Entertainment

Insightful Quotes By Introverted Musicians

/ Entertainment / Leave a Comment

Introverted musicians create songs filled with despair, pain, hope, and triumph. Their music is steeped in deep emotionality. Introverts experience life on a deep emotional level. This is what makes them amazing creators and artists. This blog shares some insightful quotes from introverted artists and a playlist that includes songs by introverted musicians only. I hope you enjoy it!

Bob Dylan – “People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient and then repent.”

Prince – “A strong spirit transcends rules.”

Elvis – “Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t going away.”

Kate Bush – “I had friends, but I was spending a great deal of my time alone, which for me that was vital because there’s an awful lot you learn about yourself when you’re alone.”

Lorde – “I’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands in the air. So there.”

Alessia Cara – “I always told myself if I was going to be given a voice, I might as well say something worth listening to and not something that’s just going to feed people stupidity.”

Adele – “Being told how to look is about being a product and I don’t want to be a product.”

Ella Fitzgerald- “Just don’t give up trying what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”

David Bowie – “I find only freedom in the realms of eccentricity.”

Anne Clark- “I always looked at any instrument as just a tool, an expressive voice to write with.”

Playlist:

Dylan McDonie – My son is an aspiring singer/songwriter and also an introvert. I couldn’t write this blog and not include his music. Below are some of his demos on SoundCloud. I hope that you enjoy them!

Check out some of my other blogs!

To receive new blog notifications subscribe below!

Please share!

Insightful Quotes By Introverted Musicians Read More »

Summer Playlist 2022

/ Entertainment / Leave a Comment

I just created my 2nd annual summer playlist! Music is an important part of my life. I enjoy finding great new music. My kids are into music too, so they’re always introducing me to wonderful new artists. I wanted to share some of the music I’ve been listening to lately. I hope that you’re having an amazing summer and that you enjoy some of these tunes!

You May Also Like Some Of My Other Blogs!

Brighten Up Your Inbox and Subscribe To My Blog!

Please Share!

Summer Playlist 2022 Read More »

5 summer fun ideas

/ Entertainment / 1 Comment

Summer’s finally here! It’s my favorite season so I like to pay homage to it every year. I love the longer days, vacations, and sand between my toes. I’ve come up with some fun things to try this summer to make it even more enjoyable. Let’s get summering!

1. Make a delicious frozen drink

Frozen Strawberry Limeade Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 cup diet Sprite
  • 1/2 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 1/2 cup of ice
  • 2 Tbsp lime juice
  • Honey as needed

Put all the ingredients into your blender and blend until it’s the consistency of an Icee. I made this concoction yesterday and it was delicious, while also being low calorie, only 80 per serving! Whipping these up is a great way to make a pool day a little more special!

2. Create an outdoor Comfy Lounger

Who knew kiddie pools could be used for so many fun things? Buy an inexpensive one, then fill it up with comfy pillows and blankets. You now have the perfect place for stargazing, watching movies in the backyard, or reading a good book!

3. make Ice Cream In a Bag

Ice Cream in a Bag Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream or half and half
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 1/2 tsp. of sugar

Put all the ingredients into a sandwich size bag. Make sure to get all the air out when you seal it. Then put this bag into another sandwich bag and seal. Take a gallon size bag and fill it halfway up with ice and 6 tablespoons of course kosher salt. Then put your sandwich bag into the gallon bag and seal.

Now get moving! You need to shake the bad for 5-10 minutes to make the ice cream. Have a dance contest to see who can make their ice cream first! This not only gives you a tasty treat but the added bonus of a little fun competition too!

4. Make a terrarium

A terrarium is perfect for those who were not born with a green thumb or don’t want the commitment of caring for a garden or a plant. Plants in a terrarium are very resilient and require little care. They are also extremely easy to make!

Instructions

  1. Start with a clean clear jar. (A mason jar is perfect.)
  2. Cover the bottom with a layer of rocks or pebbles.
  3. Add a small layer of activated charcoal.
  4. Add a small layer of moss to keep the potting soil and charcoal separate.
  5. Add a thick layer of potting soil. (soil for indoor plants.)
  6. Add your plants. (succulents or little ferns are perfect.)
  7. Then add moss or other decorative features around your plants.

