#MusicMonday

Currently trying to think about and work on things I blog about regularly to come up with a more consistent theme - which is why I've stripped a few things away in the meantime.

Music Monday is always something that I've wanted to be a part of but I'm a pretty inconsistent person when it comes to listening to music. Don't get me wrong, I love music but I'll go a week of nearly always being plugged in, and then not make the effort to select a song I like for another couple of weeks. Now I have a car, this has changed me a little as I usually listen to the radio on my way to or from work and if I don't like that, then I'll pop a CD on.

All that being said, my music tastes this week have surprised me quite a bit. I've been listening to what in my head I would refer to as 'boy music', because it's mostly consisted of bands I roll my eyes at when Moon tells me about them but then secretly listen to and really enjoy - and She & Him and The Lumineers because I've been feeling both macho as well as twee.

I've actually taken it upon myself to listen to real albums more than once from start to finish this week too, something I never do, I'm a shuffler - it's definitely something that can get annoying when it's tracks that flow into each other but I just don't care.

---

1. It's Blitz - Yeah Yeah Yeahs


We listened to this all the way 'home home' a couple of weekends ago and I almost haven't stopped playing it since. I pretend not to like them but after having this on constantly, I think Yeah Yeah Yeahs might have moved up my list slightly. The album is great for driving generally, but I've also found it goes really well with the sunny weather we've been having and is really motivating me to get through my work. My favourite songs are probably 'Zero', 'Dull Life' and 'Little Shadow'.


2. Discovery - Daft Punk


So, a lot of people have been raving about 'Get Lucky', Daft Punk's track with Pharrell Williams. I'm definitely holding their new song responsible for rediscovering them, there are so many songs of theirs that I love. They do have a tendency to get on my nerves if I'm not in the right frame of mind, but this is another album that's great for motivation and I'm as hooked on 'Get Lucky' as so many others are too, they're definitely in my good books at the moment.


3. Contra - Vampire Weekend


Few bands get me in the mood for warmer weather like Vampire Weekend. They're one of those bands that just remind me of summer, and are another band that owe a new single to a rediscovery. I find it so weird that they have such a tiny back catalogue because I like pretty much all their songs. If 'Diane Young' is anything to go by then there's nothing but more good things coming from them, and I can't wait. Although 'Cousins' is one of my favourite music videos of all time, I thought I'd share my favourite song from Contra with you, 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa', such summery vibes. ♥


4. In Love - Peace


I'm not sure if I have anything in particular to say about this album, but they were another band 'recommended' to me by Mr Moon who I initially ignored but after listening to their album without encouragement really enjoyed. It's just something I've been putting on and found myself enjoying from start to finish, which I guess means it has a pretty nice flow, so just give it a listen, yeah?


5. Bankrupt! - Phoenix


Shamelessly listening to an album because one song is everywhere but actually discovering the album is pretty enjoyable. I just wish that the 'video version' of 'Entertainment' was the same as the album version, it's way cooler.

---

Anyway, those were my albums of the week, I guess. I don't know if I'll make this a feature, or ever do it again, but I've been feeling pretty musical for the last week or so and getting over my shuffling, even if only temporarily, is a minor accomplishment (the most minute of minor accomplishments, ever).

It was nice to listen to some different music this week as opposed to the same playlist over and over, I could use some friendly recommendations. Maybe we could be friends of Last.fm, that would be fun, huh?

NRVS.

So this wasn't the most rock-n-roll weekend ever had by anyone, nor was it the most relaxed. I feel like so much has been done, it's weird to know that this time next week I'll probably be internetless sitting in my new home - how that's going to affect the job hunt, is anyone's guess.

After an abysmal quiz night on Thursday where we totally aced the first two rounds - getting 19/20 and 17/17 - we bombed and lost, the weekend began on a much more positive note, putting aside the fact that I am feeling an incredible amount of anxiety over what the next few months holds (it's all in the hands of job-givers rather than myself, unfortunately).

The sky looked mean but pretty at New Malden train station when I left on Thursday evening.



This is what I've enjoyed listening to these last few days, he's firmly growing on me and even though I can't handle his hair, I'm super looking forward to his album. I'm also really excited about Paloma Faith's comeback because she's wonderful.

And this is a song that I can't escape and can't figure out if I enjoy.

To continue, the weekend began with a few sweet finds, and basically continued thusly until now, and even up until I started writing I've been sorting through things.


This is a tea-light holder I bought my aunt a couple of Christmas' ago, I keep forgetting that she (rudely) left it at my Grans, and now I have somewhere to put it, I'm staking my claim to it. It's a bit flimsier than I would like but I don't plan on moving it around too much once it has a more permanent home. Having tried it out, I'm a bit sad that it doesn't spin as much as it's meant to but it's still quite a sweet decorative item, and it's always nice to have somewhere else to safely place a tea-light.


