The Must List, November 10

1. The Cherokee Animal Care Clinic
Cats and dogs run rampant. Children play in the corner of toys or inspect the newly  arriving animals. The building itself is large, spacious, and open. There's no scary smell of vet. The employees are friendly, relaxed, and professional. We took our new cat here to get his rabies vaccination. They took him back and handed him over in less than five minutes. They even gave us his rabies tag --- no tag fee, no mailing it in!! Gaston County, you make things too complicated!! We're staying here, thank you! What a wonderful vet clinic. We were very pleased. Oh, and... $8 shot!! Heck yeah!!

2. Helium balloons
What fun! My puppy birthday balloon is over two weeks old, and it's still floating against the ceiling. The other two, sadly, have passed on! But, that's when the fun part begins. That's when you get to make a small incision in the side of the balloon and suck out all the helium and talk in a squeaky voice. I find myself extremely hilarious when I talk like that.

Starting to die...!

3. Paint your own dishes
I took another trip to Claymates, our local paint-your-own-pottery, last month and decided to spice up my dinner dishes. I painted a plate to look like you're eating your spaghetti or steak or pizza out of a pond with lily pads. I think everyone should paint their own dishes. It's creative and original. If I have kids, I think I'll take them to a paint-your-own-pottery place and have them paint their own dishes. They'll be masterpieces!

My finished plate

4. The Prince of Egypt DVD
I loved this movie as a child, and now, it's just as good but for all different reasons. First of all, Ralph Fiennes as Ramses is just brilliant! He has the perfect voice for animated films. Secondly, no matter what you believe about the story of Moses or if it even happened this is still an amazing film about faith and hope. The songs are beautiful and moving. The animation was unheard of at the time. Look carefully at the plague scene and appreciate the animated magic!

Pharaoh's wife finds Moses

5. Creative clocks
I'm very obsessed with decorating. I wish I had a bigger house just so I can keep decorating. As for this place, I've kind of run out of wall space. However, when I picking out what I needed for my Cullowhee trailer, I realized... "My gosh, I've never had a wall clock! To the Clock Section!!!" AWAY! And there, I found my adorable chef clock. He's perfect with his fork and knife hands, "Good Food Served Here!" phrase on his belly, and the wire outline of the man himself. Aside from being cute and fitting in the kitchen, Stuart gets a kick out of him, too! Yes, clocks are meant to be practical objects of telling time. That doesn't mean you can't have a little fun with it!

6. Leftover Halloween candy
You know you're still eating it... you even bought more now that it is on sale, didn't you? Yeah, admit it!!

The Must List, October 27

1. "Love to Me" from The Light in the Piazza musical
In my opinion, this is the most beautiful, most innocent love song ever sung!! It will melt your heart.

2. "Rumor Has It/Someone Like You" mash-up from Glee
What a fun song by the Trouble Tones, a group from the hit show Glee. It's fun, it's sassy, it's girl power! And, it features the amazing singing talents of character Santana as she comes to terms with being in love with fellow cheerleader Britney.

3. Halloween candy
YES!!! It's socially acceptable to eat as much junk food and candy as possible again! I love this time of year because I can indulge in my candy addiction without being chastised... as much, anyway! There's now a large bowl on our kitchen counter filled with Nerds, Crunch bars, Laffy Taffy, Air Heads, Pixy Stix, and Butterfinger bars! Delicious!! Now, how to resist having some for breakfast?

4. Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch
Yeah, probably my favorite breakfast cereal. I have loved it since I was a kid! Peanut buttery goodness mixed with crunchy-ness and cold milk, what's not to love? It's better than the regular Cap'n Crunch. I will admit the Crunch Berries are pretty awesome, but nothing compares to the Peanut Butter! Whoever said let's make cereal that tastes like peanut butter is my hero!

5. Green Street Hooligans
It takes about half the movie to finally understand the British English being spoken, but this is a movie with a fast-paced plot and such a satisfying ending --- arguably, the most satisfying ending in film history!! Matt is kicked out of Harvard just before graduating after his roommate frames him with drug possession. He flies to England to visit his sister and nephew where he meets his brother-in-law's brother, Pete. Pete runs the local hooligans that cheer for the West Ham United football team. It's more than a match to them. It's blood, guts, glory, fighting, and life and death. Elijah Wood sheds his Frodo baby face for this moving, gutsy movie alongside future Sons of Anarchy VP  Charlie Hunnam. Be sure to check it out.

6. The Hobbit updates
Come on, you know that you're secretly checking all the different movie blogs to get more and more details about The Hobbit. It's the most anticipated movie release since The Lord of the Rings. Sir Ian McKellen is back as Gandalf the Grey, Elijah Wood is back as Frodo, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, and Ian Holms is back as the old Bilbo Baggins. This is the movie event of the DECADE!!! And, it's a trilogy yet again! This is an epic moment in film history you're not going to want to miss!

The Must List, Sept. 16

I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile, nothing original anyway. Life has been nothing but busy and bustle. When I do get time off from doing homework and working on the newspaper, the very last thing I want to do is write. As sad as it is, it's the truth.
Still, here is a new Must List!

