Free Time and Tv and Books and Things.

It's nice when your friends and family know you as well as mine know me. I asked for no gifts for my Birthday this year. They very nicely ignored me, for which I am grateful. I got balloons, flowers, Dunkin Donuts giftcards, some lovely clothes and the new Nora Roberts book (which I let my sister keep for now because she had already read the first 3 chapters before I opened the present, haha). I came into work this morning with Biggby coffee and donuts waiting for me on my desk and Ron Weasley (see side pic) wishing me a "Magical Birthday".

I had an entire day to myself. Mom's (and Dad's) of little ones, I ask you: What would you do with a whole day to yourself? No commitments. No obligations. Just 8 hours of uninterrupted free time. Well, I didn't know what to do with myself. The possibilities were endless! I could have an Alias marathon or watch Labyrinth or Clue (all of which I considered). I could go to the library by myself and read. I could stay home and read. I could go to a book store and walk around. I could sleep all day. I could clean all day (no). As it turned out, I spent the morning on Pottermore, shopping in Diagon Alley and de-gnoming the garden, all while checking in with facebook and seeing all my lovely Birthday wishes. I went to Target and bought myself a new purse. Went to Qdoba and got myself some chips and guacamole. Went to Biggby and got myself a coffee. I watched 2 hours worth of Saved By The Bell episodes, all of which I remembered the words to. I read for a bit and facebook'ed a little more. I flipped channels and ended up watching the first episode of Downton Abbey. It was 430pm before I knew it and then I had to go get Charley from school. It was a great day and I guess the answer for me as far as "what would you do with uninterrupted time?" is concerned is this: a little bit of everything. It was delightful and I truly, truly appreciate each and every Birthday greeting I received. Thanks everyone!

What shows have you guys been impressed with so far this fall? I am over the moon happy with The Walking Dead. What a complete turnaround from last season. Every episode is emotional and a complete nail biter and I love that. For as much as Carl gets on my nerves, Rick more than makes up for it. I love Andrew Lincoln so much. He is a phenomenal actor. PHENOMENAL. Also, that last episode? Woah, people. Woah.

Once Upon a Time has been fantastic! The creativity and absolute elegance of that show pleasantly surprises me every week. I adore Robert Carlyle and I love that they keep incorporating Lost actors into the show. It is such a treat every week! Also, Josh Dallas (David/Charming) has the most flawless, smoothest skin of any actor I have ever seen. Seriously.

I adore Elementary. Johnny Lee Miller just makes me happy. Happy to watch and happy to listen to. He's just fun and the show is so entertaining.

I've slowly been working my way through Doctor Who's second season. I really love David Tennant. It amazes me how people come up with such creative storylines. It hurts my brain to think about it. Going back to what I said earlier about Downton Abbey: I watched the first episode because I was curious to see what all the hub-bub was about. I enjoyed it. I'd like to watch more of it eventually. I LOVED the clothes. Holy moly, they are so pretty and fancy and I know that is completely girly of me but every person looked so polished and perfect and I liked it a lot (Sidenote: I actually was planning on watching the first episode of Homeland but it's not on Netflix as of yet. Wah Wah). With all the BBC America I have been watching, don't be surprised if I'm talking in a British accent next time you see me. It can't be helped when it's in my brain all day.

Jeff and I finally tried Five Guys Burgers and Fries last weekend. It was good. The fries were excellent! I think I'm super spoiled with my dad's burgers though. I prefer his over there's any day. I did have fun experimenting with the futuristic pop machine, switching from Cherry Coke to Cherry Sprite. Charley would have loved that.

We watched We Bought a Zoo with Matt Damon and Scarlet Hohansson Johansson. We were both surprised by how much we enjoyed it. What a good, heartwarming movie! And the little girl who played Rosie? ADORABLE. Also, that's two movies in a row that I have liked ScarJo (the first being The Avengers). She might be moving off my list of annoying celebrities onto the tolerable list.

There is a show coming out in January on FX starring Keri Russel and Matthew Rhys, called The Americans. It's a spy show and it stars Felicity herself and Kevin Walker from Brothers and Sisters. And it's a spy show. I'm down. I'm excited. I can't wait. Check out the trailer:


There is a Firefly 10th Anniversary special on the Science Channel this Sunday at 10pm. Be a leaf on the wind and watch it!

I've read three duds of books in a row:  
No Quest For The Wicked- which I was SO excited for and totally let down by.  It wasn't bad, it was just disappointing. I felt like nothing happened in it. The only plot was the characters running around New York City nonstop. I LOVED the end though and I'm looking forward to the next one. I sure hope it's better.

 A Casual Vacancy- which I don't even know if I should count because I couldn't even finish it but then when I found out what happened throughout the rest of the book, I was SO happy that I decided to stop when I did. Ugh.

Loving Frank- It's a story about Frank Lloyd Wright and his mistress. It's a little dull but I was completely jarred by the end of it. Which I was furious about. So furious that I made Jeff stop what he was doing when I finished it so that I could yell at someone about how much I hated it. And then I found out that it was a true story. Sheesh.

I'm currently reading The Island by Elin Hilderbrand. It's OK so far. Not great but not bad.

So that's that. What shows are you digging? What books are you reading? How would you spend your free time? Chat me up, let me know! And if you wished me a "Happy Birthday" or celebrated with me, THANK YOU. True, good friends and family are so hard to come by. Listen to me when I tell you this guys, you should NEVER ever take those people for granted.