Things I learned from the movie Hope Floats

Things I learned from the movie Hope Floats:

• Men who leave Sandra Bullock are idiots. But men who leave her on the Ricki Lake show are even bigger morons than the rest.  I mean, come on Bill, look at her. She's Sandra freaking Bullock.


• Forrest Whitaker directs romantic comedies. I'm not entirely sure how this fact escaped me for so long, but it did.  And when I read his name in the opening credits, I was pretty surprised. But kudos to you, Mr. Whitaker.  You've done good with this one.


• Adele is not the first person to sing "To Make You Feel My Love".  Why was I dumb enough to think that a girl who sings only moody, depressing songs could also have been the one to start a song so beautiful.  Nope, that was Bob Dylan.  And it tugs at my heartstrings.  And everyone and your mother has covered it, in this film alone it was covered by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. I love it.


• When characters in films cry - I cry. No matter how bad the film is, I can get pretty darn emotionally attached to the characters.  And the grandmother in this movie was so southern and fantastic.  So yeah, I cried with Sandra Bullock.


• Despite living in a big city, I will always long to live in a small town.  And a small southern town? Come on.  Welcome to my weak spot.  I call it the Gilmore effect.  I became lovingly attached to Stars Hollow and the idea of living in a town where you know everyone's name and everyone's business.  I'm not sure what that says about me.


• Harry Connick Jr. when going by his last name, does not include the "Jr." part.  This is unimportant, but it was something I noticed in the ending credits.  And yes, I watched the entirety of the ending credits.  They kept calling him "Mr. Connick".  I wonder if he reads that and imagines they're referring to his dad.


• I will always be drawn into a terrible movie at midnight if given the chance. That's right, this is NOT a good movie.  Not by normal people's standards.  But I loved it.  I've watched it several times now and will continue to watch it in the future.  Thank you Netflix for basically being the TBS to my cable free world.  Sure, it's no "The Patriot", but it'll do.

PS - I apologize for my absence.  Not that you noticed.  But I got caught up in moving a few months ago and realized what a hard habit blogging was to break back into.  So you can thank Hope Floats for that as well.

Friday Faves: Ikea Wishlist

 

 

It's Friday. And today I'm going to Chicago Comic Con.  So there's that.

But for today's Friday Faves I did a little window shopping at Ikea.  For if I ever had an unlimited Ikea gift card for my new apartment.  Which I'm moving into in like 2 weeks....I need to get ready!

1.) Ikea PS Cabinet - Red

So, if we're being honest, I'm not sure how this locker fits into my apartment aeshetic. But I told John we could get one so it's on the list.  We're going to use it as a tv stand and put the dresser that's currently a tv stand in the bedroom. As a dresser of all things.  But I think it's pretty neat.

2.) Karlstad Loveseat and Chaise

I fricking love sectionals.  But I have a couch. And it's comfy. Blah blah blah.  But look at this light gray! I love it!  And and and...it's a really good size.  I would get different legs but still. Great.

3.) Expedit Bookcase

I'm a little concerned that I don't see the right color of these bookshelves to match my current one.  But nonetheless, I want this.  It'd house my records and pyrex and stuff.  Basically, what I'm saying is, I could put it to good use.

4.) Ung Drill Mirror

Pretty mirror. Ooo shiny.  Now that I'm really thinking about it, I don't think this would really go all that well with the red locker vibe.  But I'd also probably want to spray paint it a better color.  Like aqua. Or robins egg blue.  Yep. Love it.

Anyway, that's good enough for today.  I'm going to stop staring at things I can't afford to get now. :(

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm having a birthday party for myself tomorrow so I'm pretty pumped about that as well.

It is your birthday.

Guess what!

Today is my birthday!

I'm 25. And I've been having the BEST week!  I sort of feel like I can't even write down everything great that's been happening.  And for some reason, I feel like I've transgressed back to 11 year old me where I wrote in my journal about the best weekend ever where I rode a horse, swam, and turned 11.
Remind me to share old diary entries with you.  They're a hoot.

Anyway...I just wanted to share this day with you guys.  I made some awesome cake balls so as to buy the adoration of my coworkers on my birthday and this weekend is my super awesome quarter century Quentin Tarantino birthday. I'm pumped!

