Sansa Stark - Winter is Here

Anyone else excited for tonight's "Game of Thrones" episode? Here is a set I made on Polyvore featuring the lovely Sansa Stark. Enjoy!

Sansa Stark - Winter is Here by starry943 on Polyvore

How to Dress like a Viking for a Halloween or Cosplay Costume

One of my favorite TV shows is Vikings on the History Channel. If you are looking for an interesting Halloween or cosplay costume that shows your Viking spirit, this is definitely one you want to check out for costume inspiration!

Logitech Speaker System Z906 Review

Looking for a high quality speaker system for your home entertainment? The Logitech Speaker System Z906 features amazing surround sound, satellite speakers that are mountable, and a wireless remote to control it all effortlessly. Read this review of the Logitech Speaker System Z906 to find out more!

Logitech Speaker System Z906 Features

“This THX-Certified 5.1 system delivers 500 watts (RMS) of theater-quality sound. Digital and analog inputs, an easy-to-read-and-stack control console and a wireless remote let you take charge of your entertainment.

 

500-watts (RMS) of power – Make any night opening night. You get thunderous audio that can shake your house—and your whole neighborhood.

 

THX Certified - You’ve got quality you can count on—these speakers have met strict performance standards to achieve THX certification.

 

Digital Decoding - Hear every detail all around you—from the roar of the crowd to the footsteps right behind you—in your Dolby digital or DTS encoded soundtracks.

 

Digital and Analog Inputs - You’ve got the flexibility to set up your system the way you want to. Connect up to six audio sources, including your TV, Blu-ray™/DVD player, DVR, Xbox 360®, PLAYSTATION®3, Wii®, iPod®, PC and more.

 

Easy to Read Control Console - The stackable, easy-to-read design fits in with your home-entertainment system and gives you control of your audio—change the volume on all your speakers, turn the power on or off, set inputs and more.

 

Wireless Remote - You can control your listening experience without ever getting off the couch.

 

Ported, Side-firing Subwoofer - 165 watts of deep bass brings your music, movies and games to life.

 

Wall-mountable Satellites - Let you transform any room into a home theater.

 

Surround Sound with 3D Stereo - Your speakers convert two-channel stereo into an immersive surround sound experience.” – Logitech Speaker System Z906

My Thoughts

This is a serious speaker system that is perfect for the home theater or big-time gamers. If you are looking for high quality speakers for your at home theater experience, or for your favorite video games, this is definitely a system you need to check out.

The cable that comes with the product is designed for computer use. However, it can also be used with TVs, Blu-ray and DVD players, gaming consoles, music players, and other audio devices. To do so though, you need to use a digital optical, digital coaxial, RCA audio, or 3.5 mm out.

Setting up the speaker system was a little bit intimidating for me at first. I hadn’t ever set up a system quite like this before, so I made sure that everything was placed right, and was able to hookup to the subwoofer before I started. The user documentation guide that came with it explained how to set it up, and this really does help – if you read it. Once I started hooking it up, it all worked out like how it was supposed to.

I haven’t hooked it up to anything other than my computer as of right now. I would like to add my TV to this great speaker system soon though. I’ve used these speakers for playing video games, listening to music, and watching movies with. All of the media I’ve tested this out with have sounded extremely clear and is of very high quality. The sound can also be very loud without distorting. I’m very pleased with the audio output on these speakers!

The control console is easy to read and understand what is being used. The remote is simple and again, easy to use. Nothing too fancy is really needed for these, so it works well.

The only thing I didn’t really like about them is that they aren’t wireless. Having the wires everywhere is a little bit of an eyesore, but it is worth it for this kind of sound quality. There could also be some design improvements and the components could be smaller and consume less electricity. Maybe a future system from Logitech will improve on these, but until then, this is an amazing speaker system. I highly recommend it.

Disclosure: Thank you to Logitech for providing me with the product for review. All opinions, experiences, and thoughts about the product being reviewed are my own.

The Revolution Was Televised by Alan Sepinwall

The Revolution Was Televised by Alan Sepinwall is a look at twelve of television dramas that changed the way we view TV and society as a whole. This is a great book for fans of these series, and a good guide for good TV series to catch up on.

