Happy Valentine's Day!

It's the big day, folks. Valentine's Day.

Let's see how I did against my "to do" list:

Do something sweet 'n crafty
Not yet, but the day is young... those paper hearts will probably come out at some point...

Send Valentines to your friends
Check

Bake some heart shaped cookies
Check

Don't make it about gifts
Yup. I already returned the stuff to Home Depot for my sweetheart.

Wear red and/or pinks and/or hearts
I wore my heart sweater already this week, so today I'm wearing my pink and red striped sweater.

Don't try to go to a restaurant
I won't.

Call your mom
I will.

My plan for tonight is to make a simple dinner and eat dinner at the table (not watching TV), but then, once dinner is done, watch TV. (Duh.)

What are your plans?

Justin Timberlake: Discuss, please

Guys. I don't get Justin Timberlake.

I'm pretty sure ladies love him. (Like, loooove him.) But I can't see it. Can someone please explain?

When I see him perform, I feel physically uncomfortable... like a friend asked me to come to their cousin's song and dance show, and this guy who I sort of know is singing and dancing his heart out and trying so hard to be sexy, but it's my friend's cousin, and he's kind of strange looking, and it's all just so uncomfortable.

Or it's like a lesser version of if a friend took me to a male strip club for my bachelorette party. Because I'm pretty sure if that had happened, my reaction would be to seriously cry.

So watch this very short clip from the Grammys and tell me: what's the appeal? Or is he truly just strange and sort of a creep who's trying too hard?

I was starting to feel badly that I can't get on board with him (I mean, I generally generic pop culture things!), and then I realized: I think I just generally feel off-put and uncomfortable when people try hard to be sexy. I think It's more off-putting when men do it because, unfortunately, we've all been conditioned to see women do it all. the. time. But... for real, peeps: try hard to be smart, try hard to be accomplished, try hard to be kind, or charming, or funny, or heck, even pretty... but to focus your energies on trying to be sexy? Ew.

On another Grammy note that sort of contradicts my earlier point, I'm becoming obsessed with this Miguel song, not because it's an "ooh-let's-get-down" song, but because I love lite rock, and this song sounds like it could be straight out of the 80s and all over a lite rock station! Is lite rock coming back in a big way??? Let's hope!

Valentine's Day Tip List

Valentine's Day is basically my favorite holiday. I know most people do not share that feeling, so I thought I'd share my Valentine's Day rules to live by, so maybe you'll feel some of the love, and avoid some of the annoying.

:: cute closet filled with surprise balloons, via oh happy day ::

Do something sweet 'n crafty
I love the picture above of a surprise avalanche of heart balloons falling out of the closet. Here are a ton more cute ideas like that.

A bajillion years ago, I hand cut out a bunch of tiny little hearts from pink and red paper. (I have no idea why I decided to do it, but I distinctly remember that this took place at work. I can't believe I got away with that.) Every year, the confetti hearts come out to decorate the breakfast or dinner table, and they're just a silly and sweet gesture.

Send Valentines to your friends
Valentine's Day is all about saying "Hey! I totally like/love you! You're a real sweetheart! Did ya know that?"... so why not send a little love in the mail to people who deserve to hear that?

I had high hopes of making cards again this year, but it just didn't happen, so I broke down and bought some cute cards. These guys are a really cute inexpensive option that I highly recommend. (The envelopes are a pain, so I would recommend just using other envelopes.)

Bake some heart shaped cookies
It's a verified fact that hearts are the cutest shapes in the world. Give me anything heart shaped or with a heart on it, and I love it. Except for a sterling silver necklace with tiny diamonds in it that a high school guy buys for his girlfriend. That I do not want. So, cute classy hearts only, please.

I want to bake some heart shaped shortbread and top with red or pink sugar. But I only want to eat two cookies, so I'll bring the rest to work.

Don't make it about gifts
Gift exchanges make the day stressful. If you're going to do a gift, make it sweet and inexpensive. Or free and thoughtful. (I think I'm going to tell Travis that I'll run the errand of returning something to Home Depot as a gift, because I know he really, really doesn't want to. Shh... don't spoil it!)

Wear red and/or pink and/or hearts on February 14
Just do it. Because it's fun. Yes, it's a little Zooey Deschanel-y precious, but do it anyway. I'm probably going to wear this sweater so, yeah, I'm all in, guys. 

Don't try to go to a restaurant
Don't even think about it. One year I thought it would be fun to do the whole Valentine's Day thing and go to a not cool steakhouse. It was a disaster. We were seated 60 minutes late and the service was terrible. Don't get cute and think low-key will be better: I've also been to In-n-Out on Valentine's Day, and it's crazy crowded. If you're ordering pizza or Thai food (THAI FOOD YUMMMMM), be prepared for it to take way longer than normal.

