Since my brain dump last week was so popular (well, at least with this girl), I’ve decided to launch a new feature — Week in Review. Here’s the deal. Every Friday afternoon, I have one hour to blog while E. is in ballet class. Usually, I arrive here with an idea in mind. Lately, though, notsomuch. Instead, I have all these little nuggets of things that happened during the week.
If you follow me on my other homes around the Web (Instagram, Facebook or Twitter), some of these items might look familiar to you. I’ll try to toss in some fresh nuggets of good too so I don’t bore you completely.
I’m also looking for a better name for this new feature. Got any ideas? I have nothing to give you in exchange but blog love but I’ll send you a big, fat virtual kiss if that’s enough love for you.
So, without further ado, here’s this week’s happenings:
1. Good-bye LL
This week, I bid farewell to my beloved Liz Lemon, Jack Donaghy, Jenna Maroney, Tracy Jordan and the rest of my “30 Rock” friends. What is wrong with you, America? How could you not watch this show and keep it on the air for a little bit longer?!?!
I’m seriously bummed about this. I do agree with the critics who didn’t love the past couple seasons. But Tina and crew turned things around. I don’t know if it was because the end was in sight, but the show has NAILED it over the past few months.
I mean, c’mon, I think Liz and Chris’ wedding will go down in history (at least my own personal history) as the greatest wedding in TV.
Here’s why the show was so great to me — it encouraged smart, nerdy women to let their freak flags fly. I was never as cool as Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, Rachel, Monica, Elaine (Seinfeld), Kate (Lost), Brenda or Kelly (90210, duh). I also wasn’t as dorky as Andrea Zuckerman, Miranda or Phoebe (in the best way possible!). And I wasn’t as neurotic as Elaine (she belongs in every category!), Ally McBeal or Angela Chase.
Liz Lemon may have taken some of my characteristics and taken them to an extreme but she was FINALLY someone I could relate to on so many levels. It didn’t hurt that she also has a job in TV, is from Philly and loves sandwiches. But she never hid her smarts. She was never afraid to be the boss for fear of being labeled a bitch. She had strong relationships with men that didn’t make people automatically assume there must be a sexual element there. And she wasn’t afraid to admit how much her career meant to her.
And she loved Star Wars.
I think someday we’ll look back and realize how groundbreaking of a character she was. It’s no coincidence that my current favorite TV shows are “Parks and Rec” and “The Mindy Project.” Both are very acceptable descendants of Tina Fey.
But they have big Chuck Taylors to fill.
2. The Americans
Speaking of TV, I did add one new show to my roster this week.
We watched the first episode after “30 Rock” to give me a chance to start moving on with my life (sadly, I’m not joking) and it was the PERFECT 180 degree show I needed.
Dude, when did Felicity become such an über-hardass (yes, that’s a word)? Wowza. Keri Russell is hardcore in this show. And tiny. Oh, so very tiny. I forgot that leotards with Guess jeans was a thing in the ’80s, and she smokes that outfit.
It also stars one of my boyfriends, Matthew Rhys, who played Kevin on another dearly departed show, “Brothers & Sisters.” In the first episode, he got to rock some pretty awesome disguises.
So far, I love everything about this show. I love the concept (two Russian spies living as Americans, complete with two clueless kids they had together. All part of the mission!). I love the setting (a movie set in the early ’80s is just spectacular. The clothes! The songs! The excitement over a mall with fountains opening!). I love the actors (Russell, Rhys and some others you’ll recognize from others shows and movies). And I loved the story and pacing in the pilot, even if it was a bit slow in parts as we begin to learn the characters’ backstories.
Give it a shot. Please don’t make me love another show destined for cancellation.
3. Goodies galore
Sometimes, being a blogger does not suck. I’ve been lucky enough to receive some pretty great products for my sampling pleasure lately. For starters, I got a goodie bag of snacks from the nice people at The Good Bean.
They sent me several different flavors of their roasted chickpea snacks and Fruit and No-Nut Bars. I’ve tried two of the three bars they sent and I liked them a lot although nothing will ever be as good as a Quaker chocolate chip bar. Sorry. BUUUT, these were definitely a great, non-cardboard tasting healthier alternative. And I was surprised by how much they filled me.
But the bars were nothing compared to my true love — the Sea Salt chickpeas.
It’s a good thing there was only one of these because I’d be eating them 24/7 otherwise. So addicting. So good.
I looked on the store locator and I don’t see anywhere in my area where they’re sold but they sell them on Amazon. If you’re a snacker like me, you may want to check them out as an option. Since I will never be able to give up salty snacks, these were a nice alterative to my usual inhalation of pistachios.
I also got another great shipment of goodies yesterday — the new Chobani Bites (100 calorie cups) and, unveiling, the not-yet-released Chobani Champions Yogurt Tubes!
