Music Monday: Volume One of the Hot Man Voice Songs

I love music for many reasons, and I have no shame in admitting sometimes I love certain songs just for the voice. Hot Man Voice (true thing) to be exact. HMV can cause many things to happen. It can cause me to overplay a song a million times worse than a top 40 radio station. It can cause me to get everyone and their mother to listen to said song even if they think it sucks. And it can also cause me to be slightly disappointed when I hear HMV and find out the lead singer isn't as hot as I thought he would be. Yes, that's shallow. No, I don't care. No matter what a singer looks like, if he's got HMV, then I'm pretty much gonna love him anyways.

Here it is, Volume One of the Hot Man Voice Songs. You don't have to love them, you don't even have to tell me I'm obviously crazy. You can just leave a comment sharing your favorite HMV songs below.

Hands down, Eddie Vedder not only has the best HMV voice, but just the best voice all around. Seriously, folks. This man could sing me the freaking phone book, and I would listen to it from A-Z. 

Love, love, love him.

  

 It's very hard for me to choose an exact favorite when it comes to hearing my Rock Star Husband sing. I love the different ranges of his voice in this one a whole heck of a lot.  

 "Maybe I'm the one, maybe I'm the one who is a schiznophrienic pyscho..." 

His voice + the wangy guitar introductions = me looovving it!  

 There's just something about this introduction that I heart a lot....

I blame Cheryl for my love of this song....yep. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

Top Ten All-Time Favorite Characters

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

10. Betsy from Undead Series by MaryJanice Davidson. Oh, Betsy you shoe whore Queen of the Vampires, you!

9. Parker from Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers. Finally a snatch of a character that doesn't hold back. Please bring me more.

8. Rachel from Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin. I should HATE HATE Rachel, but I loved her.

7. Fiona from A Match Made In High School by Kristin Walker. Me and Fiona? We would have been BFF's.

6. Lucas from Names My Sisters Call Me by Megan Crane. Be my future husband, please. That is all.

5. Etienne St. Clair from Anna and the French Kiss. Be my boyfriend, please. That is all.

4. Ally/Jake from He's So/She's So Triology by Kieran Scott. I had to put them together since all books are told in dual narrative. They are the best couple and I love getting inside both of their heads even if Jake royally screws up time and time again.

3. John After from Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols. OMG! HOT!

2. Audrey from Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway. One of the best and funniest books out there! Audrey and I would bond perfectly by going to as many concerts as possible.

1. Dexter from This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen. Clumsy adorkable musician? Be still my heart. Oh, and Remy is pretty awesome too. They're kind of a 2-for-1 deal in the story even if Remy is too stubborn to see that.

Book Talk: Everyone Else's Girl by Megan Crane

Everyone Else's Girl by Megan Crane

Released: October 2005
Genre: Adult - Women's Fiction - Contemporary
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 264

Amazon | Goodreads

Meredith McKay has gone to a lot of trouble to create the picture-perfect life for herself-far away from her troublesome family, thank you. When her father's car accident forces her back to her hometown, however, she soon discovers that there's no running away from family issues--there's only delaying the inevitable. Can anyone sort out a lifetime of drama in one hot summer? 


Throw in a hot guy from back in high school with an ax to grind, a best friend turned enemy turned soon-to-be-sister-in-law, and of course, the sometimes irritating, sometimes delightful members of her own family, and Meredith is on her way to figuring out that a trip through the past is the best way to move forward. With one revelation after another coming to light, Meredith must reexamine all the things she's ever believed, including the truth about herself. Could it be that she isn't the picture-perfect good girl she always thought she was?

---

Meredith has always been the "nice" one.  It isn't a big surprise that she'd be the key one to help take care of her dad during the summer after he's broken his leg. No biggie that her siblings live right there in Jersey and are more than capable of helping, but they don't. Most of the time a doormat type of character drives me bonkers. Meredith had this strong witty tone to her that makes the book easy going and even though you just wanna be like: Yo, Meredith! Tell them to kiss it and go back to Atlanta! you still love her.

Family dynamics are a top favorite of mine when I read a book. In this one, everyone bounced off one another and it was perfect. The younger sister, Hope, who is fresh out of college and basically being a bum, is a hoot! She doesn't mind spouting off her mouth, but you can tell she doesn't like anyone messing with her big sister either. Their brother Christian is the perfect example of the golden boy. He's also protective, but he also wants things to go his way. When the three of them get into the same room especially if Hope isn't seeing eye-to-eye, personalities just come alive on the pages! I was cracking up so many times reading this family together.

