sunday currently || 2.23

C  U  R  R  E  N  T  L  Y  .  .  .  

R E A D I N G 

The Goldfinch. This book is HEAVY. And I don't mean emotionally... I mean literally. I've been reading so many e-books lately that I think my wrist muscles have atrophied. 

(I also meant emotionally. Oh, Theo... bless your heart.)

In the car, I'm "reading" Five Days at Memorial, the story of the staff and patients stuck at the hospital in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. 

W R I T I N G

Megan and I met up for a little writing date at Spyhouse and, after much procrastination, did some prompts from the book Old Friend From Far Away, a book which I will be purchasing tomorrow during lunch.

L I S T E N I N G

There are a few blogs I read that consistently post playlists (Note to Self, The Love List, Breanna Rose) and I love them. Tonight I'm listening to the Note to Self February 2014 playlist. 

T H I N K I N G

I have a theory. Every time I've looked at my Accuweather app for the past two months, it has said that the forecast two weeks later will be in the 40s. Yet that 40 degree day never comes. I'm pretty sure Accuweather does this so that people have a glimmer of hope to get them through polar vortexes and blizzards and refrain from throwing themselves off buildings. 

S M E L L I N G 

You know the slightly bitter smell of Flonase as it makes its way down your nasal cavity? That. 

W I S H I N G 

As happy as I am, every year at this time part of me wishes I was in New Orleans. Or at least that someone would send me a king cake. 

(When I get really homesick I watch this video over and over again.)

H O P I N G 

I have three Best Picture nominees left to see before the Oscars next Sunday. Here's hoping I can make it to all of them this week!

W E A R I N G 

My friends in the South will be horrified to know that I wore white jeans today. 

L O V I  N G 

This weekend. It was the perfect mix of food, friends, culture, and Hannah Horvath in a yellow mesh thank top. (There was some quality Girls time Friday night.)

W A N T I N G 

We just booked a vacation to ISRAEL! I'm itching to sit on the floor surrounded by travel guides and plan our trip. Honestly, sometimes I enjoy planning trips just as much as I enjoy going on them. Anyone need a travel agent?

N E E D I N G 

There's a corner of my our guest room that's starting to overflow with packages that need to be sent. A wedding gift from October. A birthday present from November. A wedding gift from December. For as long as I can remember, I've had some kind of mental block about sending gifts on time. Doesn't look like that's going to be changing anytime soon. 

FEELING

A few hours ago we got back from North Coast Nosh, an event put on by a local food blog.. and I'm feeling a little full. 

CLICKING

Jimmy Fallon's "Ew" videos, over and over. I can't. But I must. (see the Will Ferrel one for that reference.)

(and of course, Lauren, queen of the currentlies.)

If you like cute teenage love stories, you'll love Fangirl

2013 was the year of Rainbow Rowell. She was endorsed by John Green in the New York Times Book Review, this quote from Eleanor & Park is blowing up Pinterest boards everywhere, and a high school library here in Minnesota caused a controversy when they tried to ban E&P (the book and I are on nickname basis) from their shelves for its "227 uses of of profanity or using the Lord's name in vain." (Fun fact: Michele Bachman graduated from that high school. This explains a lot, right?)

I jumped on the Rainbow Rowell bandwagon as soon as I could. Eleanor & Park was one of my favorite books of last year, and while it's too soon to tell whether Fangirl will make it to 2014's list, I definitely enjoyed it.

(But I have to say I found myself missing Eleanor and Park and their school bus relationship.)

The gist: Cath, a snarky introvert and writer of the internet's most popular Simon Snow fan fiction, goes away to college and learns that maybe - just maybe -- there's more to life than Simon Snow.

Simon Snow is clearly supposed to be Harry Potter, and as the one singular person in the world who just couldn't get into Harry Potter, I thought I would maybe not be into this book. And while there were excerpts from Cath's fanfic that I didn't really pay attention to, you don't need to be a Harry Potter fan in any way to really get Cath. And if you are a fan, well, you'll probably like it even more.

One thing that annoyed me about this book: the "intimate" scenes. Cath is into... biting chins? I didn't get it.

4 things:

1. There's this part in Fangirl, this totally insignificant question asked by one of the main characters, that  comes out of nowhere and changes everything about the world these characters live in. It was so clever and unexpected and completely unimportant, but I think it might have been my favorite part.

2. I learned something super important from this book: an aerie is an eagle's nest. Doesn't the world of teen underwear just make SO much more sense now? (Confession: I say "teen" underwear but 80% of my underwear is from Aerie.)

3. Another thing I loved -- and am stealing -- was Cath and her twin sister's way of dealing with stress. One of them hops on the bed and pulls an imaginary lever, yelling "EMERGENCY KANYE PARTY". The other twin runs to the laptop, pulls up a Kanye playlist, and they dance their cares away. What a genius idea.

4. This is the fourth book I've listened to narrated by Rebecca Lowman, and I think she does these Rainbow Rowell characters perfectly. I saw on Twitter yesterday that she'll be narrating Rowell's upcoming book Landlines too.


Up next: Young adult fiction is so hot right now. Here's what I want to read:

Clockwise from top left: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

some thoughts on exercise

crow pose at Crater Lake outside of Aspen

I'm not the kind of person who makes friends at the gym, but I just have so many thoughts about my exercise. So let's pretend we're gym buddies. I promise not to sweat on you. Or cut you with my toenail. 

