Month June 2013

Before…

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Before Midnight:

I was so excited to learn that another Linklater movie was going to come out this summer… and it did not disappoint!

Cover of "Before Sunrise"

Cover of Before Sunrise

  • In 1995, “Before Sunrise” came out – a small independent movie about a couple who meet on a train and have one night in Vienna.
  • In 2004, “Before Sunset” came out – a small independent movie catching up with this same couple 9 years later.
  • And now, in 2013 “Before Midnight” is released.  The same couple, now in their very early 40s.

I won’t give any spoilers here (links below to many reviews – read at your own risk!), but will simply say that if you love movies with smart dialogue, romantic chemistry, beautiful European settings, and real-world conversations and relationship troubles, you should definitely see all of these movies.

I am thankful that I was able to borrow the first two movies and binge on them a bit before seeing the 3rd movie.  It was a great way to reacquaint myself with Jesse and Celine.  I plan to buy all three when they’re all out on DVD so that I can binge again!

I was listening to a podcast last night (Filmspotting) and they were wondering (as I was) if since the characters were approximately my age during all three of these movies if I have more of an affinity to love the movies.  I would love to have this discussion – if anyone else has seen them!  🙂

Before Summer Solstice:

  • I finished “Circle of Friends” by Maeve Binchy this morning.  It’s a re-read and I wondered if it would hold up as I’m not in my 20s anymore (like I was when I first read it) but it did.  She writes such great stories about great places with great characters.  Love it!
  • I will watch “Anna Karenina” with Cindy tomorrow – and can’t wait for the re-watch!  I’m sure there will be vodka and something sorta Russian to eat.  Love me a theme!
  • I had an impromptu game night last Saturday night!  Beth came for a planned girl’s night, and we stayed in and invited others over.  We played Loaded Questions and “What if…”  A great time!
  • I watched Trajan graduate from 8th grade – such a fun kid.
  • I celebrated Jenny’s birthday with her at Goonie’s and the Loop!  The comedians were fun – the raunchy one leading up to the cerebral one made for some big brain shifts!
  • I sang with Take Note! at our yearly spring concert, on Over the Back Fence, and during Art in the Park in Lanesboro!  Good stuff.  I think I finally have the songs committed to memory and now we won’t sing them again!
  • I listened to music outside during Harmony at Mayo on Monday 6/10.  Great band, great food and great company!
  • I chatted about “Little Wolves” with Sarah, Paul and Heidi.  What a delicious meal was prepared and enjoyed al fresco!  A beautiful summer evening…

Before the end of Quarter 3 (44 Things)

Here’s my list of 11 things for this quarter… how am I doing?  Have til the end of the month…

11 Things: 3rd Quarter: 

  1. Book Club – LOVE talking about books, whenever and wherever!  April 2 – with rum & Cokes, pizza burgers, and Mississippi Mud Cake!! May 27 – with hot turkey sandwiches we discussed The Accidental Tourist!  Good stuff!  Next one July 9!  
  2. Cosmo Girls – April brought green smoothies, chair massages, and henna!  May brought A Cosmo Girl Party to celebrate another year of fun! Next – organize for next year!  
  3. A Spring Break facial – and pedicure!
  4. Baseball games and softball games – hopefully in sunshine!
  5. THE GREAT GATSBY movie! Saw it once in the theatre – it was great!  
  6. Marissa’s graduation in May with a party to celebrate her Bachelor’s in Biology!  Taran’s graduation in June! Both parties were very fun!  Very proud of their accomplishments!  
  7. Take Note! spring concert – most likely in June! Done! A great concert followed by a get-together at Mom and Dad’s with s’mores around the campfire!  Perfect!  
  8. New walking shoes – so hopefully many walks! Knee feels better – still no power walks!  Just short ones and stretching!  
  9. Catch up on the TBR pile – as many as possible!  #1 Silver Linings Playbook!  #2 Elizabeth the First Wife #3 Little Wolves #4 Circle of Friends – the list is interminable!  Oh well!  
  10. June will bring Thursdays on First and Rochesterfest – outdoor food, music and fun!  And hopefully sunshine!  (Can you tell we’ve been without for too long?)  Spun through Thursdays last week and plan to go this week – on June 20!  
  11. Strike up a conversation with a stranger (NOT a patient!) weekly (?) and WRITE about it!  Woot!   Haven’t done this really!  What was I thinking?  Looking for a challenge, I guess.  I’m just enjoying getting to know my coworkers and planning things for my “circle of friends.”  🙂  

I suppose it’s time to think about my 4th Quarter list… hard to believe that I’m winding down my 44th year and really close to 45!  What will the theme of 45 be?

What do you have planned – Before Midnight?  Before the Summer Solstice?  Before the end of the month?

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Tequila Mockingbird

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tequila mockingbird

Tequila Mockingbird – a great gift book!

I found the best gift book for book loving people who also love a cocktail!  At this point, I can’t remember where I first heard about it – I’m sure one of the bookish newsletters that comes to my inbox weekly – but I know that I bought my first copy (and second copy) at the end of April.  I bought one for me, one for Sarah’s birthday.  I went back and bought two more, and have since bought three more.  Yes, I’m keeping B&N busy stocking this book on their shelves!

