1. Fire TV Stick
Amazon introduced its Fire TV Stick
a few weeks ago at the special price of $19 for Prime members. I couldn't pass it up--and I'm glad I didn't! I've been doing my streaming through my blu-ray player, and, more often than not, it either glitches mid-stream or refuses to connect to the network. But the Fire TV Stick has none of those problems! It works like a charm and easily moves from one TV to another. Plus, I can stream all of my Amazon music through it. |
| This screen makes me very happy! |
2. Christmas Choral Concerts
While I think it's okay, I'm normally not a huge fan of choral music. When I have a choice about what music I listen to or concerts I go to, I would never choose to listen to a choir ... except at Christmas! There's just something special about Christmas music performed by a choir.
For the past six years (and one other year before that), my Decembers were so consumed by Singing Christmas Tree performances that I didn't really have time to enjoy other Christmas concerts. But this year, since I'm not in the Tree, I'm taking the time to truly enjoy the season. So far, I ...
Watched the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas special (with special guest Alfie Boe!). It reminded me of the Christmas specials we used to watch with my grandparents in Kansas when we'd visit for Christmas. Here's one of the songs from the concert--it's not a Christmas song, but it is one of my absolute favorites.
Attended my mom's Lone Tree Singers concert.
Sat in the audience of the Singing Christmas Tree for the first time in eight years.
Sang in the Festival of Lessons & Carols at Nebraska Christian. The video is pretty terrible, but the audio is good. My mom sings a solo at 30:30. (You can't see her, but you can hear her!)
And the fun will continue on Sunday, when we attend the candlelight service at my sister's church in Omaha. 'Tis the season!
3. Camera Lens Coffee Mug
Today was our last day of school this semester. (Hallelujah, Amen!) One of my yearbook students gave me this travel mug. Isn't it fantastic?
4. The Wishing Season
Now, there's another Hunter book to add to your TBR pile: The Wishing Season. I got this book for review through NetGalley, which isn't my preference for my favorite authors' books, simply because I like to keep some books on my bookshelf! But I wasn't offered a print copy for review, I've blown all my disposable income on Christmas presents, and I didn't want to wait until January to read this book, so I went ahead and requested it. I'm so glad I did!
I started reading The Wishing Season after work one night, and I finished it the next day. It was so, so good! Maybe not quite on the same level as The Convenient Groom and Dancing with Fireflies, but close. Very close. You can easily pick up this book without having read the others in the series, so why not make it a Christmas gift for yourself or for the romance lover in your life?
5. Middle Names
I'm not one of those pet owners who gives their pets their last name. Isis, Hammond, and Skaara Ritta? No thanks. (If you do that, more power to you ... I just think it's a little weird.) My cats are just Isis, Hammond, and Skaara. Period.
Until now.
Isis has been particularly naughty recently. It probably started out innocently enough on her part, but she now knows how to work the system. A couple weeks ago, she was sitting on top of a bookshelf, and she decided to try to pull down the garland (see picture below). In an effort to distract her, I pulled out the laser pointer my aunt gifted the cats with a while back. She went nuts for it. Problem solved, I thought. Nope. You can probably guess where this is going ... Now every time she wants to chase the laser, she hops up on the bookshelf and tries to pull down the garland.
Isis Marie. Skaara Samuel. Hammond Alexander.
Just don't throw Ritta onto the end!
6. Gina Rodriguez's Golden Globe Nomination
A few weeks ago, I told you that The Flash was my favorite new show of the season. While I still completely adore the show and Barry Allen, another show has topped The Flash: Jane the Virgin. Now, before you run out and start binge watching, let me warn you that Jane is definitely an adult show. Not adult a la Sons of Anarchy or Game of Thrones with lots of language, violence, sex, and/or nudity, but adult as in please don't watch this show with your kids.
The setup is completely ludicrous: Jane is a 20-something Latina living in Miami with her (rather promiscuous) mom and grandma. As a child, she saw the damage her mother's lifestyle caused--plus she was pressured by her grandmother--and she made a commitment to remain a virgin until marriage. When Jane goes in for her yearly pap, her distraught-because-of-her-partner's-infidelity substitute gynecologist artificially inseminates Jane instead of the woman in the next room, making Jane a pregnant virgin.
