Sunday, March 9, 2014

A Day in the Life

  Hello lovelies! It's about 50°F here, something that it hasn't been in months. I'm awfully sick of this groggy New England weather. As I'm typing this post, the sun is shining through my window, and I can't help humming "Here Comes the Sun." That song has never seemed to apply better in any other situation. The fact that sunbeams are gleaming through the glass beside me just fills me with longing for summer. Everything seems better in the summer, doesn't it? To go along with this wonderful mood the warmth of the sun has brought me, I decided I'd show you guys an update of my room, as it's just been cleaned and I kind of want to show it off, heh. So here is Sam's room, as of March 2014!

Look how clean that carpet is! There's my Abbey Road blanket draped over my chair, my life-sized Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (out of frame), my Woodstock, Who, and Pink Floyd posters, and my old acoustic in the corner.

I still have these faux-polaroids hanging and I love them! From L to R: Pattie Boyd, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, a record player, and Friar Park. On my desk are Miss O'Dell by Chris O'Dell and Wonderful Tonight by Pattie Boyd, two of my favorite books which I highly recommend!

Here's my still slightly messy desk. My record player is in that red and tan box so it doesn't collect dust. There's my Dexter calendar in the background, along with all of my concert tickets. And yes, that is Pattie Boyd and the Rolling Stones peeking out of the bottom left corner!

My lava lamp! I purchased this from Newbury Comics a while back, but only light it when I'm in the happiest of moods. Again, there's my Dexter calendar, along with a bunch of various Beatle memorabilia. 

Took a break from my room pictures to show off my Hi-C Orange Lavaburst! Read this post if you want to know why I love this junk so badly. 

My guitar corner! The one in the corner, named Bruce is my Batman one which I've been dying to sell on Craigslist, although no one will buy it. :( The one on the left is named Blackie after Eric Clapton's, and the acoustic is Harrison.

A bunch of junk! The lollipop earrings I just purchased the other day from SugarPopPartyShop, and I'm in love with them! The bat ones I bought a while ago. I made the Beatles earrings, Clockwork Orange, and David Bowie pins, and the rest with the exception of the one right below the Beatles earrings are from Newbury Comics. Tessa made the exception. The British flag necklace was purchased in London.

My bookshelf! I'll start with the top and make my way down. Those Beatles shot glasses were a gift from a friend a few Christmases ago. Some books on the second shelf include Who I Am by Pete Townshend, The Green Mile by Stephen King, and a collection of Edgar Allen Poe stories. Also there's a few flower crowns I made, a hand-painted Who plate I made, and the Beatles' anthology set. 

The bass guitar I painted by hand to look like George Harrison's Rocky and bag I purchased from Tessa!

  Unfortunately 8Tracks, the website I make playlists on, is blocked once again. Will this school make up their mind already? So I'll have to make a manual playlist this time, I guess. Cue cliché title:

Here Comes the Sun

A playlist about the happiness springtime brings



Hope you enjoyed my finally clean room! I'd love to hear from you all, so comments and suggestions would be lovely! Until next time, I'm Sam xx

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Edible Nostalgia

  Hey everyone! I've decided to part from my typical sixties/seventies-related whatnot today and focus on the late eighties and nineties. Being nearly 16 years of age, I unfortunately wasn't around for most of the nineties. It's something that I take great shame in. Lately I have been fascinated with the idea of products that were once on the market but were taken off, like Ecto Cooler, Crystal Pepsi, and Wonder Ball candy. Some of these things I had the opportunity to try before they were taken off the market, but for most, they remain a thing of the past. So today I decided to post a little about some nostalgic products, and I would really appreciate if some of you would comment on them if you remember them! Woo, you excited? I know I am.

Ecto Cooler from Hi-C, 1987-2001

  Ecto Cooler was a collaboration between the juice (if you even wanna call it that, haha) company Hi-C and the Ghostbusters franchise, who had just created a kid's TV show called The Real Ghostbusters. I was alive in 2001, but I was too young for Hi-C. A bunch of other orangey flavors of Hi-C were created that either supposedly tasted like the original Ecto Cooler flavor, or were the same flavor but with a different name that appealed to younger children as Ghostbusters became outdated. The only flavor of Hi-C that is orange-related whatsoever is called Orange Lavaburst, and many people on the internet have claimed it tastes very similar to Ecto Cooler. Because I've never had the original flavor, I can't compare whether or not it tastes like the original. However, it's delicious, regardless of being Ecto-esque or not. So I really do recommend Orange Lavaburst.

Ecto Cooler Commercial

Crystal Pepsi from Pepsi Co, 1992-1993

  Okay, I am obsessed with Crystal Pepsi. It may be because one of my favorite reviewers is obsessed,
or maybe just the general hype that surrounds it. The story is that the Pepsi company decided to try their hand at a clear soda, which supposedly tasted like the normal Pepsi flavor, but with a slight twist. I've seen many posts online, and every one says that it tastes like Pepsi but with a variation. I've seen citrus, lemon/lime, and even pixie sticks. Of course, I could never tell you, considering I was negative five years old when this product was taken off the market. I've been dying to find some online (they have original unopened bottles on Ebay, but they go for around 100 bucks), but it's hard to find the original. Oh! Back to the story. People generally didn't like the idea of a clear soda that wasn't entirely lemon/lime flavored, and Crystal Pepsi was soon taken off of the market. Initial sales were good ($474 million) but they eventually fell. Coca Cola tried to join in with the clear soda craze with Tab Clear, but that wasn't successful, either. So, Crystal Pepsi was pulled, which is a real shame because it sounds delightful. I've only hear positive reviews of Crystal Pepsi. Maybe someday they'll decide to reprise it.

