27 December 2011

Bits o' my week...

One of my holiday weekend events was dinner out with some cousins.  A couple live near me, but one flew in for the weekend, so we jammed an early dinner in before other obligations.  We hit a local Mediterranean place (Mazah) because a couple of them are vegans and this place has a wonderful selection of all kinds of stuff.  More importantly, the food is fabulous every time. It's a slower paced place, which gave us time to chat and catch up while enjoying our samplers.



One of my wonderful gifts this year was the good knife with a matching cutting board.  My nieces picked out the perfect green color to go with my kitchen.  I promptly christened it by cutting myself when I took it out of the safety guard to wash it.  Clearly I don't have much practice with really sharp knives!  I'm excited to use it.  I like to cook and bake, but realized that all of my good kitchen stuff has been given to my by my family.  Good knives, nice stainless steel/aluminum pots, pyrex glass baking ware - I think they are trying to send me a message!


 This is peppermint ice cream time of year. (yes, it's pink, but apparently the iPhone camera has trouble with that color in overhead light). I love it, can't get enough and try to stock up before it's gone.  Which reminds me, I need to grab a few more containers this week!

My friend Anna and I were heading out to lunch the other day and I told her I'd bought several containers of this ice cream - and then ate one of them the first week.

She asked "they only sell them in small containers?" 

My response, "Umm, nope!"


Apparently, I'm a book snob.  Who knew?

I just recently joined the wonderful world of eReaders with a Nook simple touch.  It's fantastic, light, easy to use, holds tons of books, has a long battery life and most importantly allows me to download FREE library books at will.

The snob part reared it's ugly head when I read one of the free books I downloaded from Barnes and Noble's collection.  It was a mess.  Not an editor to be found in association with the book.  It was 360 pages of typos, bad grammar, inaccuracies (it was based in Wales) and spacing issues.  After about 3 pages I was annoyed beyond belief.  It was also a really interesting story - so I read it anyway.  I almost wish I had the paper version, so I could have edited it myself and shipped it back to the publisher.  I imagine it was either an inadvertent release or it was free because the final copy was not available in the e-version.  I'm through venting now, thanks for listening.

I chose the eReader over a new sleek tablet for a few reasons.  It fits in my bag (and even small purses), it has a non-reflective and non-back lit screen which is easier on my eyes after 10+ hours a day in front of a computer, I got a really good deal on cyber Monday (not at B&N), and I can travel with it without worrying about the potential replacement expense of a tablet. 

I hope everyone is recovering from their holiday and getting ready for the new year.  I know I'm looking forward to it!

M.E.

5 comments:

Grandmabeckyl.blogspot said...

Looks like you had a good time and some nice gifts there! I think I wore myself out enough to get another slightly sore throat with minor cough. Am going to get my flu shot this week as well so I can max out our FSA account or lose it! (on pharmacy stuff). It's pouring down rain right now and hubby is out walking in it, with his new Australian river hat I gave him for Christmas and his waterproof trench coat I got him a few years ago for Christmas! Will see how drenched he is. I took a photo of him before he left so will take one after the walk! Happy New Year!

Jan n Jer said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas. May your new Year be just as nice!

Laura said...

I knew I liked you for a reason - we have much in common. Example #1 - I am not allowed to use knives because I cut myself too often, usually while washing. Example #2 - I love the library, too! Although I do not have an e-reader. Example #3 - I can not stand typos. Out of control. And shouldn't the author have caught many of them when she/he re-read the book? Surely they went back over it at least once after writing!

DeniseinVA said...

That looked like a great day out. I didn't have a decent set of knives until a year ago. All those years and I never knew how good it would feel to have them. I also am a Nook reader. It was given to me as a Christmas gift by our son last year. I love it! Never thought I would as I also loved the feel of turning the pages over, the smell of the paper, just the feel a good book in my hands,you name it, I had all kinds of reasons why I did not want an e-reader. But, it didn't take long to become a huge fan. Happy New Year and may you have many happy hours of e-reading.

mountain mama said...

Mmmm...peppermint ice cream :D