Happy Hub: All American, The Good Dinosaur, Zoya Yuna, & More!

November felt really long this month (thanks to a certain class that will not be named... *cough* business law *cough*) but I managed to fit a lot in. Looking at this Happy Hub, it doesn't look like there's any more than any other month but I felt like a busy bee all month. Thankfully I had plenty of long weekends and days off because those were packed as well. Maybe I can pencil in some relaxation for winter break...

Tunes:

November saw the release of a ton of new music but I was stuck on three albums the entire month. Maybe December will be home to some more variation... I started off the month listening to SWAAY by DNCE. Joe Jonas' new band has that funky sound I like to hear and it's since it's a four-song long EP, there's not much commitment in giving it a go. My personal favorite is Jinx but you know I'm going to end up listing the whole thing if I wanted to mention everything I liked about this EP. (I'm gonna slap it on anyway because all my self-control has gone out the window.) (Toothpaste, Pay My Rent, & Cake By the Ocean)

The majority of November was spent listening to Delirium by Ellie Goulding. From the day it was released, it was playing on repeat until I had to hand over my album loop button to Nick Carter (but more on that in a second). That's twenty days nonstop. There isn't a song on this album that I'm not excited to hear when it comes on. There are some songs that remind me of the people in my life and there are others that I just like the sound of. When I'm not paying attention, the music is keeps me entertained and energetic but when I am, the lyrics really hit me. I'll be coming back to this album a lot. If you haven't been listening to it, please just give it one chance. Just one. That's all you need.

When I heard Nick Carter was coming out with a new album earlier this year, I was more than pumped. It's no secret I love the Backstreet Boys and I'm really grateful that recently Nick has been releasing new music every year (whether it be solo or otherwise). It would go against everything I am if I didn't love his new music so it's a good thing I do. All American is such a mish mash but in the best way possible. Every single song transports me to a different era while still maintaining its modernity. The whole process of the album release was a tad confusing but I'm glad it came out when it did. I needed some fresh tunes to get me moving on this paper. The paper I should be writing as I write this blog post... I digress. Again, if I were to mention every song I like on the album we'd be here all day. Just know that this album will take you to beautiful places. And I'm pretty sure there's a reference to the Backstreet Boys in 19 in 99... All American gets me nostalgic for eras I was not alive for and it's the perfect mix of retro sounds with modern lyrics. (Man on the Moon might be my favorite but all the songs are contenders to be honest.)

Films:

The Good Dinosaur (x)

I knew going into The Good Dinosaur that I would cry because it's a Pixar movie. It's what they do. What I wasn't expecting was the amount of tears. I was crying from Sanjay's Super Team to the very end of the film. No joke -- it was nearly a straight hour and forty-two minutes of tears (just ask Mikaela). I didn't know much about the story going into it other than it was about a dinosaur with a human dog trying to find his way home. There were plenty of times when I was sitting there with tears streaking down my face asking Pixar, "Why would you do this to me?!" The animation alone was enough to bring a tear to my eye. The landscape was so detailed and looked so real. The only downside to that was a single shot where the dinosaurs were peeking over a rock and the beasts was so clearly computer generated. Throughout the movie it's not much of an issue but in that one frame with the photorealistic boulder in the front and the mountains in the back, it looked like someone copy pasted these dinosaurs into a photo. Another aspect I really loved was Spot. I thought the concept of a human as the dog character was endearing when I heard about it but I didn't expect to love him so much. He was just too darn cute. Overall I really enjoyed The Good Dinosaur although I'm not sure if I can rewatch it anytime soon. It was very emotionally draining and I wish for the sake of my own sanity that the creators please stop trying to kill Arlo because I'm distressed enough as it is.

Entertainment:

Mary Poppins @ KL (x)

November is prime time for high schools to put on their fall productions and I was lucky enough to get to see two of them this month. The first production I saw was of Mary Poppins at Kentlake. All you need to know going into a Kentlake production (especially if it's a musical) is that it's going to be good. Kentlake is the cream of the crop when it comes to their drama department and Mary Poppins was no exception. It's the same story we all know and love performed at a surprisingly high caliber for a high school. Even the child actors playing Jane and Michael Banks were better than I will ever be. "Step in Time" is my favorite dance number from the movie and the company did a phenomenal job. I'm really happy with the way they did "Feed the Birds" because it makes me tear up every single time. And "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (patting myself on the back for getting that right the first time) goes without saying. Magical show as always.

The Addams Family @ KR (x)

The next week, we went to Kentridge to see their production of The Addams Family musical. I hadn't done any research ahead of time like I usually do when I see a production but I was so excited for this musical since I saw Annie at KR in August (when they advertised The Addams Family on the back of the program) that I didn't need any background knowledge before diving in head first. It was actually a lot of fun not knowing what to expect but maybe that was just the nature of the Addams Family. The songs were really fun and the actors were all wonderfully talented. My favorite part of it all was the ambiance. I love the creepy and slightly intimidating setting of the Addams' house. Maybe that's just me... Maybe I'm an Addams?! You know what they say, When You're an Addams... I thought the Wednesday and the Gomez were fantastic singers and the Morticia and the Lurch suited their roles really well. I had a good time with it and I kind of want more... Looks like it's time to revisit the movies.

Miscellaneous:

What would this Happy Hub be without mentioning my dad's birthday?! To celebrate his special day, we actually had two dinners (on two different nights) and went to see The Addams Family musical, making his birthday a birth-weekend. The first dinner was at O'Asian in Seattle where I got to try Kobe beef for the first time. I'm telling you, it melts in your mouth like butter. Beef-flavored butter. (If beef-flavored butter really existed that'd be really full circle of the dairy companies...) We also had wasabi prawns and the ever delicious lobster. The second dinner was on my dad's actual birthday and we went to the Japanese restaurant that we always go to for birthdays (free entree and all that) and I had some long awaited sushi. Here's to another amazing 25th year, Bappy!

Zoya Yuna (x)

This year's Thanksgiving nail color is Zoya Yuna! My lovely friend Ashley picked it out for me and wearing it just feels so right. It's different from what I usually wear because it's warm-toned but the darkness evens it out. Dark green-grey can't be that warm, can it? I'm not sure how well you can see it in the picture but there's gold glitter in there that give this polish that extra oomph. Sometimes with polishes like these where the glitter or shimmer isn't the primary element it's easy for the base color to overshadow or entirely cover up the sparkle. I'm glad the glitter came through on my left hand because I messed up my right nails pretty bad. But if Instagram doesn't see it, did it really happen?

Blogosphere:

I was really excited to get to this part of the Happy Hub because oh my goodness. All month Steph has been posting her Break Week adventures on Raining Cats and Mochi and I have been living through them. She's been having the time of her life over there and we are lucky enough to read all about it on her blog. Break Week comes in four parts (Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Kyoto, & Osaka) but my favorite post this month was the one on Tokyo Disneyland because Steph went to Disneyland!!! In Tokyo!!!!! With Christmas decorations!!!!!!!!! Somebody get me on a flight to Japan immediately.


I hope everybody had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and survived Black Friday (there were some wicked deals online this year I may have spent a lot more than I should have)! I guess this list can serve as a tentative list of what I'm thankful for but there's obviously so much more. I could write an entire blog post on all the things I'm thankful for but it's a little late for that... We'll see how it goes next year. Let me know what made you happy this month in the comments below! Did I miss anything? (I'll get to Made in the A.M. next month probably.)


Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette