What I’m Into – July 2013

Linking up with Hopeful Leigh for What I’m Into! Where has July gone? I feel like I’ve accomplished so little despite being in a nearly constant rush and fog. :\

Read and Reading:

More tomorrow in my monthly book post, but I just finished and loved May Sarton’s Journal of a Solitude for my Story 101 class. I feel a little alarmed that my life and thoughts closely resemble that of a 60-year-old woman. Sign me up for shuffleboard now!

TV:

As I do every summer, I’m reveling in So You Think You Can Dance. Amy and Fik-shun were already my top two in the auditions (despite the painful phonetic spelling of Fik-shun’s name), so I was thrilled to see them paired up.

In July, after thinking about it for a looong time, I threw all my cable boxes and cords into a bag and headed to Comcast. I thought they’d offer me a lower rate when they saw that I was serious about canceling my service, but they made ZERO effort to keep me as a customer. So my bluff was called. Two weeks in, I still feel good about cutting the cord and/or sticking it to the man, but I fear it’ll be a different story once football season starts. Anyway, I signed up for Netflix immediately, which means that I can watch reruns of The Wonder Years! It’s one of my favorite shows ever, and I hadn’t seen it since its last syndicated run, I think when I was in college. So I’m having a happy reunion with the Arnold clan.

Movies:

I saw no movies in July, in the theater or at home. (Unless you count my spontaneous re-watch of Katy Perry: Part of Me last night.) The last movie I saw in a theater (in mid-June) was Now You See Me, which was fantastic. Great casting and a twist I never saw coming. If you’re debating about what to see at your second-run theater this weekend, I recommend it!

Video:

The latest installment in the Brian Williams Raps series on Jimmy Fallon. This time, he tackles some Marky Mark.

 

I’m sure everyone has seen this video of some divers’ VERY close encounter with humpback whales, but I’m still awed by it!

 

Music:

Two of my all-time favorite artists (Sara Bareilles and Hanson) released new records recently, but to my own surprise, I’m more into Tegan and Sara’s Heartthrob. Call it musical ADD, but I like maybe one in ten albums enough to listen straight through every time. Heartthrob is one of them. It’s just really catchy and perfect for summer.

To my own shame, I’m inexplicably still not sick of Icona Pop’s “I Love It.” It makes me want to stand up in the open sunroof of a fast car. When I hear “Clarity” by Zedd, it’s a struggle not to break into an interpretive dance. (Speaking of So-Dance, I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for them to use this song. Preferably in a very dramatic Sonya routine.) And “Safe and Sound” by Capital Cities just makes me happy. If I ever remarry and have a Chris Brown “Forever” flash mob at my wedding, this song is on the short list.

Things I Love:

– My vegetable garden is at its peak and is the current excitement of my life. I can barely contain the plants. I’m harvesting tomatoes every day, and cucumbers several times a week! The peppers and eggplant are producing too. There are four cantaloupes in process on the vine. My heirloom watermelon vine has tons of flowers, but no fruit yet. Sadly, my yellow squash plant was, um, squashed in a flash flood two weeks ago. It was doing great before that and had already produced one delicious squash. But if that’s my only garden disappointment this year, I can handle it!

– I can’t stop making and eating this Quinoa, Courgette, and Feta Salad. (It’s a charmingly British recipe, hence “courgette” for zucchini.) It’s a delicious use for small tomatoes. I may do a whole post soon on tomato-heavy recipes!

– During my sister’s and niece’s visit, I made this simple strawberry icebox pie for our dessert one night. It was so refreshing on a hot day.

– Speaking of hot days, I can’t get over how few of them we’re having. In Memphis, we usually hit 98 degrees in June and don’t get any relief until after Labor Day. This year, we’ve had a few brief stretches of mid-90s, but keep going back to high 80s and low 90s. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still summer, but it’s the most pleasant summer I can remember. Of course, people are making dire predictions about how we’re sure to pay this winter, but I’m just enjoying it!

On The Blog:

This month I took a leap and joined a community band! I also threw a Fourth of July party and spent a lot of time with my family.