Tune In Tuesday: The Teen Years...ending with a POP!

Tune in Tuesday is hosted by the awesome Ginger at GReads!

I can't believe we've come to the end of the Teen Years flashback, guys! It's been a nostalgic month and I loved getting to relive and remember some of my teen years. Maybe some of them weren't positive memories, and perhaps while going through them it didn't feel so great - but right now as I look back, I'm pretty happy.

And I had to save the best for last! So far I've covered the boys in my teen years, TV shows I watched, and movies that were big releases; but I haven't actually covered what I truly listened to!

I turned 13 in 2000, so my teen years were the early 00s - a fantastically awesome time of boybands, pop music, and choreographed dances. Hate on it all you want, but I know you can sing every word to these songs...and probably do the little Bye Bye Bye wave in perfect sync, too. This was a strange time of technology too, when mp3s and iTunes started messing with sales charts and statistics. Napster went kablooey, the FCC cracked down, and suddenly file sharing was a whole mess of leaking CDs and music.

Still, music was music and will always remain, and these are a few songs that had the most play in my house:

*NSYNC - Gone

Ok, ANY *NSYNC song will get the most play in my house really, but I chose Gone as a bridge between the group and Justin's solo career. (Also, the opening skit in it still makes me laugh. God I miss them.)

Britney Spears - Lucky

Bringin' it BACK to the times of schoolgirl Brit. Anyone remember the Making the Video for this? How the mirror scene was such a big deal? And was I the only one bothered that her mascara streaks are all wrong?

Christina Aguilera - Dirrty

Stripped is legit one of my Top 5 Favourite Albums ever. Shit's my jam.

Eminem - The Real Slim Shady

I love Eminem. That's all.

Alicia Keys - Fallin'

I remember when this song was getting all the play on MTV2, trying to break into the charts...and then one day it went BAM: everywhere. Thanks American Idol Auditions for ruining this song ten thousand times over!

Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone

You do not even know how many times I've belted this song in my car. One of my fondest memories is a trip to San Francisco when I was 18 with 4 of my best friends, driving the hills and cranking this on high.

Destiny's Child - Bootylicious

I don't think you're ready.

John Mayer - Your Body Is A Wonderland

Mmmm...I love me some JM.

Damien Rice - Cannonball

If I was ever depressed during high school, this was my go-to jam. I don't even know how I heard of it since it was never formally released in the US, but to this day this song brings me to tears on my knees. Beautiful.

Some of this may not be the deepest music, but it was a fun time!

What were your Constant Repeat songs?

Leave your link in the comments!
PS. Like I could really make a post title like that and not include this...sassy girl ;)

Tune In Tuesday: The Teen Years...featuring Movies!

Tune In Tuesday is hosted by the amazing Ginger at GReads!

Since last week's teen years were focused on TV shows, I figured it only fair to give movies a week, too! I'm really big on soundtracks. I don't know if it's the natural writer in me, but I love having stories to go with music. Of course I can make my own stories, but I also like when I have one to go with music in the first place (this is probably why I love musicals so much). Since I turned 13 in 2000, I chose movies that were released between 2000-2005 (my HS grad year) that had songs I distinctly remember.

Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag

from the movie Loser (2000)

Moulin Rouge - Christina Aguilera, Mya, P!nk, Li'l Kim

from the movie Moulin Rouge (2001)
You can bet your booty I do the Christina part of this song, with the hand motions.

Smash Mouth - I'm A Believer

from the movie Shrek (2001)

Britney Spears - Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman

from the movie Crossroads (2002)

Mandy Moore - Only Hope

from the movie A Walk To Remember (2002)
Ohhh when he nails that 'you're beautiful' line...*swoon*

Eminem - Lose Yourself

from the movie 8 Mile (2002)

Frou Frou - Let Go

from the movie Garden State (2004)
OBSESSED with this song when it released. Got me through some tough times.

Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon - It Ain't Me Babe

from the movie Walk the Line (2005)

Also, doing this made me realize that damn...I liked some really girly movies haha.

What movies do you remember from your teen years?

Tell me in the comments or leave me your link!

Tune In Tuesday: The Teen Years...in TV Shows!

Tune In Tuesday is hosted by the amazing Ginger at GReads!

For this week's Teen Years, I'm theme-ing it up again...with TV! Like every other kid, I watched a ton of TV. It's what I talked about, discussed with friends, got me through my homework: if I finish my AP Calc homework in time, I can watch this show! And sure, maybe TV rots our brains but it made me laugh when I needed it most, let me escape my life for 30 minutes or an hour, gave me new music, showed me actors to obsess over (Adam Brody <3), or made me realize that all the massive drama I was going through? Either not as bad as the Joey-Pacey-Dawson triangle, or that someone else was sharing it, too.

So! Without further ado, five TV shows of my teen years. Because this is a music meme, it limited what I could choose since I wanted to have ones with actual songs relating. There were plenty of other shows I watched*, trust me.

