Ending, and beer

This is my last day of August Break, and of blogging daily. I feel like I should have something profound to say – I don’t – but I am glad I stuck with it.

A positive moment from my day: I had friends visit work, who surprised me with a six-pack of New Glarus beer. The beer was a thanks for feeding their cat. It was such a surprise because I honestly expected nothing. It was such a sweet thing to do!

Anticipation

I’ve talked about how sad I am that summer is almost over, but there are so many things I’m looking forward to.

This weekend will be filled with wedding stuff, Kelly Clarkson, train rides, Michigan and undoubtedly more awesomeness. When fall comes I’m anticipating weddings, and leaves, and trips.

Thankfully one thing I don’t have to wait for? Fall beer! All my coworkers have been discussing pumpkin homebrew, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some!

Here’s looking forward to great end-of-summer adventures and spectacular fall adventures!

Wasted

I just wasted an hour of my life on a game show about musical chairs. I seriously wonder sometimes how I get sucked into these things. It’s so easy for me to do things that have little value and waste so much time doing it.

There’s a thing called the Holstee Manifesto, which is basically a mission statement for this cool internet company. I identify so much with its ideas. It expresses so many values by which I want to live my life. The Holstee Manifesto says that, if you don’t have enough time, stop watching tv. It’s something I struggle with.

Tuesday

Giant spider web on my car

Victory!

Fox Tuesdays! – a preview

This is the only picture I took today. I’m having trouble remembering to take pictures every day for August Break. It’s probably good that the month is almost over.

I spent my night at Fox’s preview of their new Tuesday night shows, Ben and Kate and The Mindy Project, at AMC River East in Chicago. I was impressed by the whole thing – we got free popcorn and pop! and a nice tote bag with free swag, including Mindy post-its! – and for the new shows. I’d heard really good things, but neither show disappointed.

I’d struggle to label Ben and Kate a true comedy – there were some laugh out loud moments (loved Ben trying to keep it PG in front of Maddie in the car!) – but it was a good bit dramatic too. I liked the family dynamic and the relationship between Kate and Ben, though his love  for his ex seemed a bit rushed. I think it’ll really come into its own with time to expand on the characters, especially some of the tertiary ones who were really funny!

The Mindy Project lived up to my expectations and more! I was happy to see cameos by some of Kaling’s comedian friends, and I hope they’ll (or others…BJ Novak???) have a larger part in the future. In the Q & A later they touched on it (super awkwardly!), but I can definitely see the potential for a love triangle between Mindy and the two hot doctor men. Favorite line? “You are a rapist of peace and quiet.”

After both the shows there was a Q&A hosted by my favorite, favorite recapper and Fringe Fairy, EW’s Annie Barrett. I kept waiting for her to break out into analysis of her damages or Maks’ ass, but it was fun to watch her try to wrangle a whole new cast of characters. I thought New Girl got a whooole ton of screen time, which surprised me. Seeing as it’s their most popular comedy I thought they’d use the time to feature the other shows more. But LOVED Garret Dillahunt and Martha Plimpton, and I had no idea Nat Faxon was an Oscar winner!

I’m most excited for the return of Raising Hope, and I’m disappointed that it’s not back on until later than the other three comedies. But I am definitely looking forward to Fox’s new Tuesday line up!

RH is back on October 2. B&K, New Girl, and TMP premiere Sept 25th. Check out the cast Q&A here, and look for Ben and Kate and The Mindy Project on Hulu starting tomorrow!

Birthdays!

Celebrated my good friend Mo’s birthday today. I am of the firm belief that birthdays should include beer and/or margaritas, and today filled both requirements! Dinner was delicious (as it always is at Taco Joint), and I am so happy to have been able to celebrate my great friend’s birth!

Green Smoothies

Someone early in the summer (Tammy, I think?) suggested that I use greens in smoothies. I’m still so sick of lettuce and leafy greens, so when I pulled a pound of spinach out of our box this week I knew I had to try it.

I was super nervous that the smoothie would taste green and I’d have to choke down this sludge for breakfast. And when I poured it in my glass it looked so green. What happened to my pretty red strawberries?! And then, it was delicious!

1 cup frozen fruit (I used strawberries)

1 cup yogurt (as a strawberry fiend, this was also strawberry flavored!)

2 generous handfuls of spinach, stems removed from the big pieces

Throw everything in the blender and rev it up. I added a couple dashes of milk, just to get the blender going. Pour in a glass, and try to ignore that it looks so…green.

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This is only the second thing I’ve made with this week’s haul from our farm. Last night I made one of my standbys, Real Simple’s Creamy Ravioli with Squash and Lemon. I’m looking forward to making some lemon balm iced tea, and figuring out something to make with all those carrots!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!