Happy Weekend:

[photo]

Thank you, weekend, for coming swiftly. I've been waiting patiently for your arrival. Let's spend some quality time together over the next 2 days: eating some delicious food, celebrating the sun on early morning runs, and getting some of our projects out of the way. 

Bring on the cocktails and the extra sleep!

New Reads:

Right now, I'm reading The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel) by Michael Scott (no, not the Michael Scott from the Office.) I'm pretty sure it's a teen book but Amazon.com recommended it to me the other day and my local library had a Kindle version of it available for check out so I thought I'd give it a go. It's short, it's light, and it's a nice break from some of the other reading I've been doing lately. I remember Nicholas Flamel from Harry Potter (the only known maker of the Sorcerer's stone, btw). And anything that has to do with Harry Potter has my attention. I can't help it.

Anyway, here's what it's about:

"He holds the secret that can end the world. 

The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. Nearly 700 years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life.

The records show that he died in 1418.

But his tomb is empty.

The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects -- the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.

Sometimes legends are true.

And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time."

Interesting, yes? Only I'm pretty sure there are vampires and werewolves in it and they just aren't my cup of tea. We'll see.

And here's the ever-growing list of books that I've read this year, in case you're interested:

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
2. Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume
3. The Sweet Far Thing
4. Interview with a Vampire
5. The Tales of Beetle the Bard
6. Spud
7. The Secret History
8. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
9. A Discovery of Witches
10. Death Comes to Pemberley
11. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
12. A Week at the Beach
13. Little Bee
14. Anthropology of an American Girl
15. Naked
16. Just as Long as We're Together
17. Here's to You, Rachel Robinson
18. The Hunger Games
19. Catching Fire
20. Mockingjay

Mixing drinks:

This past weekend, we tried another drink from our "mixed drinks test drive". Today's mixed drink: the Lava Flow:

Our verdict: Andrew liked it. I almost threw up. I hate bananas. Like, seriously hate. I can't even stand the smell of them. I don't know why I thought I'd like this drink. It has 3 bananas in it! I guess I thought all the other flavors would disguise the banana flavor. Wrong. If you hate bananas, I'd skip this drink. And definitely do not mix it up. Because then it just tastes like a banana smoothie. If you like bananas, however, this is probably right up your alley. Just maybe blend a few ice cubes into it to make it more of a slushy drink. Because it gets warm very quickly.

A present:

The traditional five-year anniversary present is wood. And normally, I try to stick to those guidelines because they force you to get creative. But really, what would I get Andrew that is wood. A box? A cane? So, I decided to get him something that he's been wanting for a long time:

The Orion SkyQuest XT6 Classic Dobsonian Telescope.

5 years:

Saturday was our five-year anniversary! We didn't do anything fancy because we aren't very fancy. But we spent the day together and ate some really great food. And it was perfect.

Happy Weekend:

[photo]

Happy weekend, everyone! Got any good plans? Our anniversary is tomorrow so we are planning on spending the day together, eating good food, and being extra lovey-dovey. I finally get to give Andrew his present, which I have been dying to keep secret. And I can finally talk about it on Monday. 

So, have a great weekend! Do something fun!

Steve Martin:

Steve Martin came to town last night! And since he's Andrew's most favorite person, I got him tickets for his birthday.

It was pretty amazing. I got some video too but I probably won't have time to upload and post it until the weekend. 

Mixing drinks:

For our upcoming beach trip, I've been collecting mixed drink recipes. And then A pointed out the other day that maybe we should test these recipes first, you know, just in case they're terrible and we make them for our friends. So as a way to make the waiting bearable and bring a little excitement to our lives, we will be trying a new drink every Friday leading up to our trip. This past weekend was our first: the watermelon swash:

I'm so glad Andrew suggested the test-drive. Because this one was really terrible. It sounds really delicious, right? Do not be fooled. It's gross. I think you can make a few tweaks to improve it though: only 2 basil leaves, more watermelon, more ice, and don't drink it immediately. Let it sit in the freezer for a while until it's more of a slushy consistency. And really cold. Temperature is vital, I think.

Traditions:

Andrew and I have a tradition: for each anniversary we buy a piece of art for our home. Something that speaks to both of us, is symbolic of who we are at this stage in our lives, or representative of a common goal that we would like to accomplish. We write the year that we bought it, and which anniversary we're celebrating, on the back. Our hope is that years from now, our walls will be covered in artwork that we love and that is symbolic of who we are. It should tell the journey our lives have taken and the things that have touched us along the way. This year, we chose this piece, by Sarah Spitler:

I want to go to there:

Happy Weekend:

[photo]

Ah, yes. Another week is done and two blissfully empty days are before us. I want to lay in the shade with a cool drink and do absolutely nothing else.

