After a long week of helping my partner with his graduate school applications, I figured he and I needed to get out of the apartment and go do something fun together. I had signed us up to see Chris Porter on Thursday evening through meetup.com. Even though we were both exhausted (grad school applications are awful!), we dragged ourselves over to see the comedian at The Charlotte Comedy Zone.
And we did not regret it one bit.
Chris Porter, well known for earning third place on Last Comic Standing, has been a touring comedian since he was 23.
As much as my boyfriend and I were cracking up (I was crying at one point), it seemed like Chris Porter had difficulty controlling the audience at points. Audience members kept talking over him and he appeared to not know how to handle that. At one point, he made a joke about jaguars that didn’t go over so well. Once he learned that the people of Charlotte are huge Carolina Panther fans, he tried to recover and make a joke with that.
Aside from the minor flops, Chris Porter was fabulous and managed to keep everyone entertained throughout the evening. His charisma and sarcasm was too hilarious not to laugh at and his jokes were so easy to relate to.
This season’s The Biggest Loser opens up with trainer Bob Harper as the host of the show. Shocked, I quickly did some major research (thank you Google), and found out that Alison Sweeney, former host of Biggest Loser, has decided to step down from the big role.
This season hopped right on the treadmill with Bob as he gave the contestants their very first workout. The twist? He tempted them with $25,000 to get off of their treadmills and walk away.
Not one person stepped off to reach for that money. My willpower would not have been so strong. Hello student loans debt.
The show presented a new house, a new gym and an extra scale to make the weigh-ins go quicker. Hardcore trainers Dolvett Quince and Jen Widerstrom were antsy to break in the gym with their new teams. Immediately, the difference between Dolvett’s training style and Jen’s training style was immediate.
Dolvett likes to challenge people through tough love. He spots the weakness and hones in on it. Felicia, from North Carolina, was picked for his team. After the first workout, Dolvett told her that she would be the first to go home (damn, Dolvett!).
Jen, however, wanted her team to see what they were capable of. She focused on the confidence building aspect of it all. Her aim was to get the contestants to believe in themselves again. By the end of the session, it was clear that they were ready to start their journeys.
And then we had some group therapy with Bob Harper.
Yup. Group. Therapy.
Not that I’m against group therapy. It works and is necessary in many instances, but I feel like the show was trying to force a kumbaya moment too soon. Normally the break downs start happening during the workouts and throughout the season, but the writers must have felt the need to connect the contestants and the audience sooner than usual. It just felt like an awkward first date where one person reveals too much about themselves too soon.
The show returned to normal when the contestants of season 17 were presented with their very first challenge. Each team had to pick a pair of contestants to climb a ladder to the top of a bank building in Los Angeles after both teams transferred a ton of money (literally – a ton) over onto a weigh station. Richard and Erin from Team Dolvett beat Team Jen’s Hernandez brothers to the top where they find another money temptation: $40,000 for themselves or an eight-pound advantage for the end of the week weigh-in.
Team Dolvett picks the eight-pound advantage, but it does not help them in the weigh-in as much as they hoped. The team loses the weigh-in and votes Britney off.
Supergirl opens up with a reminder of last week’s lesson: mother/daughter relationships are hard. Kara’s boss, Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart), deals with an annoying mother belittling every career choice Cat has ever made.
In a similarly confrontational fashion, Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan Tatum)
along with father Sam Lane (Glen Morshower) order Supergirl to fight their newest weapon: the Red Tornado.
Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) takes her work frustrations and love troubles out on the robot, but goes a bit too far when she freezes and then rips off its arm. It immediately goes into “self-preservation mode” and flies off, leaving its creator devastated and jobless (getting fired over Supergirl beating his robot? Harsh).
After this grueling session, Kara gets to deal with an awkward game night with best friend Winn (Jeremy Jordan), crush James Olson (Mehcad Brooks) and crush’s girlfriend Lucy Lane. Not only does she get to sit in on the power couple crushing it with a word guessing game, but she also has to listen to Lucy bash her alternate identity Supergirl.