There's no way anyone can go back home without having to run into their past. The biggest past for Meredith is her brother's fiance, Jeannie, who used to be her best friend throughout high school. A lot of how people have perceived Meredith really comes out when these two are around one another. Then there's Scotty Sheridan, the one who was always the dweeb and suddenly turned hot. (How those guys always come back to bite us!) Meredith might be a taken girl with her boyfriend back in Atlanta, but sparks are starting to fly with Scotty around. By sparks, I mean this love/hate type that was having me grinning. It really brings out the true personality Meredith has for some reason hidden.  During her summer stay, Meredith has a lot to answer for and she's making those around her answer for themselves too.

Crane has an obvious knack for witty moments, true relationships, and a free-flowing writing style that made this easy for me to finish in one night. What what truly made this book for me is the reminder that it's okay to NOT know who the hell you are in your 20's. Thanks for that, Megan Crane!

Let's talk life for a moment.

Source: redrif.com via Amber on Pinterest

One day you're just doing your normal routine. You get up. You go to work and then while you're there you get this news that shakes you down to the core. This has happened a few times to me over the past years and yes, it's all been at work. Last month I started reflected more and more after the one-year mark of a friend's death came about. Until I attempted to post one day, I never realized how her death had me seek out more. And in a way got me back to being the me I haven't been in a while.

This week I got another bit of news that shook up my world. News I guess you could say I kind of always knew could possibly happen. While I shouldn't be shocked, I am. Along with a mixture of a lot of other feelings. So once again, I'm thinking of life. Thinking of how school is coming to an end, the debt I have, the debt I'll be having soon, dreams of writing, failed dreams, wondering what job I'm going to have, wondering if I'm going to have to move, worried about family stuff, and well - just the normal downfall of life. Then this news sprung on me, and while I was on break at work worried and stressed to the max about every little thing it was like my entire brain just came to this sudden halt and said:

Amber Dawn.

Shut up.
Just shut up for a second and listen to me.

Look around you.  

Look at what you have.
Look at what you've accomplished.

Look at who you have in your life. 

You are alive. 

You have the best set of parents and the most supportive crazy family some people would love to have.

You have amazing friends who have stuck by you for YEARS. Some for 20+ years.

You have so much and you don't even realize it.

You are blessed.

I laughed with my tears. Cracked up and thought Wow. Just wow.

I'm not the type of person who stands by the phrase: It could always be worse. It honestly drives me nuts when people say this. I know it could be worse. I know someone out there does have it worse. But it doesn't make my problems snap away in a poof of smoke because one day I say: Oh so and so has it way worse so that means ________ (fill in blank problem) will just go away. How easy! Bye-bye problem!

No, I don't roll that way.

But....I need to work another way. I need to stop letting little things just come all over me and make me spaz out or make me so stressed I'm so sick I can't do anything. I need to get a handle on negativity and certain views..

I guess that's what real bad news is good for. Sometimes when news punches you in the gut, you just have to take a step back, breathe, and remember that you still have a lot. You still have so much more than you will ever truly know how to appreciate until it's taken away from you. Some things you can never get back. Some people will never get to see again. While I know I'm not going to wake up every day from here on out shooting rainbows out of my butt, wearing a constant smile, and never let anything stress me out, I'm going to start having more faith in myself and in others. I'm going to start remembering to breath. And breath a lot. But most importantly I'm going to start appreciating the living heck out of life and those that are in it. Because once it's over - well, we all know how the story ends.

More Photo Love for My Storyboard

Everyone knows Pinterest is quite the addictive site, but it's become even more so now that I made a storyboard there! I am spending forever just going through pictures, and it's awesome how some have sparked an idea to develop on.

Source: Uploaded by user via Amber on Pinterest

Source: meganfromminneapolis.tumblr.com via Amber on Pinterest

Source: browndresswithwhitedots.tumblr.com via Amber on Pinterest

Source: arrowandarrow.com via Amber on Pinterest

Source: iloveswmag.com via Amber on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Amber on Pinterest

Source: lapetitefashionistablog.tumblr.com via Amber on Pinterest

Do you have any favorite photography boards on Pinterest? If you do, you should share them with me so I can get lost some more in ideas :)

Music Monday: Blitzen Trapper

Have you ever listened to Blitzen Trapper? 