Crystal Pepsi Commercial


Magic Middles from Keebler, sometime in the 1980s

I can't find the specific dates of when Magic Middles reigned, but they definitely look like kings. Just look at those gooey centers! From Keebler, one of my favorite companies, these shortbread cookies had a variety of yummy centers hidden inside. Chocolate seems the most delicious. And this commercial really sells them too. I was searching the internet for more information on Magic Middles, and look what I saw:

Could it be? Could Magic Middles be back...?! Next time Sam checks her local Walmart, we'll see for sure.

Magic Middles Commercial


Orbitz from Clearly Canadian Beverage Corporation, 1997

Orbitz is one of the more obscure products on this list, as its market period lasted from 1997 until... 1997. That's a bit tragic, isn't it? Sometimes joked as edible lava lamps, Orbitz were fruity soda flavors with gelatin blubs floating around in them. Definitely sounds appealing. It's available online in the original bottles if you want to find it, but based on some reviews, it was disgusting in 1997, and it's even more disgusting today.

Orbitz Commercial 



Wonder Ball from Nestlé, discontinued in 1997

Wonder Ball candies where hollow chocolate balls with toys inside. After the toys were found as choking hazards for stupid children who couldn't read that there were freaking toys inside, the candies were discontinued in 1997. However, in 2000, the Wonder Balls came back, with candies inside. These I did have a chance to try, and I remember loving them throughout my childhood. Unfortunately these have been discontinued as well.


Wonder Ball commercial (from the newer ones with candy inside)



What's your favorite nostalgic food or drink? Leave a comment below of your favorites, or if you have any discontinued products you'd like me to check out maybe for a later review. Thank you so much for reading!

With love, Sam xx

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Suburban Blues



  Lately I've been growing sick of living in the suburbs. It's not that I don't like the environment I'm in.. it's a little cold for my liking, but nothing too terrible. But it's the people I can't stand. In my town, our whole community is sports-based, and we're very patriotic about our teams. Our football team in particular has a large fan base, and if you don't like sports in this town, you're pretty much dead on arrival. Enter me: terrible at sports, simply doesn't care about patriotism, hates social interaction, and can hardly get enthusiastic about things I like, let alone things my town forces me to.
  I also feel like the education system, not just in my state in particular but in the entire country of the United States is heavily flawed. I have a feeling in a hundred or so years students will look back into their textbooks and think "wow, living then must have sucked. Those poor kids must have hated themselves." And yes, we do. A majority of people I know (yes, not just a select few, but a majority) of have had harmful thoughts because of the pressures of school. It's not even that we as students don't like learning, because I know I do. I just wish I could pick what I could learn about, as I know in the future I'm very unlikely to pursue a career based in geometry or chemistry. I should be able to choose classes that appeal to me, as I feel that is a basic human right. No student should ever be forced into classes they do not want to participate in. If I ask to switch out of a certain class or elect not to take one, I am criticized for not wanting to learn or not wanting to help myself. That's not the case; I simply do not find these specific subjects appealing and know that I will not choose to use them in my future. I feel as if I'm literally wasting my life away.
  Sorry for babbling, I just feel as if my school's environment is toxic. Everyone is harshly judgmental, and they feel as if everyone but themselves has a wrong opinion. Life is not about being wrong or right; it's about expressing your own opinion in the way you choose to express it. Be your own person; do not be a clone of everyone else around you. By being in such a ridiculously judgmental school, I feel as if I cannot express my opinion. I cannot be myself. And I hate every minute of it.


Saturday, March 1, 2014

In Like a Lion..

   We all know that in like a lion, out like a lamb cliché for the month of March. And with the upcoming snow storms soon to hit New England, I'm pretty sure to say that the weather is very lion-esque. Even though the weather's pretty disgusting (whoever says they like snow is a liar), I feel pretty calm, almost like the lamb side of this month. I've been shopping online like crazy the past few weeks, trying to find clothes that will remind me of summer. As ridiculous as it sounds, the aspects of pale and pastel have been on my mind, too. It seems that I've slowly started to calm down for once.
 

  I know that picture montage didn't really have a point, I just thought I'd share the lovely images that have inspired me this past month. I've also been listening to a lot of Gotye, Klaatu, and Wes Anderson soundtracks. I can't wait to see The Grand Budapest Hotel, Anderson's latest movie, which comes out this month! I guess I'm just in a Wes Anderson mood, really. His films like Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums have unforgettable soundtracks, and Moonrise Kingdom, my first Wes Anderson film, left a strong impact on me. I guess I'm just excited to know more Wes is coming!

  Have a lovely month of March xx




  1. "I'm Not Saying" by Nico
  2. "The Wind" by Cat Stevens
  3. "2000 Man" by The Rolling Stones
  4. "Life on Mars?" by David Bowie
  5. "Stranger" by the Kinks
  6. "Time of the Season for Loving" by the Zombies
  7. "Play With Fire" by the Rolling Stones
  8. "Ooh La La" by the Faces