Call your mom
Wish Mom a happy Valentine's Day! Because as I said earlier, it's just a day to be a real sweetheart.


What do you like to do on February 14th?

Cutest Commercial

So I guess if I'm talking about commercials two days after the Super Bowl, I should be talking about Super Bowl ads. But no. I want to talk about the best commercial ever that I saw over the weekend:

(Or, go here to see it better.)

Ummmmm there's nothing I don't love about this commercial. Why is this girl so precious??? Why is her dress so cute? Her hair so cute? Her sad intense little pout? But here's what really kills me: she's this super little girl, and she knows her dad wants to hear that she's okay, so she's trying so hard to make him feel okay... but she's just a kid! AAAAAAAAAAH.

I saw this on TV, rewound it to see it again, and then looked it up online, watched it twice more, and then noticed I was crying. If you ever want to feel happy and emotive and full of love, just get a cup of coffee, and check out the whole library of Subaru commercials. You'll be glad you did.

(You can see 'em all here.)

What's your favorite Subaru commercial?

Instagram Magnets

How cool are these Instagram magnets?

 

StickyGram turns your Instagram photos into magnets - 9 for $14.99.  (If this was around when I was a freshman in high school, I would have been obsessed with putting these in my locker, and I would be really embarrassed to look at those photo magnets now.)

But for now, wouldn't they make a cute Valentine's gift? I mean especially if I was buying a Valentine's gift for myself. Because basically I'd like this as a gift, but I don't know that my husband would actually like this as a gift. I mean, he might. If they were good photos that were normal things you wouldn't mind everyone who comes into your house seeing. You know, he'd probably like it. Maybe I'll do it. Who knows.

Prinstagram also has a lot of cute options of things to do with your Instagram photos. Aren't you completely obsessed with this Tiny Book (3 for $10)??? I mean!!! It's a regular book's tiny premature book baby!

These would be good to give your sister who's a really proud aunt and obsessed with your baby. That's seriously the only use I can think of for them, because, like, it's just so tiny that it's starting to be weird.

Have you ever done anything with your Instagrams? Would you?

2013 to-do: Go camping

Guys. I've never been camping.

This didn't deter some of our wedding guests from giving us a bunch of REI gift cards, though. (Maybe it's the Oregonian husband?) And we were gifted with a very nice tent and one sleeping bag.

My point is, we have some gear now, and we can get the rest for "free", and that means I have no excuse to have never been camping. (Also, Travis recently got a Subaru so this is, like, destiny. We'll drive somewhere and wear plaid and be a Subaru commercial. We just need a golden retriever.)

:: pretty! ::

We talked about going last Easter weekend, but a few things came up last minute and it didn't happen then, or any other time in 2012. But, mark my words: 2013 will not escape me! (Although truthfully, I'm very scared.)

Any tips for a novice camper?

Any ideas of easy first camping trips outside of Los Angeles? Where can we go where we won't be surrounded by people? That doesn't seem like the point of camping...

P.S. I saw the premier of "The Following" on Monday, and it was so so so so so scary. I don't know if I can see a scary movie!

2013 to-do: See a scary movie

I am totally scared of scary movies. I know lots of people love the horror/paranormal genre, but it just freaks me the f out, and in a traumatic way, not a fun way.

Honestly, I don't even know that I've seen any scary movies. (Does Scream count? Or was that more just a cultural phenomenon? Because I saw that one. PS - It was scary! Even with Courteney Cox.)

It seems that a lot of people like scary movies because you get all riled up, but then know that the premises are so absurd that there's nothing to worry about. I have a hard time with the second part. After seeing Rosemary's Baby in college, I remember crying from fear and genuinely asking my boyfriend: "Do you promise not to sell your soul to the devil and in exchange let the devil rape me to impregnate me with devil spawn and then let everyone trick me into letting me think that I'm nuts? Do you???"

Anyway, I want to enjoy this genre! It seems fun! But I'm... a-sceeeerrrrrrrrred! So I decided to make one of my 2013 "to-do"s be to see a scary movie (maybe, just maybe, more than one).

This new movie Mama looks pretty spook-tacular! And it stars Jessica Chastain (who I like) and Jamie Lannister (!!!! who I LOVE!), so maybe that means it's also pretty good? What do you think?

Do you like scary movies? Any ideas on how I should tackle this undertaking? Start in movie theaters or at home? Will I have nightmares?