What I'm Into: Early August Edition

Inspired by Leigh Kramer, I thought I'd tell you what I'm into this month!

Reading

My obsession with Deborah Crombie's books continues. I sped through Now May You Weep  on audio - ten discs in 3 days! And, the next two books in the series just came in for me at the library. Hooray! I'm also reading Bones, Blood, and Butter , thanks to Nikki's recommendation, and Anne from Modern Mrs. Darcy and I are doing a synchro-read of Tana French's Broken Harbor.

Noel and I on our anniversary date

Movies

Noel and I went to see The Dark Knight Rises on our anniversary getaway, and I quite enjoyed it. We went to Studio Movie Grill in Scottsdale, which I find a pretty genius concept (you get to eat dinner while watching the film!). I'm also excited for The Bourne Legacy in a few weeks. And Eleanor and I have watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse's Choo-Choo Express about 17 times.

Music

I'm pretty boring on the music front. I listen to mostly country, Christian, and classical. I've been rediscovering my love for Grieg lately, and Eleanor and I have been having spontaneous dance parties to the local classical station. But last week a friend introduced me to Sarah Jarosz, who does a sort of bluegrass-Celtic fusion that I find really appealing. I've been watching lots of her videos on YouTube.

TV

I have watched more tv in the last week and a half than in the last 3 months before that. I've pretty much just had NBC on all day every day. The problem is that if you turn off the tv, it takes a solid 10 minutes to get the picture back again when you turn it back on (dumb rabbit ears), so I just tune it once in the morning, and leave it on. So in addition to the Olympic coverage, I've also been watching the Today show, and local news, which I haven't done since Eleanor was teensy, and I used to nurse her to the 6am news before we headed off to work.

Once the Olympics are over Noel and I are planning to re-watch Battlestar Galactica, since it's been a few years. And then I can't wait till the fall when Modern Family and Fringe and Castle will come back!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Food

I can't get enough of this brown butter and mint corn. I've been making it probably twice a week. And, I officially like tomatoes now! So we've had BLTs, veggie burritos, salads, hamburgers, all with tomatoes on them. Noel's quite happy about this development.

I've also perfected my chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe. We've had some sad news lately, both in the family and among friends, and baking and cooking are my therapy. The ritual of the process calms my brain, plus I figure when people are sick or grieving, homemade meals are always welcome.

Family

Eleanor and her cousin Anna

Speaking of family, my cousin Hannah was in town from England for a few weeks, so we spent a lot of time with her. We've also been enjoying hanging out with my sister's family since they moved back from North Carolina. We've had tons of family get-togethers in the last month.

Home

Most of July was No Spend Month for us (I always participate in Rachel's NSM every year). But then we rounded out the month by buying a house! So most of the month Eleanor and I stayed home a lot, to avoid spending too much. But now my brain is full of schemes and plans for the new house - even though we still have a month or two till escrow closes. Pinterest is dangerous when planning for a new house, let me tell you! We're really excited about the change though, and we're going to have a backyard! Eleanor hasn't quite gotten the concept yet, but I think she's going to be thrilled.

What are YOU into lately?