If not, you MUST! 

They are magical. 

And quite excellent.

With a touch of quirk.

And a folk rock Dylan-like vibe.

So click below and love them with me.

The end. 

Writing Rants: Beginning of a Novel

When it comes to writing, beginnings are my thing. When I open a blank document, I can just do it. I've always said if all it took was a beginning, I would be a best-seller by now. It's the follow through. Getting my characters through everything without it completely falling apart on me is where I hurt the most.

BUT

With Gus Novel....

I have never been happy with my beginning. For the life of me I cannot figure out WHY! I've been told numerous times not to worry about it. Obviously I'm not in a hurry to get published. This story has been brought back to life over and over again since 2008. I write TONS of scenes out of order. I'm never the type that can write straight through. Most scenes never make it into my stories, but there is something about having the right beginning that nags the living bejeeze out of me.

And. I. Cannot. Write. This. Beginning.

It seriously is going to drive me insane. I have no doubt in a few days I'm going to from looking like that girl you see in the top left corner of the blog to something like this:

Yep. It's gonna happen people. I can feel it.

Book Talk: Wicked As They Come by Delilah S. Dawson

Wicked As They Come by Delilah S. Dawson


Released: March 2012
Genre: Adult - Paranormal - Steampunk
Publisher: Pocket Books
Pages: 395

Amazon | Goodreads

Have you ever heard of a Bludman? They’re rather like you and me—only more fabulous, immortal, and mostly indestructible. (They’re also very good kissers.) 


When Tish Everett forces open the ruby locket she finds at an estate sale, she has no idea that a deliciously rakish Bludman has cast a spell just for her. She wakes up in a surreal world, where Criminy Stain, the dashing proprietor of a magical traveling circus, curiously awaits. At Criminy’s electric touch, Tish glimpses a tantalizing future, but she also foresees her ultimate doom. Before she can decide whether to risk her fate with the charming daredevil, the locket disappears, and with it, her only chance to return home. 


Tish and Criminy battle roaring sea monsters and thundering bludmares, vengeful ghosts and crooked Coppers in a treacherous race to recover the necklace from the evil Blud-hating Magistrate. But if they succeed, will Tish forsake her fanged suitor and return to her normal life, or will she take a chance on an unpredictable but dangerous destiny with the Bludman she’s coming to love? 

---

Come one, come all into an incredibly imaginative world of steampunk paranormal romance! I guarantee you'll want to stay a very long time.

Delilah Dawson's debut novel, Wicked As They Come, was an instant all-time favorite for me. Not only does it have a narrator that I could easily fall into step with it, it's full of imagination, fantastic characters, twists, and one very sexy Bludman named Criminy.

I'm trying to contain my fan-girling a bit here. I actually had to just delete most of what I had written because Criminy's name showed up about a million times. So let's start discuss how amazing the world of Sang is and how badly I want my own locket to get there. I think the best way to describe the world is to take straight from the book when one of the characters Casper tells Tish, "Sang is what would have happened if my bookshelf threw up." It is SO true! This world has it all. Magic and a traveling gypsy carnivale. People who aren't actually human, but are called Bludman. No, they're not vampires even though they do need blood to survive on. It's not just Bludman that are roaming Sang. There are even animals that are blood thirsty! Yes, blood thirsty bunnies! It's crazy!

But there are others in Sang who do not like the idea of Bludman walking around. They want to exterminate them all. Make Sang a "pure" place. It's like Sang has its own segregation and you see it when Tish wakes up one day to find her locket, the only thing that is keeping her to be able to go back and forth between the real world and Sang, is gone. What an adventure it takes her on as Criminy and her travel towards the city. The travel doesn't just introduce you to even more unique characters, more blood thirsty animals, ghosts, or even sea creatures (!!) it surfaces the inner strength that Tish has had inside of her all along. While I've never been big at "love at first sight" type of things, the love Criminy has for Tish sweeps you up and oh mah gosh do things start heating up!

Here is where I will try to keep my fan-girling short. Criminy is wonderful. From the words he uses, the way he carries himself, you want to pounce the guy. And yes, I'm aware he is not real, but if you are a bookworm this kind of word usage is totally normal. I love how protective he is towards those he cares about. Yes, he can be a bit over-baring, and sure he does have a temper, drinks blood, but whatever. He's fantastic. The more I read about him, the more he revealed himself, I understood why he was so attracted to Tish and why he went through everything to get the locket back not knowing what would happen between them.