Just for funsies...lets look at little Amanda on her birthday. When she was obsessed with 101 Dalmatians.



That cake clearly looks just like me. I constantly wore red lipstick as a child. ;)

Fun Fact: I spent a good majority of my childhood birthdays in Florida.  Like any good Michigander would.

I sort of wonder if I was always as obsessed with my birthday as I am now.  I don't recall is but this craziness had to start somewhere!  Maybe I felt special because we always went to Florida for my big day. Who knows.

Another fun fact: In high school I made up a fake birthday just so that I could get balloons to walk around with like everyone else.  Summer birthdays are the worst when you're in school.  No one used to care about them at all.  Of course, that was pre internet. Pre Facebook birthday notifications.

Oh well!  Hope you all have a wonderful my birthday!

Friday Faves: Birthday Wishlist

 

 

Does everyone know what next Tuesday (August 9th) is?

That's right. My BIRTHDAY. Plan accordingly.

And by "plan accordingly" I assume you will go about your business as usual.  Which is fine, so long as in the back of your head you're aware that it's a very special day that the world (re: my parents) brought you the gift that is me.

I was originally going to do a completely different post today until I realized there wouldn't be another chance to expand on my wishlist until Christmas.  Keep in mind, I'm cool with never getting any of this stuff. But it's a wishlist for a reason.

1.) Fancy camera bag/purse



I have wanted a bag like this for a long while.  It's a hand made gorgeous faux leather purse that also doubles as a serious camera bag.  It has padding and separators and everything.  I'm hooked.  Just never hooked enough to buy myself one.  This one is JoTotes.

2.) Gruff Sparty MSU T shirt



This is a more recent addition to my "Want Have" list.  But I love it. And I'm obsessed with it.  I went to Michigan State University and I love gruff sparty so much more than new sparty.  He's so awesome!  If we're being honest, there's a reasonable chance I'll buy this for myself once I lift my spending freeze.

3.) KitchenAid Stand Mixer

Okay, you know I love baking.  But are you aware how much better life is with a good stand mixer?  It's amazing.  Not only is everything immensely easier but your kitchen looks about 10x more adorable.  And I love yellow.  So of course I'd pick yellow for a mixer.

4.) Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous (Vinyl)

I'm not sure if everyone here is aware that I love records.  So let me take a moment to let you in on a secret - I love records.  I love the look of them. I love that they get dusty. I love my old timey "portable" record player. And most of all, I love dancing around my living room listening to fun songs on vinyl.  And this particular album has eluded me thus far.  I cannot for the life of me find it on vinyl anywhere! Even on Amazon, the site of all amazing things, it's out of stock and expensive. I mean, come on.

5.) Great Lakes Topography in aqua



Do you understand what this is? It's a papercraft of topography of Michigan. I stinking love Michigan from the bottom of my heart.  And this is just amazing to me.  I always have my eye on this piece but I've yet to pull the trigger.

This is just a snippet of my dream wishlist.  Ideally, we'd all get everything we want in the world, but then we wouldn't appreciate the things we have.  Either way, I'm looking forward to my birthday next week.  Not to mention the Tarantino themed party I'm having the next weekend and the fact that I'm going to Comic Con on Friday.  PUMPED.

Over the Weekend: The lost weeks

Oh my goodness! I've neglected you so, dear blog.  It has just been insanely hot and since I don't have an air conditioner, I've neglected many things, including this blog, cleaning my apartment, and pants.

That's right.  I live in a pants free zone when the weathers this hot.  Remember 2 weeks ago when it was like 100 degrees every day? Yeah, I had to board Ash so that he would have air conditioning.  That's how bad it was.  Not bad enough for me to invest in an air conditioner though. No, no.  I'm to frugal for that.

Anyway! Instead of just updating you about what I did this past weekend, I figured I'd just list out all the fun stuff you've been missing out on while I was away.  This does not include no pants parties.  But you can just assume most things are done without pants.

I think I've crossed a line.  I shouldn't tell you all that much about my pants. Oh well. Too late to worry about it now.

