Things I'm Loving

1. Reading
Seems strange to write this here; it's always been a part of who I am. Shannon likes reading. Everyone knows this. But last year I didn't read much of anything besides Anna Karenina and The Hunger
Games series and then maybe the 7th Harry Potter book for the upteenth time in order to prepare for the move. But this year, in accordance with # 1 on The 2011 List, I have been reading. And loving it. There's really nothing like getting so swept up in a book that you cannot put it down. I've missed that. 

2. This tumblr. 
Community quotes + random photography =  AWESOME. 

3. Dove Dark Chocolates

I have a crazy sweet tooth. If there are sweets in the house I will eat them. I'm not the kind of person that can have a couple cookies and then forget about them and come back and have some a couple days later. No, if I know they're in the house they will be gone by the next day. It's horrible, really and I'm trying not to do that. So, I bought myself a bag of dark chocolates because even my sweet tooth cravings can't handle too much dark chocolate. I have two pieces and that's enough. It helps curb the cravings, it tastes yummy and it makes me happy because then I'm not filled with holy crap what did I eat feelings of guilt afterward. So there. 

4. Bejeweled
Ugh. It's such a time suck.  But I can't stop playing. 

5. Cougar Town
When this show started last year I pretty quickly wrote it off as being a "Monica Geller as Real Housewife" pile of of crap. Oh, but how wrong I was. This show is quirky and fun and about so much more than some 40's single mom trying to hook-up with younger men. All the characters are delightful including Busy Phillip's Laurie (who is probably my favorite character) and Dan Byrd's Travis (how horrible is it that I first recognized him as being from that Cinderella-esque Hilary Duff movie?). Courtney Cox might be the star but at heart it's an ensemble show and some of the best moments come from the group hanging out and drinking wine and playing silly games like Penny Can or "truth gun." Everyone gets a chance to shine and just as in Community, the different relationships within the group are all unique (Andy and Bobby's "bromance," Laurie and Ellie's frenemies, Jules and Travis and their hyper-close mother/son dynamic, etc).

A few weeks ago I was sick in bed and spent the entire day mainlining the first season and now I am completely on board. (And Scott Foley appears in the first season! Noel Crane! How can that be a bad thing?)

Check it out if you haven't already!