New favorites

We all have our favorite things in life, right? And while there are certain things that I will always love no matter what (pugs, Jane Austen, and Velveeta Shells & Cheese to name a few), I love the surge I get when I've found something new and exciting that feels like I should have known about it forever. Some of my latest thrilling "finds" that are new to me but probably not to a lot of other people:

Tim Tams
My new favorite cookie, or biscuits, as they are called in their country-of-origin, Australia.

Yummy, crispy, chocolate-covered biscuits. I first tried these on my trip to Sydney this past summer, and now they can be had at local stores. And I don't mean the kind of foreign import that keeps the same brand name but is really made by an American company and doesn't taste as good (see Cadbury Dairy Milk made by Hershey's versus Dairy Milk actually made by Cadbury). There is even a drinking technique using them called the Tim Tam Slam.

Eric Hutchinson
I heard Eric Hutchinson's song "Rock and Roll" on the radio a few weeks ago coming home after a rough day and I instantly perked up. Then I got to see the Jason Mraz-esque musician perform at Lulu's in Waikiki this past weekend, and he rocked the tiny, packed venue. I like that his songs are clever, catchy and honest. Take a sample lyric from "Rock and Roll": "Another chance for cheap romance/Doesn't count cause the room is spinning/Nothing to lose tonight they both are winning." A fresh take on the stale bar/club scene.

Here's Hutchinson performing back in 2007.


From what I saw at his Waikiki performance, he's upgraded his wardrobe since then but the sound's still the same.

Tough Love
The only reality shows I watch on a regular basis are "American Idol," "Project Runway," and "So You Think You Can Dance." Just wanted to clarify that I'm not a reality show junkie. But I recently heard about a different kind of dating show called "Tough Love" on VH1 and decided to watch. This series is headed by male matchmaker Steve Ward, who gives women having trouble finding love, insight into how a guy's mind works, and not in the awful "The Pick Up Artist" way either. The women in turn learn how to connect with men. One downside to "Tough Love" is that it tries to follow the usual reality show formula of putting a bunch of a girls in a house together and hoping for the most drama possible. Luckily, the women so far have ended up supporting each other rather than trying to gouge each others eyes out. Besides that, the most compelling aspect of the show is Steve's truth-telling, and when you see the women "get it." My housemate and I enjoy this semi-trashy but strangely educational show and we even got her mother-in-law watching.

So there you have it: Tim Tams, Eric Hutchinson and "Tough Love." My current obsessions.