CONFESSIONS OF A FAT GIRL

So You Think You Can Dance... Dance... Dance... in LA soon!

Where are the other "So You Think You Can Dance" fans?! 

I'm not really a fan. I'm more of a FANATIC. 

After traveling through more than 60 cities, the So You Think You Can Dance Tour is coming home to Los Angeles on Wednesday, January 28th at the wonderful Nokia Theatre. It's not every day we get to see our favorite television shows brought to life this way. Seeing dance live is a heart-stopper and this is a stunning group of dancers. 

Every time Ricky and Valerie danced this season, it made my heart happy.

 

Anytime Zack and/or Valerie tap danced (two tappers made the top four!), I held my breath.

 

Anytime Tanisha or Rudy did anything it was everything.

 

GO SEE THE TOP 10! And the alternates! SEE IT ALL! Go because - sniff, sniff - I can't, and I need you to tell me all about it! 

TICKETS start at just $37.95 - click here. But if you're a true believer like me, you're gonna want to check out the VIP TICKETS, which include premium parking, priority check-in, pre-show food and (some alcoholic) beverages, VIP lounge and restroom access, are not bad at $160 - click here.

Ugh, I simply cannot wait for next season to start! New twists and turns are in store! 

Disclosure: I didn't get a damned thing for this post. I can't go to the concert the night it's in town - I have a work commitment - so I didn't even ask for anything. It's my favorite show and I was delighted to post about it. That is all. 

My Holiday Playlist

As I seem to be the QUEEN OF CHRISTMAS* this year, I will basically be listening to holiday music until the end of the year. 

My playlist curation is ongoing. Some of you sent some really great holiday tune suggestions my way and my the song list is happily up to 85 songs. Please feel free to follow along and make even more suggestions!  

*Yeah, I'm Jewish. I get that some people are super offended by any hint of "Christmas" when they do not celebrate the holiday. However I celebrate the season and take no such offense. And frankly, to those people I say, CALM DOWN. Tis the season for joy and peace so HAVE SOME.

Coming to LA Soon: Budweiser Made In America

Heads up, Los Angeles! When I was appraoched with this, as a city native, I had to share. 

What's everyone doing Labor Day Weekend? You have a week to plan. GO! 

This is the inaugural year of the Budweiser Made in America festival in LA, benefitting the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. What's more, Budweiser Made in America is the first American festival to run simultaneously on both coasts (also happening in Philly simultaneously). 

* * *

Lineup
Imagine Dragons, Kanye West, John Mayer, Steve Aoki, Juanes, Afrojack, Kendrick Lamar, Rise Against, Weezer, Sublime with Rome, Metric, Capital Cities, Chance the Rapper, Cypress Hill, Gareth Emery, R3HAB, Schoolboy Q, Wolfgang Gartner, Borgore, DVBBS, 12th Planet, YG, Mute Math, Rita Ora, Nipsey Hussle, Dr. Dog, Terraplane Sun, ZZ Ward, Classixx, Hit-Boy, DJ Mustard, Ab-Soul, Isaiah Rashad, Jay Rock, SZA, Yellow Claw, Grits & Biscuits, Will Sparks, Cut Snake, Scavenger Hunt, A Tribe Called Red

Cause Village Vendors
Shawn Carter Foundation, United Way, Headcount, Budweiser Veterans, Tyler Robinson Foundation (Imagine Dragons charity), Dogs without Border, Hire LA, Food Forward, United States Green Building Council, LIFT Los Angeles, Skid Row Housing, LA Street Car, LA Street Gallery

* * *

Plus, expect traditional festival and fair food to gourmet food trucks. I hope that means FUNNEL CAKE. Because reasons. 

Let's talk about Imagine Dragons for a moment, guys. They are AMAZING in concert. AH-MA-ZING. I saw them earlier this year at The Forum and was blown away. Don't even get me started on Kanye -- I've seen him as well. Guaranteed you will get a SHOW out of that man. 

You're getting a lot of music (with variety!) and a lot of fun for one price. You can buy two-day tix or one-day but seriously, make a weekend out of it if you attend at all. It's the first time they're here and we want them to COME BACK. 

• 2-Day Tix for LA: Click here
• Single-day ticket, 8/30: Click here
• Single-day ticket, 8/31: Click here

More than 4- performances on three stages. Incredicle. Jay-Z, Budwesier, you RULE. Come back next year. And if I may, two words for you: BOY BANDS. I'm just gonna let that idea percolate in your minds. (Note: Justin Timberlake counts.)

 

WHO ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THE MOSTEST? 

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post

All of the Feels

A love song is one thing. But what about a song sung for love unconditional? The songs about loving yourself? 

