Category: Food

September 2026 Recap

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09/05 (Sat)
Did a little shopping at Michael’s and got these cute fall and Halloween floral picks for the small vase I keep on the table by the front door.

Also stopped at Half Price Books and finally found a copy of Seaquest for the Atari. They were having a 20% off everything sale for the holiday weekend so it was only $8.

09/06 (Sun)
We headed to Schaumburg’s Septemberfest. Instead of trying to find parking nearby we parked at James B. Conant High School and took the frequently running shuttlebus to the grounds. It was a bit of an adventure not having ridden on a bus since we toured NASA in 2015 but we enjoyed it and would do it again since it takes away the stress of looking for parking.

The festival is one of our favorites due to the extensive craft tents booths and their food tent and ample seating nearby. We tried a Korean BBQ Rice Bowl w/ Bulgogi Beef from K Grill and potstickers and Pad Se Ew from Thai Buri. The former was delicious and we’d get again but the latter, while not bad, was nothing special and we’d try a different booth next year.

After a couple of hours at the fest we grew bored and wanted a sweet treat so we left and hit up Rainbow Cone on the way home.

09/07 (Mon)
We went early morning grocery shopping, and when we left there was a huge line at the 7 Brew across the street just a few minutes after opening. As we drove past Joe counted over 70 cars. We were like “WTH is going on over there?!?” and guessed they were giving away free coffee. It was actually worse than that…

I cannot fathom waiting in that long of a line over a toy. One which looked like something I used to get in exchange for Skeeball tickets when I was a kid, no less. Have people collectively lost their minds?!?

We didn’t do a traditional cookout for Labor Day this year, but we went to Jewel and grabbed some fried chicken and what they call Tator Babies, which are basically potato wedges that are way better than KFC.

09/08 (Tue)
We were killing time while Costco was installing my new tires this morning when we saw they have mums! I heard they can sell out fast, so we grabbed this ginormous purple one even though I hadn’t planned on buying any just yet.

We were chuckling at the size while Joe was unwrapping it. I gave it a good soaking per instructions since it was really dry.

I hope they’re as good quality as I’ve heard. Time will only tell whether or not it was an $18 mistake. They have smaller ones in a four pack for $18 too. I saw purple, yellow, and orange. I’m not sure if they carry maroon. They only seemed to have the big ones in purple right now.

Afterwards we decided to hit up a place called Egg-lectic Café for lunch. We intended to sit outside but the wasps had another idea so we ended up eating inside which wasn’t as anxiety-producing as I worried about since we were the only ones there (we got there around 1:20 or so and they close at 2:30). I tried their Waldorf chicken melt with what they call onion petals (like onion rings but in a petal shape). Both were so good I want to go back there soon.

09/10 (Thu)
We attended a Radio Gaga concert (imagine Queen performing with Lady Gaga) at Wheaton’s Memorial Park. It was $12 each to get in. They had a couple of food trucks and a concession stand. While I wasn’t thrilled with the selection, I was pleasantly surprised by the reasonable prices at the concession window.

We brought our own snacks and water just in case, but always like to see what’s on offer.

We opted to sit in the back which would have been better if not for this guy who was so distracting walking around almost as much as his kids who couldn’t sit still.

I will never understand parents who let their children run rampant at these events. It’s like they have no concern about whether they are disturbing others. And of course the kids had a ball. I think those should be banned at events like these but that won’t happen until someone gets seriously injured.

I was initially worried about the small bathroom attached to the back of the stage area that only had three stalls, but they had an entire area on the west side of the park with porta-potties, which is where I took this photo.

As for the music, it was a bit of a letdown, especially the Lady Gaga impersonator and her backup singers who didn’t seem to know all the words to some of the songs.

We had parked in a nearby garage and left a few songs before the end so we wouldn’t have to deal with the crowd getting out of the park since they had all but one entrance/exit blocked. We ended up pulling into a parking spot outside the park to listen to the end of the concert.

Even with some of the annoyances I’d still attend a concert there if the act sounded interesting enough because it was a cheap night out and the drive home was a breeze.

