Subtle innuendos follow

I have become a person who drinks not only decaf coffee at the exclusion of regular, but also non-alcoholic beer at the exclusion of ... um, regular. "What is the point of you?" I hear you asking, and with good reason. I'm afraid I have no answers for you.

We're nearly a week into summer vacation here -- H had her last day of school on May 30 -- and normally right about this time my cooking mojo would evaporate like spit on an August sidewalk what with EVERYBODY IN MY KITCHEN ALL THE TIME but oddly enough, I have been a cooking dynamo lately. Whole trout with the heads on? No problem. Grain-free, dairy-free (not strictly paleo, but close) pizza? No problem. Paleo banana bread, strawberry jam, peach jam, peach-raspberry crumble? Yep, yep, yep and yep.

And iced lattes. Always, always iced lattes. With homemade cold-brew (DECAF! haha) coffee, homemade almond milk, a tablespoon of grass-fed beef collagen powder, and a couple of drops of vanilla stevia extract. Yep. That is happiness in a glass, right there.

I've simplified my makeup/skincare routine for summer as well. Morning: mild cleanser, BB cream with sunscreen, a bit of undereye concealer, curled eyelashes, tinted lipbalm -- boom. Done. Evening: mild cleanser and a thick, creamy lip balm. Boom. Done. It's been so humid here that I haven't needed moisturizer at night. This pleases me. (But for that reason only. And I am TOTALLY OKAY with going back to a nightly slathering of argan and macadamia oils if the humidity wants to bugger off. Any. Day. Now.)

I finished The Good Earth and I absolutely loved it. Now I'm reading Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life and I am loving that one, too. It reminds me very much of Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking, one of my favorite comfort books. Maybe that's why I've been cooking up a storm? Hmm.

Let's talk TV, eh? I have full-on Stockholm syndrome where Game of Thrones is concerned. There's no point denying it. Fargo has been knocking my socks off. Loved Silicon Valley SO MUCH and I can't wait for the next season. John Oliver's new show is fun, and I seriously cannot stop staring at his dimples. I'm a sucker for dimples. Penny Dreadful took a while to grow on me but now I think I like it, just in time for our free Showtime subscription to run out, heh. I am undecided on Halt and Catch Fire; on the one had, Lee Pace!!11!one!!<3 <3OMG! Yeah. I like him. On the other hand, the pilot sort of didn't make any sense? Or something? I dunno. I'll give it a shot for a few episodes, anyway. Apparently Marilyn Manson will be on the new season of Sons of Anarchy so I would like that to start now, please, because I really sort of love him.

In movie news, H and I had a girl's day out yesterday, which included seeing Maleficent, and I thought it was fantastic. But then I adore Angelina Jolie and nearly everything she does. Also I FINALLY saw The World's End and now I have to buy it because it's awesome and I have the other two titles in the Cornetto trilogy and also because Simon Pegg is my spirit animal.

I would talk about music but I haven't been listening to anything new at all. I've had "1979" by The Smashing Pumpkins running through my head nonstop for days, if that gives you some idea of the state of things. What should I be listening to? What's your soundtrack for Summer 2014? I need ideas, people. Help a sister out.