Just in case I didn't have enough tea-lights...


You may recognise this from Day Thirteen's 'Photo A Day'. I'm really quite happy with it, I hope to use it as storage but next weekend it will play a big part in helping me out with moving all my shoes to Newbury.
Like I mentioned in Friday's post, I found a few other things. I think it's been decided that the draftsman's drawers are a 'no' for the moment because it's a pretty big piece and we can't figure out what to put in them. We'll be getting some small boxes as well though, which will be handy for storage/extra seats, and all they need is a quick dab of paint. Friday night was spent catching up with Eastenders and American shows - Moon being at work has meant that I've missed so much New Girl!

---

Saturday was Ikea day, and it was a pretty big day. Everyone always says how big Croydon Ikea is, and yeah I never disputed it, but it is massive! I love Ikea and everything Ikea, but by the end of the first floor, I found myself slightly losing the will to live.


It took us nearly three hours to do the whole thing. I found a perfect, but too big mirror, and we didn't come out with either of the big items we actually wanted - an armchair and a coffee table - and we still haven't got them, but we picked up important small bits, like glasses and an ironing board for Moon. I was mainly there for the meatballs and to lust over the showroom displays so it was always going to be a great day out. I'm a bit sad there weren't any bookcases exactly meeting my taste, but I think that's a tough one so I don't blame anyone and will just keep searching.




How great are these bed sheets?


After Ikea, we were on to a winner when we popped into Purley Way Sainsbury's, I managed to get a lovely duck egg-coloured tea towel set, throw and oven glove, the throw was only £2.60, I smell a colour scheme. ♥ ♥ ♥
For tea, we tried out an M&S special edition 'New York Pastrami' Pizza and I must say I was a bit disappointed by the whole thing. Gherkins, however delicious, do not belong on a pizza, the packaging suggested something amazing but I guess it just didn't do the job it was supposed to.



It does look nice though doesn't it, don't be fooled. The garlic bread was also not garlicky enough #sadface.

---

Today involved another early rise, only this time for some second-hand looting. We went back to the Pease Pottage carboot that we went to last weekend. There was some mild success, we found a mirror and two saucepans, not bad. It was so cold, which was a bit of a bummer, it's a huge carboot though, although it doesn't quite meet up to Rusper's high standards, it probably does deserve it's accolade of 'largest carboot in the South-East'.




This Monopoly box was beautiful, if I was always playing Monopoly - which unfortunately, I'm not - I would have picked it up. It came with wooden houses and hotels, but the money was probably better spent on useful homewares.



I've seen so many amazing dogs today, these Shiba Inus were my second-favourite, next to a King Charles spaniel called Bella that I met when we were over in Guildford this afternoon.


We finished up the afternoon with Chris and Calvert in Guildford, and more shopping for homewares. Nothing seems to be what I want at the moment, anywhere. I don't want fashion items for my home and that seems to be the 'in' thing, funnily enough. Our last stop was a shop called Sabichi, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Despite looking like yet another unaffordable homewares shop, we walked out with a 16-piece dinner set, a mug tree and a kitchen roll holder for under £30. I spied a pug mug set on my way out but I think we have far too many mugs to be getting on with, we will never have that many people for coffee. I also picked up two of their 'snug mugs', in a lovely pastel-turquoise as it goes with the things I got from Sainsbury's and they're a great shape. If you're in Guildford, I'd recommend you check them out.

So, now I'm back in New Malden ready to fully embrace the horror that is packing for a move. I've already sorted my boxes in the garage and condensed them down to just three boxes. Now I just have to get all my clothes (the big job) and my other bits and pieces and I'll feel a bit more ready. I've just discovered that I don't have towels, a duvet or pillows, so that's all on my list. Sorry for the lack of 'item photos' but everything is to be packed and in it's place set for the move, I'll have lots more to share with you by then though, I'm sure.

Being back at home is nice, I think my favourite girl missed me, even if she won't admit it.

Did you do anything for your home this weekend? Any pleasant surprises?

Ruthy-Jay's Wild Weekend!

Oh wait, I'm talking about that other weekend, the one where I spent Saturday practicing my driving theory, going for lunch with Moon and watching How I Met Your Mother and Greg Davies' stand up and where I spent Sunday buying snacks at the Korean supermarket in the morning and spending the whole afternoon browsing Etsy for things I don't have room for but would really really like while Moon watches football. Yep, this weekend's been a wacky one, as you can probably tell.

What a weird week it's been though, at the end of last week, I didn't have a cat, and now I do and I have to brush her and feed her and scoop her poop, it's so weird. I've been so productive, I have a website, and I've cleaned up my CV, if I see the rest of the year through how I've seen the last week, 2012 is going to be awesome. However, I think that as 2012 is officially over a week old now, I should just carry on as though it wasn't New Year's Day just last Sunday. I'm not productive because of a 'new year, new start' mentality, I'm just productive and ready for anything, damnit.

