Saturday morning I woke up, watched “GMA” and had a little breakfast. After a bit, I decided to walk my dog; so I got my dog all ready, pushed shuffle on my phone’s music and we set off. The first song put me in the BEST mood and had me dancing down the street, I’m sure I looked like an idiot. Song after song brought me joy and I marveled again at how powerful music is. Each song was from a different decade and, put together, seemed incongruous, but each lit something up in me and always has. I have not listened to much music during these crazy months; I didn’t realize how much I missed it. Here was the soundtrack to my walk on Saturday, click on the song titles if you’d like to take a listen:

“Dreams” – Beck

“Potential Breakup Song” – Aly & A.J.

“All The Time” – Barry Manilow

“When Love & Hate Collide” – Def Leppard

“Use Somebody” – Kings of Leon

We got home, I laid down on the couch and, sadly, finished the book I had been reading. I LOVED Anxious People by Frederik Backman. Sometimes reading his books, it take a few pages to get into his groove. (If you haven’t read his A Man Called Ove, you must.) For me, this one did not.  I was in from page 1. It’s quirky, it’s moving, it’s insightful, it’s funny, it’s sad and it’s powerful. I rarely give out 5 stars; Anxious People was 5 stars for me.

This is an entertainment blog so I won’t belabor you with minutiae – the rest of the day included having a great lunch with my son and my friend, doing some work, organizing my son’s camp clothes, etc.  

For dinner I made Shredded Chicken Enchilada Casserole (click for recipe if you are interested), which holds no allure for my family, but Jenny & I love it so she came over for dinner. We ate and then watched Nomadland on Hulu. Watching this on my TV, I realized how much I miss going to the movie theatre. I LOVE movies, as you know.  Oscar time is my favorite time. Going to the theatre really allows you to fully escape and immerse yourself into the experience of what you are watching. This movie was so breathtaking cinematically; I knew we were depriving ourselves of the intended experience by watching it on the TV. That being said, it is totally worth it to watch from home.  I really enjoyed it. Living a nomadic lifestyle holds no allure for me, but seeing what it entails and how many people choose to live this way (many in the movie are actual nomads) was fascinating. And, like I said, getting such a close up of the American West and its vast landscape is something to behold.

We ended the night by eating 48 hour brown butter/toffee/chocolate chip cookies (click for recipe) that my daughter and I had made after we watched a video on YouTube. Here is the link so you can watch it, too. I definitely messed up because I didn’t have a candy thermometer (just ordered, thank you Amazon) so the toffee wasn’t exactly right. Also, the cookies are enormous so the cooking times didn’t work with our oven. They were good. I think our next try would be better if we wanted to invest that much time again. But I dare you to watch the video and not want to make them also.

That was my Saturday. It was a good day. I hope yours was, too.