Friday Favorites + a Giveaway

So I can finally announce the good news here! I accepted a new job! I know I've hinted that big changes are coming and they really are! My new job is actually in the city so I'll be using the metro every day (not sure how excited I am about that...) However, I am totally excited about being in the city literally every day and getting to explore it more. Of course, I am extremely excited about the new job too. The interview process was a grueling month long process and even though I am a very patient person, I was getting anxious by the end of it. So yay! Potential bad news, is that, probably most of you know that I get on and blog, connect on social media, etc. during work hours. So I might not be as available as I currently am. My goal is to start blogging and being online more in the evenings and weekends since I rarely sign on Friday after 5 p.m. so I'll still try to be as active as possible on here. I promise, I'm not going anywhere, it might just take me longer to respond than usual!

Favorite Song

All My Love by Major Lazer and Ariana Grande. I actually requested my zumba instructor to choreograph a whole routine to this. She agreed! I can't wait to see what she comes up with. 

Favorite Workout
Alright guys, so I got Classpass this past month and have been going crazy with classes. I've mentioned before how pretty much the only way that I like to work out is group fitness classes, so Classpass is perfect for me. It is a bit on the pricey side, but that motivates me to make sure I use it at least 3-4x a week. I've tried Barre, Crossfit, Jazzercise, done yoga, zumba, and almost tried a pole dancing class but chickened out.

I just went to a Pure Barre studio instead of the other studio I went to. OUCH. My core and glutes were so sore! Definitely going again. The only problem is that Pure Barre sells out so quickly so I have to go at weird times. Oh well. I'll make it work. 

The Best Bands You've Never Heard Of

So each month I do a "What's on my Playlist Now" post, but I thought I could spice things up by sharing some of my favorite bands that you've probably never heard, although you should!

Number one// All time favorite is MuteMath. I first started listening to them in 2006, and the first song I ever heard from them is Typical. They are an alternative rock band that started in New Orleans. Probably one of my favorite songs from them is The Nerve off their 2009 album Armistice. But this is Spotlight, which you might recognize if you watched the Twilight movies.

Number two// Lindsey Stirling. Okay, she technically isn't a band, but she's a violinist, dancer, performance artist, and composer. She has been named by Forbes, was in America's Got Talent and nominated on Billboard. So I'm always shocked when people say they've never heard of her. 

Number three// Phantogram. It's a duo self-described as electric rock. I think I heard of them just this past summer when I spontaneously heard one of their songs on the radio, but my favorite is Howl at the Moon.

Number four// Punch Brothers. So I mentioned them previously; they are a bluegrass band, but wikipedia says that they are described as "bluegrass instrumentation and spontaneity in the strictures of modern classical" whatever the hell that means...I don't like all of their songs because some of them get a bit too twangy for me, but my favorite is Movement and Location and I'm obsessed with it. 

Number five// Animal Collective. Beware! They are a bit trippy. I guess I would describle them as psychedelic electronica? If you watch the music video you'll totally understand. They have some really neat music and are always a go-to for my roadtrips.

Have you heard of any of these bands? Or do you have a favorite band that no one has heard of?

Linking up with: Friday Favorites | Five on Friday | Oh, Hey Friday! | TGIF Blog Hop

My Dream Home

Everyone loves to dream about their dreams. Recently I've been thinking about what my dream home would be like. Currently my boyfriend and I live in a really nice condo, albeit really cramped condo! Of course, we probably should have done a bit of research about the storage lockers in tour condo building before we moved in to find out that they were all sold out! You would be surprised how many weird places you can store your luggage in a 900 sq. ft. condo. So back to my dream home, here are the things I would absolutely need.

A grand entrance.

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A fireplace. 

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A giant back yard that doesn't face any other houses. Any body of water would be awesome too, but I don't think necessary.

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A library. I've probably watched Beauty and the Beast a couple times too many.

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I would also need this pillow for my library.

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and lastly lots of parking! I'm over this parallel parking thing. Go big or go home, right? 

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What are your must-haves for your dream house? What are your favorites about your current home?

Join the party: Friday Favorites | Five on Friday | Oh, Hey Friday! 

P.S. I'm going to an Urban Cowboy party tomorrow and have no clue what to wear. Has anyone been to one, what should I wear?

