Game Of Thrones Watcher For Adoption

Who's letting me come over on Sunday to watch Game of Thrones with them?  I promise I'll try to not ask too many questions, I'll bring a bottle of wine, and I'll devote 100% of my attention to the show instead of also playing with my iPad.  I might even bring snacks.  Pretty please??

Just Tryin'

Even when my legs are tired, I'm stuck at work on a Tuesday night, I forgot to hold Andy to his plans for Game Night with wine on Sunday, and all I want is to be next to a pool with a margarita....



Sometimes you just gotta put it out into the world when life isn't glittering in your face...

So Amazingly True

*image from an awesome blog: Flourish In Progress

Foodie Mind Blown

Little Goat. Stephanie Izard. Go there RIGHT NOW.

Andy and I went this weekend for lunch and had a fantastic time from start to finish.  I started things off with a kick ass Bloody Mary at their bar while we waited for our seats.  Which of course gave us plenty of time to peruse all of their merchandise featuring the cute goat image.  Spoiler: We definitely left with 2 coffee mugs, a travel mug, and a couple bags of coffee.  I could have easily purchased a couple shirts too.  After a little bit of a wait, we were seated at the luncheon-type counter facing the kitchen.  We drooled over every single item coming out of there until I suddenly realized that Stephanie Izard herself was cooking directly in front of us!

I don't know how many of you are Top Chef fans, but I am.  I LOVE Top Chef and Stephanie sits firmly in my top 5 chefs from the show.  Probably only being beaten out by Richard Blais.  But it's close. Real close. Like, she may have scooped him after this meal close.

Anyway, while trying not to stare too blatantly, we enjoyed fried pickle and onion rings (with a RIDICULOUSLY good curry mayo dipping sauce), a grilled cheese filled with tomatoes/smoked gouda/bacon/spinach amazingness, and a Spanish omelet that I can't even begin to remember what it entailed besides more awesome stuff.

Side note- the manager of this place is also really fantastic.  As it was the Saturday before St. Patty's, we were having a couple cocktails with our lunch.  Andy asked if they had Red Bull and the manager said "Nope. But I'm pretty sure I can make some appear." At which point, he literally sent someone to the store to buy a can of Red Bull.  He also stopped back to chat with us later about the music (which was a mix of hip hop and 80's) and also gave us his card if we wanted him to hold a table for us at any point in the future.  I don't know if he thought we warranted some sort of special treatment or if he just has a way of making everyone feel like they're ballers, but whatever the reason, I was impressed.

The cherry on top of this lunch was that we actually got to meet and have a conversation with Ms. Izard before we left.  Our waitress knew I was interested in just saying "hi' and she brought her over to talk to us.  Stephanie was really cool and talked to us for about 5 minutes.  My only regret is that I didn't think to ask her what she thought about this last Top Chef finale!

Seriously, if given the chance to pick a new place downtown to try out, go to Little Goat.  I'd go back tomorrow if I could.

Little Goat Menu

Little Goat

Mental Vacation

In my head, I'm in Bora Bora right now...

Stop The Excuses

I've heard a lot of people lately saying "I had a job/kids/life. I didn't have time to read!" or "I don't know who has time to read?!"

I call bullshit.

Turn off the television.

I'm not saying you need to turn off the tv from 7-10 p.m. That's just ridiculous.  I'm saying you should spend 15 minutes reading a book before you go to bed.  Or for 5 minutes when you get up in the morning while having your cup of coffee.  Or maybe during your lunch break instead of cruising Pintrest for the 900th appetizer recipe you think you'll need sometime.


I'm not saying it has to be a TON of time.  I'm just saying that I'm really sick of hearing "I don't have time"

Yes you do, you just choose not to use it to read.

p.s. Just because I do find time to read, doesn't mean I have a less important life than you, don't watch television (I watch a LOT of television), don't get errands done, don't have a social life, and must have massive amounts of free time.

p.p.s. I also make dinner most nights and go to the gym. Oh, and I sleep 8-9 hours a night.  Knock off the excuses.

DO IT DEXTER!

I'll Take Scandalous Stories for $100, Alex

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

If you're a Pretty Little Liars fan, you should probably pick up this book. If you're looking for a fairly juicy thriller, go ahead and put your name on the hold list. If you're looking for the next award winning title, eh, this might not be it. But let's be real, sometimes you just want something entertaining. This was right up my alley when I finally hit my window of getting to pick my own reading material for the month. I wanted something fairly quick, a bit salacious, and new. Reconstructing Amelia won't be published until April 2, 2014 so I'm a bit ahead on this one. I got an advance copy at the library and thought I should actually try and read it before it came out! I'm glad I did because I think this will be a fairly easy book to recommend to patrons.

 This "Mean Girls"-type thriller is definitely an older teen crossover. Kate gets a phone call saying her daughter, Amelia, has been suspended only to get to the school and find that she's supposedly jumped off the roof and killed herself. None of this makes sense for the straight A student but Kate accepts it until she receives a cryptic text saying "She didn't jump". So starts the chase to figure out what actually caused Amelia's death. What made this book more interesting to me was the format of the story. It goes back and forth between Kate's current day chase to find out what happened and the months leading up to the event from Amelia's point of view. Turns out, there is much about Amelia that Kate was unaware of and it isn't pretty. I explain this as a "Mean Girls type thriller" due to the fact that a large part of the storyline is based on a secret high school club with some brutal hazing plans...I enjoyed Amelia's voice a bit more than Kate's, as Kate comes across a bit too unhinged at times. I never really felt like I knew exactly what was going to happen but I had a good time making my different guesses as I read!

 I'd recommend this to women looking for a thriller and older teens who are fans of the Pretty Little Liars series. Due to the sexual nature of some scenes, I would set a minimum age of 16 for this one...chapters are a little longer so it's not super speedy but it's definitely an engaging, fun read!