Birthday Happenings

I realize my birthday is behind me, but Tom, master gift giver he is, extended things until this past weekend. So let's talk about that.

First up, he got me a blender and The Martian on blu-ray and I know that doesn't sound super exciting but I get pretty excited by kitchen appliances and our blender had this habit of leaking everywhere but I kept using it cos I NEEDED to make this short rib chili*, leaks be damned. And The Martian because OBVIOUSLY.

But yes, those things aren't super exciting for you to read about. However, he then had two things planned.

First up, as I mentioned in my birthday post, Hamilton trivia. There's this company that hosts all these themed trivia nights and they're super fun, despite the fact that we have never won and only once came somewhat close to ranking (Parks and Rec, I heart you). They just so happen to have Hamilton trivia scheduled for my birthday, so stars aligning and whatnot, we decided to go. This despite the fact that out of the four of us going, I was the only one who was really a fan of the show. Though my one friend decided to start listening to the album in preparation and while she didn't finish it before the show, she does not understand the joy that is Hamilton and is hooked. Also she studied up on LMM because she does trivia right. Something like 150 people signed up (what??) and we did not win, but we didn't do too shabby considering the questions are HARD. Want some examples? SURE WHY NOT

• In the casting notes, George Washington is described as a cross between John Legend and who?
• In one of the Ham4Ham's, (they probably named which one, but I don't remember) LMM wore a broadway shirt parodying which Jay-Z song?
• When they met, Daniel Radcliff told LMM that he thought Hamilton belonged in which Hogwarts house? Bonus question, which house does LMM think A.Ham belongs in?

I made this face a lot

There were also rounds where they would say most of a lyric and you had to fill in the blank (though they didn't tell you how many words they omitted) and a picture round, which was pretty easy save for the double casting so you better use the tiny bit of costume you can see to get it right, in addition to 2 general Hamilton knowledge rounds, plus one round entirely dedicated to Ham4Ham.**

After this Tom told me there birthday part 3 that would be coming but he wouldn't tell me when or give any hints. After a few days I stopped thinking about it.

This past weekend we spent Saturday visiting with friends who recently made a little one and well

So we did and that was fun and the baby was adorable (I'd say aren't they all but well...no, no they are not so kudos friends!) and good times. On our way home (they're out in Brooklyn) Tom suggested we stop in Manhattan and originally I wanted to get home and get stuff done, but then he suggested food and I can always be won over with food. We park the car and Tom grabs me and yells "BIRTHDAY PART C!!!" and I spent the 3 avenue across/5 block down walk (we were not parked near the place) trying to figure out WHAT I was about to walk into.

What I was about to walk into was DRUNK SHAKESPEARE. Tom was Googling things I like and he stumbled upon this and what can I say. He gets me.

It's just what it sounds like.
This

plus this

It's a performance in this tiny library room (with a bar behind a bookshelf!) where one of the actors starts the show by taking 4 shots (plus a few more throughout) and then performs a Shakespeare play while drunk. I suppose technically the other actors are sober although that could be up for debate. They then performed Macbeth and it was hilarious (especially the chick that played the Porter and Banquo and various other roles). Plus two of our friends who I haven't seen in awhile met us there so that made things that much better.

So yeah, all of that was swell and if anyone is in the NYC area let me know cos I would TOTALLY be down for either of these things again.

Also Tom wins at gift giving.

*Seriously, though, this chili is RIDIC good.
**These were ones I actually knew. I can't remember the ones I didn't know. Or, like, most of the questions. Anyway. Answers: Mufasa (PERFECT RIGHT?), 99 Problems (The shirt was Javert has 24601 problems and Valjean is all of them), Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

It's mah birthdaaaaaay

Oh hey, guess what

Yeah, I have nothing else to add in this post. Just it's my birthday, that's swell. 

And I'm doing Hamilton bar trivia tonight and all of my fellow Hamilton fans live on the internet (or, just not in the NYC area) so please send me good thoughts and psychic help.

YAY BIRTHDAY TIME!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEEEEEE

Hey you guys, guess what!

IT'S MAH BIRTHDAY!

Last year I was sort of in denial of the whole birthday thing cos I turned 30 and was like "Shit, do I need to be an adult now?" Turns out, no, not really. Well, I guess a little (considering we're working on selling our current place and buying another, which are fairly adult things) but overall not much as changed. 

The other day I was checking mail and saw a package that looked like a book. Except I didn't remember ordering any books. Or winning any books. Or agreeing to review anything. But I also don't have the best memory so really, any of the above was possible. What I assumed definitely didn't happen was that Tom would get me a book cos he's always talking about how I should get rid of some books, considering our shelves are mostly double stacked. Or were before we were prepping for all the open houses. Anyway. The point is, I figured whatever this book was, it wasn't from him.

