Weekly favorites 2

It's officially mid-March which officially means that I've survived yet another e-n-d-l-e-s-s Minnesota winter and can see the light gleaming and beckoning to me from the end of the tunnel! I know you're taunting me, light, because you know that we will surely get at least one more snow, but still, I see you and refuse to take my eyes off you for the next 3 weeks.
Mid-March also means we're one week closer to Spring Break which makes me dizzy with happiness despite the fact that I will now need to break out the self-tanner (which I loathe - but more on that later) and desperately need to give myself get a pedicure.

While I'm keeping my eye on that light, here are this week's favorites:


1. Catching Fire -

Refer to last week's favorite list and my newfound obsession with The Hunger Games. I stayed up way past my bedtime this week and devoured the second book in the series, grabbed the People Magazine Special Edition (and threatened my kids with attack by tracker jackers if they dared to bend the pages when they read it), got the family advance tickets to the movie next weekend and watched the live E! coverage of the premiere. Any guesses to what might be an entry in next week's list?

2. Mini Robin's eggs-

One little egg is all it takes for my taste buds to take me back to my childhood Easters.  These were always my favorite treat to find in my Easter basket (even the year-old ones with the plastic Easter grass stuck to them).  And these handy little cartons are perfect to keep in the car.  And in your purse.  And in your nightstand drawer.

3. L'Oreal Sublime Bronze self-tanner-

Because my skin tone is almost identical to the underbelly of a frog, and since I'm on a first name basis with my dermatologist who at this point takes an alarming amount of pleasure at cutting, punching and burning my freckles off one by one by one, self-tanner is an unfortunate necessity for me.  I hate the toxic/ burned brown sugar aroma of 99% of self-tanners and have spent way too much $$ experimenting with both drugstore and department store brands.  This one is a new formula this year (I know this because I see the word NEW right there on the tube, which my still full tube from last year does not have, which just means I've fallen for L'Oreal's plan to gouge me for another $8), and despite giving me a faint Edward Cullen glimmer, the smell is not horrible (not great, but 'not horrible' is a a step in the right direction) and has yet to show orange streaks or make it appear that I'm covered in random bruises, which is always a plus.

4. This cute pillow I'm crocheting -

Crochet - another blog topic for another time. And let's just put it out there - I know what some of you may be thinking about the fact that I crochet and all the cliches that go along with it and I do not care. I have a darling rainbow pillow and you do not. (But if you want one I'd totally make one for you).

5.  Springtime weather in March -
Our typically brutal and bitterly cold Minnesota winter has been downright pleasant this year which has made living here just a little more bearable (but makes me want to move even more. Ironic, I realize). We've only had 3, maybe 4 snowfalls and I can count on one hand the # of days the high temps were in the single digits or below zero, which is unheard of up here in the frozen north. Being someone who hates the winters in MN and feels that the months of January and February are akin to spending 2 months exiled to an iceberg surrounded by hungry polar bears and angry eskimos wielding spears, it's safe to say I've spent some time this winter doing my happy dance.

which leads me to...

5a. Yard work -

No one is more surprised than me to see those 2 words included in a favorites list that I have authored, but this week it's true. With the unseasonably warm weather and sunshine and record high temps we decided it was high time to take down the Christmas lights (you're welcome, neighbors) and cut back scalp all the perennial beds around the house.  Let the record show that I loved every awful minute of it (because it is almost certain to be the last time I feel that way or say that this year).

6.  Coke Icees from Sam's Club -

I'll admit to being a Costco snob but Sam's Icees are like drinking Coke flavored velvet.  Honestly, since I get all my other gigantic sized products + other crap I do not need from Costco, the only reason I renew my Sam's membership every year is for the great photo printing and for these ICEES.

7. I'd like to say that The Bachelor Finale was a favorite this week, but I'd be a big liar. It sucked. The whole season was a slowly escalating train-wreck that became even more of a life-drainer when he (surprise) picked Courtney.  I personally blame Ben for robbing me of about 30 hours of my life by acting like a fly buzzing toward the electric light for 14 weeks. And for having ugly hair. It pains my Bachelor-lovin' heart to admit that it was a hard season to watch.  But of course I did. Of course I did.

*My husband  would like to go on record by saying that Courtney is misunderstood (translation - hot), we are all haters (because she's hot), and she seems truly sorry (so so hot).

*I'd like to go on record by saying Bitch got what was coming to her.

*My 16 year old daughter would like to go on record by saying that Ben is an Ass-hat.

8. Jodi Picoult -
One of my favorite authors for about 13 years. The first book I ever read of hers continues to be one of my favorites (photo below), but there are many others.

The tragic tale of a murder (or suicide?!?) and young love gone wrong. So wrong. Sounds fabulous, doesn't it?

There are definitely some of her books that I've not really cared for, or as in the case of the endings of  My Sister's Keeper and Handle with Care have made me mad as all Hell.  But even so, I still anxiously await early March every year for her newest release.  I saw Jodi speak for the 3rd time last week about her new book, which, like so many of her others is about the controversy and moral dilemma over a medical ailment/wrongful accusation of murder/right to terminate life/social injustice + someone (often a child) dying. Uplifting, wonderful escapes, these Jodi Picoult books. But she's lovely and funny and interesting and has fabulous hair.

9. Backyard Bonfire -
Haven't actually had this yet - it's the plan for tonight - but sitting out back in the cool night air with my favorite people, some marshmallows and a bottle of wine definitely makes the list. 

Enjoy your weekend!