Dawson's Creek
Theme Song: I Don't Want To Wait by Paula Cole

No words need to be said about Dawson's Creek. We know the impact it had on our lives, even if now it's been reduced to Dawson's ugly cry face. Also, Pacey forever!

Say What? KaraokeI LOVED THIS SHOW. I cracked up at people trying to sing all the songs and cheat the wheel. It's the only reason I know a lot of lyrics to certain songs now, and while I don't recall a theme song to the show, I will always always remember the instant karaoke death when the wheel landed on Chumbawamba's Tubthumping.

American Idol

Kelly Clarkson - A Moment Like This

Ahhh, the original and the best. I was there, voting for Kelly Clarkson to win, and I loved her. (Still do.) And while I can't stand the show now - it's been running about 7 seasons too long in my opinion - I will always remember rushing home from newspaper after school to watch her sing and see how Justin Guarini and Christina Christian were stacking up.


The OCTheme Song: California by Phantom PlanetWho didn't watch this show when it first started?! You can't tell me Summer, Seth, and the train wreck that was Mischa Barton weren't hypnotizing. Good or bad, the world tuned in and made Orange County pretty famous. I later went to University in OC and laughed that I was going around to all the locations in the show. (and yeah, I love Adam Brody. He's from San Diego!)


2ge+herNot quite the theme song, but the most memorable one: You + Me = Us (Calculus)Truth be told, I didn't watch this show in the beginning, mostly because I was a die hard *NSYNC fan (STILL AM) and I didn't like the idea of parodying what I loved. But one day I randomly watched it and, naturally, loved it. I still reference this song today. Also: The Hardest Part of Breaking Up (Is Getting Back Your Stuff).

*Including but not limited to: TRL, Friends, One Tree Hill, Roswell, Radio Free Roscoe, Everwood, Gilmore Girls, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Will & Grace, Charmed, Off Centre.

What TV shows did you watch in your teens?

Tell me in the comments or leave your link and I'll hop by!

PS. Miss last week's Tune In Tuesday? It's about boys!

Tune-In Tuesday: The Teenage Years...featuring BOYS!

Tune in Tuesday is hosted by Ginger at GReads!

I've always loved this meme, but never participated before - I figured what better time to hop in than a retrospective to our teen years?! My teen years were spent in the early 2000s, which was a great time of pop music. And oh boy was I ever a part of that...but I'll save my favourites for the end of the month!

Today, let's chat boys. We all know boys and kissing and 'omg he smiled at me' is the apex of teenage years. We agonized over little glances for hours, analyzed with friends for days about the tone of his "hey what's up", and if he gave you a hug hello? It was over. That was love.

Like a lot of others, I quickly had certain songs that would become my theme or anthem with a boy. Some were my feelings towards him, others were memories created with the song playing...somehow, a boy always equaled a song in my head. Which is still true today, actually, but we're not going to talk about my current wonky love life.

Allow me to share 3 songs that held special boys in my life!

Usher - U Got It Bad

The first boy to ever break my heart.

Sophomore year. And at the time, it wasn't just broken; it was slaughtered, crumbled, absolutely crushed. I truly thought I would never get over him or what happened. In any case, during this whole 2-year crush/love for him, this song was the constant soundtrack. It was true in the first place, and when we slow danced to it at a friend's birthday bash...cemented it forever in my heart as mine and his song. It still kind of hurts to hear.

Lifehouse - You and Me

The boy I'll always have feelings for.

When I moved to the States in 7th grade, there was a guy in my classes. He was this small, cute boy with the best smile...incredibly smart, ultra cool, and way out of my league. But he was always friendly with me, and I liked him immediately. As the years went on, we weren't really friends but we'd say hi and chat before classes. My crush faded, as it tends to do in fickle teen years, but it always lingered. Senior year, we were in a few activities together and I got to spend more time with him. He'd gotten much taller, even better looking, and so much more cool...but he still had that boyish smile and friendly demeanor that just made my world tilt. He held my hand for a few seconds once when we were watching a tense sporting event, and I swore in that moment I knew what happiness fulfilled was. Even now, we're still distantly friends and somehow he'll never stop being someone who makes my heart skip.

Howie Day - Collide

The best guy friend through everything.

My best friend during Junior and Senior year was a guy. Sure, I had my girlfriends, but this guy...he was the Best Friend. It was complicated since people always insisted we were dating, or should date; made only messier because he started dating a few friends of mine. It didn't help that he was kind of an asshole to everyone...except me. No matter whose heart he was breaking, he loved, protected and took care of me - which of course caused a lot of issues between me, him, and whatever girl he was with at the time. And we weren't perfect, we had our own rocky, complex, fuzzy relationship to sort out. But despite all the shit high school drama threw at us, this guy and I were strong. We were always friends and we could always count on the other. There's a line in this song that goes "I found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind" - and it was that line that spoke his name to me. No matter what problems we had, either with each other or because of others, we'd find our way back together.

What song reminds you of that one boy from teen years?

Leave your songs or links in the comments!