09/12 (Sat)
We picked up some breakfast from Paris Baguette and brought it to the arboretum to eat on the veranda.

They were giving away free branded packable bags to members starting at 9 am. I saw them unlock the doors a couple of minutes early so I went inside and got mine. As I was walking away they must have just opened the main doors because a line of people came streaming in to get their bag. I inadvertently cut the line just by entering the door off the veranda area.

09/13 (Sun)
We were back at the arboretum for the second day in a row for their semi-annual dog event. The booths were kinda boring because there were only 3 with dogs available for adoption – pitbulls, grey hounds, and some type of large breed puppies. One of the booths was cleverly named however. It was CRA (Chicago Rescue Authority) and all the colors were like the CTA L. We camped out on a bench by the visitor center so we could see all the people walking past with their dogs. They kept approaching Joe more than me though. How dare they! I did get a few quick hand licks at least.

09/18 (Fri)
Joe’s daughter and SO came over for dinner and games. We got food from Steamboat BBQ which everyone really enjoyed and played a new game called Something Wild that I had gotten Joe for his birthday.

It was… interesting. I didn’t love it. We eventually played a few games of Aggravation too.

09/25-09/27 – Extended weekend recap

Notable media this month:

Overcompensating (Prime) – Benny, a football player, struggles to accept his sexuality in college, finding himself overcompensating as he tries to appear as something he is not. We got hooked on this show quickly and blew through both seasons because we couldn’t get enough. I hope they end up making at least two more seasons before cancelling it!

They Will Kill You – I thought this was going to be another Ready or Not type movie but there’s more to it than initially meets the eye. While it got more and more strange it definitely kept our attention!

Scary Movie – Was it dumb? Yes. Was it funny? Also yes. It was good to see the original cast back and I do not regret borrowing this one from the library.

Passenger – Holy crap, this had some of the best jump scares of any movie I’ve seen in recent memory. Even when you KNEW it was coming it still made you jump!

Extended Weekend Recap (09/25-09/27)

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We had a lovely extended weekend even if it didn’t start out the greatest.

Joe took Friday (09/25) off and we decided to go out for breakfast which is a rare occurrence. We headed to Egg Harbor in Geneva where I had the most disappointing eggs benedict in my life which really sucks because it’s been years since having it and I had been craving it for quite awhile. Everything was so bland. Are they not familiar with seasoning? The canadian bacon was too think and didn’t taste grilled even though it bared some faint marks indicating otherwise, the English muffin was fluffy and tasted almost uncooked, and even the béchamel sauce which is full of butter and should taste rich was just meh. Even the side of potatoes, while good, were only so because they tasted like little square french fries. Not only did they turn me off to eggs benedict, but they made me angry that our bill was over $40 for such a lackluster meal. Joe even noted the sausage in his biscuits and gravy wasn’t very flavorful. Maybe their clientele likes bland food but I do not and don’t plan on going back there. I wish we had gone to Red Apple or Egglectic cafe instead.

We hit up a couple of parks in St. Charles without much success. It was so overcast that a new one we wanted to visit, Morris Park, would have been too dark with the thick canopy of trees. We ended up hearing back west to the shopping area in Geneva to look around at a hobby shop and Kohl’s. I could not believe there was Christmas decor in Kohl’s already. FFS it’s not even October! First Thanksgiving was ignored, and now Christmas is encroaching on Halloween. It’s pure lunacy at this point that a single holiday gets so much attention. I hate it more and more every year.

After my hunt for a forest green hoodie turned up nothing, we went to Peck Farm Park.

The views were nice but no birds were to be seen. By that point we were hungry again and considered trying a place called Currito but after the $42 breakfast bill I wasn’t liking the idea of dropping another $30 pm lunch. I decided I’d make my own chicken burrito bowls at home and tried a recipe for the black beans. They came out delicious! They were so good, in fact, that the following day I went full vegetarian with my bowl.

We finished up our day with an evening showing of the latest Scary Movie from the library. Was it great? No. But it was funny and interesting enough to keep me from browsing my phone so that’s a win in my book.

