Three fun things from last night:
- Cookies
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already seen these flourless Nutella cookies. Holy goodness. I didn’t measure the ingredients when I made them, but I’d imagine the proportions are similar to these flourless peanut butter cookies, but with a teaspoon of baking soda added in as well.
- So You Think You Can Dance
After a two-week hiatus, this show is back! Ryan and I aren’t regularly watching any other shows at the moment (we’re anxiously awaiting the return of New Girl and Modern Family), so we were happy to chill on the couch, eat cookies and critique the dancers as if we actually knew what we were talking about last night. I’m still waiting for a dance from this season to top the “Misty Blue” or “My Chick Bad” routines that are two of my all-time favorites. (Fun fact for my fellow UCF Knights: Tiffany is a UCF student!)
- The arrival of Insurgent
It’s no secret just how much I loved the book Divergent. (If you liked The Hunger Games, I cannot recommend Divergent enough. It’s a dystopian fan’s dream!) Insurgent is the sequel to Divergent and I actually preordered it months ago, but the credit card I used to preorder it expired, so I was never charged and it never showed up. I finally got around to ordering it on Monday and cannot wait to dive in. Ryan loved Divergent as well, so he’s just as pumped to read Insurgent as I am!
Breakfast
Breakfast this morning was oh so good.
The texture of these pancakes gets me every time. They’re more eggy than basic buttermilk pancakes and I just love ‘em.
Git in mah belly!
Question of the Morning
- What was the last book you read that you absolutely loved?
I couldn’t tear myself away from Gone Girl, but I think Sarah’s Key was the last book I read that I could not stop talking about to everyone I knew (especially those who love WWII historical fiction). I read it in two days and thought it was amazing.
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I couldn’t put down “The Art of Fielding”–I read it in three days! Great book! 🙂
i’ve been wanting to read that ever since it was a book club contender!
You will love it!
The Lucky One, it was awesome! Now I need to watch the movie!
I’m currently loving The Kill Order (prequel to the Maze Runner). It came out yesterday and I can’t put it down!!
oooh! so glad to hear it’s a good one. ryan and i loved all of the books in the maze runner trilogy so it’s on my “must read” list.
I received an email from Amazon the other day about my order. I had totally forgotten I’d ordered The Kill Order. The same thing happened with Insurgent. I have to finish another book before I start on either of those. We’re getting some rainy weather this weekend so it will be a good day to sit and read!
There’s a prequel?! I just finished The Death Cure and loved the series.
I picked up Divergent on a whim just hearing a little about it and it happened to be available at the library. I absolutely loved it and read Insurgent as soon as I could after. Now the wait for the 3rd..
I loved David Attenborough’s memoir “Life on Air.” He does the incredible BBC nature documentaries and it was so interesting to read about how fim technology changed, about being in so many different places, and about shifting attitudes towards “other” cultures. A great book!
The last greatest book I read I’ll be writing a Friday post on was “MWF seeking BFF Forever” by Rachel Bertsche. Check it out!!
Those panckaes look so light and fluffy!
I also plan on reading The Kill Order. I didn’t realize it came out yesterday!
I also read Insurgent and couldn’t put Gone Girl down!
Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand! Loved it! It’s a quick beach read but I couldn’t get enough!
I drooled over those cookies last night, but then I managed to forget about them. Now I am drooling again!
hahaha – oops!!
I totally could have gone for some pancakes this morning! Then again, they might have been a little hard for me to eat in the car on my way to work…
I LOVE that you love So You Think You Can Dance 🙂 I’ve been to see the live show for the past 3 years and it’s AWESOME! I’ve met all the dancers every year and it’s definitely something that I look forward to. I haven’t watched last night’s episode yet, but I will be soon!!! I don’t know when you started watching, but I could give you tons of videos of their best dances (in my opinion) to watch!
That’s good to know about Sarah’s Key; I’ve had it on my list of books to read FOREVER but maybe now I will make it a higher priority.
I read Insurgent and liked it A LOT, but I thought it was a little more rushed than Divergent. It could also just be that the plot was just so suspenseful that by the time I was done reading I realized I had rushed through a lot and didn’t understand everything lol but that’s my own fault 😉
I just finished reading Gone Girl last night and I loved it!!
One of my all time favorite books is called Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. It is one of a few adult books she has written and I have read it numerous times. Love it!!
oh my gosh, i remember summer sisters!!! i read that book YEARS ago. judy blume was one of the first authors i fell in love with — i started w/ all of her kids books (fudge!) when i was in elementary school.
