Three Things Thursday :: Bose SoundLink Mini, Netflix and Jackaby

I didn't think I had three things to talk about for this post and truthfully it's been hard coming up with three.  I've made a commitment to get my finances under control this year and I made a budget for myself, which has really helped me see how much money I don't have and how it's unacceptable for me to let my mom buy the groceries this week because I can't afford it.  I have plenty of things to entertain me and I have enough clothes to cover me.  I budgeted in buying some clothes only once a quarter (so March, June, September and December) and for two months I haven't bought anything online that wasn't for:  a) someone's birthday, b) seeds for the garden or c) already on a revolving charge.  And honestly I've felt really good.  I feel more content and less anger or guilt over spending money I don't have.  So coming up with three things for this post was hard, but I managed.  The first was an early birthday present from Mom, the Bose Soundlink Mini.

I had been eyeing a bluetooth speaker and truthfully I wanted one of these cute little speakers, but they are only available in England.  Le sigh.  The curse of reading magazines from the UK is that you can't buy what they advertise.  So I did some research and was going to buy a cheaper bluetooth speaker off of Amazon but then I went to Costco.  Curse you Costco and your amazing ability to hear a speaker before you buy it!  I stood there in front of the Soundlink listening to song after song and then Mom came back and found me and I stood her in front of the speaker and we were both smitten. I tried to logic myself away from it.  But then Mom said she had no idea what to get me for my birthday coming in March and I said that speaker would be enough.  Besides it was $40 cheaper at Costco than Amazon, so really I was saving her money.  ;)

So what better place to try it out than while relaxing in the tub?  And what better way to use it than to stream The Great British Baking Show on Netflix?

I have been paying for Netflix and not using it for a long time now.  I'd just let it hit my credit card every month and then use it once a year.  But recently I was told that season one of GBBS was on Netflix and I've been using it more than ever!  I found TV shows that I love and haven't gotten to see all the seasons and movies that I ACTUALLY want to see.  I'm really happy and surprised with Netflix's offerings and maybe I'll try getting my moneys worth out of my subscription.  Back to the idea of "be happy with what you have."

So my last thing is the book I'm currently working on, Jackaby.  I picked it up at Inklings, our local bookstore, on one of their 20% off Saturdays.  At the end of the synopsis on the inside cover it said "Doctor Who meets Sherlock" and I was sold.  It's a great quick read and reads really easily.  If you like a mystery novel with a bit of the mystical thrown in, this book is for you.

Three Things Thursday :: Stress Reliving Coloring, Aggie's Candles and The Great British Baking Show

Back in July I had a really bad day at work.  REALLY bad.  I'm not one to air dirty laundry online and I'm not starting now, but let me assure you it was the worst day I've ever had.  With some distance came perspective and the narrowing down to the root cause of the trouble.  Stress.  I am a microbiologist in a hospital laboratory and I like to call what I do a "highly technical McDonalds".  The order comes in from the customer (doctor/patient), we interpret the order and perform the test requested as quickly as humanly possible and we have to get the correct result every time.  So you can see how stressful it can be when the doctor puts in orders for "PCR".  What do you want the PCR for?  On what type of specimen?  No it's not like TV, it's going to take a week for the result to come back.  It's like ordering a "burger" at McDonalds.  Big Mac?  Quarter pounder with cheese?  Bacon Clubhouse burger?  Or maybe a McRib?  Managing my stress has become a major part of living my life outside of work to any degree of satisfaction.  So I knit.  I garden.  I make cupcakes.  And now, I color.

I had heard rumors of these adult coloring books, but it wasn't until I went to Medford and colored with Emily (in a regular coloring book) that I realized how relaxing it was.  So off to Amazon I went and found a plethora of amazing adult coloring books.  Ones with intricate designs made for de-stressing, ones with gardens, snowflake mandalas and tartans, dragons and sea creatures, even nordic and celtic designs.  Some of them haven't even been released yet so apparently this is a newly catching fad?  I also needed a premium set of colored pencils to go with it all.  I mean, when did you ever not want a new set of crayons as a kid?  I ended up with this Prismacolor set, though it did set me back a bit more than a classic set of Crayolas would have.


Continuing with the stress relief, I found a new line of candles that I love!  Aggie's hand-poured candles!

