Kristen Reviews...a bit of Gossip, scandel in the courts, and a very REBELous pizza!

Alright, so to break away from less-than-momentous life occasion blogs, I want to write about three things worth checking out!

1. CW's Gossip Girl Season 3 Finale



So this is one of those shows that, depending on who I'm talking to, I will either proudly admit liking, or hiding my head in shame for liking. I love this show despite all its trashiness and compromising situations it puts its underage characters in (if I ever get to be a Young Woman adviser, I would never admit to my girls I watch this!). But the fashion! Blair's awesome comebacks! Chuck's creepy one-liners! Seeing how dumb Serena can get! Trying to decide if Jenny needs a hug or needs to be strangled! Rufus's waffles! This list could go on for days, but sadly, I will not get to see my guiltiest pleasure show until September because the Season Finale was Monday night.

After Judd the Stud spent two hours trying to find this show online after our DVR failed us, we were finally able to watch this hunched around the computer (yes, Judd is mildly interested in this show, although he will claim he can't stand it). I thought it was their best season finale yet, and because I don't want to give too much away, I'll just say...PREGNANCY!SHOOTING!STEP-SIBLING INCEST!

I'm probably losing a few heaven points as well as brain cells every time I watch this show, but we'll just call it my Diet Coke. Everyone has weaknesses. :)



2. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory



So one of my favorite books (although I can't say the same for the movie) is The Other Boleyn Girl. I'm completely obsessed with royal history, and combined with my love for historical fiction novels, this is one book I never get bored with. SO when I saw that there were SEQUELS, I had to get them! This is the one I just finished, and it is one you won't be able to put down. Granted, you have to know the story of The Other Boleyn Girl, but you can probably just get away with watching the movie to understand this book (but you'll be cheating yourself!).

The Boleyn Inheritance picks up a couple of years where the first book ended, and it follows the viewpoints of three prominent women of that time period: Anne of Cleves, who becomes King Henry VIII's unwanted 4th wife, Jane Rochford, the traitor who lives with the memory of sending her husband and Queen Anne to their deaths, and Catherine Howard, the king's flirtatious, 30 years younger 5th wife. So much scandal! And the whole story chronicles real events, which makes the story that much more fascinating.

3. Rebel Pizza


Judd and I eat here about once a week. You can't beat the $5 FRESHLY MADE large specials (beats the Little Caesar's that's been sitting under a heating lamp waiting for you). It's right down the street from where we live. I love that you can sign the walls, so I did all romantically for Judd and I (and for Studio G). And I love how it kept my friends and I fed those long nights I had to stay in the studio this semester. It's not quite Sunset Pizza (my absolute fave), but it's pretty close!

BLOND(ish)!!!!!

New blonde hair!



This is the auburn I had before...

This is Judd's photoshopped rendering of what I would look like as a blonde, he came pretty close!



I've been a lovely brunette, a emo black-haired chick, and a fiery redhead, but the one color I've never tried before on my hair is BLONDE. I've always had a complex with being blonde, mainly because two guys I dated back in the day both told me I would be prettier if I were blond (I know, jerks, right?). Plus, I didn't want to appear Utah-Mormonish (although you girls are super pretty!), I like looking more outside the mold. So that was the one color I've never wanted to go to...until Saturday!

I figured you only get one life to dye your hair (unless they let you in Heaven, SWEET!), so why not? Plus, this summer is all about my triumphant return to the Cape, so I wanted to be a beach blonde. So Saturday, the awesome Melinda at Ease Salon and Sport worked her magical wonders and here's the results! I like that she didn't bleach me out, she's great at figuring out what works with my skin tone (she's made me auburn before). I really like it, I feel like it aged me backwards a bit (now I know why women in their 40s+ are obsessed with it). And Molly was super cool and took these pretty pictures for me!

So here's to living up that old saying that blondes have more fun!

Puppy Sleepover

A couple weeks ago, we watched our friends' puppy Eevee for the weekend. She's a black lab/cocker spaniel/beagle mix and SUPER adorable. Judd lamented that Bindi will never be quite as cuddly, but we love her anyways! Bindi liked having a new friend over, and totally makes me want another puppy, but not until we have a house with a big yard! (although our friends that we're renting our townhouse from had THREE dogs bigger than Bindi living here, just sayin').

But anyways, just had to show off the cute pictures of them! We attempted to teach Bindi how to swim after Eevee just jumped right in Judd's parents' pool, but she wasn't having it. I'm sure once we're brave enough to swim where we won't freeze to death, Bindi will feel more willing!

