Mix tape.

Well, here it is, once again. Valentine's day. In preparation for this post, I read my V-Day post from last year, and was slightly appalled at my shoddy blogging skills. Hopefully they've improved over the past year.

Anyway, since my V-day post last year was more of a poorly-disguised pity party than anything else, I thought this year I'd put together a little mix tape for my friends that are, in fact, in love.

Remember how I said I was an expert on sappy graduation songs? I'm equally good, if not better, at creating sappy love mixes. Great for my friends who are actually in relationships, but sorta kinda bad and wallow-y for me.

*Disclaimer* I realize that the phrase "mix tape" is a little outdated, but there's something so vintage and Perks of Being a Wallflower - esque about the term that I couldn't help but use it. Eat your hearts out, lovers.

1. The Obvious Choice That Your Typical Hipster Couple Can't Resist
Songs: First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes
I chose this song because it is just so wonderfully typical. Any mix tape that is lacking in Bright Eyes is not a true mix tape.

2. The Slow Dance Style Cover of a Classic Elvis Tune
Songs: Love Me Tender by Norah Jones
I had a little trouble deciding between this one and Can't Help (Falling in Love) by Ingrid Michaelson, but I figured that since I just dedicated an entire blog post to Ingrid, I'd give this coveted title to Norah. Love Me Tender just so happens to be one of my favorite Elvis songs, so props to you, Norah. This is gorgeous.

3. The Upbeat Cheesy Pop Song
Song: You Make My Dreams by Hall & Oates
The video really says it all.

4. The One From The OC
Song: Wonderwall (Cover) by Ryan Adams
Don't hate on the cheese. Lyrically, Wonderwall is a great song, and the Ryan Adams cover is a great one. And you know that if it's on the OC, you'll find a clip of it here. Disregard Marisa's bad haircut and Bambi eyes, and just focus on Ryan's flitting eyes and bulging arms. This scene was post-Oliver, so things are going slightly awry in Orange County.

5. The Animated Film Love Ballad
Song: Far Longer than Forever from The Swan Princess
Now, the obvious choice here would be A Whole New World from Aladdin or Can You Feel the Love Tonight? from The Lion King, but my sister and I recently went on a Swan Princess bent and watched all three of them. If you haven't watched the "Swan Princess Trilogy" recently (which I doubt you have) or if you, heaven forbid, have never witnessed Odette and Derek's love affair, I beseech you do so now.

6. The Awkward High School Final Slow Dance Where Balloons Fall From A Fishnet In The Ceiling Song
Songs: Fix You by Coldplay and Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls
Now don't be too impressed by the creativity of this category title, because, believe it or not, this actually happened at my school. Or it was supposed to happen. I don't know if the balloons were too flat or the fishnet was too small, but there was some sort of malfunction in the engineering of this project, and the result was a few measly gold balloons fluttering pitifully to the ground. But the song did play. They alternated Fix You and Iris as the closers of all of my homecoming and Sadie Hawkins dances at my high school.  Idyllic, right?

7. The Now-Popular Guilty Pleasure Windows Down Song
Song: Teenage Dream by Katy Perry
This was the obvious choice here. I don't care what your bone to pick with Katy Perry is, there is no denying that Teenage Dream is one of the catchiest songs ever written. And, it alludes to Valentine's day in the lyrics. I mean, come on, guys.

8. A Frank Sinatra Song - What's Valentine's day without a little bit o' good ol' Frank? Cue Ryan Gossling and Rachel McAdams dancing in the street... Now.
Songs: The Way You Look Tonight, You Make Me Feel So Young, I'll Be Seeing You... Take your pick. The possibilities are endless.


9. The Sunshine Song - For lack of a better category title, The Sunshine Song is, I believe, the type of song that would be played during a 500 Days of Summer - y montage of the girl riding her bike, the boy strumming the guitar dreamily, both smiling goofily. The obvious choice here would of course be a perky Zooey Deschanel tune (which I have included), but I also think that When I'm With You by Best Coast is appropriate here too. When I'm with you, I have fun.
Songs: I Was Made For You by She & Him and When I'm With You by Best Coast.

10. A Song With "I Love You" In The Title

This song is just so catchy and sweet and true. A catchy, sweet, and true song is a must for the ideal V-day mix tape.

