Shameless Saturday: Big Brother

 Welcome to the new weekly feature here on the ol' blog: Shameless Saturday!

So what is it? Well, Shameless Saturday is going to be a place where I (and eventually some guests) share our favorite guilty pleasures. Everything is fair game--TV shows, movies, food, activities. And there will be no judgement here, no raised eyebrows. Life is too short to be ashamed of the things that give us that delicious feeling that only guilty pleasures can bring.

First up on the block (tee-hee, I'm being punny for those of you who watch the show), is...

Big Brother on CBS

Okay, for any of you who don't know what it is, it's a reality show where they lock a certain number of people in a house and cut them off from the outside world for the summer and tape them 24/7. The people in the house compete against each other in competitions with the goal of the being the last one standing at the end of the show and winning half a million dollars. Think: The Real World meets Survivor.

It sounds simple, right? What could be all that entertaining? But somehow, no matter how many seasons they have, I still can't stop watching. They always introduce new twists and turns that keep me tuning in. Plus, it's the ultimate social game, which just intrigues the hell out of me because I'm a people watcher by nature. I love seeing how people align and strategize. 

And this season has already hooked me episode one because they've brought back couples from previous seasons.

There are annoying people, hyped up drama, lots of yelling and crying, inappropriate relationships, evil scheming. It's an all-around guilty-pleasure good time. And I promise, you can't watch it for two weeks without getting hooked. Next episode is on Sunday. Be sure to tune in so you can be shameless with me! :)

So are you a Big Brother fan? How do you feel about the couples that have come back into the house? How do you feel about them making them play in pairs this season? And if you don't watch, what's your favorite reality TV guilty pleasure?

Where Would You Move If You Could?

Newsflash: It's hot in Dallas. Effing hot. Like over 100 degrees much of the time (starting and early June this year), humid, and without the relief of rain. The only rain we seem to get comes in the way of thunderstorms, complete with kitten-sized hail and tornado threats. I am not a fan.

There is so much to love about Texas and the South in general, but the weather is not one of them. I grew up in New Orleans where I was no stranger to heat and humidity, but we at least got rain most summer afternoons to cool things off a little. Here it just stays hot. There is something wrong with it still being 92 degrees at 3am. Just saying.

So today, to escape from this oppressive heat, I'm imagining all the places I'd want to move if I could just pile my family in a moving fan and hit the road.

Here are my top three in no particular order:

Oregon - It's green and on the coast and lovely and damp.

Washington State - You have mountains, the ocean, fresh seafood, and the nice big city of Seattle to get your culture fix.

Photo by David Herrera 

And it rains...a lot. I love the rain. I know many complain about it. But rain to me is soul-cleansing. It relaxes me and makes me want to curl up with a book and just enjoy the pitter patter of it. 

Colorado - A place that actually has seasons! As opposed to here in Dallas where our seasons consists of Summer, Pits of Hell Hot, Summer, Freakish Winter with lots of ice storms and thundersleet (yes it's a word), 3 weeks of Spring where we hide in closets for much of the time listening to tornado sirens, Summer again.

Photo via Wikipedia Commons

Ah, don't those pictures look lovely? *closes eyes and tries to imagine I can't sear a steak on the sidewalk outside right now*

So where would you move if you could just pick up and go and the magical moving faires would take care of the rest? What's your favorite place you've ever lived (mine's Austin, TX) or visited?