Movies We've Watched - Expecting Amy

We watched Expecting Amy on HBO Max.  Husband picked it out.  It was pretty much what I expected, but I did like it.  I have already read Amy Schumer's book.  I know she is extremely dedicated to her family.  She is a hard worker.  You see all this in this 3-part documentary.  It did drive home how it is nearly impossible for a "regular" woman to have hyperemesis gravidarum.  It is a luxury to have the ability to have someone take care of you and any dependents, to have health insurance and/or to afford IV fluids as needed.  With very minimal "morning sickness", there was such pressure and worry that I'd have to buy a new outfit at lunch (once with Little Miss) or find the nearest receptacle (once on a walk with Little Miss).  So, watcher beware, there is a lot of vomit.  I did not know much about her c-section which, even knowing she is good enough for Instagram and social media and interviews, was scary to watch.

I liked seeing her comedy process a lot and seeing the wedding and her friends and family.  I thought the series was interesting and honest, and boy, she didn't hold anything back.  I want to catch her Netflix special now.  

Movies We've Watched - Jay & Silent Bob Reboot

This past weekend, I watched Jay & Silent Bob Reboot on Amazon Prime.  I've been a Kevin Smith fan for some time.  While I may go so far as say this may be my least favorite, it was really nice nostalgia and great to see everyone back.  I did still laugh at some parts.  I will probably forget I even saw it by next year, but it was the movie I needed over the weekend.  I mean, it started with Jay doing his Silence of the Lambs bit which will never fail to make me laugh.  

The premise is that Jay and Silent Bob get arrested and lose their name to a production company who is doing a movie based on the Bluntman & Chronic comic?  The plot isn't important.  So, the duo take off from NJ to stop the movie from being made.  They end up at Shannon Elizabeth's house and find out Jay has a daughter.  Long story short, Jay hides the fact that he's her father, and the pair takes her and 3 other girls to Chronic Con in Hollywood.  Hijinx ensue.  Chronic Con is an excuse to bring in the cast of Clerks, Mall Rats, Matt Damon, and other cameos.  

If you're a die-hard fan, it's probably one you need to see to round out seeing them all. If you're not a fan, maybe skip this one.  If you've never been exposed to any Kevin Smith movies, definitely don't start with this one.

Movies We've Watched - The Umbrella Academy

I finished The Umbrella Academy on Netflix.  I was wary because it's not necessarily my type of thing, and I heard mixed reviews.  But, when you reach the end of Netflix and you only want something light to watch, you end up here.

I liked it.  I have so many questions which I suppose they'll get to eventually or maybe they're just there for those that read the comic books.  

It's only a little violent and relatively fast so that was good to me.  I think you have to suspend the usual superhero disbelief in the how are they the only people with powers and how did Hargreeves know when/where to scoop up these children?  How does it take place now yet they are still using pay phones and microfiche/microfilm (I never knew the difference between the two).  Still, I'm looking forward to Season 2 next week!

Movies We've Watched - A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I have been wanting to read A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood since it came out because I have always loved Mr. Rogers.  This movie is inspired by a true story, but it is so good.  

A journalist is instructed to make a small piece on Mr. Rogers, and it turns into so much more.  Tom Hanks really captures the spirit of Mr. Rogers though is always Tom Hanks a little.  I thought it was really touching and soothing.  Mr. Rogers is so timeless.  

On a lighter note, goodness, the puppet recreation is amazing.  They look so good!  It made me very nostalgic.  Nostalgia was helped along with a couple of chats with college friends while watching.  I felt like Lloyd represented a lot of us during this cynical time, and this movie came along to help us through.

Book Opinion - Variable Onset

Variable Onset is the latest by Layla Reyne.  I really like her suspense, and I'm not usually one who reads a lot of action in books because I have trouble visually picturing everything that's going on, but she's so clear and the suspense is so present.  I was pretty bad figuring out the mystery of this one, but it was a fun ride.  

Lincoln and Carter go undercover  as a married couple in a small university town to look into a serial killer.  It's definitely more suspense than, I felt, romance.  I prefer a little more sexy times, but they were super cute together.  I also loved Lincoln with his family, too.  I wish I had a little more time with them.

Maybe it's the fact that I used to read horror books, but I love how rough and violent Reyne's books can be.  Usually, there is some life-threatening moment where the heroes figure out their love for each other and then there's some regret for not declaring it, you know, before they die.  OR there's the old stand-by, I'm so glad I found this person before I died and now I can die fulfilled.  It's more artistic than the cliches, but I eat that stuff up.