Book Description

“In The Revolution Was Televised, celebrated TV critic Alan Sepinwall chronicles the remarkable transformation of the small screen over the past fifteen years. Focusing on twelve innovative television dramas that changed the medium and the culture at large forever, including The Sopranos, Oz, The Wire, Deadwood, The Shield, Lost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 24, Battlestar Galactica, Friday Night Lights, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad, Sepinwall weaves his trademark incisive criticism with highly entertaining reporting about the real-life characters and conflicts behind the scenes. 

Drawing on interviews with writers David Chase, David Simon, David Milch, Joel Surnow and Howard Gordon, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, and Vince Gilligan, among others, along with the network executives responsible for green-lighting these groundbreaking shows, The Revolution Was Televised is the story of a new golden age in TV, one that’s as rich with drama and thrills as the very shows themselves.” – The Revolution Was Televised

My Thoughts

The Revolution Was Televised is a book about the important television shows that changed our culture. The author has the dream job for fans of TV – he gets to watch it and write about it for a living! I’m not gonna lie, I am jealous. I can only dream of having such an awesome job that would actually pay for everything I need.

The TV critic focuses down on his top picks of shows that changed TV and our culture forever. The top twelve include:  and Breaking Bad.

I am a big fan of quite a few listed, namely The Sopranos, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Lost. I even have those as a complete collection on DVD. As I said, I am a big fan of great television. I have seen the others, at least an episode here and there, and I had of course heard of them. You would have to be living under a rock to not have heard of at least one of these shows.

The sections on the shows capture the history of them, the people involved that made it so amazing, and why it meant so much for our culture. These shows really did change how we view TV and revolutionized what was accepted in our society as a whole.

There are many interesting facts and behind the scenes information that fans of these TV series will enjoy reading. If you haven’t seen the series that you are reading about, it may make you want to go watch it, too. For me though, it made me want to pull out my DVDs of my favorite shows and watch them all over again.

Fans of TV will definitely appreciate this book. I highly recommend it.

* Thank you to the publisher of The Revolution Was Televised, Touchstone, for providing me with a copy of this book for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

True Blood – Season 6

One of my favorite TV shows is HBO’s True Blood. I have watched all of the seasons and own all of the current ones that are out on DVD or Blu-Ray. I’ve read all of the books that the TV series are based on, and I can actually appreciate that the show has taken a very different storyline. I have a poster of Eric in my bedroom, and I am not ashamed about that one bit. I also wear quite a few different True Blood shirts as part of my normal attire. I’m a True Blood addict.

The premiere of True Blood Season 6 starts in about an hour on HBO. Are you watching it? Drinking True Blood, wine, or some other tasty beverage? Is this your favorite time of year because the show has returned, too?

Share in the comments how much you love it too, and what you think of the show and/or this season’s premiere episode after it airs.

Season 6 Promo

Red Wedding on Game of Thrones - Spoilers!

I am finding it really quite funny that so many people are so shocked by the Red Wedding episode of Game of Thrones on HBO. I read the series that George R.R. Martin wrote that the show is based on (quite closely may I add) and it happened very similarly in there, too.

Yes, Robb Stark dies. Catelyn Stark dies. Everyone pretty much at the wedding dies. Oh, and Arya Stark never makes it to see her family before they died. She ends up becoming a little fireball across the sea though, but that hasn’t happened yet in the show. Robb doesn’t come back from the dead, but guess who will? Catelyn – but if it is anything like the book series of it, she is grotesque and can’t talk very well because her throat was slashed.

People claiming on various social media platforms about how much they hate the show now and are going to boycott it is ridiculous. Honestly, you should have known from the first season that the writer doesn’t care to save his beloved characters – remember Ned Stark?

There is still hope for this season though. There is another wedding in which the groom dies that will be coming up very shortly. His death has been a long time coming, and I can’t wait to never have to see him in the series again. I just hope they don’t prolong it to next season.

For more spoilers and to save yourself any upcoming shock and disappointment of your beloved characters, I suggest reading the books or at least checking out the Game of Thrones Wiki. 

Vikings Series on the History Channel Starts Tonight!

