Tag Archives: fave five

Fave Five: Summer Songs

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Once upon a time, I decided I wanted to start a feature called Fave 5, and then proceeded to only do the feature twice, both times involving trips I took. But I wanted to revive it again to talk about the music I have been enjoying this year, particularly this summer.

My relationship with music is when I love it I LOOOOOVE it, but I listen to a very limited group of artists and have a particular taste that I don’t even know how to quantify. To make this list more diverse, I decided to limit my list to to songs that have been officially released as singles (not necessarily radio singles, just released singles) so they wouldn’t all just be from the forthcoming The Gray Havens album I’ve had the pleasure of obtaining early as a Kickstarter backer. Also, to keep it in the summer theme, I limited myself to music released this year, so I couldn’t put any of Echosmith’s music from their EP released last fall even though I’ve listened to it a good bit this summer. On to my choices, in no particular order.

1. Magnetic by Phillip Phillips

Hello, saxophone. Seriously, I’ve seen Phillip Phillips in concert twice now and his band is incredible, and they’re on full display in this song.

2. Over My Head by Echosmith

I really enjoy Echosmith and this is such a fun song. I’m looking forward to their new project whenever it releases.

3. Better Than I Used to Be by Mat Kearney featuring Afsheen

While he’s not what I consider one of my favorite artists, I do enjoy a lot of Mat Kearney’s songs and I just love the vibe of this particular song. I practically had it on repeat during my vacation in Destin in May.

4. Forever On Your Side by Needtobreathe featuring JohnnySwim

This is the title track of Needtobreathe’s new EP and it definitely has a fun vibe to it. I also enjoy the accompaniment on it from Johnnyswim, and look forward to seeing them perform this song live together later this month when I see them in concert!

5. Storehouse by The Gray Havens

I am 110% obsessed with this song. It’s definitely a Christian song with the theme of repentance and redemption, but even if you’re not a Christian you might still enjoy listening to it once for its cool vibe. This is exactly why I love The Gray Havens, because they write very spiritually mature lyrics and pair them with very masterful, artful music, unlike many other Christian artists I won’t name who are fond of the copy & paste functions and chord charts (which I’m not completely hating on but it does get a little old). Their new album with this song comes out in October, and if you like this song you should pre-order the album because the whole thing is AMAZING.

What have you been listening to this summer? (Chances are I haven’t heard of it because I’m oblivious to popular music but share anyway!) 

Fave Five: Things in Savannah, GA

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I meant to write this post detailing my trip to Savannah months ago, so I apologize this post probably won’t be as detailed as it could have been.

I wanted to touch on five categories from the trip and highlight my favorite of each, sometimes providing a second opinion as well.

Fave Meal

I know that 95% of the reason why my fave meal is my fave meal is because it just really hit the particular spot my very hungry belly needed at the time, but isn’t that the point of good food anyhow? My favorite meal was lunch from a place called J. Christopher’s. It’s a breakfast and lunch place only, and I would really love to go back for breakfast one day (because Oreo pancakes… or was it waffles?… hello…). The inside was so Savannah: colorful and artsy. Anyhow, I had a grilled chicken sandwich, which I know doesn’t sound exciting, but trust me, it was perfect.

Second opinion: My second favorite meal was tacos from Tequila’s Town, and my husband’s favorite meal was his burger at Savannah Taphouse. I think this could have been a favorite place for me too if I had ordered something else (why do I always want to try everyone’s BBQ when I know 9/10 of the times I will be disappointed?).

Fave Dessert

If you do any research on Savannah you will see a lot of fuss about Leopold’s Ice Cream and the place is legit. I will admit I still love Jeni’s the best, but Leopold’s was very good for sure. It’s next to the SCAD theater and inside there is all sorts of movie memorabilia, while still maintaining that old fashioned soda shop feel. We got our ice creams in a bowl to eat there and they were in the old fashioned glasses like you picture old timey milkshakes to be in. I had the dark chocolate but would like to check out some of the other flavors too. Definitely worth checking out.