Saturday (09/26) we went to Elsen’s Hill in West DuPage Woods where we hit the warbler jackpot. Which to mean I saw more than one in passing. Yep, that’s what amounts to a jackpot lately when it comes to these quiet little birds that won’t stop moving. The grass was very damp and despite never having an issue in the past, the sock on my left foot got very wet. I thought my hiking boots were water proof so I was surprised by this.

Afterwards we stopped at Tropical Smoothie Cafe. I have notifications turned off on my phone so thankfully I had seen a reel the other day about their members weekend where you get a free smoothie with the purchase of a bowl or breakfast item. Joe had no issues with the app, but mine was not letting me complete my order. First the “Apple Pay” button wouldn’t respond when tapped, then after putting in my credit card info and clicking “Place Order” it just kept saying processing over and over but never submitted it.

We ended up going inside where I explained the issue to the very friendly and helpful employee. She rang my order up in a way that my total was less than it was in the app because she selected a combo but still applied the free smoothie discount (which I could not recreate when I tested it in the app the following day). I was so grateful, I gave her a tip. I usually don’t for pickup orders because I think it’s ridiculous to tip for counter service. Furthermore, how is a tip appropriate prior to receiving service? Shouldn’t I determine if a tip is warranted based on the service I’ve received? Call me crazy!

Anyway, we took our breakfast home and headed back out after eating. We stopped at the library to pick up a hold and browse the new movies before heading to the Itasca bird sanctuary. Was able to get a warbler there, but other than that it wasn’t terribly exciting.

As we were leaving a guy in the parking lot stopped us to chat. He and a few others were using the parking lot as a staging area for their clients attending the big golf event that the idiot in charge was part of this weekend. I could tell with his little remarks that he’s racist and I really didn’t want to talk to him so after a bit I told him we needed to go. Even without the racists undertones I really hate it when people monopolize a conversation. I didn’t ask you to brag to me about how much you’ve traveled and this that and the other. It’s funny because I do find people interesting, but they tend to turn me off with their narcissistic tendencies. We all like to talk about ourselves but at least I make a point to ask people questions and encourage them to talk too, damnit!

We headed to Springbrook Nature Center next where they were working on a picnic shelter so we had to park in the neighboring water park lot to access the trails. Some dumb lady proceeded to nearly back over us while pulling out of a spot because looking behind you when you put a car in reverse is apparently a foreign concept to some people.

We didn’t spot any warblers, but we did hear a Red-shouldered hawk which we initially pegged as the resident one until we distinctly heard two them calling in opposite directions. We tracked the wild one down to a very tall tree and got a photo before it flew away. I guess they were chatting.

On the way home we stopped at the Salvation Army store to scope it out. It doesn’t have much beyond clothing, and their selection pales in comparison to Savers, but they have dressing rooms which is nice. I am still mad at Savers for removing theirs. I got so many great clothes there but other than stuff I can try on the aisles I’m not about to take a chance on stuff when I always miscalculate whether something is going to fit or look good on me. They don’t offer refunds – only exchanges within 7 days of purchase. That doesn’t work for me.

In any case, I also wanted to verify if they really do take computer monitors like the website indicated but there was only one person working inside, so we drove around to the donation drop-off area where I asked them and they said no. Glad I checked. I hate that you have to pay to offload these things. I did email the Salvation Army, though, because I checked their site and they do list computer monitors as items they accept so I don’t know why they can’t take them at the store. Maybe you have to schedule a pickup? Seems wasteful to make them come get it, but I will do that if necessary (and will likely have to since no one bothered to ever answer my email).

We ran back out later in the evening to a nearby park but didn’t see much wildlife other than goldfinches which seem to be all over the place lately.

We ended our night with a movie – this time it was Toy Story 5 which, as I anticipated, made me cry. Those Pixar movies get me every time!

Sunday (09/27) we woke up to the thickest fog we’ve seen in a long time. I made us some breakfast burritos and we contemplated whether it was worth going out warbler hunting in the fog.

We ultimately decided it was and found ourselves at Hidden Lake where I immediately saw two warblers in a tree by the parking lot but was unable to get a photo of either. Migration is such a frustrating time of year! I get so excited but also very frustrated.

