Music: Iconic ABBA forever

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous
Fucking pop music ICONS. Image via billboard.com

ABBA. What an iconic, amazing and legendary band. I listen to ABBA’s album GOLD: Greatest Hits at least once a week. I love pop and disco, and ABBA is the quintessential representation of those two genres.

Their music is so good that it has been on Broadway in the musical Mamma Mia, a fictional tale sculpted from ABBA’s music. IT began in 1999 in London’s West End at the Prince Edward Theatre and still runs to this day. It’s definitely a show I and all ABBA lovers MUST see. The Meryl Streep movie is awesome, but live theater is the fucking shit, especially if there is song and dance.

Image via passportmagazine.com

I actually discovered ABBA through the A-Teens, a Swedish pop group formed in the late 90s that paid tribute to ABBA. Their first album titled The ABBA Generation consisted purely of ABBA covers. Their version of “Mamma Mia” was pretty huge for being a cover, but it’s such a good song that you’d have to be a complete idiot to fuck its cover up.

I can’t pick a favorite ABBA song, because it has changed so many times over the years. At first it was “Take a Chance on Me”, then it went to “Lay All Your Love on Me”. Next was the fight between “Money, Money, Money” for it’s theatrical, dramatic production and “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight)” for it’s relatable subject. Right now, I’m jammin’ on “Fernando” and “One of Us”.

Their songs encapsulate an often cryptic tale of struggling relationships. The four members of the group, Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad comprised of two couples: Ulvaeus-Fältskog and Andersson-Lynstad. The couples eventually both divorced and now claim to never reunite again. You can tell in the lyrics of their songs that even at the height of their fame, the relationships were ripe with disconnect and pain.

Gimme gimme gimme those outfits! Image via broadwaysd.com

It’s also good to know that ABBA was not your modern day pop group. Benny and Björn played live instruments while the women sang live (what a shocker!). They worked on all of their songs obsessively until they sounded exactly right. The ladies, Anni-Frid and Agnetha would come in a make suggestions on the songs and ultimately had final say when it came to lyrics and lyrical melody.

I’ve come to realize that it’s pretty progressive to have a pop group with both men and women. They were all sexualized I’m sure, but it was the 70s so who wasn’t?! I like that the men and women are both showing skin, as opposed to just the women being made into sexual objects. Back then, everyone and everything was an equal sexual object. The only modern male-female pop group I can think of is the Black Eyed Peas, but I wouldn’t exactly call them progressive since I never see any of those men taking their clothes off with Fergie-ferg. Prudes!

Anyways, if you haven’t ever listened to much ABBA besides their karoake favorite “Dancing Queen”, you’re in for the treat of your life. Here are some videos of “Fernando” and a seriously awesome live clip of “Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)” from Wembley in 1979. Welcome to the best collective 8 minutes of your life.

Summer guide: Drinks

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous
Image via lemondropkisses.tumblr.com

This is Part 2 of the 20poorandfabulous summer guide to a healthy, happy and fabulous summer! 

Summer Drinks

Ahhhh, the refreshing mist of a summer drink on your tongue. Hot coffees and heavy drinks have no business being in your summer drink repertoire. Here are some great summer drinks that will keep you hydrated or keep you fabulously buzzed.

Golf legend Arnold Palmer is a legend in my heart for his fabulous drink. Image via celebritiesfans.com

 Arnold Palmers

Arnold Palmer IS the definitive summer drink. Half iced tea, half lemonade, totally fucking cool. The big cans at the gas stations are ok for dire situations, but my favorite drink take on AP’s classic quencher is at Starbucks. The Tazo green tea and lemonade is my fucking summer jam. I dream about these drinks. I only let myself buy them once in a while or on a particularly sunny day (budgeting leaves for weird delicacies like Starbucks, cuz that shit ain’t cheap!). The crisp and light taste of tea paired with the tartness of the lemonade is just beautiful.

Luckily Arnold Palmers are tres easy to make at home. Whip up some green tea and fresh lemonade (or buy lemonade at the store), mix and you’re ready to roll. You can also use any kind of drink mix paired with tea, like crystal light or kool-aid if you’re feeling nostalgic.

Mojitos

Mojitos are fucking great. Minty, lime-y and alcohol-y. This can’t possibly go wrong.

Recipe

  • 10 fresh mint leaves
  • 1/2 lime, cut into 4 wedges
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar, or to taste
  • 1 cup ice cubes
  • 1 1/2 fluid ounces white rum
  • 1/2 cup club soda

Place mint leaves and 1 lime wedge into a sturdy glass. Use a muddler to crush the mint and lime to release the mint oils and lime juice. Add 2 more lime wedges and the sugar, and muddle again to release the lime juice. Do not strain the mixture. Fill the glass almost to the top with ice. Pour the rum over the ice, and fill the glass with carbonated water. Stir, taste, and add more sugar if desired. Garnish with the remaining lime wedge.

(Recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com)

Anything at the restaurant called Summer Punch

Just go with it. It’s probably fruity, filled with rum and hopefully a really good time.

Image via wishfulchef.com

 Sangria

Sangria is one of the best drinks ever. Wine, fruit and a whole bunch of fun. Plus, after you finish the drink, you get a healthy-ish snack at the end! And if anyone gives you the stink eye for eating the fruit, they can fuck off because that shit rocks.

Recipe

  • 1 Bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja reds, Zinfandel, Shiraz)
  • 1 Lemon cut into wedges
  • 1 Orange cut into wedges
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 Shot brandy
  • 2 Cups ginger ale or club soda
Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon and orange into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and add sugar and brandy. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale or club soda just before serving. If you’d like to serve right away, use chilled red wine and serve over lots of ice.

Anything frozen

Because it’s hot as fuck out and you gotta stay cool bitch.

Celebrité: Brad and Angelina have their own Downton Abbey

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As I lay here, dying from Downton Abbey withdrawal (the clothes! the accents! the incest!), Brad and Angelina have obviously found a cure for their very own DA withdrawals. They’ve just purchased a 13 million dollar mansion in London called Whornes Place, presumably to live out their own sort of upstairs/downstairs drama while we all feverishly wait for season three of Downton Abbey (fuck you September!).

Can you imagine a Mr. Pamuk dying in the bedroom of an 18-year-old rebellious Zahara? Or Pax going off to valiantly fight the Germans? Will they have their very own Mr. Bates and Anna? Will Shiloh be the heart-on-her-sleeve modern version of Lady Sybil? Only time will tell folks, only time will tell.

All I know is Whornes Place would be the best show in the history of shows, ever. PLEEEEEEEASE BRANGELINA! They won’t do it because they’re all eloquent and shit. But maybe SNL could pick it up as a recurring skit. Or webisodes on Youtube. Someone’s gotta have enough free time. Yeah? YEAH?!

Style: May Fashion Wish List

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous
Image via nastygal.com

This dress is perfect. It’s absolutely parfait for sipping champagne on a yacht in the early evening! Orrrr in someone’s backyard sipping cheap wine and trying not to get dirty.

Image via heels.com

Fucking awesome for outdoor music festivals this summer in theory, because standing around in wedges for a whole concert is one of my worst nightmares.

Image via aliceandolivia.com

Hello patio seating and afternoon cocktails with Mom.

Image via harrods.com

Bonjour Dior. This is sunglass perfection. Now I just have to wait for the knockoffs from China to arrive so I can afford them!

Image via dvf.com

I can’t stop loving this color. Damn you Gaga!! This dress was made for outdoor summer weddings. And cocktails.

Forever Young: Justin Bobby

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Image via mtv.com

Justin Bobby, the weirdest addition to The Hills cast ever. He’s part surfer dude, part really insecure hat aficionado, and part brain-dead fart face that could double as a model.

May he forever be a smelly-looking gem of fake reality show history.

Summer guide: Skincare

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous
Image via plumdistrict.com

SUMMER!!! Hey!!! You’re here! We’ve fucking missed you. For real. Winter can be SUCH a bitch sometimes. She made me gain 5 pounds and my skin looks like shit. Whatever I’m over it. Let’s get drunk.

With our new friend summer back in our lives again like friendly faces from old DVDs of The O.C., we’ve got to remember what she has in store for us. Here is the first part of the 20poorandfabulous guide to beginning your summer healthily, happily and above all fabulously.

PART ONE: Skincare

Image via physiciansformula.com

It is OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE to take care of your skin. I don’t care how pretty you are, how young and supple your skin is, or even if you don’t care. You NEED to take care of your skin. Your future 40 year old self will buy you many cocktails in honor of your skin preserving foresight in your 20s. Find a moisturizer that has a hefty SPF 15 built right into the formula. When you moisturize each morning, you won’t even have to worry about the sun because it will already be put into your skincare routine.

Some makeups come with SPF too. I’ve used Physician Formula bronzer with SPF 50 built in. This is really nice, especially for your cheeks where sun hits and tends to damage the most.

Don’t forget your lips either! This can be an easy place to forget to put sunscreen. Maybe because lips are lippy and feel different that the rest of our skin. But sunburning them can be a fucking BITCH. I like regular Chapstick brand with SPF 30. Whatever you do, DO NOT buy Burts Bees lifeguard chapstick with SPF. Although it offers nice protection, it turns your lips white from the zinc and does not look cute.

With the weather getting warmer and clothes getting smaller, it’s important to keep the rest of your body in mind when it comes to skincare. The shoulders and chest area in particular are places you’ll want to keep moisturized with sunscreen. Spray can sunscreens can be cool and convenient, but keep in mind the environmental impact on the ozone layer that spray can ingredients destroy. I’ve used Vanicream SPF 30. The product is fragrance-free, lanolin-free, PABA-free, gluten-free, preservative-free with no chemical additives, cinnamates or benzophenones and is non-comodogenic. Awesome. It was designed at the Mayo Clinic to be ideal for people with sensitive skin. My only complaint is that it is a little stubborn to rub in. But really, I don’t need to be that fucking lazy. Spending an extra 15 seconds rubbing something on my skin ain’t no thang.

