Fun Things To Do: March 2016

Fun Things To Do: Spring 2016

Here is our essential list of fun things to do for the Spring of 2016. Book and music recommendations can, as always, be found in our Amazon Store!

What We Are Reading LeighI am currently on the search for a good “5-star” book as the book I am presently reading is turning out to be a dud.  I have, however, encountered two books within the last few months that were solid 4-stars books that I wanted to recommend. A 4-star is always better than a dud or even a 3-star!

 

  • The Unknown Bridesmaid, by Margaret Forster: Ignore the maudlin title, this book is about the subjective nature of memory, especially seen through your younger self. The “troubled” main character felt reminiscent of a Gillian Flynn novel.
  • Room by Emma Donoghue: An abducted woman is forced to have and then raise a child in captivity for a decade. Inspired by real-life events (and now an Oscar-winning movie), this book is strong. 35% of the book is during their captivity (which is heartbreaking and terrifying) but the book really took off AFTER their rescue.
          And now for some special literary promoesh:
Asteroid Made of Dragons by G. Derek Adams and Deadly Troubadours by Brent Thomas

CoralieI am in somewhat of a reading drought. I am pecking away at 2 books that are in no way connected or alike. If I am honest, I’m mostly at a standstill with both- however, both are in the back of my mind. I just am not reading a bunch of books these days.

 

  • Go Set A Watchman by Nelle Harper Lee: This one has been locked and loaded in my Kindle since Leigh suggested I do a post about it. I have mixed emotions about reading it though. I know I should read it but- I just don’t think it should have been published before Miss Nelle’s death. However, I will report back when I finish it.
  • organized drawerThe Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo: This woman is a tidying genius! Seriously. If you are sick and tired of your life being cluttered- you need to read this book. She basically says for objects you want to get rid of and objects you are having a hard time getting rid of- thank the 0bject for doing its job well and then let it go!  She also says everything should be organized neatly and assigned a place in your home and kept there when it’s not in use. Even though she says you should sort through your entire abode in one swoop, I am going slow- but, I have gotten rid of a bunch of junk! It’s awesome.

 

Fun Things To Listen To on our Fun Things To Do List

LeighI haven’t really been musically inspired recently. I’ve been digging on our recent playlist and keep tucking back into some classic standards. Primarily, I’ve been nomming on some podcasts- mainly during walks and dishes.

 

  • Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me on NPR: Everyone should be listening to this brilliant Chicago-based game show. I assume everyone already is. I include it in case you aren’t.
  • Blurry Photos: If the show Unsolved Mysteries was really hilarious, then it would be this podcast.
  • Candy Chat: Small town Southern ladies taste and talk about post-holiday/sale candy. It’s scarily reminiscent of this blog, actually.
  • SuperEgo: Edited improv. My favorite.

CoralieI am like Leigh, I haven’t been overly musically inspired of late and I hate that because listening to music if one of the most fun things to do. I have been listening to the last playlist- most of the songs I picked are blowing up the radio and that’s how I was introduced to them. There are two instances that have made my music radar go haywire.

  • A Sailor’s Guide to Earth by Sturgill Simpson:  His latest album is due out April 15, 2016. If the first single, “Brace for Impact (Live A Little)” is indicative of the entire album, we are in for a banging new album. I am super pumped to hear it.
  • “Heart of Steel” by Galactic featuring Irma Thomas: Oh Lord, how could this song have been out since 2010 and I just heard it this morning! Seriously- this is fresh, fresh in my head and I am just riveted. Galactic is no stranger to our playlists but, my favorite local radio station, 92ZEW, blew me away with this diamond this morning.
Fun Things To Watch Spring 2016

LeighThe better question might be what am I not watching. There are the old stand-bys: Project Runway All Stars, iZombie, Bates Motel, Hell’s Kitchen, Face Off, Better Call Saul, The Good Wife, Survivor, and RuPauls Drag Race (to name way too many). And (like Coralie) we love Fresh Off The Boat and Modern Family.  We are patiently awaiting Empire, Nashville, and UnReal to restart but until then are consoling ourselves by watching Bates Motel. As far as new shows go, here are my four recommendations:

CoralieMy TV watching is divided into 2 categories: what I watch with Bub and what I watch by myself. Bub and I are huge fans of a bunch of sit-coms on ABC. If you do not watch The Middle, Modern Family, The Goldbergs, Black-ish and Fresh Off the Boat– you are seriously missing out on some awesome prime time TV and a fun thing to do. I want to tell you about our 2 newest shows and I will save my shows for next time.

