Peacefield

Good luck on your job, Noll! Have fun on your trip, June, and welcome back, Laura . My weekend started off on Friday with a root canal at the dentist, yay! I had the day off though so I could suffer the after effects at home in my PJs. Saturday I did a bunch of shopping and cooking - I made sugar cookie cutouts with jam and star shapes for our Oscar party here at work today and I also made oodles of hummus for the Oscar party I went to last night. It was a late one so I'm pretty tired today that's for sure! It's been really nice here the past couple of days, with none of the white stuff (hallelujah!). It's sad when one gets excited over temps in the 30's, huh? I hope everyone has a lovely week ahead of them

Well, my Ra-Ra Riot gig fell through I thought my friend bought the tickets but apparently it slipped her mind and when checked over the weekend and they were sold out. Good news is, she bought us tickets to see Mika in April to make up for it! Very excited since I've never seen him live before. Noll, I wish you were here to see him with us!!

Welcome to BCF, Gracie! Very nice to have you! I have Wind Up Bird Chronicle on my TBR list this year and am looking forward to it since it's my first Murakami

I re-watched Star Trek over the weekend (Simon Pegg, woo!) and also saw Salmon Fishing in the Yemen which was lovely. Funny, especially Kristin Scott-Thomas' character. Loved her!

Hey there and welcome to BCF, Chryssie! Glad you joined up

That would be fun! In 2012 I managed to see Young the Giant, AWOLNation, The Black Keys and Two Door Cinema Club. All at bars and clubs except for BK, of course. I also saw one of my fave unknown bands, The Dig. I think that was my 5th time seeing them, since they tour a lot and the places they play are never expensive to get into. This year I've only got two shows lined up so far, both in March. Ra-Ra Riot and Muse, which is very exciting!

Oooh, Quinoa is fab, Kylie! I prefer it like others have said, as a substitute for rice or pasta. I'm quite fond of cooking up a big batch of quinoa and the rest of the week I'll have it in my salads, soups, and most of the time with grilled veggies and chicken. I like to cook it in low-sodium broth and then throw in some cooking wine with the chicken and veggies before I put it over the quinoa and man is it good. Happy cooking!

Yes, it may seem too early in the morning (it's just after 9:00am here) but I'm eating a Tunnock's 'milk chocolate coated caramel wafter biscuit' and it's SO good! Thanks again to Weave, who sent me wafers, tea cakes, and more wafers! You rock all

Karsa: That was the best part! We watched it a couple times we laughed so hard. Poor Loki!

I watched The Avengers over the weekend and while it dragged near the end, I was pleasantly surprised. I had plenty of chances to swoon over Thor and I laughed a LOT.

Thanks, everyone! I'm very much looking forward to reading my selection of books this year I'll plan on joining Rootschat today/tonight Janet and will definitely look for you there! You never know, you and I might be distantly related!

It sounds like a strange combination as I write this, but this morning I had 2 pieces of whole wheat toast. One had peanut butter on it and the other had a nice, thick layer of hummus on it Mmmm.

Welcome back, SueB! Glad to have you :D

Hey guys! I've managed to read about 100 pages of Remarkable Creatures this month so I should be on track to finish it by March 1st . Yesterday in the mail I received The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson from Weave. It was in a fabulous birthday package with enough Tunnock's tea cakes and wafers to last me oh, maybe a week YUM!! I also received a Barnes & Noble gift card from my friends tonight so I plan on using that very soon!

Sofia and any other members here in the northeast US, good luck to you with that dumping of snow! I've really gotten cranky in my old age and Mother Nature is on the top of my you-know-what list. We're supposed to get hit with some stuff overnight and it's supposed to last all day tomorrow but it won't be anything compared to what's going on out east. All good vibes will be heading your way I had a really nice dinner out tonight with my oldest and dearest friends to celebrate my birthday. We all take each other out and tonight was my turn. We grew up together and I've known them all since I was 14, so we always have a fun time. I hope everyone has a nice rest of the weekend!

1) A log cabin surrounded by huge pine trees and birds sitting at bird-feeders 2) A set of keys, a small lamp, and a framed picture of family 3) Nothing, I back slowly away and into the house! 4) It's white ceramic with a green Starbucks symbol on the front 5) Put it in the sink and wash it because if I can see it I obviously left it on the counter after I used it that morning So, I see myself as a log cabin in the woods, hmmm... Like I'm sturdy, solid and unmoveable maybe? I also drive/lock things up well, light things well and love my family. Nice! It's true, I run away from problems . My love for Starbucks knows no bounds! This last one confuses me... I leave my love lying around and then toss it in a sink to wash it? Huh.