1. "Parenthood" Season 3 on Instant NetFlix
Finally, finally, finally!!!! I'm so excited to watch this next season. Already, it's been fantastic. The road trip episode, Max running away, Christina setting her foot down... it's as good as usual but never as good as "Brothers & Sisters."

2. "One More Night" by Maroon 5
This is the new song that I can't get enough of. Well, one of the new ones...

3. "Runnin'" by Adam Lambert
This song is a bonus track on the deluxe Trespassing album. It is a beautiful song with a moving topic. As always, Adam has my musical heart!!

"My heart's beating faster, I know what I'm after.
I've been standing here my whole life,
Everything I've seen twice, now it's time I realize
It's spinnin' back around now, on this road I'm crawling
Save me cause I'm falling, now I can't seem to breathe right
Cause I keep runnin', runnin', runnin', runnin'
Runnin', runnin', runnin', runnin'
Runnin' from my heart."

4. Fresh melon slice-scented candle
I found one of these at Rite-Aid. It smells delicious. It's like a melon-flavored Air Head. I've suddenly taken a re-interest in candles. Right now, I have the melon slice scent, warm vanilla cream, banana nut bread, fresh cotton sheets, a candle rope for the bathroom, and a mixed blend from the Outer Banks.

5. Mast General Store in Waynesville
Imagine: barrels and barrels and barrels of overflowing CANDY! Air Heads, hot cinnamon pops, Smarties, Hershey's Kisses, Lemonheads, Nerds, chocolate malt balls, Double Bubble gum, rock candy, lollipops, Hello Kitty-themed candy, Hot Tamales, and so much more... it's my paradise!!

6. "It's Only a Job" mug
I bought a mug that fit me perfectly from the Bradley's General Store in Dillsboro. I thought I could gently poke fun at my staff writers at the next assignment meeting for The Western Carolinian! :)

The Must List, August 25

Read, watch, chew, post pictures!! 

1. The Hands of Isis by Jo Graham
What a wonderful novel about the beautiful, passionate, and tragic tale of Queen Cleopatra. Told by one of the handmaidens, The Hands of Isis is seeped in detail, romance, beauty, and breathtaking wonders of the ancient world. Cleopatra's tragic love affairs are told with brutal honesty and Charmain's own love story turns out for the best in a way completely unexpected. I am now a huge Jo Graham fan.

2. TwitPic
I'm into Twitter again, and I've started regularly posting my pictures via TwitPic. This is a spin-off of the Twitter social networking website that allows users to post their pictures with the same privacy rights as Twitter. I'm not an Instagram person... I don't have the app. And, I've never liked the layout of Photobucket. So, TwitPic is my go-to for posting pictures on Twitter. It has my Twitter name on there so my accounts are linked perfectly together. All of my photos show up in a feed or I can switch the view to "gallery" to see them laid out side-by-side. If you click "Home," you can see what everyone else is taking pictures of.

3. "White Collar" television series
This is my new favorite show (now that I'm saving the last few episodes of "Lost" because I don't want it to end). Neil Caffery, played by the beautiful, blue-eyed actor Matt Bomer, is a suave, charming con artist whose list of crimes extends to bond forgery, art thief, and art forgery. Caught by FBI agent Peter Burke, he strikes a deal with Peter to wear a tracking anklet and help the FBI in white collar cases for the remainder of his prison sentence. This is after he broke out of jail, of course, and went searching his true love, Kate. Kate, however, had other plans and seems to be manipulated and cornered by a different FBI agent. While solving crimes with Peter, Neil secretly tries to find out what has happened to Kate. The show is clean, low of cuss words, and is quite funny.

4.  We Bought a Zoo DVD
Who wouldn't want to buy a zoo? Seriously!!? Who wouldn't want to grow up in a zoo? Matt Damon plays a widow raising a son and young daughter, and he decides to uproot his family to a new home in order to start afresh. He happens to buy a house that comes with a zoo - lions, tigers, porcupines, peacocks... yes, they have them all! Damon's character then realizes afterwards that the zoo is in a severe state of disrepair and must fix up the place in order to reopen it for the sake of the animals and his oddball staff. Can he do it in time before the official inspection... will his son ever forgive him... will he fall in love with the boyish, no make-up-wearing Scarlett Johansson... does he even have enough money????

5. "Chewtublar" hamster toy
This thing is groovy, man! A giant tube for your hamster to chew on, PLUS it has non-toxic, brightly-colored bedding inside that your little friend can bury in or take out and put whenever he/she wants. It is a great toy for their teeth, and it provides comfort and warmth. My hamster Nutmeg instantly took to it.

6. Nerds plush toy
Yes, you can eat the candy all day long, but have you ever hugged a Nerd candy before? I'm not talking about the pillows shaped like the candy boxes and bars. I'm talking about the little cartoon caricature of a Nerd candy drawn on the box. Yes, they exist!! And yes, Stuart worked long and hard to find one for me after I told him that getting one for me for Christmas would mean I would love him forever. And he did. He went to several different websites, tracking the toy from one link to another until finally he found and bought me a Willy Wonka Nerd plush... without the backpack clip-on!!! Best Christmas present EVER!