How Did You Get This Number?

I forgot to review this book! It’s been finished since Sunday, I think. This has been a crazy week. More on that another day. I somehow found myself without anything to read before my last trip to the library. That sends me to the Express shelves where you can only keep books for a week because they are the new releases. I picked up the new Carl Hiassen (which I did not get to read in the allotted amount of time and will have to check out in the future) and this little nugget by Sloane Crosley.

How Did You Get This Number? is Crosley’s sophomore collection of essays. I checked it out from the library not really because it grabbed my attention, but because her first book, I Was Told There’d Be Cake, is something I often have to utter to John at various family functions, meetings, etc. I’ll have to go back and read that one but for now, let’s talk about this one. Crosley does a great job of twisting the tales of her life into interesting little vignettes. The nice thing about a book full of essays is that they’re essentially short little chapters that will all (hopefully) present a cohesive story in the end (spoiler alert: they do).

I won’t go to deep into the topics but Crosley writes of her travels, roommate situations, love life, and living in NYC. I found her very relatable and funny. I laughed out loud a few times. Her voice is extremely entertaining. And, it’s always good to work in some non-fiction every now and then, right? So, pick this one up if you have the chance. And stay tuned for a review of her first book, if I can remind myself to check it out!

Sizzling Sixteen

Sizzling Sixteen is the 16th (duh) installment of the Stephanie Plum-Bounty Hunter series by Janet Evanovich. This is going to be short because all of these books pretty much follow the same formula. In this one, Stephanie's boss and relative, Vincent Plum, has been kidnapped and the girls in the bond offices are forced to make good on some of his outstanding debts to free him. Meanwhile, Stephanie has more skips to track down. With the help of a lucky bottle and Ranger and Joe (her sometime lovers), she gets her man in the end.

If you've read any of these, you'll know that this synopsis can basically be plugged into any of these books. Also, as the numbers get higher, the books seem to get shorter and the font larger. Hmmm.....I guess that's what happens when you devote 16 books to a single character. You run out of things to write about. This was definitely not my favorite in the series but, it held my interest for the 2 days it took to read.

Super Summer Sunday Salad Supper

I didn't think it could be done after 7 weeks but this, the 8th Super Summer Sunday Salad Supper....C'est magnifique! I was really having trouble coming up with a theme for the salad this week. It being summer and all, I wanted to take advantage of the fruits of the season. Thus, the Tutti Frutti Chicken Salad! Yep, it's just like it sounds. To a bed of spinach I added: blueberries, strawberries, mandarin oranges and grilled chicken. I didn't even miss the cheese (and I LOVE cheese). I took a little help from the store with a fat free Poppyseed dressing from Maple Grove Farms. Poppyseeds are expensive and I really didn't feel like making my own. This dressing paired perfectly with the sweetness of the fruit by adding just a little tang.

This salad is a keeper for sure! My goal is to try to do these all the way up until the cruise (which is in just 27 days!!!) So, I have 3 more themes to come up with. Actually, only 2 because I've already thought of next Sunday's theme. Although, the last Sunday we're hosting out of town guests. I wonder if I can convince them to partake. Stay tuned!

Pain in the Neck

Guys, I am in rough shape. Just a few weeks ago I was going on and on about my love for my new yogi, Steve, and his Inhale workout on the Oxygen network. I DVR'd 10 episodes and once a week, I do one. It's taking the place of my previous rest day and also counts (in my mind) as strength training. If you don't think yoga builds muscle, just try it. Better yet, try Steve's workout (although I haven't been seeing new ones lately). I digress.......

On Wednesday, I queued up an episode I had never done before. The hour was brutal. Grueling poses held for way longer than I like. Boy, I was cursing Steve that day. Expletives were flying out of my mouth left and right. Sadie looked appalled at my sailor-like mouth. I was so glad when it was over, and then the pain set in. I was sore in places I didn't even know could get sore.

For example, the base of my neck in the front. That's right, my windpipe hurts. Also, it looks like my glands in my neck are swollen but I think it's just the few muscles there are inflamed. It hurts like crazy when I bend over, as if I were heading into down dog. Damn you, Steve!! My shoulders and triceps were screaming. To add insult to injury, I went to zumba Thursday against my better judgment. It was a toning night so there were 15 min. of weights after class. I wanted to die, or cry. Or both! I have woken up in pain every night for the past 3 nights. I can't get comfortable. Oh, here's another insult to injury.....my computer at work died so I had to work on my laptop for 2 days straight which is at a different height than my monitor and hurt my neck even more.

