Friday Five: Summer Reading Edition

Since this week has been pretty slow - nothing terribly exciting and nothing terribly awful - I decided to focus on my summer reading.  Of course, I've been terribly negligent this year and haven't accomplished my usual library of books.  I'm hoping to remedy that soon.

1. "Delicious!" by Ruth Reichl: I couldn't put it down.  It was the first truly awesome book that grabbed my attention this summer.  It was a mish mash of chick lit and food lit.  How could I not love it?  I'm hoping she continues with the fiction writing because with her first novel, she knocked it out of the park!

2. "Cupcakes at Carringtons" by Alexandra Brown: This is one of those British books I love so much that you can't find in the States - unless of course you visit the truly fabulous Bank Street Books in Connecticut, and then you're in luck.  It's a super cute chick lit story. What makes it even better is that there are 2 more coming out and I'm going to England next year, so it shouldn't be a problem to shove them in my suitcase (come to think of it, I may be needing a bigger suitcase...)

3. Twitter: I know technically this isn't a book, but I've been pretty much glued to Twitter this year.  Between all sorts of useless information, truly hilarious parodies, Breaking News and an over-abundance of Ice Bucket Challenges, it's the first site I turn to in the morning and the last place I visit at night.  I used to think it was a waste of time social network, but I have to say, it's where I get a lot of my news these days.  It's also a great tool for crafting, and travel planning.  Of course, it's also full of some truly vile trolls and some ridiculous false information too, but if you can filter through to the good stuff, you're all set!

4. "We'll Always Have Paris" by Jennifer Coburn: I was hooked from the start - a mother daughter trip across the world.  As a lover of all things travel, it ticked off all the boxes for me.  It's also a pretty fantastic memoir of someone trying to live life to the fullest.  

5. "Sous Chef" by Michael Gibney: I think I wrote about this one at the time I finished it.  I even said that it was better than Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" and I stand behind that statement.  It's a pretty crazy portrait of what 24 hours in a professional kitchen looks like.  I love restaurants but I have to say after reading this book, I'd much rather do the eating than try the cooking in one. 

Friday Five

1.  The fact that I spent an entire Friday evening eating BBQ, shopping in not one, not two but three craft stores, then rounding it off with a trip to Barnes & Noble, makes me very happy.  Does it directly correlate to the reason I'm single? Totally.  But is it a fabulous way to spend an evening? Oh yeah!

2. Nerd HQ: If you can't be at Comic Con, it's the next best thing.  What Zac Levi was able to pull off in one weekend while raising oodles of money for charity is super impressive. The icing on the cake is that the conversations for a cause are so darn entertaining, that it's almost ok that you're not there.  The people he ropes into these things are super fun, super intelligent and super hilarious.  I recommend them all, but my favorite is the dudes of Supernatural.  Will someone please give them their own talk show?

          

3. Homemade Caesar Dressing:  I've made this loads of times, but it is by far the best recipe for dressing I've ever tried.  Be sure to leave out the anchovies, and cut down the lemon juice to about a tablespoon, and it's perfect!

4. Yet another reason to hate the fact I'm not living in England - they always get the best movies first.  I have no idea when, or even if this one will make it over here to the states, but I certainly hope so, because it looks adorable!

        

5. And of course, BuzzFeed hits the nail on the head once again.  I'd like at least 20 of these inventions right now.  

Simply, Saturday

I feel like other people's ideas of a nice Saturday are much different than mine.  Mine consisted of trips to 3 different arts & crafts stores, Barnes and Noble and Hallmark, celebrating that this was here:

Ta- Da! (Now what to laminate first?)

 Relaxing in my new super snazzy pjs and reading this.

Along the way, I ate out twice with 3 different people and discovered this site which will only be dangerous for my wallet.  Yep, now that I see it in print, it's a fairly odd way to spend a Saturday, but all the same, it's also the best way.

Snap Happy Saturday

I really must be stopped...I can't be trusted in a bookstore