the best pop-punk throwbacks you never heard (or forgot about)

i claim to hate generic pop-punk sometimes, but then i get kind of hypocritical and have like 50 exceptions, mostly because of the nostalgia factor. here are 6 random ones.

1. lucky boys confusion - "hey driver" 



need an opening song for a driving-in-the-summer mix? you're welcome.

 2. my american heart - "the process" 



my friend dragged me along to see these guys--whom i'd never heard of before--back in like '05, and i was actually super impressed with their stage presence and catchy songs. this one was stuck in my head for at least the entire week afterwards. we may have also had a lil' crush on the cutie-patootie lead singer.

 4. northstar - "for members only"

 

i don't know. this song takes me back to a high school field trip to some weird theater. and the time that i made my myspace headline "these are the things she can take apart" and some crazy northstar fan started messaging me incessantly because of it. also, do you love the cheesiness/low-budg nature of these videos as much as i?

 5. number one fan - "come on"
 

i could never tell if i hated this band or not. even though they're long broken up and reformed as a band called the wildbirds who are actually pretty decent, i still can't. mainly chose this one because the lead singer really just captures that mid-'00s emo look PERFECTLY. why did i ever find labret rings attractive? do i still? all questions that i still struggle with.

6. envy on the coast - "temper temper"  
i heard this one in the middle of sets at an outdoor concert in college...AKA before the days of shazaam. i kept being rude and telling my friends to shut up so i could hear the lyrics. finally found it about a week later and have been angrily singing along every since.

around town: brunch at aquitaine

is it possible, at 9 pm, to still be full from 10am brunch? because i think i am.

my birthday is on tuesday, and i was in the mood for a more low-key celebration than the past few years  (last year i happened to be in italy, for my 25th i partied at foxwoods, and for my 24th i danced all night at a ghetto-fabulous guido nightclub in malden). plus, i also wanted to celebrate being back in the boston vicinity. i figured a brunch would be the perfect solution: good food and good friends in my favorite city in the world!

word on the street was that aquitaine, a french bistro in the south end, had a ridiculous brunch deal. seriously, $9.95 for an omelette, toast, potatoes, cinnamon roll, juice and coffee sounds too good to be true, right? i was skeptical, but this place delivered. while the menu has a bunch of other tempting options, all six of us went with the prix fixe menu.

first came the cinnamon rolls, which had lots of delicious frosting and were more puff pastry than cinnabon. also, note the fancy coffee glasses!

the majority of us also got the omelette de la maison, with gruyere cheese, bacon, and tomatoes, which looked a little somethin' like this:

 god i love the french.

five things i love right now

1. coffee meets bagel

i swore that i'd never do online dating again, but this site just done changed my mind. it's so casual and simple and i promise they're not paying me to say this! the site connects to your facebook account and emails you a "bagel" (prospective date) each day at noon--often a person that you have a friend in common with--with non-identifying information about themselves/their interests and some pictures. you then have 24 hours to "like" or "pass" on your bagel, and if both of you want to connect, you can message each other privately. GENIUS. OBSESSED. i legit look forward to my bagels every day.

2. stonewall kitchen cinnamon & sugar donuts

speaking of breakfast baked goods, i whipped up a batch of these babies on sunday night and they were incredible! also probably a little healthier since they're baked and not fried (okay not much, since you have to dip them in butter and cinnamon/sugar). but honestly, best donuts i've ever had, and super easy to make.

3. this song that i just heard last week but apparently it's from last summer?

turns my car into tha club, man. love it...but i freeeeeaked out when i discovered that it was a dude singing. those pipes cray.

4. chris d'elia's vines

so, y'know that dude from the terrible show "whitney"? he's actually hilarious. my friend kari turned me on to his vines and nearly all of them make me cry with laughter. here's one of my favorites (link since i can't embed): vine.co/v/b2xujh7L63z 

see the rest at his twitter.

5. this new natural child tee (and button) that i just bought

these complete my quarter-life crisis.

i'm feelin' rootless

long time, no blog! since my last post, i've graduated with my master's degree, packed my life away in orlando & made the three-day move back to NH (for the moment). and oh, what a trip it was.
here's some random stuff that happened:


-i discovered the sirius XM "pop2k" station which basically captured my entire tween/teen years. enrique, mandy moore, dre & eminem, chili peppers...it was literally flawless.