Unable to keep her anger bottled up any longer after being criticized by Cat Grant, Kara absolutely loses it at work and yells at her boss. Immediately, Kara starts to apologize but is told by Cat, “We’re going.”
And they go.
They head straight for the bar where Cat gives some valuable professional vs. personal advice. She tells it like it is.
So what can we do as women? Cat suggested going to a kickboxing class and getting it out the good old fashioned way: through exercise.
But Kara, being Supergirl, can’t just walk into a kickboxing class.
So she dukes it out with a car while James Olson uses a punching bag. Kara quickly realizes that she’s not angry over Lucy Lane tearing her apart or her job giving her some major low self esteem issues – she’s angry over not being normal the second her parents sent her off to Earth before they died.
I am officially moving tomorrow (hello adult world), and I am running around in a frenzy trying to make sure everything is just perfect for my move. I have a fantastic partner who is ready to help me move, a loud but loving mother who is ready to get her shopping and decorating on, and a moving outfit that says, “I’m here to get work done.”
But before I even get to my new apartment (pictures to come), I need to be confident that I have everything I need for a successful move:
Goodwill It
Bag any unnecessary items and give it all away. If it’s not coming with you or you have no need for it, get it out of the way before you even start to pack.
An Overnight Bag
Because the last thing you’ll want to do is plan out your outfit for the next day or have to drag out all of your tightly packed things in order to get ready for work on Wednesday morning.
Cleaning Supplies
I am a neat-freak, and I will scrub every last inch of that place before I actually start to move in at 10:00am tomorrow. I’ve given myself an hour to get some major scrubbing done before I need to really unpack everything.
My list comes equipped with:
Cleaning Spray
Paper Towels (all of the paper towels)
Lysol Wipes
Vacuum Cleaner
Swiffer
Get Cups/Glasses (if you already have them, make them easy access!)
Or, in my case, Mason Jars! (Because ‘help me, I’m poor‘ is a real struggle, my friends). My best guess is that with all of the moving you will be doing, you’re going to get sweaty and gross. Lifting things up
and putting them down is a huge work out when you’re walking up a few flights of stairs.
Make sure you do everyone a favor and have a few of these bad boys at the ready. The people helping you out will be thirsty and will need a glass of water to keep them going strong.
Take Pictures of Your New Place Before You Move In
Not only will this help with getting a good look at what you’re starting with, but will also help you when you need to move out in a year or ten and want your deposit back.
Last but Not Least: Make Sure You Have Everything You Need
These are just a few of my move-in survival tips! Leave a comment below with a few of yours!
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me starts off with a plan (because they always work so well in the Vampire Diaries) created by Stefan (Paul Wesley). They need to convince the heretics to turn on Julian (Todd Lasance) so they can steal blood to un-link Lily (Annie Wersching) and Julian from each other.
Right from the start I knew their plan was going to fail. I mean, come on, how often do their plans actually work? So this episode was more about seeing the plan unravel and watching the characters go through their drama.
Julian decided to throw a party for Mary Louise and Nora to celebrate their being together for over a century. He gave Mary a fabulous ring so she could propose to her girlfriend in the most beautiful setting ever, and she said yes!
Things aren’t so happy, though, when Caroline drops the bomb on Stefan that she’s pregnant. Predictably, he didn’t take it too well. Using the excuse that they have a small window of opportunity to kill off Julian that day, Stefan immediately bails (wow, Stefan…way to be terrible boyfriend material).
In the meantime, Lily breaks down and drinks from a human after peer pressure from abusive boyfriend Julian at Mary Louise’s and Nora’s party. Damon (Ian Somerholder) happens to walk in on that very moment and declares, once again, his undying hatred for his mother.
Lily finally gets a moment with the heretics and has them listen to Valerie’s story of how Julian killed the baby inside of her. A touching but awkward session of hugging from everyone around is quickly ruined when Mary Louise breaks Julian free from Damon and Valerie’s watch.
