30 Rock:

Tonight is the series finale of 30 Rock. Seriously, series finale. And I am super depressed about it. That show has been a major staple in my life for the past 7 years. About 90% of my best jokes I stole from Liz Lemon. I'm not really sure how I'm going to function without it. I'm about to get a whole lot less funny, that's for sure. It's going to be rough.

MSN did a really great montage of all the best 30 Rock moments. Take a look here.

So, in the words of Tina Fey, "just tape the Big Bang Theory for once, for crying out loud!"

Watch it tonight at 7pm. And have some tissues nearby. Cause it's the end of an era, people.

Wizard of Oz:

Speaking of the Wicked Witch of the West, I just saw this preview for a new Oz movie entitled "Oz The Great and Powerful."



Looks good, doesn't it? Apparently, I'm a sucker for all things Wizard of Oz related.

New reads:

Now that I'm not on any self-imposed deadlines when it comes to reading books, I can really dig into the ones that have been sitting on the bookshelf, eagerly awaiting my attention. I scored an insane amount of books on the cheap at the last library book sale and have yet to read them all. So, this week I picked up Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and got to it. I didn't really know what this novel was about except, duh, that it's about the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz (which I love, although she scared the pants off me as a kid).

In college, an ex-boyfriend picked it up, attempted to read it, said it was crap, and I believed him. That was that. How stupid of me, really, to let a boy decide my opinion on anything, much less a book. So, I've decided to give it a real chance. I mean, really. There are so many positive reviews of this book out there and it has done extremely well, so it can't be total crap, right? Well, I take that back. Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey are both proof that crappy books can sell. But is it fair to put this book in the same category as those poorly-written examples? I couldn't say. I had never read it. So I decided to change that and once and for all see where I stand. I am a lover and frequent visitor of the Land of Oz, after all. Have been all my life. I should be one of the harshest critics, right?

So, here's the basic plot summary, if you're interested:

"When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?

Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil."

Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? I've only just started. The story is still getting set up for me. But I'm enjoying the opportunity to see this story, one that I know so well, from a completely new perspective.

Emerson Fry:

I have a well-documented love affair with Emerson Fry (see here and here) but as much as I've talked about, wished for, and lusted over the pieces in every single collection, I didn't own any. I've always had a hard time justifying paying that much for a single piece of clothing. I just could never seem to pull the trigger. Until now. I am now a proud card-carrying member of the Emerson Fry fan club. Remember my rant about the perfect skinny jeans yesterday? Well, with Emerson Fry, I have finally found the perfect pair of wide leg jeans as well. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the vintage highrise:

They're having a huge sale right now on their remaining inventory, in preparation of their 2013 Spring/Summer collection. So, that definitely swayed my decision. And while it's still more than I normally pay for a pair of jeans, after reading the book Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, I've made it a priority to make smart buying decisions and only purchase high-quality clothing made in the USA. Emerson Fry started out as one lady on a farm, making small quantities of clothing, and selling them online. Now, she's got a studio in NYC and the entire internet world is girl-crushing on her. But she still has a hand in the design and construction processes. And all her clothes are made in NYC, so I feel good about supporting her label. You should too.

In my denim dream world, I would own only two pairs of jeans: the world's-best skinny jeans (still yet to be determined) and these. They are that beautiful. And insanely flattering.

The Perfect Pair:

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I've been on a mission for a while now for the perfect pair of skinny jeans. Here are my qualifiers:

1. Must be dark rinse
2. No weird back pocket design
3. No whiskering, holes, or distressing of any kind
4. Just the right rise -- not too high or low
5. The legs have to be tight enough that I can easily slip into boots without any excess fabric causing bunching
6. The legs must not be too tight that it makes my hips look wider than they are (you know what I mean, we've all been there)
7. The fabric must be a thick, durable cotton -- I hate jeans with a lot of stretch -- they feel so thin and cheap
8. Inseam must not be too long -- I don't want to have to roll my pant legs up (but I will get them tailored)
9. So, to sum it all up, they must be completely flattering and well, perfect.

I tried a pair by blanknyc but I wasn't crazy about them. Something about the material just didn't do it for me. Too thin. I tried a few pairs from Gap and I liked the thickness of the denim, but I just couldn't find a fit that I liked. The super skinny jeans looked weird on me and the straight legs had just too much excess fabric happening in the leg area. Not working. I have a pair of J.Crew toothpick jeans in yellow and I like the fit of them so I decided to try a pair in a dark rinse. So, they're on their way. We'll see. 

I'm still on the hunt for that one amazing pair. I spend a lot of time in denim so I don't want to just feel "meh" about it, you know? I want to find one that really blows me away. One that I get excited about putting on in the morning. I know they're out there. We just haven't found each other yet.

Do you have a pair of jeans that you love? If so, I envy you. What brand are they? Any tips to help me with my search?

Happy Weekend:

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Happy Friday! Oh man, I love a short work week. Makes things so much more bearable, ya know? Here's a little of what we've been up to this week:

1. Enjoyed a day off from real life on Monday. So thankful for mini-vacations!
2. Had a tea date with a good friend and her kiddo
3. I joined a committee to help plan our high school reunion (Order, I know I've just surprised the hell out of you with that statement)
4. Had a taco and game night with one of my running buddies and her husband. Tillie came along to play with their puppy and they were thick as thieves the entire time
5. Got a new juicer. We've gone juice crazy!

Got any big plans? We've got another 10-mile run on Saturday and we're throwing ourselves the most major cleaning party there ever was. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

Hope your weekend is filled with more fun activities than ours. It'd be hard not to be.

Have a good one. XO.

Juicing:

I may be behind the times, but lately I've been on a juicing kick. And here's the thing: we didn't even have a juicer until recently. Very recently. Like, last week. I had never juiced anything in my life before last week. But I wanted to. So. Badly.

I've been reading all about juicers, juicing, juice recipes, and juice cleanses. I've done massive amounts of research. I am now an expert on juicing. A wealth of juicing knowledge. And I've officially jumped on the bandwagon.

We're vegetarians. So we have to work really hard to find sources for protein, iron, etc. And that usually requires a lot more food than if we weren't, because there isn't as much of all that stuff in veggies, ounce for ounce, as there is in meat. Sometimes I feel like all we do is eat (which I am totally okay with, don't misunderstand), but my stomach can only hold so much at any given time, you know? I've been looking for a way to be more efficient about our eating; to pack our diet with the most nutritional content possible. It's surprisingly hard to do. Real life: sometimes I don't want to eat a salad loaded down with 5-8 different kinds of vegetables and beans and then go for a run. Sometimes I want to eat half a pizza and watch a movie in bed. So, on those days, I'd feel a lot better about myself if I washed my pizza down with, say, a glass of homemade carrot, orange, and apple juice. Drinking my vegetables is a much more reasonable way to load up on vitamins, minerals, and other good stuff. And it's a great way to sneak in those vegetables that I'm just not crazy about (read: beets), despite their nutritional value.

So, juicing: it's happening. And I'm excited. Probably far too excited. We decided to go with the Omega 78006 Juicer. It's a masticating juicer, which after my research, I feel is the right decision for us. And bonus: it also makes pasta, grinds beans and flour, and has a homogenizer to make nut butters. Homemade peanut butter!

Do you juice? Everyone I know who started it has gotten really into it. And I think we will too. It seems like a really easy, natural transition for us to make.