I love everything having to do with the Vikings, so I feel the need to share with everyone (or perhaps remind them) that the new series by the History channel about the Vikings starts tonight! Although my favorite Viking vampire is not in it (Alexander Skarsgard or Eric Northman as he is known on True Blood), his brother, Gustaf Skarsgard is! Although I haven’t seen it yet, it looks like the guy who plays Ragnar, Travis Fimmel, is closely climbing up in my rankings of favorite Vikings on TV. (Talk about hot! Seriously, go check him out!)

To find out more about the series and watch some videos, or learn more about the cast, check out the History Channel. The show airs tonight at 10/9C. 

2012 Olympics – Gymnastics, Michael Phelps and a Swimming Video – Oh My!

I love the Olympics. I remember watching it when I was a little kid and just being so fascinated with all of the amazing athletes.  It was this reason I wanted to swim all the time (plus I loved swimming) and why I wanted to be in gymnastics. Although I was never an all-star athlete or Olympian, I enjoyed it and have been watching both sports ever since. My favorite is gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics (in case you were wondering).

This year the Olympics is in London, which is on a side note, somewhere I really have to go one day. If you haven’t been watching any of the Olympics, it is aired on NBC in the USA, and you should really put it on. I’ve been TiVo’ing it so I don’t miss any of my favorite competitions that are aired. We don’t get to watch it live, but that is okay with me. I am a nervous wreck when not knowing if we’ll win things like the Women’s Gymnastic team competition which we won gold in!

I’m so proud of Team USA being so amazing and winning the gold. HUGE congratulations to the Fab Five! Gabrielle Douglas, Aly Raisman, Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney and Kyla Ross are amazing! I can’t wait to see what else they win in.

Also, Michael Phelps is now the most decorated Olympian from his 19^th medal win yesterday! He is a beast! A sexy swimming beast that is!

Team USA doesn’t just win medals though; they also have fun and make YouTube spoofs like this one on the song that’ll stay in your head all day. “Call Me Maybe” Olympic swimmer version (really, watch it)!

Are you watching the Olympics? Who are you cheering for? Do you have a favorite sport?

I’m Team USA!

A Game of Thrones – War

Tonight’s episode of A Game of Thrones titled “Blackwater” is what Season One and Season Two have been leading up to: War! Sure there have been some battles and the North seems to be doing well, but now it has reached King’s Landing. Stannis attacks the Lannisters, and if it is anything like the book series, this is going to be an episode full of fiery action.

Check out the preview for tonight’s Game of Thrones episode:

Episode 19 - Preview

I have enjoyed this season so far. There are more changes from the book series than there was in Season One. However, I don’t really mind. There are some things that would just take too long to have to explain and play out on the screen for it to come through to have viewers understand that haven’t read the books. I’ve read on many forums for the series that they hate the changes or they whine about what they haven’t done. They can’t please everyone, so just enjoy it already and quit whining. At least it was put into an HBO series!

True Blood – Season 5 – #WaitingSucks

My favorite show on TV is True Blood. It is a long time in-between new seasons because it is an HBO series. This also means, it only has around 13 episodes each season, which again is just not enough for fans of the series. I love it though so really, no complaints here.

I’ve watched the teaser trailers and have seen the previews on HBO before Game of Thrones (another big favorite of mine). Season 5 of True Blood starts on June 10, 2012 and from the looks of it, it won’t be much like the book series at all. It looks like there are a ton of new characters and the storyline has gone so far off track it is really like a whole different story. I’m definitely “Team Eric” though (Alexander Skarsgard is so drop dead gorgeous!), so I really hope that he and Sookie Stackhouse at least end up together in this version of the series.

I’ll definitely start trying to most more again about both True Blood and Game of Thrones. After my last post about doing that, there was the water explosion in the house which we still haven’t gotten all fixed yet. It is definitely making things harder to do, including blogging. Anyways, until then – I leave you with this little preview of the next season. Enjoy!

Preview: Don't Cry It's Back

Game of Thrones – Season 2

Have you been watching Season 2 of Game of Thrones on HBO? I’ve seen all three of the episodes that have aired so far, and have been enjoying seeing one of my favorite series brought to screen again. I really like it on HBO because the author of the books, George R. R.  Martin also works on the HBO series, so the story doesn’t stray very far from what he intended for the series.

