My Favorite Things: August

My Favorite Things” is a monthly segment where I share my personal and current favorites in seasonal products, health & beauty, food, decor, movies, TV, and more. Hope you enjoy these personal picks!

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TV

The Sweet Blood

Born between a human mother and a vampire father, Yeon Seo is a 118 year old half-vampire who wants nothing more than to live an ordinary human life. With natural beauty and a slew of vampire abilities, Yeon Seo could be anything she wanted, but she has chosen to blend in with those who appear closest to her age. As a result, Yeon Seo now finds herself faced with one of life’s most difficult challenges: graduating from high school.

Fighting back her more vampiric urges, Yeon Seo does her best to blend in at school; a task that, for the most part, has been fairly easy. But when the sweet blood of her classmate, Song Meo Roo, attracts the attention of vampires and werewolves alike, things get a little more complicated. Trying desperately to ignore the siren call of Meo Roo’s blood, Yeon Seo takes it upon herself to protect her classmate from those who hunt him.

As Yeon Seo and Meo Roo run for their lives, the blood in his veins calls to her. Torn between family duty and the desires of her own heart, a war within Yeon Seo rages. Will she be able to embrace her humanity and resist the temptation of this boy’s sweet blood or will her vampire side rise victorious in the end?

In August I was so busy that I didn’t have much time at all to consume any TV. Luckily I managed to squeeze in this web drama on Viki. The Sweet Blood can best be described as a supernatural romance with some fun elements of mystery and suspense. Sometimes the drama could be a bit cheesy but I thought it was very good overall. I ended up watching the whole show in one season since I wanted to see the story through till the end. The lead actress who plays Yeon Seo I’m familiar with from a couple of other dramas so it was nice to see her in a lead role. It has plenty of action scenes and an interesting mystery to solve!

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Movies

The Mitchells vs The Machines

Young Katie Mitchell embarks on a road trip with her proud parents, younger brother and beloved dog to start her first year at film school. But their plans to bond as a family soon get interrupted when the world’s electronic devices come to life to stage an uprising. With help from two friendly robots, the Mitchells must now come together to save one another — and the planet — from the new technological revolution.

I wanted to watch an entertaining but feel-good movie and The Mitchells vs The Machines delivered on that. The story follows a family trying to reconnect during a takeover from electronic devices on a global scale. The Mitchells are such a loveable family due to their wacky antics but that’s what makes the viewer fall in love with them. Each member of the family is so uniquely themselves and their bond is stronger because of it. Watching them take on robots and save everyone was so much fun. Most of all you can tell this film has a lot of heart and makes some great commentary on the relationship with have with social media/electronic devices in today’s world.

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Youtube

The Artisan Geek

I can’t remember if I chatted about Artisan Geek or not on my channel before but I love her content so much! She discusses anime, manga, books, language learning, and more. I learn something new every time I watch her channel and always find more content to add to my TBR and watchlist.

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Flashy

If you like music history or learning more about musical artists I recommend Flashy. It’s a channel with really solid content that covers the varying eras of a musician, the impact of an album’s music, the creation of popular hits, and more. It’s informative and I appreciate getting to learn more about the behind-the-scenes process. This video talks about one of my favorite albums and small tidbits of Brandy’s impact on her audience.

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The Take

The Take is one of many channel finds of 2021. It’s a YouTube channel that creates videos essays favorite movies, shows, and culture. As I mentioned in my last roundup of favorites in July I love to watch video essays because they offer new perspectives on my favorite media pieces. Here’s a recent one I enjoyed about Ponyo and its overall commentary on environmentalism (as notated in many of Ghibli’s films).

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Music

Queendom by Red Velvet

Queendom is the title track for Red Velvet’s EP and since I first heard the track I had it on repeat. It’s a catchy pop sound with a bubbly feeling. The lyrics are feel-good and empowering too. The visuals of the MV do not disappoint and I think this is a strong comeback from the group. I have not listened to the EP but I would love to hear more of the group’s velvet (R&B) sound more. Maybe for another title track or an EP just with that sound?

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Hypotheticals by Lake Street Drive

Lake Street Dive is a multi-genre band that was formed in 2004 is currently based in Brooklyn. I discovered them through Youtube and have been a fan of their music since. I love the funk and soul sound of this track and its overall jazzy vocals really add to the track. A band I highly recommend!

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How Do I Breathe? – Mario

I was listening to a 2000s R&B playlist on Spotify and this song popped up. It has been forever since I heard it and it reminded me how much I miss neo-soul and R&B from that era. Mario always delivers smooth vocals in his songs and I love the mid-tempo beat of this ballad track.

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What are some of your favorite things from August? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. 

*This post is in no way sponsored