List-a-Mania 2017

I've decided to take inventory of some past lists I've made, and do some updates. Hoping for more fun and entertainment in 2018!

Celebrity bucket list:
1. Lin-Manuel Miranda, as always
2. Mindy Kaling
3. The cast of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (along with Santino Fontana)
4. Jamie Cullum (I'd be happy just to hear him perform live, at this rate.)
5. Sophie Kinsella (I'm hoping she'll come back to the US one of these days and stop in my neck of the woods. She didn't include my area on her tour last time and I was so jealous of people who got to meet her.)
6. The cast of Stranger Things
7. Tatiana Maslany (even though Orphan Black has ended, she's still fabulous)
UPDATE: I can't believe I forgot to include Randy Rainbow! I would love to meet him.

Top Five Favorite Movies that I saw in 2017
You can see how many movies I watch with my kids these days...

1. Beauty and the Beast
2. Wonder
3. Coco
4. The Greatest Showman
5. The Big Sick

My favorite new TV shows (shows I started watching in 2017):

1. The OA
2. The Bold Type
3. Will and Grace (reboot...it counts!)
4. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
5. Soon By You (web series with only 5 episodes, but it's just so addictive!)

Top Ten Favorite Books I read in 2017. (Some may be from previous years or publishing in 2018.)
I've shared my top five chick lit favorites at Chick Lit Central (as Melissa A). I read so many amazing books this year and am sad to have to narrow it down at all. I'm too lazy to put in my review links, so just trust me on this!

1. The Life She Was Given by Ellen Marie Wiseman
2. Beautiful Messy Love by Tess Woods
3. No Time to Blink by Dina Silver
4. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
5. This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
6. Best Kept Secret by Amy Hatvany
7. It Started With Goodbye by Christina June
8. The Lost Letter by Jillian Cantor
9. The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister
10. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Ten good things that happened in 2017:
1. Seeing Hamilton
2. Trip to Nashville with my BFF
3. My older son getting into a school he really wanted to go to...and loving it
4. My daughter learning how to read
5. Meeting Nicole Waggoner when she was in DC
6. Catching up with family and friends on our trip to Chicago, as well as reuniting with a friend I haven't seen since high school.
7. Making some new friends online and in person
8. Seeing In the Heights at a local professional theater...featuring an actor I saw in the Broadway production.
9. My BFF coming to town for a visit (it's our annual end-of-year thing)
10. Getting to see Jen Tucker and Pam Jenoff again over the summer.
Bonus: Winning a Greatest Showman themed contest on social media!!!

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

Rainbow Revisited

Here are two truths:
1. I absolutely hate (and that's too nice of a word) the person who's supposed to be running our country...but is only running it into the ground.
2. Randy Rainbow is my gay soulmate.

A while back, I talked about how amazingly wonderful Randy Rainbow is. He keeps me sane when the joke that calls himself the leader of our country does something ridiculously awful. (When doesn't he?) Randy says exactly what I'm thinking and feeling, but with more eloquence and usually in the form of a parody of a Broadway song. (Sometimes he'll change his tune and go pop or country.) So without any further ado, here are some of my favorite videos since the last time I posted about Randy's awesomeness:

How could I NOT love a Rocky Horror parody? I just wish Randy did the makeup to complete his costume.



Another Hamilton parody. Enough said. Hoping he'll do a Dear Evan Hansen parody soon!



This is just fabulous. I can't listen to "Despacito" without hearing this version in my head.



It made me appreciate The Book of Mormon a bit more.



Country at its best. So good that they tried to do something similar at the CMA Awards.



Just fun silliness. Enjoy!



While I don't like Cats, this song is just perfect.



Great parody of a Wicked song. So fitting! I just hope this version doesn't pop into my head when I see the musical again.



These next two are not about Trump, but they're still really good and they call out the mentality of his administration.

This was done a while ago, but I forgot to share it last time. Now that she's running for County Clerk in KY, it's even more important to share it!




Another fun one, just because. I love how he points out how idiotic people get over progress and being open-minded.



I'm sure as Randy keeps putting out more videos (soon, I hope!), I'll have another blog post to highlight his latest and greatest. In the meantime, check out his channel on YouTube and visit him on Facebook and Twitter.

Isn't she marvelous?

Back in March, Amazon previewed pilots of some new shows they were looking to stream later in the year. The one I decided to watch was The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It was intriguing and amusing, so I voted for it. Thankfully, other people did too, because they picked up the rest of the series and recently started airing it. I somewhat binge-watched it, but there are only eight episodes, so it wasn't too hard. Especially since they were so enjoyable! I'm here now to share some reasons you should be watching this show too. And if you don't have Amazon Prime, sign up for a free trial. You'll be done in less than the 30 days of the trial, and then you get free two-day shipping on your holiday gifts, as well!



Here is the brief synopsis from Amazon:
In 1958 New York, Midge Maisel's life is on track- husband, kids, and elegant Yom Kippur dinners in their Upper West Side apartment. But when her life takes a surprise turn, she has to quickly decide what else she's good at - and going from housewife to stand-up comic is a wild choice to everyone but her. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is written and directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino (The Gilmore Girls).

Watch this trailer for the series. And if you're still not sure after that, check out my reasons (spoiler free).



Reasons to watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel:

*Rachel Brosnahan in the lead role of Midge. She is  absolutely delightful, even when saying the F-word a lot (don't watch in front of your kids). I love how Midge takes control of her life. She's a force to be reckoned with!

*Alex Borstein as Susie. You may recognize her from Mad TV or know her voice from Family Guy, but she is the perfect fit for Midge's wise-cracking manager and friend. I love the way she dresses. So unconventional for the 1950's, yet it just works for her so well.

*The actress who plays Midge's mom is also the principal on Speechless. She's not as funny and laid back in this role, but she is still really good.
Photos courtesy of IMDb.

*You can live vicariously through Midge if you ever wanted to be a comedian and never made it happen. It's harder than it looks though! I should know, after all....

*Watching Midge and her husband (played by Michael Zegen) together. I couldn't decide if they were better together or apart. They had a great on-screen chemistry.

*Surprise guest appearances by Max Casella (Vinnie from Doogie Howser), Wallace "inconceivable" Shawn, and Jane Lynch.

*The witty dialogue and banter. I love the way people had conversations on this show. And the stuff Midge says in her comedy routines had me cracking up.

*All the Jewish references. Of course I'm going to enjoy that!

*The fashion. I could not get enough of Midge's dresses. Gorgeous!

Courtesy of IMDb. I really loved this dress.

*The music. It wasn't just about rock 'n roll in the 1950's. There were some great big band and Rat Pack era hits. I love how the music enhanced the scenes in this show.

*The scenery and props. It really made the 1950's come to life with all the attention to detail. I felt like I had time traveled while watching each episode.

These are just some of the reasons I liked this show even more than I was expecting to. I had a really fun time watching it and I hope you will, as well! I also hope there will be a second season!