Book Opinion - Xeni

Xeni is the second in the Loose Ends series by Rebekah Weatherspoon.  I recently read Rafe after having it in my TBR pile for a long time.  I do like a marriage of convenience story.  It's a trope for a reason.  I thought this tackled a lot of big subjects while still remaining fun.  Xeni is a great character.  Mason is super sexy.  This one is mostly stand alone.  I know this series has characters from previous series, but they are my first two books so obviously, you can pick them up in any order - and that is HUGE for me to say.

Xeni's aunt passes away, and she needs to marry Mason as part of the inheritance.  This sparks up a whole bunch of family drama for both Xeni and Mason who, of course, fall in love throughout.  I really liked the first one and, though this one didn't grab me right away, the characters pulled me in.  I may go back and look up some other books by Weatherspoon.  

Just a warning, this book gets a little spicy.  Mason is also bi so there's some explicit play that you don't see in every book.  It's quick and not a whole thing, but it's still there.  

Book Opinion - Silver-Tongued Devil

I read Silver-Tongued Devil by Lorelei James a little bit ago.  I liked it.  It's a prequel to her contemporary Rough Rider series which is a little on the sexier side if you don't mind that in your books.  Because a lot of the story is set points in the universe, it was challenging to make it a romance with a happy ending, but still keep the legend or oral history already told.  

There are two sets of twins, the Orphan Train, feuds, hot tempers, and two surprisingly sweet love stories.  I didn't mind the historical setting because my romance heart started with historicals.  I thought it was unique, and I'm glad the ending played out as it did, but it did make me sad for the brothers.  I don't want to give anything away, but it was a complicated situation.

I'm glad to be somewhat back to reading though and hope to keep it up even if it's slow getting back into the groove.

Book Opinion - The Summer Deal

I'm back reading! It's been helpful making myself read the book club books for work, and I switched it up with some summer romances. The Summer Deal, I guess, is technically Women's Fiction which is basically romance for people who don't want to read romance. They have the summary covers and some complicated FEELS in them. (OK, Women's Fiction is where the focus is on the women and less about the relationship and LOVE, but in some cases, there is still some romance and sexy times.) 

I really like Jill Shalvis with like literally one exception. I've met her a handful of times, and she always pretends to remember me. I have my doubts, but it's nice. I wasn't as excited to read this one as others mostly because of my mood, but I'm so glad I did. It is mainly about two women who were sworn enemies as children. From each perspective, you really felt something for both women. It doesn't hurt that both have a love interest who is perfect for them. The men may be too perfect actually, only making small misguided actions. 

I love a book that can make you like a character that is initially unlikable. Neither woman did anything that, to me, was unforgivable, but everyone knows what it's like to have a childhood bully and how that weight sometimes follows them through adulthood. Books are interesting because these characters went through such difficult times and worked very hard for their happy ending. I wanted to stay with them longer now that they're all happy and adjusted. I guess that's a good complaint to have.

New Foods 2020 - Pasta Primavera

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Farmers' market primavera #yum 🥕🍅🥦🥒

A post shared by April Moore (@princessapr) on Jul 5, 2020 at 11:23am PDT

This isn't really a new food, but we went to the Farmers' Market and picked up a bunch of veggies - carrots, yellow squash, cherry tomatoes, broccoli.  I roasted the cherry tomatoes and broccoli while I sauteed some garlic and red pepper flakes with the carrots (added the squash a little later because it cooks faster).  Then, I combined all the veggies, added chicken broth, a splash of cream, and some parmesan cheese.  I tossed in some linguini and called it a day.   I do these a lot.  Sometimes, I use wine or a dollop of red sauce or some lemon or onion.  It's just a good way to use up excess veggies and leftover odds and ends.  The fresh veggies made a big difference though. 

Book Opinion - Such a Fun Age

I'm having trouble focusing and finishing books lately, but I'm making myself read the books chosen for my work book cub.  Such a Fun Age is the latest.  It is an easy read.  I read it quickly once I decided to sit down with it.  Unlike last month's, it wasn't as much of a chore.  

This book opens with Emira out with friends and being called into watch a toddler.  It is an emergency situation in which the parents call her late, and she goes and picks up the toddler and takes her for a walk to the nearby market.  At the market, security is called as Emira and her friend raise suspicion from one of the patrons for holding a white child.  Another patron captures this incident on cell phone.  It all concludes when the employer comes to the market to verify.  That's the first chapter, and with our current climate, I spent the whole chapter on the edge of my seat/couch.