  • Superstore on NBC Monday nights: This show stars America Ferrera and Ben Feldman and follows the relationships of employees of a mega-superstore. The adventures of the characters and how they interact within the store makes for some great comedy.
  • Vinyl on HBO Sunday nights: OOOOH. EMM. GHEEE. First of all, Sturgill Simpson sings the theme song, Sugar Daddy. Second of all, this show was created by Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese among others. Thirdly, this show, set in the 70’s New York music business, puts the sex, drugs and rock n’ roll in sex, drugs and rock n’ roll! Put the kiddies to bed and check this out.

 

what we're doingLeigh

Have An Outdoor Adventure: Jojo and I can be pretty big homebodies on the weekends, so I have made it a special point to “have at least one outdoor adventure” a weekend. As such, I’m encouraging you to do the same. Research your local parks, nature trails, points of interest, pack a bag of essentials and get out there. Very few people remember all the T.V. they watch, but I’ll never forget the 147 rabbits I got to see at the Sepulveda Wildlife Preserve.

Coralie

Let me tell you what I am doing- I am doing my damnedest to soak up as much free Vitamin D as possible! Spring has sprung here on the Alabama Gulf Coast and it’s like the veil has been lifted! The short list of what I am doing is being outside. But, here are a few particulars.

  • growing tomatoesGrowing Tomatoes: You remember last Spring when I told you about one of my bar regulars making me some tomato growing buckets… well, I already have them going this year! I love watching plants grow and tomato plants grow surprising fast! My plant already has little yellow blooms which means there will tomatoes to follow! In my second bucket I put green bell peppers and after re-watching the how-to make these buckets video, I am totally inspired to make several more and try my hand at growing other stuff in these buckets!
  • We’re Beaching It!: I mean, one of the perks of living at the beach is being able to go to the beach whenever we want. And now that it’s generally over 70 degrees around here, the beach is such a fun thing to do. Baby Bub is a beach bum through and through and is the only one brave enough to play in the water but even he can only manage it for a couple minutes. Plus, the first couple months of summer down here are the best months- before it gets too hot and being outside gets to be miserable.

 

Okay, here are our lists of fun things to do, as always we want to hear what’s at the top of your current lists! Have you got a 5-star book suggestion? How do you listen to music? Do you listen to a mix of songs or do you listen to entire albums or both? What’s on your Netflix, Hulu and TiVo queues? And what fun things are you doing? Nature Walks? Gardening? Beaching it? Let us hear what you have going on in the comments!

A Lip Signature

 

Avatar photo

Admin

9 Comments

  1. This is great, Leigh. Do you know about Ann Leckie’s trilogy? The first is Ancillary Justice–great sci fi if you don’t mind thinking a bit. The worlds & cultures she creates are fascinating.

    • Uggh. Thinking? The worst.

      Kidding. I immediately plugged Ancillary Justice into my Goodreads account and (turns out) several of my friends have read it and given it 5-stars. Using words like “gender identities,” “reminiscent of Dune” (one of my favorites), “beautiful love story,” and “badass sci fi.” Can’t get more of a glowing recommendation than that! Welcome to ‘next on the queue’ Ms. Leckie!

      And thanks for reading our ramblings. We LIVE for comments. Especially of the esteemed variety!

  2. Are you on goodreads? I forgot about how much you read and would like to follow your list! I’m reading more these days than usual! Also loving vinyl! I love tv period. Lots of it! And gonna try my hand at those buckets. Really need to garden this year. Our last house was too shaded for a garden so maybe we can keep the deer out of it this year.

    • Laura, I am not on Goodreads, Leigh is. The buckets are so easy & fairly easy to construct. I am in the middle of making like 5 more- collecting buckets from work. And I love all TV too. Bub and I watched Marco Polo until they started binding children’s feet and that’s when I stopped watching! -CA

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.