A Thought and a Half | Southern Food & Lifestyle Blog

9 Songs to Make Your New Year Bright & Bold

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Happy First Blog Post of 2016, y’all! What better way to start off than with a killer collection of songs to get you pumped to tackle all of your goals for the year?!

Music always puts me in a good mood, and good music takes that good mood up several notches. I’ve always been a junkie for a good playlist; seriously I have about 10 saved on my iPod at any given time. I looked for any reason to make a mix CD for a friend just so I could put together an awesome playlist.

I really like music, y’all. And that’s why I wanted to share some of my favorites today, to help y’all start 2016 on a strong note! Haha…note…music…get it? I’m hilarious.

9 songs to make 2016 bright and bold

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Road Trip Playlist

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I’m so excited for my upcoming spring break. Time off from school is always good, and a whole week off is just what I need. This year, my spring break is going to be one big road trip. I’m really excited to visit two of my favorite cities and spend time with my friends who I don’t get to see very often anymore, and do a little job research while I’m there. What better way to spend a week off from school, right? 

One thing that gets me through long road trips is a great playlist. The first leg of my trip is nearly 8 hours. I’m not exactly looking forward to it, but at least I’m doing that one first. I won’t put my entire 500-song playlist on here, but I will share my favorite road trip jams. 

Check out my favorite road trip playlist!


I won’t be posting much on here while I’m traveling, so I’ll catch y’all on the other side! For now, enjoy my favorite songs and soak up that first week of spring! 
What’s on your road trip playlist?

 

6 Songs I’m Currently Loving

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My life’s soundtrack changes pretty frequently. The artists and bands may stay the same, but the specific songs change, or a new pop songs makes its way into the mix. A lot of popular music is hit or miss for me. Some songs take me a while to warm up to, others I immediately like or dislike, and others wear out after hearing them over and over. 





But even through the overplayed hits and hits that aren’t played enough, I always find my favorite jams. Here are six songs I’m loving lately. Warning: they will get stuck in your head! I am not responsible for any random breakouts into song and dance.




Honey I’m Good //Andy Grammer – The subject of this song is a little sketchy; it’s about a guy who’s been drinking with a girl, and she wants him to stay, but he says, “Nah, I’ve got another girl, I have to be faithful to her.” Props to the guy for staying true, but that second girl sure tried hard! Anyway, the song itself is so catchy and cute-sounding. I was humming the tune all day after I heard it.










Lips are Moving // Meghan Trainor – She got a lot of flack for ‘All About That Bass,’ and I really don’t understand why. It’s a good song with a good, honest message. Her next single is just as good. She’s sassy and sweet, all in one. 




 






Bang Bang // Jessi J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj – This is one of those songs that took a few listens to warm up to it. But once I did, all bets were off. I was so happy that this song was used on So You Think You Can Dance  last season for one of the large-group dances. It’s just a fun song.










One Bedroom // Yellowcard – The first single off their latest album Lift a Sail, ‘One Bedroom’ made me tear up the very first time I listened to it. Beautiful songwriting, as always. “You’re the light from the moon tonight”…just…the tears are coming.










Selfless // New Found Glory – Another awesome new release from another of my favorite bands. I hope I can see New Found Glory in concert this spring when they come to my area. Would be another bucket-list concert to cross off my list! 










Geronimo // Sheppard – This was one of those songs that I wasn’t sure about the first few times I heard it. But I kept hearing it–more on Sirius XM radio than my local FM station–and it kind of reminded me of Bastille, in a way. 











What are you listening to lately?









#TBT Playlist + A Moment of Feeling Old

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I haven’t done a playlist in quite a while, so why not do one for Throwback Thursday? Lately I’ve been rediscovering my fondness for the music I loved in the mid-2000s, and even some of the music I wasn’t too fond of back then. Like Patrick Stump said in Fall Out Boy’s 2003 single, “The songs you grow to like never stick at first.” For real. 











Side note: “Dead on Arrival” is my favorite song off “Take This To Your Grave.” Awesome record. 












But first, an anecdote about how I recently realized that it is not 2004 anymore and I felt old:









I was browsing iTunes’ list of most popular songs and somewhere in the middle of the rankings, I saw “American Idiot” by the Australian boy band (and in my honest opinion One Direction wannabes) 5 Seconds of Summer. My first instinct was to listen and see if it was a cover of Green Day’s 2004 hit. It was. I cried a little. Seriously, who told them that was a good idea? Then I did a little snooping around entertainment sites, and it appeared that some young 5SOS fans thought “American Idiot” was a brand new song, not a cover. What? How could they not know that? How do they not know Green Day did it first? Ugh! No!



Then I realized that “American Idiot” and the album of the same title came out in 2004, and most 5SOS fans would’ve been toddlers at that time, maybe even younger. Meanwhile, 13-14-year-old me was trying to find ways to listen to the album with my friends or online, because my mom wouldn’t let me buy it because of the parental advisory.









That’s when I realized I’m 22, almost 23, but my 14-year-old self is still very protective over her musical tastes.











Anyway, with all that said, here’s my #TBT Playlist – listen and enjoy!
















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