The fog was really thick so I was able to get some interesting photos and videos before it dissipated.

Then we found ourselves at the arboretum even though we hadn’t intended to visit this weekend.

Afterwards we headed over to Lisle Community Park for Barkapalooza. It always amazes me how they get enough interest in the event when there are no posted signs on the street near the park. You wouldn’t even know an event was going on since it sits way back from the street.

We parked by the school and walked over to the event area checking out the different booths and food trucks. I also found the sponsor’s baked goods tent but was disappointed they didn’t have any rice crispy treats this year. They spoiled me in 2024 with how delicious they were. Please tell me why, however, the lady helping us felt the need to tell me she doesn’t care for them. Did I ask? People are so weird and full of themselves. We grabbed some banana bread, a brookie, and a bag of treats called puppy chow. That was the best of the three as the baked items were dry.

We were hungry but not feeling it with the food at the event, so after the doggie costume contest we went to Minnie Bird to pick up some food. We took it to Herrick Lake and ate in the car. Then we drove over to Lincoln Marsh in pursuit of warblers. I saw some, but capturing them was another story. I did add another bird to my life list, however – the Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

We watched a horror movie in the evening called Passenger which had some really good jump scares. I’m so happy my nervous system issues from last year have mostly disappeared and I can watch stuff without having a weird reaction. Last Halloween season we didn’t watch any scary movies because I could not handle it.

August 2026 Recap

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08/02 (Sun)
We attended the annual charity dog show in Carol Stream. I like seeing all the dogs but it does make me a little sad since we are currently dog-less and might be until next year the way things are going right now.

08/04 (Tue)
We attended National Night Out.

08/07 (Fri)
Joe’s daughter and her partner came over for dinner and games. I made a cheeseburger casserole I hadn’t made in years and completely forgot about until K suggested it after I asked if she had any requests. Wow, it was better than I remember! Or maybe I’m just a better cook now, I don’t know.

We played the new UNO K gifted us, UNO POP.

We also played Mantis since we all love that game.

08/08 (Sat)
We decided to visit the Schaumburg library for the first time in many years. It’s massive and laid out so nicely. It has a huge snack area, the kids section has a playroom, the DVD and CD area look like a store, and their selection of magazines is awesome. There were so many cars in the parking lot but it didn’t feel crowded inside at all because of the size and how spread out everyone was. I wish it was our library! They have a huge magazine section with multiple titles I’d like to read.

We decided we’ll hang out there one of the days soon, probably when it’s cold outside with not much else to do.

08/11 (Tue)
More intense storms in the area. It’s been really scary this summer. Illinois is leading the country with the most tornados but luckily we weren’t hit with any on this day.

We hit up Costco when Joe got home from work and I picked up this Bousin cheese.

I had no idea what Boursin really was until last month when it came on a sandwich I ordered while at my friend’s house. It’s very yummy!

08/18 (Tue)
Know what’s a great way to be woken up at 3 am? By a tornado siren! Thought I was hearing things since they faded out just as I became more clear-headed. Luckily it was activated in error which is why it wasn’t going for long.

This Reddit thread about the incident made me laugh with The Simpsons reference.

08/19 (Wed)
I went with Joe to his eye exam in the evening since he was getting his eyes dilated and I would need to drive us home. What is with rude people? We’re sitting there in the little waiting area and his lady was watching TikToks with the sound full on. Then she was walking around while dragging her feet. Both she and her husband had their phone notifications turned up to full tilt. No one wants to listen to that shit!

08/21 (Fri)
I decided to experiment and created a homemade pasta sauce with multi-colored cherry tomatoes.

I’ve also grown to really love zucchini with my pasta, as well as in other dishes.

It came out delicious!

08/22 (Sat)
We ran so many errands, I wrote a separate entry about it.

08/23 (Sun)
We attended the Festival of the Arts at Lake Ellyn. We parked by high school which was nice walk compared to finding street parking. There were many art booths, no real food trucks, but four food booths (popcorn, hot dogs, Mexican food, and gelato). Nothing really floated our boat so afterwards we went home and made sandwiches for lunch.