Delilah Dawson's writing is seductive and addicting. It pulled me in and did not let me go. Even after I finished the book, I wanted more of the world! Thankfully since this is a trilogy, more of Sang will be coming back into my life....but sadly that won't happen until 2013 :( Until then I'll just re-read and I encourage you all to go pick up a copy and welcome this world into your life.

Happy Rex Manning Day!

No, I am not making this up.

Rex Manning Day has been bouncing around the net for a while now, everyone trying to figure out what day to really celebrate. Then this amazing human being made THIS POST and this other amazing human being made a WEBSITE and a TWITTER account for this glorious occasion. (Okay it could all be ran by one amazing human being, I don't really know who is behind it.)

If you haven't ever seen Empire Records you won't understand this and we obviously cannot carry on an intelligent conversation until you do. So unless you can score yourself a copy and watch the best movie to ever graze your TV/Computer Screen then you will just have to follow above with what the poster says. 

That's right, it's just three simple sentences and you can all say it with me:

We mustn't dwell. Not today. Not on Rex Manning Day! 

Enjoy today. Throw your hands up in the air like you just don't care. Quote Empire Records from beginning to the end. Blare some music. Dance and mosh around. Laugh your head off. Enjoy yourself with friends and family.

Live. Live. Live.

And if anyone or anything tries to stop you on this day, give it a little damn the man, a little save the Empire, and rave on, rave on, mah dears! 

Weight Loss Sucks: The Truth About March

Oh March, how I do not miss you. The thing is: I didn't do crap in March. Well, I take that back, I did A LOT of things but nothing to really help with my weight loss. I had to stop taking the Phentermine because it screwed with my stomach so much. In between the last week of February and the beginning of March I had lost probably about 10-12 pounds on them which was awesome! I wish my stomach could have handled them, but being completely cramped up for days on end was just not worth it to me.

With all of that going on, I only had ONE day off the ENTIRE month. I hate crappy. I drank soda to help give me energy because I was doing 56+ hour weeks between work, internship, and class. And you know what? 

I didn't gain a pound back all month long.

Seriously. How DOES that work?! I know I posted some workout routines that I'm trying to do, but I didn't stick to them. I've only exercised maybe 1-2 times a week if that. This past week or so I've had several people ask me if I have been loosing weight or tell me they can see that I'm loosing. I haven't measured myself (mainly cause I can't find my measuring tape thingy), but I know I loose inches faster than I do pounds and I can really feel it in my jeans that now sag and in a lot of my shirts. 

My grand total as of yesterday morning is.....

189.6

I keep balancing back to this weight off and on since the New Year began so maybe now that I've maintained for a whole month it's really starting to show. 

With my internship ending tomorrow *sad face* and school ending in 3 weeks *VERY HAPPY FACE!!* and me getting at least 1 day off a week now *EXTREMELY HAPPY FACE*, I'm getting my act together and have been doing my workouts already this month and putting myself into better eating habits. I've noticed that since I've ate a lot of fast food and crap, I just feel gross. My belly always feels like crap, but I'm all sluggish and just blah and CRAVING fresh fruits and stuff. It's like I don't even know me. 

Goals for April:

Kick the soda to the curb and drink WATER!!

2+ mile walks three times a week at least!

Work on upper body!

Source: strivingforfitandfab.tumblr.com via Amber on Pinterest

Supernatural Sunday: You've Just Been Garthed.

Once upon a time like many things on this dusty ole' blog of mine, I started doing a recap of Supernatural because well Supernatural is awesome pants. Because of Friday's episode, I have to bring it back to life.

Friends don't let friends hunt drunk.

Party on, Garth! was probably one of my favorite episodes this season. The writers of Supernatural can not only give a great spooky plot or add in a lot of tear-jerking moments, it brings a lot of humor to the table. When an episode is based on being funny they become a Supernatural Instant Favorite for me. 

I was so excited to see DJ Quall's character, Garth, being brought back to the show. We've seen a lot of hunters throughout the seasons, and some leave an impression. Garth to me is like how Ash was. A great character to run into who brings their own certain finesse. I loved how the show opened with the camp tale theme. We all know teens in the woods listening to a ghost story is never a good start. When a brother of one of the campers stumbles up drunk during a camp tale of Jenny Greentree, he sees something no one else sees: a psychotic ghost that is about to rip his insides out. 

