2011 - The Year of Friends...

It seems that the thing to do around this time of year is write a blog post about the previous year.  Best meal, best trip, best piece of music...so on and so forth.  While I do have those things, I spent a lot of time thinking about what 2011 really meant to me.

I don't think I'm alone in feeling that 2011 was sort of an "interesting" year.  It was full of many ups and downs.  High ups, low downs.  Don't get me wrong, there was plenty of amazing, lovely things to outweigh the bad, but I feel like remembering all of those instances isn't what's important.

I spent this year single and on my own. I feel like I grew a lot as a person.  I took risks and tried to realize who I was becoming as a young woman.  More than anything, I've come to realize that your life can be great if you surround yourself with great people.

Out of anything and everything that has happened this year, I feel like that is the most meaningful thing I've taken from 2011.

People.

So many wonderful, special people.

Old friends and new friends.  Friends who will go to concerts with you even when people stretch an unreasonable amount.  Friends who you can always count on to tell you what shirt to wear on a date or make you laugh when you're sad.

Friends that you've known since you were small and can still have fun, even after 20 years.

Friends who live half a world away and seem to know you better than your own brain.  (And who also have fantastic taste in music)

Friends who you met through Twitter that are even more amazing in person.  Friends who took a risk with you and camped for days on the street with the same goal in mind. :)

Friends from other countries that you can still call friends even after years and years.

 

Friends who keep you sane and strong when it seems like reality is too much to deal with.

Friends who are actually family but so much more than that.

 

So my friends, I'd like to dedicate my 2011 to you.  I've met so many new people and done so many new things, but they would be nothing without people to share them with.  I never thought I would be so blessed to have so many wonderful people that I can call my friends.

I hope with all of my heart that your 2012 is a fantastic, prosperous and healthy year and that we can make even more memories together.

Love love love,

Marina

P.S. Okay.  If we really are going to get all "Best of..." for New Years blogs...  I'd have to say this was pretty awesome.  ;)

And So I'm Offering This Simple Phrase...

To you!!

It's Christmas time again (I can't believe it) and one of my favorite things about the season is the music.  I'm sort of a snob when it comes to Christmas music in that I love my classics.  A lot.  As you can tell my the title of this post, The Christmas Song by Mr. Nat King Cole is my favorite Christmas song ever.  I also love a little Andy Williams, Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby but there are plenty of new songs that have been catching my attention.

Here is a playlist of my favorite Christmas songs for 2011.  It has all my favorite classics like It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, Sleigh Ride, Rockin Around The Christmas Tree, and Holly Jolly Christmas.  I've also spent some time gathering some new songs.  Sufjan Stevens is one of my favorite artists right now and he has some great songs that aren't covers.  They're original lyrics!  The fabulous She And Him have a new Christmas album out this year and I've included one of their songs.  I've also put in some fun covers from Rogue Wave (another fav), Jimmy Eat World and Sleeping at Last (new fav).

 

I hope you enjoy the songs and maybe find some new favorites!  You can download my playlist here!

Is everyone gearing up for a busy holiday season yet?  I haven't decorated yet (or even tried) but I have plans to do so tomorrow.  I expect I'll be taking lots of photos and will try to post them here at some point.  Until then, Enjoy your holidays with your families and friends.

All my warmest holiday wishes!

With love,
Marina

A Breaking Dawn Soundtrack Education...

Hi there!

Long time no chat!  There's been a lot going on around here lately but I wanted to share some new music with you by way of the Breaking Dawn Soundtrack.  The track list was released today and I was happy to see that I didn't know many (if any) of the artists.  One of the things I enjoy most about the Twilight films is how they integrate little-known music artists into their soundtracks.

Take Florence + The Machine for example.  She had a following, sure, but after the soundtrack? HUGE.  Had you heard of Bon Iver before? (I had, but I won't judge ;) )  How about Beach House, Sea Wolf, St. Vincent or Sia?  I LOVE getting to know the artists before the soundtrack is released and the Breaking Dawn soundtrack is no different.

There are quite a few artists on here who are new to me and a little different style than we've seen before.  The original Twilight soundtrack was pretty "rock and roll," New Moon was relatively "indie" and Eclipse had more of a "pop" feel.  I can't quite place Breaking Dawn but I like it.

I put together a playlist that you can download at the bottom of this post, but if you want to check out some of the individual artists, I've posted some soundcloud links below.  I hope you guys enjoy the music!

What I've Been Up To...

It's become very apparent that I don't really blog much anymore. That doesn't mean I don't want to, it just means that I forget most of the time.

I have been up to lots of fun things this summer that I want to share with you to give you a summary of June-August. (Is August really almost over?) I've even knocked out a couple of things on my list!

My recent Pleasanton discovery. How have I lived here a year and not known there was a local dairy that sells soft serve from 8am to 8pm??

#2 Host a dinner party. Done and done. :) Happy Birthday Eleanor!


Impenetrable Lego fortress with booby-traps.


New TOMS shoes :)


Pre Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 premiere. :) So bittersweet. Also, HP marathon sort of happened. Whatever, I'm checking it off the list.


Meet a friend from far away? Does Australia count :) <3<3 my "mindsistah" from the other hemisphere!

I was here.


Oh man, I wish these weren't $200.


On my way to reading 10 books thanks to Eugene, my Nook. So far we're at 4!


Made a new animal friend. Angel also enjoys watching the Giants :) (No, she's not my pup.)


Authentic gumbo. So amazing. Thanks Eleanor!


My boys <3<3



The Weepies and Florence + The Machine. Parts 1 and 2 of our summer concert series. Both amazing. And by amazing, I mean WAYMAZING. Next up? Ray LaMontagne and Bon Iver. So. Excited.


And me. And Fernando.

Things are good. Things are busy. More than ever I know how blessed I am to have the people around me that I do.

In unrelated news, I've been working with two other lovely ladies on a blog for David Cronenberg's upcoming film Cosmopolis (based on the book by Don DeLillo). Check it out!

If I'm blogging anywhere lately...that's where it is. We have some fun stuff going on so take a look! :)

I'm spending the day in San Francisco with an old friend. What are YOU doing today? Happy Saturday all!

Love,
Marina