08/24 (Mon)
I’m so out of touch I didn’t realize that Marc Maron ceased his podcast last year. I listened to the final episode which was none other than Barack Obama.

Have I ever talked about how much I love Barack Obama? His wife too. They’re both so kind, intelligent, funny, and poised. I never get tired of listening to either of them speak. What a contrast to the clown currently in office.

08/27 (Thu)
Spent some time lounging on the patio since the weather was so pleasant and heard an unusual bird chirping. According to Merlin it was a Cape May Warbler!

Too bad I didn’t see it because I haven’t added one to my life list yet.

That made my want to do some birding so we went to Churchill Park when Joe got home from work.

I was reminded why we don’t do too many nature outings this time of the year, though, because the second we got on the wooded trail we ran out of there quickly because of all the mosquitos. We didn’t have bug spray on, but even with it I swear it doesn’t work as well as I’d like. We didn’t even see any birds, just insects.

We stopped at McDonald’s after to grab dinner. I don’t crave their food often and I was reminded why by the chewy bun on my double cheeseburger. Their fries are only good the second you get them too. Wait until you get home and they are already cold and hard. Yuck. And for the price I’d rather get a kid’s meal at Culver’s where you get a burger, fries, drink, and a frozen custard for less than $8.

There was a lunar eclipse and this was my contribution to the massive amount of photos people took.

08/28 (Fri)
Just a few days ago I was bragging to my Facebook friends about how much I love our bee watering station and how I’m not afraid of them anymore. Today it dawned on me that the recent uptick in visits weren’t even from bees but yellowjacket wasps!

Needless to say I took down the watering station. It’s bad enough those wasps won’t leave the hummingbird feeder alone.

08/29 (Sat)
Joe had to work in the early morning but came home shortly after 9 am. I made us breakfast which we ate on the patio. After cleaning up we headed to College of DuPage to check out the Russell R Kirt Prairie nature area.

Once again, the birds were nonexistent (it’s been really quiet the last few weeks), but there were plenty of insects to be seen, mostly dragonflies. If you looked at the sky long enough you’d notice many of them zipping about.

I also explored the dining area in their student services area when I needed to use the restroom. I learned they have cafes with coffee during the week which might be useful in the future when Joe has a day off. We can grab a coffee on the way to the arboretum or nature area nearby.

08/30 (Sun)
We went to the arboretum to attend the Honeybee Festival. It was a little underwhelming, but I enjoyed just chilling on the visitor center veranda while people and animal watching. There are sparrows all over hoping for some food, as well as chipmunks. I could sit there all day.

We stopped at Bath & Body Works on the way home so I could look at the new Nightmare Before Christmas line. Well, what little was left of it. I had no desire to get anything but the hand sanitizer but neither scent (Jack or Sally) smelled good.

Notable media this month:

Mercy – I really didn’t want to enjoy this Chris Pratt movie this much, but it was done quite well and was not a Minority Report remake like the trailer seemed to indicate.

The Running Man – This was way better than the original and kept my attention throughout the entire film.

The Sheep Detectives – When my brother mentioned this movie to me awhile back I pictured the claymation style of Shaun the Sheep which is not my thing, but after hearing people talking about it I looked it up and realized I was completely wrong. It was a very unique and entertaining Who Done It.

The Institute (MGM+) – An MGM+ original series we discovered when looking for something, anything, to watch on this lame streaming service. The first season was good but left us with questions. I would re-subscribe to MGM+ just to watch another season; they better make another one!

How to Make a Killing – This is the second Glen Powell movie we saw this month and I’m not mad about it – he’s fun to watch. The premise was pretty unique – a man starts murdering his relatives to ensure he inherits the family fortune. Sure, it’s short-sighted of a character to think they could get away with such a thing, but that’s part of what made this fun to watch.

Don’t Let Go – A unique time travel / alternate dimensions murder mystery.

The Night Of– A series from ten years ago that I found while browsing HBO Max. It started off a bit boring and the ending left a bit to be desired, but overall it was an interesting tale of how prison changes a person, and their family.

Marc Maron: Panicked – I’ve always found Marc Maron funny but this special in particular knocked it out of the park! Seriously, most standup has been lucky to make me chuckle even once, but this one had me laughing multiple times. Kudos, Marc!

