After a nice relaxing weekend full of World Cup and trying to catch up on So You Think You Can Dance, I'm ready to swing back into the week!

So, I have a favorite of mine for you this week - Two Door Cinema Club! This fantastic group comes from THE #1 place I want to visit, IRELAND, and they've been on the music scene since about 2007. I find this next tidbit funny so I want to share. Their band name?

In addition to my BIG dream of just simply GOING to California, my other dream (as silly as this may sound) was to ride a bike in California. =) I really didn’t have any specifications about where to ride it, but I had to sing In the Summertime” by Mungo Jerry and just take in my surroundings. We rented bikes at the Bike and Roll and took an adventure! Our “little” adventure was going to be about a 10 mile bike for us but I was really excited – helmet and all.

As we started off near Fisherman’s Wharf, we got to go through all the different parts of San Francisco….up the hills, overlooking the bay, through the marina, down on Chrissy beach, and finally to the Golden Gate Bridge. It felt like ALL week we’d just seen it – from Coit Tower, Alcatraz, the Cable Cars, walking around the piers, and the bay cruise – so, we were most definitely excited that we were going to be ON IT!

I have to say, I had a musically FANTASTIC weekend. Friday night, I had the pleasure of seeing two of my favorites, Ingrid Michaelson and Mat Kearney, then Saturday I ventured to see the one and only G.Love! Both concerts were INCREDIBLE. And the best part about it is I found two new artists as well!

Well, as I mentioned on Monday, the flu graced me with its ugly presence last week. I’ve never had the flu before, and I’m pretty confident when I say, I hope I never have it again – hah. Even though there were lots of bad things from the flu, there were definitely some good things that happened…

• I renewed my vows with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It is basically the greatest sandwich out there (only if you use strawberry jam though).

As some of you may or may not know, I am apart of a social network that revolves around the love of sports.

It first started off as a basketball group on Twitter, but quickly has turned into something bigger and better. It's turned into a social network and blog for the love of all things sports, healthy competition, and excitement. I've seen (and experienced) how females always get a negative wrap when participating or discussing sports, so our social network and blog were created for females and males who do not judge women who love to watch, talk, and participate in sports.

There was a point in my life where my taste in music drastically changed. It grew to broader types, less mainstream, and I became more open to giving any and all types of music a chance. A friend of mine asked me once, "what musician changed your taste?" That answer is so incredible easy for me.

Beirut.

This past week, I have been fully engulfed listening and loving the Frightened Rabbit. My friend, Ryan, introduced me to this Scottish indie band. They've been on the music scene for a little while now - their newest CD is set to be released in Spring of 2010.

I'm basically in love with them, with their unique beats, and weird (and funny) lyrics, so enough of the chit-chat...check 'em out...

By the time you get around to reading this, you'll probably already be busy with all of your holiday traditions - getting ready for church, reading "The Night Before Christmas," playing board games, singing, or just snuggled up on the couch.

But whatever it is you're doing, I just want to take two minutes of your time to say thank you. Thank you for reading my blog, for the conversations, for the support, and for your friendship.

I completely fell in love Friday night. Ok, here’s the truth, I really liked them before - in fact, I have both their CD’s (recommend their 2009 CD, Safe and Sound). BUT what makes me like a band more than before is when I see them live and they SOUND LIKE THE CD! Their punk rock/popish – to me, a mix of All American Rejects and Cartel (two of my favorites!) -- absolutely genius. Full of energy, fun, and great to listen to, so check them out:

Yep, I said it. Let me explain - I went to Target to buy a Christmas present for one of my friends. I ventured to the clothing section, saw some cheap shirts on sale – convinced myself I could NOT leave without them because I needed some new workout clothes. BAM - $20 later, new clothes and no Christmas present.

Okay, okay…this could also be known as a little disease called I AM ADDICTED TO SHOPPING.

Sooooo, for that purpose, I’m going to give you another example. :)