Happy Hub: Man from U.N.C.L.E., Nick Carter, Leavenworth, & More!

I've spent all this week packing and getting ready to move back into college that leaving me not much time to actually sit down and blog. So much for getting some rest after moving in. I can't moan in earnest, though, because there was so much to love this month. I actually ended up cutting some stuff out because, while it was nice at the time, it wasn't on par with the stuff I truly enjoyed.

Tunes

Even though I got back from my trip at the start of August, there are some YouTube channels that I hadn't caught up on yet. (I'm subscribed to way too many.) Postmodern Jukebox was one of the channels that slipped past my radar but when I finally got around to it, I realized I've been missing out on a true gem. It's no secret that I'm a fan of Celine Dion and I've been really into oldies lately. PMJ's My Heart Will Go On cover was right up my alley. Listening to this, of course, led me to my favorite PMJ cover, I Want It That Way. It's gonna take a lot of time to tear me away from my vintage-sounding music.


WILD EP by Troye Sivan because, duh. FOOLS might be my favorite but it's like asking me to choose my favorite child. Also, BITE reminds me of something out of Harry Potter. I have no reason to think this but I do. I also love that his music videos for his singles are a series. It's such a cool concept to connect the music videos for an EP or album.

When I saw Rachel Platten in the New Releases section of Spotify, I couldn't listen to her new single fast enough. Stand By You is one of those songs that you can play on repeat and get lost in. She's done it again.

I love musical theatre but my knowledge is very limited. Sometimes a musical will be mentioned somewhere and I'll do some research. This time around, it happened to be Avenue Q I went all out for this, even watching a production of it on YouTube, but not before listening to the soundtrack. I was surprised to recognize a few of the songs. Avenue Q is such a unique musical and iconic for a reason. Of all the songs on the soundtrack, I think There's a Fine Fine Line is my favorite. It's one of those songs that still makes sense out of context. I guess I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today also falls into this category...

Previously I've been listening to R5's Sometime Last Night on Spotify and while there isn't an official deluxe version, there are bonus tracks. I picked up the album on my latest trip to Target just for those Target exclusives and man are those two songs worth it. I think it's funny how I Can't Say I'm In Love sounds like a Spotify ad at the beginning. I also just like that song overall. The switch from "you say it first, it's easy for you" to "I'll say it first, only for you" gets me every time. Could Have Been Mine just makes me feel good. The lyrics aren't the happiest and the song is a on the slower side but I get so into it. R5 is great.

If you don't know I love Nick Carter, you must not know me at all. As one of my top five favorite Backstreet Boys members, anything Nick does gets an automatic and immediate thumbs up from me. Nick is also the Backstreet Boy that creates the most outside of the group. This year he's releasing an album and his first single is called I Will Wait. I knew from the snippets he teased that it was going to be a sad song but I was not expecting tears watching the video. I haven't seen it all the way through since that first viewing because my heart gets so heavy and I'm not ready to cry again. If I don't watch the video, I can pretend it's just a romantic song and Nick didn't use the elderly against me. Y'all know they're my weakness. I wonder what the rest of his album is going to sound like. I Will Wait is such a different tone from any other solo project he's done. It's been over a year since Nick & Knight came out and I need some Backstreet-related content, stat.

Films

The Man from U.N.C.L.E (x)

Now that Mikaela's gone back to college, I'm short a movie-going buddy but even that won't keep me from my beloved spy movies. The timing also worked out so that I'd be able to spend a day with Steph before she flew off to Japan for study abroad and that was an opportunity I just couldn't pass up. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is easily one of my favorite movies of the year. It's up there with Kingsman and Inside Out. And Big Hero 6... I think the best parts of this movie were the times when Napoleon and Illya were trying to out-testosterone each other. Men doing their best to one-up each other is something I'm always down for. This movie is also ridiculously funny. The one-liners are to die for and the visual comedy is outstanding. It was refreshing to hear the whole theater laughing together. I want to see more of the trio working together as a team on future missions. Fingers crossed for a sequel!