Why I Switched From Wordpress.com to Blogger

So viola! I just made the switch from Wordpress.com to the blogger platform! I'm really loving it a lot more and I'll highlight some of the main reasons for switching and my frustrations with the free version of Wordpress. I know the self-hosted wordpress could probably solve most of my issues with free wordpress, but I didn't think I was ready to pull the trigger on that at this moment.

1. Customization of design. Oh my god, designing the wordpress.com blog was tedious. First of all the customizer is GOD AWFUL SLOW. You don't have a way to preview your changes, they take effect immediately. If you want to change the template, it will change and mess up all your sidebar content. And guess what, you don't have the option of backing-up your old template! So extremely frustrating. I've heard many people say that the wordpress themes are a lot better, but frankly I like blogger. I'm able to change the width of my main posts and sidebar, I'm able to add on a blog signature without manually posting it everytime myself, I'm able to change and add my own CSS (big one right there). I think for someone who has absolutely no knowledge of CSS or HTML, wordpress may be easier, but since I do, I would like to have access to that! In conclusion, while they do allow a few minor modifications to their themes such as changing the background color, the header or the navigation menu, that’s about it. So your blog will end up looking like a lot of other blogs out there. It made my soul cry when I saw three other blogs on the same link-up with the exact same theme as me.

   

   $99 dollars?! I think not.

2. Extras are expensive! Again, see above, to change my CSS, my fonts or colors, I need to pay $99 dollars!? Nope. Custom domain names, removing their third-party ads, more space, are all extra and EXPENSIVE. Much better option to self-host, which again, wasn't really my cup of tea. 
3. No Javascript or embedding. So wordpress.com does not allow any javascript. (No Rafflecopter! No SnapWidget!) In addition, they have funky limits on how you post certain things. For example, you can embed youtube or instagram, but you cannot use their embed codes. Wordpress.com developed a special code to insert these into your pages. Half the time when you tried to insert it using the "Add Media" button, the options wouldn't show up. 
   
4. Posting was weird. If you're using wordpress.com do you notice that you can make posts in their new or old WP admin? I wish they had just decided on which to use and made that final because sometimes it would open in their old post editor and sometimes in the new post editor. 
5. No advertising. All the details are here and yes, this is frustrating. I get that I don't really participate in this much now, but I would like the option to be available to me if and when I want to.

Yes, there are some shortcomings of blogger like 

• No set-plugins. All though this avoidable because you can use third-party plugins! and simple gadgets.
• I will not own the content any more.
• Mobile layout sucks.
• Apparently inaccurate stats? The day I started the blog without even linking it to blogloving or my social media accounts and I think I had 78 views or something insane. 

Anyways, so far I am loving it. I'm sure there will be things I get frustrated with about blogger but for now I am content! Please let me know if my content is linking incorrectly or photos are showing up funky. 

Linking up with: 

Five Favorite TV Shows

Oh, hey Friday! I'm joining the Friday Fives linkup hosted by The Farmer's Wife and September Farm! Here's a quick list of my five favorite TV shows that I am super addicted to!

1. Orange is the New Black on Netflix. I'm pretty sure everyone has seen this, and if you haven't, get into it right now! The best thing about Netflix shows is that as soon as a new season comes out they release every episode. Perfect Binge watching.


2. Girls on HBO. Ahh, I am so excited it just started up this past week! I have to admit I find Lena Dunham's character Hannah so so so annoying and dumb. She brings up some great situations that twenty-somethings get into, and some that any twenty-something would never get into. I also think it is pretty much a more modern day, younger version of Sex and the City, albeit a lot less classy. See below.
   


3. Game of Thrones on HBO. I've always been kind of into the fantasy and medieval times thing, so I'm glad others are finally catching up with me. I definitely could not get into the books which are in super tiny print and about 1000 pages. Nope. I also started watching the show which is expertly directly, has great visual FX, and amazing acting, so can anyone tell me why it would be worth it for me to read the books? There's also tons of female empowerment in the show which I love.
   


4. The Americans on FX. This is one of the few shows my boyfriend and I can actually get together and watch. It has great character building, there's always something surprising around the corner and the new season starts super soon!
   


5. You're the Worst on FXX. Haha, so I swear I do watch more than just FX and HBO. But these really are my top five that I have already pre-programmed into my DVR to automatically record! This is a pretty funny and short tv show that comes on in the evenings. Basically primarily about relationships, the dating scene, and partying. This one I would say is like a mix of twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings. Pretty funny and I have a small crush on Chris Greer.
   

Do you share any of my favorite shows? What is pre-programmed into your DVR?