Wishful Wednesdays: CB & SJP

Well, I've been away from WW over at Kelsey's for a while. Dunno why, but Wednesdays just sortof became my too-busy-to-breathe days. Or, my too-lazy-to-do-anything days. Or, whatever. But I simply could not pass up todays question! So, without further ado, I present to you:

I WISH: I was CARRIE BRADSHAW.

The dresses, the writing, the apartment,

the m(a/e)n, the shoes.

Oh, how I wish I were her.

Now yes, Carrie isn't perfect.

She makes plenty of fashion errors

(and perhaps wore 1 too many bellyshirts),

she doesn't know what to do with an oven,

she runs all over Big & Aiden

(among others),

and she overanalyzes everything.

(we can't all make the right fashion choice every day...)

But, you know what?

So. Do. I.

Simple as that.

I've worn sweats to class many times,

PJ's to the grocery store,

worn white before Memorial Day,

done stupid things in the name of love,

over thought a number of situations,

and so much more.

I'm not perfect either.

And maybe that's why I like Carrie:

She's just me (with better shoes).

Here are my favorite Carrieisms:

"I will never be the woman with the perfect hair, who can wear white and not spill on it."

"When men attempt bold gestures, generally it's considered romantic. When women do it, it's often considered desperate or psycho."

"Maybe some women aren't meant to be tamed. Maybe they just need to run free till they find someone just as wild to run with them."

"No matter who broke your heart, or how long it takes to heal, you'll never get through it without your friends."

So, who are you?

Wishful Wednesday: Olympic Greatness

I wish I could have gone to the 2010 Winter Olympics to have seen_____!

For me, this week's question was a no-brainer. I love sports. I've been playing some sort of athletic game probably since I could walk. T-Ball, Baseball, Softball, Soccer, Ballet, Field Hockey, Ballroom, Aerials, Fencing. You name it, I've either tried it, played it for a long time, or dreamed of trying it.

I love the adrenaline, I love the competition, I love the blood, sweat and tears that go into it, I love everything about sports.

And though we lost I would have loved nothing more to been in the arena for the USA versus Canada Gold Medal Hockey game! Watching it here, in Hungary, in the crappy "cafe/bar" in our dorm, surrounded by people who really don't care much for sports (and were mocking me or giving me questioning glances for caring so dern much) and people who didn't care if Canada won, but wanted the US to lose.

Oh and at 24 seconds in the 3rd period, with that goal - OH. MY. GOD. I was so excited. I would have given my left arm to have been in that arena!

Here are the highlights:

Wishful Wednesday: Thursday Next

So, I was really surprised with Wishful Wednesday this week. A while back, on this post Kelsey left me a comment that went something along the lines of "you're hilarious, help me come up with WW topics!" (okay, not even close to a direct quote, but what's wrong with a little shameless self praise?). And then this weekend, when I was plum out of ideas for things to write about since all my adventures have been abducted by schoolwork, I was left to think about topics which were outside of every-day-life things.

First I bloggy-cheated and asked you, my loyal readers, to ask me questions about things that I've never written about. A whopping two of you (thanks! you fabulous two!) took up the challenge and asked me some questions that I'm still trying to sort out how to answer. I promise a post with answers soon(ish). (The post is here, and I would still love it if you wanted to ask me more!)

So then, with little recourse and an unrelenting internal desire to not give up on my blog, I did what any woman in my situation would do. I took a shower. And in that tiny think-tank of mine (have I told you how incredibly small my dorm shower is?) I came up with a wonderful topic - and then I declared that this topic was far to interesting to keep to myself, so I emailed Kelsey to see if she had been serious when she dropped me that note. And she was! Glorious!

So what was this little brainchild of mine? It goes as follows:

I wish I could play a character's role in a book and it would be...(insert fictional character's name here).

Genius, right?

My inner (is it really that inner? I'm not quite sure anymore) book reading nerd leapt at this.

Oh, and then it hid. My inner nerd abandoned me at the prospect of having to tell you just one fictional character whose life I would rather live than my own. Oh. My. Word. I've been puzzling over this question since Kelsey emailed me back saying that it would be the topic THIS week.