Moving on. Here's the list:

• Finished watching all of the Harry Potter movies on DVD in time to see it in theaters the Tuesday after it came out.  I sincerely love Half Priced Tuesdays at the theater.
• Went on a booze cruise with work.  No seriously, that's how awesome my job is.  And booze aside, it was an AWESOME boat tour!  We started in the lake and rode through the Chicago River.  I even touched the underside of one of the bridges.  And I saw fireworks at Navy Pier from the lake.  Very nice!
• Saw Captain America and marveled at how weird he looked as a tiny body with Chris Evans' head.
• Read the entire "A Game of Thrones" book.  The first in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin. My gosh.  This book was so good! And the longest thing I've read in a while at an impressive 750 pages.  And there were baby direwolves and swords and betrayal and incest and heroes and awesome stuff!  I'm already reading the second book.  Because it was THAT good.
• Painted my nails in fun new ways. (And to think - this is 5 days later.  They looked amazing at first.)

• Played games.  Video games (Kingdom Hearts). Board games (Cranium). Word games (crosswords). I like me some games.
• Apartment hunted like a mad woman.  I've seen so much prime real estate! I've got an offer in on one, so I'm just crossing my fingers they accept since I'm in love with the location/size. (since writing this - they accepted! so I need to move in a month!)

 I'm sure there was more but a lot of my time was also spent napping so as to forget the heat.  As well as general lazing about for the same reason.  I'm sincerely longing for the time that it's 70 degrees.  That'd be a nice birthday present. BTW - Are you aware that my birthday is in like a week? Yeah. It is.  That's pretty awesome.

Over The Weekend: A Michigan Adventure

Not to beat a dead horse or anything but it is INSANELY hot.  It's like 90 degrees outside and it's 9:30 at night.  The very idea that this is going to last all week has me wanting to do absolutely nothing.  NOTHING.  But I have plans, so we'll see how that goes.

But I digress.  It's the beginning of a new week which means that it's time to reminisce about this past weekend.  Despite the large amounts of driving I did, it was a really great weekend home in White Lake, MI.



Seriously, is there anything as serene as a huge back yard with a calming pond?  Surely, there is.  But right now I can't think of anything.  PLUS. My dad's house has air conditioning.  Which is a luxury I am not accustomed to.

The reason for my drive was 2 fold. 1 of the folds is short and hairy and the other is a cousin that I rarely get to see what with her location being predominately on the West coast.



Speaking of the first fold though, Ash had so much fun at his 2 week summer camp.  He might be slightly bitter about being back here in Chicago where I have no air conditioning and he's stuck in a kennel.  But he loves me.  I'm convinced of it.  But he's 100% looking forward to his next trip to Gramma and Grampa's house.  OH! And we found an awesome new talent of his.  He's a basketball star.  It's seriously the most adorable and awesome thing ever.  EVER.  But I didn't take a video.  Oops!



On Saturday, I also made a quick drive over to Walled Lake to visit my cousin Kristin while she was in the area from San Diego.  It was really good to see some of the extended family and get tons of hugs.  Not to mention the fact that we went bowling, which I haven't gotten the chance to do in a long time.  We were the absolute only customers in the place when we got there, which made me sad for the bowling alley, but happy for my nerves.  Of course, I didn't exactly do amazing at the actual bowling part but it was still really fun to hang out with the cousins.  Not to mention, I got to see Aki's "Church Lady" impression.  Which made my day.

All in all, it was a pretty perfect weekend to be home.  And I came back with some awesome memories and you know, my dog.  So it was definitely worth the over 10 hours of driving time that I put it.  Plus I sort of got an awesome present. And....got to hang out with someone awesome named Harold who might be getting his own post soon.

Friday Faves: Frozen Treats

 

 

Guys. GUYS. I bought popsicle molds. (on a side note - I need to learn not to spend money)

I'm crazy excited about this for one reason: pudding pops.  I seriously love pudding pops.  They are 100 times better than Fudgesicles. The texture? The commercials? The spokesperson?  But I digress.  I haven't had a chance to make those yet (read: I haven't gone to the store for milk), so I've spent a lot of time perusing other ideas.  Did you know you can use these to make non-pudding pops? Shiz got real.