So, next week I'll be working on a graphic version of my CV, which was something I didn't get around to doing this week, what with gaining a kitten and having an incredibly slow internet day on the first day I worked on my website (therefore also the day I needed to upload all the images onto the server), which was swell. But that's in the line up to be uploaded for the world to see, along with a couple of wishlist and catlady-related posts.
Tomorrow is the first time I'll be visiting the Job Centre since before Christmas, which, as anyone who goes themselves will know, is a major mood killer. I'm hoping I can remain as happy as I have been so far this year though and hope that there isn't a direct correlation between the lack of Job Centre and my general perkiness.

I guess that that's enough talking, and as my description surely wet your appetites, here are some photographs that I've taken over the last few days, mainly involving my new arrival, but there are some that don't. There's a mix of phone and SLR, so excuse the quality mish-mash.

As the semi-owner of an eighteen year-old cat, I am aware that cats are incredibly changeable creatures, and this is probably one reason why people who don't like cats don't like them, not that I really know how anyone can not like anything cute with fur. So, currently, Dolly loves my windowsill when the curtains are open because she can sit on these magazines and be slightly higher while being able to observe both what's going on outside and my whole bedroom. It also gets warm when the sun is out and she gets to hang out with me.

Moon came over on Saturday and we went to Kingston after taking our old TV to the dump. We tried and failed to give my monitor to CEX but they wouldn't take it because I didn't give them a VGA cable, so they couldn't test it, why not just keep one spare? So we wasted a bit of time walking to and from the car park. We ended up being starving and having a late and big lunch at Frankie B's at the top of the Bentall Centre, it was quite nice there but our piggyness was initially unintentional. I would have taken more photos but my phone decided, as it often does, that it had had too much.

Dolly is always thirsty, you can't leave any half-full glasses around with her, even though she has her own waterbowl. Moon insisted that I filled this glass up just a bit so she would be able to drink from it...

My future housemates. I'm glad Moon liked Dolly, I didn't think he wouldn't because she is very sweet-natured and looks pretty, but it is good they get along and that he likes her because it will be easier when we all move in together. She likes him a lot anyway because he's a boy.

I took Moon to H-Mart, the Korean supermarket around the corner from me. I'm not sure why I took him there, I think it was mainly because I couldn't think of something that wouldn't take so much time that he would miss the football but would be enough time to feel like we got out of the house.

I'd love to take real photos there, there's such a variety of different stuff and so many products that you wouldn't even think people needed.

We came home with some tasty snacks, which were much nicer than they sounded, I wonder why they don't sell Nandos crisps everywhere, everyone loves Nandos.

I thought I would share this necklace with you. At the beginning of the week I cleared out a load of boxes that I haven't looked at since we moved here, that's nearly two years before I moved here permanently. I found this gem in a box full of a mixture of old cameras and family photographs. I felt so amazing when everything was organised and I got a new necklace out of it. I don't know where it's from but I quite like it, I don't see anything wrong with channelling a bit of my inner-cat-lady every now and then...

Okay, so maybe I lied, they're nearly all of Dolly, but she's still so new and exciting and we're still getting to know each other.

I think I'm going to leave you with this, 'I Don't Know' by Kassidy, a song which, thanks to Moon I basically haven't had out of my head all week, I recommend that you get their album, Hope St, it's pretty great.

I'm starting a 30-day challenge tomorrow :)

I love The Maccabees.

*fangirl post.

Never ones to disappoint me (except for disappearing for nearly two years, that was lame), The Maccabees pretty much solidified their come-back all of five minutes ago, with the posting of a Guardian music blog premiering their video for 'Pelican', their next single, due for release at the beginning of 2012.

And here it is, in all it's glory, after the announcement of several new tour dates, it doesn't even matter that we still don't know when those will be going on sale. Enjoy this Windows '95 homage, it's weird and lovely.

Dry the River, The Cricketers.

Last night Moon and I went to see Dry the River for the third time in six months. Either this is a demonstration of my loyalty to Moon and his fanboyism, or a demonstration of my own fangirlism towards them, you decide. They were amazing, the venue was lovely, might have been teaming with hipsters but it was worth it to hear Peter Liddle's beautiful voice.

Here are some photos I took, they are black and white because otherwise they would mainly be yellow.

The support was a nice girl called Lucy Rose, she has her own CD and website and everything, you should go and listen to her.

I know that it's a rubbish as hell photo, but I had to share this guy with you. He was at the gig, eating salad, and not just a little bit of salad, a whole fruitbowl's worth of salad. They make them differently here in 'not quite London'.

Do I think we'll see them again before the year is out? Who knows, they're a really hard working band. They're new single 'Weights and Measures' is out now and it is very good (but it sounds better in real life).


Dry the River official website
Follow Dry the River on Twitter
Download 'Weights and Measures' from iTunes