Saturday, December 31, 2016

2016 Reading List

It's New Year's Eve again, time to share everything I've read this past year.

In 2015, in addition to logging all the books and plays that I read, I also challenged myself to PopSugar's Reading Challenge. I liked the challenge to branch out my reading genres, so I did it again with their 2016 version.

As always, only books that were finished made the list; anything partially read or unfinished is not listed here.

Here's what I read in 2016:

Fiction

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold -- a romance set in the future
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan -- the first book you see in a bookstore
Wool by Hugh Howey -- a dystopian novel
Neuromancer by William Gibson -- a book with a blue cover
Proxima by Stephan Baxter -- a science-fiction novel

Plays

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw -- a book set in Europe
The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow by Rolin Jones
Tiny Tim's Christmas Carol by Ken Ludwig
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean by Ed Graczyk
James and the Giant Peach words and music by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, based on the book by Roald Dahl -- a book that's under 150 pages
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne -- a book that is published in 2016
Full Code by David Valdes Greenwood
Rapunzel by Karen Boettcher-Tate -- a book based on a fairy tale
Sunset Boulevard by Don Black and Christopher Hampton (music by Andrew Lloyd Webber)
Casa Valentina by Harvey Fierstein -- a book you can finish in a day

Unused Categories:
--a National Book Award winner
--a YA bestseller
--a book you haven't read since high school
--a book set in your home state
--a book translated to English
--a New York Times bestseller
--a book that's becoming a movie this year
--a book recommended by someone you just met
--a self-improvement book
--a book written by a celebrity
--a political memoir
--a book at least 100 years older than you
--a book that's more than 600 pages
--a book from Oprah's Book Club
--a book recommended by a family member
--a graphic novel
--a book with a protagonist who has your occupation
--a book that takes place during summer
--a book and its prequel
--a murder mystery
--a book written by a comedian
--a book of poetry
--a classic from the 20th century
--a book from the library
--an autobiography
--a book about a road trip
--a book about a culture you're unfamiliar with
--a satire
--a book that takes place on an island
--a book that's guaranteed to bring you joy

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Some Chanukah Decorating

This year my holiday decorating was a bit more haphazard at home, since I was working a holiday show and all of my time was going into painting/props/tech rehearsal. But after opening night I did finally get out the bins of Chanukah decorations, and the house looks pretty festive.

As usual, Santa Mickey is on the living room console table, which is draped in this fun Chanukah fabric my mom gave me a few years ago. We also got that lighted garland on a timer this year, so we have some magical lights even when we're not thinking about it.


The ornament tree is in it's usual spot on the dining room sideboard, next to the menorahs and lots of dreidels.



And the nutcrackers line up on the mantle, guarding all of the holiday cards we've received so far.


Monday, December 12, 2016

Weekly Meal Plan 12.11.16

It's holiday time! That means cold weather and busy evenings and weekends. It also means it's the perfect weather to make a huge pot of borscht!

Here's what we're eating this week:

Sunday: borscht (I made a pot Saturday, we had more for Sunday)

Monday: leftover chile verde

Tuesday: dinner at the movie theater (seeing George Takei and Lea Salonga in Allegiance!)

Wednesday: Chickpea Kofta (Green Chef meal)

Thursday: Sean's work holiday party

Friday: Lemon Herb Salmon Orzo (Green Chef meal)

Saturday: leftovers


And of course, if you're interested in trying out Green Chef, you're welcome to use the following code to get a box with 2 free meals:

http://greenchef.com/invite/q6xy9