Awkward – This show made me cringe more times than I can count, plus hate Jenna much of the time, but it was a fun re-watch.

National Night Out

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Last night we went to our neighboring town’s National Night Out event because I saw Pasatiempo BBQ was providing free pulled pork sandwiches at the event. I was super excited because we had them a couple of years back when they gave out the same sandwiches at a local business open house. They were amazing then, and amazing last night too.

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign held on the first Tuesday in August (or the first Tuesday in October in some southern regions like Texas). It enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while promoting a true sense of community and local crime prevention awareness

We were shocked upon arriving at 5:30ish how packed it was. Even more so than the summer concerts held there which we’ve been attending on some Thursday nights. We had never been to this particular event so we were confused about where to get the food, so we had to ask the woman handing it out and she directed us to the police station’s tent where they give you a ticket.

After grabbing our food tickets we walked around the grounds to see what else was going on. There were booths from several local businesses including a rescue I’m familiar with. One of the women was holding the cutest little Yorkie whose name was Charlie. He immediately licked my hand when I approached. She explained how their fostering worked and that you could foster to adopt which is something I’m really interested in doing; I’m just not sure when.

They had four huge inflatable obstacle courses and bounce houses set up for the kids and a band playing music which switched to a DJ temporarily while the band members got something to eat. The weather, while hot, wasn’t bad, especially in the shade.

In addition to the pulled pork, they were giving out free hot dogs, pizza slices, water, and soda (I saw Signature Select cola and root beer). We grabbed a root beer, pulled pork sandwiches, and Cape Cod potato chips, then made our way over to a park bench in the shade to enjoy our meal. I had thought about bringing plates but decided they would probably provide those. Wrong! Technically there were some in the back of the car, but neither of us felt like walking back to get them so we balanced the foil-wrapped sandwiches on our laps. There wasn’t any sauce on the sandwiches, so Joe set out to find some. Apparently we had completely missed the condiment station! They didn’t have containers, so he got a slice of pizza since it came with a plate and then poured sauce on the plate for us to dip our sandwiches in.

This photo of the sandwich (prior to adding BBQ sauce) does not do it justice.

It was so incredibly flavorful, I wish I could share that taste with everyone.

A view from the less crowded area of the park we chose to sit down and enjoy our food.

As were were eating we started discussing the times the other towns around us were doing the same event. The one we were attending was from 5-9, our actual town’s was only 6-8, and another close by town was 5-8 at a park we’ve visited often.

So we came up with a funny idea – next year act like influencers and do a National Night Out challenge and hit up as many towns as possible to get free stuff (in addition to the free food and drinks they were also giving out little tchotchkes like chip clips, bracelets, keyrings, etc).

Oh, and for some reason they had someone flying an actual helicopter pass over the event twice rather low and turn on police sirens. Who knew the helicopters even had sirens? That was quite the sight, ahem, sound.

July 2026 Recap

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07/03-07/06 – 4th of July extended weekend recap

07/08 (Wed)
Our new neighbors to the east moved in. They were confused by the placement of the water hose. This happens every time someone moves in because the placement of the faucets is dumb and ours is right next to the neighbor’s patio door. They texted the property manager who in turn texted me for clarification. I answered quickly and also told the property manager they could feel free to share my number with the new neighbors in case they had any further questions. I’m perturbed by the fact that she never acknowledged my reply. Did she pass along my number? Who knows. She could have at least said thank you or even sent a thumbs up. Every day I am just amazed by how self-involved everyone is.

I also was thinking about the cartoon, O’Grady, we watched years ago and how much I miss it.

I’ve been searching online for a copy for years since it’s not available on DVD (which I’d happily pay for). I came across a Reddit post and learned it’s now on the Internet Archive for all. I promptly downloaded it. It’s making me so happy to be able to watch it again! It was really funny and deserved a longer run. H. Jon Benjamin (Bob of Bob’s Burgers) voices Kevin, one of the main characters.

