062. Blogger Fail

I was a bad blogger this weekend. Yesterday was my planned work/ blogging day, but I had a serious case of the blahs so rather than be productive I called up my mom to go shopping/ run errands. I’m feeling much better today though. We’ll do a quick recap of my weekend. Unfortunately since I was in bad blogger mode, I don’t have photos for you.

Friday Evening
After work we headed out for a happy hour for my co-worker/ friend Lauren’s birthday. My plan was to have a beer or two and call it an early night. Things did not go quite as planned. Several Effen and cranberries and a few shots later, we were both pretty tipsy and getting on the El to go home around 10:00! Ooops!

Saturday
I woke up early Saturday morning because I had agreed to help my friend Jennie and John move into their new house. I also needed to get to the post office to pick up my copy of The Spark and (finally!) mail the care package to my friend Dan. The majority of my day was spent helping load and unload the truck and unpack things.

My tip for moving/ unpacking: Unpack the kitchen first. Having piles and piles of boxes staring you in the face begging to be unpacked is overwhelming, and it’s usually hard to decide where to even start. I’ve found the kitchen is always the best place to start.

Unpacking a kitchen is fairly straight forward. Most items are going to go in to cabinets or on the counter top. The only decision you really have to make is which specific cabinet. I’ve almost always used the same organization pattern in my kitchen, and it’s based on what I grew up with. This makes the “where to put it” decision easier. Plus, you’ll end up refining your kitchen organization as you use it.

Getting an entire room unpacked reduces the amount of boxes looking back at you and gives you a sense of accomplishment. I find this usually provides me with enough motivation to tackle something else. (Generally I go for the bedroom next and unpack clothes and my every day items.)

Having a functional kitchen is important if you want to be able to cook for yourself and eat. Since cooking and eating are some of my favorite things to do, the kitchen is definitely a priority for me.

Sunday
As I mentioned Sunday was shopping and running errands with my mom. The highlight of my day was purchasing a new dishwasher for my condo. I went with the Whirlpool DU1300 in white. The reviews I’ve read are all pretty positive saying it’s a good machine particularly for the price. It was delivered about an hour ago so I’m very excited to go home and wash my first load of dirty dishes!

(On a side note: Isn’t it kind of lame the things we get really excited about as we get older?)

I ate dinner at my parent’s house, and after I picked Chris up from work we watched Angels & Demons.

Angels & Demons quick review
Angels & Demons was pretty much what I expected. I went it expecting it to be similar to The Da Vinci Code in terms of direction and production. I was dead on. Overall, I felt the movie was slow moving, but was a good adaptation to the screen.

I did prefer The Da Vinci Code to Angels & Demons; however, I think it’s because I saw movie before I read the book. With Angels & Demons, I already knew all the “interesting stuff” about it so in some ways it was just a slow-moving movie.

In addition to being a bad blogger this weekend, I also failed at getting any work-outs in. I've taken about 6 rest days from Whittle My Middle this past week, but I'm ready to get my act together this week!

I'm also pushing back my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge a week, but that post will come a little later.

032. New Moon Review and Tea Time

I finally saw New Moon last night. Chris and I went after I got home from work. I have to say, I was not horribly impressed with it

Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed the movie. I also liked it better than Twilight. However, I was still a bit disappointed. At least part of my disappointment is based in my own wants and expectations of the film. I just feel like they could have done so much more with these films. The books were such a hit, but the movies (particularly Twilight) seem so low-budget. Honestly, I want Harry Potter level production values.

I think my biggest problem is I just don’t like Kristen Stewart. I think she is a terrible actress. I don’t like her constant brooding. I understand that Bella is whiney and brooding, especially in New Moon, but I think Kristen really is over the top about it. I’ve seen her in other movies (e.g. Adventureland) and didn’t care her for much in those roles either.

Somewhat related to my distaste for Kristen Stewart as an actress, there was something missing in the acting. I don’t know if it was Kristen, the chemistry between the actors in general, or the direction of the movie, but I just didn’t feel the emotion I felt when I read the book. When I read the book, I cried (and I am not a crier!) a lot. It was heartbreaking. It was like reliving every nasty high school break-up I ever went through. I could feel Bella’s pain like it were my own. I got very emo during that book; I didn’t get that in the movie. Her pain is the driving force behind the entire plot of that book. Without that pain being conveyed, her actions just seem ridiculous.

I can’t be completely negative though. The wolves were awesome! I think they did a great job with the CGI and effects in those scenes. It was so cool to watch Jacob phase in mid-air. And hello Taylor Lautner! I felt like such a dirty old lady every time he showed up on screen shirtless.

After the movie we made a quick trip to Whole Foods because I needed more tea. I was planning to walk over to the Whole Foods near my office during lunch, but I decided it was too cold to make the mile walk over there. Sadly the Whole Foods nearest my house is a good 20 – 30 minutes away so it requires a special trip. Luckily, the theater that had the best show time for New Moon is relatively close to Whole Foods.

I was on a quest for more green tea and the Celestial Seasoning’s Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride. I got my green tea, but I had no luck on the Sugar Cookie tea. I’m getting the feeling this is like the holy grail of teas!

I went to the Celestial Seasoning’s website and supposedly the Dominick’s near my house carriers the Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride as well as the Gingerbread Spice which sounds equally as amazing. I think I might have to head over there after I get home tonight.

The bright side is Tazo teas were on sale!

I picked up Zen which is a spearmint green tea.

I also grabbed Refresh which is a peppemint and spearmint herbal.

I do love mint teas!

Chris and I also grabbed a couple pizzas to heat up for dinner since we didn’t eat before the movie and we were both starving by the time we got out! We bought the Whole Foods 365 brand pizza.

He got Four Cheese and I got BBQ Chicken. I have to admit I ended up eating the whole thing. Ooops! Both were yummy, but I definitely prefer the pizzas from Trader Joe’s.

Tonight I have a dinner after work with one of the agents we work with a great deal. We’re going to Tavern on Rush which I’ve heard great things about. I’ll be sure to report back on how it was. I’ve looked at the menu, and there’s already a few dishes I’m drooling over. I’m thinking seared tuna is definitely in my future.

Finally – make sure you head over to The Daily Balance and check out Shannon’s Musselman’s Gift Basket Give-Away because who doesn’t love free stuff!?