Season 2 is off to a good start, but it feels like things are moving along rather quickly which leaves me to think that maybe parts of the third book will maybe be in this season too. I’m not really sure how it is going to go with that, but only 10 episodes per season isn’t really enough in my opinion. Season 3 is also going to have only 10 episodes.

I used to do episode recaps on True Blood, which airs for the 5^th season in June. I’m thinking about maybe doing that again. What do you think? Should I also do it for Game of Thrones? Let me know and I can start doing some Blogs on more TV shows such as those again.

Game of Thrones Day

I love the Game of Thrones series. I started watching the series on HBO last year and was hooked. Then I bought the books, and I’m up to the fourth one (they are about 1,000 pages each). I like them both, but I prefer the series on HBO. Seeing it all come to life is just amazing. They did an excellent job with it all.

Today is the day Season 2 starts, and HBO has announced today “Game of Thrones Day” – pretty cool, huh?

Haven’t seen anything about the series yet? Watch some trailers, on the HBO Game of Thrones website. If you have HBO, you can sign up for HBO GO and watch all of Season 1 online.

“Winter is Coming” and so is Season 2, I can’t wait!

Big Bang Theory – Soft Kitty Review

CBS’s hit TV show Big Bang Theory created a viral sensation with the “Soft Kitty” song that was sang on the show. Sheldon’s mom sang the cute song to him when he was a kid and was sick. He then sang it to Penny and taught her the lyrics. Fans of the show loved it so much, and hearing it – you can understand why. If you want to see it for yourself, watch it right here at the end of this review.

Stylin Online is the largest online pop culture apparel retailer. They released a combo of a shirt with the lyrics of the song and a singing plushie of a cat. It is a top seller on the online store, and would make a fabulous one of a kind gift for the Big Bang Theory fan in your life.

The shirt is available in sizes for men and women. It is also 100% cotton and is stretchy to give a perfect fit. The women’s style is form fitting and feels more like junior sizes, so if you’re in doubt, you may want to order one size up.

The Soft Kitty plush toy sings the song with the push of a paw. “Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur. Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr.” It is 10 inches long and is really very cute and easy to snuggle with.

The “Soft Kitty” song is funny and a hit, just like the show. It takes on the pop culture cat songs of comedy series past – such as the “Smelly Cat” song on Friends. I loved the combo of the shirt and the plush toy. It is uplifting and really is a great thing to have when sick. I highly recommend it.

Watch the Big Bang Theory’s “Soft Kitty” clip here:

Disclosure: I received the product for free for the review. I was not paid for the review or told to write favorably about it. All opinions and experiences expressed about the Big Bang Theory soft kitty for this review are my own.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey – Bar Brawl!

One of my guilty reality TV watching pleasures is The Real Housewives of New Jersey. I honestly don’t watch any of the other Housewives shows, just this one. I really like the characters that are left from the original cast. The new ones are “eh” right now. Maybe I’ll like them more later into this season.

Speaking of later this season… hitting the news today is The Real Housewives of New Jersey bar brawl that happened earlier this year (February) when the cast was filming in the Dominican Republic.

According to MSNBC, members of the cast including Teresa Giudice, Joe Giudice, the Manzo brothers and their roommate are being sued by Adolfo Arreola and his cousin Jason Gomez for the bar fight that they got into while in the Dominican Republic.

They claim that the cast were served too much liquor and it made them “intoxicated, belligerent and rowdy.” Which lead to the fight where they were injured.

Hopefully they show what happened to lead to the fight in this season. What can I say? My voyeuristic ways just want to see how it unfolded. I hope that the people injured are okay, though when cameras and people that are rich around…. well it makes it easy for people to be sue-happy hoping to get something. If that is the case, hopefully the judge sees through it!

True Blood: Season 4 Trailers

The new season of True Blood is finally less than a month away! I really cannot wait. This is my favorite series on TV and I can’t wait to see more of Alexander Skarsgard (Eric Northman on the show).

