Birthdays and New Kids in the Block

I'm the big 2-8 now and I'm feeling good about it. 28 feels like a solid age. I, at least sort of, have my life together. I can finally comfortably pay my bills. And I know the importance of both doctors appointments and oil changes, and that tequila shots on a Tuesday are a bad idea. Actually shots of any kind at any time are probably a bad idea.

I celebrated my birthday in Talkeetna, one of my favorite places in Alaska. Even Denali came out to play. Feelin' lucky, you guys. Feel.in.lucky.

Today's hot jam is New Kids on the Block Happy Birthday. Because it's my birthmonth and I can do what I want.

Thankful and New Kids on the Block

Today is my birthday! And I think birthdays are really good time to remember what you are thankful for. So here are some things I’m thankful for this year (in no particular order):

 1)My sweet new job – Since starting last month I’ve been up to my elbows in the reproductive fluids of common sea stars, played movies in the planetarium, taken 2 trips to Potter Marsh, ridden around Anchorage in a charter bus looking at public art, and learned proper handling of reptiles. While Anchorage isn’t exactly where I’d like to be living, at least I’m doing what I’d like to be doing.

 2)Daylight – Alaska has two seasons: winter and not winter, or if you prefer, dark and light. It’s currently light season and when I went to bed at quarter to 11 last night, I didn’t need my light to read. And I think that’s pretty great.

First 10 pm sunset of the season

3) This kid (along with the rest of my family, but he’s certainly the cutest)

4)Yogurt Lounge – I recently tried this frozen yogurt place near my house for the first time. You serve yourself and then pay by the ounce. I mixed peanut butter and cake batter frozen yogurt and then put Reese’s peanut butter cups on top. And it was delightful. Next time I’d like to try red velvet yogurt with maybe cookie dough on top?

5)My fabulous friends – Last week when my friends asked what I wanted to do for my birthday, I enthusiastically asked, “Can we go shoot stuff?!” They responded with a resounding yes. Because they enjoy redneck-ness as much as I do. I’ve also gotten some amazing birthday cards, calls, texts, and Facebook posts from my Lower 48 friends. My friends are a bunch of weirdos, and I love them for that.

Here are a few other things I'm thankful for (that don't require explanation) - pork tacos with avocado, cast iron skillets, half price happy hour, Boyfriend by Justin Bieber, knowing how to walk in high heels, chocolate milk, nighttime cereal, leaves on the trees, melting snow, knowing which fork goes with which course, United States Postal Service, and massages 

This week's hot jam is Happy Birthday to You by New Kids on the Block. Because what else would it be?

Flagstaff, Mindy Kaling, and New Kids on the Block

I've lived a lot of places. (Alaska is my 6th state, and I'm starting to think about moving again.) One day I'll live somewhere permanently, maybe. But who knows when that will be.

One of my favorite places I've lived is Flagstaff, AZ.

I went to college at NAU (Go Jacks!) and I'm sure that's part of the reason I love Flagstaff; college was super fun. But I stayed around for a semester after I graduated working for the geology department and I loved it then too. Here are 5 of my favorite things about Flagstaff:

1. The peaks- The San Francisco Peaks are a left over stratrovolcano that would have been huge. You can see them from everywhere and they are beautiful.

2. Downtown- Downtown Flag has a good bar scene (as most college towns do), but it also has good shopping and restaurants and is a good way to waste an afternoon. In college on Friday afternoons, my friend Kali and I would often have Beer Friday. We'd head downtown in the afternoon, get a beer at Flag Brew and then window shop. Excellent start to the weekend.

This is actually from Hot Toddy Tuesday (which became Mojito Tuesday in warm weather) but Beer Friday looked a lot like this too.

3. Hippies- Flagstaff is FULL of hippies. (Coconino County is the only county that continuously votes democrat in elections) But what I like about it, is that it's liberal without hitting you over the head with it. (Most of the time)

4. Seasons - it has them. Flagstaff is at almost 7,000 feet, so unlike most of the rest of Arizona, it gets snow in the winter and it's not 1000000 degrees in the summer.

Fall in Flagstaff

5. Outdoor pursuits- I'm not even going to talk about the Grand Canyon because it's awesome and everyone knows it. But there is lots of other cool stuff too. Hiking, biking, climbing, rafting, patio drinking...

Enjoying the outdoors with my parents

Patio drinking: my favorite outdoor pursuit

Book Review Time!
I just finished Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling.

I knew I was in for a good read when I flipped to the back cover and found this:

I originally wanted to get it to read on my way to Nashville, but it was checked out. I'm really glad I didn't get it because I would have been that crazy person laughing to themselves on the plane. And nobody likes that person.

I like that it reads like something one of my sorority sisters could have written. It's approachable and real life-y. Yes she talks about living in New York and LA and going to awards shows, but it all seems so...normal. And amazingly funny. Good work, Mindy. Let's be best friends?

If you do the math, I'm too young to have been a New Kids on the Block fan. But lucky for me, my sister is 5 years older than me, so I was exposed to their wonder at young age. That sounds inappropriate, but let's go with it. We had shirts, pins, all the tapes, 2 videos, posters, even a sweater. (Yeah, like a sweater-sweater, not a sweatshirt.) I regret not having the sheets. I even got the Joey McIntyre doll as a gift one year. Joey McIntyre was, and is, my favorite. Because he's inarguably the cutest, duh.

This week's hot jam is Please Don't Go Girl. This song has everything a hot jam needs. Whispering/talking, the adorable Joey McIntyre singing lead, awesome 80's hats, microphone dancing, and only something like 12 words in the whole song.



Fun fact: If/When I get married my BFF Steven and I are dancing to this song. Weird? Probably. But it's happening. It will probably be choreographed.