-pretty sure a hillbilly freak was trying to take pics of me in a hardee's in the middle of nowhere in virginia. he was doing that thing where you pretend to be looking at your phone while aiming it DIRECTLY AT THE PERSON you're trying to creep on. dude, you can't outstalk this stalker. also the hardee's staff all looked related, in the deliverance sense.

-right before that, i saw a white van with spray-painted dogs on it and laughed/cried

-also spotted a license plate that read "DOL LUVR" and shuddered :(

-i was forced, against my will, to eat at a friggin' olive garden in maryland. my family was all super-tired and wanted somewhere really close. we were also in the mood for italian. so, i asked my homegirl siri for some help (thanks to the hotel wi-fi because i had no cell service in this joke of a place?). her response was the following:

GODDAMMIT, SIRI!
so we went to the OG and i had eggplant parm and our waitress was *~super perky~* and whatever. it was fine and i felt a little dirty afterwards.

-almost every hotel we stayed in had cookies and i went on cookie missions every night. still got some of those suckers in ziploc bags.

-i saw an AC/DC tribute band's van in the parking lot of wendy's, smiled, and then turned around to see that i was eating my spicy chicken amongst mock-rock royalty. i thought about hitching a ride with them to their next biker bar show but they seemed a bit surly.

things i will miss about florida.

well, just about 21 months have come and gone since i moved to orlando for graduate school, even though it kind of seems like yesterday that i packed up and left boston. it's been a good/weird/challenging/transformative time down here, but as many of you know, i have done a lot of soul-searching and decided that:
a) i miss my family and friends immensely
b) my heart is in boston, and it felt like home from the first night that i spent in my north end apartment at age 20 (something which unfortunately never really happened here), and
c) i had my move-across-the-country adventure and don't get me wrong, i'm still a free spirit, man. that said, i'm kind of ready to put down some roots. go all house hunters or some crap in the next couple years. y'know?

so! enough sap. since i made this post when i moved away the first time, i figured it was only fair to give flo rida the same courtesy. so without further ado, the things i will miss about the sunshine state!

1. the weather
'nuff said.

2. the mall at millenia
literally the nicest mall i think i've ever been in. it has a very "florida" feel and a great forever 21/urban outfitters to boot! also, valet parking. at a mall. and PINKBERRY! there's a pinkberry.

3. the vero beach hotel & spa
i'll be making my third trip here next week, before my graduation, because my family and i are obsessed. mainly with the nightly free wine tasting and the weird-ass people that show up to it. and it's right on the ocean, and the staff is really nice, and they have a little sign with the names of the dogs that are staying there(!).

4. goodfella's pizza/sweet! cupcakes/marshmallow delight from publix/four rivers bbq
these four things are honestly all you ever need to know about if you're visiting orlando (aka chain restaurant capital of the world). goodfella's has the best italian & pizza i've ever had, sweet! has the best cupcakes i've ever had (owner is a 2x cupcake wars champ), and four rivers has the best BBQ i've ever had. DONE. i can probably make publix marshmallow delight myself, but it won't be as good.

5. palm trees
never got sick of 'em! :)

6. the winter park farmers market/downtown winter park
a little taste of class, and new england, in florida.

kurt vileophile

still obsessed with this like a week later. i've always been lukewarm on kurt vile, but his new album is SO GOOD. and the promo video for his first single is the most adorable thing i've seen, like, ever.

7 things i want for my 27th birthday

so i'm like, less than two months away from my late 20s. i never make birthday wish lists, but i feel like i need some new stuff that both reflects my maturity and also helps me recapture my rapidly fading youth.

1. either this "burger wolf" workaholics shirt or the "classic lineup" guided by voices shirt

the first says "hey! i can still be funny and ironic." and the second says "hey, kids! i'm a misplaced member of gen x. let's watch reality bites."

2. a french press

every sophisticated person i know has one. sophistication by association?

3. a new romper. preferably one of these two. 

light! carefree! summer!

4. MY CHEESEBURGER TATTOO,  FINALLY

minus the weird blue aura and about half the size, this is pretty much exactly what i want. i can even wear the burger wolf tee to my appointment! it's happening this year.

5. an electric fireplace for my new apartment in boston (still TBD)

i like to be cozy, okay?

6. a barefoot contessa cookbook

for that dinner party i've been meaning to have. i dream of having this woman's culinary and entertaining skills.

7. these shoes!!

because...how cute?!