I’m taking a momentary break from semi-serious blogging to answer a very important question: If you were Oprah, what would you have given away as your favorite things of 2010? And since I couldn’t remember the quote from the 30 Rock episode where Liz meets “Oprah” on a plane about calypso music and pashminas or whatever, here’s my list:
-The second season of Community. Every episode has just been ridiculously perfect. Plus, Chevy Chase’s character reminds me of Diana’s stepdad, who is pretty much the source of every hilarious story I have to offer the world.
-Jon Hamm. I think we can all agree that he is really, really, ridiculously good-looking. I mean, come on.
-Kathleen Madigan’s stand-up special, which is currently available on Showtime On Demand. I don’t know if other people would like it as much as I do, but any comedy special that would fill my personal bingo card of things I love to talk about gets a thumbs-up from me.
(I now realize that these last four paragraphs make it seem like all I do is watch TV. I actually watch it rarely when I’m in school. And now that I’m on break, I’ve seen every episode of Tabatha’s Salon Takeover like seven times.)
-Nail polish. I rekindled my obsession with nail polish after work made my nails look janky this summer. Mostly, it’s just a good mindless calming thing I can do every few days to take some time to myself. I think my favorite colors that were released this year would have to be China Glaze’s Ingrid, OPI’s Tease-y Does It (beautiful despite its legitimately stupid name), Zoya’s Edyta, and Revlon’s Perplex. I mean, it chips like a beast on me, even with fancy-pants topcoat, but it’s fun and buying nail polish has actually curtailed my habit of needlessly purchasing neutral sweaters just because I’m bored. So that’s worth something, I guess.
-Tom’s shoes. I have two pairs of them– a turquoise linen pair and a white/silver canvas pair– and I am wildly in love. Having high arches makes it difficult to find flats that my knees don’t hate, but these are super supportive. They’re also really light, which is great for people like me who feel like shoes are oppressing their feet. And for every pair you buy, a child who needs shoes gets a pair. All-around fabulous.
-Convertible gloves/glittens/hobo gloves/whatever it is you call them. I hate winter, but I always get excited when it’s cold enough to wear these for the first time.
-Related: this coat. My mom gave it to me for Christmas last year, and it’s great– warm but not too heavy, flattering, and durable. It’s actually satiated my need to buy cute coats to feel more positively about winter.
-Arcade Fire’s “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”:
I’m super indecisive, so it’s hard for me to make decisive claims like this, but this is without a doubt my favorite song of 2010. And I’m including “Home” by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros in the running.
-Other musical things I enjoyed that were released in 2010, beyond that song/the album it was part of: Vampire Weekend’s Contra, The National’s High Violet, Frightened Rabbit’s Winter of Mixed Drinks. Oh, and Pink Friday by Nicki Minaj did a wonderful job keeping me motivated while writing twenty-seven pages and three blue-book exams over the course of five days during finals.
-Related, although inspiring the exact opposite of productivity: the Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja apps for the iPod/iPhone. Addictive. In the words of Lara: “How do you ever accomplish anything knowing you can play Angry Birds whenever you want?!”
-Alterra’s Brazil Traditional Dry single-origin coffee. So dark and so smooth.
-Real Guinness– the kind that’s brewed in Ireland. Not everyone loves it, but I do. It’s like drinking a month’s worth of iron supplements, but tasty. (Related: I’m seriously missing Ireland lately. It’s getting to be a problem, since I’m in serious denial that I’m actually going to be at SNC next semester and actually graduating in May. Oh, well.)
-Sharpie Pens. I only jumped on that bandwagon last week, but I think it still counts for 2010.
So, yes! Those are my favorite things. Bear this post in mind for the day when I’m as famous as Oprah, which is sure to happen approximately never. The beginning of 2010 was wonderful for me, the end of it not-so-much, but it definitely wasn’t worthless.