So here's a few I'm looking to try.

1.) Pudding Pops



Do I even need to link to the recipe (I did)?  Make instant pudding. Freeze. Be awesome.  I'll make these next week, expect an update.

2.) Banana Split Pops

I want to use cartoon sound effects as my reactions.  But I realize they don't type out right.  So here was my reaction: Bwahhhh? You can use these things to make ice cream into tasty treats?  This looks A-MAZING.  This is from Pops! The book I desperately need - hint.

3.) Smoothie Pops



So, this particular recipe (from Country Living) is for plum (ew).  But I love berry smoothies, so I assume I could figure out a concoction that incorporates smoothies into a neat treat.  Nom nom nom. And...healthy! Yeah!

4.)Rootbeer Float Pops



Ohhhh root beer.  So tasty.  And root beer floats? Even better.  These used the exact molds I have.  So I'm positive a recreation of their awesomeness is entirely possible.

5.) Rocky Road Fudge Pops



Shut the front door.  How insanely tasty does that look?  Those nuts! (that's what she said) That fudgeyness.  Want has food coma.  Though, to be fair, I'm not sure I could accomplish these.  We'll build up to it.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm driving to Michigan to pick up Ashdog and visit with AWESOME people.

Double Rainbow

So, you alphabetize your movies.  How's that working out for you?

Personally, I like things to be visually stimulating, so I color code my films.  That's right.  I get all ROYGBIV up in this bitch.

Just look at it.  You can oooh and aaah all over the place.  I won't judge you.  Hell, I'll probably thank you for the compliment.  But enough admiration (no really, go on).

Most people I talk to have a problem with the fact that I color code my movies.  I'm not sure why, but it's a really heated argument most of the time.  "How do you find anything?" "What's wrong with you?"  And my answer is simple, I find things just fine because my collection isn't too big and there's another reason I'll get to in a minute.  And there's nothing wrong with me.  I'm awesome.

If anything, color coding makes it so that I fully appreciate the full scope of movies that I have.  Because I have to look at every single one to find something to watch.  I have to fully read every one too, just in case I'm confused. Or distracted.  Which happens more frequently than not.

But the real reason people get all huffy about my color coding?  It's the fact that I argue with them that there's a method to the madness that is movie sleeves.  See, I think I've somewhat proven that genres of films are categorized based on the sides of their dvd boxes (with exceptions of course).

Say I want to watch a comedy.  Why, look to the blues!  Or maybe a romantic comedy.  Pink it is!  Horror/suspense? Red or black! More serious dramas/indie movies? orangey reds.  I'm not crazy, the proof is in the pudding.

So don't be surprised if you come over to watch something and I say "Okay, what color are you in the mood for?"  Because, damnit.  I'm right on this.

Over the Weekend: When the lights go down in the city

I'm in love with weekends.  But you know what I'm not in love with? Losing power on super hot days.  But more on that later.

First of all, let me tell you that the cupcakes from the last post were AMAZING.  Seriously.  Go make them now.  Or pay me to do it...you know.  Just for kicks.

But moving on.  Friday was spent just hanging out around the apartment watching X-men cartoons like a normal person does.  John drove out to visit and instead of watching sad movies, we went out and bought Anchorman. At 9:30 at night.  To make it mre justifiable, I bought Cry Baby, cookies, soda, and some picture frames.  Just so that no one would be any the wiser.  But let me tell ya.  Anchorman really holds up.  And I didn't realize how many lines we say on a daily basis are from that movie.  It's a little crazy.

Saturday brought a neighbors overflowing toilet that somehow filled my light fixture with water.  So that was pretty much a great way to wake up... We went out and tried a new breakfast place down Damen, Marmalade.  it was pretty good but everyone there was dressed to work out so I felt really out of place what with my not working out ever.  I felt like they could just sense it on me.  "Oh, her with the french toast? She doesn't get why we're all dressed for running on a Saturday."

So, after their leers and judgement (that I might be making up in my head), we went home and took a nap.  Just to spite them.  And then felt bad about it so we went to the park and played frisbee for a while and eventually watched an episode of Archer.  Because we needed to be rewarded for being so gosh darn active.  But it was genuinely one of those moments where I thought, wow.  Why don't I spend more time sitting in the shade in the park?  We'll see if it leads to anything.