Here are some of the trailers out to get you as anxious as I am to see it!







Do any of you know if you can use the HBOGO on the PC? I don’t have an iPad or an iPhone and if they let you see True Blood Season 4 episodes a week early, I really want to be able to (if you can also play it on the PC). Please let me know if you happen to use this too and know the answer.

Dancing with the Stars Harry Potter Themed Dance!

I honestly don’t watch this show faithfully by any means. However, I happened to watch the Dancing with the Stars Harry Potter themed dance with Chelsea and Mark and absolutely loved it! If you missed it, seriously check this out.



I’m still pulling for Kirstie Alley on Dancing with the Stars, but this fabulous dance choreographed by Mark was my favorite! Another kind of ironic thing is the YouTube video posted was from someone in my area (can tell by the tornado warning at the bottom of the screen)!

For those of you who have been faithfully watching this show, have there been any other Dancing with the Stars Harry Potter themed dances performed?

Sarah Palin’s Alaska Show Makes Me Want to Visit Alaska

I’m not really very political, so don’t worry - this post has nothing really to do with that. Instead, it is just about Sarah Palin’s Alaska show that was on TLC. I’m not sure if there will even be a second season or not, though I hope there will be.

If you love reality TV, or perhaps just like Sarah Palin’s political views, or maybe want to voyeur into her Alaskan reality, you probably saw some of Sarah Palin’s Alaska show that aired in Fall 2010.

At first, I really wasn’t all that interested in watching it. My DVR is pretty full already, so why add something else to it, right? Well, my parents actually started watching it and said how much they liked it. So, I figured if they liked it, maybe I would too. For those who are wondering, no my parents aren’t even Republicans, so it wasn’t about that either.

Reality television can be good and educational, which was surprising, because Sarah Palin’s Alaska show was just that. It was entertaining too of course. They went on many adventures each show to show the viewers what Alaska is like – and just how beautiful it is.


Somehow I ended up actually watching all of the episodes that aired and I can honestly say that I enjoyed them all - even the one that Kate Gosslin was on. Sure, I can’t stand that woman but it was quite hilarious how rude and miserable she was outdoors. Sarah was of course politically correct and nice about it all, but I bet they laughed about it after the cameras were off – I would have! I really enjoyed watching where they went, and seeing how her family is without the paparazzi’s point of view on it.

Watching Sarah Palin’s Alaska show really makes me want to visit Alaska someday. I probably can’t manage to go anytime soon, unless I somehow win some kind of a lottery or win a trip to Alaska somehow.

What I can do is request free information about Alaska and perhaps cut out a beautiful image from the travel book to post on my vision board, so maybe the Law of Attraction will let me win that trip.

If you’d like to order your free book too, click on the image below.

Is Life Unexpected Cancelled?

Life Unexpected only has had two seasons so far on the CW. If you don’t know what the show is about, it is about a teenage girl that was given up for adoption because her parents were in high school (and the father didn’t even want to acknowledge the girl was pregnant). Lovely, right?

Well, the girl eventually found out who they were and ended up being adopted by them – even though they weren’t together. Over the seasons that aired, there was tons of drama and I actually liked the show.

Last night’s “Season finale” of Life Unexpected was two hours and did the whole tying up loose ends and finally… the “Two Years Later” portion at the very end that also showed huge changes (that weren’t so unexpected) to show how everyone would end up. Personally, I love that Lux ended up with Jones and that she was somehow Valedictorian. Kate and Baze together, and Ryan with Julie (his ex) and their son was cute, but it kind of made the whole show seem like a big waste of the Kate and Ryan relationship.

This lead me to wondering, is Life Unexpected cancelled?

I am guessing that yes, it is. Generally shows wouldn’t have a two hour season finale on the CW and round up things like this at the end. Sure, One Tree Hill jumped five years into the future, but that is a much more popular show than this. I don’t seem to be the only one guessing this – Tvbythenumbers also stated that there probably won’t be another season to the series.

Did any of you watch this show? What did you think of the finale?

Enrique Iglesias ft Pitbull on So You Think You Can Dance

I am loving this song this summer "I Like It" by Enrique Iglesias ft Pitbull. Here it is from So You Think You Can Dance, if you missed it. Gotta love the All-Star dancers dancing with them! Enjoy!