Voila! You now have your very own indoor garden to enjoy!

play a photography game

This is something you can do wherever you happen to be this summer. You can play these games at home, in a new city, or in your town! We have our phones with us at all times. We may not consider ourselves photographers, but the majority of us do take a lot of pics with our phones. These photography games are fun and they will add some creative shots to your gallery!

pHOTOGRAPHY GAMES

  1. Baker’s Dozen: Stand in one place and without taking a step in any direction, make 13 distinct photos.
  2. Imitation Is Flattery: Find a photo that you like online and then do your best to recreate it.
  3. 10 X 1: Shoot 10 unique photos of one subject. You can choose a subject that moves or a stationary one.
  4. Mission 24: It was designed to help photographers find different ways to express different themes.

Here is a sample theme:

  • Cold
  • Signage
  • New Year’s resolution
  • Patient
  • Vice

You can also find other random Mission 24 themes online. This game definitely will push you out of your comfort zone, which will give you some creative and unique photos!

I hope that you like these summer activity ideas and that they will make your summer a little more fun. I know that I plan on trying at least one or two myself!

You May Like Some Of My Other Blogs!

Brighten Up Your Inbox and Subscribe!

Please Share!

5 summer fun ideas Read More »

3 Holiday movies that will make you laugh

/ Entertainment / Leave a Comment

The Family Stone

The Family Stone is a 2005 holiday dramedy. It has an all-star cast which includes: Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Jessica Parker, Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Rachel McAdams, and Luke Wilson. (You can watch it on Amazon.)

Everett (Dermot Mulroney) brings his girlfriend home to meet his family for Christmas. His girlfriend Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker), is wound a little tight while his family members are all free spirits. This dichotomy allows for an array of comedic moments. Diane Keaton is wonderful as Everett’s disapproving mother and Rachel McAdams who plays Amy, Everett’s sister is amazing. The open hostility she unleashes on Meredith is extremely funny without being cruel and is one of the best parts of the movie. It’s reminiscent of her portrayal of Regina in Mean Girls.

This movie is special because of the feelings it evokes. The tone is realistic and nostalgic and makes you feel like you’re at your own home for the holidays. It’s hilarious, but it also has a depth to it that is seldom found in comedies these days. I watch this film every year and enjoy it just as much as the first time I watched it.

Elf

Elf is a 2003 holiday comedy and my absolute favorite Christmas movie! Will Ferrell and James Caan head up the cast, which also includes Mary Steenburgen, Zooey Deschanel, Bob Newhart, and Ed Asner. (You can watch it on Hulu or HBO Max.)

Will Ferrell portrays Buddy the elf. As a baby, he’s in an orphanage and he unknowingly crawls into Santa’s toy bag one Christmas. Hence, Santa (Ed Asner) takes him back to the North Pole where he is raised by Papa Elf (Bob Newhart). He grows up believing that he is an elf. Then one day, he finds an old photo and this sets him off on a quest to New York City to find his father (James Caan).

The laughs begin as we watch a grown man, who thinks he’s an elf, show up in New York City looking for a father who doesn’t know he exists. Will Ferrell brings a naivete to the character of Buddy that is sweet and endearing. You can’t help but fall in love with him. Elf is a feel-good and hopeful movie that everyone should see at least once. Or you can be like me and decide to watch it every year!

The Family Man

The Family Man is a 2000 romantic comedy. Nicholas Cage and Tea Leoni star in this holiday classic. (You can watch it on-demand on AMC.)

Jack Campbell (Nicholas Cage) is a rich financier and playboy. He seems to have it all and is happy with the life he has made for himself. On Christmas Eve, he inserts himself in a crime that is in progress and brings Cash (Don Cheadle) into his life. Unfortunately, Cash doesn’t like Jack and tells him that he is going to give him a glimpse. Jack has no idea what he’s talking about and continues on his merry way.

On Christmas morning, Jack’s penthouse and Lamborghini have been replaced with a house in the suburbs and a mini-van. He also miraculously has two kids and his lost love Kate (Tea Leoni) is now his wife. This information initially freaks Jack out because his other life no longer exists, but then he comes to terms with what has happened and even embraces it.

It has parallels to the Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life, where George Bailey gets a glimpse at life without himself in it. Jack in a similar way gets a glimpse of the life he would have had if love led him instead of ambition. I don’t want to spoil it, so I’ll say no more. This is also one of my favorite Christmas-time movies and one that I think you will enjoy immensely.

I hope that these movies make you laugh and that your holiday season is filled with lots of love and joy!