YES on Summer Sisters. Love that book — and Judy Blume 🙂
You can’t forget about “Are you There God, It’s me Margaret”!! That has to be the best Judy Blume book ever. I feel like every pre-teen girl has read that book!!
Did you ever see this dance? I have never seen a full episode of SYTYCD (only bits while on the treadmill throughout the seasons) so I’m not a fair critic but this is among my favorites!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emy9R7zxAlg
man. i wish i could dance.
ahhhhh I loooved this one!!
I loved Sarah’s Key as well, but the Paris Wife is what got me. I still can’t stop talking about it!
I’m about to start that book too! Pretty excited I loved divergent! If you like divergent and hunger games I highly recommend reading delirium by Lauren Oliver! It’s similar even better than the other books! I’m obsessed with it and am trying to get everyone and anyone to read it. It’s that good!
i read it and liked it a lot!
I read Delirium also and it was okay but I didn’t like it as much as the Divergent series, but then I read the 2nd book Pandemonium, and it sucked me in and now I can’t wait for the 3rd! I also really liked Under The Never Sky, but my all time favorite book right now is Shadow and Bone-soooo good!
Just ordered Sarah’s Key from the library. I love WW2 fiction! Divergent was the JAM! Enjoy 😉
If you liked Sarah’s Key, you will LOVE the Lost Wife. Amazing books 🙂
OMG I agree with you on Sarah’s Key! I read that recently & literally did not sleep b/c I could not put it down! Also Little Bee from Chris Cleeve is an all-time favorite but get ready for the Kleenex though 🙂
Insurgent is AWESOME..I loved it just as much as Divergent…enjoy!
Oh man! My favorite dance will always be the one with alex and twitch where he was teaching alex hiphop. It was awesome!
I am going to have to read sarah’s key now! Its been sitting in my to be read pile for so long! Thanks for the recc.
~Cat
That’s my absolute favorite one as well! Love Twitch, and Alex was amazing!!! I still rewatch that clip and it’s been a couple seasons since then. We were so sad when he got injured!
OMG. I’m in the middle of Divergent and really having a hard time putting it down. Although, I’m still a huge Hunger Games fan! The most recent book (besides my HG obsession) I’ve read and loved was Water for Elephants.
I really loved 50 Shades series, after that I read a Jodi picoult book called Plain Truth which was actually really good. I tend to use her books for when I’m bored and can’t get into anything, so far they’ve never failed me.
Ohh I did love the Hunger Games, so I’ll have to add Divergent to my list! I also liked Sarah’s Key a lot.
My most recent recommendations include This is Where I Leave You, Room, and The Fault in Our Stars.
I read Insurgent a couple months ago. Definitely won’t disappoint!! I loved it! I wish I could find more series like it
Other good dystopian series that I’ve read are Under the Never Sky, Matched, Delirium, and Wither all great reads!
I agree. I loved Insurgent! I am looking forward to the next book that will come out around next October.
Ahh! I finished Insurgent a couple weeks ago, and it was awesome! I can’t wait to hear what you think.
I’d have to agree about Gone Girl! I also loved Room, The Night Circus, Snowflower and the Secret Fan, and The Art of Racing in the Rain. Reading is so magical! 🙂
Oh yeah and on the WWII theme – Unbroken had me up all night. That is one I’d read over and over again in a heartbeat.
Love SYTYCD! I remember when it first debuted when I was on vacation and my sister and I were hooked. That show definitely turned me on to contemporary and ballroom (I love watching a good pasadoble now!).
One of my favorites is an older hip-hop routine (Bleeding Love): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emy9R7zxAlg
Pretty sure I’m going to YouTube routines all morning!
I could NOT stop talking about Eat, Pray, Love to everyone I met earlier this summer. Something about going away to all of those fabulous locals speaks to my inner travel junkie 🙂
I’m reading Insurgent now!! I absolutely LOVED Divergent, but I’m having a hard time reading this one which is upsetting for me, I think it’s because I feel she changed the characters a lot — but slowly trying to finish it lol
Ok 2 things – finished Gone Girl last night… thankfully! (it was causing me to almost fall asleep at my desk from staying up late the night before reading it!) Loved the book – not the ending (won’t say more so as not to spoil, but can’t wait to read the reviews and hear what everyone thought!!)
Also – how do you get your greek yogurt pancakes to look so perfect??? I’ve tried twice and both times they were burnt on the outside and raw in the middle! I’m usually a great cook – so I must be doing something wrong! 🙁
It’s a bit gory, but it’s called “Jenny Pox” by JL Bryan. It was a freebie on Kindle a few months ago (might still be, actually), and I’d just finished the Hunger Games trilogy, so I dove right into this book about a girl who can’t touch people without giving them painful pox. One day, she meets her exact opposite who can actually heal people. It was seriously engrossing (and disturbing if you’re a Christian. The villain was supposedly “Christian,” but I don’t think she knows what being “Christ-like” is), and I would spend several hours reading it. I need to finish the series.