After this whole park outing, we kept the momentum going by catching an early dinner at Fireside Lounge before heading to Skokie to see Horible Bosses.  The food was aces and the movie had me laughing out loud.  I love me a good comedy.  Especially in the summer.  Seriously though? I'm not sure anyone fully understands my love affair with Pulled Pork.  I don't think I had ever had it until this year.  And I just can't get enough.  I absolutely love it.  And I make a mean pulled pork when I'm feeling like putting forth a little effort.  But maybe I'll tell you about that a little later.





I've smartly named this nail polish birthday cake.

This sandwich lasted less than 5 minutes. I'm so glad there are no "during" photos.

I give pulled pork 2 thumbs up!

After the movie let out we went to the grocery store and felt like 21 year olds buying alcohol for the first time.  Only to return to an apartment with absolutely no power because once a year my entire block likes to completely stop having lights.  In case there's going to be a zombie apocolypse.  It makes me feel like it's a practice run.  But in this practice run, we bagged up our vodkas and juices and hightailed it to Danielle's apartment with Jessica to play Mario Party.  It was just perfect.

Sunday was spent trying out a new to us restaurant in Andersonville with delicious half priced sushi on a Sunday of all days.  And catching up on the latest happenings in Bon Temps.  I'm not really looking forward to having a full work week this week but I think the fact that Ashdog will be home next weekend will greatly help.

Have a good week everyone!  Don't forget to get a free slushie at 7/11 today!

Friday Faves: Orange you glad it's Friday?

This week's Friday Faves is brought to you by the color orange.  I wanted to make a cute mood board for it...but then I got lazy.  So, maybe next time you'll be visually satisfied by one of my color posts.

Lately, I've been noticing that orange isn't really all that bad as an accent color.  Sure, it's no mustard yellow, but it's a great pop of color!  Looking around my apartment, I realize that I have more orange things than I would have originally guessed.  So, now I'm going to show you some of my favorites from this week in this fabulous hue.

1.) Swiftly Moving Days Dress - from Modcloth

I sort of have a love hate relationship with Modcloth.  I love their retro styles, I hate their prices and spotty quality issues.  I have several items from there that are fantastic, but I've also bought a few that had me seriously questioning why such a piece would cost so much.  Well, this dress above is super cute.  I love the shape and the pop of color on the top.  Maybe I'll buy it eventually if it's ever on sale.

2.) Pyrex Friendship Pattern

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I'm not sure how orange these really are.  But just look at those little roosters!  So stinking cute!  I can't wait to find one of these bowls in the wild.  I think I'll squeal with delight, hopefully not drop it, and bring it home to live on my shelf.  It's just so perfectly charming as a Pyrex pattern.  I'm just smitten.

3.) Orange striped paper straws

I love the etsy shop for HeyYoYo.  I can't help it.  Everything there is so kitschy and adorable.  I've ordered a few baking supplies there in the past and I've never been disappointed.  And these straws? How adorable would they be with some glass bottle sodas?  Too cute.  I'm going to buy them once I can justify needing them for a gathering.  So, people should probably gather with me soon...

4.)Breakfast at Tiffany's poster - from Claudia Varosio

So, this is another etsy shop that I'm crazy about.  Every single print here is adorable and subtle.  Nothing screaming "Movie Poster" about these.  No siree bob.  And Breakfast at Tiffany's?  I need to rewatch it stat after seeing the adorableness of this poster.  It's such a fun movie!!  Despite the racist bits, that is.

5.) Orange Masking Tape

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Cute masking tape (or Washi Tape) is yet another mindless item that I'm completely convinced that I need in my life.  I've seen so many bloggers (I'm looking at you, How About Orange) use it in fun crafts lately and I can't get enough.  The only issue arises when I put it in my cart and say "Now what will I use it for?"  And I realize the answer is a complete blank and exit of the browser window.  One day though...I'll make something with tape.  Maybe invites to my party where I'll wear that dress and use paper straws and watch Breakfast at Tiffany's.  Yeah, that's the ticket.  Just keep lying to yourself.