Lastly, remember to stay hydrated! Heat exhaustion is no joke. Plus, lots of water keeps you and your beautiful skin happy and healthy.

What’s the point of having great skin if you’re not having fun?! Part 2: Summer Drinks is coming up next where Arnold Palmer is crowned genius of the world.

Forever Young: Rain

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous
Work it, rain. Image via loadstorm.com

You know that sound. The gentle swishy noise that puts you to sleep, makes slow music seem heavenly and gives your hair a cynical yet playful frizz. Plus, who can forget rain dances, made popular by the Native Americans and Jonathan Taylor Thomas in the 90s cinema classic Man of the House. 

Although there are many upsides to rain, like pretty spring flowers and life as we know it, it also has a dark side. Remember puddles? Jerks! Hurricanes? Get over yourself. Hail? DICK.

However, let’s take this time to reminisce upon the happier moments with rain, like earthworm parties and mud pies by the creek. Check out this website that plays the sound of rain during a thunderstorm. What a classic.

20 something: Freak outs and parents

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Yeah, nobody knows what the fuck is going on here. Image via Google

It’s not an uncommon realization that being in one’s 20s is kind of fucking hell. Looming student loan payments. We need to find jobs that probably have nothing to do with our majors, because jobs in our majors barely exist anymore (thanks a lot, technical revolution!). The job market is scarce. Applications go out, maybe 50, maybe a 100 of them without so much as a “fuck you” in return as a response. We want to go out and forget about our troubles with our friends (drinking), but we don’t really have money to do so because of rent and a pesky thing called eating.

We’re all going through this right now. It’s life, it’s our reality. We have high highs and low lows. As we think about ourselves and where our individual futures are going, we must also be sympathetic to the paths of our friends and their complex yet relatable feelings and freak outs.

I make this face at least once a week. Image via esquire.com

Crying and screaming irrationally about our futures is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it’s a really good release to get out all of your frustrations with jobs, relationships and social lives.

If it happens to you, hopefully there is a nice friend around or nearby a phone who can listen and help you talk things out. If it happens to a friend, remember to listen. Sometimes we can be so wrapped up in our own problems that we forget the complexities that our closest friends are living too. It’s so important to really listen to your friends. Sometimes all we need is to feel that someone is listening to us. Plus, maybe you’ll realize that your problems pale in comparison after hearing that a friend is pregnant/got fired/has AIDS/likes meth. Relativity bitches.

Parents

From talking to many of my friends, I’ve concluded that Will Smith was soooo right. Parents just don’t understand.

“Just get a job” is probably the most common thing said from parent to child during these rough economic and 20s-ish times. Even though mass layoffs after the crash in 2008 affecting many people of our parents age, and maybe even some of your parents, a disconnect os present in the dialogue concerning 20 something jobs and their futures.

Nobody is having a blast monetarily right now, except the 1 percenters (you jerkfaces!) and the people who think they’ll be the 1 percenters someday (idiots) but will instead be middle tier management 4 life (Ha!). Parents retirement funds that have been hit or dwindled, coupled with an unemployed child who is an educated adult is a heavy economic burden. It’s understandable that some parents, much like Hannah’s parents in HBO’s Girls, don’t want to fund their child’s 20s. They’ve worked hard and want to finally have some things to themselves. I mean, I want to travel the world when I hit retirement age, and maybe have a beach house or something dammit!

Being able to understand both our parents economic situation and their lives as individuals as well as our post-grad struggles in a country where job creation is a serious fucking problem is key to getting through this whole mess alive.

Spotted: John Mayer in Minneapolis

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous
Image thanks to Facebook, Bri Kolb and Paul Moore

Two of my HAWT friends ran into a little someone today in Dinkytown in Minneapolis. John Mayer. Outside of the Loring Pasta Bar.

JM, WHAT are you doing in that hat?! Rich people, man.

 Seeing as this isn’t LA, this star spotting is quite noteworthy. I wonder where he’s going tonight? Aqua? Jet Set? College frat cowboy-themed party?

Good work guys!!!

Forever Young: Jessie Spano’s caffeine pill addiction

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous
"GIVE ME MY FUCKING PILLS ZACH." Image via shepherdstv.wordpress.com

Jessie Spano and her caffeine pills (that could totally be a band name). One of the most classic, semi-harmless addictions of all time. And to stay awake to study for tests, no less! Most people take drugs because they hate their boring lives, not to prepare for a better future. Well done, Jessie Spano. You took drugs to a whole nother level. Proud of you, girl.