11. A Sara Bareilles Song - Honestly, did you seriously think I would ever leave this one out? It is a little difficult to find a Sara love song granted that 90% of her songs are power ballads about singularity and heartache, but this is the one song of hers that speaks of true love. With Sara's its poetic description of her lover and sliding melody, My Love sounds like it came straight out of Song of Solomon. If there was an SSV version of the Bible... Singer/songwriter version, duh.

Song: My Love by Sara Bareilles

12. A Song That You and Your Significant Other Can Belt Out and Dance Along With

Song: I Wanna Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston

I think that I honestly would have included this one regardless of Whitney's death, but allow me to take this opportunity to say what an incredible influence Whitney's music has had on my life. There's just nothing like a good Whitney song, and I Wanna Dance With Somebody is no exception. RIP, Whit.  

13. The Final Clincher

Song: At Last - Etta James

This one is the obvious choice, but there are all sorts of power ballads that are applicable in its place. Take your pick from the greats: Aretha, Celine, Barbra, etc.

Honorable Mentions - These are songs that don't exactly fit into any specific category, but are lovely love songs nonetheless. These are to fill the space on your mix tape after you have satisfied your categorical cravings. Fill that mix tape to it's maximum, exhaust it, because odds are, the lyrics on this impeccable mix tape express your feelings better than you ever possibly could.

Love Song - Brandi Carlile

Love Me Like the World is Ending - Ben Lee

Home - Edward Shape and the Magnetic Zeros

Such Great Heights - Iron and Wine

I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie 

No One's Gonna Love You Like I Do - Band of Horses

Let's Just Fall in Love Again - Jason Castro

C'est La Vie - The Civil Wars

The Luckiest - Ben Folds

And there you have it! The greatest Valentine's day mix ever created (in my opinion)! If you're in a relationship, then you're welcome, because I just provided you with the happiest, sappiest playlist ever. And if you're not... well, if you're not, remember these wise words of Carrie Bradshaw:

AMEN, sista.

We love because he first loved us.

XOXO,

CM.

You would have loved it here tonight.

This morning, I woke up for an 8:00 class, took a test, and went to Starbucks for my tri-weekly coffee break between my 9:00 and 11:00. Upon arrival, I received an email informing me that my 11:00 clas was cancelled (ah, the beauty of irresponsible professors!). So, even though it is uncharacteristically warm outside for February, I decided to go back to my room and pretend like it was just too cold. I succumbed to my inner grandmother and put on my Christmas bathrobe, made myself a cup of coffee, lit some candles, and cleaned my room, Julie and Julia playing in the background. This is the college life, folks. I must say, Meryll Streep never ceases to amaze me. Whatever she does, she does it well, whether it's playing a carefree mother, an uptight designer, or an aspiring chef. And Amy Adams... a discouraged, middle-aged woman working in a cubicle was never so adorable.

So there's my morning. And here's my week: Wednesday I'm going home for a dentist appointment, Thursday night the band that I'm singing with now has an out-of-town gig, Friday I have to come back to school for a test (even though I was planning to attend a Brandi Carlile concert back in the ham), and then Saturday I have another out-of-town gig. So even though my Monday has been strangely idyllic, the rest of my week is going to be filled with a lot of time in the car.

And you probably didn't care to know all of that. But it all goes to say that my new policy of optimism is going great. Even though I have to do a few things that I don't particularly want to do this week (I hate the dentist more than anything, and I don't exactly love driving for extended periods of time), I had a lovely weekend at home with my family, and my Monday has been just gorgeous. And I really love Mississippi State. I love the early spring; I love swinging with my new friends. I love going to parties where I actually know people, and the people there are happy to see me because they have missed me since I've been home over the weekend. And I have actually missed them too!

But I do miss my friends from home. You know who you are. The title of this post goes out to you, because even though I love my life here, every fun thing I do is slightly dampened by your absence. As the moon hung proud and bright, you would have loved it here tonight.

I recently read that Charles Darwin proposed our physical appearance (smiling or frowning) heavily influences our mental attitude. Now, while I'm  not exactly a strong proponent of Darwin's teaching, I definitely think he was onto something with that. You're never fully dressed without a smile!

So put a smile on. Because the song below is beautiful.

Clumsy Kim.