Happy Hub: Kingsman, Eyes Wide Open, Burgers, & More!

April felt a lot longer than a month. Maybe it was because I had started a new quarter at school or maybe it was because the weather was starting to warm... Who knows. I'm not going to complain. There are times when life moves too fast and I end up feeling cheated of my time. Speaking of time, if you don't have much of it as you're reading this, you may want to bookmark this for later. It's lengthy. I didn't mean it to be, I just had a lot to say about the things I love. Is that so wrong?

Don't forget to check out my favorite things from February and March! To read this monster of a post, click the read more!

Tunes

If you remember from February, I had the entire Reflection album by Fifth Harmony featured in that Happy Hub but at the beginning of this month, I was giving the deluxe album a listen and those bonus tracks gave me life. I have to mention Going Nowhere specifically, not because it's my favorite of the three (only because it's impossible to pick one favorite), but because the live version is so much better than the studio version. Just listen to the live version (linked above) after the studio version. The difference is noticeable. (Also, the man in plaid at 2:50 is basically me.)

My next happy song was Easy Love by R5. They never fail to put me in a good mood but the lyrics in this one are just too cute. I also love that you can hear Rydel's voice in this one. She is underused and under appreciated.

I was completely obsessed with Easy Love until Allison recommended I give Panama Wedding a listen. If you haven't heard their EP, Parallel Play, you're missing out. All four tracks are so good, but All of the People is their single so I guess that's a good a place as any to start.

I am always on the lookout for new music and I'd heard some talk about Sabrina Carpenter's new album, Eyes Wide Open, so I thought I would check it out. That was probably one of the best decisions I made this month. The best way to describe this album is as the soundtrack to my ideal life. I can't stop raving about this album. Every single song is so sweet and agh, how do you put feelings into words?! One of my favorites is Darling I'm a Mess. It sounds like something a couple would dance to after they renewed their vows, reminiscing on the days when they were young and their love was so new. If I had all the time in the world, I would give you a rundown on each song and why you should listen to it but for now, you're just going to have to take my word for it. It's good.

Now this one isn't particularly happy, but this song gave me feelings so strong I couldn't hold the tears back. This next song is See You Again by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth (I actually think this is Charlie's song but Wiz Khalifa is more famous so). See You Again is the song from Furious 7, dedicated to the late Paul Walker. I haven't seen any movies from the Fast and Furious franchise but this song was still able to induce such strong emotions. That's saying something. (Don't mind me while I continue to cry at the closing shot.)

If that wasn't enough music for you, I have one more to put the icing on the cake. Throughout April I've been listening to a lot of film scores. I saw Kingsman: The Secret Service in theaters earlier this month (more on that in a bit) and I absolutely fell in love with the score. I wasn't surprised when I went home and looked it up to find that it was composed by Henry Jackman. My favorite non-Disney film score up until this point was X-Men: First Class. The two are tied for now but we'll see who will prevail in the long run. X-Training is hard to beat. Outside of Henry Jackman, the only film score I can really listen to is Ratatouille. What are some of your favorite film scores? Let me know in the comments. I find that they're really hit or miss for me but when I find a good one, oh man.

Films

Kingsman: The Secret Service (x)

Enough with the music, on to the movies! Since Mikaela was home for her birthday/Easter earlier this month, we went out and saw Kingsman: The Secret Service in theaters. It's honestly one of my favorite movies. Kingsman was everything I wanted in a spy movie. There was training, there were epic fight scenes, there were puppies. If you aren't sold, I don't know what to tell you. I found the characters to be very lovable and the villain (played by Samuel L. Jackson) was perfectly outrageous. The humor in this was very much my style and the action sequences were amazing. And who can resist a gentleman?

Speaking of gentlemen, Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement has one in the shape of Chris Pine. The moment I found out it wasn't going to be available on Netflix after May 1st, I dropped everything to watch it. This film was basically my entire childhood and the soundtrack is phenomenal (Breakaway and Because You Live, anybody?) This walk down memory lane was long overdue and I picked up on so many things I missed the first million times I watched it as a child. Somebody whisk me away to Genovia.