As psyched as I was to try the Bites, I was even more excited for the tubes. Sadly, as much as I swore I’d “never give my kid yogurt in a tube,” I do now. They’re just so darn convenient for lunches. I spend an unholy amount of money on organic yogurt tubes but I’ve been wishing for a Chobani version (which I’m sure won’t be that cheap either). E. already loves the Chobani Champions cups and I try to pack them as much as possible. I love the amount of protein in them and the lower amounts of sugar compared to other yogurts. And even though my husband cringes at a lot of my grocery purchases, he became such a big fan of the company after seeing this Rock Center profile on the founder that he’s always on board for me getting them for E. and him.
So yes, that was a very “shilly” paragraph, but it’s all straight my heart. Yes, I received this shipment for free to test the new products, but there is ALWAYS Chobani in our fridge that we buy ourselves.
4. We’re in full-fledged birthday party prep mode over here!
Next weekend is E’s 5th birthday. I haven’t even begun processing that information yet, so instead, I’m focused on planning her party. This year, we decided to keep things relatively small and she’s taking a few friends to dinner at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. We’ve never been to this dinner show but everyone RAVES about it. Like everyone. I started having buyer’s remorse after we booked it there, and thankfully, Twitter more than reassured me.
Since the whole atmosphere will be Western (including some pre-dinner pony rides we plan on taking), I decided to get some Western wear for E’s guests. I already bought her an absurd, fancy cowgirl hat from the Children’s Place during one of their Christmas sales, and today, I headed out to the party store to see what I could find for her friends.
The goods news is if she ever decides to have a cowgirl bachelorette party, I know where to send her. Almost everything cowboy related was in that section. I briefly considered getting this neckerchief.
Other than the bachelorette title (and not-s0-subtle sexual innuendos), it would have been perfect for E. and her friends.
But I did the responsible thing and went for the boring plain bandanas and straw cowboy hats. I also found some Sheriff badges for a quarter each that should be fun.
They’re no Unbridled neckerchiefs, but I guess they’ll do.
5. Boo-hoo at the zoo.
One of the things that made my party store visit almost pleasant was the fact that I was able to do it alone. That’s because my friend volunteered to take E. to the zoo for their school field trip today since I’d taken her daughter to the petting zoo last fall. A morning to myself! Score! I was able to take my time at the gym, then run a ton of errands. I swear I squeezed 12 hours worth of stuff into those few hours. It’s amazing how fast you can move when you’re motivated!
As I was zipping around town, E’s heart was breaking. While I was cursing the hat selection at the Party Store, I got the following text: “And E discovers there are no longer any elephants at the zoo …”
Yes, my girl is obsessed with all things elephant these days. We TOLD her the elephants weren’t at the zoo anymore but her teacher kept insisting — TO E — that they were still there. It’s not often you get to tell a teacher, “I told you so,” but we’re looking forward to that on Monday. Yes, we’re small, petty people, but that’s how the Jovis roll, yo.
Before you start to feel too badly for E., you should know that this was her five minutes later.
Ahh, there’s our usual smart alecky kid. That’s more like it.
And now I’m spent.
Have a great weekend everyone!
What’s your favorite animal? Has it ever made you cry? And what’s your favorite dearly departed show?
Susi says
I love these Friday review posts and have been thinking for a while I should do something like it. The sea salt covered chick peas sound awesome. I’ll have to check Amazon for them. Have a good weekend!
MomJovi says
Thanks Susi! It’s a great way to share all these little things that happen that just don’t rise to single-topic blog posts. And yes, the Good Bean chickpeas are a great snack. Check them out! Thanks for the comment!
Angela says
I loved brothers and sisters also! 🙁 my favorite animal is a hippo, can’t say I’ve ever cried about them though. I love me some Greys Anatomy which will end this season also 🙁
MomJovi says
Wait, this is Grey’s last year? How did I not know that?!?! Nooooooo!
And, yeah, hippos are pretty awesome!
Kashi@Cape Island Runners says
I went to the HDD many moons ago but remember loving it!
I have bid adieu to many shows over the years – among my favs that were gone too soon were picket fences and pushing daisies. and though it was time to say good-bye i was still sad to say adios to gilmore girls and lost. i am preparing myself for the mad men and dexter good byes in the next few yrs 🙁
On the bright side i am over the moon that arrested developemnt is coming back on – to netflix! yippee!!
MomJovi says
Sadly, I never watched Pushing Daisies or Gilmore Girls and the only few eps of Picket Fences I’ve seen were during a class during college (best class ever, btw!).
I’m with you in dreading the end to both MM and Dexter, although in the case of Dexter, I’m almost ready for it to be over. It’s definitely run its course. And I have Homeland to replace that Showtime addiction!
I’ve got to rewatch Arrested Development. I didn’t watch it the first time through but did on Netflix. Although, we recently canceled Netflix for Amazon Prime so we may have to consider (briefly!) going back to it!