Stefan, unaware that master evil has escaped, calls Caroline to talk. He says, “I love you” for the first time (awwww) and she says it back. All seems right with the world for a moment until Lily is forced to choose who lives between Damon and Valerie by Julian.
Refusing to abandon either her biological child or her adoptive child, Lily chooses to stab herself, thinking that she is still linked to Julian.
Of course it can’t be that easy.
In order to protect Lily, Julian separated their link just in case Stefan and Damon decided to kill him. Lily dies and Damon’s last words to her are, “You made your bed…have a nice nap.”
Ouch.
Cold last words to your mother.
The most surprising part of this episode, however, was the fact that Matt finally managed to get some help for the vampire problem in Mystic Falls. Who are his new friends? Maybe some left over scientists from Whitmore? Perhaps a ghost from his past?
The episode was also laced with flash-forwards that gave the audience hope that Lily would still be alive. But TVD crushed that hope by confirming that she is dead and gone for good.
RIP Lily Salvatore and her pathetic excuse for plot development.
I’m looking forward to the next TVD when we see how everyone is dealing with Lily’s death. Will Julian finally back off from the Salvatore brothers? Will we find out who is targeting our beloved characters in the future? Who are Matt’s new friends? And most importantly: does Caroline need to eat something other than blood for her pregnancy? (I mean, really, are her babies just going to grow naturally and be fed with blood instead of food or what?)
Supergirl kicked off its Thanksgiving special with Leslie Willis (Brit Morgan) ragging on Supergirl via public radio (Melissa Benoist) after she just took down an alien that had escaped from its cell (like no big deal).
Ouch, talk about harsh. Girl-on-girl hate is totally unacceptable. Not only does Leslie Willis insult Supergirl’s fashion choices (her outfit is cute, come on!), but hits below the belt and questions her sexuality. I mean, really – we all know Leslie Willis is going to become Supergirl’s nemesis Livewire, but does the character have to have so much girl-on-girl hate?
I’m all for women supporting each other. There’s enough backstabbing in the world. Women need to stick together.
Which is why when Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) tells Leslie Willis to back off (boss lady to the rescue), I was extremely happy. Leslie was even forced to cover traffic reports in a helicopter for Cat. It was a huge demotion from her public radio show.
Of course this bites Cat in the butt when Leslie manages to get powers from a freak helicopter accident complete with lightning and Supergirl trying to save her.
Hello new super-villain: Livewire.
In the meantime, the relationship between mothers and daughters is explored through Cara’s (AKA Supergirl) sister Alex (Chyler Leigh) and foster mom Eliza (Helen Slater). Thanksgiving is not so much a family holiday as it is a family feud between the two women. Eliza criticizes Alex for not looking out for her sister enough and for allowing Supergirl to come out to the world. As if Cara isn’t an adult and can’t make decisions by herself. I mean, look t her apartment. For real, as an assistant she makes a pretty decent living.
Later, Cat Grant and Cara have a heart-to-heart after Cat was attacked by Livewire. Warm fuzzies are exchanged over a quick talk about mother/daughter relationships that aren’t so great. Cat learns some new things about Cara and declares that she wants to learn more about her assistant because she hardly knows anything about her.
The episode concludes with Livewire having been beaten by Supergirl (big surprise), Cara friend-zoning Winn hardcore, and a new mystery about the DEO that needs to be solved: what happened to Alex’s father, Jermiah Danver?
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 was out in the movie theaters November 20th and I couldn’t wait to see it. Hyped up from the previous movies and ready for the finale of a fantastic series, I walked into the theater hoping the movie would be better than the book (because quite honestly I did not enjoy the book)…
Taking my own advice with my partner’s birthday present, I decided to treat him to the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Mahler Symphony No. 5. Conducted by Christopher Warren-Green, the concert was phenomenal.
