Mindy Kaling

I find Mindy Kaling so funny. I've enjoyed watching her quirky, funny show the Mindy Project. Here's a clip: .

Her awkwardness and dating trials remind me of me. Recently, I finished her first book, "Is everyone hanging out without me (and other concerns)." It was funny, not as funny as it would've been in audio book form with her reading it. Think about it, you know I'm right! I figured I would read it in preparation for her new book, "Why Not Me," a collection of personal essays.

Somehow, I missed her on "The Office."

The world needs more women who can step back and laugh at life.

What shows and comedians make you laugh?

One Year of Blogging

This month marks one year since I started this blog! Never did I think I would have readers in so many countries (38)! I have readers in: Cayman Islands, Belarus, Philippines, Pakistan, Latvia, Australia, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, Russia, China, Serbia, Netherlands, Venezuela, Poland, Ukraine, Germany, Mongolia, France, Israel, Czech Republic, South Korea, Romania, Spain, India, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Canada, South Africa, Cameroon, Slovakia, Hong Kong, Mexico, Singapore,Belgium, and obviously the United States.

Starting out, I wanted to share my funny dating stories and I wasn't sure what else. Thus far, I've published 126 posts! I didn't realize I had that much to say. ;)Since then, I've covered movies, music, life, books, travel destinations, recipes, tips, etc. Thanks for taking this journey with me!

Let me know what topics you're most interested in reading about.

Found this quote on Pinterest.

Lake of the Ozarks

After missing my yearly lake trip last year, I was so excited to finally be back at the lake. Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri is five hours from where I live in Manhattan, Kansas. It's a beautiful resort town. Three and a half hours of the drive is on I-70, which means it's pretty boring except while going through Kansas City.

Eight years ago, this summer I interned at Tan-Tar-A Resort. I was a banquet intern and worked as a hostess at two restaurants on the resort. At the time, I thought I wanted to be a banquet intern. I have a lot of great memories there.

Once at the lake we checked into our hotel, Tan-Tar-A Resort. We like to stay in the Estates which is off the resort and feels more secluded.

Pretty, right? That night, we had dinner at Shorty Pants.They have the best Asian Shrimp Salad there.We always love the food here.

Next, we headed to Woody's, a dive bar to play pool. After that, we went to Topsider, my favorite club ever. They had a really good band there called,Queens Blvd. They play songs from a variety of eras and other bands. They rapped and sang country. They did it all so well. They actually played both nights we went to Topsider and we enjoyed hearing them. We wondered if they have any of their own songs.

Saturday, we went to the Arrowhead deck pool at Tan-Tar-A. I love that pool because it overlooks the lake. Here, I partook of my annual pizza and strawberry daiquiri. :)

After some time at the pool, we jet skied. We love to jet ski so much! The lake was busy, so the water was pretty choppy; it almost made me seasick. I laugh and scream the whole time! I get going fast and scare myself a lot. :)

That night, we went for dinner to Mexicali Blues. They have the best salsa and shrimp tacos!

We did a little shopping at the Osage Beach Premium Outlet. They've got a great selection of stores and a nice layout.

Before we left, we got lunch at City Grille. They make a terrific Ultimate Chicken Sandwich. I LOVE their cole slaw!

It was hard to leave, but I'm already ready to visit again next year!

MasterChef

I absolutely love watching MasterChef! I love to cook and it's wonderful inspiration. There are several cooking shows that I watch, but this is my favorite by far. I think, I like it so much because most of the chefs are home chefs, not people who cook for a living. Their passion and skill level are always so impressive. It makes me want to cook more and get cooking lessons! So far, from this season the recipe I most want to learn to make is panna cotta. I definitely plan to cook more and make more impressive recipes. Here's a clip from today's episode: .

What's your favorite cooking show and why do you like it so much? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Trailers

Not often do I see a trailer for a movie that I really want to see, but I'm dying to see Unbroken:

Post by Unbroken.

Aren't you dying to see it too?! Not only is it about a Olympian, it's also covers his time as a prisoner of war. Sounds interesting to me!

My best friend wants me to see "Into the Storm" with her, but I think it looks too scary! I can't watch anything remotely scary without screaming.

So, what's the verdict? Do either of these look interesting to you?

Colorado Springs

I spent several days this week in Colorado Springs. I haven't spent much time in Colorado before this.

Garden of the Gods, So pretty and great exercise. :)

Pike's Peak We drove up to the Peak. It was cold, windy, and beautiful. I got some souvenirs at the gift shop at the top. :)

We had lunch in Old Colorado City at Dat's Italian. Very yummy pignoli meatballs! Old Colorado City had some neat shops, wish I'd had the time to explore more.

While there I also got to see How to Train a Dragon 2; it was super cute; check it out:
We met friends for drinks at Great Storm Brewing. Not a beer fan, but the place was fun and the staff were so friendly and helpful.

Kind of wish I'd been able to see the Air Force Academy Chapel, but it was a pretty fast trip.

Has anyone else been to Colorado Springs? Any favorite sights?

Funny Signs in Ireland

I was surprised how many funny signs I saw along the way in Ireland and wanted to share:

Seen in Dingle.

In Kilkenny.

In Dingle

Skelligs Chocolate Factory

In Dingle.



Have you seen any funny signs during your travels?

Movies

During my long flights to and from Ireland, the best thing to do, other than sleep, was to watch free movies.

I'd been wanting to see the Delivery Man and finally did. It stars Vince Vaughn and the chick that plays Robin on How I Met Your Mother, Cobie Smulders. I thought it was really funny, but also touching. Check out the trailer and let me know what you think.


American Hustle was also on my list of movies. I really like Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams, so I had to see it. Christian Bale, Jeremy Renner, and Bradley Cooper are in it too. I really didn't like the movie; I felt like I wasted roughly two hours. It would probably be called a drama and it was lame at that. Check out the trailer and see what I mean:

Somehow, I missed seeing The Amazing Spider-Man when it came out in 2012. I really liked the original Spiderman movies with Tobey Maguire, so I wasn't sure what I'd think about the new ones. This one was different, because there was no sign of Mary Jane or best friend, Harry. In this movie, Spiderman's love interest is Gwen Stacy. In the last series, Gwen Stacy was his college classmate and girlfriend of his nemesis. She was also the police chief's daughter. Yes, she was blonde in that one too. This one features Hollywood stars like: Emma Stone, Sally Field, and Martin Sheen. I really liked Sally Field as Aunt Mae. So, yes, I did like it. Here's the trailer:

What new movies have you seen?