Earlier I recapped the year, but this post is all about my favorite moments of '08.
Natasha Bedingfield at Playland
As soon as I heard Natasha Bedingfield was performing at Playland, I knew my mom, my best friend and I would be there. Although it rained while we waited for the show to start, we got great seats and had a great time.
Recycled Percussion
** H-O-T **
I am a sucker for guys with great abs, and Justin Spencer of Recycled Percussion was no exception. These guys really know how to put on show and are amazing to watch.
Justin Beatboxing
Ladder Tricks
Justin's Drum Solo
RENT
I love Rent the movie, but I've never seen the musical. Luckily my school got tickets for the weekend right before it closed. The show was amazing (Joanne from the movie played Joanne in the show) and I'll never forget it.
DL Hughley
I was surprised my school got DL Hughley for Spring Weekend this year, but nevertheless it was a really good comedy show. Plus, I got some PR experience when I helped to advertise the show in New Ro.
Faux Tattoos
My friend Jynx and I love tattoos so when they had airbrushed tattoos at school, we were all for it.
** You wouldn't believe how much attention this fake tattoo got me, lol. **
Dorm Life - Part 1
My school does overnight orientations for the incoming freshmen, so whenever we work orientations we stay in the dorms. This was one of the rooms assigned to me. As you can see, it's unsuitable for living. There was a C-Town shopping cart with paint cans in it, floor tiles were taken up, and the air conditioner was taken apart. Don't worry, they gave me a new room.
Dorm Life - Part 2
Once again, during summer orientation I had a little problem with the dorm room I was given. Although I had floor tiles, a working AC, and a shopping cart free room, I got the top bunk that just happened to be so close to the ceiling that I couldn't sit upright. Therefore, every morning I hit my head on the ceiling and fell down climbing down the ladder often.
** Not as fun as it looks. **
The Mets-Colored Motorcyle
One night as we left "Club LaPenta," we spotted this bike in the parking lot. No idea who it belongs to since I haven't seen it since.
I voted for the American Idol
Proof.
My "Foxy Shazam" Shoes
I ♥ shoes!
Blue Nail Polish
Before I turned 20, I decided to do one last random teen thing ... paint my toes blue! People over 20 totally do this, but at the time it seemed like the teen thing to do.
Prime Burger
My mom and I were very disappointed when we went to Prime Burger during the summer and it was closed for the weekend. Luckily, during the winter months they're open on the weekends. :-)
Fringe Boots
I got these awesome fringe boots at Aerosoles last month. Love them to death!
Museum of Natural History
One of my friends (you know who you are) forgot to buy a keychain and apparently the main level isn't where they keep them. By the time we ran up and down three flights of stairs, we ran through the museum like we were on fire in fear that our group was going to take the bus and leave us in NYC. (Although we totally could have found our way home.)
** You don't know how long it took me to get this picture. **
The Game
I never finished reading Neil Strauss' The Game, but what I read was sufficient enough to help me call out a pickup artist (to his surprise.) Probably one of my top 5 moments this year.
Hershey Park
I've never been to Hershey Park before. It was alright. I love the factory tour and the zoo, but I'm not much of a roller coaster person, so it's pretty much pointless for me to go there again. My favorite part of the whole day was when the wave comes up on the Tidal Force ride and everyone runs screaming. My second favorite part of the day was finding a guy named Logan at the snack bar of the factory. In my head I was totally thinking, "I'm Ace. Here's Logan. We're totally getting married." If you didn't get that, you're not supposed to.
MoMA
My feet were killing me when I got home, but Mal and I did have fun people watching. We didn't realize these stairs were real until we saw people on them, lol.
My Apartment
When we grow up, Mal and I are going to makes lots of money and live in this building across from MoMA. :-)
My Westchester Weekend Home
And because Mal and I will be so rich, we'll also have apartments in White Plains! This will be our courtyard.
My Favorite Escalator
If you ever get the chance to go to Macy's Herald Square, please do. Everytime I go there, I'm just mesmerized by these old wooden escalators they have. I was able to get some video of them back in August.
