Hear it, Read it, Make it, Love it.

Looking out.

Welcome my friends to one of the most wonderfully weird weeks of the year where Monday feels like a Monday, but Tuesday feels like a Thursday and Wednesday feels like a Friday, but a summer Friday because you know you're cuttin out of work early Wednesday aren't you!? So even though it's Monday, we're all "I can conquer the planet if the planet only requires conquering for 2.5 days!" AmIRight!? To kick off the weirdo holiday week, I thought I'd deliver a long overdue Hear it, Read it, Make it, Love it for your enjoyment. Because you didn't really want to get any work done today anyway:)

* Hear It

Country girl legit takin hold of NYC.

I think it is time for us all to admit it out loud- Taylor Swift is awesome. There. I said it. I like Taylor Swift because her music is insanely catchy, she has mastered the power of reinvention and unlike so many other young musicians of her generation, T. Swift's talent is next level. The writing and instrument playing and now even sassy performing? On point Swifty. So stop being in denial and download a copy of her latest album 1989 today.

* Read It

Love this cover art.

I picked up a copy of Amy Poehler's Yes Please in hard copy last week and I've been enjoying every minute of my time with it. Well worth the investment over an eReader copy (there are cool pictures and graphics that just won't translate) this book is filled with stories of Amy discovering her comedic power, surviving a divorce and juggling a wild life (which she deeply appreciates while finding exhausting). The book has more advice and anecdotes than I expected and though  not outstanding or insanely laugh out loud funny (a la her buddy Tina's Bossypants), reading it makes me smile and I picked it over turning on the tv several times this weekend (and that's definitely saying something:) Go for it. (ps, OMGeeee I just learned while googling Amy for this post that her middle name is Meredith. How awesome!?!)

* Make It

May-jah Day after the Feast Nomnoms.

Because the only thing better than your Thanksgiving feast is the feast you get to have again the next day (and the next) with all those leftovers. I've got some serious leftovers inspiration for ya here, 50 recipes to be exact, sorted by item (e.g., cranberry sauce, turkey etc). A few of these recipes look so good you might be stowing away food for Friday on purpose!!

* Love It

Yes. Just so much YES!!!

The forgotten part...

"Music" Television (also teen pregnancy & catfish)

Last night the MTV Video Music Awards were held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NYC (Brooklyn is so hot right now). The awards show was generally painful to watch (expected) with crowd shots focusing primarily on the Smith family having the appropriate reaction to overtly and classlessly sexual Miley Cyrus, the (real/for show?) Gomez/Swift friendship and Gaga in a thong. Yes there was the awesome Justin Timberlake concert and the much anticipated NSYNC appearance (I think "reunion" is a bit strong for 60ish seconds on stage), but overall I couldn't help but focus on the central fact that renders the MTV VMAs nearly pointless - no one sees music videos anymore! Without TRL or a music television station that actually plays music, these videos are simply floating around the internet for the occasional blog reading, twitter skimming music lover like myself to discover (and even I had only seen Macklemore's 2 winning videos before this morning!)

So here for your viewing pleasure are the music videos from some of last night's MTV Video Music Award winners (full list here)... because even if I am so old that I was more worried about the disturbance to the neighborhood than the coolness of the pre-show location (old balls) some of these videos are pretty damn awesome!

Video of the Year - Justin Timberlake, "Mirrors"

Best Male Video & Best Choreography - Bruno Mars “Locked Out of Heaven”

Best Female Video - Taylor Swift, “I Knew Your Were Trouble”

Best Pop Video - Selena Gomez, “Come and Get It”

Best Hip-Hop Video & Best Cinematography - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, “Can’t Hold Us”

Best Video With a Social Message - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, “Same Love”

Best Collaboration - Pink ft. Nate Reuss, “Just Give Me a Reason”

Hump Day Distractions

'staches for everyone!

Today is not Friday, but at least it's not Monday right?! Am I right?! Here to help you navigate the boredom of the day is a whole butt load (that's the technical term of course) of delightful distractions. Happy humping.

* A most unusual classroom. Better or worse than the norm?

* I've already ordered THESE awesome lil guys (Sis I hope you're excited!)

* The fabulous HBO series Girls is returning Sunday (woo hoo!) Click HERE and HERE for cast and costume goodness
* T Swift remixed with Jackson 5... you know you want to (on repeat:)

* Malted Milkball Krispie Treats. 100% happening. Soon.
* Al, this is what we call "TMI".
* What a brilliant gift idea for the cute kiddies in your life.

* These are so wrong... and SO funny.