The book goes a lot of places after that.  It was a good book on its own, but it's such a good one to discuss.  I felt like a lot of people identified a lot of details I didn't (and I hope vice versa).  We were all pretty much on the same page and liked it a lot.  This is the first for our group.  We've been split for all the books before now.  Also, it's a great example of "just wait until the late page..."  

Book Opinion - Healing of the Wolf

It's funny because I am not a huge shapeshifter fan.  Healing of the Wolf is part of a series.  It is a romance, but it has some shapeshifting and involves some kidnapping and torture and some explicit scenes in terms of sexual situations and violence.  So, if you're still with me...

I don't know if this was my favorite in the series, but it wasn't my least favorite.  I think I like the wolves/cats more than the bears, but this is also the post-book to the big siege.  I liked the heroine quite a bit and glad to see the healer get his story after he popped up in the previous books.  It was also good to see more of his brother, too, who had previously not made a huge impression with me.

Basically, the heroine is kidnapped and tortured in captivity by these bad folks who are capturing all the shifters.  There is an entire universe created about this species, but I'm not going into it all.  So, a bunch of people are broken out and absorbed into separate communities where Margery traded one form of captivity for another.  She leaves and makes a nearby community her home and becomes neighbors (and more) with the two main male characters (one is the community healer and the other is a former city cop and security of sorts here).  

So, there is a little action, some friendship, and a happy ending.  These books aren't for everyone for a variety of reasons.  I didn't think they were for me, but I decided to try them out years ago and ended up liking them.  I kind of gloss over a lot of the shapeshifter terminology, and I don't feel like I'm missing anything.

New Food 2020

I haven't kept posting, but it's all on my Instagram for food.  It's @a4minimaleffort if you're going to manually put it in.

Since my last post, we've made muffins, cookies, roasted veggies with pasta, donuts, coffee cake, and vanilla cake with vanilla glaze in the Instant Pot.  I post the origin (and link if I can) to all.  We mostly use our Instant Pot for baking actually.  I use it enough to make it worth it, but I probably could use it more.   

Just a few thoughts below

• The coffee cake was for Husband's birthday.  It was a hit.  It's probably because it is 75% crumb/sugar topping and 25% cake.  
• The muffin recipe was pretty good actually.  No one would eat them but me though.
• We made both chocolate chip (just Tollhouse, but it's a classic for a reason) and Williams Sonoma sugar cookies for Father's Day.  We used the Sesame Street cookie cutters for fun.

I want to cook/bake more, but I'm indecisive so that's not helpful.  There are definitely more cookies in our future though.

Movies I'm Watching...

I'm watching more than I'm reading.  Normally, I post after I've finished a series, but I've been dabbling with a bunch and not really finishing anything.

I've started The Umbrella Academy before the second season is due on Netflix.  I've started The Great on Hulu.  I put on Crazy Delicious on Netflix when I need something on in the background.  I like the first two, but I haven't been captured enough to binge watch.  The third is literally just if I need something on as noise.

Last night, we started I'll Be Gone in the Dark on HBO.  I have to admit that I didn't finish the book, but I really liked the book.  I'm thinking of going back to finish now, but the first episode premiered last night.  I thought it was well done.  I loved Michelle McNamara's style of focusing on the victims and survivors.  It really respected them instead of giving way to torture porn or sensationalizing the violence and/or killer.  The new perspective and conversational writing really drew me in.

I'm finding I'm focusing more than at the beginning of these unprecedented times, but it's still a struggle.  If the content is right, it's working which is a step in the right direction of things (or at least recreation) going back to normal.  Meanwhile, Little Miss has been reading a book a day or more.  She's digging into her Rick Riordan books that have been piling up as well as listening to audio books.  That's pretty much the only reason I don't harp too much on the fact that she spends all day locked in her room.

Movies We've Watched - Queer Eye

I was late to the Queer Eye game, but I binged it all somewhere around Season 2/3.  I liked Season 5 (Philadelphia).  It wasn't my favorite, but it still made me feel good.  

Sometimes, with these shows, I feel just very manipulated.  I feel everything is measured and edited.  I always want to know more like did this have a lasting impression on the participants, have they kept up with things on a physical and personal level.  So, once I immerse myself in the interviews and social media, then I can feel like I can enjoy the show.  This is probably why I don't watch a lot of reality shows in general.   Still, it was a solid season and, if you like the show, you'll like this season.  