1. You know that episode of Girls where Shoshanna is on crack and she keeps saying she needs to go to the front at kickboxing? She's so right. Once you take the plunge and move to the front of a class, you'll just kind of feel like everyone is looking up to you (even though they probably couldn't care less about you) and you'll work harder.

2. Having said that, the other day I was late for a workout class and ended up smushed in the back between two huge guys. I have never worked harder -- I had to keep up with them or I would lose the secret competition we were secretly having. Which would obviously be unacceptable.

3. Recently, teachers in the workout classes I take have started announcing that we're doing "Madonna arms," which basically means that you hold your arms straight out beside you and pulse them up and down, back and forth, for a few minutes. I have two issues with this. First of all, I refuse to believe that this exercise works because how have humans had arms for their entire existence and yet never thought to tone them by waving them up and down? And secondly, it's time for us, as a society, to find a new arm role model. I don't want Madonna's arms. 

4. One of my teachers plays Michael Jackson's "Will you be there" during final shavasana. Two things you should know: One, shavasana is when you're supposed to lay still on your mat, relax and think about nothing. Two, that song is from Free Willy. How am I supposed to think about nothing when I'm desperately trying not to sob thinking about saving the whales and wondering what happened to the kid from Free Willy?

5. I have to tell you about the time I actually did sob during a yoga sculpt class. Everything was going fine until suddenly, there was a hair in my mouth. No big deal, I pulled it out. But it wasn't a hair. It was a hairball. I gagged a little, but still, no big deal. I placed the mystery hairball far away from my mat and bent over, catching a glimpse of my mat. It was covered in hairballs. 

This is when I should tell you that I hate hair. I respond to unattached hair the way most people (including myself) react to tarantulas.

I frantically swept away the hairballs, but they kept appearing on my mat, between my toes, in my mouth, stuck to my water bottle, ET AL. Does anyone else still look around for Ashton Kutcher when stuff like this happens? I definitely thought someone was playing a cruel prank on me. I don't know where all the hair came from, but it seemed to multiply throughout the class. I spent a lot of that hour with my head buried in my [hairy] towel, crying. And maybe laughing a little. But mostly crying. 

super bowl sunday currently

R E A D I N G 

Love & War, by James Carville and Mary Matalin. I don't know, y'all. I feel like I'm sitting on a front porch sipping sweet tea listening to my crazy aunt and uncle tell me a story. Not that that's a bad thing, but it sure makes for a weird book. 

W R I T I N G 

I have all these ideas for blog posts but when I finally sit down at my computer, it's like all I know how to spell is twitter.com, facebook.com or pinterest.com. Just me?

L I S T E N I N G 

Are any of you fans of Andrew Belle? A friend introduced me to him a few years ago, and as I played his latest album this weekend, Spotify informed me that he's playing in Minneapolis in March -- for $15! I'm thinking I might have to go. Anyone out there a fan, too?

S M E L L I N G 

My new Jergens body BB cream. I don't know why my body needs BB cream. I don't even know what BB cream is. And yet...

W I S H I N G  + H O P I N G 

We're heading to a Super Bowl party at a diehard Broncos fan's house. For her sake, I hope the Broncos win. I also suppose I should be a good Louisianian and root for the Manning?

W E A R I N G 

I bought my first pair of Sorel boots this weekend. (These. I look just as cool when I wear them.) Now I feel like I can truly fit in here.

L O V I  N G 

Last week. There were pastries. There was sushi and the Bachelor, the silliness of which was canceled out by the grimness and genius of Dallas Buyers Club. There was a night at a museum, where the calories burned at a hilarious "butter churning aerobics" class (more on that later) were canceled out by french fries with truffle aioli and the best cocktail: salted caramel vodka + chai. There was a new haircut. There was some super productive shopping and a sleepy breakfast at a new contender for all around favorite. 

W A N T I N G 

to plan a vacation. It's been a full month and a week since we've left the cities... that is clearly far too long.

N E E D I N G 

to stop buying cereal. If there is cereal in my house, I will eat it. It is literally impossible for me to just eat one bowl of the stuff. 

F E E L I N G

Whenever a celebrity passes away, a part of me wonders why it hits me -- and the rest of the world -- so hard. People die every day, people who may or may not have made a more important contribution to the world, bla bla bla. That's the argument you hear when someone mourns a Paul Walker or a Cory Monteith, or maybe even a Phillip Seymour Hoffman. But I think I get it now. Aside from the fact that their art was likely meaningful to at least some of us, these people are so visible. We know how their face reacts to surprise and sadness. We can hear their voice. Those things are all it takes to feel like we know someone.

C L I C K I N G

If you read The Fault in Our Stars, prepare to cry within the first .05 seconds of the trailer. I definitely did. (PS that time I read TFIOS on a plane)
Related: John Green's Crash Course series on US History
This visual interpretation of a classic Ira Glass quote
50 Problems in 50 Days: A designer uses design to solve 50 problems. You may have seen his boarding pass floating around this week.
BJ Novak wrote a book and the trailer made me laugh.. and did its trailer-ly duties, as the book is now on my to-read list.
Related: I absolutely need this tank top. 
This is at the top of my list of Jimmy Fallon's nostalgia videos. Even Mr. Woodchuck makes an appearance!
& your Sunday Currently hostess, Lauren