Remember when I was a Netflix noob? Well, I got so many great recommendations from everyone that I wanted to share them with you all! I also am adding my incredibly valuable, insightful commentary about the shows I tackled so far. In no particular order behold: what you should do this weekend, because, let's be real, there's no better way to celebrate Valentine's Day:

Shows:

1. House of Cards [devoured the first two seasons. AMAZING. Counting down the days to February 27 for Season 3.]
2. Friday Night Lights
3. Gilmore Girls [where has this show been all my life? Almost done with season 1 and in love with Lorelai, Rory, and (of course) Luke]
4. Breaking Bad
5. The Fall
6. Gossip Girl
7. Sherlock [watched the first episode. I did like it, but I was able to solve the crime before he did. This has NEVER happened to me before. But I do think I'll keep watching as I doubt that will ever happen again!]
8. Walking Dead
9. Sons of Anarchy
10. Blacklist
11. Grey's Anatomy [I watched the first six or so seasons as it came out, but a Meredith catch-up doesn't sound like a bad thing]
12. An Idiot Abroad
13. Frasier
14. Orange is the New Black [Finished the memoir! Review coming next week.]
15. Parks and Rec
16. Weeds
17. Doctor Who
18. The New Girl
19. Prison Break

Documentaries:
1. Somm
2. Undefeated
3. Blackfish

...anything else to add to either list?

Also, a few fun links for your weekend/Friday procrastination:

Happiness is Love. (Says science.)

"We are, like, the subprime-lending crisis of hanging out, right?" A hysterical texting conversation about getting drinks in the New Yorker.

In my next life, I'll be a ballerina. Amazed.

How I prep for the Oscars: I can't put down this book.

I just discovered this blog and I'm officially intrigued (and only a little grossed out).

"Boredom is good if what you want to do is come up with some really novel, creative ideas." (i.e. put down your phone!)

When people who don't live here think Madison is conservative, I just laugh. But I've never heard of a hotel takeover for sexual freedom before.

"We've all learned how, on Sunday night, to go to our email and work from home. But very few of us have learned to go to the movies on Monday afternoon. And if we're looking for wisdom, we need to learn to do that as well."

Have a lovely Valentine's Day weekend! xx

Mom's Meals: Buttermilk Biscuits

Mom's Meals is a series where I share recipes from a culinary wizard, my mother, that I've somehow been able to make, even though I once started a fire while attempting to boil water.

Behold: the best possible use of your evening/weekend/life. Make these biscuits and thank me later.

Here's what you need:

2 cups of flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick - can microwave at low power to soften)

3/4 cup buttermilk

Who knew that's how cream of tartar looked!? 

These are one of my favorite things my mom makes. She got the recipe from a friend, Lillian, who was raised in the South. So they have the Southern influence as well as a full stick of butter. Is there any better combo?

Here's what you do:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Mix dry ingredients with a fork. Cut in softened shortening (aka butter).

Stir in buttermilk.

Turn out on floured board and knead only 14 times.

(The less you mess with the dough the more tender your biscuits.)

Pat out by hand and cut.
(use a heart-shaped cutter if you're a cheeseball like me.)

Makes about 12 biscuits.

Bake on slightly greased cookie sheet at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Eat all of them and share none of them!

The best way to eat them: Probably with sausage and gravy, like my mom makes. If you have any clue how to make sausage and gravy (I don't) - you should.

obviously, the pictures don't do them justice.

How I usually eat them: With butter, drenched honey, or plain. There's no way to eat these wrong. Pure, simple southern joy.

Enjoy!

Valentine's Day: What Dating for 5 Years Looks Like

If you ever wondered what's it like to date someone for five years? here's a little personal anecdote just for fun. If you've, say, been married to someone for 20 years you can totally pull an Ygritte and say "You know nothing, Jon Snow." I'd totally understand. I'm also working on legally changing my name to Jon Snow -- so it's perfect! Without further Game of Thrones references, what the week leading up to our fifth Valentine's together looks like:

Any time I get Stephen a gift, I want to give it to him immediately. It just seems so silly to delay for an arbitrary futuristic date deemed appropriate for gift-giving. Valentine's Day is no exception.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm usually your run-of-the-mill last-minute gift scrambler so the whole "waiting to give gifts" is no biggie because I procure said gifts at the last possible second. But this year, I wanted to get new makeup for myself at Sephora. Which led to me being at the mall on February 6. Which led to, you guessed it, an early Valentine's day gift purchase. I know, I'm a selfless angel from above. Cupid incarnate, really. And, no, I will not tell you if the gift cost more than the makeup, so just drop it already!

