best of 2011 (the media edition)

oh, back in the day when i had one child, and somehow much less on my plate, or maybe i was just more on top of this blog, i rolled out the best of in december.

suffice it to say, happy new year- and here are some best of's in january! 

there may be more than one in each category, because a. i am a very indecisive person and b. more = better in this case, and also in the case of homemade caramel.

sidenote: no judgieness regarding my categories or bests. for instance: yes, there are a lot of tv shows on here; that's because i work until 2 or 3 in the morning and i have to have something on in the background so i'll stay awake. really.

best mindless tv show: 

* modern family

* up all night (ok, not as funny, but still funny, especially if small humans inhabit your house)

* grey's anatomy (seriously, don't judge. this season really has been better- and look at the title of this category if you think i'm shallow)

* once upon a time- i just started watching this the last time i had a freelance deadline, and hey, it's kind of addictive background action.

best tv show that also simultaneously makes me cry every time: 

* parenthood (why doesn't this show get more recognition? is it because lauren graham is relegated to being on shows that have a cult following but low ratings? {ahem, gilmore girls} i love the characters, plots, everything. i may be biased because i, too, come from a family with 4 kids, two boys and two girls. but still, good stuff.)

best cookbooks my husband bought me:

mark bittman's the food matters cookbook- i love bittman's how to cook everything, which i got ten years ago. love this diverse, veggie heavy cookbook; it isn't a vegetarian cookbook, but it is full of great recipes that are veggie dense.

milk bar cookbook- i haven't made any of these recipes yet (since i just got this for christmas) and admittedly, some are really complicated...but still. must.make.candy.bar.pie.in.2012.

best movies (granted, i didn't see that many movies, but these would still be at the top of my list):

these movies are very different from each other, but both are in some ways about what a family is, and how the people who make up your family are in the end more important than possessions, income, or most other things.

* win-win

* the descendants (this is also one of the only times, aside from 80's episodes of the facts of life, that george clooney looks dorky)

best movie that i watched in the theatre with my friend amy & almost peed my pants and her water almost broke, it was that funny and then watched it on dvd with my husband while he laughed more at me laughing than he did at the actual movie (even though i think he is ridiculous because this movie is so funny):

* bridesmaids. seriously, the scene with the car?





best book that i read with our book club before we kind of fell apart:

cutting for stone by abraham verghese. beautiful, complex & worth all 560 pages.

best book that i haven't read yet but i know will be hilarious, and probably similar to bridesmaids: i'll laugh the whole way through and matt will think the funniest part is watching me read it:

is everyone hanging out without me? by mindy kaling- yeah, you know, the girl from the office. she's funny, people.

best completely shallow but awesome waste of time that showed up in my mailbox every week:

if you've been reading this blog for very long, you know that i have a slight proclivity for celebrity trash. last january my sister-in-law robyn gifted me with a subscription to us weekly for my birthday. aside from the fact that i wonder what it means that i try to hide the issues from my daughters, it was a pretty great day when my weekly dose of vacuous escapism showed up.

best new way to fritter away hours online:
look and see. ok, maybe it was just me, but i loved this site (once you start, you can't stop!)

how about you? 

what were some of your best of's in these categories?

(don't worry, the comment section is a judgement free zone)