Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me (and Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling – I love any and all books by a funny lady (hello…Tina Fey’s book is amazing!) and I love Mindy Kaling! Her book was a really easy, very light read – I burned through this is 24 hours and cracked up while doing so. I love her take on so many things and I love her witty outlook on life. This was a good read for sure!
Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon – The eighth (and final??) book in the Outlander series! I will admit that I’m not quite finished with this one yet…mostly because it has something along the lines of 150+ chapters! The story follows Jamie, (returned from his presumed watery grave) Claire and a myriad grouping of their extended family and friends as they navigate their way through the end of the Revolutionary War. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it so far and can’t wait to see how it winds up!
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen – The book for our July meeting of book club! I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever read this one through all the way, even though I love Jane Austen! Also, who doesn’t love Mr. Darcy??
Property by Valerie Martin – The book club book for the month of August! I’m very intrigued by this book, here is a little description of the story from Amazon: The year is 1828, the setting a Louisiana sugar plantation where Manon Gaudet, pretty, bitterly intelligent and monstrously self-absorbed, seethes under the dominion of her boorish husband. In particular his relationship with her slave Sarah, who is both his victim and his mistress.
The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory – This is the first in a series of six books about the House of Lancaster and York as they battle for the throne of England. I’ve read several series by Phillipa Gregory before and loved them all; especially her books about the Tudors and the Wideacre Trilogy. I’m sure this book (and the series) will be no different!
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Amazing – not terrifying. At least not for Daenerys. |
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This game was intense! A 5-4 Nationals win after 11 innings! |
Poldark – New Show Alert!!! Can I just tell you, I am loving this show! It’s only two episodes in and I’m definitely hooked! ๐ The show tells the story of Ross Poldark, returned home from fighting the Revolutionary War and not exactly given a heroes welcome! Presumed dead, Ross returns home to find his Father has died and left him with very little money, the woman he was in love with and promised to has married his cousin and the life he’d planned for himself while away has crumbled into nothing. Ross rescues poor street urchin Demelza from her abusive Father and hires her as a kitchen maid and decides to re-open his family mine; he is determined to try and rebuild the life he once knew…
And that’s all I know so far, since I’ve only seen two episodes…but something (like maybe that picture and the preview for next week’s episode) leads me to believe that Demelza won’t be a kitchen maid for long…
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Spoiler alert – just look at this picture of Ross & Demelza! |
Parks & Recreation – Okay, so maybe I fibbed a little bit when I said I’d leave TV shows for Fall and Spring; because there’s this thing called Netflix and I spent the last weekend of June being bored on a rainy Saturday and fell into watching this show and I’m hooked! The antics of Leslie Knope, Ron Swanson and the rest of the scrappy staff of the Pawnee, Indiana Parks & Recreation Department make for a pretty hilarious 22 minutes of television; especially when you can binge it on Netflix! If you want a laugh, this show is certainly worth checking out!
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So funny & awkward. |
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The road did hit back & it was hilarious! |
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So awkward & wonderful – I love it! |
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Not quite as thrilling as I’d hoped… |
Jurassic World – I watched Jurassic Park years ago at a friend’s birthday party…I’m fairly certain I was about ten and it was just scary enough to be fun and creep me out a little bit simultaneously…so I ended up seeing The Lost World and Jurassic Park III…which were both disappointing. As soon as I saw this trailer though…I was intrigued – they’d gone back to what originally worked, given it a spin and then put Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard into the film as the leads – and it works! The story follows brothers Zach and Gray Mitchell as they travel to Isla Nublar to spend a week with their Aunt Claire, who also happens to be the Operations Manager at Jurassic World; the theme park rebuilt on the ruins of the original Jurassic Park. The boys arrive prior to the unveiling of the newest dinosaur that the park’s geneticist have cooked up: Indominus Rex – he’s bigger, louder and has more teeth. He’s also smarter and of course…he breaks free and chaos ensues. The movie is all around fun, will make you jump out of your seat (ask my Mom…she did more than once) and has plenty of tongue in cheek throwbacks to the original. Go see it! Also – the website is crazy cool..check it out!
