Friday Randomness
It’s the last Friday of NaBloPoMo, and look, I have more stupid randomness for you. I am sure you’ve been waiting all week, right? Let’s dive in. Before we move on, though, the cartoon above is for Nicole, who loves the Wham! song, Last Christmas, and does not understand nor participate in Whamageddon. I may or may not be participating this year, though Ted’s company Christmas party usually throws me out pretty early, and I can just enjoy the song if it pops up somewhere.
Last Sunday, Maya wanted to go see the new Wicked movie, and she wanted to go to Chilis and have their Wicked themed margaritas. This is what they are supposed to look like.
And this is what they actually looked like.
The green one is apple flavored, and the pink one is passion fruit flavored. Were they good? No. Well, they weren’t horrible, but I would not have ordered a second one. Maya did, so she ended up having one of each. The movie was good, though if you didn’t see the first one, don’t bother, and if you didn’t like the first one, don’t bother. We enjoyed ourselves and I had popcorn.
It’s officially that time of year, when the heater is on. I really enjoy the shoulder months, when our electric bill is under $200 a month.
You guys! I bought myself a new round hairbrush, and it is a GAME CHANGER. I’ve been using the little wood one for decades. I probably bought it when my hair was shorter. My hair gets all tangled in it and I lose a lot of hair in a painful manner. So I went to Ulta and bought the plastic/metal one, because it looks like what my hairdresser uses. NO TANGLES. The hair is staying on my head where it belongs! Drying my hair, which I used to HATE, I no longer HATE. Why I didn’t do this years ago, I don’t know. I guess when we know better, we do better.
Thanksgiving was lovely! I made our traditional cranberry sauce and sweet potato pudding, and I tried a new mashed potato recipe, Ina Garten’s goat cheese mashed potatoes. If you think that recipe will not be my post tomorrow, you don’t understand what it means to limp to the finish in NaBloPoMo. I enjoyed them, though they are very goat cheesy. I was thinking that maybe next time I might make them with 1/2 the goat cheese, but maybe not. They were a hit just as is.
I decided to give my set of Narnia books to Ted’s cousin, for her kids. Will I regret that, and want to read them again? Perhaps. Maya said when the apocalypse happens and we are stuck inside with no TV or electricity, I may regret cutting too deep on the books. Next up – considering giving away my set of My Brilliant Friend books. I loved them, but will I read them again? Am I indeed cutting too deep? I almost gave away While I Was Gone, which this post tells me I got from a Little Free Library 2 years ago, but I couldn’t quite do it.
My email inbox is out of control. I am on too many mailing lists, either from stores or spam. I wish I had set up a dedicated email just for junk, but I didn’t. This is the unread emails from 7 or 8 days. My goal is to have an empty inbox, but clearly I am failing at that. My Facebook feed is equally clogged. I post my Wordle score there every day, to a limited audience, but then I go and delete the posts because I don’t want Wordle scores showing up in my memories. I think the last time I cleaned it out was about 6 weeks ago. Clearly I have some cleanup to do. Can I count these things as part of my ‘one thing a day’ decluttering project?
This was our Thanksgiving wine selection. Three Cabernets, a Chardonnay, and Champagne. All delicious, though the BV cab was old (2000) and had a very short lifespan. Open it, let it breathe for a few minutes, and drink quickly.
Do you like old wine? Do you have a favorite hairbrush? Do you like goat cheese? How many unread emails are in your inbox?
37 Comments
AC
Your Narnia copies look to be in good condition. I don’t know if Shauna still has a set. They were a fun read at the time.
J
I had my mom’s old set for years, but was drawn in by the colored illustrations in this set, so I replaced them. I’m not 100% sure that I’ve read all of them in the newer set, though I certainly read them all before. That’s why they’re in such great shape I guess!
Birchie
The advertising vs reality on the Wicked margaritas is hysterical. We did a family girls party to see the first Wicked movie last year, and TBD if we’ll see the second one. It’s going to have to wait for Christmas break when my one niece is home from school.
I like a little goat cheese now and then, which tells me that I would need to cut back if I made that recipe.
Inbox Zero! But only because I’m merciless about unsubscribing for stuff.
J
I need to spend some time unsubscribing. I do that once in a while, and my inbox has NEVER been like this before, but work has been busy (year end) and I just haven’t had the energy to COPE. I need to cope.
Regarding the goat cheese, the good news is that the little packages are 4 oz. So if you wanted to halve that, just buy one instead of two.
nance
I would have done a serious double-take in front of the server when those margs arrived. Whatever happened to Truth In Advertising? They look positively sad. I may have even sent mine back (with great apology, but firmness).
Definitely, I’m in for Whamageddon. Does it count that I sang it in my head when I saw the post header image? Too clever.
I’m mega impressed that Maya called you Jimmy Carter. Around here, we take Al Gore’s name in vain for that sort of offense. I just turned up the furnace to 72 because we have a trace of snow and horrid wind chills and I’m old and sick of always using my heating pad.
