Things I'm Loving

1. Rebecca Minkoff Bojana Bootie 

On the same day I impulsively bought those pink velvet Steve Madden booties, I might have also been a bit naughty and treated myself to these booties from Rebecca Minkoff. In my defense, they were 45% off at Saks Off Fifth and I hadn't purchased myself a graduation present from myself. So really, it was a no brainer. I went into Saks first, tried a bunch of boots on, and then left to go Steve Madden before I got myself into trouble there. I was going to go home after Steve Madden, but I parked at Saks so I had to walk through one last time to get to my car.


Instead of heading to the back doors, I veered off to the left, found the booties, tried them on one more time and boxed them up and walked my butt to the checkout counter. They were definitely a splurge for me, much more than I've ever spent on a pair of shoes for myself. I've been dying for a pair of statement boots like this and it's always nice to be able to try them on in person. I've worn these twice to work and they're not as uncomfortable to break in as they seem. The chunky block heel certainly helps, but the height might be something that someone might have trouble with at first. There's not much of a platform and they're almost 4/4.5 inches tall. Which, for me, is perfect because they make me my dream height of 5'10", which is all I ask for in life.

2. Brooklyn 99

As usual with everything, I was way behind on jumping on this bandwagon. Over the past few months, I've seen so many gifs and clips from the show on my Tumblr dashboard and I laughed every time I saw them. So, last week was the final straw for me. I saw something particularly funny and I decided to start watching it on Hulu just to see what I was missing out on. Less than a week later, I found myself watching the mid-season finale three and a half seasons later wondering where the hell the time went.

The episodes are short, only about 21-22 minutes long and every single one had me in stitches. Seriously, I was straight up cackling in my room so loud that I had to avoid watching it late at night so I didn't wake up my roommate. The entire cast is absolutely perfect. Anything Andy Samberg is involved with is hilarious, naturally, but the rest of the actors and characters are just as great.

If you know nothing about the show, it's basically a comedy about the 99th precinct in Brooklyn. Each episode has some sort of crime solving and a whole lot of discourse and nonsense. Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) is basically a carefree cop, but he has the best arrest record in the precinct. The beginning of the show starts off with a bet with another cop, Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) on who can get the most arrests. Everything changes when they get a new commanding officer Raymond Holt  (Andre Braugher) who is more stern than Peralta is used to.

But let's get down to business: Terry Crews is on the show. I love Terry Crews for no particular reason besides the fact that he's Terry Crews and he's hilarious. There's also a character on the show named Gina Linetti and she is actually me, just a little more mean and meddling. Basically, I love this entire cast with my whole heart and I want to protect each and every one of them. If you're looking for a new show, I highly recommend starting this one. It's quick, easy to follow and will have you laughing so hard that your chest hurts.

3. "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill" by Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran single handedly saved 2016 by coming back from his one year hiatus/disappearing act on December 13th. He kicked of 2017 right by releasing two new singles from his upcoming album ÷. I adore Ed, his music, and his ginger red hair.

"Shape of You" is similar to some songs from his previous album, a more toned down version of "Sing." It's the kind of song I want to listen to when I'm getting ready for a night out, swaying around my room while I try to pick out an outfit. It's a bop, tbh, and it has that special Ed Sheeran touch. There's just something so simple about his music that makes it that much better.

"Castle on the Hill" is the kind of song that I would listen to when I'm driving into Buffalo after being gone for a while. Ideally, the windows would be down and the sun would be setting. It gives you that feeling of going home after you've been gone for a while. There's something exciting about the music behind the lyrics and it makes me feel #AllTheFeels. I have a feeling it's going to become one of those songs I can't listen to without crying, despite it not being that sad. It can join the ranks with "Nashville" by David Mead (which I officially cannot have on my car playlist anymore because it does make me sob every time, without a fail).

What have you been loving lately?