Speaking of Backstreet-related content, the boys released their documentary, Show 'Em What You're Made Of, earlier this year and I am a bad fan and didn't watch it until eight months after it came out. My excuse was that I was not ready to cry. Recently I've been thinking about it so much that I just had to rip the bandaid off and watch the movie. Everything in that documentary was so intense. It was difficult seeing the struggles the boys went through in their early years and what they're going through even now. It hurt even more hearing it from the boys themselves. It's one thing to know about it, it's another to listen to a first-hand account. I'm glad they decided to document their twentieth year together because it brought them closer together and the fans got a peek into everything about the boys' journey to where they are today.

Miscellaneous 

Birthdays

At the end of August, Gordon celebrated his birthday with not one, but TWO tiramisu cakes as well as sushi and Mongolian hot pot. Not a bad way to spend the day. A few days later, my mom celebrated her birthday as well, again with sushi and some (leftover) tiramisu. Our Leavenworth trip was close enough to my mom's birthday that that could count as part of her birthday as well, but more on that in a second. I'm so happy to be able to spend those two days with the birthday humans because they are a couple of the most important people in my life. Also, my little brother is so not allowed to grow any older. He's already too big.

Leavenworth

Going on a mini road trip for Labor Day weekend is kind of an unspoken tradition in our family. In the past we've gone towards the coast and stayed overnight but this year we decided to take a trip to Leavenworth. Leavenworth is a cute little Bavarian town just on the other side of the mountains and everything is in theme. It's definitely a touristy area but that's the role we were playing for the day. I'd been years before but that was so long ago I hardly remember anything besides the cold. This time, the sun was shining and we could stroll through the town leisurely. We arrived at lunch time so our first stop was the Munchen Haus for some German sausages and a whole slew of condiments. We took our time walking around town, popping into shops that caught our eye and ended up picking up some goodies at a shop called Simple Treasures. (I got a Thomas Kinkade Disney calendar!) We were reminiscing about the time we spent down by the river so we decided to check that out as well. There are parks all along the Wenatchee River in Leavenworth and they're worth checking out, especially if you're thinking about picnicking. When it was about time for us to head home (actually to Chinatown for dinner), we stopped by King Ludwig's to pick up a pork hock to eat later. Even though we didn't spend the whole weekend out of town, we did spend the day with our family friends which made the drive worth it.

Dancing With The Stars

I've never watched DWTS before but with Nick Carter, Andy Grammer, and Bindi Irwin on this season, I couldn't not. I'm loving all the choreography and the music selections. I never realized how fun this show can be when you get into it. I'm rooting for nearly all the contestants and watching their interviews on All Access is so entertaining. It kinda makes me wish I would've stuck with dance (of any sort) as a kid. Then again, it looks like a lot of work... I'll stick to watching celebrities waltz and jive and cha-cha for now.

Blogosphere

My friends are doing some exciting traveling this fall and I've been keeping up on their respective blogs. Allison's in Switzerland during the weekdays and pretty much everywhere else on the weekends, all while documenting her time on Allison Abroad. Steph has just taken off to Japan and I'm eager to hear all about her experiences on It's Raining Cats and Mochi. I haven't mentioned Amy on my blog before but she's studying in Budapest through the end of the year. If you're just now beginning to follow her adventures, you've missed out on plenty of stops on her journey to Budapest. Keep up with Amy's trip on American Ginger Warrior. My friends' travels have me envious but I'm elated they're blogging about it so I can live vicariously through them. I'd definitely check them all out if you're ready to wish you were anywhere but home.

Including my Travelogs in this month's Happy Hub is super obvious, but hey, it's pretty much all I've been working blog-wise this month. You're probably tired of hearing it but I'm really glad I forced myself to write my trip down. Now at any time in the future, I can look back on how I spent my July 2015 on a Mediterranean cruise, a Greek Isles cruise, and a couple days in Venice.


This is our last summer schedule post! School's starting up again this week and that means #hairoftheweek is back! I have to get creative these next couple seasons because I chopped all my hair off back in June but I hope you're excited for what I have in store! We'll be resuming the same Sundays at 12:30pm PST and optional Wednesdays at 4pm PST schedule from earlier this year so follow xo, Yvette to never miss a post! I hope you enjoyed this post and do let me know what you've been loving this month in the comments below!


Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette