Things I Like - October

My monthly round-up of 5 things I'm liking, all affiliate link free. =)

1) Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer 

You might not think October is prime homemade ice cream season but I actually have some in process right now and it's one of Jeni's.  I don't read a lot of cookbooks because I don't really like cooking but this was right up my alley, seeing as I make ice cream all summer.  Jeni makes some really fantastic and unusual ice cream flavors (there is one involving sweet corn I am super intrigued to try) and her book has plenty of those and some theory about ice cream, how it's made, etc.  She gives a lot of way to make your own flavors too which is fantastic.  I learned a lot!  If I ever get to Columbus Ohio, her shop is somewhere I will be visiting.  In the meantime I'll settle for the book.


2) This is Us

Is anyone else already watching this?  I've watched all the episodes at about 7:30 in the morning the day after they have aired (post working out and Matt leaving and pre-Luke waking up) because I just want to know what happens.  The short story is that it follows 4 people with the same birthday.  The long story is much more complicated.  As an adoptive and waiting to adopt parent I had a few issues in the pilot that I mostly let slide for reasons I don't want to discuss here so as not to ruin surprises for anyone else.  It's been so enjoyable and sometimes emotional and shocking and just great.  I hope they aren't getting all the amazing-ness out in the first season.

3) Just a Kiss by Denise Hunter

I talked about the second book in this series way back in April and this book (#3) was great too.  Very quickly becoming one of my two favorite Christian fiction authors (Matt even knew who my first was!!).  It's good Christian fiction without being preachy, something that is a very difficult line, judging from all the Christian fiction I've read in my life (a pretty decent amount).  The characters feel like real people you could and do know and the location is somewhere you'd really like to at least visit.  AND the author was at my nephew's wedding a few ago BUT I didn't meet her.  Real opportunity fail there.  But still, these books are worth reading. 


4) Vaseline Lip Therapy - Rosy Lips

I've tried out so many different lip things over the last year-ish which really goes against my normal "buy one thing and use it up completely before trying something new" tendencies.  This is one of the better ones.  It's moisturizing and comfortable to wear with still some color.  I think it's going to be a strong favorite over the winter when everything is so dry.  Totally worth the $3-4.

5) EW Harry Potter Binge Podcast

 

If you've been reading awhile you know I'm all about podcasts.  I've subscribed to EW for over 10 years and this just came out with a Harry Potter podcast.  So obviously I'm going to be all over that.  From what I can tell, this is a limited series focused on Harry Potter, namely the movies.  The two episodes that have aired as of my writing have been about the first two movies so I imagine there are just 5-6 episodes left.  They've interviewed the director, Chris Columbus, of the first two films and the kid who played Colin Creevy.  I don't know what else is coming!  Nothing incredibly new or shocking but still nice to spend a little time listening to people who love that world.  Obviously, the books are always better BUT...this is still interesting.  And seems like it'll be a pretty short Harry Potter season so if you are a fan, you can probably find time to listen to ~8 episodes (in less time than it might take to read Order of the Phoenix).