The first one I picked up at a garden store and then they had more at Sesame + Lilies when I was in Cannon Beach.  The candles are made in Union, Oregon and they use all natural soy wax.  The scents are to die for and the candles last a long time.  My favorites have been Pink Grapefruit, Lemon Verbena and Heirloom Apple.  The apple one would go great with a pumpkin spice to get you ready for those cool fall evenings you know are coming...


And lastly, The Great British Baking Show!

I saw one episode last year when we were in London and it is so good!  (And called The Great British Bake-off across the pond.)  I know it seems like one baking show would be like another, but it just so much classier than our American versions are.  They show the failures and successes equally and there is no aggressive back-biting between the contestants.  Quite to the opposite actually, you see them helping one another at times and then hugging it out at the end when one of them has to go home.  It shows on PBS at 7 PM on Sunday for us.  And heck if I don't want to learn how to make the perfect sponge after watching week 1!  Mom thought the same thing and armed with the book I picked up in Medford she made up some mini carrot cakes and chocolate hazelnut cakes.

We had them with tea, of course.  Delicious!

Three Things Thursday :: Florence + The Machine, Anthropologie Homewares and Poldark

When Mom had her retirement party earlier this year we sat down together to make a playlist that would be running in the background during the party.  I wanted music that she liked and was from her era, so we went through a bunch of 60s and 70s music and made a rocking playlist on Spotify.  The album artwork is always shown and I could pick out a lot of the songs she'd like just based on that because I remember playing the records when I was young.  This made me think deeply about the fact that a lot of my music is now on iTunes or Spotify and I don't often buy real CDs anymore.  What are my kids going to play on the stereo when they are young?  Music only from my teenage years when CDs were the only way to get music besides taping the songs off the radio?  I don't think I want them to judge me based on the music I was into then alone.  So I decided recently to start buying more of the music that I really love now, on CDs.  I've listened to The Killers for years and there is always at least one of their songs on any playlist I make, so I bought all of the albums they've released.  Most of them were really cheap because they are older now and it was nice to pop a CD in and listen to every song on there.  I've found some new ones for me that didn't get released to the radio which was like opening a grab bag and getting something you really wanted!  I also ended up purchasing the newest albums by Mumford and Sons (which was only okay, I'm sorry to say) and Florence + The Machine.

Wow!  I really don't think that Florence can honestly do any wrong.  This album, How Big How Blue How Beautiful, as with all of her previous ones, is fantastic and beautiful.  There are songs that make you feel light-hearted and songs that make you want to cry.  The backup vocals are inspiring and there are certain songs that will get stuck in your head.  And it's one of those albums that you'll put in your car and not notice that you've listened to it five times in a row until you're singing along with all the songs.  Best album this summer I would have to say!

My newest weakness is Anthropologie.  Not the clothes or accessories, but their homewares.  Seriously just go to the website and hover over House & Home and then click on Kitchen & Dining and behold the majesty.  I love scrolling through the new-vintage items they have.  Some of them are too high priced for me or not functional enough for the price, but others are amazing and beautiful for what they cost.  My two favorite things have been their Latte Bowls (above), which you can get in a set of four of one color or in this beautiful set of mixed colors, and the Seaside Juice Glasses (below).

I got those in the teal and dark blue and though they are smaller than a regular sized glass, they are great for juices in pitchers or water out of one of these cafe water carafes (which personally I think makes it taste better).  I got my carafe for cheap from Craft Warehouse.

And lastly a new Masterpiece series on PBS for all of you to get into, Poldark.  We all know that Downton Abbey will be showing it's last season this next year and we will need something to fill that English manor sized hole left in our hearts.  Poldark is a period piece drama with plenty of intrigue and romance and characters that you get emotionally attached to.  Mom bought the first season on DVD on a whim and we were addicted pretty quickly.  It was a hurry-up-and-finish-what-we-need-to-do-so-we-can-watch-Poldark kind of week.  I'd thought that it was a stand alone mini-series and I wasn't sure how they were going to be able to clean up all the drama they'd been building up all the way through in just one episode.  Ending with a cliff hanger I jumped on Google to make sure that there was going to be a season two.  Hooray!  And now there's another series to wait for...