My Madison friends can lament with me about the complete lack of male shopping options at the West Towne Mall. Even the J. Crew has only girl stuff! This inconveniences me a whopping three times a year (Christmas, V-day, Stephen's birthday), so I hardly ever get Stephen clothing. I usually try to go for an experience gift, like butchering a pig, for example.

Anyway, I blame the West Towne Mall for the below conversation:

Walking home post-sushi on Friday, February 6.

Me: I got you a Valentine's gift today!
Stephen: What is it?
Me: You have to wait!
Stephen: Where'd you get it?
Me: The West Towne Mall.
Stephen: What store?
Me: I'm not telling
Stephen: Banana Republic?
Me: .....I said I'm not telling.
Stephen: Is it a quarter-zip pullover sweater from Banana Republic?
Me: I'll give it to you when we get home.

And, although I almost never buy Stephen clothes, he was, of course, exactly right. How did he know what I got him in less than 2 minutes? It beats me. I blame the aforementioned lack of male shopping options. Or the five years of dating.  :)

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! Special kudos to those with the self-restraint to wait till the big day to exchange gifts. Extra special kudos to those with self-restraint to not consume entire bags of candy hearts in one sitting. How do you do it!?

p.s. These Lemonhead & Friends Candy Hearts are especially delicious. (Because I've heard it's cool to rank candy heart preferences.)

p.p.s. Did you know that so little is known about St. Valentine that the Roman Catholic Church removed his name from the General Roman Calendar? The general Roman calendar (I just learned) is basically the calendar indicating dates of celebration of saints and "mysteries of the Lord!" Thanks Wikipedia!

Book Review on The Every Girl: What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding

Remember a long time ago when I recommended these 3 memoirs? It was one of my first posts on books, a topic I've really enjoyed writing more and more about.

Well, today on The Every Girl I'm sharing a review of Kristin Newman's What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding!!

Read my full review here. 

Also, I recommend joining the 200k+ people who follow The Every Girl on instagram! It's a positive, upbeat site that produces very relatable content for girls. Especially those of us experiencing a quarter-life crisis in our twenties and thirties.

Let me know what you think of the review -- and the book!

Also, I'd like to specially thank my friend Christie who recommended the book to me this past summer :) It was very fun to read and write a review about! Any other travel memoirs I must read? (I've already devoured Wild by Cheryl Strayed!)

Happy Monday, homies! xx

Wanderlust: 3 Spots to See in Puerto Rico

In February of 2013 and 2014 I went to Puerto Rico. Now, it's February of 2015 and - wait for it - I'm not going to Puerto Rico :(  Ultimate #FIRSTWORLDPROBLEM

Cue the world's smallest violinist.

Despite the horror of living through the winter without a Caribbean respite, I thought it'd be fun to share some Puerto Rican snapshots to brighten this dreary wintery Thursday. For me, the island is the perfect mix of history, nature, and relaxation. Also, you don't even need a passport to fly to Puerto Rico! And they take the U.S. dollar! And most people speak English! Talk about an easy breezy Caribbean destination. Have you booked your flights to Puerto Rico yet? If not, here are the pictures:

1. History | Check out Old San Juan

I highly recommend exploring Castillo San Cristobal and El Morro - both huge castles, which were used to protect the island in many wars. The views from these forts are simply stunning. And the cute little nooks (above) are everywhere!

Note the American flag, Puerto Rican flag, and Spanish flag. The island is incredibly rich in history, as it had four centuries of Spanish rule after Christopher Columbus "claimed" it for Spain. Puerto Rico means "rich port" in Spanish -- which is one of those facts that seems super obvious once you know it. (And that's my sister, Becky, in the pink!)

Told you about the views!

2. Nature | Wander El Yunque 

I had never been in a rainforest before walking through El Yunque,  and I fell in love with the greenery. The pictures don't do it justice. (For the record: none of my pictures do any of it justice.) That being said, we saw a lot more plants than animals. Don't go in expecting wildlife sightings! 

We took a tour bus from our hotel to the rainforest. I'd recommend this, as driving through the forest seemed daunting. (Full disclosure: I suck at driving.) We got rained on one year (shocking, right?!), and had to buy ponchos. But I still enjoyed every second of my time exploring El Yunque. 

The above falls are La Mina Falls, and it was totally worth the hike to see them! It was an easy, paved path (rather slippery when wet).