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Will they never learn? Dinos always escape & wreck havoc…. |
The Book of Life – This is an animated movie by Guillermo del Toro and man; it was definitely colorful! I think that is what I enjoyed the most; the vibrance of the characters and their settings, especially the Land of the Remembered. The story follows childhood friends Maria, Joaquin and Manolo, both boys are in love with Maria and want to marry her but what they don’t know is that La Muerte (the ruler of the Land of the Remembered) and Xibalba (the ruler of the Land of the Forgotten) have struck a bargain about the young children. If Manolo marries Maria, La Muerte wins and Xibalba will no longer interfere in mortal affairs but if Joaquin marries Maria, Xibalba wins and he gets to switch realms with La Muerte. The movie was cute and somewhat intriguing…like I said, I really loved the colors!ย
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This movie was crazy colorful! |
This is Where I Leave You – I really enjoyed this movie! The film follows the reunion of the four Altman siblings and their Mother as they fulfill their Father’s dying wish that they sit Shiva; which means seven days of bonding time. The sibling start out at one another’s throats but as the week progresses, they grow closer and help one another through the trials they are each facing in their own lives. I’m a big fan of Jason Bateman and Tina Fey so that is what drew me to this movie but the ensemble cast is really excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was funny with some heart-tugging moments thrown in for good measure!
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Families are complicated…this movie makes that an understatement… |
Exodus: Gods & Kings – I really wanted this to be good…or maybe I just really wanted this to not be completely awful and inaccurate, but I should have known better. The acting was splendid and the sets were amazing; I still hope to visit Egypt one day. The story though; oh me. I just had too many issues with the story but was probably most bothered by God being portrayed as a petulant child who seemed to be looking to brutally punish the Egyptians and took too much sick glee in their pain. I think Christian Bale is an excellent actor but his portrayal of Moses made him seem slightly deranged; however after reading his comments that he believe Moses was likely “schizophrenic and mentally unhinged” I see why he might have played him as such. Impressive visually but otherwise, this left a bad taste in my mouth.
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I wanted this to be good…. |
Poldark Soundtrack – Another instrumental score; I especially love the theme to the show, it’s absolutely beautiful and I wish it lasted longer than 45 seconds! The songs are very pretty; it’s calming and peaceful to listen to…so I usually listen to it on the way home from work – not driving to work, ha-ha!
Sports Radio – I know…that’s not technically music but I have been listening to it. Hehehe. I keep my radio tuned to 106.7 The Fan “DC’s Station for all things Nationals, Capitals, Redskins & United”…which, I honestly only care about the first one. They broadcast all the games and every Wednesday morning at 8 they talk with Matt Williams (that would be the General Manager of the Nats). Just in time for the drive to work! ๐ One thing I’ve learned – even though the Redskins are supposedly “DC’s Team”…no one (at least on this station) seems to like them very much. I have to agree with them, ha-ha!
Starbucks – Y’all, I think it is safe to say there is an addiction at play here. I think they put something in their drinks…besides coffee. I was already in deep, deep like with Starbucks after they introduced the S’mores Frappucino and then they went and brought out six new frappucinos and it was true love for sure! I think the S’mores is still my favorite though…yum….
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I look like I have really good eyeliner going for me in the picture on the right…not sure how that happened… |
Spending July 4th with friends! I mean – who doesn’t appreciate a good fireworks show? Besides most all dogs…because man, Watson HATES fireworks.
Game Two of the Battle of the Beltways Series – Which is what the games are called when the Washington Nationals face off against the Baltimore Orioles! And this year we are taking in one of those games…at Camden Yards! That’s right, the second thing on my list is baseball…and guess what, if you keep reading, the third thing on my life…also baseball! I know, who am I even? I don’t know but I do know that I’m thrilled to be spending the day in Baltimore – a city that I’ve loved each time I’ve been (maybe no one will riot??) and capping off that day with a baseball game at Camden Yards! It’s sure to be an awesome day!
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This should be interesting…. |
Star Wars Day at Nationals Park – Oh yes, combining two of my favorite things? I’m so down for that! Will he be blazing outside on July 19th at 1 PM…probably! Do I care…NOPE! We are attending the first ever Star Wars Day at Nationals Park and I could not be more excited! Can’t wait! The first 25,000 people get an R2-D2 can cooler and that’s basically a fancy koozie but I’m pretty sure I need it. I’m also pretty stoked because my friend Jennie and her Star Wars loving little boy, Jimmy will be joining us! Although we have to convince him that he can’t actually wear his Darth Vader costume to the game…
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I never knew Zimm was a Jedi… |
Blackberry Delight 2015 – Oh my goodness, cannot wait for this! It’s an annual event held at Skyland Resort and it celebrates all things blackberry…and let me tell you, the blackberry ice cream alone would be reason enough to go! If you’re interested, I’ll just post this link and you can check it out. I plan to be there for sure!ย
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Nom Nom Nom… |