You may like some of my other blogs:

Subscribe to my blog and brighten up your inbox:

Please share:

3 Holiday movies that will make you laugh Read More »

15 Unique things to do with your Adult kids

/ Entertainment / Leave a Comment 
"Spending quality time with your children is always the right decision."
-Poppy Sparkles

Parents want to spend time with their children, creating lasting memories well into their child’s adulthood. I am always looking for fun things to do with my daughter Julia (20) and my son Dylan (22). You don’t have to limit yourself to doing these things only with your kids, feel free to do them with your significant other or a friend too!

I hope that you find something different to do that will help you make memories you can share with your loved ones forever.

15 Memory-Making Activities

  1. Paint rocks and then leave them out in public for a stranger to find. (My daughter and I did this and it was very fun!)
  2. Read aloud together. A book that you have both been wanting to read.
  3. Wake up early and watch the the sunrise together.
  4. Bring your favorite board game to a coffee shop.
  5. Plan and cook a meal together.
  6. Go to a karaoke or trivia night at a local restaurant.

7. Put a bunch of blankets and pillows on the grass in the backyard and stargaze.

8. Go see their favorite musician play in concert. (I went with my kids last month to a music festival that featured their favorite artists. It was a great weekend and we made a lot of wonderful memories!)

9. Do something that scares you together. A haunted house, roller coaster, ziplining, etc… ( I have gone to a haunted house with my kids the last two years. It was scary, but a lot of fun!)

10. Go camping.

11. Throw a spur of the moment party, just for fun.

12. Dress up and go to the symphony or opera.

13. Have a picnic together somewhere pretty.

14. Sign up for a course or workshop together.

15. On a rainy day, have a movie marathon.

As parents, we will never regret the time that we spend with our children. Spending quality time together with our children and other loved ones is difficult, because of the many distractions we have to contend with these days. I hope that these fun activities help you to make some wonderful memories with the people you love!

Subscribe to my blog and brighten up your inbox:

Please share:

15 Unique things to do with your Adult kids Read More »

Need an Escape? Here’s 3 great series to watch

/ Entertainment / Leave a Comment

We’ve all had those days when the only thing we want to do is curl up on the couch with a blanket and do nothing but watch TV. Recently, our options for what to watch at home have drastically increased.

This is a wonderful thing, but it can also be daunting trying to figure out what to watch. I’m sharing a few of my favorite television shows to help narrow down your search. These series are perfect for escaping your life for a little while and I hope that you enjoy them!

Gilmore girls

This is my all time favorite television show. It is on Netflix and has seven seasons. It is about thirty-something single mother Lorelai Gilmore and her teen daughter Rory. They live in picturesque Stars Hollow, Connecticut. It is a lovely small town where people truly care about each other.

Lorelai, played by Lauren Graham is an intelligent and witty character, and it is amazingly fun to try to keep up with her never ending banter. Throw in a dreamy coffee shop owner, a couple of overbearing rich parents and the drama never stops.

I can’t think of a better place to escape to then the world of the Gilmore Girls and Stars Hollow. Gilmore Girls is my happy place and I hope that it brings you some happiness too!

Nashville

Nashville is a perfect drama about love, music and Nashville. What could be better? I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this show. It has six seasons and you can watch it on Hulu. The real star of this show is Connie Britton. She is amazing as famous country singer Rayna James and her presence holds the whole series together.

The show also stars Hayden Panettiere and Charles Esten. It follows their lives as musicians in Nashville. The show is full of romance, drama and a lot of music. The country music performers are also extremely good.

It is an engrossing show that will keep you watching each episode from beginning to end, and then pushing the remote to watch the next one!

Hart of Dixie

Hart of Dixie is a light romantic comedy television series. It has four seasons and you can watch in on Amazon. Rachel Bilson plays Zoe Hart a New York doctor who receives an offer to work in a practice in Blue Bell, Alabama. When she arrives, she finds that the doctor who offered her the job has died, but has left her his half of the practice.

It is a fish out of water story about a New York girl trying to make a new life in the South. Blue Bell is another perfect little town in which to lose yourself. It’s full of handsome men and eclectic townspeople. Hart of Dixie is a great series in which to escape for a few hours!

So these are my favorite television shows to watch when you want to get away from your life for awhile. They have definitely given me many hours of enjoyment and I hope that they do the same for you!

Check out some of my other blogs!

Subscribe to my blog and brighten up your inbox!

Please share:

Need an Escape? Here’s 3 great series to watch Read More »