Three Things Thursday :: Hand Carved Spoons, Mystery Knit Alongs, and Free At Home Try-on Glasses

Wow.  That title is loooooooong.  But I can't help that the three things I'm into right now are wordy.  So let's get started because there are a lot of words to describe them!

Hand Carved Spoons.  Three promising words.  The idealist side of me sees a crackling fire on a cool night out in the woods, carving a recently split piece of wood with knives and spoon carving tools.  I'm wearing a hat I knitted, of course, and the shaving are piling up at my feet.  S'mores are being made and a few beers are probably being drunk around the fire after a long day.  The sky is blue twilight with a few stars starting to wink in the navy darkness to the east.  The woods are dark around the fire and the windows of the cabin are warm and cheery from the Coleman lantern shining inside.  We are laughing and talking and when a conversation dies down you can hear the birds call to each other as they nestle down for the night.  Le sigh.

From hatchetandbear.com - hatchetandbear on Instagram

I recently saw an article in Country Living about a woman in Frome, England that hand carves wooden spoons and I got excited.  You can go see her website and business called Hatchet + Bear here.  Trust me, it's awesome.  I'm sure anything I carve will look nothing like her amazing stuff, but it sure sounds like a fun thing to do while out camping.  And you all know how much I love a new craft.  The challenge of getting it to look like what I see in my head.  The thrill of new tools and a new project.  The excitement at getting good at creating (eventually).  So I threw myself into research on the best tools and where I could get them and loaded up an Amazon cart with all the goodies I want need for this new endeavor.  Christmas present anyone?



The next three most amazing words you can put together?  Mystery Knit Along.  Or KALs for those in the know.  Usually you choose a pattern based on what you see of the final project, but the mystery part is you don't know what the project is going to look like.  So you just knit along, following the clues they release and get to be surprised by how it turns out.  I've seen a few of these on Ravelry and they're usually associated with a show or other fandom of geeky goodness.  Since I've been obsessed with Outlander as of late, it should be no surprise that I joined the Mystery KAL for the second half of the season of Outlander.  How could I not?!  They had a special color-way of yarn called Craigh na Dun for heavens sake!  My yarn was delayed a bit and I started watching the pictures show up from those that had already started their projects.  I ended up not liking the variegated color-way of Craigh na Dun with the pattern as it progressed.  There are lots of beautiful cables and they were lost in the mass of colors.  I saw one project where the person used a yarn that was mainly a single color with lighter and darker areas and I loved it!  So I bought some more yarn (you can never have enough yarn) and started my project.

I really love not knowing what's coming next with the clues!  It really makes me want work on the project more than usual because it's like reading a really good book.  What's going to happen next?  Ooooo another cable!!  I'm really loving what's coming off the needles.  The cable along the edge is so pretty!  I just can't say enough about this project and I have the perfect shawl pin to wear it with when it's done.

And lastly, FREE at home try-on glasses!  I went to the eye doctor for my yearly exam and I ended up getting a new pair of glasses (which I'm still waiting for) and I liked them....but.  I really wanted a trendy pair of glasses that didn't have nose pieces.  My eyes get pretty dry when my allergies flair up and I'd like to have a pair of glasses to wear to work that not only make me look smart but also ones that I can slide up and look through a microscope and then pull back down without the nose pieces catching in my hair.  So thanks to ads on the side of my Facebook newsfeed I saw a website that sells the kind of glasses I'm looking for called Warby Parker.  They'll send you 5 pairs of glasses for 5 days for free!  You can wear them around all day, take pictures and post them to get opinions and just really try them out for longer than you can at the eye doctor!  I got five that I thought would look good but found out that I really didn't look good in the larger frames.  So I sent those back and got another 5.  I think I've picked my favorite but I'm putting it up to the vote!  So what do you think?

1 - Mitchell

2 - Hardy

3 - Wilkie

Leave me a comment (here or on Facebook)!  I want some constructive criticism!  Or do they all look the same?

Three Things Thursday :: Outlander, Soy Candles and Interstellar

I'm getting back into the swing of blogging again and on the way home today I remembered it was Thursday and I am currently obsessing over a few things....okay just one thing really, but it is THREE  Things Thursday so I had to come up with another two.