07/11-07/12 – Weekend recap

07/15 (Wed)
I was watering our plants in the early morning when a mourning dove kept flying in, walking toward the water dish I keep out for the wildlife, and getting too spooked by my presence to take a drink. It even circled the nearby bush thinking surely she won’t be on both sides! At one point it got super close to me but changed its mind at the last second even though I was standing very still. The SECOND I went inside, it swooped in to get a drink. I could hear the familiar whistling of its wings before the door was even closed.

07/17 (Fri)
Sofi Tukker had a live stream on Twitch to celebrate the release of their latest single, Barthelona, which I am loving so much. The high energy nature of this song makes me happy every time I hear it.

My only complaint? It isn’t long enough. I need an extended remix, stat!

In the middle of preparing dinner our rice cooker decided to stop working so I had to finish cooking the rice on the stove. I was pretty perturbed until I realized we bought it in 2009, which makes it 17 years old. So the question now is do we replace it, and if so, with another rice cooker or one that doubles as a slow cooker? I can prepare the rice on the stove in the meantime so that we don’t rush into a decision. Plus if we can wait until the holidays they’ll likely be good deals on one.

07/18 (Sat)
Decided to go to Burlington and TJ Maxx in search of some new cookware. Well, the former didn’t even have a section for it anymore, and the latter didn’t have anything we liked. We also stopped by Barn Owl to look for something I could use as a bee watering station and struck out once more.

07/21 (Tue)
I did a little shopping on my own after getting some blood drawn. I browsed a cute store called Daiso and ended up picking up some Christmas gifts for the kids and making a mental note of some things I could get Joe as well. I liked a lot of the things I saw but didn’t really feel compelled to buy anything.

07/22 (Wed)
Spent a little time relaxing on the patio which I love to do when the weather permits. I saw baby bunny, as I like to call him. I also had a hummingbird come over and hover in front of my face twice within a short time. I always always assumed when they do that that they are either inspecting me or saying thank you for keeping the feeder filled. I googled it just now and that’s actually the consensus.

In the evening I kept hearing loud peeping noises when we were watching TV. I went over to the dining room to look outside and two newly fledged robins were standing by the patio door looking inside. Then one hopped closer to the edge of the patio and the other to the neighbor’s patio. They both were looking around and chirping. I assume waiting for mom to bring food.

07/23 (Thu)
The two Robin fledglings were back this morning, hopping behind mom while chirping at her incessantly while she hunted for food. They followed her all over the courtyard until disappearing out of earshot.

They came back later to take a bath and get a drink.

I made what is becoming one of my favorite dinners – Harvest Grain bowls.

It’s wild rice topped with sweet potatos and zucchini seasoned with garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper (cooked in the air fryer) with some dried cranberries and feta cheese crumbles added at the end.

We attended a concert in the park and enjoyed it much better than last time now that we know a better place to sit.

07/24 (Fri)
We decided to take advantage of the cooler weather and visit the arboretum in the evening. We grabbed dinner from Jimmy Johns and ate it on the arboretum’s veranda. Joe fed a sparrow a bit of his bread. I brought my Canon point and shoot camera and got a few photos around the gardens by the visitor center.

Before leaving the Visitor Center, I went inside to claim my free chip clip and listened to the lady at the member desk explain membership perks to someone who was joining. She mentioned how busy it had been that day with people asking for the chip clip almost in a manner like she thought it was ridiculous. Then the lady joining asked if she could have one and she told her no because you had to receive the text the day prior to claiming one. Wow, talk about strict.

After that conversion I was next in line and said “well, I’m here for the chip clip” and the girl behind me said “me too!” LOL

This is what it looks like.

We have the same style of chip clips from when Joe used to work for Xfinity. In fact, we still use them and not a single one has broken because they are a better quality than the long plastic ones. They also have a magnet on the other side so they can live on the side of the refrigerator when not in use.

I got this quick shot of the trail by turtle pond before running back to the car to get away from the mosquitos.

They are the only thing I can’t stand about summer. Well, them and ticks, but the mosquitos are a bigger menace.

07/25 (Sat)
Two mourning dove fledglings decided to take up residence by the water hose so I was not able to water my flowers before we went out.

