Wednesday, May 29, 2013

RTW 182:What book swept you off your feet?

Awesomely hilarious.
The book that really swept me off my feet was Recipes for Disaster by Tess Rafferty.

Now I know what you're thinking, who is Tess Rafferty, right? Yeah, I said the same thing. In fact, when I woke this book on Goodreads in a giveaway, I didn't even remember entering into the contest. I can't say how happy I am that I did win it. Tess was once a writer for the show, The Soup, and it really shows through in her writing.

I've read food memoirs (the cover says memoir but don't let it fool you, it's a food memoir) in the past, Toast sticks out in my mind whenever anyone says food memoir, but this one was different. Tess goes about food in a way that is not only honest and true, but hilarious. She always seemed to have a positive way to look at things even if they were unbelievably terrible. She focuses on having dinner parties and makes them seem horribly stressful and extremely fun at the same time. She also gives advice on how to cook for picky eaters (picky by choice and picky by food allergies) that will come in handy to anyone who cooks for someone with food allergies. For example she is allergic to most fruits and vegetables, something she talks about a lot during the memoir.

Her tips, and recipes, that showed up at the end of each chapter were hilarious and totally doable, many of which I plan on trying out (all with alternatives for food allergies). The entire time I was reading this memoir I felt more as if I were talking to a friend rather than reading a book. Her positive attitude and ability to make extremely stressful things seems fun have made me want to start having dinner parties of my own! I recommend this book to anyone that likes to laugh, cook, or drink (there is a lot of drinking involved).

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Long time, no see!



Oh, hey!

I know it's been a long time since I've posted, but please, don't start sharpening the pitchforks and gathering the townsfolk! I have a legitimate reason! I recently moved into my apartment with my boyfriend! Moving is not easy, as I'm sure a lot of you know. It took a lot out of us and the reason why I have not been updating is because we are still without internet. I will be getting it on Wednesday though and I plan to go back to every Friday posting as before.

Because I have not had internet, or cable for that matter, I have managed to get quite a bit of reading done. I finished three books in four days! I mean, it wasn't like I was reading some super intellectual, heavy stuff, but reading is reading. And I managed to edit a chapter of my WIP in those four days so that was nice also. I am very excited about all the stuff I will be talking about coming up so make sure you check in on Friday, and possibly on Wednesday depending on what the Road Trip Wednesday is.

How have all of you out there been doing? Swell I hope!

Monday, May 6, 2013

One Life to Live: Revival


So, I have a thing for soaps. And I will admit, when One Life to Live premiered on Monday, I was one of the first to watch it. I'm not ashamed of this at all. I've been watching it for about seven years now, on and off through college. It started with my grandma and then my sister getting me into them, so they have a bit of sentimental value behind them.

One thing about soap operas that I'm tired of, which I've talked to my sister about, is the stereotyping that comes with it. They assume all watchers are white women who have no jobs and stay at home. I'm not exaggerating. A reporter at the NYtimes essentially said that. A person my sister knows said to her "people who watch soap operas don't contribute to society and live vicariously through the characters." It's comments like these that make people who watch them seem... well... crazy.

Sometimes, yes, soap operas can be dramatic, but so what? The average person I know, or come into contact with, on a daily basis have lives more dramatic than that. I'm rambling a little bit, let me get back on track...ish. I will admit the story line this week was a little weird, but hey, they're getting back into the groove and it'll pick back up. I'm excited to see what's going to happen next and plan on watching it faithfully!

Judge me if you'd like, I think they're fun.