For some reason, my mother in law gave John a sample packet of Biofreeze that he never used. Have you ever used this stuff? I think it's probably like Icy Hot, which I've also never used. That stuff scares the crap out of me. At this point, I'll try anything. So last night, I rubbed it on my neck and shoulders. IT BURNS!!!! Because I apparently enjoy pain, I tried it again this morning. It's burning while I type. I can't tell if it's helping the pain or not. I think the burning is just masking the original pain. John thinks it's maybe not meant for necks.

I'm trying not to let it get me down though. There are a lot of good things going on in my life right now. But that's a post for another day.

It's Fair-tastic!

This is me in my "mom-ish" outfit next to giant pumpkins.

This guy is ordering him some deep-fried Buckeyes. I did not partake but of COURSE they would have deep fried buckeyes. We're in OSU Country after all.

Deep fried macaroni and cheese!

MOOOOOO!!!

Guys, I definitely took some great pictures at the fair this weekend and when I try to post them, they're all mini! I don't know what is up with Blogger but I didn't want to put off my fair post while I tried to fix the picture size. So...here we go!

This past Saturday, John and I dropped Sadie off at day camp and met up with my parents in Columbus at the Ohio State Fair! We LOVE a good fair and can you believe it? We've never been to the state fair, only our local County fair. My parents had never been either (go figure) so when I suggested we meet there (sort of halfway between our homes) they quickly agreed. We had a lovely weather day, for awhile.

The state fair is no joke, people. This ain't your podunk county fair by any stretch of the imagination. It was HUGE! And there were all sorts of buildings and exhibits and livestock to see. Admission was $10 but, penny pincher that I am, we bought our tickets ahead of time at Kroger for only $6/each. Bargain! Parking was $5 but we were still $3 ahead in this equation, yes? I felt like I was totally rocking the mom-wear that day but I knew I wanted something comfortable and while I hate wearing tennis shoes with shorts (sandals please!) I did it anyway to save my foot from all the walking we'd be doing. Oh yeah, to add to my mom-ness, I also picked up this drawstring backpack at the Nike outlet so I wouldn't have to carry a purse. I'm glad I didn't run into anyone I know!

When going to the state fair, make sure you have clearer directions of where you'll meet your party rathern than "just inside the gate." There are multiple gates and of course, we went in a different one than my parents. So, we hauled ass down past all the vendors on the "Food Highway" (Seriously, that's what it was called) and finally found them near the ferris wheel. We weren't sure which direction to head in first so we picked the closest barn. It was the Ag-Hort building. There were lots of things like nuts and corn and prize winning flowers here.

After that, I don't have the slightest idea of the order in which we saw things. We went to the "Commercial" building, which was basically row after row of Sham-wow, Mighty-Tite and other things you'd see on infomercials. We saw rows and rows of poultry and cows. Nary a rabbit in sight though. I was pretty disappointed by that. I love rabbits. We may not have seen rabbits but we did catch some...pig races!!! That was very exciting. Smelly, but exciting. In fact, lots of the fair was very smelly.

Here are some things we saw that you wouldn't think of as being at the fair. In the middle of the day, we got stuck in a downpour in the pavilion that housed the boxing tournaments. This was interesting for awhile but was also confusing. I couldn't ever tell who was winning. Then it got really boring. We also watched a cooking demonstration for half an hour or so. This was more interesting plus we got to sit down. Whee!!! I also read on the schedule that there was to be a spelling bee. Unfortunately, we missed this (I am an awesome speller) but again, not your typical fair fare. (see what I did there, with the spelling?)

Onto the food.....John and I had been banking calories all week in preparation for the fair. However, we were determined not to get too out of hand. We thought we may have been derailed at the start when my parents bought some fried macaroni and cheese. That's right, fried nuggets filled with macaroni and cheese. Can you feel your arteries closing in? Boy, was it delicious! We skipped the fried Oreos, fried Buckeyes, fried Twinkies, etc. For lunch we both had corn dogs and fries with lemonade. Then we treated ourselves to ice cream from the dairy barn. It's been a LONG time since I had real ice cream. It was tasty but very soft, for hard serve. Nothing beats a good mint chocolate chip. Yum yum.

