FallTV

The weather has been very brisk in the morning.

Just when I'm getting the itch to leave Michigan

the summer slips away and fall creeps in

whisping its crisp&cool air around my walk to work

and making me fall in love with the seasons change.

But the weather isn't the only change:

Fall TV Season is upon us!

I have some catching up to do on last season's episodes

but I'm so ready for my fall evening line-up.

Mostly, I'm excited to have Dessert&Revenge nights again!

I only wish my Barbie could come...

Florida, you are too far away.

First, though, it's time for some marathons to prepare myself.



Kris&Books

Joe's cousin in a producer for the Kris Jenner Show,

so my mom&I were able to go to an episode taping.

We went dress shopping the night before

for bright&bold&solid colors

and I found a long, teal maxi-dress to wear.

We excitedly got up in the morning

-drove past the Hollywood sign-

and headed to the studio

where we were able to pass the line of women waiting

and were seated in the front row.

Going to a show taping is an interesting experience...

there was a comedian there to cue our laughter&applause

and lots of loud music to fuel excitement&fun.

I'll admit that I've never been the biggest Jenner/Kardashian fan,

but it was a once-in-a-lifetime&new thing to do.

The guest host - Boris Kodjoe - was a beautiful man

who spit out german and cooked delicious-looking german food

livened up the set with intelligent convo and stories about his family

and showcased his clothing line: Alfa.

(he was definitely my favorite part.)

Then there was Denise Richards

(so tiny in person)

who talked about her show Twisted on ABC Family

and Harley Pasternak - author of the Body Reset Diet.

We got his book, chocolates, and a top from Kris Jenner Collection

as our give-away for attending the taping.

I started reading the book by the pool that week

and I'm excited to get into it.

The next day, mom&I curled up in our hotel beds to watch the show.

(and look for ourselves on TV)

She was shown on camera twice!

(and obviously so - since she's a beautiful&well-polished lady)

I, on the other hand, took back the teal dress I'd bought.

Netflix Junkie

Barbie&I finished Gossip Girl, Desperate Housewives, Pretty Little Liars, and now Army Wives. I felt like I was mourning a loss when Desperate Housewives ended – I absolutely fell in love with that show. I think I could watch it again already and still enjoy every episode. I’ve seen PLL from the first season, but Barbie hadn’t, so I had to catch her up. Her pick was Army Wives (which still has one season to premier and lacks the latest season online) but the first 5 were good. Heartbreaking, but good. We were both mentioning how attached we get to characters and in a show like Army Wives – where people are expected to die – the attachment is even worse cause we eventually lost some of them. Fall in love with strong wives, vulnerable husbands, and their wonderful children then lose some of them along the way… how awful? We both found ourselves crying through work at points, but it really was/is an inspirational show. The military – no matter how I feel about the wars they defend their country in – will always create a soft spot in my heart. And the actors&actresses in this series made it even more enjoyable&emotional.

Now, it’s on to One Tree Hill.

TailgateTent

This Saturday was the Michigan vs. Michigan State game, so Mr.U&I tailgated at the KofC with all the old men like last year. (only last year was better because VPBF&bofo were there…) The weather was freezing&wet, but after a couple beers, it wasn’t so bad. And the crowd of people is always fun to hang outside with, watch some football, and eat some warm-tailgate-treats.

Relatable TV

I tend to watch TV shows I know my friends&family like just so I can use it as a relatable topic. Take, for example, Hart of Dixie – I watched a couple episodes with my cousin last season, but I never kept up with it. Now that the new season has premiered, I’m catching up on the whole 1st season via Netflix and texting my cousin about my love/hate relationships with the characters&storylines.

It’s funny – the things I watch in order to be informed.

Sometimes, though, the show just cannot grab my attention no matter how hard I try. Then I have to find another form of relatablity.

GG Taping

The final season of Gossip Girl finally premiered on the CW last night. Unfortunately, Barbie was unable to watch it, so – in fear it wouldn’t be available for online streaming right away – I ghetto-recorded it for her on my laptop. Turns out, it’s on cwtv.com already this morning, so she doesn’t have to watch my low-quality video.

I hope she gets to watch it next week, so we can text&tweet about it from 9-10pm.

Clubs&Mirrors

I turned on my phone yesterday to a text: “I miss you.”
Compliments of my #bff.
I miss her, too.
Less than an hours drive away and we can barely find time for each other.
Two years ago at this time we’d be spending day after day in my big&warm president’s room watchin' movies and munchin.'
I miss those days so so so much.























This weekend at ArtPrize one of the stops was at the Women’s City Club in downtown Grand Rapids. A bunch of older, nicely-dressed women in a big, beautiful house with a chef and a fully stocked basement bar. I jokingly asked the two women outside selling warm pastries&drinks if I could join and they quickly told me about their dues&requirements. I was awkwardly excited at the concept of joining a women’s club.
I miss the camaraderie of organizations of people simply enjoying each other’s company.
I’d settle for a full 24 hours with my #bff for now, though.

...and just as I'm dreaming of clubs&organizations, Mr.U proposes we become members of the Henry Ford Museum. I'm sold...

