Happy Hub: Newsies, Museum of Glass, Hamilton's America, & More!

So you may have noticed I didn't post a Happy Hub for September. Maybe you didn't. Either way, this is a weird Happy Hub for me. I feel like I've got a lot to write about but at the same time it also feels like I've got nothing. I'm not sure where this month went. (I actually do know where this month went and it all went to Newsies. More on that under the cut!)

Tunes:

This month was dominated by Newsies. I don't know what it was, but something sparked an insatiable need for showtunes early on. I listen to Hamilton pretty regularly but this was something much, much more. I went through all the classics before coming to my old favorites. One of these old favorites was Seize the Day from Newsies. I think I was in love with this song when the musical first came out but for some stupid reason I wasn't too much of a fan of the rest of the soundtrack. I obviously had poor taste in 2012. This soundtrack is fantastic. It's so funny and smart and y'all know how I feel about history. As with many albums I love, if I were to list every song I loved, I'd end up listing the entire soundtrack. So far the one I've had the most fun learning was Watch What Happens but I also love That's Rich, King of New York, The World Will Know, Brooklyn's Here, Once And For All, and Carrying the Banner. Oh, how I adore Carrying the Banner. (I really tried to restrain myself and I already left out a lot of the shorter songs but I still ended up with this long list... I love Newsies a lot.) The problem with this obsession was that I could not take a break from this album and there was so much new music that I didn't get a chance to get to. It felt like a physical pull to Newsies that I just could not shake. 

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for new music from Olly Murs and it finally happened this month. Thank goodness because the album is coming out so soon. I've been wanting this so badly that I was willing to pause Newsies for it. That's how much I needed this. Grow Up is so Olly and it puts such a big smile on my face. Plus the video is the cutest thing in existence. Speaking of the music video, I love Olly's jacket in it. Good lord I need this album. The singles so far are painting a picture of heartbreak but putting Olly's spin on it guarantees it to be one of my favorite albums of the year.

There's a studying tip out there that says study in different places and listening to different music while you study helps you recall information better so I figured I could tear myself from Newsies for the half hour it took to listen to Sabrina Carpenter's new album, EVOLution. I was really excited for her new sound but, if I'm honest, I only love about half of the album. Of course I love On Purpose (I already mentioned it in a previous Happy Hub) but my other favorites include Feels Like Loneliness and All We Have Is Love. Thumbs and No Words are also really good. The rest I like, but I don't entirely love. Perhaps listening to it more will change my mind (thanks mere exposure effect) but for now, those are the tracks I enjoy the most off of EVOLution.

The final song that merited a break from Newsies this month was Shoutout To My Ex by Little Mix. I cannot believe it's already time for them to start dropping singles again but I am so ready for it. It's upbeat, it's empowering, and it's just a lot of fun. Their album comes out a week after Olly's (so far I'm getting an album a week in November this is fantastic news) and has a song featuring Charlie Puth. I'm hype.

Films:

I didn't think I would have a Films category this month since I was far too busy to watch any movies but I managed to find time for the Hamilton documentary, Hamilton's America. I wasn't sure I would be able to watch it but I found out the full documentary is available for streaming on the PBS website until November 18th so I hoppped on that as quick as I could. I know that every time I listen to Hamilton all the way through I will cry at least three times (I find that the more I listen to Hamilton the more I cry... you'd think I'd be desensitized but that is the opposite of what happens) but I was not expecting to cry while watching this documentary. Not sure why I still underestimate my love for history.

Miscellaneous:  

Burger #9 (x)

October is our first month back in school (thank you, quarter system!) and this year is special because it's the first year my brother is in college with me! We've been finding time to hang out with each other and it's resulted in some great lunch dates and an awesome museum day. Our first lunch date was a burger at The Swiss. That's right, I've got two months left and three burgers to go. I think I can make it. We've also been to Jimmy Johns and Elemental Pizza. It's nice having sibling bonding time. 

In this part of Tacoma there are a bunch of museums and on the third Thursday of each month admission is free at certain hours so Gordon and I chose to visit the Museum of Glass this month and had a lot of fun. There were a few current exhibitions including #BeTheCurator, a collection of different artworks by different artists vying for a residency (chosen by the visitors); Into the Deep, a under the sea themed exhibit; Art Deco Glass from the Huchthausen Collection, a lot of cool vases; and David Huchthausen: A Retrospective Selection, my favorite of the three collections. I took a bunch of pictures and they'll go going up on my Instagram periodically so you should follow me if you don't want to miss out.

Going into the month, I wasn't expecting to have much time with my homies but there was a big event this October and that event was Steph's 21st birthday. It was big enough for her to come home for the weekend and we got to spend another turkey gravy day together (sans turkey gravy). We watched The Addams Family and Addams Family Values and celebrated with totchos, complete with fresh avocado. I think we just barely missed the turkey gravy at Trader Joe's because they're set to come in in October and we're already at the end of the month... Somebody dropped the ball. We've gone far too long without TJ's turkey gravy and I'll have to go back and check every week until they have them back in stock.

Blogosphere: 

I've had this idea for a Recommendations floating around in my head for a while but I always had some other blog post to get to. This month I brought it back from the wayside and published my Good Books, Bad Covers Recommendations. This was my take on the idiom "don't judge a book by its cover" and I'm already brainstorming some books and series for a similar recommendation post with good books and great covers. There are a lot of those so I have to do a bit of work to narrow it down. Until then, you can enjoy the wonderful stories in between these awful covers!


That was relatively short. Since I spent all of September traveling, I didn't have much from that month to include in this Happy Hub that won't be covered in the Travelogs (coming soon!) and October was chock full of school so I only had my Tunes to keep me company while I worked on homework and studied. Thrilling, I know. November's going to be a bit more exciting with more breaks (god bless) and more movies to see in theaters, among other fun things! Let me know what you enjoyed this month in the comments below! And if you have any music recommendations that could potentially pull me out of my Newsies obsession they'd be welcome!


Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette