Sizzling Summer Songs & Challenge Thoughts

It seems to me that every summer there's a certain song that encapsulates that summer.  It's played nonstop on the radio but somehow I don't mind because it's fun and catchy and I always sing along.  Last summer, it was "I gotta feelin' that tonight's gonna be a good night" by the Black Eyed Peas.  Two summers ago, it was Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie."  This summer, for me at least, it's "California Gurls" by Katy Perry.  I know that chronologically I'm way too old to be one of those girls in the song, but inside I still feel fine, fresh and fierce enough to represent the west coast! With apologies to Amy and my other friends in the Southern Hemisphere, do you have a signature song for this summer?


In other thoughts, I've been thinking a lot about challenges lately.  I really love them because they often give me the inspiration I need to get moving on a project. But I sometimes find that they can drive me crazy because I start making a list of the challenges out there and feel almost compelled to do them all.  Yikes! That's no fun and not compatible with my artistic vision. So, like Mel who is "blogging without obligation," I decided I'm "doing challenges without obligation."  Once I made that promise to myself, my artistic mojo started flowing again, and I made this tag in response to the "heat" challenge at the Gingersnap Creations blog.  I'll still be doing challenges at Gingersnap, Studio L3, Something Completely Different,Sunday Creative and all the other wonderful challenge blogs out there.  But I'm not going to drive myself crazy doing it!  Do you do challenges?  Do you ever go overboard?  Or have you found a happy balance?