So my big obsession right now...Outlander.  I may be a bit late to the game but I fell HARD.  It had been recommended a couple of times to me and I'd read what it was about and found it intriguing.  At Mom's retirement party a good source said that she has read the books multiple times.  Her husband admitted that she reads them from the first to the last when a new book comes out.  That is Harry-Potter-level devotion and I respect that and it tells me these must be pretty good.  So this weekend Mom and I bought just one episode of the show on our Apple TV...and then we bought the whole season...and binged watched it in a couple of days.  I had bought mom the first book and she graciously put it in the bathroom where I could read it too.  I'd read ahead and then reread what we just watched and she told me I could take it and read it but I refuse to.  As long as it stays in the bathroom I'm not really "reading" it and I really need to finish up one or two of these books that my Goodreads says I'm reading.  I bought it on my Kindle so that when I do finish one of these books we can be reading at the same time.  And did I tell you that there are EIGHT books already.  Omigosh it's like getting the entire Harry Potter series at once.  I'm pretty sure I would have had some serious eye strain if I'd had all of those at once.  I've also downloaded the soundtrack (because it's AHmazing) on Spotify and have been listening to it constantly when I'm driving this whole week.  But wait there's more!  What we saw was only the first HALF of the season and more episodes will be coming out in April!!  **Squeals and screaming and jumping up and down**  I love getting fully obsessed with things every now and then.  :)

Now to flesh this out with something other than Outlander...soy candles!  I really enjoy going down the candle aisle in Target and finding something new that smells good.  I found these candles there and the scents work together so well and are light and not too fake smelling.  They really fill up the living room with lovely spring-y scents and are pretty too.  Do it.  Go to Target and let your nose lead the way.

And now for something that isn't available on Blu-Ray YET but will be in 19 short days...Interstellar!  I've already pre-ordered mine.  Tell me you don't want to sit and watch this about 50 times in a row until your brain is so full of mind bending physics that you feel like you've been working on a PhD!  I might even have to put Outlander on hold to obsess over this for a while.  ;)

Three Things Thursday :: The Girl on The Train, British Magazines and Americanos

It's been a while since I've posted about what I'm loving right now so here they are!

The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins

I start this book on February 6th and I'm already halfway through it.  Dang those free Kindle samples from Amazon!  I saw a review about it in my Entertainment Weekly and it sounded like a good read, especially since it was about a girl who rides the train into London and watches the goings on of people in the houses that have gardens against the tracks.  I could immediately see those houses in my mind because I enjoyed looking into those same gardens on our rides on the train when we were there.  I admit that I have crytoscopophilia (cry-toe-sco-po-feel-e-ah), as do many people.  Crytoscopophilia is a word brought to me by the Yarn Harlot from her book All Wound Up and it is the urge to look into people's windows as you pass.  As she says, this doesn't make you a stalker because the "as you pass" part is what separates you.  Ultimately it is the enjoyment of getting a snapshot of someone's life, as you would from a picture.  People making dinner, watching TV, playing with their kids or even knitting, drinking coffee on a patio or hanging laundry out to dry.  When we were in England I loved seeing the little garden room additions or the laundry strung from one side of the garden to the other.  I liked seeing the uniquely British part of their lives and the other things that were common to us all.  So this book intrigued me deeply and in the first few chapters I was sucked in and bought it.  It is also a thriller as one day she see's a woman that she watches kissing a man who isn't her husband.  A woman who ultimately goes missing.  Where is she?  If she's dead who killed her?  Who knows what's going on and who doesn't?  I like that the author displays life with all it's intricacies; where we look at someone else's life from the outside and see it as perfect but then we get to see the inside and real goings on.  The main character is a very fractured person and rather than identifying with her I feel almost protective of her.  While everyone's life in the novel isn't perfect why has she been dealt the worst hand?  I want her to find victory and happiness, to overcome her drinking and bad choices and be able to pull her life together.  But I don't know yet if she's involved somehow...

Country Living UK and Country Homes and Interiors

Oh my British magazines how I love thee!  Luckily enough I have found that our local bookstore, Inklings, carries these and I frequent it monthly for my editions.  I tried to have it delivered to our house, but it was only available in a tablet edition and there is just something about having a real magazine that makes it better.  I'm sure you've seen these in my pictures recently as I've been obsessed for a while.  I love reading them bit by bit and seeing what sorts of British style I can incorporate into my house.  You are all aware of my love of tea and the Anglophile that I've become, so none of this should be a surprise.  But really you should grab one!  They are so quaint!