Obviously, it was from him. Tom found this site called Just the Right Book, a book-of-the-month club where you fill in a profile of what you like, what you don't like, and they pick out books for you. Like StitchFix which I am also a fan of*. The first book is The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty and oh, Just the Right Book, aren't you guys clever. So yeah, Tom is pretty great. And there is a surprise tonight, but I don't know what that is yet so I'll have to give you an update later.

Last year I did a giveaway for my birthday and I thought about doing it again, except we're in the middle of 4000 things, what with the whole house buying/selling deal, so I WILL be doing a giveaway, but not till the summer. If I was smart I'd have figured out a giveaway before I packed up all my book. But yeah, I did not do that so now I get to move a bunch of books I'll get rid of as soon as we unpack. See, older and yet no wiser.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ME!

*And if you want to try out StitchFix, which is awesome, oh hey, I have a referral code you could use.

Birthday Giveaway Winner!

A winner has been chosen in the I'm-now-30-so-someone-gets-to-win-one-of-my-favorite-books-and-you'd-better-enjoy-it-or-I-will-be-sad-but-no-pressure.

And the winner is....

LAURA!

So, let me know which book you want and it shall be yours!

Biiiirrthhdaaaaaaay

This isn't a real post. This post is mostly to break up all of the Butler posts that are coming while I'm working my way through her Seed to Harvest series. Also just to let you know

IT'S MY BIRTHDAAAAAAY

I am slightly in denial about my birthday though. Well, not about the day and having people celebrate me. I'm all for that. More of the whole getting older thing, because at some point someone is going to expect me to be an adult. And for whatever reason I decided 30 is when you're an adult. And now I'm 30. And...shit.

Unless of course I wake up and suddenly things start just making sense. That would be neat.

I realize this is late and I probably should have posted something first thing in the morning (my birthday is today, the 30th). But clearly that didn't happen. I've spent my birthday weekend mostly eating, which is my favorite way to celebrate anything. I also celebrating with some bookish things. My brother got me World War Z, which I realize might be confusing as I've read it twice, but both times I borrowed the book from him and he refuses to just give it to me. So now he got me my own copy. Then Boyfriend+ and I decided to spend my actual birthday in the city and OF COURSE that meant we also went to The Strand. I picked up Max Barry's Lexicon because I saw it's finally in paperback. And then I was thinking I should try another graphic novel and what is sitting by the register as I wait in line? Alison Bechdel's Fun Home. Good times. 

AND, to further celebrate my birthday and do something book related, I think I'll do a giveaway. Lucky you. I decided to pick some of my favorite books. If you want any of them, leave a comment with your email and I'll pick a winner and then, hey, you get a book! I'll leave this open until...let's say Thursday. Thursday is your last day to enter and I'll post the winner...I want to say Friday. I'll aim for that. So, YOUR BOOK CHOICES

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

World War Z by Max Brooks

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Good luck and happy birthday to me.

Birthday!

Guess what you guys?

I don't actually have a bookish birthday update here. I just wanted to tell everyone it's my birthday. Well I did decide to buy Attachments yesterday and I justified it because it's my birthday, even though I had just bought a book. So there, bookish birthday update.

Now to pad this out, here are some famous people who share my birthday.*
-Francisco Goya
-Vincent Van Gogh
-Anna Sewell
-Eric Clapton
-MC Hammer
-my Grandma (she may not famous, but she's pretty awesome)

Impressive talent to live up to. 

*If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you may notice this is the same list as last year. Because guess what, no one super famous has shown up in the last year.

It's my birthday!

My Shades of Grey post will be coming this afternoon but I'm in a loud mood this morning which means I wanted to share with everyone that it's my birthday. They say a lady never shares her age, but I looked up the definition of lady and I think I qualify for the label anatomically only, so I may as well tell you I'm 27. I also share because I look about 17, judging from all of the times and places I get carded. It's also my Grandma's birthday but as she is a lady I'll keep her age a secret.

To keep this post book related I wanted to share 2 things. 1 is a piece written by Dan O'Brien over at Cracked.com. Ben from Dead End Follies posted a link to it on his site as well, but I want to make sure everyone sees it. It's called 5 Things They Never Told Us and it's really about all of the things you're never told while growing up about being an adult. Especially the "you don't become an adult, you just suddenly are one". Regardless of what it says, I'm still kind of waiting for some big moment where I go, "right, now I'm an adult."

The second thing is stolen from llevinso from Sarcastic Female Literary Circle, who also recently had a birthday. Here are some famous people who share my birthday with me. (Yes, it's my birthday that they're sharing with me. They can word it however they want on their own blogs.)
-Francisco Goya
-Vincent Van Gogh
-Anna Sewell
-Eric Clapton
-MC Hammer
Quality talent, indeed.