The Loves of my Life: Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

There is nothing else to say other than I love this duo.

Bieber Fever

Okay I used to hate on young mister Bieber hard - but since his Christmas debut he has melted my heart a little. I literally just saw him perform on the X Factor and he was yet again so adorable and christmasy and he sang for a moment with my X Factor favorite Drew. So yes Justin Bieber has done the impossible and forced his way into my life.... Yes. My name is Caitie Collins and I have Bieber Fever. Sorry I'm not Sorry.

90's Flash Back

To stay productive at work I, like many of my friends, jam out to Pandora all day long. My co-workers and I always are shouting 'OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS SONG' and blasting for all to hear etc. etc. you get the picture (so productive I know don't hate). Lately to keep within the Christmas spirit I've had the Mariah Carey Holiday station on (again haters gonna hate) and Jessica Simpson's Christmas album starting playing. This is clearly where I turned to my co-worker and went omg J.Simp I forgot she existed I used to LOVE her - this is where my colleague appropriately said ME TO! From there we obvi went on YouTube to go through all the pop princesses hits i.e. Irresistible, With You, Sweetest Sin - yeah bet you forgot about that right!

The natural chain of progression moved us right along into the Spice Girl genre - WannaBe, 2 Become 1 - yup we went there! Basically it turned into a 90's girly girl jamout session and it was incredible. Here's a little taste of our 90's collection:

Be Jealous....

Kardashian Flashback

The Kardashian Family is my guilty pleasure. I watch all of the shows - Keeping up with the Kardashians, Khloe & Lamar (aka my fav.)  and Kim and Kourtney Take New York. I love them and I don't care who knows it. I know they're over the top and ridiculous and no one really wants to like them but I can't help it.

Any way while I was exploring twitter this morning I came across this little diddy. The leader of the Kardashian Klan - Kris Jenner - made a music video in honor of her 30th video. I'm sorry I love you  Kris even though you're nosy and crazy but what were you thinking! It gave me a good chuckle though on this hump day before Christmas vaca - Hope it gives you one too!!!

Christmas in New York

I took the day off of work today to finish up my holiday shopping and get into the Christmas spirit. Sometimes I can't decide if I hate Christmas in New York or if I love it. The crowds and ridiculous tourists can kind of suck the life out of you after a while, but today was the perfect Christmas in New York City day...

It started out at the Columbus Circle holiday shops where I picked up some last minute gifts for friends/family. 

Then I decided to walk down Fifth Avenue to see how some of the stores decorated for the holiday season...

Fendi was my FAVORITE

Tiffany's Windows <3

Bloomingdales

As I walked down Fifth Ave I ended obviously at the tree in Rockefeller Center :)

Overall it was such a great day! Now time to make some delicious chili because really what's better when it's cold out!

Most Anticipated Albums of 2012

I followAlternative Press pretty closely when it comes to music. They have great write-ups on new bands and are always uploading music for fans to download as an album sneak preview. The other day they released a play list that included singles off of the most anticipated albums of 2012 - and I like what I'm hearing. They play list includes:

• All American Rejects
• Anthony Green
• Asking Alexandria
• Bring Me the Horizon
• Gaslight Anthem
• I See Stars
• LetLive
• Miss May I
• Pierce the Veil
• The Ready Set
• Sharks
• Title Fight
• Whitechapel

With such an amazing list of artists I knew that 2012 was going to be full of great albums. My favorites off the list aka the albums I'm most pumped about are: The Gaslight Anthem - their song The Naveslink Bank holds true to this band's reputation. It's an amazing song and I cannot wait to hear what the rest of the album is going to sound like - it will be their first one with Mercury Records.

Another song that was great was Hollywood Dream by The Ready Set. I was never big into this band but I think 2012 is going to prove to be a pretty great year for them! Sweet Harness  by the Sharks was also a great listen. I wish I could share the whole play list with you guys but here is a taste...

The Navesink Bank - Gaslight Anthem

Someday's Gone - All American Rejects

Get Yours While You Can - Anthony Green by Caitlin Collins 1

Walkmen & Lousiana Perfect Combo

A fun fact about myself - While I am from NJ now living in NYC (and really a New Yorker at heart) I have an obsession with Louisiana in particularly New Orleans<3. I went there 2 years ago with my best friend and was completely captivated by it. While listening to Pandora at work today The Walkmen's song Louisiana came on and I forgot how great it is! It made me start planning my next visit to the great state of Marti Gras and True Blood! Check it...

Volunteer Time

So today my colleagues and I volunteered with Volunteers of America in NYC, wrapping a bizzilion gifts - which were donated over the past few weeks - for children staying in shelters this Christmas season.

While I don't like to brag about how awful wonderful my gift wrapping abilities are I will brag about how much fun we had. It was such a great day and it made me want to volunteer more often with different programs throughout the city. SO here I am asking you - Any suggestions? Tis the season.... let me leave you with a little reminder about what the season is about.

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda

This is where I should have been Friday night.... Kill me.

Fun. the band

So I'm becoming a little obsessed with the new band Fun. yup that's right Fun. I don't know why, I can't explain it but when I hear their music I get happy.

Nate Rues of the Format formed this band which calls it's home New York City (another part of them that makes me happy). Ruess left his native Arizona after the Format broke up and headed to NYC to grow his craft - Here is where FUN. was formed with Andrew Dost (of Anathallo) and Jack Antonoff (of Steel Train).

what cuties

Moving right along they recorded an album titled, Aim and Ignite in 2009 and from this point on they've been a breakout band gathering a strong following along the way. In 2010 they toured with Jack's Mannequin and later that year they toured with Paramore. Most recently they've been out on the Campus Conciseness Tour with Janelle Monae. They will be heading out on another tour for the first half of 2012 - unfortunately no NYC dates were scheduled boo, but hey what can I do.

Their music is awesome Ruess definitely kept his West Coast roots/feel with his music. The jam band, indie rock feel is all over their tracks. They are definitely a youngsters band with their new generational-esque song titled - We Are Young.  Take a listen and I hope you fall in love with them too!!! Also check out the Acoustic version too (right here) it's amazeballs.

Trent Reznor You Are Amazing

Nine Inch Nails front man/founder/leader etc., Trent Reznor, is so much more than any thing relating to or concerning the band. Don't get me wrong Nine Inch Nails is definitely where Reznor made, and continues to make a name for himself  but outside of that he is also a multi-instrumental, composer, producer.... MUSICAL GENIUS.

One of his most recent achievements comes from his collaboration with Atticus Ross on the Social Network soundtrack. For this effort Reznor and Ross received both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for best Original Score. Reznor himself described the soundtrack like so...

"Musically, this all came out of our secret laboratory - electronic in basis, but mostly organic sounding. Lots of experiments and emphasis on sound fraying around the edges while focusing on the proper emotional tone for the various scenes."

If you're wondering what he means then you better go take a listen. Music makes a film, it sets the emotional tones and takes you on a journey through the highs, lows and emotional climaxes of each character. The Social Network soundtrack goes above and beyond what a soundtrack is meant to do. It is an amazing collection of musical story telling. Without this soundtrack the tone of the film would have been completely altered.

And now the Reznor/Ross duo is set to achieve this feat again on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack. First of all let me say I am a huge fan of this series, I've read all of the books and am highly anticipating the release of the film. To now find out that Reznor has his hand in the soundtrack - well lets just say I don't think anything could have made me more excited! They have recently leaked a preview of what we can expect the soundtrack to be like and you can download a sampler right here:

Or take a listen to their cover of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song here:

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!?!

Torn Between - The Black Keys and Lana Del Rey

So tonight in NYC the Black Keys & Lana Del Rey have a shows going on and I'm torn as to which one I should go to.... HELP.

Gaga Strikes Again - New Music Vid

So Lady Gaga - love her/hate her whatever you wish but you can't deny she's somewhat of a creative genius. Do I always understand her creative ways - absolutely not - do I watch every move she makes anyway - you betcha. Her newest video - Marry the Night - is a 13 minute short film basically that makes no sense, but I happened to enjoy it any way and here's why:

• I love point shoes
• I love dance videos (yes any kind of dance video they are the BEST kinds)
• I appreciate that she kind of admits that she's kind of a lunatic/may or may not need to be in a psych ward some days

You should probably just check it out for yourself:

Get to Know - The Pretty Reckless

So I meant to mention this in yesterday's, Victoria Secret Fashion Show entry, but it slipped my mind until this song came blaring out of my iPod headphones while at the gym yesterday.

The song that kicked off the glitterati runway show for Ms. Victoria Tuesday night was Make Me Wanna Die by The Pretty Reckless. Now I've been listening to this band for over a year now and they surprisingly kick ass. I say surprisingly because the lead singer happens to be 16-year-old Taylor Momson. Yes that is correct: Momson from Gossip Girl, as well as the Grinch that Stole Christmas & the lead singer of this edgy new wave rock band are one in the same.

Momsen is in fact a very musically talented individual. She takes her musical inspiration from the White Stripes and The Beatles, and she along with producer Ben Philips wrote every song on The Pretty Reckless debut album - Light Me Up. Momsen says that Light Me Up is written about her life and her experiences, which is a little intense for a 16-year-old if you ask me. Many of the album's records talk about drugs, sex, heartbreak and so on which - I'm sorry I'm 24 and I don't recall relating to much of that at 16. But this is neither here nor there - the album as I said is pretty kick ass.

When the band first started performing live they recieved a lot of flack for the way Momsen was dressed and acting. Being that she is EXTREMELY UNDERAGE and performing in lingerie, leather and heavy eyeliner didn't really sit well with moms and dads across America, but hey let her do her thang is all I can say. Currently the band is touring Australia with no USA dates scheduled anytime soon. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't check them out though. She and her bandmates are definitely worth the listen - especially if your a girl dealing with some idiot boy or you need to get in a good workout.