what we’re watching

with all the cold, dark days we’ve been having lately, we’ve been watching more movies and tv than usual. i mean, what else are you supposed to do when it’s dark when you get home or sleeting outside? we play music sometimes, but it’s nice to come home and unwind with our favorite shows once we’re done eating dinner and get snuggled on the couch with maggie.

i’m sure i’m probably the only person in the world NOT watching Downton Abbey or The Walking Dead, and I’m okay with that. PS: We tried watching the Walking Dead a few weeks ago and I just rolled my eyes through the hour and kept flipping back to the Grammy’s. Sorry, zombie lovers – it’s not for me.

But! we do have shows that we love and watch every week.

Our Favorites (ones that Nick and I both like and want to watch every week):

White Collar: If you’re not watching this, you’re seriously missing out. I love the main storyline {previous conman consulting with the FBI to catch other thieves…sometimes in not-so-legal ways} but the characters are the best part of this show. Not only do you get charming Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) strutting around in suits (I even had a dream about them taking me on a caper in the city!), Peter and Elizabeth’s relationship is a huge part of the show, and Mozzie is always there for a laugh. I can’t get enough of this show. I wish it was on year round. I think one of my favorite things about the show is that shows New York the way I think of it: historic, romantic, classy. When you’ve only seen NY on CSI or whatever where everyone is killed in dark alleys…it doesn’t make the city a place you’d want to visit. But White Collar embraces the important things about the city – the architecture, the art, the culture, and throws in a little crime here and there. I love it.

Burn Notice: Yup, another USA show. It seems they have some of the best shows on right now, or we think so. We started watching this just a few episodes in and it’s fantastic. Sure, it has crazy never-going-to-happen in real life situations, but what do I know? Maybe it would be real life if I was a spy. Sam’s character is my favorite, and Michael’s mom is a hoot. Always dramatic, always a twist in the story – you really never know where it’s going to go next, and I like that.

Ridiculousness: Ugh, I’m a little embarrassed to even say this. Yes, we watch it and we love it! Yeah….it’s a show where they just show youtube videos that you could look up yourself, but we love Rob and his commentary makes the videos even funnier. Total waste of time, but it’s a great way to laugh for a full 30 minutes.

American Pickers: We’ve gotten both our sets of parents hooked on this show (especially my dad), and it’s a fun one to watch. Mike and Frank are “pickers” that drive around the country, looking for people that want to sell stuff: antiques, cars, junk, toys, etc. Then they fix it up (if needed) and sell it in their stores. But the best part of the show is seeing where they end up and the people that they meet along the way. Some of the houses are a hoarder’s dream, some people have built entire towns in the backyard to show off their collections. It’s like Facebook stalking someone’s backyard, but still from the comfort of your couch.

My Favorite Shows (ones that Nick will sit through, but doesn’t like as much as I do):

Fashion Police: Oh man, oh man, I love this show. I used to think I hated Joan Rivers, but I think I just didn’t see her in the right setting. She is one of the funniest people on tv, period. Some of her jokes are wayyyyyyy over the line, but I love that she just doesn’t care. She’ll even throw the Kardashians under the bus on the show and they basically own most of E! which makes it even better. If you love celebrity dirt and fashion and cringing-laughing, you need to be watching this.

Top Chef: I’ve been watching Top Chef for years, and every year, I think “I’m probably not going to get sucked in as much as I did last season…”, but I do. Every time. Besides wanting to be a chef in my next life, I love watching these people cook. Their imaginations blow me away – and if I don’t ever get to come back as a chef, then I’d at least like to be a judge on Top Chef.

The finale is 2 parts, and I was SO excited to see one of my favorite contestants come back this week!! So, in the finale, we’ve got Kristen and Brooke. I’ve honestly been a huge Sheldon fan the entire time. His food has always looked incredible and he seems like someone I could be friends with and I was super sad to see him go. I’m not sure who’s going to win it all, but if I had to pick, I’d say it’s going to be Kristen.

If nothing else, I just want Kristen to make me her Crispy Salmon with Pickled Pineapple and Raisins, Shaved Cauliflower and Crème Fraiche. Holy moly, right? Plus, I think she totally deserves the win. She got kicked off when she shouldn’t have and she fought her way back on in the Last Chance kitchen.

Nick’s Favorite Shows (ones that I will sit through, but doesn’t like as much as he does):

Gold Rush: Friday nights are exciting in our house, if you can’t tell. It’s normally dinner, then 3 hours of Gold Rush (“we have to watch the re-runs!”) and then finally, Fashion Police at 10 for me. Gold Rush is definitely a “guy show”. It’s a bunch of guys (some of them should not be working with large machinery) that are in Alaska, digging for gold and hoping to strike it rich.

Any of the Yukon Men, etc: Er…no thanks for me. Not my favorite. I’ll sit through part of one if I’m waiting for something else, but I’ll usually grab a book/magazine/laptop when there are on.

Pawn Stars/Storage Wars/anything you can sell: I can watch these IF someone really has something interesting – it is neat to see what stuff is worth (like on Antiques Roadshow! I like that), but really: these shows have so much crap coming through that it’s a waste of an hour of your life.

What are you watching?

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