The fair had lots and lots of rides. I don't trust fair rides. Do you? Plus, they kept running them during the rain. That doesn't seem like a lot of fun to me. But, like I said, I wasn't riding them.

We ended up spending about 5 hours there and our dogs were sure barking by the end of the day. The fair runs for something like 3 weeks and everyday there are different competitions and judging and other things happening. Lots of people make going to the fair a vacation and camp out there. This would not be a vacation, in my mind, but I'm not a camper. All in all it was a great experience. Even the day didn't damper our fair spirits. I would definitely go again in the future!

Dead to the World

It’s been awhile since I read a Sookie Stackhouse book so I thought it was time to revisit the series. I’m way into True Blood on HBO now. Each season follows a whole book. I have read up through the 3^rd book and am watching the new showing third season so Dead to the World won’t be happening until next year. But, I read it all the same.

At the end of the previous book (Club Dead), Sookie and Bill have pretty much called it quits. Sookie had to kill Bill’s maker, Lorena. Bill had lied to Sookie about a whole bunch of nonsense and she didn’t take too kindly to that. So, at the beginning of Dead to the World, Bill tells Sookie he’ll be out of the country on an assignment. He leaves and is gone for most of the book. Yea! I don’t really like Bill. On New Year’s Eve, Sookie is driving home from work when she sees Eric running through the woods. She picks him up and soon realizes his memory is gone. He has no idea who she is or what he’s doing in the woods, half-clothed. He does, however, know he’s a vampire. Turns out, some local witches have cast a spell on him to cause his amnesia in an attempt to steal his businesses. Sookie finds herself in the position of vampire guardian while she and Eric’s vamp friends try to figure out what the witches are up to and how to restore his memory.

Meanwhile, Jason, Sookie’s brother, has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. In addition to guarding Eric from the witches, she must now also find out what happened to Jason and where he is. Poor Sookie, can’t catch a break.

I liked Dead to the World a lot. I much prefer Eric over Bill so I was glad to see Bill gone and Eric (though not quite himself) playing a major role in this storyline. Charlaine Harris continues to keep things interesting by introducing even more supernatural beings and developing the characters we have already come to know and love. Of course it was an easy and fast read but if you’re working your way through this series like I am, I think you’ll really enjoy Dead to the World too!

P.S. This was my 30th read of 2010, and my 300th blog post for the last 2 years!

Super Summer Sunday Salad Supper #7

I am sorry the picture on this is so small because our 7th salad supper was a doozie! Buffalo Chicken Salad. Mmmm mmm! As usual, we started with a bed of leafy spinach. To that, I added chopped up celery and bleu cheese crumbles. I made a simple vinaigrette whisking together red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, EVOO, salt and pepper. Then, the piece de resistance....the buffalo chicken nuggets. Don't worry, they're not fried so it was pretty healthy too. We started by chopping boneless skinless chicken tenderloins into bite sized pieces. Then, John mixed up some buffalo sauce. I don't know the measurements (sorry! I can ask if you want to know) but it included: butter, Frank's Red Hot Sauce, Worcestershire, salt, pepper and tomato sauce. Not too mild, not too spicy. Just right!

When the sauce was ready, he tossed the chicken in it. Here comes the best part, he tossed that chicken in Panko bread crumbs (our new fave kitchen item) and baked them for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Delicious little tasty nuggets came out and were tossed in the remaining reserved sauce. Oh mah gah. Mouthwatering. John already said he'll have to make them during football season. (Don't remind me that that's just a month away.)

Toss everything together and voila! Supper Summer Sunday Salad Supper #7 was a raving success. But, since next week is week 8, I'm going to have to get creative. While I've really enjoyed everything we've made thus far, I'm determined not to do any repeats. I'm going to have to put on my thinking cap for this one.

In other Sunday news, my Sunday night TV schedule is bursting at the seams! There are so many good shows on and a few have recently returned that by Monday morning my DVR has been severely overworked. Between Next Food Network Star, Entourage, True Blood, Mad Man (!), My Boys, Khloe & Kourtney Take Miami (no, I'm not ashamed), and Iron Chef (when it's a good ingredient), do you think I watch too much TV? Nah, couldn't be. Some of these shows I get more excited about than others, which I suppose is to be expected. The non-reality ones take precedence when it comes time to watch them on Monday. Always Mad Men and True Blood first. Always. I.Love.Television.