Television

If you're even semi-aware of the superhero world dominating the media these days, you'd know that Marvel's Daredevil premiered on Netflix this month. Everything about this series is perfect. Matt is blind, there are at least four languages spoken, all the ladies are strong as heck, you really cannot go wrong with this show. Since this show is on Netflix, the entire season went live at once, which is great for binge watching, but not so great if you know you aren't going to get any new material for a year. That is pretty much the only reason why I'm reluctant to finish the last two episodes. Maybe I should just get it over with... (I just shrugged.)

I'm not usually one to watch award shows but growing up, if I wasn't listening to my parents' music, I was listening to Radio Disney. Even now, I am very invested in Disney Channel stars and the music played on Radio Disney, while considerably censored, is still the kind of thing I like listening to. That being said, the Radio Disney Music Awards are everything I live for. A red carpet full of Disney Channel stars, live performances from my favorites (namely Fifth Harmony and Sabrina Carpenter), and Zendaya hosted this year's RDMA's so really everybody is a winner. You can watch the show on the Radio Disney app and if you're as into it as I am, you'll have a blast.

Zoya Vespa

Zoya Vespa (x)

You know how much I love my nail polish. I wanted to paint my nails a bright springy color for Easter but as I was going through my nail polish collection and discovered I am sorely lacking in light colors. Luckily, I had yet to wear Zoya Vespa. Zoya Vespa is a PixieDust (read: matte and textured) glitter sage color. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. This color makes me feel so bubbly and green polishes always puts me in a good mood.

Miscellaneous 

Ooh, look at all those goodies. (x) 

I clearly remember thinking that I'd have a bad day the morning that Allison's care package arrived but I made a conscious decision to be positive and I guess that paid off, seeing as I got an email from the office notifying me of a new package. This has been a long time in the making and I am so happy that it's finally here! Everything in that box was really me, which is a testament to how well Allison knows me (or how much I tell her). Even the eos is a flavor (scent?) that I haven't had before.

If only we had scratch n sniff tech... (x)

Before I can start the pomegranate raspberry eos, I have to finish the eos I started back in March. If you know me, you'd know that I'm a finisher. What's the point of having three open lip balms? I also love citrus, which made this eos the perfect lip balm for me. I believe this was a limited edition eos (and I also don't go shopping a lot) so I don't know if you can still find it but it smells like tangerine heaven. Also, my water intake has been slacking recently so lip balm is a godsend.

What a production. (x)

Another thing I love about spring is the school musicals put on in my old school district. This year, the only musical in the district was Into the Woods, put on at Kentlake. It's a shame there aren't more musicals this year. Budget cuts, probably. I saw Into the Woods with Steph, and I quite enjoyed it. They had special effects and all that jazz. It was quite impressive. My high school would never had been that fancy. I loved the songs that the movie version cut and I even managed to get my brother interested in Into the Woods (that was quite a feat, believe me).

Swiss burger and tots. God is real. (x)

One of my New Years resolutions this year was to only have one burger a month, totaling twelve burgers a year. So far I've been more than on track, having had zero burgers. I don't know how I made it almost four months without one of my beloved burgers. Since I had lunch plans with Molly today, I thought it'd be the perfect time to finally satisfy my craving. It was so worth the wait. And can we talk about those tater tots? Oh man. One down, eleven more to go.

Blogosphere

This month I tried something new on xo, Yvette. If you recall, I had a guest post on my blog! Emily was my first Visiting Voice. In case you missed her blog post on child abuse awareness, you can read it here. I hope to collaborate more in the future but for now, thanks to Emily for being my first Visiting Voice and to Steph as well for workshopping the name for this new series with me!

I also want to mention Steph's version of a monthly wrap up, Books and Beverages! Who doesn't enjoy having a little something to sip on while they read? She posts them on the last Saturday of each month and it's similar to my monthly wrap ups, but better. Check them out here and here!


Phew! We made it to the end! These were the things that made me happy this month. As always, I want to know what your favorite things were! Let me know in the comments!


Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette