One of my favorite podcasts is NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour. I love the hosts, I love the way they have a very real take on the latest movie releases, TV shows and other cultural goings on. I also love the recurring feature, ‘what’s making us happy this week’. And because it’s a Friday, because I’ve just done something that’s made me very happy, and because I’ve just listened to the latest PCHH podcast, I thought that was inspiration enough for a new blog post.
So, what’s making me happy this week?
Making good progress on my training plan
The week started in a challenging fashion when I had to work out on the damn trainer for 90 minutes. I thought I was going to get incredibly bored. And I kinda did. But I also kinda didn’t. And I uncovered a new revelation tonight, trainer karaoke. This is the thing I just did that’s made me very happy, for those of you that were wondering. The time goes all kinds of fast when you are singing along to your favorite tunes at the top of your voice. I pity the neighbors though. Don’t try that one in a terraced house…
Going to my first book club meeting
Yes, I know used to belong to a book club, so this isn’t my first EVER meeting. But it is the first meeting of my new US-based book club. And I really enjoyed it. We read Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch which was a good (but very long) read. Her writing has a very dark edge to it and none of the characters were entirely likable, but overall I did find I enjoyed it. Next on the list is Sycamore Row by John Grisham. Somehow I have made it through 30+ years of my life without ever having read a John Grisham, so the first order of tonight’s business is watching A Time To Kill in order to familiarize myself with the characters.
Finally getting my personal email inbox under control
This week I finally signed up to Unroll.me, a free inbox management service that takes all your subscriptions and combines them into one rolled-up email that is delivered to your inbox daily. This has been an absolute revelation for me. No longer do I have to sift through 9,000 Living Social Deals every day. I recommend this service to everyone.
A couple of online shopping wins
This morning I had bagged a bargain before 7am, through the medium of Bloomingdale’s one day homeware spectacular. Now Bloomie’s are one of the worst email offenders because they are ALWAYS having some form of irritating sale. But every now and again, they have a good sale. A sale that has things I actually need. And today was that day. I have been thinking about buying a food processor over here for a while; I used to have one in the UK and I used it regularly enough that being without one is more than a minor inconvenience. So I was very pleased with myself today when I bought a KitchenAid food processor for about a third of the original price. I also bought a waffle iron. People who know me know just how much I have been wanting one of these. For years. So now we will be able to give even better B&B service to our visitors!
Getting an American education
For my Secret Santa present, I was given a huge pile of DVDs that all American teenagers (and quite a lot of English ones too, judging by the reaction on my Facebook post) watched growing up. To give me the US education I’d missed out on. I’m gradually working my way through; last week it was The Breakfast Club. This week, Sixteen Candles. I loved them both, for different reasons. And wow, Jake Ryan… How big a crush would I have had on him if I’d watched Sixteen Candles when I was an impressionable teenager…
Discovering a new place in NYC
Last week I was feeling pretty low. Definitely a case of the seasonal blues, brought on in part by the hugely depressing polar vortex. So on Sunday I decided to accompany M into the city and killed some time whilst he was at work. I wandered around Central Park in the snow. I had a coffee and read my book at Starbucks in Trump Towers (one of my favorite touristy things to do). But I also had an NYC first. I went to The Frick. It was the best of both worlds for me – a beautiful old house, with beautiful old art in it. Unfortunately, in a way, I’d just missed the exhibition where The Goldfinch (the painting which inspired Donna Tartt’s book) was shown. But in a way this was actually fortunate, because it meant the gallery was really quiet. Sundays between 11am and 1pm you can pay what you want for the entry fee, but I paid the full recommended amount of $20. I thought it was good value and I’d recommend it to anyone. An hour well spent.
So that’s this week’s round up. I’ll leave you with a picture of something that made me happy on Saturday: seeing how beautiful the Botanical Gardens were in the snow. The polar vortex does have some benefits.
laineyloutodo 