XOXO

Pic from NY Trip

Why write a love letter to the show when the CW provided an hour long Gossip Girl love fest? Oh, well. Since I am highly impressionable, I have to thank the show for not only introducing me to serious retail envy with 'Alexa' Mulberry bags, Alexis Bittar cuffs, and Charlotte Olympia heels, but the literary and musical name checks too.

Would a casual fan read Anna Karenina, The Beautiful and Damned, The End of the Affair, Washington Square, The Petting Zoo, Bright Lights, Big City, The House of Mirth and The Secret History? Hmm, I didn't intend for that list to be so long. #don'tjudge

Also, Lana Del Rey, Gotye, Kimbra, James Vincent McMurrow, Sia, The xx, and, though I'm loathe to admit it, One Republic.

In short, I will miss Blair Waldorf smack talk, NJBC takedowns, Chuck's onesie, S&B catfights and makeups, GG in Paris, not all but the better part of Chuck and Blair shenanigans, and what I will miss most: NY Mag's weekly reality indexes.

I would've posted a video from my NY trip where I am standing a few blocks away from the Empire Hotel and my sister is shouting "look it's Gossip Girl, your one true love" at me, but said video also includes me tripping over a pothole. Next time, I guess. Anyway, you know you love me...

Not Yet

Source: cwtv.com via Riana on Pinterest

My husband has reassured me that I don't have whooping cough. This is a comfort as the whole-coughing-till-I-puke is getting kind of old. What's a persistent cough, when I have things to do! Two weeks until Christmas and I have no one checked off my list, four items of which are handmade knits. 19 books left to read on my "50 books read in 2013" goal. Did I mention the silly delusion I have of writing stuffs completed by the end of this month?

Also, I am hoping to be proven wrong next week that Nathaniel Archibald is not actually Gossip Girl. Yesterday's episode seems to be pointing to Dan, but oh, man. WHAT THE HECK AM I GOING TO OBSESS OVER WHEN THIS SHOW ENDS NEXT MONDAY? My real life? My above list? Frankly, I'll wait until next week to write my love letter to this silly, ridiculously awesome show, but today I'm listening to BoB "Ghost in the Machine" on repeat and dreaming of Paris.

Eureka

 I couldn't quite make it to tomorrow when Hulu airs the series finale of Eureka. I caved and bought the episode over the weekend. I know, I know. My impulses are often ill timed and annoying. The show ended simply and sweetly. I left feeling both happy and sad, my favorite mix. Plus, Jo's hair has never looked better. When the husband asked how excited I was about the Mars rover, I said, "yeah, I've been marathoning Eureka". Then when he proceeded to explain the intricacies of the landing and the youtube videos he's been watching, I had to respond with a "yeah, I've been marathoning Eureka." I'm going to miss you, show.

Gossip Girl is going to be ending this season too and I wonder if I will have the fortitude to wait until the end and watch it in one long marathon. When my resolve grows weak, I can remind myself that I would've saved me some grief if I had done that with this past season. Hopefully, Blair's hair will be much happier this season. And hopefully, someone will straight up murder Dan's hair. I don't really want talk too much about the hideousness of it in case mere mentioning causes it to appear...wait...nope, false alarm.

Now that I've survived another Pioneer Day, I hope to be a little more focused, a little less all over. I have ambitious plans for the month of August. We'll see where I go...

Revelations

I have noticed many things about myself during my NZ trip these past two weeks:

• I can go over a week without watching new episodes of Gossip Girl, but the minute you put me in front of a wifi-enabled computer, I lose all restraint. Also, the same seems to occur with Twitter and Pinterest. Catch up TV watching this weekend with less demanding shows like Eureka was actually pretty fun (also, Joinks! to last week's episode). 

• These work-free weeks had a funny effect on me. The first week was so filled with activity that I often found the prospect of home the real vacation. The second week brought the serenity I was after. I did everything I set out to do and now that I'm home, I'm happy to be back. 

• New Zealand motion sickness pills have no effect on me. Xanax and prayer seem to do the job. 

• Being with family and trading stories made me really nostalgic, just as I thought it would. What I didn't anticipate was how it would provoke so much self-reflection. So many times, I asked myself, am I where I want to be? Am I doing what I want to be doing? Am I the person that I was supposed to be? The answers haven't been too forthcoming, but, surprisingly, the hesitation doesn't make me nervous. 

• My goals are not yet all achieved. I can be happier, accumulate more wealth, become more successful. I can also let the excitement build, revel in hope not the fear of the unknown. Treasure the presents that I have now. 

Pretty cool, huh?

Chuck Bass

Woah, kids. Last night's Gossip Girl was awesome. I can't tell you any plot points because I was blinded in the first few minutes with Chuck Bass's awesome tracksuit. Awesome is an understatement. The proper description would give a withering stare to "awesome" and tell it to GTFO. There was a mixture of laughter and shrieking. Delightful shrieking. Thank goodness for the internet.

I mean sartorially Chuck has always been aces, but the red tracksuit, man. THE RED TRACKSUIT. I am buying this for my husband so that he can just leisurely walk around in it. You know, like you do. His reaction to the pictures I showed him were less than excited, but I'll wear him down.

I seriously haven't been this amused by an article of clothing since...have I ever been this amused? Oh, gifs. How you've become my new favorite. (GIFS)

My People

Mo Ryan tweeted an article in the Huffington Post asking why television, even good television, often has a blindspot when establishing real, genuine female relationships.

The article admits the Leslie Knope/Ann Perkins relationship on Parks and Rec is a good example of relationships between women that don't need to be catty or competitive. The topics of conversations are not solely male centered.

The article made me think about what other female friendships I admired on tv and if I thought there was a shortage. So I'm going to run down a list of some of my favorite shows (past and present) noting the female series regulars and their relationships with each other (I'll exclude Parks and Rec as it's already been noted, but Leslie also has a great relationship with April).