Grand Central
Although I didn't know it then, when I went to the city over the summer I walked out of the same track like Sid did in the last episode of the Skins second season. When I watched the episode I was so excited. Still not entirely sure why, but still excited. :-)
Lily Allen + Nylon
I said it before and I'll say it again. Lily Allen's Nylon cover made me cut my hair. Although I cut my hair over the summer, it wasn't that short, plus it grew out so no one really saw it. I had planned to cut it over winter break, but I wasn't sure how short to go until I saw Lily. People are still in shock that I cut my hair, but I love it. ♥
** Nylon covers are totally influential. **
Influence
I love this book. Read it!
** Random fact about me : Big Full House fan; Michelle Tanner's my idol!
Jamaican Fruit Cake
Although carrying this 12" cake home for five and a half blocks made my back sore for a week, the cake was really good. Usually I don't like Jamaican fruit cake, but this one was really good. $60 well spent.
Twilight
Sometime after twilight, I finished reading the book Twilight. I tried to read it last year and got nowhere with it. But I guess since the rest of my friends have jumped on the Twilight bandwagon and are members of the I ♥ Edward Cullen fan club, I felt a bit of peer pressure to read it. It took me all day yesterday, but I did it! I really liked it and I actually found this in the book while I was reading it.
2K8 was definitely a year to be remembered. Records were broken, history was made, and I'm recapping it all here before the clock strikes 12.
Nothing was more memorable this year than Election '08. Never in my 20 years have I seen people take the election seriously enough to wait in line for 3 hours to vote. I myself waited in line for an hour while my friend in Florida waited for 6 in the pouring rain. What really surprised me about this election was how much it reminded me of New Year's Eve. People all over the world were gathered in the streets waiting to hear the news of Barack Obama's win like they wait for the ball to drop. It's definitely one of those things I'll tell my future children and grandchildren about.
The Beijing Summer Olympics was must-see TV in August. Night after night everyone watched as Michael Phelps got closer to breaking Mark Spitz's gold medal record. When he finally won that 8th gold, there was nary a dry eye or a Facebook status that wasn't Phelps-related.
** It's photos like this that make me want to start working out. **
My girls Misty May and Kerry Walsh returned to the Olympic sand and are still the reigning champions of Olympic Beach Volleyball. Now while May is healing from the injury she sustained from her stint on Dancing with the Stars, Walsh is expecting her first baby next year!
Gymnasts Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson brought all the right moves to the mat as they both left Beijing as golden girls.
In the music world, Estelle looked for her American Boy, but Kanye West was in Love Lockdown. She should have gone after Usher since all he wanted to do was make Love in this Club. Lil Wayne tried to lure her in with a Lollipop and A Milli to no avail. Maybe she should have pulled a Katy Perry and Kissed a Girl like Mariah Carey who has been singing, "Touch My Body."
Estelle wasn't the only one with boy trouble. Leona Lewis was Bleeding Love, Duffy begged for Mercy and Danity Kane was Damaged so much that Diddy kicked Aubrey out of the group for being too trashy. I think the best person to lift Aubrey's spirits would be Pink. I think their conversation would go something like this :: Pink: "So What, you're still a rockstar!" Aubrey: "Hell yeah! I'm not a Bad Girl! You can't fire me. I'm Leavin' like Jesse McCartney!"
Chris Brown was Forever on the dance floor which didn't bother Lady GaGa because all she wanted to do was Just Dance to a hot girl anthem like Beyonce's Single Ladies. Chris' girlfriend Rihanna had other plans in mind. First she decided to Take a Bow. Then she told Maroon 5's Adam Levine, "If I Never See Your Face Again I don't mind, cause we've gone much further than I thought we'd get tonight." So scandalous that even Shwayze and Cisco Adler were Buzzin about them! Then Rihanna was all freaked out in Disturbia. She even saw T.I. who told her, "You can have Whatever You Like - one condition, Live Your Life." So in the end she checked into Rehab with Justin Timberlake and T-Pain yelled, "I Can't Believe It!" Former rehab girl Britney Spears made it her mission to call out a Womanizer in the Circus that is her life. Too bad she didn't have a Pocketful of Sunshine like Natasha Bedingfield or a guy in her life like Jason Mraz who would say to her everyday, " Baby I'm Yours."