[Source]

Which brings us Garth. Cue in the background music and Garth showcases this kick-butt hunter who has no problem digging up the bones of Jenny Greentree and lighting her on fire with the great tagline of: You've just been Garthed. But "Garthed" she was not because right as he was going to meet whoever he was "hearting" on the phone, Garth hears the scanner come about another kid, the brother of the dead one, found dead in the woods. Grabbing his phone again, he calls upon the brother hunting duo.

The boys are on the road, sadly still not in the Impala, and Dean is checking in with that b!tch Meg asking how Cas is doing. Last episode I was happy to see my Angel Food Cake around, but to be honest, I was kind of hoping Cas would be gone a bit longer. Everything is just so more dramatic with that boy involved, and I'm glad this episode kept going on the comical note. The boys head to Kansas, meet up with Garth as he displays his lack of hunting ways, and finally pull clues together to realize that this spirit was brought on by a scorned business man and now his two ex- business partners' children are having to pay the price by a Shojo, a Japense alcoholic spirit. The only way you can see her is when you're drunk.

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The idea of having to hunt drunk is obviously clever and hilarious. One of my favorite lines from it came from Sam when he looks at his brother and asks: Can you even get drunk anymore? Isn't it kind of like a liquid vitamin for you now? Dean and Sam are no stranger to delivering the humor, but when Garth busts out the sock puppet to talk to a girl who sees the Shojo after she accidently drinks an "adult drink", I knew most of the greatness was going to lie in him. While the boys have no exact objections on drinking there is one part of the episode that my hopes starting hitting my living room ceiling and that comes in the form of an EMF reader and Bobby's flask. We all saw Garth sit there tinkering with the EMF reader, how it went off, and not much was said. While in the car with Dean he starts realizing after Dean tells him the flask he is drinking from belonged to Bobby that that's why the reading became so strong. Garth sparks the question to Dean that I have been dying to know: Is Bobby still around?

There has been hints since the death of my beloved Bobby that his spirit was still around. After all, we don't know what decision he truly made when he was trapped in his own mind. It wasn't until the boys are racing to the beer factory to save the life of one of the businessman's sons that I knew without a shining of a doubt Bobby was with us. 

This Shojo spirit is no screw around. The Ring lookalike creepy girl was throwing Garth through a window, knocking Sammy Boy out, and when Dean appears with the sword he got the magic mojo in (by a guy working at Japense restaurant), she's ready to kill. Right at the moment where it almost looks like Dean is about to bite the dust when the sword gets knocked out of his hands, it suddenly without the help of anyone alive in the room, gets shoved across the floor and right in his grasp.

[ Source ] 

Oh yes, if you had any doubts in your mind that Bobby wasn't in there you were crazily mistaken. Even after Dean sliced into the Shojo (and almost taking the poor kid's head off), he knows that there is a great possibility Bobby was in the room. It didn't matter that Sam confessed he tried contacting Bobby back when the beer disappeared and nothing came out of it. It still didn't matter after Sam caught Dean talking to an empty room trying to call Bobby out knowing he was the reason why the Shojo was dead. When Garth makes his departure from the hotel, blaring Poison none the less, Dean finally agrees to disagree so to say that Bobby's spirit is not around.

Before Sam and Dean climb back into their...what the crap kind of car was that anyways? Gawd, do I miss the Impala....Dean goes back into the motel to get Bobby's flask. And that is where...oh gosh I get emotional just typing it...we see that Bobby is in fact BACK!!

[ Source ] 

There he is, standing right in front of Dean's view thinking that Dean can see him! And as I pumped both fist in the air letting out a I KNEW IT!! I FREAKING KNEW IT!!! and scaring the crap out of my niece, we quickly learn that Dean doesn't see Bobby at all. Not even when Bobby tells him very frustratingly, "I'm right here, you idjit!" Boy, did the tears come to my eyes hearing that. I'm not even kidding. My niece laughed about that one on me too, but I couldn't help it. The last scene is the door closing and me wondering what is going to lay in store for Bobby. Seeing the preview for next week I have high hopes that there will be a real reunion for Dean, Sam, and Bobby!

I don't follow Supernatural things as closely as I used to, but I was honestly shocked to see Jim Beaver there. I knew Jim  had tweeted he was working on some movie, but all along he was just coming back home :) I think the show did a great job of keeping this a secret, and not only do I hope Bobby is back for good, I'm crossing my fingers that this is not the last we see of Garth.