I can't wait until this season's So You Think You Can Dance finale this week. Whoever wins is awesome. I love Robert, Lauren and Kent. Really I think it will be an amazing episode. If you watch, who do you want to win?

Skinny Italian by Teresa Giudice from The Real Housewives of New Jersey

Italian cooking the way Americans eat it isn’t really Italian cooking. As Teresa Giudice says it is “American Italian” and not really “Italian” at all. If you watch The Real Housewives of New Jersey on Bravo, you know that she is a fantastic cook, friend, fashionista, Mom and much more. Skinny Italian is her cookbook where she says that you can, “Eat spaghetti and still fit into your skinny jeans.”

Cookbook Description
“To many of us, “diet” is a four-letter word. And rightfully so. Starving yourself thin or keeping track of each bite like pennies in your checkbook is no way to live. So what’s a girl with skinny jean dreams supposed to do?

Teresa Giudice has the answer. In fact, she was born with it. The first-generation Italian-American mom of four and svelte star of The Real Housewives of New Jersey credits her knockout figure to her Old World upbringing. And now, in her fun, encouraging, and budget-friendly cookbook, she skewers the myth that looking fabulous has to be a chore.

In Skinny Italian, she reveals how to:
• substitute tedious meal plans with simple, flavorful recipes
• choose fresh, flavorful ingredients instead of counting calories
• slow down and enjoy a faster metabolism
• replace starvation with celebration by adopting an Italian attitude to cooking, eating, and entertaining
• love food, love eating, and still love your body afterward

Teresa shows how anyone can master the cornerstones of Italian cuisine. Learn how to make six different tomato sauces from scratch, how to choose and use the right olive oil, and how to prepare over sixty Giudice family recipes straight from Salerno. From Gorgeous Garlic Shrimp to Beautiful Biscotti, you’ll want to make these sumptuous recipes again and again. Discover how easy and economical wholesome, homemade cooking can be.

Skinny Italian is not a diet book. It’s an “eat it and enjoy it” book. Join Teresa and discover how gorgeous can be a sumptuous side effect to living la bella vita.” – Skinny Italian


My Thoughts
Teresa Giudice is one of my favorite NJ housewives. She is so funny and I just love her. Seriously, if you watch the show, how can you not be on her side and love her too?

This season one of the episodes featured her family’s annual tomato canning day at their home. As I was watching it, I realized this was something I really wanted to try to do, but I had really no idea how to start. So, I kind of just forgot about it… until I read Skinny Italian.

I read and reread how to do the tomato canning. My Mom and I researched it and decided that we could do it, with Teresa’s instructions (which honestly were much simpler than some of the ways to do it). We didn’t buy the extra canning stuff needed like the canning sanitizer thing or the vegetable strainer (though we wish we had those). We even went to a local farm and purchased tomatoes grown locally and organic.




We waited for the tomatoes to ripen and then plunged in and started our canning celebration. It was fun, sort of messy, and definitely memorable. Overall, we made 10 jars (which really doesn’t compare to the 160 Teresa makes on her canning day), but we were proud of ourselves – it was our first attempt after all.




Unfortunately, since I have celiac disease I couldn’t make some of the recipes in Skinny Italian exactly as described in the book since I can’t eat regular pasta or pizza dough. Gluten free pasta isn’t always the best, but there are some that are pretty good, so I just substituted that in.

Some of my favorite recipes in the book include:
• Gorgeous Garlic Shrimp
• Basic Tomato Sauce “The Quickie”
• Milania’s Marinara Sauce
• Bellissimo Bellinis
• Spaghetti All’Ubriaco “Drunken Spaghetti”


Skinny Italian is a full color cookbook featuring pictures of Teresa Giudice’s house, family and friends, and of course the food. The cookbook is written by Teresa and you can expect her sense of humor and witty tales in each and every section. My Mom and I love this cookbook and if you also love The Real Housewives of New Jersey, and/or Italian cooking you will too!


* Thank you to the publisher of Skinny Italian, Hyperion for providing me with a copy for this review. All opinions expressed are my own.