Anyway, hope y'all have a great weekend!

Cookie Dough Cupcakes

In today's "Bitchin' Kitchen", we're making cookie dough cupcakes.  That's right, we're being awesome.

This recipe has been on my want to try list for...oh let's say a few months.  The thing about me and baking is that I absolutely love doing it.  I love the reactions I get.  I love making people happy.  But, for the most part, I don't really enjoy cupcakes all that much.  But cookies?  Dear God, I love me some cookies.

Which may be why this recipe was on the docket tonight.  That and because I drunkenly promised some coworkers I'd make them.  Shlameel shlamazel. Here we are.

There were a few things about this recipe that had me uneasy.

1.) They're filled cupcakes.  I've never hollowed out a cupcake before and I've never made a filling either.  So that was the most intimidating thing about them.  But guess what! It was super easy to do!  I hope the filling is tasty, I didn't really try them yet since it's so darn late.

2.) The cookie dough buttercream frosting would only look good if I used an icing tip and a piping bag.  Something I'm not really any good at.  UNTIL NOW.  Oh man, these babies are adorable! I'm positive the problem in the past has been that I was using store bought icing.  Store bought icing pales in comparison to my homemade awesomeness.  It was stiff (that's what she said).  And it was easy to pipe!  I loved it.

3.) It's seriously hot.  I didn't want to turn on the oven.  That was today's big argument with myself.  But in the end my eagerness to please people and try new recipes won over my slight heat exhaustion.  Besides, I got to wear my adorable Cupcakerator apron that Holly made me.  So there's always a positive.

In all, I'm pretty pumped about these in case you can't tell.  And I'll make them again one day, so long as I find out they're awesome tomorrow.  We'll see.

The recipe is from Annie's Eats.  Her website is FILLED with awesome recipes and general inspiration.  Trust me when I say you'll spend hours browsing it.

And that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Over the Weekend: Independence Day

I know what you're thinking.  This post is late.  It's Tuesday and the weekend ended on Sunday.

But oh-ho! WAIT JUST A SECOND!  That's not true because this, the weekend of our independence, was a long weekend. Boom. Mind blown.

It took a little extra time getting going, I'll give you that.  Despite getting out of work an hour later after winning a game of Euchre, I had a vet appointment for sir Ash.  Just a routine checkup.  The type that will put me in the poor house.  But I digress.  We eventually got on the road for what would be a 4 hour drive to Grand Rapids. Woah!  The only positive is that at the end of said drive I got to see John, snug, and get a Totoro stuffed animal.  (more on that at a later time)

But really, I just passed out.  It was such a long day.  So we woke up early the next day to drive 2 hours across the state to my Dad's house for what I'm referring to as "Ash's Summer Camp".  See, Ash enjoyed his Michigan summer so much last year that he begged to do it again this year.  I'm convinced that he's sitting around making lanyards and tie dying the shit out of things right this second.

We were only there for the day/night, but being home is just really comforting.  We ate Crazy Gator pizza.  Picked up 4 dozen breadsticks at the Highland House.  Watched TruTV and bad movies.  It was grand.  Very relaxing.  All I'll say is that I have the urge to make Super Mix Tapes now from watching No Strings Attached.  They will be crazy on theme.  I love a good theme after all.

So, we woke up super early on Sunday and drove another 2 hours out to the Marshall area for Sam's annual 4th of July bonanza.  We hugged. And got caught up on each other's lives.  Played some rousing games of "Seaweed or Poot" and "Blood or Twizzlers".  We came up with insane catch phrases such as "I'd rather be galanging."  I mean, come on.  It was amazing.

I won't get caught up on details since it's really more of a "You had to be there" type of thing.  And I'm sad I didn't even bring my camera but sometimes memories are good just as memories.  And after a 2 hour drive to Grand Rapid, followed by a 4 hour drive home to Chicago, my long weekend came to a close.  With sore muscles, sun burns, and a complete loss of my voice.  I love a nice long weekend.  (less drving next time though, please!)

Off the shelf: June reads

Let me preface this post by saying that if you weren't aware I was a super nerd before, you will be convinced after you read this whole post.

