This post is brought to you by HBO and Her Campus Media

If you know me, you know that I love television. I am never without the TV on, and even if I'm watching Youtube videos, the TV is on in the background. Even though it's not good, I also sleep with my television on and I don't know how I will ever kick that bad habit.

I've always been that way; my mom and I were actually just talking about the fact that I grew up with a television in my room, and it was just something that was ok in our house. Occasionally, we even had the TV in the kitchen (my grandma still has a TV in the kitchen) -- we are just a TV family.

Even if I'm constantly running around during the week, and then coming home at night and blogging or writing for another site, I always make sure that I catch up on my favorite shows. TV is just part of my life and it's not something I'm willing to sacrifice.

My typical day starts out with my commute to work on the subway, and then I'm at work from 9-5. I get back on the train to journey home and then once I get home, it's usually a mix of dinner, shower, hair and nails, some writing and blogging and then I settle down to watch TV in my bed.

In between dinner, showering, doing my hair and nails, writing and blogging, the TV is on so I do get some catch-up time but once I'm settled in and I can devote all my attention to one thing, it's usually television.

I'm always recording things on my DVR and watching them on the weekends, or my new favorite thing to do is to catch up on movies and shows on HBO Now.



I was always a lover of HBO and I guess I owe that to my main chick, Carrie Bradshaw.

When I was younger, I always knew that I would have to be 'older' to watch HBO because my parents loved watching The Sopranos and my mom loved Sex and the City. When I was finally old enough to embark on my own HBO journey, I was ecstatic.

As HBO became bigger and better, I started watching more shows: Girls, Big Little Lies and True Detective are my top favorites. Plus HBO has all the best movies that you can't find anywhere else. I mean, if I want to watch La La Land, Serendipity (the best Christmas movie), or Fantastic Beasts they have it.

HBO NOW is the best because it has everything and anything you'd ever want to watch. It has every episode of every HBO show and every documentary as well as having the best and biggest movies (like La La Land) before they're available anywhere else.



Clearly, my favorite thing to catch up on the HBO NOW app is Sex and the City. No matter where I am, I can get a fix of Carrie Bradshaw. It's perfect because SATC has always been my go-to whenever I'm feeling down or need a little inspiration, so whenever I need that boost, my girls are there.

The best thing about HBO NOW is that you truly can watch it anywhere. The app on both my iPhone and iPad gets a workout, especially on my commute *thank you unlimited data*. Sex and the City makes the subway rides go much faster and brightens up my mood.

What I am going to take full advantage of now that I have HBO NOW? Binge watching shows I haven't been caught up on, like Game of Thrones.

Everyone and their mother has been talking about GOT and I think it's time I try my hand at it. Thankfully HBO NOW has the entire series so I'll be all caught up in no time *maybe...*

If you're a TV lover, I highly recommend looking into HBO NOW; it just makes life a little easier and a little more fun.

If you're in college, go to you HBOGo.com to see if your school has free HBO GO on campus; if your school isn't available, go to HBONOW.com/student for a discount!

What's your favorite HBO Show?
xoxo
B
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Podcasts have been around for a while but they always seemed like something nerdy or not mainstream. Podcasts had this weird image of being done in your parents' basement and 2 people listened.

I think I've taken noticed of within the past year that podcasts have truly blown up and are taking over the world. Everyone has a podcast nowadays and every publication has a few under their belt. It's almost like the new blog because everyone has one.

I even experimented with it and I really liked it, but then I suddenly stopped. I felt like I just jumped in without having a clear cut idea of what I wanted to talk about or what I wanted the podcast to be about... it was bad branding and I know better. Hopefully I'll pick up Basic Bri again in the future, we'll see...

All this being said, I've been obsessing over podcasts lately. I canceled my Audible subscription (for now) because I was listening to so many podcasts on my commute instead of my audiobooks. Some of the podcasts are directly related to my interests, and some are super random but I wanted to tell you about them because they've been such a huge part of my life right now.