Movies We're Watching - Love Life

First of all, I've kept the titles on these even though some of these are clearly tv shows and not movies.

I started this on HBO Max.  There are 10 episodes, only a half hour.  I did find Darby kind of annoying in parts, but I think that was where her character is just different than I am and, to be fair, she was going through her trainwreck phase.  It was good that I decided to push through and view as a whole.  You travel through time with Darby to see her grow personally and professionally.  I thought it was going to be more of a relationship journey based on the first episodes where she is looking for love so desperately, but I liked how it kind of evolved and ended up liking the series as a whole.  I can also see that this is way more popular with people younger than I am or at least closer to that stage in life.  I liked it though, and I'll give a second season a shot (there is going to be a second season but about a secondary character as the show will be more anthology and less serial).

New Food 2020 - Muffin Corn Dogs

I'm not even going to link a recipe because it's super easy.  Captain browsed on Pinterest and chose this recipe.  He also thinks it's dinner and dessert all in one because it's a hot dog and a cupcake.  I made regular-sized muffins even though most recipes will call for mini muffins.  Because I did regular-sized muffins, there is a weird hot dog to corn bread ratio.  

You make cornbread mix (from scratch or by box) and then put it into a greased muffin tin or liners.  Cut the hot dogs in 1/3 or so and stick them in the middle of the muffins.  The whole thing goes into a 400 degree oven for 15 -20 minutes depending (or until toothpick comes out clean).  

I, personally, think this ruins perfectly good cornbread, but it was fun to cook with Captain, and he ate it in record time so that's a win.  

What We're Watching - Hannah Gadsby

This week, I watched Nanette and Douglas with Hannah Gadsby on Netflix. I'm really getting my Netflix money's worth during this quarantine.  I knew I would like these specials, and they came highly recommended, but I didn't watch for whatever reason.  Well, that reason was life.  So, I finally watched both back-to-back this week.  They are very insightful and very funny though both address serious issues and stories.  I found Hannah delightful and witty and smart.  And the accent is brilliant.  I love the Australian accent on anyone.  I recommend it to all with the warning that Nanette had me both laughing and crying so there's that. 

Book Opinion - The Glass Hotel

To be fair, I haven't finished this one yet.  The Glass Hotel is our second book club book with my colleagues.  I'm about a third of the way through for our discussion on Friday afternoon.  So far, it's interesting.  Whether I would recommend it would depend on how the book ends and also on the reader.  It does jump around to different characters (third person limited points of view) and different times.  I'm bad with navigating times, but I kind of start with wherever I start with and then every chapter after that is a "before" or "after", but I have trouble remembering years and dates - in real life and in fiction.

Stay tuned for my more thorough thoughts.

Edited:  I finished.  I was on board until the last 50 pages and then I just can't.  I could get over the changing points of view (it switched to first person at a couple of points after being third person limited for so long).  I thought that worked, and I didn't mind the change in time.  I just can't handle the the very end.  I thought some of the language was really striking, but I wanted to feel something for anybody, and I never did.  I was indifferent to the two "main" characters and had mild disdain or pity for others.  It does seem like the internet liked the author and book and, to be fair, I don't read a lot of mainstream fiction so maybe it's just me.  I'll just go back to memoirs and romance.

Movies We Watched - The Lovebirds

I caught this one last Friday.  I had been looking forward to it because I love both Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani.  I thought the movie was a perfect Friday night movie.  I got lost a little in the mystery, but I thought the leads were good enough to carry any slower part or weaker part of the film.  It was very compact so it can be watched in less than an hour and a half which, in our house, is a huge plus.  My brain has trouble comprehending longer pieces.  Or non-fiction (which is why Husband watched Grant on the History channel all by himself last night - my only input was to remark how hot Grant was at one point).  Anyway, if you like either of these folks as actors or comedians, I'd recommend this movie.  I may watch it again.

Movies We Watched - The Big Flower Fight

I've had some trouble focusing and concentrating so these little Netflix competition shows have been perfect.  This one had the accents and quirkiness of The Great British Bake-Off, but it didn't have the complete charm.  It was still perfect for a quick little binge.  I still had my favorite teams and the teams I couldn't wait to see go.  I did feel like the contestants were good-natured while continuing to be competitive.  I really liked the father/son team a lot even though they didn't have the polish or skill some of the other teams had.  I won't give away any spoilers, but I was happy with how it played out.  Maybe if there had been a mini challenge or a way of gaining advantages, that would have upped the pressure and competition, but I get that the focus was to make it light and positive.