Links of the Non-Sausage Variety...

Because I've been so slack on blogging lately I thought I'd give you some other things to read today. But be sure to come back soon for a story about one of my lifelong dreams...a video will be included in the post - I know...you can't wait!

Check out this List of the Day entry from last week on the Paste Magazine website for a list of the 80 best workout songs. I listened to some yesterday at work and I do think it made me work faster so I might download a few and see if they actually will make me run faster...fingers crossed!

And to get you pumped for tonight's Madonna themed Glee episode, also from the Paste website, here's a list of 15 Sue Sylvester quotes to live by.

If you haven't started watching Mad Men yet but want to get caught up before the next season starts you have until July 25 to make it through three seasons on DVR. If you need inspiration to start watching click here.

As I've said here before, I love the Pioneer Woman. She's known for her cooking skills and recipes which doesn't exactly appeal to me, the "microwave-is-my-best-friend" cook, but I still love her. I wrote about how I was introduced to her here. She's coming to Charlotte on May 7 for those of you in or near the Queen City. If you want something to read to get to know her I suggest starting here.

Also happening May 7th...Friday Night Lights returns!! Watch the promo here and get excited (as if you weren't already!)

The NFL draft starts Thursday night and of course you know I am going to be cheering on Sam Bradford for the first pick. I'm ready to be a Rams fan...

I've only read one Anne Lamott book but I loved it and have the rest of her books on my ever growing list of books to read. Here's an interview with her about her latest book (that of course will also be added to the list).

Another author I enjoy, Donald Miller, wrote a post on his blog last week about how he learned to enjoy exercise. I've thought about it several times while working out since then- it's definitely a freeing perspective on the dreaded gym.

Happy reading!

Super Fun!

It's a big day at A Breezy Blog - one year ago is when I decided to start this little project. That's right - Breezy Blog is One...and super fun! (side note: I really like rhyming adjectives with ages - i.e. 30 and flirty, 28 and great, 13 and lean, etc....yes, sometimes it's a stretch to find a fitting adjective.) Since I've been in a pensive mood recently (see previous post) this little anniversary has made me reflect back over the past year. It's so crazy how fast time seems to go, but then how long ago some things seem, ya know what I'm talkin' bout Willis?

A special thank you to you who are reading this blog right now! I started it for many reasons - all of which you can read here in the first ever Breezy Blog post. Basically I just like to write and talk about pop culture and this is an outlet that allows me to do those things. Oh and I also like to make fun of reality TV dating game shows.

Please always know comments are welcome as I'd love to hear your thoughts on all these random topics too. However, I understand commenting on a blog is sort-of scary since it's acknowledging that you have time to actually read blogs among other things, so if you prefer to remain quiet that's fine too.

For this next year on the blog I'm thinking about introducing some sort of themed day thing that I've seen on other blogs. Not that I want to totally rip someone else off, but I like the consistency that a themed day would bring. And let's be honest, who doesn't love themes?

Other than the themes everything else will pretty much remain the same...more Bachelor/ette and other reality TV show discussions as well as music and products I love. Unless of course you have some other ideas of things you'd like to read about- please do share them if so! Thanks again for reading, if you weren't here I'd feel like I was talking to myself...which actually wouldn't be that unusual for me.

To commemorate this exciting day, enjoy a clip from the best episode of Friends ever (the one that introduced me to my favorite word):

Blaming Beyonce

These were the fantastic words spoken by Anthony Williams, the latest contestant eliminated on Project Runway. If you don't know who Anthony is - here's a picture:
I have been a loose watcher of PR this season; I'm not sure why, but it's just taken me a while to get into it. This could be because when I have watched, Anthony has definitely been the only person providing entertainment. (I mean seriously, has Mila had any inflection of tone in her voice when speaking this season?) This season's cast is just 'blah' in my opinion and will be even more so now that Anthony's gone.

