California love (shout-out, Tupac)

Santa Barbara is so beautiful - mountains, beach and like 80 and sunny every day. I even saw a bunch of homeless people and totally got it - if you have to be homeless, what better place than Santa Barbara?? The hotel was right on the beach, so I got nice and sunburned (damn you California weather - when I don't sweat I don't feel like I'm burning!) - and I even rented a bike (and helmet, mom) and pedaled into town for fro-yo and shopping. And it was great seeing one of my besties from high school as well - we ate some fabulous food and enjoyed catching up face-to-face for once. Probably my last trip for a while, so I tried to enjoy the calm (and gluten free toast) as much as I could.

Bachelorette recap: Bad idea jeans

Oh, Rachel. Silly, silly Rachel. You picked style over substance, diamonds over destiny - but congrats I guess? That's right, folks - another season is over and another Bachelorette couple is doomed engaged. She was clearly in love with Peter (#teamgaptooth), but wanted to be engaged so badly that she let him walk away - even after he told her he would propose. ("But I want you to WANT to propose!" #eyeroll #eyeroll #eyeroll)

The after the final rose was very tense - clearly there are still feelings there - and I found it interesting that Rachel said several times how the Bachelor scene just wasn't right for Peter. Is she trying to convince producers NOT to pick him?? (don't listen to her, producers!)

So we're left with Bryan. Ol' "red flags" Bryan who the guys warned her about, her family warned her about, and Bryan's ex girlfriend basically warned her about (his mother is a DOOZY y'all). He's 37 and single in Miami. Methinks there's a reason for that. Ohhhhhh, Rachel.

Here's to sweet Pete being the next Bachelor, and here's to Eric for having the most upstanding break-up I've seen in a long time.

Going back to Cali

Headed to Santa Barbara tomorrow for a long weekend (so no blogs until Tuesday). I've never been there, and I've heard awesome things so I'm excited. I guess it's a "babymoon," although does it qualify as a babymoon if you're single? Meh.

Going to the spa, the beach, the pool, renting a bike to peddle into town, etc. And my friend from high school who lives in LA is going to come down for one night and play. Yay!

I'll take Justin Bobby any day

Watched Siesta Key, the new reality show on MTV that follows a group of 22-year-olds in Florida. I assume it's supposed to be the new Laguna Beach/The Hills. It is not. (Note: this could be because I am practically twice these people's age, so roll my eyes instead of feeling like Lo and I could be friends 13 years ago. Which would never have happened, but you catch my drift.)

But I do applaud MTV for trying. First bringing back "reality" shows, then TRL - what's next? Music videos???

Bachelorette recap: The Men Tell All. Or not much.

You know it's going to be kind of a snooze-fest when the first ten minutes are "most memorable moments" from PREVIOUS Men Tell Alls. Oh goodie. (Did make me realize that I've forgotten about most of these people, however.)

Otherwise, I can sum up last night's two hours thusly:

• Whaboom showed up in - what else - a Whaboom tank top. I enjoyed when one of the guys called him a joke. #truthhurts
• DeMario claimed not to know the woman proclaiming to be his girlfriend, then backtracked to call her a "side-piece." Nice. He even tried to use the Bill Clinton defense. Not sure that works, man.
• Kenny and Lee. This went on for MUCH longer than it needed to. Kenny harbors no ill will - and his daughter gets to go to Disneyland! Lee admits he made mistakes and lied. Then they bring up his old misogynistic and racist tweets. He says he is sorry, but the guys aren't buying it. If he was so sorry, why wait a year to apologize?? (Also, he keeps claiming the comparing of the NAACP to the KKK was "cut off" and only "half the joke." Dare you enlighten us with the second half?? Once Rachel comes out, she tells him off but good. Methinks Lee is done for. No Paradise for you, bub.
• Dean is a crowd favorite (and DOES get to go to Paradise). He asks Rachel why she would tell him she's falling in love with him, just to send him home. She swears her feelings were real. Probably doesn't make him feel much better, but props to Dean and Alex for their wild tux jackets.
• Rachel addresses Adam and Matt, the two guys who got no screen time but made it quite far - she says America didn't get to see their relationships. Intriguing. (And where was Adam Jr.??)
• Finally, bloopers. Which Chris Harrison makes it seem like people LOVE. Not sure that's true, but I did enjoy seeing the tickle monster again.

Next week, this season comes to a (dramatic) close at last. #teamgaptooth

Phone Home

OMG guys. E.T. is still so fantastic. I laughed. I cried. I spotted a young C. Thomas Howell and Erika Eleniak. #randombuttrue

Couldn't find a gif of my favorite scene where E.T. is dressed as a ghost and says "Thank you," so this will have to do:

Also, did you know that M&Ms turned down the offer, paving the way for Reese's Pieces? Idiots. Especially considering they didn't have to pay to play:

Hershey did not pay to have Reese’s Pieces used in E.T., but it did agree to do a tie-in between the movie and the candy after the film was released. A deal was inked wherein Hershey Foods agreed to promote E.T. with $1 million of advertising; in return, Hershey could use E.T. in its own ads.
Within two weeks of the movie’s premiere, Reese’s Pieces sales went through the roof. (Disagreement exists as to how far through the roof they went: Sales were variously described as having tripled, experienced an 85% jump, or increased by 65%). Whatever the numbers, though, Reese’s Pieces — up until then an underdog confection only faintly known by the U.S. candy-consuming public — were suddenly being consumed in great handfuls. And all thanks to a shy little alien lured from the bushes and into America’s hearts by a trail of peanut-butter-in-a-candy-coated-shell confections.

#randombuttrue

Wait that guy looks familiar

I love finding celebrities on reality shows before they were "famous." (Yes, I realize I need to get a hobby.) So imagine my excitement when randomly watching the first episode of The Ashlee Simpson show on youtube (again, I realize this is fairly sad) - she was dating Josh Henderson (of Dallas and now The Arrangement)! Of course, he broke up with her by the end of the episode and the rest of the time she dated Ryan Cabrera, but it got me wondering about Josh so I Googled. Turns out, not his first reality show rodeo - he was one of the six winners of Popstars 2 which created some band called Scene 23. Which of course then I had to start watching. And also saw Kimberly Caldwell of future American Idol fame. Two for two!

Okay, reading this back I really might have a problem. Perhaps I could take up cross-stitch?