Throw in a fantastic narrator, Jane's telenovela star father, the super hot baby daddy, and twists worthy of, well, a telenovela, and you've got such a fun hour of TV. On the CW, of all places. (I now watch four CW shows: Jane, The Flash, Arrow, and Hart of Dixie. That's more shows than I watch on any other network. Crazy, huh?)
Anyway, the Golden Globe nominations were announced last week, and, shock of all shocks, Gina Rodriguez (Jane) was nominated! Shows that I love very rarely get any awards love, so this is great. It's a well deserved nomination, and I hope this will be enough to keep the show on the air for another season!
7. Serial parody from Funny or Die
So you know that I've been a bit obsessed with Serial recently. The first season ended yesterday, and I guess I'm as satisfied as possible, considering we still don't know if Adnan is guilty or innocent. (My theory is that he didn't kill Hae but was at least somewhat involved. Of course, I can't prove anything.) Anyway, Funny or Die released a Serial parody video right before the last episode, and it is spot on. (There is some harsh language.) If you're a Serial fan, you'll get a kick out of it!
8. Lemon Poppyseed Breakfast Cookies
I've recently started a new diet called Trim Healthy Mama. You may have heard of it--it's pretty popular right now. The basic concept is that you shouldn't eat carbs and fats in the same meal, and when you do eat carbs, they should be from low glycemic foods. I've only been doing this since Monday, so I don't really have any results yet--except that after feeling terrible the first three days, I'm not crashing mid-afternoon anymore. I'm sure I'll talk about this more in the future.
All week, I had steel cut oats for breakfast--I make them in the crockpot overnight, and they're good, but by this morning, I was pretty sick of them. So I went in search of another quick on-plan breakfast, and I found these breakfast cookies on All Day I Dream About Food. I did adapt the recipe a bit, using 3 tablespoons Truvia in place of the 1/2 cup of Swerve, leaving out the Stevia because I don't have any, and adding an extra tablespoon of lemon juice, as I like my lemon items to be very lemony. Also, I didn't add the glaze. They aren't incredibly sweet, but they scream LEMON!
They are amazingly delicious! They taste like poppyseed muffins. Yummy! My picture isn't nearly as amazing as the ones on Carolyn's site, but it'll give you an idea:
9. Ulta Gift Bag
Ulta had an amazing sale on Butter London nail polish on Cyber Monday. Since Butter London is my new favorite brand, I couldn't resist indulging. Not only was the nail polish half price, but they were offering a gift bag full of samples for anyone who bought $60 worth of products. But here's the kicker--your items just had to be worth $60--you didn't have to actually pay $60 to get the gift bag. Let me tell you, this gift bag was better than any ipsy bag I ever got, except for maybe the first one. Everything pictured below, except for the nail polish, was free. So far, I've used the Purity face wash (works really well but smells awful) and the Big Sexy Hair blow dry volumizing gel. That, I'm in love with. I'm pretty sure I'll be purchasing it once my sample runs out--it definitely adds body to my thin hair!
10. Nashville
I know that Nashville has been a Friday Favorite before, but it's even more fitting now than it was then--I am completely obsessed. I just started Season 2, and I have to say, if Deacon & Rayna aren't part of the showrunners' end game, I may throw a fit. And don't even get me started on Juliette. I swear, I go from loathing to liking her so often it's making my head spin. Just when I think she's making strides, she goes and does something incredibly stupid ... and to hear my friend Joanna tell it, that's going to go on for quite a while! Nashville is so, so soapy--and I love it! (Also, one of my soap favorites, Jonathan Jackson from General Hospital--I talked about him here--has a major role as aspiring singer Avery. I absolutely hated him at first, and I hated that I hated him, since I loved him on GH. But lately, he's been growing on me, and Joanna assures me that I will eventually love him!)
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
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