So, I decided that it'd be a good idea to write up a little post to show you what I'm currently reading.  But then I realized that no one is interested in seeing photos of my nook (which is an e-reader you perv).  So I extended it into what visually appealing books I'm reading in a month.

By the way - my current nook book is "A Game of Thrones", the first of the "A Song of Fire and Ice" series.  In case you were curious.

On to more pretty picture books:



Surprise (but not really surprising)! It's comic books! Yay!

Not just any comic books. DC comic books as trade paperbacks.  I love 'em.  I figured what with the DC reboot on the way, I should stockpile the good series' while I have time to catch up.  Since, you know, they aren't going to do anymore Birds of Prey I hear. (insert pouty face)

First off the shelf, let's take a look at the 2 out of this bunch that I've already read so far this month.

Zatanna: Mistress of Magic and Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds

I've been wanting to read both of these for a while now and Johnboy bought them for me for our anniversary.  That's right, I'm the kind of girl who prefers comic books for romantic gifts.  Without getting into the nitty gritty of each of these books, since I'm not sure anyone cares for me to do so, I'll give you a brief review.

Review: I loved both of these.

Boom. Not enough for you? Well, I really enjoyed Zatanna.  I've been wanting to read stuff from her canon for a long ass time now.  I've considered dressing as her for Halloween once or twice until I realized people would just think I was a slutty magician.  And Birds of Prey? Awesomesauce.  I need to buy the next few books in this particular series like, yesterday.  They're already saved in my Amazon wishlist (you know...in case you wanted to send me something special for no reason).  The dynamic between the ladies in that series is really compelling to me.

And I'm sorry if you think that because the women in comic books are scantilly clad, they're not doing justice to women everywhere.  Because guess what, the women in these comic books (and most that I've read) are just as strong if not stronger than most of their male counter parts.  And they look pretty badass.  No one complains that all the men are in bulge showing tights and leotards. Rant over.

So, the next 2 I'm going to show you I haven't read before.  But I'm really looking forward to based on what I've heard from everyone.

Batman: The Killing Joke and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Yep. Batman.  I love that Caped Crusader.  He has some of the best storylines.  So I borrowed these two books and I know I need to start reading them soon since I'll have to give them back.  But come on, there's a long weekend coming up and I'll be able to finish each one in a day anyway.

In other nerd news.  Remember my idea about a Pyrex birthday? Screw that.  Today I found out that the Chicago Comic Con is the weekend after my birthday and there's a little thing called Buffyfest VIP.  So...yeah.  Count me in! (most likely anyways).

Over the weekend: Low Key Grand Rapids

This weekend was spent in Grand Rapids, nursing a boyfriend full of bruises and stitches from surgery.  Oh, and celebrating our 4 year anniversary.  Except that we knew it'd be mostly nursing and bland foods so we celebrated a week ago.

You know how sometimes it's just perfect timing to be completely chill and relaxed and do practically nothing?  This was one of those times.  We hung out around the apartment with the animals.  Watching movies like Tron and playing video games like L.A. Noir.   And by playing I mean, I was the navigator.  Which is pretty much my best trait in video games.  Unlike real life where I get lost constantly (like this weekend when I got lost on the way to GR somehow).

In true relaxing Michigander style, we drank sodas and went to the antique market.  My favorite antique store.  With reasonable prices and super nice people.  Let's have a little look see!

These frosted glasses were so perfect!"]

Awesome old lady couch.




Am I the only person who thinks that last picture is hilarious?  It was a sign in a junk shop we stopped in and it cracked me up.  For obvious reasons.  Not pictured: crazy amount of hands.

I'm feeling super scatter brained now, but let's just say that I napped a lot this weekend.  John ate salads while I ate french fries.  And I had to rush home to watch True Blood with my girl Danielle. Oh! And I happened to come out of the deal with a few AMAZING Pyrex finds.

Pyrex love.


I've told you about my unnaural love of all things Pyrex before, right? If not, behold: I am insane.  I collect bakeware and bowls in bright patterns.  And I can't stop.  Today I actually considered the idea of having a Pyrex themed birthday...  Where people bring me Pyrex in exchange for an awesome time.  But that's messed up, right?

Right...