I too am so happy to see that you enjoyed Girl with the Pearl Earring, Bree! I've read almost all of her works as well and am reading Remarkable Creatures right now. Funnily enough, Chesil, Fallen Angels is the one other Chevalier I've not read so I obviously need to! The Lady and the Unicorn is my favorite, but GWTPE is not far behind.

Thanks for the bday wishes, LR and Chalie! Chrissy, what a major pain about your tire trouble! I'm so used to it here, being that our roads take such a beating what with all the snow and ice. There's a saying we have in MN - we have 2 seasons; winter and road construction! I've had 3 blow-outs in the last couple years due to potholes Bird feeders are such lovely gifts! We've tried to have them at our new place but I swear there is a gang of bully squirrels who raid it before the birds have a chance to take part.

Hmm, this is WAY too difficult of a decision to make! I will persevere though. Vocals: Chris Cornell (Soundgarden/Audioslave) Guitar: John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) Guitar: Matt Bellamy (Muse) Bass: Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) Drums: Joe Morello (Dave Brubeck quartet)

That's so cool you ended up moving so near the places where your G-G-Grandparents were born, Janet! It's funny how things happen like that. Do you think it'd be worthwhile for me to join Rootschat? I know it's a UK-centered forum and while my paternal grandmother was 100% English, her ancestors came to the US in the early 1600's so I'd have to go awfully far back to find more info. You never know, though, I'm always amazed at what I find out when I do my research! Are you known as Janet on that forum as well?

Aww, the memories, Karsa! I used to be a huge Audioslave fan and can never get tired of listening to that first album of theirs. Right now I've got on the White Rabbits' 'Temporary.' Love these guys!

My drink of choice from Starbucks, a grande non-fat two sugar latte

OOOOH, I'll have to look up Rootschat, Janet. I love chatting about family history!! How cool that you connected with a cousin - I'm in MN too, so you never know! I don't know if you're originally from Somerset, but one of my ancestors was from Ash. In fact, hopefully in a few years I'll be able to come visit since my English relatives came from Somerset and Dorset. It would be so neat if we found distant relatives here, Devi! Those kind of connections are mind-blowing, just like Kylie said . Maybe we should start a genealogy thread, huh? I can't wait to read Simon Pegg's book, Kylie, and Miss Peregrine, which is yet another gift from Weave.

Thanks for the good luck wishes, guys! I'm glad to hear good things about Remarkable Creatures, too. AshleighJane, I really enjoyed City of Bones and I'd like to read the rest of the series. It'll be interesting to see how they turn it into a film and even though it's another YA series, it's unlike any I've read. I love working on my genealogy, Janet! It's very engrossing, I agree. You can find someone and just keep going back further and further in time. It's the best! I use Ancestry.com as well as Rootsweb and many other sites. What do you use? Frankie, I haven't heard of a dog and Palo Alto, but it's a city in California and also the name of James Franco's book . Weave sent it to me and I'm looking forward to reading it this year!

Well, better late than never, huh? My official 2013 reading list/blog is now open for business I'm going to take a bit of a different approach this year. I have many, MANY books in my TBR pile, but I'm going to concentrate on reading at least 12 of them and commit myself to reading 1 book a month. I know, it's not very many considering most of your own lists, but I feel this is what I can handle and something at which I can be successful. Between working full time and also dabbling in my family genealogy project and other crafty things I like to do, it's just too hard to get a ton of reading time in. Anyway! Here are the books I am going to try and read in 2013, in no particular order. I hope to read 12 of them, but more would be awesome Wish me luck! City of Bones Cassandra Clare (January) Remarkable Creatures Tracy Chevalier (February) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Ransom Riggs Red Herring Without Mustard Alan Bradley (September) Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Murakami Palo Alto James Franco House of Velvet & Glass Katherine Howe Before the Poison Peter Robinson (May) Generation Dead Daniel Waters (1st half of June) Reliquary Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child One of our Thursdays is Missing Jasper Fforde Nerd Do Well Simon Pegg Delicate Edible Birds Lauren Groff Arcadia Lauren Groff Shop Girl Steve Martin The Emigrants Johan Boger The Devil in Massachusetts Marion L Starkey High Fidelity Nick Hornby Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella (March) Divergent by Veronica Roth (April) Under the Dome by Stephen King (June/July) Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris (July) Joyland by Stephen King (August) The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey (1st half of October) Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King (2nd half of October)