As Christina Aguilera would say, music just Keeps Gettin' Better. I wonder who'll rule the charts next year, but we won't know until the ball drops and musicians everywhere begin their race to the top. In the words of Tokio Hotel, Ready, Set, Go!
And now for the Disney kids. I had to give them their own category since they like to cover all the bases: music, movies, TV, YouTube. Miley Cyrus had scandal after scandal in '08. One minute she used a body double on tour so she could change, the next she was in a Vanity Fair photo shoot wearing only a sheet (she had jeans on too but the photo was only of her from the torso up). Then she had her best friend Mandy were dissing fellow Disney best friends Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato in a YouTube video. Now Miley's dating 20 year old model/musician Justin Gaston and there are rumors that she's acting up on set to get out of her Hannah Montana contract. On the music side of things, 7 Things was a hit and Fly on the Wall has a cool music video.
The Jonas brothers semi-starred in the campy Camp Rock movie over the summer. It wasn't that great and really wasn't about them at all. The real star of the movie was the girl who said, "BTW, your lip gloss is so not glossy anymore!" Okay, not really - I just love that line. The real star of that movie is Demi Lovato who can actually sing!
On the music front, the JoBros had a hit with Burning Up and I'm loving their new song Lovebug. I'm just wondering who they're burning up for: Miley, Selena, Demi, Camilla, Taylor? Why are there so many girls in the JoBro's love web? And why do people only concentrate on Joe and Nick? I want to hear something scandalous about Kevin in '09!
No Disney story is complete without the Wildcats of East High. You know what I'm talking about. This year's High School Musical movie made a major leap to the big screen. I didn't see it, but I don't think I will after seeing the Boys are Back number. The choreography's a bit cheesy, but I'm sure Zac and Corbin could have beat Miley Cyrus in that YouTube dance crew challenge.
The movie world was also abuzz this year with the release of superhero movies, cartoons, and the movie version of the popular book Twilight.
The top 10 grossing movies of 2008 were:
(10) Horton Hears a Who: $154,529,439 - Never read the book, never saw the movie. Sorry Dr. Seuss.
(9) Twilight: $158,461,000 - My friends love the book so much that some of them even went to the midnight showing. I haven't seen it yet, but I just finished reading the book last night and I highly recommend it! I'm glad the movie did well and Catherine Hardwicke now has the record for the highest grossing movie directed by a female. Yay!
(8) Quantum of Solace: $161,300,000 - Daniel Craig is a-mazing! To the stylist who put him in those white pants, my mom and I are forever grateful. ♥ My goal of '09 is to become the next Bond girl.
(7) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa: $172,332,000 - Never saw the first one. Never saw this one, but I love that petite Jada Pinkett Smith voices a hippo.
(6) Kung Fu Panda: $215,434,591 - Didn't see this one either, but I love pandas and Jack Black.
(5) Wall-E: $223,749,872 - Didn't see it, but my friend loved it!
(4) Hancock: $227,946,274 - Haven't seen it yet, but I definitely "will." ;-)
(3) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: $317,023,851 - Haven't seen this one either, but I will eventually because my future husband (a.k.a. Shia LaBeouf) is in it. I'm just getting caught up with all his movies. I watched Disturbia for the first time on Christmas, so I'll get around to this by Mother's Day.
(2) Iron Man: $318,313,199 - I'll probably see this whenever they air it on TV and love it, but I'm not really into the superhero movies, except for, of course ...
(1) The Dark Night: $530,750,228 - Saw it, loved it, need to buy the DVD! I hope Heath gets the Golden Globe (and an Oscar for this one).
Although they weren't in the Top 10, four of my other favorite movies of '08 show my diversity when it comes to films.
(4) Pride and Glory: If it wasn't for my mom's love of Colin Farrell, I would never have seen this movie. Edward Norton and Colin Farrell are amazing, and the movie really makes you wonder about what goes down behind-the-scenes with the men in blue.
(3) Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2: For my 20th birthday, my mom surprised me by taking me to see this movie. I'm glad she did because I could totally relate to the girls now that they were in college. Plus, if there was an Oscar for best abs in a movie, it would have to go to Jesse Williams (a.k.a. my future husband if he wasn't already engaged).