Okay, so you're probably tired of reading this novel I've written by now, I'll get on with the show (and no, sorry, this is not a work of fiction, so you can't pick me from my blog as your wishful wednesday answer, sorry! i hear the sighs of disappointment floating in from around the world.).

I would pick: Thursday Next from The Eyre Affair

Thursday Next is the main character in a series written by Jasper Fford. The Eyre Affair is the first in this series and it is an amazing book. She's the daughter of Wednesday Next and Colonel Next and they live in a parallel universe in Swinden in the Republic of England. She works for the Special Operations Network ("SpecOps" for short) as a LiteraTech. Oh, and she has a pet Dodo named Pickwick.

Why is she so cool? Oh, she just has the power to jump into books - and the whole world that exists within the infrastructure of the literary world. In this world the "Library" (which contains all books ever written, that will ever be written, and all pieces of stories that will never be finished) is run by the Cheshire Cat and there is an internal policing agency of novels to make sure people are in their places when their section of the book is being read. Thursday is stubborn, strong willed, and hilarious. She's smart and compassionate. And she pretty much just all around rocks.

Read more HERE. I can't really explain it well enough to do it justice, and as usual Wikipedia does a good job of providing enough details to perk your interest. You can click through and read more about Thursday herself, too. Though, don't read the whole article! It will give it away!

If you haven't read any of this series - stop reading this blog post now, get your car keys, go to your local library/bookstore/whatever and pick up a copy. Then grab a Starbucks Vanilla Chai Tea Latte in my honor (no Starbucks here, remember), sit down and enjoy. You can thank me later. Seriously.

And because I hated to pick just one, here are some runners up:

Milo in The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster)

Elizabeth in Pride & Prejudice (Jane Austen)

Sunshine in Sunshine (Robin McKinley)

Kalen in Wizard's First Rule (Terry Goodkind)

Wishful Wednesday: I Hope You Don't Mind

Ah, Wednesday. You must be my most creative day of the week (I assume this is because it's the weekday I get to sleep in the latest!).

This week for Wishful Wednesday Kelsey over at The Seatle Smiths is asking us which Grammy's performance we wish could have been us. A tricky one yet again for me, seeing as I haven't watched the Grammy's! Being abroad makes you so reliant on YouTube and the internets to watch all the awesome (read: gratuitous) outpourings of pop culture in our dear, dear country.

So, needless to say, I haven't watched all the performances. I wasn't wowed by many I watched the singers I was interested in seeing perform. Taylor kinda let me down, her voice was shaky and pitchy and I am not that big of a fan of her new song (Oh Taylor, it was bound to happen wasn't it?). Lady Antebellum was classy as usual, and I love them, but it wasn't something I'll remember down the road (plus, did you see that curtain hit her? She never even missed a note!). So I've picked one that I assume many will probably pick just because of simply how AMAZING it really was.

You're probably asking yourself: "Seriously Courtney, get on with it."

Well, THIS one of course!

I'm gonna say, with a performance like that I really, really think she was robbed of Album of the Year. Taylor is awesome and all that, and I really adore her. But for me, Album of the Year belongs to not the person who sold the most records or the most bedsheets with their face on them. For me, Album of the year belongs to the person who challenges the music scene. Someone who is innovative with their musical talent. Someone who makes other artists reevaluate their own music and allows the whole world of music to take a step forward. Gaga, in all her craziness and fashion statements, does just that. She's talented, innovative, and puts one one hell of a show.

This performance was amazing. It was bright and flashy. It had a story. It had dancing. It had pop singing. It had sit down and play the piano-ing. This is a performance I'll think back on a bunch. (okay, yes I wish I was Gaga. I wish I could get away with wearing those clothes. I wish I could walk - let alone dance - in those shoes and not break and ankle. Yes, the world is so much sweeter with Gaga in the world.)

Plus: SIR ELTON JOHN?!?! Who would not want to be playing on a stage with him! Be still my heart! (He's coming to Budapest! Need to find tickets!)

