Summer is always a tough time for me when it comes to blogging. This year is even worse than usual, what with me still getting up to speed in my new job, freelancing on the side, and trying to grasp the fact that I”m now the mom of a high school senior/kid who can drive. It’s all a bit much, to be honest, which means that I’m doing my best to distract myself with other things. The upside is that I’m reading a ton and it’s summer movie season; the downside is that it’s depressing to know you have a blog just sitting there, doing nothing and feeling pressured by something that’s supposed to be a fun hobby.
Anyway, now that I’ve overshared, how about some summer fun suggestions?
Movies: Have I mentioned that I love Letterboxd? I plan to obsessively plow through the summer movies and review them in my Letterboxd diary, so if you’re wondering whether the blockbuster you’re thinking about seeing is worth the price, chances are I’ve already seen it. In short: The Purge sucked; The Internship rocked despite the critics mostly panning it.
Books: I’m loving my new Kindle Paperwhite (Patrick is the best birthday gifter ever). I’m reading The Painted Girls and A Week in Winter (on Audible during my commute to/from Bethesda). Also loved The Storyteller, even though it isn’t exactly light summer reading and is depressing as hell. For all the books I read, you can check out my Goodreads profile.
Outings: Despite the longer commute, I’m loving working in Bethesda. A billion restaurants–so far, my favorites are ramen at Satsuma (although it could be cuter looking–my kids and I are obsessed with the ramen in the movie Ponyo and were hoping it looked just like that), grape Fanta Zero at California Tortilla (sorry but ever since they stopped offering the greek chicken burrito the food just doesn’t do it for me), and pizza at the Corner Slice. And I love Reddz Trading–it’s like an upscale Value Village within walking distance of my office. Score! For weekends, I’m obsessed with Hillwood and will definitely be checking out Living Artfully and the French Festival.
TV: I’m making Patrick’s life a living hell by insisting we obsessively go through all eight seasons of Weeds at once. We’re almost done; after that it will be on to Game of Thrones–I”m curious to see what all the hype is about. The iPad/Netflix/treadmill thing is still working for me as a carrot to regular exercise–I’m obsessed with House of Cards and can’t wait for season two. Lately I’ve been watching Blue on YouTube, and think it’s interesting that while network TV seems to be fixated on reality shows which are losing steam, IMO, YouTube and Netflix are the ones putting out really high quality scripted series. I will say the YouTube iPad experience leaves a lot to be desired when trying to watch a series of episodes–navigating to the next episode while on the treadmill is a chore and I hope they move to a more Netflix-like navigation at some point.
So that’s all that’s thrilling about me lately…what are your summer plans?
Leave a Reply