Happy Hub: NEWSIES, Hidden Figures, Dear Evan Hansen, & More!

Are we sure that this month is the shortest of the year? Because it has felt like one of the longest I've had in, well, months. Thankfully I had quality time with family and friends, as well as a whole boatload of music to get me through it. Where would I be without three day weekends?

Tunes:

The beginning of this month was a lot of me being excited about #BSBVegas. We're nearly 100 days away from seeing the Backstreet Boys! For the first time since May 22nd, 2014! I didn't listen to anything new (since they don't have any!!!) or specific but I think it's worth noting. I really miss my boys.

This month's musical was decided a long time ago. Since Thanksgiving, actually. It wasn't long after I heard about Dear Evan Hansen that they announced their cast recording would come out at the start of February. It was more than I could have ever asked for. In the three months leading up to the cast recording, I listened to Waving Through a Window I don't know how many times. I won't bother listing every song I love because that would be nearly all of them. The only ones that I'm not the biggest fan of are the ones where Rachel Bay Jones, playing Evan's mom, takes the lead. There's something about her voice that I don't like and at times I find her tone to be condescending. However, I do like Anybody Have a Map? and that where she sounds the most condescending. Alas. There are so many celebrities seeing Dear Evan Hansen and singing its praises, it's all I can do not to snag a ticket and hop on a plane to New York.

Literally on the first day of this month, Mikaela texted me telling me a story about an adventure she had that sounds like something out of a dream. It had to do with meeting the lead singer of one of her favorite bands, Armors. I had not heard of them until this point and since she loves them so much, I knew it wouldn't hurt to give their music a gander. Listening through their entire discography, the songs that stood out to me the most were Aubrey and Genesis. Aubrey for the lyrics; Genesis for its beat.

Have I made my love for Bridgit Mendler clear yet? I'm obsessed with everything she does and the most recent song she's released is Temperamental Love with Devontee. It seems to be the first step towards her second album and I am loving it. Personally I found it to be one of those songs that got better with every listen. She released it just in time for Valentine's Day and I cannot think of a better anthem. The way she announced the song was also really cool and exclusive so that was a nice way to treat her fans. It's only a matter of time until we get to hear more from her.

As you can tell by the all caps in the title of this post, I have revived my Newsies obsession. We'll be getting more into that later, but I want to talk about how it segued into a revival of my obsession with Celine Dion. So obviously I got to see Newsies the musical. Usually when I see something I love with new actors to love, I go all out (see: Logan Lerman and Taron Egerton) and this was no exception. There's just something about Jeremy Jordan that is so enticing, there was absolutely no chance I wouldn't be looking up videos on YouTube. I'm glad I did because I came across this gem and I have not been the same since. It was around this time that I was thinking I should seize the day and see Celine at her residency since I would already be in Vegas (no luck there) so I spiraled into this dizzying love for all things Celine. Can't say I'm mad about it. How could you be mad about the Queen?

Films:

Hidden Figures (x)

Let the record show that I was finally able to watch Hidden Figures. I have been wanting to watch this film since I first heard word of it in what feels like summer of last year. I cannot sing enough praises for this movie. It has all the things I love: space history, women in STEM, and enough people of color to piss off Our Beloved Sovereign the Great Deplorable Donovan Tramp. While I absolutely adored this film, I've heard people say that there was too much time spent on the ladies' personal lives but I beg to differ. I found the balance to be absolutely perfect. The pacing kept me on the edge of my seat and there was just enough home life thrown in there to show the impact the two worlds have on each other. I think this film handled the everyday struggle with racism and sexism for these black women gracefully and poignantly at times. I would highly recommend seeing Hidden Figures if any of the things I listed above interests you because boy does this movie deliver. There are also some gorgeous fashion moments that I would be remiss to leave out. Hidden Figures didn't win any Oscars, but it won my heart.

Entertainment:

Newsies (x)

Technically this is officially a movie but I would consider it entertainment because it's the filming of a Broadway musical. I am so grateful that 1) Disney decided to do this and 2) I hopped on board before it was too late. I'm reeling. I got to see Newsies!!! I often hear new parents say that they never knew they could love something so much until the first time they hold their baby in their arms. I can relate to those new parents. I've listened to the cast recording consistently for the past four months so I felt like I knew the story well, but seeing it play out in front of my eyes was a whole different game. Now I'm dying to see it live. Like at the theatre live. Seeing Newsies changed me. You know those moments in your life where there is a definitive before and after? You never really know when they're going to happen and this was one of them for me. More specifically, it was when I first saw Jeremy Jordan's pecs during Santa Fe. I wish I was joking. Please cut me some slack if they are all I talk about because, I kid you not, they are literally all I can talk about.

Miscellaneous:

Note: This section was a last minute addition because I forgot. How could I forget!

I cut my hair! I have been dying to get it cut since the week leading up to Chinese New Year, but the timing didn't work out and then I had to wait two weeks for Chinese New Year to end so that I could finally chop it off. It was such a relief to be rid of it. I felt so trapped and honestly I get panicky a few times when my hair would get in the way. I feel much freer (that looks weird but I think it's right?) and it wouldn't hurt to check out its #hairoftheweek debut, would it?

Blogosphere:

I feel bad about not realizing it until after it had passed that xo, Yvette is now two years old! I started it on Super Bowl Sunday 2015 (February 1st) and it wasn't until the 5th of this month that it even crossed my mind. Can you believe I've been doing this for two years?! Thank you for coming along for the ride. I hope you've been enjoying xo, Yvette because I certainly have. Here's to another year of blog posts! I can't wait to see what year three will bring us.

It seems I have settled into a very comfortable blogging routine lately because I have not had any out of the ordinary blog posts other than my Top 5 Movies of 2016 this month. That post itself felt like a lot of work when it came down to choosing which five films would be making the final cut, but in actuality it wasn't much work at all. I just made it hard for myself. Reminiscing on the past year's movie going experiences was a lot of fun for me because I now have hindsight on my side. It was also nice looking back and remembering the fun I had with the people I saw those films with.


Phew! Another month down, who knows how many more to go! How was your February? Did you love anything that I mentioned? What did I miss this month that I should check out? I feel bad about not giving Dear Evan Hansen a month of its own, but Newsies is just so good. Anything I could possibly say about Newsies feels like an understatement. Don't worry, I'll still be listening to both these musicals in March, as well as my next new-to-me musical. Are there any musicals that I haven't listened to yet that you think is an absolute must? Please let me know in the comments!


Talk to you soon!

Sincerely, Me