Musical musings for July

July has probably been my busiest month so far this year, set against a backdrop of gorgeous summer weather and good tunes. Before I talk about the music of this month, I have to mention how awesome the Taylor Swift concert was at the end of June. She had such a great stage presence and kind of left me in awe of her talent and ability.

This Wednesday I will be part of the crowd who get to witness both the individual and combined talents of Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z. I have no doubt that it will be a fantastic concert. For now I have been listening to lots of new music, mainly country, which one of my housemates was kind enough to allow me to take from her iTunes library:

1. Love and Affection - Matt White (this is the only song I purchased)
2. We Own It (Fast & Furious) - 2 Chainz & Wiz Khalifa
3. Sorry On the Rocks - Kelleigh Bannen
4. Don't Ya - Brett Eldredge
5. Boys 'Round Here (feat. Pistol Annies & Friends) - Blake Shelton
6. How Country Feels - Randy Houser
7. Highway Don't Care (feat. Taylor Swift & Keith Urban) - Tim McGraw
8. Come & Get It - Selena Gomez
9. Ten Times Crazier - Blake Shelton
10. I Don't Want This Night to End - Luke Bryan
11. Here's to Never Growing Up - Avril Lavigne 
12. Doin' What She Likes - Blake Shelton
13. Can't Hold Us (feat. Ray Dalton) - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
14. Barefoot Blue Jean Night - Jake Owen
15. Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go) - Dierks Bentley
16. Get Lucky (feat. Pharrell Williams) - Daft Punk

July's music can be found on these albums (images courtesy of iTunes)

Wishing into reality

Today I got to do something I have wanted to do for quite a while now. As a result, I am now the proud owner of a Canucks jersey. Just so we are clear, I did part with my hard earned money to acquire it in case you thought I took it off the back of some poor unsuspecting soul. 

I think I first mentioned my desire for a jersey here and it was nice to be able to buy something a bit pricey that I have lusted after for some time. I chose to get the named jersey of my favourite player so fingers crossed he doesn't go anywhere any time soon, not just because of my new purchase. So now I turn my attention toward counting down to the start of season 2013/14 and what will hopefully be a great season for my beloved Canucks.

Aritzia

Aritzia is a store frequented by many of my closest friends. Up until recently I had managed to resist the temptation to buy an item or two from the many gorgeous things that adorn their racks. However, this all changed in New York with the purchase of a winter jacket in the middle of summer as you do. I think it was the cool temperature of the store, the reasonable shopping budget at my disposal and the feeling I got as I slid the jacket on and my hands into the pockets. With this final gesture I was sold and so began my slippery slope.

This past weekend I made a point of doing some retail therapy on the Sunday just because I could. Once more I found myself in this delightful, yet intimidating store. This time I walked out with three cute, yet different summery tops all on sale.

I have to say though that I am not sure how often I will shop in Aritzia now that I have begun to. I think we will have a sales-based relationship for the most part, but I look forward to seeing if more of their lovely clothes end up in my wardrobe.

Summertime TV viewing

For those of you who either know me or read my blog regularly, you must realise by now that I kind of love to watch a lot of television. This fact doesn't change just because it is summer and the weather outside is gorgeous. It just means that I watch less of it because of television show scheduling and that I feel slightly guiltier about it as I should be spending this time outside enjoying the precious sunshine. All this being said my four summer must-watch shows consist of two oldies and two newbies. Necessary Roughness is now onto season three and I still enjoy watching it as much as when it began. Pretty Little Liars was an early 2013 discovery and one that propelled me to quickly get caught up courtesy of the local library. It didn't take me long and now I am able to watch it weekly as season four progresses. The two new shows on my radar are quite different to my usual viewing pleasures. Reality television isn't typically my thing, but with a new home environment came a new attitude toward this genre and as such on a Monday night you can find me engrossed in the current season of The Bachelorette. Under The Dome, based on a Stephen King novel of the same name, intrigued me so I was happy to give it a go knowing that it was only going to be a one off television mini-series. Four episodes in and it is definitely an interesting show to say the least. I look forward to seeing how the rest of the storyline unfolds. Well I think four is a good number for summer television viewing that is for sure, but it will be nice to have my other shows return in the fall.

Pretty Little Liars TV show poster (image courtesy of IMDb)

Bags, bags, bags

There is no doubt about the fact that I like to shop. I think like might not be quite appropriate because it should probably be that I love to shop. However, I always do it within my means and I find it hard to part with money for big ticket items even if I happen to have it at the time. Whilst I was in New York at the beginning of this month, which I still have to tell you all about, I did a decent amount of shopping. It was enough to be concerned for my luggage allowance on the flight home. Part of my haul included a couple of bags from Aldo that were on sale at bargain prices.

Not content with two new bags, this past weekend I bought another one, but this time it was from Steve Madden. A very unique looking black bag that I will definitely be able to take from day to night.

As you can see it has an adorable lining as well. I think I can safely say that I don't need to buy any more bags anytime soon so I should steer clear of looking just to be on the safe side.

Summer reads

Once more I have managed to stray from regular musings of any kind. However, I had the very good reasons of a vacation, a friend's visit and glorious summer weather. As a result, I have lots of ideas and things to share so I plan on making up for my absence over the next few weeks. I don't know about you, but I am one of those people who buy novels when I already have some at home to get through first. It is one of my many quirks, but I just can't help it. This is why I now have no less than three novels to read, which is a good thing because I love to read whenever I can. Although my other quirk when it comes to reading is that I tend to start a novel and a few evenings later need to have it finished because I get so absorbed in the storyline. This often sees me awake until the wee hours of the morning where I go to sleep satisfied and wake up a very tired lady. Anyway, the three novels I have to read consist of two chick literature and one crime/mystery. The latter is by my favourite author James Patterson, as mentioned here. In relation to the other two novels I bought, Beth Harbison's reads have quickly become must-do. This will be the third novel of hers I have read and the second one I own. Spring Fever was a novel I happened upon a few weeks ago, but didn't purchase at the time. After that visit, every subsequent time I went into Chapters I would pick it up and contemplate buying only to put it back down. However, this past week I couldn't find it in that display section and didn't recall the title or author. After much Internet searching and shelf browsing, I was able to find the novel again today and promptly snapped it up. I am sure it won't take me long to get through this bunch of novels and onto the next lot.