Oh, and before you say anything about her singing, have you heard her before she was Gaga? Her voice is BEAUTIFUL. Check it out:

Wishful Wednesday: Let's Take A Walk

I'm growing to really enjoy Wednesdays for these things! This week we've been asked - if you had the opportunity to spend 3 minutes in someone else's shoes, who would it be, and why? This is a TOUGH one. Three minutes is enough time to get a glimpse of their thoughts, a frame in a movie of their life, a brief chance to get outside of your own head. It's also not enough time to really do anything while you're there - no major decisions could be made, no deep conversations to be held, heck barely enough time to take a quick walk around their house!

So, after much thought and soul-searching, I've made my decision. It's one which is completely frivolous and has no greater impact on the world and politics. It's nothing that would give me any greater insight into the human condition. It's really, really all just for fun.

So, who is it?

*Swoon* Now, I know he's got the reputation for being quite the ass and a womanizer. But I'm not ashamed; I love John Mayer despite all the bad PR surrounding him. I could listen to him sing and play me the blues for hours (heck, who am I trying to kid here? days! weeks! months! whatever!) on end. There is something just so calming about a man and the guitar.

Now, what would I do with my 3 minutes (assuming I wouldn't just stare at myself in the mirror for the whole time)?

* Freak out (seriously, you know you would too, 15 seconds)

* Program my number into speed dial on his phone. What? He'd either delete it, or call it out of curiosity. (30 seconds, assuming no errors)

* Write a note to "myself" reminding "me" to call Courtney. Making sure to list all possible positive attributes. (30 seconds)

* Rock out on one of his Fender guitars (assuming I've inherited his skills for my time, 1 minute)

* Take pictures (assuming my camera made the voyage with me, 15 seconds)

* Browse cd/record collection (30 seconds)

I know it's not the most humanitarian of me, nor is it anything that is particularly exciting. But, who knows, I could end up with a phone call and someone to finally teach me how to play the blasted guitar!

Crap, if I ever do meet him - can someone remind me to delete this post? Just in case?

Wishful Wednesday: A Dress Like No Other

So this week's Wishful Wednesday from The Seattle Smiths asks us - which dress from the Golden Globe awards would you would love to have worn. Now, sadly, the Golden GLobes are hard to come by in Budapest, so my red carpet drooling and dreaming has been done from afar (via blogs, news sites, and other assorted areas of cyberspace). But let me tell you, when I came across this dress the girly-girl-wanna-be-movie-star inside me started screaming and begging me.

Inner Me: "Please, oh please, we must have that dress!"

Me: "That dress probably cost more than college did."

IM: "But just think of all the places you'd wear it to!"

Me: "Think of all the Ketchup I'd spill on it!"

IM: "But we really want it!"

Me: "People in hell want ice water. Doesn't mean they're gonna get it."

IM: "But it's just so adorable! And chic! And so, well, US!"

Me: "I must concede, it is an amazing dress. But we're still not getting it."

Which dress you ask?

Why this one, of course!

It's Jayma Mays wearing a Badgley Mischka Resort 2010 masterpiece. She plays the guidance councilor in Glee. She's cute, she's spunky, she's flirty - dangit, she's ME. But she's on the red carpet, and I'm blogging about wishing I was on the red carpet.

Sigh. Maybe someday (IM:"Someday? Get your our cute little butt going!").

And just a heads up to my last post - an aftershock went through Haiti, as if they didn't have problems already. Please, help in whatever way you can. Even if it's just smiling at a stranger to make the world a little happier of a place, please do it. If every Americain cut out $10 from their YEARLY spending (this means making a one time donation of $10) we'd be able to send close to 3.1 BILLION dollars to relief efforts in Haiti. Think about that.

Wishful Wednesday: Hairday

So, I thought I'd try this one out..."Wishful Wednesdays" this week seemed appropriate, "I wish I had___'s hair style!"... as I'm getting my hair dyed on Friday morning. Yes, just before I leave the country, so if it isn't all that, at least it will fade overseas. Ha! What's even funnier, is I'm dying my hair darker (I mean, I've done lighter, and red - and this summer will probably try blonde for the first time, but never darker) and the person whose hair I want?

Taylor Swift.

As someone with bone straight and fine hair, her blonde bouncy curls make me so envious every time I see her or hear her on the radio. Oh Taylor, if I could only have 1/3 of your curls I'd be so happy!