 

 

The book is filled with cocktail recipes with a “literary twist.”  Classic literature humorously turned into drinks – Gin Eyre, Gone with the Wine, Bridget Jone’s Daiquiri (classic? no, but classically funny).  The list goes on and on!  And the book also includes hor d’oerve ideas for book clubs and drinking games to play by yourself or with your book group (or in a library!).

 

 

Such a fun little treat of a book.  Love it!

Cocktail Glass (Martini): The traditional cock...

Cocktail Glass (Martini): The traditional cocktail glass has become synonymous with Martini cocktails, which are commonly served in this type of glassware. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Have any standard books you love to give as gifts to book-lovin’ friends?

 

 

 

 

 

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I Couldn’t Resist Temptation…

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I joined Audible.com today!

The last audiobook I reserved at the library turned out to be 30 hours long with 30 discs and a 2 week check-out time.  I brought it back without opening it, as I didn’t want to import all the discs and I knew I wouldn’t have time to get it done.  My TBR list never gets smaller, so I thought I could maybe knock off one book per month this way.  I miss listening to books, so it will now be more intentional!

First book I downloaded was the one I returned to the library – “11.22.63” by Stephen King!  I have heard good things about it, and so far so good!

Yay books!

 

Just read about "11/22/63" in Wired,...

Do you have favorite audiobooks?  It is audiobook month, after all – let’s discuss!

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What It Is…

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And another few weeks have flown by!

Here we are at another first – June 1st!  Love those firsts.
It’s a weekend off with no plans!
Here’s a recap of what’s been going on and what’s been making me happy:

UW-L graduation

  Somewhere in this crowd is a girl we know!

Graduation day at UW-LaCrosse was a great day!  Marissa wasn’t sure she wanted to walk through, but decided it would be good closure to her 2 years in LaCrosse.  Afterwards we took pictures down by the Mississippi and then went to one of her favorite after-class establishments – Howie’s Bar.  🙂

graduation

Smiles abound!

The next weekend (Memorial Day) we had a small family gathering to celebrate her accomplishments, and that was a fun day, as well!

godparents graduation party

Gathered with her Godparents

Silliness faces love

Silliness with the cousins! Love it 🙂

family photo

The family all together – we love to take these pictures!

So this summer will be filled with apartment and job searching for her – I’m sure I’ll be invited along to assist!  :

Can’t wait to watch her further adventures in education!

Bookish Stuff:

  • Had Preston book club for “The Accidental Tourist.”  Consensus was that we liked the book quite a bit, mainly it caused a lot of thinking!  Thinking is good!  Some of us related to the characters in the book more than others (I won’t name names).  It was a good discussion (mostly about the book), delicious dinner (not promptly at 5:30 but we had to make sure the Tots got browned!), and too many dessert choices!  A great time.
  • Next to read for Preston book club is “The Night Circus.”  I’m looking forward to reading it!  Oh, my TBR pile never goes down, just keeps getting bigger!
  • I just finished “Little Wolves” by Thomas Maltman, a Minnesota author.  It definitely set a mood, that book.  West-central Minnesota, in the late 1980s, a teacher who engages her students by teaching Beowolf and other early epic stories, and a mystery or two.  I can’t wait to discuss it with Paul and Heidi in a few weeks!
  • I couldn’t decide which book I would pick up next, but decided to read Rob Lowe‘s book, “Stories I Only Tell My Friends.”  It’s been highly recommended so I can’t wait to dive in!
  • I also am excited about reading “The Promise of Provence” by Patricia Sands!  I think that will be next, after Rob Lowe’s book. 🙂

Other Media:

Last week I had the pleasure of a two-movie-day.  Love when that happens!

  • First I saw “Mud” with Jenny.  I kept hearing that I needed to see this movie, and I am so glad that I did!  It was a nice story with incredible teen actors.  It felt a little like “Stand By Me” – a coming of age story, with a bit of intrigue and a lot of relationship building.  Good stuff.  And Matthew McConnaughy!
  • Then I saw the late showing of “Hangover III” with a bunch of random people.  There were many laughs, groans, and one time I gasped and jumped!  I saw the first in the theatre and the second at home, so this was better than the second but really more of the same.  But a good time.  And two-movie-days are always great!
  • On DVD I saw “Rust and Bone,” the French film which got some buzz at the Golden Globes. Kickboxing, killer whale trainer accidents, and poor parenting.  It was pretty good.  I was glad for the ending.  Not because it was over, but because it was a fitting ending.
  • I finally watched the finale to “Smash.”  There were tears, there were Broadway numbers, there was closure.  Ah, it was good.
  • I have been powering through past seasons of “Arrested Development.”  I know I’m late to the game, but it is fun to binge on it!  I’m well into season 2 now and enjoy all the episodes!  It is a smart show with truly abhorrent people in it!  How fun!
  • I have to plug Noisetrade again.  I love discovering new music this way and recently downloaded their 65 song summer sampler. How fun is that!  I have my iPad playing on random and just really enjoy all the stuff that is on it!  Of course there are over 3000 songs on there, so I will never hear them all but it’s nice to just be able to enjoy good music of all kinds!

And now I’m enjoying this weekend off.  No big plans, but just taking care of my house and hopefully seeing some friends!  What are you doing this early summer?