Amma the whole time.

I am half way through Dark Places right now, and once again I am so impressed. It's darker than the other two (hence the title) so if you are into happy go lucky books it is not for you. I can't wait to see "whodunit." It's a murder mystery as well.

Apparently movie rights have been bought for the books, I can't wait to see them turned into movies! And I can't wait for her to produce another bomb-ass murder mystery.

Here's a passage from Gone Girl that I love!! It's an excerpt from one of the main character's diary:

I am fat with love! Husky with ardor! Morbidly obese with devotion! A happy, busy bumblebee of marital enthusiasm. I positively hum around him, fussing and fixing. I have become a weird thing. I have become a wife. I find myself steering the ship of conversations - bulkily, unnaturally - just so I can say his name aloud. I have become a wife, I have become a bore, I have been asked to forfeit my Independent Young Feminist card. I don't care. I balance his checkbook, I trim his hair. I've gotten so retro, at one point I will probably use the word pocketbook, shuffling out the door in my swingy tweed coat, my lips painted red, on the way to the beauty parlor. Nothing bothers me. Everything seems like it will turn out fine, every bother transformed into an amusing story to be told over dinner. So I killed a hobo today, honey ...hahahaha! Ah, we have fun!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Right after I graduated from college a couple months ago (time is flying!) my parents and I moved from Annapolis, MD, where we had been for 5 years, to Virginia. We moved into a much bigger house and finally got all of our different storage shipments in from various Navy moves.

My recent "project" has been to go to the basement and go through my storage boxes. Some of the things in them I have not seen for 8 years! Including my American Girl dolls. It was so fun to see them (Samantha and Felicity) again. My sister was over for dinner and we went to the basement and played with them. We used to be OBSESSED with our "girls." We would throw a tantrum if anyone called them "dolls." The amount of furniture, clothes, pets, crutches, rollerblades, and other necessities they have is absurd.

Many of my friends know I am not the tidiest girl in the world. :) I also have a minor hoarding problem. I hate throwing things away if they have the tiniest meaning to me.Which is why I have tuperware containers of all the notes I passed back and forth in school. And birthday cards given to me throughout the years. Oh and all my notebooks and binders from my high school classes (since it's fun to periodically refresh your memory on Shakespeare, Geography, and Pre-Calc).

So, I have been opening the boxes downstairs and have really taken a trip down memory lane. I found multiple boxes with folders and notebooks from elementary school. (I told you I had a problem!) I finally got rid of them - but I read through them first. My "project" is not very time efficient. Anyway, it has really given me the lump, and has made me feel super nostalgic. All my elementary school memories take place in Hawaii, where my dad was stationed for 5 years. I had the most wonderful teachers who were so caring and good to me. I also started gymnastics there and was a gymnast for seven years - I made it to level 7 and did the classic switch in high school to cheerleading. With the Olympics coming up it makes me miss it so much!

It's fun looking at my things, like my folder full of "Hawaiian Studies." It's also crazy looking at baby pictures, especially of my siblings. Seeing my 6 year old self sleeping in my favorite Cinderella pajama dress holding my 2 year old brothers hand, sound asleep next to me. Now we are 22 and 18 and just talking at the dinner table seems like a task for him sometimes! Oh the pain. :) Time sure does fly by in this world. Now I'm a college graduate and I don't know when it happened.
I still have a couple more boxes to go through, but I've gone through most of them. Although it's a little emotional and sad seeing certain things, it really is fun to look at my old things that are associated with good, sunny memories. Not to mention a couple "diary" posts that made me laugh out loud! I'll include some pictures of things I've found during this project!