Gilmore Obsession

Besides my visually-obstructed internetTV marathons, I also have real marathons when I get home and my show of choice has been Gilmore Girls lately. My dad used to get so excited to watch Gilmore Girls with me when it would run on ABC Family back in the day, but we never really paid attention to the series in its entirety. For my birthday, Mr.U bought me the rest of the seasons I needed, so I’m finally getting down to watching them. I love the energy of the Gilmore Girls – the writers are so clever and the show is so upbeat – it makes me really happy to watch it.

Gossip Obsession

Instead of listening to music while I stare into my computer at work, I stream Hulu+&Netflix. This makes it a bit confusing when I actually watch an episode on a real TV, cause I never know what the characters actually look like. Thus, I try to pick shows that are easy to listen to without paying too much attention or even watching.

Family Guy – The Hills – Vampire Diaries

.etc.

Barbie streams whatever I’m watching so it’s like we’re watching our TV marathons together. Lately, we’ve been hooked on Gossip Girl. I’ve watched it here&there over the years, but never truly paid attention and now I love.love.love it.

It’s got me on a fashion kick, too, which is both a plus&minus.For obvious reasons

my obsession lead me to buying the entire book series.

I can’t wait to dig into them.

Bubye Dawson

Barbie&I finally finished our Dawson’s Creek marathon that was years&years in the making.
The ending was too sudden.
.Heartbreaking&Quick.
More would have been nice.

One of my favorite quotes came while Dawson talked to a psychologist about his dad’s death:
“Just because he died doesn’t mean he gets to win the argument.”

After lots of laughter&tears over a pretty cheesy tv show, I’ll openly admit that it’s depth really did have some great lessons.

"I don't wanna wait for my life to be over. I want to know right now - what will it be?" - Paula Cole's "I Don't Want to Wait

i REALLY do

I grew up watching ‘I Love Lucy.”
My parents didn’t have a lot of money to buy us all the newest cartoons on VHS and I’m sure we didn’t have any special TV stations, so my mom videotaped “I Love Lucy” and “Gilligan’s Island” episodes off my grandparents' TV for us to watch.
I can still hear the old commercials whenever I think about it – 21 Jump Street previews, ITT Tech ads, Arsineo Hall clips. Within the first 5 minutes of an “I Love Lucy” episode I know which one it is and can probably quote every line. Needless to say: Lucy reminds me of my childhood – my mom baking cookies in the kitchen and my brothers spreading legos across the living room floor.
I’ve said forever that I want my children to grow up on Lucy and now that I’m a proud owner of the entire “I Love Lucy” series, that will definitely happen.

Bachelor Bitches

Mondays have become Scrapbook&Bachelor nights for KFry, Barbie, & me. Last night was pretty unsuccessful in the scrapbooking arena – I never found time to get any new supplies – but we did enjoy a wonderful S’more-themed dessert and a pretty wild episode of ABC’s The Bachelor.
From the very first season, this show never interested me, but somehow I always end up watching it. In high school, my mom loved it, so I watched it with her. My sorority sisters were addicted, so three years of obsession went by while living with them. My sister-in-law's a fan, so I got into it with her. And now – mostly because I wanted a scrapbooking night with some of my favorite girls – I’ve found myself hooked on Ben – ‘Ben F.: WineMaker’ as my sister-in-law calls him – and his crazy bachelorettes.
Every season the contestants get more&more good-looking (the teeny dresses&skirts of this season showcase the abundance of model-like figures) but also more&more vindictive. They come in knowing who they want to see with a game-plan to “fall in love” with this complete stranger – and they have no intention on “losing.” Last night: the claws came out when a “new girl” showed up. I was honestly shocked by these 20-something women and their childlike behavior. If I was Ben… I’d run and search for a non-fame-whore with a touch of maturity&class.
Thus far, I can’t say I’m rooting for any of them.

Wine Marathon

The other weekend, our sorority past president came into town for some advisor meetings. Another girlfriend and I had already planned a PanAm marathon to catch ourselves up since Sundays at 10pm seems to be a impossibe timeslot. So, the three of us all enjoyed a bottle of wine during the 4 episodes we needed to watch. We proceeded to continue our marathon-mode till 2am with season 1 of Sex & the City while I worked on a memory video of my girlfiend&I. Once that was completed and we finally got to watch it, we passed out like we hadn’t slept in days. Apparently, we aren’t as young&wild as we were, but I very much appreciated the evening, their patience in waiting, and the yummy wine bottle.

BoobTube Time

I’ve never been good at watching a scheduled TV show. Mostly because I don’t like to wait a whole week to see what happens. I’m the notorious MarathonGirl who waits till the day of the finale then watches every episode in a row, so there’s little to no anticipation &/or letdown if something I want to happen doesn’t. Oddly enough in this Fall season I’ve found two shows that I dig enough to watch every week – neither at their scheduled time, though.
ABC’s PanAm and Revenge – I’m supporting my Disney Network and I didn’t even realize till after I’d fallen for the shows. They are both on at 10pm, though. Not diggin’ that whole late-night-early-morning routine - thus I'll have to catch them later.
Here’s my question: how are show ratings calculated? Should I turn on my TV every Sunday & Wednesday at 10pm – dimmed&muted – to support my shows?
Or maybe I should write fan mail…