Fri-Yay #22

Happy Friday! What a week. I've been catching up on laundry and the news. What is this world coming to...

All the hub-bub where I live is on some minor political scandal (it's really the dumbest thing) so I'm just going to ignore it all. Let me know if it's at a Matt Gaetz level of wrong. He's an odd dude isn't he? I feel like he's probably odd. 

The book below is an illustrated poem by Yeats. It's from The Song of Wandering Aengus...and the illustrations are divine. I picked it up in Dublin, Ireland when I went there a few years ago. It was a whim of a purchase but I really love it. 

Cooking:

I made a double batch of shells (there was a bridge tournament going on outside on the porch). I've learned not to mess with people playing bridge...they're fearsome! I love manicotti and stuffed pasta shells...it's what I order most of the time at Italian restaurants. It's so simple to make but I tend to not make it at home to prevent my fat ass from pigging out. Like, what's a serving size? One shell? Two? I'll eat a disgusting amount without blinking. 

I found a recipe from Epicurious (Vegetarian Skillet Stuffed Shells) and it was a pretty big hit. I have one skillet, so since I was doubling the recipe for the group out back (fully vaccinated and retired...I'm not playing around with Covid. No vaccine, no play) I put the pasta and shells into a baking dish and tented some aluminum foil on top before putting it in the oven. It turned out okay that way. 

I think if I make it again, I'll use a different recipe. One that has more cheese (manicotti and/or ricotta). This was a nice, simple recipe. Worked for a crowd (cheaper that way) but it wasn't as good as I'd like. 

Reading:

I'm almost caught up on Janet Evanovich. I'm still not loving the later part of her series, but something seems to be happening (well for Stephanie and her grandmother...she's still in a love triangle). I'm in line at the library for the last book so we'll see how that goes. I've basically kept all the books around three stars in my head. They're not great, not comforting, but not the worst. I just feel she's phoning it in...

I also picked up 10 Things I Hate About Pinky. I didn't read the back, I thought it might be a type of telling of 10 Things I Hate About You/Shakespeare. I'm not actually sure it is, but I've only read two chapters into it. It's Young Adult (YA) and a pretend-dating to real romance type fiction book. I think it has the potential to be really cute. 

I've never read any other books by this author but I think this is technically the third or fourth in an interconnected universe. It follows two Indian-American teens over a summer break. 

I also put an interlibrary loan out (I'm so down on the list) on the first book of a mystery set in China. They had the newest book available but not the first few (they're all checked out!)

The author is Qiu Xiaolong. The first book in the series is Death of a Red Heroine and the whole series is called the Inspector Chen Cao mysteries. I'm not sure when I'll get the book...I'm like, number 20 something. :( 

Well, I mean, good for Qiu Xiaolong. 

The synopsis of the first book: "A young “national model worker,” renowned for her adherence to the principles of the Communist Party, turns up dead in a Shanghai canal. As Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Special Cases Bureau struggles to trace the hidden threads of her past, he finds himself challenging the very political forces that have guided his life since birth. Chen must tiptoe around his superiors if he wants to get to the bottom of this crime, and risk his career—perhaps even his life—to see justice done."

I've also been going through a lot of random links for work and also random stuff I saved (why did I save so much?!). I keep running into people recommending Ngaio Marsh. I feel like I should maybe request something from the library from her works. I honestly hadn't heard too much about her, which is odd because I read a lot. 

Then I realized I had watched her series and not even realised. Marsh wrote a series of detective fiction following Inspector Roderick Alleyn. You can find them on Youtube in whole but I think they're on Acorn too...which I have. 

Listening:

I added a Sea Shanty Spotify playlist to my favorites but I just now got to it! I know, so late to the game. 

It has a few different songs so that's kinda neat. Hopefully I embedded it properly below. 
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I don't know if Angus/Aengus is a very popular name in the U.S. (I'd never heard it) but I heard it a few times in the U.K. There's even a beautiful Scottish song. If you've never read or heard the poem by Yeats though, Michael Gambon recites it on Youtube. Yeats is one of my favorite poets, but I don't think I have enough knowledge of poetry because I keep finding poets that I like. 

I finished the "Sugar Calling" podcast. I wasn't totally sure what to expect of it going in. I never read the column "Dear Sugar" but Cheryl Strayd gets recommended to me a lot because she also lost her mother, so she's talked about grief a few times. 

Well, the podcast isn't done as far as I know. I just finished the last episode out. The podcast is a Covid-era podcast, where Cheryl talks to authors/artists to gain wisdom. Some conversations are calming and some are heavy. She talked to Alice Walker, Judy Blume, George Saunders, Margaret Atwood, Amy Tan, Billy Collins, and Joy Harjo. 

Overall it's a nice podcast. I'm trying to read more books on grief but I usually avoid the topic entirely. It's probably why I try and avoid Cheryl (sorry girl) because I'm okay right now and I don't want to rock my own boat. So I haven't read Wild, or watched the movie. 

Buying:

I fell in love with one of the samples Macy sent my way. I'd normally buy from Macy's but I figured I'd buy it at Ulta, get the points to save up so I can buy a NuFace/Foreo Bear. I don't know which one I want. 

Anyways, I got the medium size bottle of YSL's newest scent, Libre. I think the commercial is silly but the scent is divine. I got the parfume, and I think the scent lasts quite a long time. My friend bought me the Mon Paris scent awhile ago. It's very light on me (the scent notes are raspberry, datura flower, white musk, and patchouli).  I don't think I wear Mon Paris well. I had wanted the Black Opium...because the bottle is so delightful. I put it on one day and walked through the store and discovered that it did not smell good on me. The notes are basically coffee and vanilla but nope. So I didn't have high hopes for their newest scent. I bought the Libre Intense, which has notes of Lavender, Orange blossom, orchid accord and warm vanilla.
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I might go back to the normal formula after Intense. I'm mostly excited that I can wear perfume again. Those pesky migraines really have wrecked me. 

I just finished a bottle of Chloe Roses, which I was always so shocked I liked because I normally don't gravitate towards the smell of roses. Magnolias--yes. Roses--nope. 

I'm also obsessed with YSL's eyeshadow palettes as they have that fun packaging. I do not need anymore eyeshadow palettes so I'm skipping it. I mean, look at it! pink or black. 

​I also picked up a new product to try. I have no idea if it will work. My skin was oily and now it's desert dry thanks to my migraine medication. My medication works, otherwise I'd not bother. 

None of that is important. I'm basically trying new things out to see if I can find a magic potion for my finnicky skin. This is from Zitsticka and is their microdart hyperfade patches. I'd seen them around the web, so even though they were a little expensive, I gave them a shot. 

I've had the cheap-o version of the pimple stickers that I'll plop on at night. Most of the expensive pimple patches are just fancy hydrocolloid patches, so I buy the generic and cut them up. It works the same. 

The biggest lie I was ever told was that acne stopped when you were adult. That's some bullshit. 

I also picked up a lipstick at Macys. Did I need ANOTHER lipstick? Nope. I wanted it and it was near my birthday so it was a gift to me. The best type of gifts. It was part of their 2020 Holiday Collection (called the "golden nights"). I picked the purple lipstick. They all have an imprint of a star with some glittery particles in it. Here on the Macy's website, and then on the Dior. 

I picked the pretty purple color. When I ordered it from Macy's, I got two free gifts. One was a eye cream sample and the second was a bag. Like, the little paper bags they wrap your purchase in at the counter. I guess so I could have the experience at home. It's been cracking me up since it came. It doesn't take much to amuse me.

Watching:

Well, I think Bravo is curing me of my addiction. All on it's own. The Real Housewives of New Jersey was so unbearable after two episodes I didn't finish the season. I'm sure it got better, but I don't actually like the fighting. Like, I know New Jersey really took off on a Teresa fight but I'd rather watch everyone being happy and occasionally squabbling. 

I'm probably in the minority. I still have Potomac, Atlanta, Salt Lake, New York, and Beverly Hills. The last two are barely hanging on. I don't hate Leah like some people seem too, but I don't think she meshes. Although it would be hard to mesh with some of those ladies anyways. 

All the drama with Dallas (never watched, probably never will with that crew...yikes) and Porsha (what is happening?!) it's been a full Fofty weekend. 

I never got into the other shows. Sadly, I'll have nothing new to watch because ABC canceled all the comedies I was watching and nothing new has struck my fancy. It's rough! 

I just finished a whole watch through of Hogan's Heroes. It's lighthearted...for a prisoner of war camp set in Nazi Germany. The full range of late 1960s  makeup is totally on display. That's always fun to see for me. I love when things are just so accurate to something (well, not to the time setting of the show...but for the accuracy of the makeup to the era they actually filmed in). 

The basic premise is that Colonel Hogan leads a group of American prisoners in helping Allied war efforts by espionage and helping other people escape. All the Germans are bumbling incompetent and Hogan and co. always prevail. Obviously, this is not how things were but it's fun to watch the show.  I actually love watching the episodes with Marya, the Russian spy. She's a hoot.