I do like old reds and old oaky Chardonnays, but increasingly, they trigger migraines. Yesterday, there were two pinot noirs on offer, a chenin blanc/viognier blend, and some other red blend that I ignored. We were not in charge of wine. Ahem.
J
Only the original song counts Nance, so sing it to your heart’s content. Also, doesn’t start until December 1st.
You have full permission to set the thermostat however you choose!
I sometimes get headaches from cabs. It’s in my sinuses, very similar to a migarine. Boo!
Nicole MacPherson
I love that cartoon! Although I’m side-eyeing a little over here. I just wrote, seconds ago, that NO ONE HAD BETTER HURT MY FEELINGS THIS YEAR ABOUT WHAMAGGEDON. Although, to be clear, you never hurt my feelings about it. BUT SOME PEOPLE DO. Why am I so sensitive about this? I don’t KNOW Julie. I just don’t know. I’m not generally an overly sensitive person and it takes a LOT to offend me, but there’s always some douche on FB who has THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THE GREATEST CHRISTMAS SONG EVER WRITTEN. I mean, along with Driving Home for Christmas. And White Wine in the Sun. And Santa Baby. And Baby It’s Cold Outside.
Did I ever tell you that a friend made a Last Christmas playlist that is all Last Christmas covers (plus the OG). It’s really wonderful.
J
I would say that you should AVOID ALL CONTENT Nicole. If a FB friend says ‘I’m Out’ or something, just scroll on by!
I dislike some of your favorites (Santa Baby), but we all have our thing, right? I love White Wine in the Sun, and it always brings a tear to my eye. I watched a more recent version on YouTube, and he gets teary when it comes to his gran and his mum, and gah, that got me. I am guessing his mum is still alive, but his gran is not and he misses her.
ernie
I laughed at drink it quickly. My email inbox would give you hives. I think I have like 47k unread emails. I would like to hit a button to delete all unread, but I haven’t found a way to do that (yahoo account). I don’t think I’ve met a cheese that I didn’t like. I am the same way – I buy a new product or realize my hairbrush sucks, or that new socks are a game changer and then I wonder – Why did I wait so long? I cannot afford to love a single strand of hair and yet, my hairbrush is not necessarily gentle. I don’t think there is a hairbrush that would be gentle enough for my stupid thin hair. I don’t drink wine often enough to pay attention to how old a bottle of wine is.
J
The way that I clean out my inbox is to go on a browser (as opposed to an app) and sort by sender. I can get rid of hundreds at a time that way.
Alexandra
I’m laughing at the state of those supposed cocktails, they look like sodas you’d give to a 6 year old. Not very appealing for $6. Oh, and I stole your comic and sent it to my sister-in-law who is Wham mad. She’ll get a good laugh out of this.
I will never understand cranberries nor, sweet potatoes. But the wine pairing choices? Yeah, sign me up for that. Though I have to say, my current fav is Beringer’s Zinfendal, I could drink a bottle by myself (but don’t!!)
As for fights over the thermosat? We have no choice up here in the Frozen North but to wack it up high when it’s minus something outside.
J
I love cranberries, but sweet potatoes are a no. I just make them for the sweet potato lovers around here.
Alexandra
It’s true, I love cranberries in my cereal and trail mix, but at dinner? It’s funny how different upbringing can be.
J
I used to love the canned cranberry sauce, especially since my grandma’s turkey was so dried out. Now I like a moist turkey and homemade cranberry sauce.
Alexandra
It was never something, as Brits, we use to eat, ever. It wasn’t till I started working in the US that I tried a full on American-style Thanksgiving dinner. Which was, sad to say, for me at least, a bit of a disaster.
Lisa’s Yarns
I’m team Last Christmas. It is such a jaunty beat which is an interesting contrast given the sad topic of the song. Although the song writer has healed and is ready to give his heart to someone new so I guess he has recovered. But still.
Those drinks were so poorly marketed! What a disappointment! But the outing sounded fun. We are going to Zootopia 2 on Sunday. I think I am looking forward to it as much as the boys! The first movie was so good!
J
I haven’t seen Zootopia. We may go to the movies tomorrow as well, but I think we will be seeing Hamnet. We are clearly at a different stage of life, right?
Diane
Last year, I was getting my hair cut, and I asked the stylist what kidn of brush I should get my daughter who has thick, straight hair, and he recommended the Wet Brush Pro, which has worked out really well for the 13 year old. I myself don’t have a hairbrush. My hair is short and straight and kind of just does what it does.
I have *covers my eyes in embarrassment* over 100, 000 unread emails in my inbox, across three email accounts. It’s really awful. I’ve been trying to go through an delete emails in big batches, but I just can’t keep up. It’s kind of a problem because I keep getting messages that I’m running out of space. Sometimes I think i should chuck it all and start fresh. All that to say, I think digital decluttering definitely counts as decluttering.