Warren-Green has been the Music Director of the London Chamber Orchestra since 1988 and conducted a private concert for the Queen’s 80th birthday. He has served as concertmaster of the Philharmonia Orchestra and had arranged and conducted the music to celebrate the marriage of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.
It was such a treat to watch the prestigious violinist and conductor lead the orchestra through all five movements of the symphony. Luckily, I got tickets to the far left in the orchestra seating so we could see his expressions and conducting style much better than if we had been in the middle seats. The passionate style of his conducting as well as his ability to draw not only beauty but also the rawness of emotion with each movement.
The first movement (Trauermarsch: In gemessenem Schritt. Streng. Wie ein Kondukt) is a funeral march that begins with a solo trumpet triplet. With Mahler’s trumpet heavy style, I was somewhat impressed with the ability of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra trumpet section. Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 is not easy on the chops when it comes to the brass section. I did, however, believe that the brass section needed a bit of cleaning up. There were no major mistakes that can be noted, but at certain points the trumpets seemed tired and lackluster as opposed to the confident and leading sound that Mahler was going for in his music.
The strings brought out the richness of the second movement (Stürmisch bewegt, mit größterVehemenz). With their almost dance-like sound in combination with the percussion, it was a drastic change when the basses threw in their turbulent and dramatic sound. Like a storm, I was swept away by the sheer impact this movement had. Warren-Green used large gestures to pull the sound from his players during the dramatic moments while he used more elegant gestures to create a more romantic feel during the lighter parts.
Again, in the third movement (Scherzo: Kraftig, nicht zu schnell) I was not entirely impressed with the brass section. The french horns were not as light as they needed to be. They sounded a bit too heavy when this movement calls for a more delicate beginning. Also, the clarinetist was a hair sharp, but quickly adjusted to keep up with the orchestra. When the string section swept in, the movement finally fell into place and the movement as a whole was rather enjoyable.
During the fourth movement (Adagietto. Sehrlangsam), harpist Andrea Mumm stole the show. This was the most beautiful movement of all. With its romantic atmosphere and gentle strings, I was nearly moved to tears. Warren-Green kept his conducting light during the harpist’s solo, allowing her the freedom to express herself with wonderful precision and emotion. When it came time for the strings to have their moments, Warren-Green held his hand up to his cheek reminding the orchestra to emote through their instruments. The movement was nothing short of phenomenal and left the audience breathless and wanting more.
The fifth and final movement (Rondo Finale: Allegro giocoso. Frish) was absolutely fantastic. Christopher Warren-Green’s expressions had me laughing in astonishment because he was so passionate and clearly so ready for this symphony to be finished. He knew his orchestra had done a job well done (a standing ovation that lasted approximately 8 minutes with him leaving and re-entering stage three times) and he was ready to wrap things up.
Over all, I give the performance a 7/10. The conductor and soloist Andrea Mumm were fantastic, but I really feel that the brass section needed to be cleaned up. I had a wonderful evening and look forward to attending more performances in the Charlotte area.
With all of these fantastic gift suggestions out there, I decided to compile a reasonable list of what to actually get your boyfriend for his birthday. Because after he blows out his candles, he should want to stick around instead of jumping out a window.
It is my firm belief that there is nothing sexier than a well dressed man in a suit and tie. If your guy has not so great taste in fashion or just needs more work clothes, a few quality button-up shirts and silky ties will do the trick.
Don’t know his style or his size quite yet? Make sure you get a gift receipt so if there’s anything that doesn’t suit him, he can just take it back and get the right size.
If you don’t have a lot of money to spare (we’ve all been there), get him a nice pair of cuff links. They are something he can wear every day and some websites will let you put his initials on them.
These are great if you are in the beginning stages of dating and don’t know what his measurements are to get a shirt or a pair of pants.
My brother can testify – there is nothing more exciting to a man than some cool gadget that they can show off to all of their friends. It doesn’t matter what piece of technology you get them (honest). As long as it looks cool, functions and is in high demand at the moment, your boyfriend will love it.
