Sunday Sunset #4

Listening To: Spotify.  I've been loving finding new and old songs to add to a few playlists.  I love the randomness of many of the playlists.  Currently I am working on a work out playlist.

Book finished: Thomas Paine, The Reader, One Day, Mansfield Park

Reading: Chicks Dig Time Lords

On the Nightstand: Matched, Crossed, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, 300, Cowboys and Aliens, Fables Vol. 17

On the Web: I found some great articles this week...

• Article about being on the cusp size wise.  I am so in this category...
• Rape article
• Great discussion on book blogging
• YA Book Exchange
• Choosing Your Wardrobe Colors
• Doctor Who funnies

Crafting: I went a bit crazy this week and crafted a ton of cards.  Instead of cluttering up this post, I made a separate post yesterday to show off my creations.  As to general crafting, we had our first Stampin' Up Club meeting this past Monday.  It's Sale-a-Bration, so of course I had to spend $50 to get my free product.  Here are my goodies:

• Versamark (for my new embossing heat tool)
• Pewter embossing powder
• Small butterfly punch (coordinates with both stamp sets
• Papillion Potpourri
• Bloomin Marvelous (Sale-a-Bration pick)
• Print Poetry DSP (lots of fun designs)

And of course I had some cute cards to show from Stamp Club and Card Class.

Watching: On TV, we've been continuing our Star Trek marathons (TOS S1 and TNG S1).  Separately, I've been watching Raising Hope on Netflix.  I started when the show first aired, but somehow stopped watching.  I went back and started at the beginning.  We also caught up with Modern Family, Parks and Rec, 30 Rock, and Castle.

As to movies, we started our New Movie February:

• One Day -- Awesome adaptation of a contemporary romance that broke my heart.
• My Future Boyfriend (NMF #1)
• Ip Man (NMF #2)

Wondering: Will I get any responses to my job applications I put in this week?

From Nature: It's light jacket and sweater weather.  I love the cooler temps, but still enjoy the almost daily sunshine.

Shopping Scores: Nothing major, but I did find my book club book for a good price.  All the local used book stores only had the new copy for $15.  I found a used one for $7.98 on Amazon.  Love it!  Of course, club isn't until the end of the month, so I have time to read.

Picture: Originally we were going to wine county today, but I have come down with some nasty stomach bug.  I don't think I could take the car ride, and definitely no wine today.  So no cute picture to add this week.

Sunday Sunset #3

This week has been ridiculously slow.  I went to the library (movies and returns only).  I visited the coffeehouse.  I helped out a friend with an event.  I applied to tons of jobs.  I just didn't have many set activities at all.  Plus, A Winter's Respite readathon did take up a bit of my time.

Listening To: Random playlists on Spotify and 8tracks.  Love the random sometimes.

Book finished: The Wedding Gift, A Foreign Affair, Persuasion, A Long Way Gone, The Reader

Reading: Thomas Paine by Craig Nelson

On the Nightstand: P.S. I Love You, Mansfield Park, One Day, Fantasy February books

MakingLists: Stampin' Up order for Stamp Club.  I'm aiming for $50 to receive a free item for Sale-a-Bration.  The hard part is paring it down to $50... so many fun objects to buy.

Crafting: Nothing that I created, but I did help out a friend teaching others to make cards.  And I did look at a ton of craft blogs to get some great ideas.

Watching: We finished The West Wing and I'm sad to see it end.  Such a great show.  We plan on watching The Newsroom as soon as we recover from The West Wing.  We've also continued our watching of Star Trek (past halfway of S1 of The Original Series and started S1 of The Next Generation).  I'm a bit disappoint that we haven't finished Stargate Universe, but we have almost a week before January ends.

From Nature: Beautiful 60 degree temps and sunshine.  Perfect conditions to watch outside.

Project: Prepping for Fantasy February and New-to-Me Movie February

Sunday Sunset #2

Listening To: Not much music being listening to this week.  Although I did have The Killers Battle Born on repeat...

Book finished: Almost America, The Passage

Reading: Nothing.  Gearing up for A Winter's Respite readathon

On the Nightstand: A Winter's Respite readathon TBR...

MakingLists: Potential movies and books for February. I'm doing Fantasy February, so I need to pull tons of fantasy books to choose from.  And, as a personal challenge, I'm watching one new-to-me movie each day of February.  To help accomplish this, I'm making a list of ~10 must watches.  Mostly these are movies from the server and on our DVD shelves that I've just not gotten around to.

From the kitchen: J's back at work after being so sick last week.  That means I'm back to making meals for one or at least making a meal and having tons of leftovers.  I haven't been too creative with my meals (mostly the standards), but I'm making plans to try something new next week.  Just have to pick it.

On the Web: I'm so far behind in my GoogleReader, but I"m still neglecting it.  Instead of following the blogs I usually follow, I've found myself being sucked into the black abyss of the internet searching for fun card making ideas.  I now have a ton of new bookmarks and at least 7 new blogs to follow.  Check out my "Crafting" section for some of the outcomes...