Second opinion: My husband enjoyed our S’mores cheesecake from Lulu’s Chocolate Bar the best. I was disappointed that there wasn’t more chocolately things overall and felt I settled on the cheesecake (and believe me, I am all about the S’mores cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, this one was much more simplistic, which isn’t bad, but didn’t work for me ultimately). Also, I wasn’t expecting this place to feel so much like a sit-down place, considering it’s desserts and drinks, but it did.

Fave Attraction

My favorite attraction was such an unexpected surprise, a little place called the Webb Military Museum. This place was small in size but huge in quality. I had seen it come up in my research, but wasn’t really planning to go. Then after my husband and I did the Old Towne Trolley Tour (which I would also recommend), he was interested in this place that our driver had pointed out. He was a vet and highly recommended it, and I’m so glad we followed his rec. It feels very personal… this one guy who just loves history curated everything and had stories about several of the pieces, and there were some really unique things in there, such as the coat of a Nazi officer stationed in Siberia (which I actually got to hold and it was HEAVY to say the least). I can’t say enough good things about this museum… If you have interest in war history especially, this is a place you have to go to in Savannah.

Fave Bookstore

I won’t elaborate more than my previous post where I raved about E. Shearer. THE PLACE HAS BOOKSTORE KITTIES. I adored it.

Fave Coffee (judged by my husband… since I don’t drink coffee)

From hipster coffee to Starbucks coffee, my husband got his caffeine fix from a different place every day of our trip, and he said his favorite was from Mirabelle Cafe. We went to this place for brunch because the waffles sounded amazing and the outside of it my total aesthetic, but unfortunately it didn’t really do it for me. But if you love yourself some black coffee, grab some from there, and don’t miss the crazy beautiful church across the street, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (HOLY WOW is all I can say).

What also made this trip really special was we got to see a couple of friends who live in a nearby town and their little girls. We don’t get to see them often so it was a treat to see them and to have them show us around some. They gave us the lowdown on The Squares, Brighton Street, River Street, and other fun things locals understand best. And since we got to stay in an apartment in a beautiful old historic home, it really was almost like living there for a week. Needless to say, the trip was great and I hope to go back and explore Savannah again one day.

Have you ever been to Savannah, GA? What’s a city you got to explore this year?

 

Fave 5: Sherlock Episodes

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My husband and I have spent the past couple of months watching every episode of Sherlock for the first time ever and we greatly enjoyed it! Now we’re hoping for and waiting for Series 5 just like every Sherlockian out there!

And even though I didn’t include an episode from season 1, I really did enjoy it too. Episode 3, The Great Game, would be my number six pick. In order of airing…

(Mild spoilers below)

1. The Reichenbach Fall (Season (Season 2, Episode 3)

The standoff between Sherlock Holmes and Jim Moriarty comes to a head, and Sherlock is faced with a choice to let Moriarty go or to save those he loves. Or is there a third option? Aside from it just being a great episode, it’s also nice to see Sherlock’s more caring side.

2. The Empty Hearse (Season 3, Episode 1)

Two years after his supposed death, Sherlock returns for a new investigation, and Watson is less than pleased for being kept in the dark. I enjoyed Watson’s reaction to Sherlock in this one, as well as their moment in the train at the end. It was also fun to see a variety of theories as to how Sherlock may have faked his death scattered through the episode (I have to imagine some of these came from fans).

3. The Sign of Three (Season 3, Episode 2)

John and Mary are getting married, and as best man, Sherlock takes his duty to give a speech very seriously. In possibly the worst and most long-winded best man speech in the history of weddings, however, Sherlock, of course, manages to solve another mystery. This was another one where I really enjoyed seeing Sherlock outside of his usual element.

4. The Abominable Bride (Season 4, Episode 0)

Most of this episode takes place in the past, as Sherlock imagines himself solving a case in the vein of the original Sherlock Holmes we know. Such a fun tribute, while still managing to move the present-day story forward.