Technology is a gift you can give him at whatever stage you are at in the relationship. TIP: I don’t recommend getting him a plasma screen TV if you’ve only been dating a few months or so, but getting him some high tech earbuds or an accessory for his phone is definitely a good idea.
Figure out what kind of music he likes and score some tickets for a fantastic evening for the two of you. It’s even better if he likes classical: you can both dress up in your nicest outfits (maybe he’ll wear one of the shirts and ties you bought him) and have a romantic evening.
I cannot stand suggestions to “clean his house in lingerie” and “cook for him in a skimpy little outfit”. Logically speaking, if you were to try cooking in nothing more than your underwear, there is a high possibility of you accidentally getting burning hot oil in a few very uncomfortable places.
That being said, if you are in a tight financial spot or simply want an evening alone with him, then cook him a meal (with all of your clothes on, preferably).
I can’t tell you how many cooking fiascoes I have had (ugh, carrot cake problems). And that’s without the pressure of cooking for someone else. Make sure that you can actually cook. Find out his favorite foods and make sure you practice before trying to cook for him. Practice makes perfect and gives you a higher chance of not burning down his kitchen.
If your boyfriend is into sports, take him to his favorite football or baseball game. It’s okay if you don’t know the first thing about sports. The point isn’t for you to show off what you know – it’s to make sure your significant other has a good time.
If you have no clue what’s going on in the game, ask a couple of questions so he at least knows you’re interested and having a good time. If you’re a sports maniac, then hopefully you’ll have a good time too (unless you’re rooting for the opposing team, then things could get a little messy).
Have a scent you love? Buy your boyfriend some cologne that you adore.
If you’ve been having trouble weening him off of the old Axe spray (hello high school flashbacks), a cologne picked out specifically by you should do the trick. Make sure you coo about how much the scent turns you on and you can bet he’ll be wearing that stuff every day.
It doesn’t have to be expensive. You can get him some nice cologne for as little as $15.00, depending on how much you want to get him.
See that your boyfriend’s watch is getting too worn? Go shopping for a new one. Make sure to keep the receipt, just in case he’d like something more his style.
Do not make a heart shaped collage with photos of the two of you. Do not make a pillow with your face on it. And, most importantly, do not make a scrapbook of all the reasons you love him.
Do bake him cookies. Do knit him a scarf. Do sew him some throw pillows (because guys usually don’t have them). Keep it simple. Keep it sane.
These are just a bunch of my ideas. Leave a comment down below with your suggestions!
“Do you see us dating more seriously in the future?”
I nearly spat out my bite of pizza when I got that text from my closest male friend. I blinked down at the text in confusion. Where the heck had that come from? And more importantly, why didn’t this guy have enough backbone to ask this question to my face?
The use of the words “dating more seriously” also implied that we were, in fact, dating. Which, according to my horrified expression and pizza dropped from shock on the floor, I thought we were just ‘hanging out’.
I felt irritation bubble up deep inside of me. Again? This was happening to me again? I have dealt with male friends in the past popping up out of nowhere with confessions of love for me, but I have always been confused: I thought that we were just hanging out.
Why did they always approach me thinking that we had been dating? When had the signals been so confusing? With all of their casual hit-ups on the phone and last-minute
hang out plans to watch Netflix, I was so turned around that I couldn’t even give them a well-thought out answer.
How had every single one of my guy friends in the past just automatically assumed that we were dating? I had always tried to give an impression that I was a) not interested in them b) we were strictly friends and c) there was no chemistry between the two of us.
Did watching action flicks with guy friends count as a date? Did going dutch on a meal mean we were actually dating? When someone wouldn’t pull a move, were they really just shy or were we just hanging out?
And that’s when it hit me: I have no idea what the difference between a hang out and a date is.
According to New York Times, courtship is dead. More and more people are approaching romance casually. The good old days of calling someone to actually ask them out to a nice restaurant are dwindling. Who needs to pick up the phone and call someone to ask them out when you can just Facebook message, text, email or tweet them instead?