It must be a Nutella week. I bought some after work the other day and made PB/Nutella Almond Milk ice cream last night. Sooooooo good! I wish I could make crepes (I’ve tried. I’m terrible at it), because there’s a recipe on Pinterest for Nutella Crepe Cake. 🙂
I’m reading the last 50 Shades of Grey right now and while I like the books, I’m not over the moon about them. I am struggling to get through this last one. Maybe I’m 50’d out right now, but I LOVED The Hunger Games. I read all three in about a week and a half, which is huge for me
I just watched Sarah’s Key two nights again. It was good, but so sad.
I will have to read Divergent next. I just started American Wife, but I am struggling to stay interested.
This is off topic… but would you consider doing a post on what Ryan eats during the day? My husband is a law student and wants to avoid eating out at lunch this year. I usually pack salads to take to work, but he obviously needs something more substantial. I thought it might be interesting to see what another man eats for lunches during the week!
yes! it’s on my list! i’ve actually had a few requests for this recently and talked to ryan about it on tuesday night. 🙂 stay tuned!
I had a hard time staying interested in “American Wife,” too. I loved Curtis Sittenfeld’s other books, but that one seemed to drag.
We’ll see if I can finish it! I’m determined….
Thanks Julie! Looking forward to that post!
INSURGENT!!! Loved. it.
I agre about Sarah’s Key….great book! I read it in one sitting on my flight from London back to the US. It was great! Not an easy read from an emotional standpoint but a great book.
Those cookies sound so yummy i definitely want to try these. I LOVE nutella, it’s heaven in a jar :). I love your blog and how adventurous you are with baking :).
Rachael xx.
I’m terribly obsessed with The Hunger Games, but I really didn’t like Divergent. I had heard so many great things about it and really expected to love it, but I really thought the writing and plot were mediocre. I have no desire to read Insurgent because of how unimpressed I was with Insurgent. I recently read If I Stay by Gayle Forman, though, and that was one of the best books I’ve ever read. Simply fantastic.
Solid favorite SYTYCD routine picks, though I am 100% convinced nothing will ever top Allison and Ivan’s “Why” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH_5NSNYtoM. Kayla and Kupono also did a phenomenal job on Mia’s Addiction routine. The season two Ramalama group routine was also bomb. Gah. I’m obsessed with that routine.
I’m ashamed to say … but 50 Shades of Grey. Not that it was terribly “good” … I just couldn’t put it down. And I’ve read like four books since then. What does that say about my literary choices?! 😉
I read Insurgent a few months ago, and it’s so, so good! You’re going to love it.
The end of Insurgent is soooo good. You’re going to be pissed that you have wait another year to read the 3rd book!
I loved Caitlin Moran’s “How to Be a Woman”…could not put it down/stop talking about it!! It’s different from your usual book club picks but I definitely recommend it, as there’s just SO much to discuss with it. Also, I just love nonfiction picks.
Off to check out Divergent now…I’ve been missing The Hunger Games lately. (Weirdly, I think it’s because watching the Olympics reminded me so much of them!)
I just finished reading insurgent a few weeks ago. You will love it I am impatiently waiting for the 3rd book. I picked up maze runner and read the first few pages and can’t get into it but I didnt give it a fair shot. When I am done reading wheat belly (very interesting read by the way) I will forsure try it again.
The Passage by Justin Cronin is amazing! I cannot wait for the the sequel to come out in October.
I’m currently reading “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed its amazing to see a woman just drop everything a decide to hike the Pacific Crest Trail by herself.
Loving SYTYCD too, one of my favorites, but i can’t wait for the return of New Girl either!!
I seriously want those cookies asap. I wish I was a big book reader. I tend to lean toward asking for books for Christmas, getting them and they sit in the closet. *face palm*
I’m currently reading “Every Thought Captive” as part of a blogger book club and discussion forum AND I am loving it. So nice to share my thoughts with others who can relate.
BTW…I have decided cookies WILL Be made today, they look great!
I loved Divergent and have been waiting for Insurgent to come out since the second I finished it! You should definitely read Matched series by Ally Condie if you like the Hunger Games and Divergent. It is great for dystopian fans as well!
i’m a girl jock so i’m reading moneyball right now and so far it’s wonderful.