Americano

At Christmas time I was drinking Cinnamon Lattes but then I found a drink that was the best tasting low calorie espresso around...the Americano!  Now I will admit that I am not fluent in the language of espresso drinks and I didn't know what exactly the difference was between them.  An Americano is shots of coffee in hot water rather than milk.  How is this different from brewed coffee you ask?  Well it is much more smooth and can be stronger than brewed coffee based on the number of shots you get in it.  I like to add one more shot than they usually put in whatever size I order and I add Splenda and a splash of cream.  And I'll admit the best Americanos I get are at work.  I typically only get a tall but with two shots.  They use Lincoln Ave Espresso coffee and it is soooooo gooooooood.  My current weakness for sure.  So much so that I've been researching small home espresso makers but I keep chickening out.  I think I'll let the experts handle this and just keep forking over the $2.50.  ;)

Three Things Thursday :: Christmas Spirit Edition

So at the moment I am feeling the Christmas vibe and I'd just like to share what I'm loving right now.

The first thing you need to get you in the Christmas spirit is music of course!  The CD that I've been putting on repeat lately is Michael Buble's Christmas album.  I really love the classic sound of his voice and all the songs are catchy and feel like they are made new.  Now that doesn't mean I'm cheating on Josh Groban, for all of you keeping track.  I'm still listening to him just mixing it up a bit.  Well, maybe that is the definition of cheating.

Next on the list would be some lovely candles!  Darn you Target and the fact that you carry Yankee Candles!  It started with a tri-layer candle this autumn and then on Black Friday we were there and the Christmas candles were on sale.  I also got a coupon from Yankee that got me two candles free if I bought two at regular price.  Target was on the list that wouldn't honor the coupon, so I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and got myself four more candles!  So on my coffee table are six candles that are making the house smell like a cinnamon-mistletoe-snow-berry-vanilla-cranberry wonderland.  :)

And then to finish the list is twinkle lights!  EVERYWHERE!  On trees, on swags, up the walk, across the mantle of the TV stand...which is my current favorite.  I got some tiny fairy lights at Craft Warehouse and they are so pretty in the swag above the TV.  They sparkle in sequence and make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside as you watch them instead of the television.  Which is where I am right now watching The Holiday.  Hope your pre-Christmas festivities are making you feel jolly too!

Three Things Thursdays :: Fire Within, Cinnamon Lattes and Spotify

Another idea I had in my blog organization was to have a recurring post that shares what I'm into at the time.  In my perusal of my other favorite blogs (especially Cider with Rosie) I've enjoyed when they share what they are listening to, what it trending in fashion or even what espresso they can't get enough of.  So in a tip of my hat to those posts I'm starting my own.  Here the first one...

1.  Listening to Birdy's Fire Within album on repeat in my car.  The first song I heard from Birdy was Skinny Love and it just came up on an iTunes radio station I was listening to.  After getting that song I listened to the others that were on the album and decided that it was good enough to buy the whole thing!  I hardly ever do that anymore!

2.  Cinnamon dolce lattes from Starbucks.  I'm trying to cut back on calories again and lattes are comparatively low calorie in Starbucks-ville.  (Nothing except water, unsweetened tea or plain brewed coffee is truly LOW.)  It's definitely better than the Peppermint Mochas I've chosen in the past.  The cinnamon flavor also gives me that holiday vibe without overdoing it.

3.  Recently the radio station I played most often at work changed from "80s, 90s and Today" music to rock.  Now I'm not saying that rock is bad music but we already have a rock station in town why did they have to take away the only easy listening station so they could have two rock stations?  So now I can choose between country (something I only listen to occasionally), popular (aka - the same 5 songs all day) or the aforementioned rock.  What I ended up doing instead was to use my semi-competent hacking skills to stream Spotify on my computer and play it through our stereo.  This is a bigger accomplishment than you might think because where I work the internet is regulated and most entertainment sites are blocked.  So now we get to enjoy better music than we had before!  And I'm loving the playlists that Spotify brings up for me to try.  I've found some new music that I probably never would have come across!  And then there's days like today where you just want some ambient background noise without words.  Much better than that ole scratchy radio!