3. Relaxation | The Beach 

Can you believe we had this view from our hotel room? Both years, we stayed at the San Juan Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino because if it ain't broke don't fix it. Also, in my former life I traveled for business constantly so had quite the collection of Marriott points.

This is the perfect spot to sit and binge read Game of Thrones, no? The hotel was right next to the beach, and they had chairs and umbrellas for free. The BEST part of PR? The weather. It's basically always 84 degrees. Seriously. I still have San Juan on my phone because I love torturing myself.

You're welcome to make any of the above pictures your background on the computer and pretend you're relaxing in La Isla Del Encanto. 

Adios, amigos! :)

Lovely (and Hilarious!) Cards

Valentine season is upon us and love is in the air! Wait, is that love or just oppressive forces of American consumerism telling us that the only way to show your love is to buy a ton of meaningless crap, none of which anyone needs? :)

Well, one nice part of the holiday that doesn't revolve around marketing campaigns is it does encourage you to connect with those you love. A nice way to connect (especially with your long distance friends/family/secret lovers) is through a good old-fashioned hand written card, don't you think?

Stupid Card // Be Kind // Wouldn't Last // Thank You

I have a recent obsession with Emily McDowell - her cards are beautiful, whimsical, and (most importantly to me) funny! 

Browse through her stuff for design inspiration! She also has awesome tote bags. (If I didn't have an entirely too many bags, I'd go for this one. (See note above about American consumerism.)) My second-favorite part of Valentine's Day? Candy heart consumption, natch.

Random Acts of Snowy Kindness

I suppose the reason I didn't take a picture of my car this morning was I didn't want to risk taking my gloves off for 10 seconds to snap one. My little Honda Civic had transformed into an igloo. Nearly six inches of snow were coating my tiny Civic, and I was armed with nothing but my half scraper/half brush to unearth it from winter's wrath.

This wouldn't have been so bad, had the car not been surrounded by feet of snow ("plowed in"), and had I not approached it to find a parking ticket. I was parked on the wrong side of the road during a "Madison snow emergency" -- there's no signage for this stuff, you're just supposed to know. At least they didn't tow me. I thought. And then immediately changed my mind. If they had towed me, at least I wouldn't have to scrape my car off right now.

I started brushing. There are many reasons I've never considered running a marathon. One key reason is I don't have the mental fortitude to do the same thing over and over again without going absolutely insane. I brushed and brushed and brushed and brushed and brushed and brushed (etc.) and then looked at my car only to see I had hardly made a dent. So. Much. Snow. 

I was certain I was going to spend the rest of my existence on this earth brushing snow off of my car. I took small solace in that fact that, at least I was right: I always knew a Wisconsin winter would be the end of me.

I sat in the car to warm up, then reemerged to continue brushing. (What else is there? I've heard some people some places might be doing different activities, but my existence was reduced to that of a incessant snow brusher.) It was then I slipped and fell, landing on a fluffy mountain of snow. Now I was coated in it, just like my poor car. If I were six, I would have laughed, but I'm 26, so I swore.

It was only after unearthing my reliable Civic that I realized how foolish I'd been: The brushing was the least of my concerns. I was never going to be able to get out of my parking spot.

Maybe I'll be able to just drive out. I thought like a moron.

I revved up my engine and drove back and forth and back and forth, my car making terrible noises, tires spinning furiously, moving no where. I would never make it out.

I saw a man who I would probably call a hipster walk by holding a tennis racket, which made absolutely no sense. I kept spinning my tires, futilely. Jealous of anyone walking. Why do cars even exist? They're no match for mother nature.

Suddenly, the hipster man was at my window, "Can I help?" he asked.

"I think I'm screwed," I responded, "I don't have a shovel." 

"I have a tennis racket!" he answered, and started scooping and moving snow like a professional, as if his racket were designed for this very purpose.

I sat there, stunned. Why was this man helping me?

Then he pushed my car while I accelerated, and it made some progress, though was still not entirely un-stuck. Another woman clad in business clothes came to help push. Then a third person. I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Why did these people care about me and my car? But care they did. They pushed and dug and pushed, and within no time, I was on my way!

"Yay!" one of the pushing woman exclaimed as I emerged from my terrible plowed in spot onto the road.

"Thank you so much!" I shouted to the three helpers as I drove away. 

But I'll never be able to fully thank them, the three generous people who decided to take time out of their busy mornings to help a desperate girl, with no chance of getting repaid. I don't even know their names. But I do know, at least today, that the kindness of the Wisconsin people outshone the fury of Wisconsin's weather.