Book Club June 2013

It's June so that means this is my half yearly book update. I keep track of all the books I read, and halfway through the year like to take a look back and reflect on the ones I've gone through. This year I've re-read some books from years past (Harry Potter & Bryson). Currently I'm making my way through Anna Karenina; it. is. long. Next up on my list will be Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn.

1. The Casual Vacancy - J K Rowling
2. Harry potter and the order of the Phoenix - JK Rowling
3. Escape from camp 14 - Blaine Harden
4. Harry Potter and the half blood prince - JK Rowling
5. Harry Potter and the deathly hallows - JK Rowling
6. The book of Jonas - Stephen Dau
7. Bébé Day by Day - Pamela Druckerman
8. Soloman’s Oak - Jo-Ann Mapson
9. I cannot tell a lie exactly - Mary Ladd Gavell
10. One Click - Jeff Bazos
11. A short history of nearly everything - Bill Bryson
12. The happiness project - Gretchen Rubin
13. Let’s explore diabetes with owls - David Sedaris
14. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

quick recommendations?

good: Let's explore diabetes with owls & The happiness project
pass: the casual vacancy & I canot tell a lie exactly

for pass lists:
2012
2011

New York

Last week we returned from a family vacation in New York. We all had a blast. We did so many things each day and had the best weather and luck in everything. 

Here are some highlights from the trip

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We did: the 9-11 memorial, ate bagels, walked on the Brooklyn bridge, went to Times Square at night, saw a Broadway show, took the subway everywhere, went to Central Park, went to WD-50, toured the MoMA, took lots of photos including panorama and more!

Fake Meat pt. 1

Since going mostly vegetarian at home in 2011 we have tried and tasted many a ‘faux meat’ product. I’m here today to review some favs of ours. Most are in the $3-6 range, and most from regular grocery stores.

Meat crumbles – this is the simple truth brand from Kroger. Its their natural/organic line. They make a good meatless crumbles product. I use this in chili & casseroles mainly. 1 bag of this is approx to 1 lb of ground beef. Boca & Morningstar both also makes a good crumbles too.

Chick nugs – I love me some chick nugs, as they are affectionately called in our house. Somehow I don’t mind that sometimes these taste like processed factory real pressed chicken nuggets. They are good!

In this category we have some of our favs here…

gardein chipotle lime crispy fingers – yum. Could be a little more limey however. Great on salads or with Mexican food.

The Morningstar farms chik patties are great too. I eat them usually as a sandwich with bread, lettuce, some hummus, and what not. Great lunch! Not great “to go” I must say since they can get soggy when packed.

OMG Trader Joes Chicken-less mandarin orange morsels are great! So good really. Also they’re vegan so if you’re into that go for it. I love these on salads, or in wraps. Also they’re good with cool cucumbers. I wish the bag had more since this only feeds two with sides. You can cook this one on the stove with the sauce.

Once we got pretty far before Tony thought these mandarin orange morsels “didn’t look like real chicken”. Um yes, that’s because they’re not.

Trader Joes used to have these other chicken-less nuggets in the frozen section but I haven’t seen them in our local Richmond TJ’s in about a year. They used to come in a plastic wrapped box (specific enough?) and were superb.

These Whole Foods 365 brand breaded chickenless nuggets are great too! Small and similar to the Trader Joes ones I covet they’re tastey, delicious and nutritious. I’ve only had these once since I don’t shop regularly at Whole Foods.

These are yum too – gardin seven grain crispy tenders. These of all mentioned above have to be oven cooked and flipped half way through; for best quality and taste.

All these products are frozen and recommend cooking in the oven but some you could get away with in the microwave (ie the patties).

 

Next time I’ll review more – the good, the bad & the ick.

House Tour Photos

Last I left with a house floor plan you can see here. Below I snapped some photos with the good camera one day when the house was mostly clean. In order to do this I basically just moved the shoes and random clutter from room to room to make it look presentable.

One day I’ll be happy that I posted these since now I look back at our first apartment together in Raleigh and just love those photos. Oh memories.

First here is the living room (yes that is a exercise bike… to watch in front of the TV). The front door to the apartment is just in the front of this photo to the left. That other door is a closet. We’ve tried multiple arrangements in this room but now have settled with one couch in front of the fireplace. It is a gas fireplace but we’ve put up a board since it creates drafts and looses all heat or cool air when not boarded up.

Things I love about the place: large windows, tall ceilings, great details like chunky crown molding and chair rail, hardwood floors, cool glass door handles & nice kitchen.

When you turn around this is the hallway where we have a little dining area. Yes that is a red rhino head mounted on the wall. We did it! Epoxy was the answer.

   

Both bathrooms are off the hallway. One has the shower but no storage and one has no shower but tons of storage. Conundrum. #firstworldproblems. Also that 2nd photo came out bad; no natural light.

Our office/guest bedroom is big but looks cluttered here for some reason. How many mismatched bookcases can two people use?

In this room we’ve done some work decor wise. Remember when we DIYd a headboard, finished the mirror, and the dresser way back when. Lamps are new. I got new pillows recently as an anniversary gift and that bench is new and holds all our linens and blankets.

The cat bed by the window is also sorta new in the sense that Cornelius finally uses it. It only took 1 year but he finally loves it. Nothing like forcing your pet to like something.

Ya that door that I mentioned on the floor plan post isn’t in use. Obvi.
  

Big gorgeous kitchen. 3 foot long cat included.