(2) Transporter 3: After having the villain in Transporter 2 walk around in lingerie all day while packing some major heat, I didn't know how they were going to top that in Transporter 3 but they did. I think it had something to do with Jason Statham stripping. I'm just saying.
(1) Sex and the City: Let's face it, it's hard to make a movie based on a hit TV show. Luckily the ladies of Sex and the City know what their fans want. This movie is every single metropolitan fashionista's dream. How badly do you want Patricia Field to style you everyday? And where can I find my Mr. Big?
The small screen was just as full of action and drama as the big screen was. The most talked about show (as usual) was the Hills. This was due in part to whatever deal Speidi must have made to be on the cover of US Weekly for what seemed like every week in '08. Since I don't watch The Hills, my most talked about show was definitely Gossip Girl. I didn't know how they were going to top the first season, but they did. From the will they/won't they Blair-Chuck relationship to the Lily and Rufus "Was it a boy or a girl?" cliff-hanger, this show just gets better with age.
My other favorite show is One Tree Hill. I was excited when Lucas chose Peyton, I freaked out when Nanny Carrie returned, I cried when Q died, I laughed when Dawson alum James Van Der Beek showed up as a director, I was excited when Nathan played slam ball, and I'm freaking out again that Sam is hanging out with the guy who shot Q (have you seen the previews).
I've also been watching Ugly Betty on-and-off this season due to homework, but what I've seen, I like. Other big shows of '08 were definitely 30 Rock and Mad Men. I watch neither, but I love Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin and I couldn't go to any class this year without my professors mentioning Mad Men. Also Tina Fey's dead on Sarah Palin impersonation gave SNL a much-needed rating boost. If only Mad TV had her; maybe they wouldn't have been cancelled.
Of the new shows that were on this year, I've only seen the first two episodes of 90210 and one episode of Privileged. 90210 was okay, but I wouldn't watch it even though Shannen Doherty, Lori Loughlin, and Jennie Garth are on it. The one episode of Privileged was pretty good so I may watch it again. Now that I'm not in high school, I can't really take anymore of these high school dramas.
My favorite shows that I somehow discovered over the summer actually come from across the pond. The BBC America show Skins is new in the US, but it's definitely not new in the UK where it's entering it's third season. I've seen every episode of the first two seasons and it's definitely the craziest thing I've ever seen. Since it is set in high school, I probably just contradicted my anti-high school drama statement, but it's not really about high school, now is it. One of my other favorite British shows is Britannia High. It's a mix of Fame meets High School Musical meets Degrassi. The actors (including Mitch Hewer from Skins) are so talented and exciting to watch.
Now on to my favorite game, match the baby names with the celebrity parents!
** Answers at the end **
Of all the babies born this year, Harlow and Nahla were my favorites. But as always, the cutest Tinsel Town tot of them all was Suri Cruise. The girl's a fashion icon in the making.
** Check her out **
As the Byrds said in Turn! Turn! Turn!, "To everything there is a season." We can't move on until we remember those who passed this year. This isn't everyone, but here are the ones I'll never forget.
Paul Newman
Isaac Hayes
Cyd Charisse
Yves Saint Laurent
George Carlin
Bernie Mac
Tim Russert
Eartha Kitt
Bettie Page
Heath Ledger
And lastly, I just want to talk about my favorite trend this year ... Twitter. Twitter came out of nowhere ... okay it came from San Francisco as many a social networking site does. Although it's been around since 2006, no one really started using it until this year, myself included. I jumped on the Twitter bandwagon right before it started getting hot as a way to pass the time as I sat in an office with nothing much to do over the summer. I can't get enough of Twitter. Even as I wrote this '08 recap, I posted on Twitter 9 times. Now Twitter is garnering some major media attention. It seems that every time I read an article, Twitter is mentioned in some shape or form. I can't wait to see how Twitter will evolve in the future.
♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠
How many did you get right in the baby name game?
Matthew & Camilla = Levi Jack & Tanya = Thomas Ashlee & Pete = Bronx Jessica & Cash = Honor Jennifer & Mark = Max & Emme Angelina & Brad = Knox & Vivienne Nicole & Joel = Harlow Halle & Gabriel = Nahla Christina & Jordan = Max Gwen & Gavin = Zuma