I'm loving this trend. Spend a few minutes watching these videos. They'll make you feel good. Share them with the people you love unconditionally and tell me in the comments -- what's your favorite empowering power pop tune? (Hint: Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" and TLC's "Unpretty" are a couple more like this.) 

 

 

 

 

Go-Go-Gadget #Giveaway! Crazy AJ's is BACK!

It's been eons (translation: 19 days) since I've hosted a giveaway and I'm sure you're all basically foaming at the mouth for one, so I wanted to make this one a doozy. 

You may recall I gave away a fabulous pair of earbuds at the end of January courtesy of Sol Republic. 138 entries later, the guilt is still with us. How could we only give away one pair? 

So here we are. Another pair to give away in a color of your choice.  The yellow is my favorite! 

Make sure you watch the video and check out the infographic below -- you will be able to add giveaway entries from both but you have to pay attention! 

 

Enjoying the music in the video? Free download of the song available here.

I LOVE INFOGRAPHICS! And this one is about HEADPHONES! You can't even imagine how elated I was to publish this.

And POOF! Giveaway time. GOOD LUCK! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Disclosure: Sol Republic provided me with my own pair of Sol Republic Relays because the pair they gave me last time went to someone in need and I'm a sucker. But I would have posted this for them anyway because above all things, I like to give my readers stuff. Is this an appropriate disclosure? It's debatable. 

Backstreet's Back --- Not That They Ever Left -- And I Was There!

Last week, I went to the Backstreet Boys concert. 

Oh yes.

With this resurgence of boy band love (hey thanks, One Direction and MTV) coming to the mainstream again, everyone keeps asking me who I like the best, who was the most successful, etc.

I mean, I owned a New Kids on the Block THROW PILLOW. I had shoe laces, pajamas, VHS tapes... I've seen NKOTB three times now. 

But I LOVE *NSync and I LOVE the Backstreet Boys. I can't choose, people. Which is fine. I have enough room in my heart for all fifteen of them. ;)

Anyway, the concert was wonderful and magical and we had an absolute blast. Something I learned that I hadn't previously realized -- their newest album is entirely self-made. No label, no overlords, no financiers. I don't know if people outside of the industry appreciate the gravitas of them doing something like that. Especially this late into their career. And they debuted at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. HUGE! I think it's amazing. And brave. And I love that as they spent the year making ths album, they wrote everything on it and played a lot of the instruments (as they did in the concert as well). 

And I had to write about it because some of the songs have been playing on repeat in my head and then, I finally watched the video for "In a World Like This" all the way through and found it beautiful. And I wanted to share it. Watch it to the end and if you know anything about me and my political predilections, you'll see why it touched me so. More props for BSB. Well done, guys. 

 

A Musical Moment

So it's widely known among, well, those who know me, that I have really eclectic taste in music. And that my love of saccharine pop music is a little off the charts. 

Oh, I am also a boy band fanatic in case you had not amassed as much from my previous posts about the NSync reunion.

Sometimes it's a struggle. Sometimes I hate everything that's out there and find myself listening to show tunes ad nauseam for lack of passion about anything else. 

But I find lately, there is just a ton of music I'm loving. I must give Spotify a little credit for that as well as my current job -- if I were still working in film and TV I'm not sure I'd be so actively seeking out good music. Who knows...

Here's my current playlist of favorites. It's pretty wacky. Not everything here is current, mind you (Jackson Browne!), and it's pretty likely you'll find a pop song (One Direction!) come right before some emo indie ballad. Generally I keep most of my playlists up tempo (Fall Out Boy - I'm not ashamed*) but you will find the occasional sad sap ballad on here. 

* - Ok, I'm a little ashamed.

• Reunited and it feels so gooooood....
• Another New Recurring Series for the Blog
• A Blog About Drunk Bitches and Other Things at Concerts 

Reunited and it feels so goooood.....

Last night, I was ten years younger. IT. WAS. GLORIOUS.

There's a lot of hate out there from people who are all "It was so short! OMG!" and "Lance totes can't dance, guys."

Well, whatever. I smiled like an idiot (and seriously, the dogs were judging) the WHOLE TIME, they danced, they sang, Chris' trapdoor didn't work, and it was perfect for me. 

Buzzfeed captured my absolute favorite moment:

For the whole article, though: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattbellassai/the-best-seconds-of-the-110-second-nsync-reunion

And to relive the magic, as I have about 110 times today: http://tvline.com/2013/08/25/nsync-reunion-mtv-vma-2013-video/

Sigh. Come back soon, guys. 

Backstage shot VMAs pic.twitter.com/YfZb3Y5tVi

— *NSYNC (@NSYNC) August 26, 2013