1. Fat Mascara: This is a podcast everyone at work was telling me to listen to forever, and when I finally listened, I understood why. It's by two beauty editors who talk about nothing but beauty and it's everything I've ever wanted. From talking about the latest beauty releases to interviewing the big time beauty names, it's a must listen for all beauty lovers.

2. Podfathers: I've never mentioned this but if you follow me on Twitter, you'll know what I'm talking about... I love Barstool Sports. It's controversial for a girl to love a website that has something called "Smokeshow of the Week" but I don't care. I love following these guys, mostly because they remind me of my guy friends & my friends have been hardcore Stoolies for years. Well, they have truly made a splash in the podcast game and this is a weird one for me to be drawn to; mostly because it's for dads. Now, I am a female and I don't have kids but I still love listening to KFC, Clem, and Chaps talk about their kids and shoot the shit. It's light hearted and hysterical and absurd--sometimes everything you could want on a commute.

3. Straight Up with Stassi: My love of Vanderpump Rules & the villain that is Stassi is a perfect combo for me to love this podcast. It's typical Stassi in her natural habit of being a bitch and talking about a lot of nonsense. It's for the everygirl for sure, and for the classic betch. Just download one episode, I promise you'll be hooked.

4. Glossy: Glossy is a website that follows the business behind fashion & beauty; not the trends but the true business and business trends. It's fascinating to me and I read it every morning so when I found out that they have a podcast, I downloaded every episode. I love listening to business people talk about their lives, businesses, and everything that makes up the industry. It's super interesting and a must listen for anyone who is fascinated by business and careers.

A few honorable mentions: Girlboss Radio, Work Wives, Cosmo Happy Hour, Unstyled, How I Built This.

What are your favorite podcasts?

xoxo
B

As I stated in last week's book review, I've been really into "self help, motivational" books lately and that includes career books.

When Sophia Amoruso's book, #GirlBoss blew up last year, I knew I needed it. The book and it's tips were EVERYWHERE and I just wanted to find out what everyone was talking about. It was similar to Sheryl Sandberg's book "Lean In" and how it was just everywhere, all the time.

It was so popular that it's now being turned into a Netflix series-- yep, this is real.

I bought the book on my iPad through iBooks a few days after it's release date and honestly, I just finished it.

How horrible am I?!

I just got so distracted with life that I kept forgetting to read it and I guess I owe that to buying an ebook and not having it stare at me day in and day out.

Well, I finally finished the book a few weeks ago and my conclusion about it is...well, mixed.

Sophia wrote it in an odd way (not a bad way, but odd) -- she mixed in her real life experiences with lessons she learned along the way. I don't think I can consider this a career book, it wasn't the same thing as reading Lean In or Welcome to the Real World; it didn't give step by steps on how to navigate the real world-- it was more like listening to Sophia explain how she got to where she is and what she learned along the way.



Don't get me wrong, there was some amazing advice:

This book will not teach you how to get rich quick, break into the fashion industry, or start a business. It is neither a feminist manifesto nor a memoir. 

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.

We think fast, type fast, move fast, and expect everything else to happen just as fast.

If you don't thrive on going out and meeting a million people, you might end up feeling that you have less of a chance of getting ahead in your career.

There are so many more great quotes in this book, I have so much highlighted in my e-book.

However, I think I was slightly disappointed with this book because it wasn't what I expected. It definitely wasn't a bad book and I would 100% recommend it to people who need that boost of confidence, because Sophia DOES make you feel like you can accomplish anything. Her story is so interesting because she virtually built Nasty Gal up from NOTHING, and it was incredibly inspiring.

If you actually remember you own the book (unlike me), this seems to be a quick read. Once I actually started reading it, I flew through it.

#GirlBoss wasn't what I expected but my goodness, it was good!

Have you read #GirlBoss? What did you think?