Crafting: I got a bit inspired and made a few cards.  I'm on a new plan to use my scraps before cutting up new 12x12 sheets.  Thankfully I found a ton of ideas to do just that.

I had a few scraps of this fun pink chandelier paper.  I paired it with scraps of polka dot ribbon, fabric flowers, and a cute little "congrats" stamp.

More fabric flowers and last of the polka dot ribbon, but with a hot pink zebra print background.  This would be a perfect birthday card for a pre-teen girl.

I experimented with double stamping with the background flowers.  I don't love the result, but it's nice.  I decided to add a tag with sentiment instead of adding a new stamp.

It's a bit hard to tell, but I stamped "dream" in silver behind the black to add some dimension.  I like the look and will definitely be playing with the idea more in the future.

I had a few pieces of this beautiful watercolor paper.  It was so pretty that I didn't really want to use it, but i just had to.  One of these "hope" cards is going to a my mom's friend who's dealing with a cancer diagnosis.  I think the soft colors add a soothing presence to these cards.

Watching: We're into the last season of The West Wing and trying to finish the last season of Stargate Universe.  Those are my two must finishs by the end of January.  Beyond that, I finished Lie to Me and S1 of Legend of the Seeker (love me some cheese).  I imagine February's television series watching will be low do to my movie watching plans.  We'll probably just be catching up on our currently airing shows.  But I would really love to finish Legend of the Seeker next month.

Wondering: Where's a good dim sum place not in San Francisco?  I only know of places in the city, but don't really want to travel 45 minutes for a good meal.  There has to be places somewhere in South Bay.

From Nature: Gorgeous temps and sunshine.  Helped me get out and walk instead of staying in and lounging.

Project: Job searching.  No one hires over the holidays, so I didn't get anywhere the past month.  Hopefully January-February has much better results.  The problem is that I don't have a set idea of what job I'm looking for.  Basically anything I qualify for that looks at all interesting, I apply.

Picture: Yummy dinner at The Fish Market.  I actually got a pic of J!  Amazing!

Sunday Sunset #1

This is my weekly wrap-up post for life and bookish concerns.  After a few weeks on vacation back in Indiana, I'm back in California and looking forward to getting back to a good routine of blogging.

Listening To: I snapped up a few discounted albums on iTunes right after Christmas.  Lady Antebellum "Own the Night,"  The Killers "Battle Born," and The Avett Brothers "The Carpenter."  Basically those have been on heavy rotation.  Plus, I've been listening to huge iTunes shuffle during traveling (over 5000 songs).

Book finished: Change of Fortune, Wanted, Chicken with Plums, Locke and Key Vol. 1, Locke and Key Vol. 2, Locke and Key Vol. 3, Locke and Key Vol. 4, Game of Thrones, Beauty and the Bitch, Good Omens, Ill Wind, Heat Stroke, and Chill Factor.  It was a good two weeks with 13 books read!

Reading: Chill Factor by Rachel Caine

On the Nightstand: The Passage by Justin Cronin, Chicks Dig Time Lords, Persuasion and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Anderson

MakingLists: I've got a few lists ready to be made...

• Grocery List -- I came home to a house with no food.  So of course, I needed to make a kicking grocery list
• Winter's Respite TBR -- it's coming soon, January 21-27.
• Fantasy February TBR -- I joined Fantasy February, committing myself to read all fantasy for a month.  I'm excited!  My only exception is the month's book club selection (it probably won't be fantasy).

Around the house: I came home to a sick J.  So, it's been not so fun around here.  No sleep, germs everywhere...

From the kitchen: We haven't really left the house, so I've had to actually cook dinner the past few days.  I made an awesome pot of chicken and noodles with enough left over to freeze for later.  Yummy!  But nothing else exciting.

Crafting: Nothing, but I did make sure to stop by and snap up items from Stampin' Up's clearance racks.  And I made sure to hit Hobby Lobby while in Indiana.  Next week, I'm back to crafting classes and get togethers.  Looking forward to it!

Watching: While in Indiana, I didn't watch much (lots of sports in the house).  I got in the Doctor Who Christmas special, Mockingbird Lane (I missed it during Halloween), and S1 of American Horror Story (oh no they didn't!).  Since getting back, we've caught up on our currently airing shows, S6 of The West Wing, S1 of Star Trek, and S3 of Lie to Me.

Wondering: How many books will I be able to read this year?  I'm hoping for at least 175 books.

From Nature: It feels great being back to the West Coast with decent temps (50s - low 60s) instead of the frigid Midwest.  I think I'll stay here awhile.

Project: I'm getting my blog and reading plan under control.  I've started using Evernote to organize my monthly blog posts.  And I'm loving it!  Plus, I'm planning the rest of my 2013 Must Reads.