February.

Honestly, that's as creative of a title I could think of. It's been a while, and this month has mostly been comprised of work and me being tired (my life story, basically). But I'm happy to say it's all downhill from here. My sister is getting married this weekend - YAY! - and then my husband and I are off to the beach for a little four day vacation. Cannot. wait.

Hope everyone's Valentine's Day was fabulous. Ours was pretty low key. To avoid the crowds, we went to our favorite local Mexican restaurant, which we probably would have done on Tuesday night anyway. I bought myself a purse (Thirty-One's 5th Avenue, it has a gazillion pockets and is awesome) and told Ross "thanks for my Valentine's Day present!!!" For the record, I bought it used for a significantly cheaper price than what it retails for...so...go me! And then he sent me beautiful flowers at work even though we agreed not to do anything special for each other. :)

I feel like I need to share this with other iPhone (or smartphone in general) users. Maybe I'm behind the times, but I just recently started using the app Songza. Love it so far, and it's serving as a very good replacement for the SiriusXM music stations I loved so dearly but no longer want to pay for.

Speaking of music...I recently went through a week long-ish period of complete White Stripes obsession. Also just recently heard Jack White's new single, "Love Interruption"...thoughts? I like the female vocal, but could do without whoever is singing it. I also finally realized who Jack White reminds me of:

The child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks that, since I found this picture on google from someone's tumblr (tumblog? I don't know). I then stumbled upon the fact that Roald Dahl was the screenwriter for that film...who knew?!

I've moved on from my incessant White Stripes listening to other things now, and here are a few songs currently on my playlist:
1. Change of Heart - El Perro Del Mar (original version and Robyn's Rakamonie Remix...I think I actually prefer the remix, but I like both)
2. Someone Like You - Adele...I could listen to this song a million times a day and probably not get tired of it.
3. Are You Satisfied? - Marina & the Diamonds
4. As Ugly As I Seem -The White Stripes (a current WS favorite of mine)
5. Come Back Down - Greg Laswell featuring Sara Bareilles

Post sister's-wedding-and-beach update to come soon! I plan on at least getting a good pic of me in my bridesmaid dress I found at a thrift store for $35...AWESOME.

"Iona, you're gonna O.D. on nostalgia."

This title applies to me in a serious way right now. I recently discovered the joy of XM radio (I know, I'm a bit late on that), and am pretty much obsessed with Lithium (90's grunge/alt rock) and 90's on 9. Really, it's rare that I listen to any other station. This is also evident if you've ever been over to my tumblr. The 90's song of the week is about the only thing I blog, and every week I spend more time than I should watching youtube videos, listening repeatedly to my favorite 90's songs on iTunes, and looking for ones I loved at some point but forgot about.

For a while, it was 80's. And it still kind of is, but I've switched over to more of an 80's-movies-obsession rather than music. I wouldn't be lying if I said I've watched Pretty In Pink four times over the course of the past three weeks (see image). But I get hooked on things like that. When I find music I like, I wear it out, same with movies. I couldn't tell you what I like about Pretty In Pink...well, actually I could. A huge part of what I love in that movie is John Cryer and the role he plays. He is absolutely great.

But back to the 90's. My current obsession-within-an-obsession would be Oasis. I found this video the other day, and haven't stopped listening to them since. I mean, I've always had the Oasis staples in my collection (Wonderwall, Don't Go Away, etc)...but these kicks come out of nowhere. It's just kind of like, you've heard "Champagne Supernova" more times than you can count, but then you see or hear a different version or whatever and it's like a lightbulb goes off and you're just like "damn, that's a GOOD song." That happened with me too the other day for Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car." I hated that song when it was popular because it was played so much on the radio, but I watched a live version on youtube the other day and got goosebumps. Maybe I'm just weird. But I do love the 90's.

In other news, ROBYN was on The Ellen Show today...awesome. This would be the same Robyn you know from the 90's ("Show Me Love" was one of her more popular singles). But she is way better now. Also, I may have exaggerated a tiny bit earlier, I do listen to a couple other stations from time to time on xm, and I'm kind of hooked on a song called "Young Blood" by Naked and Famous. I have no idea who they are, but I love the song.

Robyn resurfacing (part 2)

So, a few years back, I wrote a post about Robyn and how she was resurfacing in the pop world. Or the pop world here, rather. She never really faded out in Europe. Anyway, I have continued to keep up with her as I looooove her music and she is at it again. Her new single is called "Fembot" and can be heard here. Homegirl is leaps and bounds ahead of what the Beyonces and Christina Aguilera's are doing (or trying to do). She's on her own record label, the creativity juices seem to be flowing with no limits, and I could seriously listen to her new single probably ten times a day and not get tired of it...along with "Change of Heart" (also featured on her myspace page).

I still don't understand why she disappeared from the map here in the United States. I guess when her music & style evolved, we couldn't handle the change here. Not surprising. I find it ironic that she did back up vocals for Britney Spears on "Piece of Me," which = the back up singer being ten times better than the main act. Although that probably happens quite often.

Still can't get enough of her self-entitled album with tracks like "Be Mine!" and "Who's That Girl"...can't wait for the new one to come out!!! If she's fallen off your map, I'd say she is worth giving a second listen.