This And That From This Past Week

Happy Sunday!

I thought I’d wrap this week up by looking back on a handful of highlights from last week:

I got my hair cut! It was the first significant cut I’ve had in years. I’ve worn my hair long for quite some time, and it was just easy. Sure, it took a while to blow dry, but styling was simple (my hair is obedient, for the most part) and it was a low maintenance cut, just requiring a trim twice a year or so. Lately, though, I found myself itching to try something new, and so last Wednesday I took the plunge, cutting off about eight inches. So far, I’m loving my new look (and also loving the reduced amount of time I have to spend blowing it dry)!

I hosted book club. I belong to an amazing book club group made up of wonderful women. We get together every couple of months and talk about the book we’ve just read for a little while, but then spend most of the time discussing life and just catching up. We have a rotating hosting schedule, and this past weekend was my first time having the girls over to my house. We talked about our most recent book (Burial Rites, a historical fiction book about the last person executed in Iceland in the early 1800s, which was really great) and enjoyed some snacks (because food is obviously a critical part of book club — duh). For today’s event, I made Alton Brown’s Roasted Veggie Dip, walnut sweet potato crescent rolls, mini apple cider cupcakes with nutmeg frosting, Reese’s stuffed peanut butter cookies, and homemade Cheez-Its (which are good — very similar to cheese straws in flavor).

I saw Interstellar (and you should, too). A group of friends and I went to see this film in IMAX on Friday night, and it was absolutely wonderful. I’d recommend checking this one out in theaters if you can, to get the fully immersive experience. I was impressed with this movie (much more than I thought I’d be), and continue to be amazed at how I’ve become a legit Matthew McConaughey fan. (For years, he played the same jerky characters and the pages of People magazine were peppered with photos of him hanging out — shirtless, always — with Lance Armstrong. I was not a fan, to put it mildly. But as he’s gotten a bit older, it’s like McConaughey has made an effort to reboot himself as an actor, and I for one like the change.)