We visited K and her friend J came by too so we could all chat and have lunch together. We stopped at McDonald’s first to get some warm chocolate chip cookies which we do almost every time we visit.

Before J came by I gave K an early Christmas present so she could use it during Halloween season:

You can never have too many towels with dogs on them!

07/26 (Sun)
We hit up Dairy Queen to redeem a T-Mobile Tuesday offer. I got a Dilly Bar (still as good as I remember, albeit smaller) and a mini Biscoff Cookie Blizzard. The latter was good, but not quite as good as I remember.

07/27 (Mon)
I set up an insect watering station on the patio using a ceramic sunflower plate I remembered I had in the garage.

I’ve also been trying all the different Bubbl’r sparkling water flavors to see if any of them are as good as the Twisted Elix’r and finally hit the jackpot.

The Orange Dream Freez’r tastes like a bubbly melted orange creamsicle which kinda sounds gross but isn’t. I definitely plan to get more of that flavor in the future.

Later that morning we had one of the strongest, scariest storms in recent history. Between the high winds and golf ball sized hail, I was pretty scared. I hid in the downstairs bathroom with my bike helmet on when the tornado sirens started going off. When the hail was coming down it was so loud I messaged Joe (who was at work) that it sounded like it was putting holes in the roof. For a short time it sounded to me like the roof was going to cave in.

A panel of siding on the front of our unit was pulled up and there were roof shingles and tree branches littering the streets afterwards. We only lost power briefly during the storm (just long enough to reset the microwave clock), which was much better than others in our area. Some homes in our subdivision just mere blocks away ended up losing power for days.

Our internet did go down the following day for a good part of the day, but that was the worst of it for us. Even the patio umbrella and bee water station stayed put which was amazing to me because I peeked outside at different times and the trees were practically bending over from the wind. In the building perpendicular to ours someone’s very large grill was knocked over, as was someone’s patio furniture.

I later learned there was a tornado in a nearby town, but our town got something called straight line winds which can be just as powerful as a small tornado.

Our patio area after the storm:

07/30 (Thu)
Joe took off from work early to accompany me to my breast ultrasound. No issues, just a precaution. Afterwards we got Burger King for dinner but it wasn’t as good as last time. If I had to guess, I don’t think our local restaurant followed the “off the broiler” directions we selected because the burgers didn’t feel as hot as last time. We then attended another concert in the park.

07/31 (Fri)
Watched several acts at Lollapalooza via Hulu. Yungblud sounded good but The Smashing Pumpkins sounded distorted much of the time.

Notable media this month:

Over Your Dead Body – After watching and enjoying the film I went on IMDb to read the trivia like I enjoy doing only to learn it was a remake. Even worse, we watched the original, The Trip, less than five years ago and yet this premise didn’t ring a bell to me while watching. Is that normal to not remember such things?

Michael
I watched this while Joe was at work and I was eating a yummy Trader Joe’s Beef and Queso bowel.

I admit, I had my doubts about Michael Jackson’s intentions when he was hanging out with all those kids back in Neverland. But between Instagram Reels re-educating me, and this movie, which focuses on his life from childhood until he separated from his father musically, I feel we were all duped by the media who sought to paint him in such a horrible light. He was truly a kind, innocent soul who never fully grew up. Between showing how he was treated to just listening to the great music he wrote, I was brought to tears multiple times by this movie. I just feel so awful for him and what he went through and how his father ultimately is the reason he’s no longer with us. I’m sorry for thinking ill of him for so long. This is a lesson not to believe everything we’re told, especially by an industry who only cares about someone until they stop being profitable.

Running Point
This series completely flew under the radar until recently and luckily we found it, and binged it, before cancelling our Netflix subscription (more on that next month). Once again, something Mindy Kaling has touched has turned to gold. At this point I’m just going to stalk her IMDb profile and watch whatever she’s involved in since I always love it.

Scream 7 – Even though I thought “ANOTHER Scream movie, really?” I still put myself on the hold list at the library. This was one of the better ones, IMHO, and somehow Neve Campbell was a little less Neve Campbell (IYKYK) than usual. It didn’t hurt that the focus was more on her daughter and friends too.