Five Things I Love This Week

1. The West Wing: K and I don't watch a lot of t.v. shows together but we have watched a couple together either live or on DVD and we both enjoy the experience of watching it together. So after K gave up on Breaking Bad, (I soldiered on alone on that one) we decided to watch another show together.  After much debate, we decided on Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing.  It takes us a long time to watch shows and this is a long one (so it may take us years, literally) but I had forgotten how great it was.  All of the characters are so rich and Sorkin's writing is as ever intelligent and quick. Plus, in this election year,  it makes K and I feel extra American and makes me wish once again we had a president like Jed Bartlett.

2. Kate Spade Wallet: I got this gorgeous wallet for my thirtieth (eek!) birthday in July and have been loving it ever since.  I adore the gorgeous blue color and the polka dot (!) interior.  Plus, I love all of the pockets in the wallet and the wonderful zippered closure.  It is my first truly adult wallet and I always feel extra fancy pulling it out!

3. Meeting Jason Baldwin: Last week I had the privilege of meeting someone I admire very much.  While at a store, I recognized a customer as Jason Baldwin, one of the West Memphis Three.  If you don't know the story of the West Memphis Three, it is amazing, inspiring and very tragic.  In 1993, three young boys were found murdered in the woods in Arkansas.  Three outcast teenage boys were convicted of the murder with no physical evidence and an extremely weak case.  Their wrongful conviction for nearly 20 years was chronicled in the Paradise Lost documentary series (like most documentaries it is not truly unbiased, but it tells the story really well and shows the amazing lack of evidence and the ridiculous trial that led to their conviction and imprisonment).  The three now grown men were freed last year with an Alford plea.  I have been following the case since 2001 and was thrilled to be able to spend a few minutes with Jason and tell him how much his story meant to me. The fact that he was kind and seemed genuinely happy in his life filled me with joy and awe.  If you don't know about this story, please seek it out.

Clearly I am not the next Helmut Newton. 

4.  Steve Madden Studded Flats: I knew I needed new black flats when I realized mine were completely worn out on the sides (how does that even happen!?).  So I did what I always do, I perused my personal bible, Nordstrom.com.  I found these fabulous flats for less than fifty bucks!  They are perfectly on trend for fall (studded!) and so far are wonderfully comfortable!  

5.  Salmon:  Yes, I am from the Pacific Northwest and I have eaten salmon all my life (in fact, when I was a child, sharks were my favorite animal, so every time we had fish, my parents told me we were eating shark.  Why I wanted to eat my favorite animal, I will never know). I have always loved many different kinds of seafood, but have always found salmon to be too fishy for me.  But in the last few weeks, I have made two salmon recipes that I actually enjoyed (which with salmon meant that I ate all of it without giving half it to the dogs or K).  Plus, they have been easy to cook so part of my fear of cooking seafood has been alleviated as well.   I have been on the lookout for yummy recipes on Pinterest and my large collection of cookbooks and can't wait to try some more!