Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I managed to make it through a third book before the end of the year. This is what happens when you take a week off from work, ample reading time. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling follows Harry, Ron and Hermione as they study through their third year at Hogwart's. A new year means a new villain, of course. This time, the dastardly Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban prison and most people think he's after Harry. Black is likely in Voldemort's back pocket and a madman making him even scarier. Will Black catch Harry? Will another Defense of Dark Arts professor be better than the last? And what's gotten into Hermione? Read and see for yourself.....

These are really getting good now! Rowling does a fantastic job at weaving in secondary plotlines and keeping the reader guessing. I can't wait to move onto the next one, although I have a non-HP book coming up before continuing with this series. I am also really excited to start watching the corresponding movies, of which I have seen none. Luckily, at any given time, I can find just about every one somewhere on TV for me to DVR. Yea hooray!

Rating: * * * *

P.S. Have a safe and Happy New Year's Eve!

Toasty Neck

I couldn't show this before Christmas so as not to ruin a gift but I made these useful neck warmers. I selected flannel for its coziness but I'm sure any cotton would also do. Tracing my own storebought warmer, I created a pattern and cut out 4 pieces. Four pieces because I made two of them. With right sides together, I stitched around the edges leaving an opening for turning. Once right-side out, I poured in 32 oz. of rice. I read somewhere you could add scented oil to the rice but I didn't want to do that because some people can be picky about scents. Then, I top-stitched the opening closed and voila! Throw in the microwave for a couple minutes and you'll be heated through and through. Perfect for neck pain or winter Ohio nights!

I also made some navy table clothes but they are so unexciting I didn't bother taking a picture. Plain navy fabric and all I did was hem them. Not too special on that front but I think they were enjoyed.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second book by J. K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series. Harry and friends are no longer first years at Hogwarts. But, this year brings a new villain afoot. It is said, only a true descendant of Salazar Slytherin can open the Chamber of Secrets. Bad things are happening around the school and Harry, and others, fear he may be the cause. Is Harry a true Slytherin? I'm certainly not going to give it away!

I liked this one; it was a page turner. Multiple people told me the series gets better and better as it goes along and they were right. I'm already halfway through the third book while typing up this post. I don't think I'll be finishing my goal of reading the whole series in a week. This Christmas break has proven very busy indeed.....hence the lack of posts. Don't worry, I'll be back with more frequency in the new year.

Rating: * * * *

Recipe Re-blog #52 and MERRY CHRISTMAS

Although it's been said many time, many ways, "Merry Christmas to you!"

I hope you're all having the very merriest of Christmases and that Santa brings you everything you could ever hope for this year.

Can't let the last Sunday go by without posting a recipe though, right?

Should I know better than to try recreating the cover recipe of Bon Appetit magazine? You'd think I would.

Peppermint Meringues: I've never made meringue before but I thought these looked super cute and thought I'd give it a shot. Well, their taste was great. Very light and refreshing. A nice, crispy holiday treat. Their appearance however was.........

If you click on the link, you'll see why I was more than slightly disappointed by their outcome. I guess I need more practice. And maybe an actual pastry bag with the proper tip. My mom tried one and then asked me to make sure they weren't dog treats. She did say they had a good flavor but they were in a different container than my other cookies. Anyway, give it a shot. Maybe your piping skills are better than mine!

Carb City

Can we get real here people?

I am going to tell you something about carbohydrates that I've recently discovered. It's not something I want to admit to myself. It's actually going to very difficult for me to type but here goes. All those experts who said you should cut back on white flour and sugar and carbs....were right. A few months back, after hearing for the zillionth time that cutting out bread and pasta made a huge difference in some celebrity of another's life physically, I started to ponder. Is this really true?

I mean guys. I love bread. I love it so much I could subsist solely on grain and be a happy camper. All summer long I baked my own fresh bread, which is the best smell in the world, by the way. And multiple times a week, I tore off piece after piece to dip in olive oil and savor. I'm not sure what changed all that but I stopped baking so much bread and convinced John that we should be eating fewer potatoes and less pasta and upping the veggies on our plates. I knew this would help my calorie counting and hopefully, make me a healthier eater. Instead of hummus on crackers, we switched to celery. Instead of a whole baked potato, I had just half. And guess what, it was totally fine. I didn't starve and I haven't died.

I haven't given up bread and pasta and the like completely but I also wasn't so sure it was paying dividends until recently. For about 4 days in a row, I had major carbs and minimal fruit and veg. This was an unavoidable mistake. Well, not truly unavoidable but we were hosting guests and the meals eaten just weren't the healthiest options available. I also missed all my workouts for those days. Oh, and ate a whole bunch of cookies. Honest, I ate potatoes for something like 6 meals in a row. During that time, I could feel the lethargy creeping in. I felt downright sluggish. Even though I slept an adequate amount of hours, I was still sleepy the whole day. My normally chipper attitude was waning. The carbs were bringing me down!

By Sunday, I decided it was time to turn it around. No carb coma can't be cured by 6 miles in 53:15 (a personal best!) So, while the scale isn't really moving, I am definitely noticing a big difference in muscle tone and definition. Kind of like how the Victoria's Secret models drank only special protein shakes for 9 days before the big fashion show so their muscles would really stand out. Well, maybe not exactly like that. I'll get off my carb-y sopa box now but I wanted to let you know, if you feel like you've plateaued, and even though you think you might be eating all the right things, all calories are not created equally. This realization just days before a sure to be gluttonous Christmas.....

Steve Jobs

Smartly, I put myself on the hold list for this Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson even before the book was released. I only had to wait through 5 people who had a faster trigger finger than I.

Unless you've been living under a rock for a number of years, you know who Steve Jobs is. Chances are good that you own or have at least encountered one Apple product, and probably more than that. You've likely seen Toy Story or another Pixar movie. Yeah, he was behind that too. Jobs may have dropped out of college but he was so smart it's sickening. He had a work ethic that wouldn't quit and a drive that was unmatchable. You probably know all of this already too. What I didn't know before reading this biography was just how intensely he lived his life. Jobs would become so focused on certain aspects of his products and business that nothing else really mattered and those who stood in the way inevitably became collateral damage. But, that's how you build a technological empire. Even through his battle with cancer, which he lost this year, he was still present in all Apple had to offer.

I'm not going to re-hash his whole life story here. What I'll tell you is that this was in incredibly interesting, albeit long, read. I found his rise, fall, and rise fascinating. While some of this 500+ page biography is a little slow, as a whole it's definitely worth reading whether or not you think you're interested in the Silicon Valley and its beginning or how Apple became the juggernaut it is today. Give this one a shot. People will think you're both smart and hip if they see you reading it!

Rating: * * * *

Gifts from John

John and I celebrated Christmas together a week early. We don't think it makes much sense to haul our presents up north just to bring them back down again. He got a new suit and a book from me. He likes it because it has pinstripes and makes him feel gangsta. The suit, not the book. He got me, with a little elf help, the earrings I was coveting in both gold and silver! And also, this beauty......

This is Josie. Isn't she pretty? She is a buttery celadon yellow, over the shoulder bag about 12" x 11". This means, he remembered every time we went purse shopping over the past year and I lamented about not being able to find a yellow bag. She also has the quirkiest black and white polka dot lining. That Kate Spade, she knows what's up.

The only question now is, can I start carrying her now? If the color were decidedly more lemon, I would have had to wait until spring. However, this is a muted yellow. Do I buck tradition and bring her out on the town? Or slide her in her dust cover until the ground thaws again? Decisions, decisions.

Opinions welcomed!