Take Mary (Drew Barrymore) from He’s Just Not that Into You for example. After meeting a man on MySpace (does anyone use that anymore?), she is overwhelmed by the lack of proper communication in their exchanges. What has happened to dating?
“I had this guy leave me a voice mail at work so I called him at home and then he e-mailed me to my Blackberry and so I texted to his cell and then he e-mailed me to my home account and the whole thing just got out of control. And I miss the days when you had one phone number and one answering machine and that one answering machine has one cassette tape and that one cassette tape either had a message from a guy or it didn’t. And now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It’s exhausting.”
Does a date require someone to pick up the phone and call you? Or does a casual text now count as asking someone out?
From Huffington Post’s article “How to Tell if You’re on a Date”
And on the actual date (or hangout or whatever this is), what makes it official? Does one person pay for the meal or the movie ticket? Is there some verbal code that needs to be cracked? Like, is the way they say “hello” an indicator or something?
Huffington Post does not believe that there is a way to tell, but the investigative writer in me refuses to believe that. Match.com, however, says that there are a few ways you can tell whether or not you are on a date.
If one person pays, then it is a date, but if you go dutch, then it is a hang out.If he or she goes for their wallet before you even see the waiter, that’s a huge indicator that you are on a date.
If a guy or girl asks you out last-minute, then it’s most likely either a hang out or a booty call. Someone who is interested in you as a potential love interest will not ask you to come over late at night to “watch movies” (we all know what that means). Someone who wants you in their life will actually have a plan. They will set a time and a place and give you ample time to prepare for the date.
When they ask you out, they will appear nervous. With technology being so vast and giving people new ways to ask people out on dates, it is hard to figure out whether someone is nervous or not (nervousness does not come across via text very well). I asked a man out recently and was so nervous that I made the plans via text in order to see if he was interested in me or not (I know – I need to get it together and brave the ever daunting “first phone call”). Regardless, I was nervous and I am definitely interested.
From my own experiences (and fails), I also came up with a few ways to tell whether or not you are just hanging out or are on an actual date.
Physical contact will happen. If a guy or girl is interested in you, they will try to initiate contact with you. Whether it’s a hand on the knee or a purposeful brushing of the fingers as they hand you an alcoholic beverage, someone interested in you will attempt to show their interest in a physical manner. If, by the end of the evening (or afternoon, or whenever you have this get together), they have not attempted to hold your hand or touch you in any way, keep it moving. This so-called date is officially a hangout.
If it’s not a date, they will ask “Do you want to hang out?”. I understand shyness. Really, I do. As I mentioned before, the last guy I asked out made me so nervous that I had to text him in order to ask him out. What’s even worse: I had to draft the text a few times in a notebook and then spent a few hours debating whether or not I should actually go through with it. My text, mind you, never mentioned the words “hang out”.
Any hint of the words “hangout” should make you want to run in the opposite direction. If you’re looking for a date, and they say “let’s hang out,” get out of there fast. They are not looking to commit and they are not looking to date you properly.
This isn’t to say that hanging out with a guy or a girl can’t lead to dating later in the future. But if they aren’t upfront with their intentions, getting more serious could mean mission impossible for the two of you.
If you have any more ways to figure out if it’s a date or a hangout, please leave a comment and feel free to discuss below.
applications are awful!), we dragged ourselves over to see the comedian at The Charlotte Comedy Zone.
host of the show. Shocked, I quickly did some major research (thank you Google), and found out that Alison Sweeney, former host of Biggest Loser, has decided to step down from the big role.
and getting it out the good old fashioned way: through exercise.
Warren-Green kept his conducting light during the harpist’s solo, allowing her the freedom to express herself with wonderful precision and emotion. When it came time for the strings to have their moments, Warren-Green held his hand up to his cheek reminding the orchestra to emote through their instruments. The movement was nothing short of phenomenal and left the audience breathless and wanting more.
Elizabeth Yuen 