A Few Random Things

I was in a two-day meeting Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday was crazy at work... So there's no theme to this, just a few things I hadn't gotten to lately.

• I recently finished Jasper Fforde's newest, "The Big Over Easy," and though I didn't love it as much as I love the Thursday Next series, this one (part of his new Nursery Crime series) was still fabulous. I've checked every single book of his out of the library, and was sorry I didn't own them while I read "The Big Over Easy" - I swear there are cross-references to the Thursday Next books, but I couldn't check. I think I'll have to head over to Powell's and start collecting his books. They're laugh-out-loud funny and stunningly witty. I have no idea how Fforde comes up with this stuff, but I'm sure glad he does.
• I saw "The Constant Gardener" for the second time last weekend (first time was early September), and it certainly holds up to repeated viewings. As with any movie that has something of a mystery element, you only get to have that feeling when all the pieces finally fall into place once - the first time you watch it - but that's the only disappointing thing about seeing this movie again. It's an absolutely beautiful film, both in terms of scenery and cinematography. The music is also so great that we bought the soundtrack after the second viewing. Good stuff, I hope it gets some Oscar attention.
• I'm going to a baby shower tomorrow afternoon, for which I had to do the requisite baby registry shopping last weekend. I don't know about anyone else, but shopping in the baby section leaves me completely bewildered. I don't understand what half (or more than half) of the stuff is for, which makes locating it in the store something of a challenge. I opted to shop at Target this time instead of Babies R'Us (the couple is registered both places), thinking a store that wasn't completely baby-fied would be easier to handle. (I've had more near-anxiety attacks in Babies R'Us than I care to think about.) But even if the baby section is a mere ten aisles, as was the case at Target, I still felt the familiar panic attack setting in. I had to take a break in home furnishings to catch my breath. Okay, it wasn't that bad, but it was close. Really. If I didn't already have plenty of reasons I shouldn't procreate, the baby section would provide me with a good'un.
• We had dinner with friends at Andina last weekend - we love the atmosphere at Andina, and we've had very good luck with the cocktails (the mojitos and pineapples mojitos were particular favorites this time), wine and "small plates" (my favorite is the crispy chicken studded with quinoa). Where we've had so-so experiences is the entrees - every time we've eaten there we've not been overly thrilled with those. I swear, one of these times we'll remember to stick to the left side of the menu and make a meal of just the small plates. We'd be completely happy with that, I'm sure. (And don't let our uneducated evaluation keep you from trying Andina - it's a fun restaurant with an interesting menu, and the cebiches are fabulous!)
• We're dining with more friends (I'm just as surprised as you are that we have more friends) tomorrow night at Lucy's Table, a place we haven't been in ages. I'm looking forward to a long meal, and am planning to eat lightly until dinner. Gotta save room for the good stuff.
• We finished making our limoncello tonight, and though it wasn't ice cold when we sampled it, we're still very happy. It's yum-yum-yumalicious, and we're already talking about making another batch. It's this fabulous lemon meringue color, all buttery-yellow and cloudy; it looks so innocent, but one whiff and you can tell there's something more sinister going on in there... The best kind of sinister, of course...