I hope you don't have anything too major to tackle this weekend. Here's to being completely lazy and not feeling bad about it.

Yes, please:

I'm pretty much in love with the 3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli satchel. I'm putting it on my Christmas list. So, any rich friends out there feeling particularly generous this holiday season, thank you very much.

This to This:

blazer // shirt // jeans // bag // heels

An Update:

Just thought I'd share the progress of the knitted blanket I've been working on. It's not really together, I was just laying them out to establish a pattern and see what other colors I needed to work in.

I'm halfway done! 50 squares down, 50 squares to go.

New Reads:

I've been catching up on my reading lately and one of the books I've been reading is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I know I'm a little late to the game, and that there's a whole movie out and everything now, but I've been struggling with whether or not to read this book for over a year now. I picked it up once at the bookstore because I had heard a lot of people talking about it and read the cover but it just didn't seem that interesting so I put it down. And then I heard even more people talking about it. And that got me thinking maybe I discounted it too early. I mean, if that many people are crazy for this story, maybe it isn't that bad. And so just like every other book that blows up, I decided to give it a shot (that's how I read Twilight. Remember that, Rim?) Still not sure how I feel about it yet. But I hope it's decent because as with every trilogy, I'll have to read the other books just to find out how the story resolves, whether I like it or not (that's how I read the rest of the Twilight books, btw). 

If you don't know what the story is about, and really, how could you not, here it is:

"In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before -- and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love."

Happy Weekend:

[photo]

Happy Friday, everyone! What are your plans for the weekend? I've fallen a little behind on my reading goals for the year so I'm planning on holing up and polishing off a few books to catch up. And we've got a long run planned and some laps to swim. There's also this great Indian/British grocer nearby that we want to check out. I've been feeling a little out of it lately but I think some sunshine and good food would be just the thing to give me a little boost.

Also, the 2012 Visa Gymnastic Championships are this weekend! Coverage starts tonight from 8-10p on Universal Sports. If you don't get that channel (like us), you can watch the webcasts. They're also from 8-10p and are available here. It's in St. Louis this year so if you live there, keep a look out for girls in warm-up suits and glittery hair. And if you see Nastia Liukin, try and snap a photo for me.

Dear Blank, Please Blank:

Looking for a way to kill a few hours? Check out Dear Blank, Please Blank. It's completely hilarious. And completely addictive. So make sure your schedule is clear because it may get you into trouble.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Let's Shop:

Time for another edition of our favorite pretend shopping game, Let's Shop! This time, we're shopping LuLuLemon, our favorite place to score running gear:

Bates Crates:

My Bates Crate finally came! We've been riding our bikes to the pool and back three times a week and look how great my crate looks sitting pretty on the front of my bike like he owns it. And oh my, the convenience! It straps on so it can come off easily and accompany me through the store as a basket. And that cup holder! Genius. I've gotten so much use out of it already. So, to sum it up: pretty much, I'm in love.

The Big 29:

On Saturday, Andrew celebrated his 29th birthday.
As promised, here are some pictures from the big day. A requested a laid-back, no frills day of eating and hanging out. So we went for an early morning run, took a long mid-morning nap, chatted it up with family, and spent the day eating all his favorite foods: quinoa tabbouleh, Greek salad, homemade chocolate chip cookies, diet Coke with vanilla from Sonic, and carrot cake (from scratch!)

He got new running shirts, a gift card to get new prescription sunglasses (for our beach trip), and of course, the coolest present of all time: tickets to see Steve Martin play his banjo later this month!

So, Happy Birthday to Andrew! I'm already planning next year's celebration (it's the big 3-0!) I've got some fabulous ideas, I can't wait to share them. It's going to be great.

Happy Weekend:

Why is it that 4-day work weeks always seem to take forever? I thought the weekend would never get here.
It's the first weekend after the official kick-off to summer. What are you going to do with it? Andrew's birthday is Saturday so we'll be eating lots of good food and doing whatever he wants. Sounds wonderful. I can't wait.

And maybe next week I'll finally get to share what I got him for his birthday. Because it's kind of awesome and the secret has been driving me crazy!

Have a great one. XOXO.