My teeth ache just looking at those Wicked inspired drinks.
J
One thing I am learning is that I am not alone in my email issues!
We have a wet brush, it is great! I like a round brush for blow drying though.
Margaret
I love goat cheese, but not mashed potatoes. I don’t like any wine; I’ve tried so many of them, in France, in Germany, here–hoping to find one that I enjoy. Nope. I hate grape juice too so perhaps that’s part of the problem? I have my very favorite round brush and without it, my hair, especially my bangs would look awful after drying. I hope nothing happens to it! The food looks delicious.
J
I suspect the wine tastes too much like grapes for you, since it’s made of…grapes. LOL.
A good brush is such a treasure, right? I used to have a brush that I loved in my car, and someone broke into the car and stole the brush! To be clear, they did not break into the car in order to steal the brush, it was in the glove box. But once there, they took it. That’s ALL they took, actually.
Tierney
I am so glad that I now know about Whamageddon. And those are very sad wicked step-sister cocktails compared to the adverts, but $6 for a cocktail?!? That’s mid-2000s pricing and I’m here for it!
J
They were WEAK cocktails, and very sweet. Which was fine for a novelty, but no, I would not go back for them.
San
I have a similar (large barrel) hairbrush, and I love it. I am so glad you made the switch!
I also love goat cheese (I don’t understand why some people don’t like goat cheese! It’s so creamy and delicious!).
My mailbox is also out of control. Do you unsubscribe from mailing lists when clean out your mailbox?
J
Yes, I unsubscribe, but it does not seem to help. Sometimes I think it only makes things worse.
Jenny
ARG! GOAT CHEESE!!! I made the Fall Bliss salad you posted for Thanksgiving. I specifially went to Sprouts and bought some vegan goat cheese for the salad, and then on THanksgiving Day I couldn’t find it anywhere. I’m still sad about that. The salad was good, but the cheese would have really kicked it up a notch.
i have thousands of unread emails, YIKES.
Haha, that top meme= Nicole nd I have agreed to disagree on Last Christmas. I’ve already heard it several times this year. WHY. WHY is it so popular???
J
Agh on the vegan goat cheese! I agree, the salad is much better with it. I’m sorry that it went missing. 🙁
Tobia | craftaliciousme
I have never read the Narnia books and I walways though I should. I find it very interesting that Tolin and Lewis used to be writing buddies but when Tolkin got famous it grated on the friendship Specially becasue some ideas were taken from the narnia books. Not sure that is 100% correct but definitely interesting.
Mhm mashed potatioes with goat cheese. sign me up.
J
I knew they were friends, but did not know of the rift. I’m going to have to research that. I didn’t like some of the themes in the final book, The Last Battle. But otherwise I loved the series.
Michelle G.
I think your goat cheese potatoes look amazing! I’m ready for some Christmas music, including Last Christmas! I loved the cartoon! Although, I think it was only last year that I learned people were trashing the song!
J
I’m not convinced people are TRASHING the song, though I am sure some do. For me it’s just a silly thing, pay attention, see if I hear it, and if I do, post ‘I’m Out’ on Facebook. I don’t do anything to try to avoid it, but I don’t play it either.
PocoBrat
J–Your goat cheese potatoes look amazing; your Chili’s cocktails not so much! Ha!
I started a folder I named “Binbox” and transfered all my old and unread emails in there to easily declutter my inbox. I guess that’s cheating?
J
It’s not cheating if it works for you!
Suzanne
Haha – your BV advice is hilarious. I think you know this already, but when we moved to this house, the previous owners left us a ton of wine. Some — in the cellar — was drinkable. But the majority was “decorative,” and it was all cheap red from the early aughts. Some wines are just not meant to hold onto. I am not really a red drinker anyway, but I am admiring your Veuve.
Also on the topic of alcohol, the Wicked drinks are sad approximations indeed! The bartender didn’t really even TRY.
Cleaning out your email inbox and your Facebook feed sound like excellent candidates for your decluttering project. I have a VERY full inbox. And I recently read that gmail uses all of your info for AI, so I disabled that possibility… and now I have only one inbox, instead of a main inbox, an inbox for offers, and an inbox for social. Sigh. I have been doing a LOT of unsubscribing.
J
Oh, I wonder if Yahoo does the same thing? ACK!
Stephany
Whamageddon! I definitely failed since the song is on my Christmas playlist. I love it!
The beauty of paying my own electric bill (and living alone) is setting my thermostat at the exact place I want it! I will even turn on the heat if I get too cold, even though it’s never really THAT cold enough to justify turning it on.
J
I generally don’t turn it on, I’m too cheap. But this morning I did because even though I was in my bathrobe and slippers, I was a little chilly. We came home from dinner last night and my daughter had turned it up to 74! ACK!