5. The Lying Detective (Season 4, Episode 2)

Season 4 overall is both really good and really messed-up. In this particular episode, Sherlock is determined to uncover the truth of business mogul Culverton Smith. The case in itself is really interesting, but then at the end of the episode a total bombshell is dropped that changes what Sherlock thought he knew about his family.

Overall, I loved so much about this show, particularly the intricate plots filled with surprising twists that left me aching for more episode after episode. And it’s really hard to go wrong with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman side by side. They truly nail the characters. If you haven’t seen Sherlock yet and have any interest in the original Sherlock Holmes, or just love great storytelling, I’d highly recommend it!

Have you been Sherlocked? Which episodes are your favorite? 

Fave 5: Southside Chattanooga

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I have decided to start a new feature called Fave 5, where I share my fave 5 whatever. The category may be broad or specific, it may be related to books, movies, food, products, or anything else.

Recently my husband and I took a quick, one night trip to Chattanooga, a city here in Tennessee about an hour and a half from where we live. When my husband and I went there two years ago, I was researching things to do for that trip in addition to the aquarium, and came across this yummy-sounding place that I will be talking about here shortly. This particular place that we fell in love with was in an interesting part of the city, so this time, we made it a point to stay in and explore that area. Even in two years more has come out of this neat part of Chattanooga, so I wanted to share my fave five things in Southside Chattanooga.

1. The Hot Chocolatier

This is the aforementioned place, and it is AMAZING. Like, I’d spent the last two years dying to back to this place.

So what makes this place so amazing you ask? The quality of chocolate is beyond incredible. Both times I drank the S’mores hot chocolate, and it is pretty much my favorite thing that has ever graced my taste buds. Last time my husband and I split an eclair as well, which was good, but eclairs aren’t my general go-to sweet. But this time we shared this piece of chocolate cake with salted caramel, and I am crazy super picky about caramel so I generally just avoid it, but this was THE BOMB. And paired with the hot chocolate? I can’t even.

Next time I think I want to try their frozen hot chocolate. Needless to say, so worth depriving myself of sugar for a week to save up for this pilgrimage!

2. Chattnooga Choo Choo

This was the hotel where we stayed this time, literally across the street from The Hot Chocolatier. We actually walked around the grounds during our last trip, as there are actual railroad tracks and train cars there. There is even an option to sleep in one of their furnished train cars, but we chose to stay in one of their normal hotel buildings. It’s not the newest, most hip place, but it’s worth staying here to be so close to all the great things in Southside, plus there’s plenty to see and do just at the hotel grounds. We spent a lot of time the night of our stay in rocking chairs on the grounds just people watching and chatting. It was a pretty perfect evening.

3. Songbirds Guitar Museum 

This is a new attraction on the grounds of the Chattanooga Choo Choo, and a must for any fan of guitars. We just did the general tour, but fully intend to return and do the VIP tour where you can see even more guitars!

4. The Frothy Monkey

This Tennessee franchise coffee shop + restaurant has just opened a new location attached to the Chattanooga Choo Choo, and despite the fact there are locations closer to where I live, this was my first time going to one. It won’t be the last. In full disclosure, we waited over an hour to get our breakfast on a Saturday morning and I got a little on the hangry side, but it was pretty new and apparently high school graduations were going on that morning, so it was the just the wrong time to be there. The breakfast food we had was so great though, and neither one of us could finish all the food we had despite really wanting to. We ate outside and again, it was such a neat atmosphere, soaking in the whole Southside vibe. (At least until I got hangry, ha!)

5. Starline Books

After my last trip to Chattanooga I did a post about this cute little independent bookstore. It’s just a short walk away from everything else I’ve mentioned here, and if you love books (which you must if you’re here) then it’s definitely a place to check out.

Bonus! Warehouse Row and The Terminal

The Terminal is right next door to the Choo Choo and is where we ate dinner, and it was quite good! Warehouse Row is a flew blocks away and we didn’t make it down there this time, but we went last time and it is such a neat looking shopping place.

What’s a favorite weekend getaway spot for you?

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