Current Obsession: Parks and Recreation

Lately Owen and I have been staying up way too late and watching a lot of Parks and Recreation. The dog keeps coming in to the lounge to check on why we're laughing so loudly (she doesn't like to miss out on anything fun), and we've talked about adding Ron Swanson to the list of potential baby names.

We're almost finished watching season two, so luckily there are still quite a few episodes to see - probably enough to get us to the end of the week!

Current Obsession: Hunger Games

I finally got my hands on a copy of the Hunger Games trilogy (thanks Katie!) and spent pretty much the whole weekend reading obsessively. I read the first book in one sitting and didn't finish til 3am, and then immediately started the second book... I had to force myself to stop and get some sleep, but the next morning I couldn't resist and got so caught up I forgot to eat until the afternoon! I started the final book last night and have a feeling it won't take me long to devour that either.

Now that I've read the first book I'm really looking forward to going to the movie, I'm planning a date night with Owen this week sometime. Though of course Donald Sutherland has to be in it - he's given me the heebie-jeebies ever since watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers (creepy, right?) and seems to make an appearance in just about everything!

Oh, I've also had to add another excuse to my not-going-to-the-gym list: reading a really good book!

Current Obsession: Ultimate Sandwich

Photo Credit

Ever since reading this blog post I've become obsessed with the ultimate sandwich. So much so that about 80% of my diet currently consists of sandwiches or sandwich derivitives. When I tried to make a shopping list today I couldn't think of anything else we could have for a meal.

The key is to make a sandwich so big that you can only just manage to take a bite. I've been dreaming up the best combinations and our latest attempt included (from top to bottom):

• Ciabata bread
• Melted cheese
• Avocado
• Cos lettuce
• Sundried tomoato
• Chicken
• Mushrooms fried in butter
• Artichoke
• More melted cheese
• Ciabata bread

I can't wait for Thursday, which is officially ultimate sandwich night at our house!

Current Obsession: Board Games

Photo Credit

Ever since I was little I've loved playing board games. My sister and brother and I would spend hours playing Monopoly (which usually involved a bit of cheating...) and would have some pretty intense games of Trouble and Face Off as well.

Recently we've been building up our collection of board games (we got a couple for Xmas last year) and my current favourites are:

• Cranium
• Scattergories
• Bananagrams

I've heard a lot of good things about Settlers of Cattan so that's next on my list of games to buy. Also on my list is Hungry, Hungry Hippos and Rummikub. Now I just have to recruit more people to play them with me!

Current Obsession: Game of Thrones

Photo Credit

After hearing so much about the series Game of Thrones, Owen and I finally got around to watching it last weekend. And I don't just mean one episode, we watched the whole first season (and stayed up way too late for a Sunday night).

Photo Credit

Since the next season isn't due til next year we've decided to track down the books as a Christmas present. But I'm not sure how closely the series is following the books and I'm a little worried that if I read them then the programme won't be as good (which is usually the case). I guess I'll just have to risk it or learn to be more patient!

Current Obsession: Records

Last year Owen and I bought a second hand record player and raided my parent's house for their old records. Lately we've decided to start our own collection (eventually I may even give most of my parent's records back to them!).

My favourite time to listen to records is while I'm cooking and the ones that get the most rotation at the moment are:

• Elephant by the White Stripes
• Teaser and the Firecat by Cat Stevens
• The Simon and Garfunkle Collection
• Harvest by Neil Young

It's a different experience listening to records instead of playing everything through the computer, not being able to skip songs and needing to turn the record over every now and then is a bit of a change! There are definitely some types of music that sound great on vinyl, but I think others wouldn't work so well. I'm happy to experiment and see which ones do!

Current Obsession: Yurts

I have another new obsession. I have decided that at some stage over the next few years I am going to live in a yurt.

Photo Credit

Photo Credit

I’ve lived in a tent for a month before (during a roadtrip around France and Northern Italy) and I’m sure that yurt living will be a big step up from that! Some yurts are quite elaborate, with various rooms and levels, and people often live in them for years. Doesn’t that sound like a lot of fun?

Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4