In other news, summer classes have started, and Kristen's Extreme Summer Workout has begun with three athletic classes 4 days a week: Jazz Dance, Pilates, and Self Defense, plus the two miles every day I jog with Bindi! It's not that I was totally out of shape...but I knew I could do better, PLUS...bikini season is upon us!

Studio G... you're the best!

Best Tuesday anchors ever! Ashley and me!
In front of the green screen, pretending some really cool background is behind us!
The Studio G crew!

So here I am on a Monday afternoon wondering what I'm going to do for next few hours. This is a weird sensation, as usually Mondays for the past few months consisted of me going absolutely crazy trying to film and edit stories before the 2:30 deadline, preparing weather reports, reading over my anchor scripts, tweaking the cameras, and a bunch of other tasks needed to run a newsroom/news show. But now that our show Studio G is over until the fall, we're on a much-needed break. As crazy as the show drove us, I think I'm safe in saying I'm probably not the only one feeling a little empty at the moment. That group of us right there put our hearts and souls into producing a news show 5 days a week. We spent more time in the news room than anywhere else and eventually all became such good friends. It's the first time at UNLV that I've ever felt completely accepted and that I found my niche. I feel like I'm at LVA again, except that this time I finally get to be in the spotlight instead of working backstage behind it!

So I'll rest up these next few months, then come back ready to be news director/anchor in the fall! I figure it's a good way to leave a bit of legacy in my last semester!

Just remember, you can watch us at work or on the web at unlv.tv/views! Gosh, who knows how many times I had to say that line!

Buffets and Bowling

us!

Mike and Molly

Robin and David

Telly and Amber

If they're gonna make you buy socks, at least they're cute pink sparkly socks!

Who doesn't love locals specials to over-priced buffets? Actually, I must say for this particular buffet, the Carnival World Buffet at the Rio, the regular price is still worth it, mainly for the HUMONGOUS portions of shrimp and crab legs available for the taking! But still, HALF OFF is a pretty sweet deal! We went with all the cute couples on Judd's side of the family: Mike and Molly, Robin and Dave, and Telly and Amber. First stop was the buffet, where pretty much all I ate was sushi and shrimp to feel justified at eating at a buffet (if you're gonna down a ridiculous amount of food, it better be semi-healthy/indulgent!).

Next was bowling at the Orleans. Here's the thing about me and my relationship with bowling: I'm either really really good or really really terrible. Friday was definitely on the "terrible" side of the pendulum as far as my skills went, but it was still fun. At least Judd came in second-to-last place so we were equally as bad! I blame it on the shrimp! The bowling superstars had to be Telly and Amber: Our lane stopped working for a few minutes, so Telly went and bowled three perfect strikes in the "closed" lanes, and Amber just ruled our lane with strike after strike!

I officially work "in the business"!!

So my internship at Channel 8 became EMPLOYMENT at Channel 8! It feels so awesome getting a regular paycheck again, even if it means two part time jobs (I also work for UNLV-TV). It just feels so awesome starting my career in a top 50 market. I'm an assignment editor, which means I listen to scanners, take the viewer's crazy "please solve all my problems" phone calls, make assignments, and scan the city for all the news! It's kind of intense, especially the arriving at work at 5:00 am bit. I'm trying not to get too addicted to Rockstars (well, I'm trying to not have to drink them), so my mantra is that if I get less than 6 hours of sleep at night, I can have one. But since I'm trying this whole healthy living stuff lately, I'm going back to cutting out soda, which includes Rockstars, right?

Anyways, if you have a news story, I have multiple ways to air it since I now work on three different shows! I LOVE THE NEWS!!!!!

Need For Speed!

Bindi being the team's cheerleader...totally obsessed and wondering why it's not her turn yet!
Maybe this will be the Christmas Card picture...if I feel like doing them this year!

This past weekend, Flyin' Aces hosted a flyball tournament in the most appropriate place I can think of for speed-addicted dogs: Las Vegas's own Motor Speedway! We went to race our second favorite Border Collie Nelson, and of course, our first favorite Border Collie Bindi came along as the Atomic Dogs' personal cheerleader! She still has five more LONG months until she can officially compete, but the team has been awesome in using this time to get her ready! We love these tournaments even if our own dog isn't racing; our team is full of fun people that make the 12+ hours of racing a great day. Plus, we have excuses to make some quick fun weekend trips!

Just so you know how truly obsessed Bindi is with flyball (in case you couldn't tell from the pictures), I was watching a show yesterday that had a tennis scene in it. Well, Miss Bindi over here decided to jump up and attempt to grab the tennis ball from the TV screen! I'm glad we're involved in a sport she likes to do instead of one that we like that she's just participating in. We were really in need of a hobby we could do together, so I'm glad we discovered flyball!

By the way, speaking of hobbies, I made that adorable bandana she's wearing!