five friday favorites #21: week of jan. 22, 2016

It's Friday!!! I'd be more excited if it was a Friday in March and I didn't have to get up at 4 a.m. tomorrow for a speech meet, but such is life. Let's get on with the favorites!

1. Peanut Butter Cookies

You've probably seen those flourless peanut butter cookie recipes floating around. You know, the ones that are just peanut butter, sugar, and an egg? Right after I went gluten free, I made them a lot. And now that I've successfully reintroduced peanut butter, I decided to try them again. (I know, I know--peanut butter isn't paleo. I. DON'T. CARE. My goal has always been to be healthy and eat more natural foods--not be paleo.) The cookies were good, but I had a feeling they could be better. After some experimenting, I think I've landed on the perfect combination: natural peanut butter, coconut sugar, egg, baking soda, vanilla, salt, and chocolate chips. These cookies come out perfectly crispy on the edges--just like my mom's gluten-filled peanut butter cookies. So delicious! (Recipe to come soon.)

2. Spotify's Discover Weekly Playlist

If you have a Spotify account and haven't checked out your personal Discover Weekly playlist, you're missing out. Not only has this playlist introduced me to some great new music, but it's also hilarious at times to see just how off base the songs can be. For example: The very first week, a song by Alan Jackson was in the playlist. Um, really? Alan Jackson is country country. Spotify should know by now that I only ever listen to pop country ... and even then, it's a rarity. Or this week, when there are two wedding songs in my playlist. Sure, I'll listen to a love song now and again, but wedding songs? They kinda make me want to puke ... probably because of my perpetual singleness.

Still, I love checking in on my new playlist each Monday morning when I get to work. I'm sure you'll enjoy your playlist, too.

3. DC's Legends of Tomorrow

First off, let's be honest--is anyone going to call this show by its full name? No. It will just be Legends of Tomorrow.

Anyway.

Legends of Tomorrow premiered last night, and I loved it. It features characters introduced on The Flash and Arrow, and it looks to be a rollicking good time. Not sure if you'll like it? The pilot is free on Amazon, Google Play, and iTunes for a limited time. If you do check it out, I'd love to know what you think!

4. That Gal ... Who was in That Thing

A few years ago, I watched a fascinating documentary on Netflix called That Guy ... Who Was in That Thing. (Unfortunately, it's not longer on Netflix.) It's about character actors and their quest to make it in Hollywood. Now, a follow up film has been made, this time featuring women. I watched it last weekend during a free Showtime preview on Hulu. It's just as captivating as That Guy, if not more so. The women discuss the struggle to get cast as anything but a grandmother as they age, the difficult choices they had to make regarding family and career, wage inequality, and a variety of other things. I'd definitely suggest checking it out if you get the chance! (If you have Amazon Prime, you can add a Showtime subscription for $8.99/month, but you get a 7-day free trial. I did that with Starz and watched a ton of movies over Christmas break--you just have to remember to cancel!)

5. I Hope You Dance by Beth Moran
This week's book recommendation is the delightfully charming I Hope You Dance by British author Beth Moran. I read Moran's Making Marion in 2014, and it was quirky and humorous. I Hope You Dance is even better.

I Hope You Dance is, in a word, delightful. While Ruth deals with serious issues like debt, stalking, teenage rebellion, and family drama, the story never feels heavy. I think much of this is due to the supporting characters--colorful women who stand by Ruth's side through thick and thin and whose personalities bring joy and humor amidst the drama. These characters are so vividly drawn that I felt as though I knew them.

You can see the rest of my review here.

Thanks for stopping by! I'm linking up with the usuals: Erika, Karli, and April.

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35 before 35: #23

#23: Go to a country concert

This goal isn't one I would have had five years ago ... or even last year, for that matter! I have rather recently become a fan of country music. So when I heard The Band Perry was coming to the Nebraska State Fair, I decided to go. And I knew exactly who to take with me--my friend Joanna. Jo is at least partially responsible for my conversion to country (though most of the credit goes to former roomie Melissa). One night, Jo and I watched country music videos for hours after I confessed that I kind of enjoyed them. Anyway, Jo and I decided to go together. The problem? Jo is a senior in high school, and she has volleyball practice after school. So we didn't get on the road to Grand Island until 6:45, and the concert started at 7:30.

