I’m bringing this back from last year!! You’ve already gotten the run down of my highlights of 2013 in books through my End of Year Book Survey & so let’s do a rundown of my favorite NON-bookish things of the year like I did last year! Shall we?
5 Playlists I Listened To The Most In 2013
1. My Monthly Rewind playlist — the roundup of all my favorite songs from each month
2. UP — full of upbeat songs
3. Mellow It Out — really relaxing and chill playlist
4. A Very Fall Playlist — just really loved the selection I ended up putting on here.
5. ROAR — I didn’t make this playlist but I helped contribute some songs to it. It was created by Anna and I definitely needed this playlist on days where I needed a little dose of confidence — which was a lot this year. Also was a decently good running mix for me minus a few songs.
15 Favorite Albums That Came Out in 2013
EPS/Singles I Loved: Terraplane Sun’s Ya Never Know, The Colourist’s Lido, Twin Forks EP, Hozier’s Take Me To Church EP, Bear’s Den Agape
Honorable Mentions: Bastille’s Bad Blood, Lorde’s Pure Heroine, Imagine Dragon’s Night Visions, CHVRCHES’s The Bones of What You Believe
You can see more of my monthly music choices in my Monthly Rewinds
Best new shows I started watching this year (some long overdue & some new!) in addition to the shows I’m already watching (Parenthood, The Walking Dead, Revenge, The Voice, Grey’s Anatomy etc.)
Breaking Bad
HOLY HELL YOU GUYS. You all were right about this show. 100% RIGHT. Will and I watched 2 episodes of this the summer and couldn’t get into it. Everyone told us to give it a try again so we finally did after our shows went on break and we’ve been binge watching it ever since. As I write this we are like 8 episodes from the end. HOLY EFF. One of my all time fave shows now.
House of Cards
KEVIN SPACEY. That is all.
American Horror Story
WEIRD show but excellent. Can’t wait to watch season 2. I hear it’s awesome.
Nashville
Connie Britton!! Honestly this show is so fun and I’m so obsessed with it.
Scandal
Margot told me I had to watch this and Will and I just can’t get enough of Olivia Pope.
Reign
This show is so bad and so good all at the same time. EXCELLENT music too. Cute boys. I LOVE IT. And the time period…LOVE.
Last year when I did this I had a whole section for beauty products I tried in 2013 because I’m a beauty addict. However, this year I have had to REALLY limit my spending so I’m going to make this a general fave discoveries!
I had tried Blogilates once or twice in 2012 but 2013 was the year of Blogilates for me. It made me find a strength training sort of program that I really loved. I wasn’t into the gym but I loved sitting in my own living room with my yoga mat and going through these videos with Cassey + her infectious enthusiasm for healthy living. She kicks my ass nearly every day and I want to throw things at her but this was the best thing I did for myself in 2013 and I can’t wait to add more cardio to this routine but I attribute my dedication to working out now to her!
Acure Organics shampoo and conditioner
I previously used Alterna and before that Pureology and I really liked them but I wanted to go for something a little bit more natural for my hair plus a better price tag because I can’t justify spending a ton of money right now being without a job. So of course I asked my natural beauty expert Betty and she told me about this one. LOVE it! This one was perfect for my dry, curly hair and my hair is super soft now!
If you love nail polish + getting things in the mail, this is for you!! I love this subscription service even if I couldn’t get them every month but it was a nice treat every once in a while this year.
Here’s five blogs I loved and discovered this year!
1. Ashley from Your Super Awesome Life: Ashley is a good dose of motivation and encouragement in my reader! I also had a really awesome life coaching session with her this year!
2. The Skinny Fork: Will and I make a lot of her recipes! Lots of variety and we’ve loved everything we’ve made!
3. Pinch of Yum: Another excellent food blog that Will and I love. I want to make ALL THE THINGS on there.
4. The Everywhereist: Love this travel blog a lot! Relatively new find for me so I still have tons of archive reading to do!
5. Beauty and Britches: This fashion blog is so my type. It’s no BS and she actually has cute, wearable stuff that I WANT. Plus she’s the fiance of Eric Smith (you may know him from Quirk or recently met him from this post) and she’s a local Philly girl so I love the shots she gets in the city. She started the blog this year and I’m very excited for where it goes!
I already shared some of my favorite bookish moments of the year so these will be more personal!
1. My niece Adela being born at the end of August. I have loved watching Genevieve love on her since day 1.
2. My family’s vacation in July/August. It’s always a great time and it was a much needed break from life.
3. Finally seeing The Postal Service play after like 10 years!! What a great concert and OH THE NOSTALGIA.
4. I know this is sort of bookish but reuniting with my bffs I’ve met through blogging at BEA. Much needed time with people who keep it real. 
5. Running a 5K. This is hilarious that this is on here because it was a TERRIBLE experience. I hadn’t trained for it, my lungs hurt, I had to run/walk, I was ready to cry and honestly almost quit and just walked home (it was near my dad’s house). HOWEVER, it’s kind of this metaphor for this year for me. But I didn’t give up. No matter how bad I wanted to. I plan to train for it next year to prove to myself that I can do it. I can do better and I can run the whole thing. That moment got me thinking A LOT — even if it could also be one of the worst 2013 moments also. Does that make sense?
