Fav things of 2010

Well, 2010 is coming to a close. It’s probably been one of my best and worst years yet. (Worst because this year has been pretty stressful!) However, many a good time was had and I discovered many new favorites. Here’s a list of some of them:

[Book: The Knife of Never Letting Go]

I love discovering new books and series, and while I just read this one in the past month, I’m still going to say it was my favorite to discover this year.

Todd grows up in Prentisstown, where everyone can hear each other's thoughts. There are no secrets, or so he believes. The book follows his journey of finding out what really happened in his town before he was born and how he tries to escape the aftermath of it.

The voice of the author, interesting aspects of the story, character relationships, and use of typography all made this book a really fun and enjoyable read. Unfortunately, I didn’t like the sequels as much, but I really really loved this book.

[Hobby: Learning guitar]

My favorite new hobby for the year was learning to play guitar.

I’ve always been pretty musical (I’ve played piano since I was 5) so it’s been pretty easy to pick it up. I only have one song memorized…but I’m able to sight read a bunch more! Including “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree.”

[TV Show: Modern Family]

This show. I haven’t found anyone who’s watched this show at least once and doesn’t love it.

Brent just bought me the Season 1 DVD for Christmas and it’s been awesome watching them all back. If you haven’t seen this show, please watch it asap!! You can read more of what I think about Modern Fam here.

[Movie: Avatar]

I was going to say HP7 Part 1, but I did not see HP7 three times in theaters, two of those times in IMAX 3-D. And while HP7 hasn’t come out on DVD yet, I think ordering Avatar on Amazon as soon as I could, realizing I got Blu-ray by mistake, and making a mad rush to Wal-Mart to buy the correct DVD at 10:00 at night on a school night when my car is parked almost a mile away from my dorm is saying something.

[Place to visit: Rittenhouse Square]

(via)

While visiting Brent one day this fall, we decided to spend the day in Philly. We looked online for fun, cheap things to do, and Rittenhouse Square came up.

We found it easily, and it was so pretty. I love little parks inside of cities, and this one was great. The weather was a beautiful fall day, there were tons of people and dogs to watch, and many benches and patches of grass to sit on.

It was a really fun and relaxing afternoon. I only wish I’d brought my camera!

[Music: Anything by Greg Laswell]

2010 will always go down as the year I discovered the music love of my life, Greg Laswell.

One of the main reasons I wanted to learn how to play guitar was so I could play his songs. Brent and I saw him in Philly and really want to see him again. Love love love. Here’s one of his best songs:

[Drink: Boxed Wine]

While I only had boxed wine once this year, I see it becoming very prominent in my future.

Courtesy of my always-classy roommate, Sarah.

[Pictures]

Lastly, I’ll wrap up the post with my favorite pictures and memories from this year. Have a safe and happy new year!