Once we arrived at the state fairgrounds, we hightailed it over to the Events Center. We weren't even sure if we'd be able to get in, as the concert was free with gate admission, but you had to have a wristband to get in--and those were given out at the box office on a first come-first served basis. We arrived at 7:35, and a nice lady handed us our wristbands. When we walked in, the band was already playing, and the arena looked full. Jo has good eyes, though, and she found us seats ... pretty much as far away from the stage as you could get!

Going in, I knew two of The Band Perry's songs--"If I Die Young" and "You Lie." Going out, I still only knew those two songs, but I heard several others that I really liked! If I didn't have Spotify (which I talked about here), I totally would have bought their album by now.

My favorite part of the concert was when they started singing the Eminem/Rihanna song "Love the Way You Lie." At first, Jo and I just looked at each other ... and then we got it! They used it as a very effective lead-in to "The Way You Lie."

Here we are at the concert ... sort of. I took about 10 pictures of us, and one of us always looked bad--so I spliced together two pictures. Notice that I've never claimed to be a Photoshop whiz!

Overall, it was a great way to get my feet wet in the country music scene! Next stop, Carrie Underwood???

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after these messages, we'll be right back!

Original content on this blog has been lacking lately. My goal is to post three times each week, and I'm not doing a very good job of meeting that goal. My book reviews are important, and I know that the majority of the traffic coming to my blog is due to the reviews, but I'm not ready to make this a "book review only" kinda place, so I'm working on several other posts right now – about my 30th birthday, country music, and 35 things I want to do before I turn 35. Nothing is close to being ready, though. (Why? One word: School.) So, while I continue working on those other posts (and while I keep reading and reviewing – I should have at least three reviews go up in the next two weeks), here are a few "internet" things I want you to know about:

• Remember when I told you about Perfect Romance? No? It's the movie where Desmond from LOST falls in love with a woman he meets online, and it's so cute! For the next 10 days, you can catch it on Hulu. Watch it. You'll thank me later! (Unless you're a guy who hates chick flicks. Dearest brother, I'm pretty sure this is too sappy for you. However, someone from Stargate does make an appearance, so at least something in the movie might interest you.)


• One of my most popular posts (it's #3 this month and #2 since Blogger started keeping track) is the one about My Girlfriend's Boyfriend. I still love introducing people to this movie – I even watched it last night with two of the dorm girls at NC. Seriously, I feel like the film's biggest cheerleader! Now it's free on Hulu, so you have no excuse for not watching it. Just do it!


• If you want other movie recommendations, check out my "Movies to Watch" tab – especially if you like chick flicks.


• If you saw the movie Something Borrowed – which is not on my recommended list – you might be interested in this post by author Jenny B. Jones. (She wrote Save the Date, which I loved.) She makes a valid point, one that Blendy and I discussed at length (SPOILER ALERT!): why on earth would you cast John Krasinski in the role of the guy who doesn't get the girl? 


• Have you heard of Spotify? Not only is is super cool – you can listen to just about any music you want, and you don't have to listen to a bunch of things you don't want in order to get to that one song you do want (à la Pandora) – but it also can save you money! How, you ask? Well, say Amazon is running a sale on an album you're interested in. You listen to the samples, but how much can you really tell from 30 seconds of a song? So instead of taking your chances on an album you may or may not really want, you can listen to the whole thing on Spotify before deciding! I've saved at least $3.99 – I'm looking at you, Matthew Morrison! – and I'll be checking out all future purchases here, first. If only I'd had Spotify when looking for "Forever," I would have known the version Amazon was offering wasn't the John Stamos version and saved 99¢ ...
  


• Since I brought it up:
  

Thanks for sticking with me, and I'll try to do a better job of posting regularly!

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