However I LOVED his thoughts on Beyonce. In fact, I don't think truer words have been spoken on this show. Okay well maybe except for whenever Nina calls something "aesthetically not pleasing" because she's usually right about that.

I went to a spin class on Tuesday. Before you judge me as one of those spin class fanatic people let me assure you that this was a rare occurrence. Let's just say I took an exercise hiatus during the cold winter so drastic measures need to be taken quickly as this warm weather approaches.

Anyway, the class was very painful as expected and I was huffing and puffing my way through it until the song 'Survivor' came on by Destiny's Child. Immediately I was transplanted back to 2001 driving around Norman, Oklahoma with my windows down - Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle blasting my mantra from the speakers of my sweet '93 Mitsubishi Eclipse (affectionately known as Mitsi, may she rest in peace). I cannot tell you how much I loved that song in college. So of course I couldn't resist singing along during class...

"I'm a survivor (what), I'm not gonna give up (what), I'm not gon' stop (what), I'm gonna work harder (what), I'm a survivor (what), I'm gonna make it (what), I will survive (what), Keep on survivin' (what)"

As I sang these lyrics my cadence on the bike picked up and I turned the resistance knob up -- completely forgetting the fact that I've taken less than 10 spin classes in my entire life. The pain in my legs increased immediately of course and then a smile spread across my face as I realized Beyonce had in fact made me feel like I was conquering the world through my all powerful spinning skills. I was a survivor after all.

After that enlightenment during my spinning experience with B, I went home and made a new workout playlist containing only Beyonce/Destiny's Child songs because I now completely believed Anthony- there's no question that they make you feel invincible. A sampling of what's included...Independent Woman - check, Irreplacable - check, Single Ladies - of course, Bootylicious -- you know it.

If I can get non-breezy for a moment here I'll share that I continued to further reflect on what it was that made me love Survivor so much in college. I know you're probably thinking the answer is obvious -- just look at this CD cover, how could this song not be awesome?
It was more than just the album cover or the use of the terrific line "Cause my mama taught me better than that" that made me love this song though. I think I love the song because it not only makes me feel all-powerful with physical strength as I workout, but it also makes me feel mentally invincible as I sing along.

Generally it's pretty difficult for me to let other people into my failures and grief; especially when that pain is a result of feeling disappointed by something or someone else. I'd much rather use Beyonce's words to tell them (and myself):

Thought I couldn't breathe without you, I'm inhalin'
You thought I couldn't see without you, Perfect vision
You thought I couldn't last without ya, But I'm lastin'
You thought that I would die without ya, But I'm livin'
Thought that I would fail without ya, But I'm on top,
Thought it would be over by now, But it won't stop,
You thought that I would self-destruct, But I'm still here,
Even in my years to come, I'm still gon' be here.

While there's a part of me that desires to have that thick skin mentality and be the person who has it all together - the truth is that's not how I feel and that's not who I really am. Since college I've learned that if I try to live under an armor suit then yes, I might escape some of the pain; but under all that armor I'll also miss out on some of the joy. While this may seem like common sense it's been a tough lesson for me to grasp and one I'm still working on...taking off the armor leaves me scared and exposed. I have to constantly remind myself there's Someone bigger who won't ever let me down so it's okay to PYOT (put yourself out there - explanation on that acronym is another post for another time...).

Quite a tangent from Anthony's lovely comments, right?! For the record I still love Beyonce and I won't blame her for all my problems - even though I totally agree that she would be worthy of my blame-shift. Now when I sing along in my sweet '07 Honda Civic (affectionately known as Sally) I have a different perspective. Rather than trying to be the Survivor or Independent Woman I'm trying to be the genuine and fearless - jumping into life with others full-on (no armor) so I can experience complete joy. I'll save the tough-girl mentality for spin classes...

Click here to watch several video clips containing some of Anthony's hilarious comments made during Project Runway. Thanks for indulging a somewhat non-breezy post today, I'll be back to regularly scheduled breezy posts about other random things soon!