6. Honestly, lots of moments with Will. Despite this shit-tastic year, we made the most of it. We laughed it off as best as we could and we just got through it. Even when we didn’t think we would. I am so thankful for him.
Tell me if you listened to/watched/used/did these things!! Also, I’m so down for other recs if you think there is something I’d like! Tell me what your best moments were!
Katrina @ Bookish Things says
Love The Neighbourhood’s album. it’s one I listen to a lot! I’ll have to check out the other albums. I have some of the songs from Haim, but haven’t listened to all of their songs.
Nadia says
Right there with you on HAIM, Lorde, Breaking Bad and AHS. And thank you for reminding me that Daughter has a an album haha.
Here’s to 2014 being the best year yet! 🙂 <3
Ashley says
*goes to update music list*
(Continue to be worst comment leave-r)
Megan C. Stroup says
We have the same TV personality! I just finished House of Cards last night (season 2 will be out on Feb. 14! Whoop!), I watched American Horror Story this summer and LOVED it, and I am a Scandal ADDICT. I guess I really need to check out Breaking Bad next – I’ve been hearing about it from everyone but haven’t wanted to start a new show lately because I already watch so many haha. Nashville is another show I want to start watching! Now I need to look at Reign…. 🙂
Kayla Elizabeth says
Songs by The Civil Wars are on just about every playlist on my iPod. I can’t get over how beautiful their songs are. Which are your favorites?
Rachel says
I LOVELOVELOVE your music picks for the year. I totally didn’t know you were an Arcade Fire fan! This year was such a fantastic year for indie/alternative music. I finally got back into Grey’s this year with a four season marathon, and I’m sooo glad I’m watching it again. I’ve been watching that show from the very beginning, so the characters almost feel like family at this point. It’s definitely my number 1 comfort show.
Betty says
I’m annoyed that we still haven’t had out Switched at Birth marathon. If we did, THAT would be on this list.
Betty says
Nooooo…. that moment when you see a typo as your comment is in the process of being submitted. 😉
Lisa Schensted says
Bookmarking this post for all the music listening in my future! Your recommendations are SOLID GOLD, YO.
And I am proud of you for your perseverance and sticking through everything and being a FIGHTER! You inspire me! And mad props to Will for being exactly the husband and person and best friend you needed him to be for you. YOU GO, WILL COCO.
Angie F. says
I have to say that I haven’t heard of ANY of your music choices. But I am pretty music illiterate, so that’s no surprise. 😛
I discovered Blogilates this year, too! I’ve only done the first five days of her Beginner’s series and it’s kicking my butt! I am so out of shape that it’s not even funny. I’m going to try to do better in 2014.
I love Reign! I agree that it’s so bad, but so good! I need ALL of the dresses! 😀
Cee says
Oh yeeesss. I really love The Neighbourhood’s album! I listened to it over and over again. I will definitely take a look at all the other albums since I have not listened to any of them. All the ones I do listen to are in your honourable mentions. Lollll. Have you listened to the Arctic Monkey’s album “AM”? It’s my absolutely favorite! It totally blew me out of the water. It’s a solid album. 😀
I really need to try Blogilates. My BFF showed me a video, but I have yet to actually do it. I WILL THO. ;D
Missie says
I haven’t heard of half those albums! Gotta check them out!
Abbe Hinder says
OMG DAUGHTER IS DA BOMB! FINALLY! SOMEONE ELSE WHO LOVES THEM TOO!!!!
terry says
Loved reading through your personal moments! Way to go!
Amy says
I also love, love, love Cassey and the Blogilates community! She inspires me everyday to work just a bit harder. I’ve really enjoyed discovering your blog this year and love the mix of both books and personal stuff…can’t wait to see where this next year takes you! Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2014!
Ginger @ GReads! says
Jamie! Why isn’t The National’s new album not on your list??! Hehe just kidding.
Rebecca @ The Library Canary says
I freaking love Breaking Bad! I also discovered it this year. I haven’t watched the last half of the final season yet because it’s not on Netflix yet, but I am dying to know what happens!! I heard the ending is just epic. Am I going to cry? Probably.
Leah says
Such a great post! I’ve been trying to expand my music tastes, so I just listened to songs from all of the bands you listed. Found a few I really liked!
KG says
Jamie, I honestly haven’t heard of any of these albums… I’m going to check them out. Broaden my music horizons lol. I tried watching American Horror story but life happened and I got WAY behind. I love this post and the idea of sharing non-bookish favorites!
Best xoxo,
KG
http://www.thatgirlkg.blogspot.com
Alexa S. says
I love that you have such eclectic taste in music! It always introduces me to new songs/bands that I never thought to listen to, so thank you for that. I’ll be taking note of the artists in this post for future reference 😉 My favorite part of this post? The new blog you’ve just introduced me to, The Everywhereist. I’m totally obsessed with travel blogs, so this is really cool!