Oh! Oh! Oh! Too fun! I spent the morning at B&N in Rochester and when I went to pick up Mark from Wing Chun I turned the station and hear “HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS” playing on the radio! HUGE SMILES! And the next song? Frosty the Snowman! I was gigglin’ and grinnin’ the whole time! Christmas Music in July? But why?

WARM 101.3 Christmas in July

WARM 101.3 is playing Christmas songs all weekend until we have raised enough money to help 101 Hillside kids! Click here to make your donation.

Ah, bribery! Excellent! The music definitely made me smile. And had a few people at the gas station staring at me when I realized the windows were down and I was singing “Home for the Holidays” alongside Karen Carpenter.

The one thing I don’t understand is why so many places celebrate Christmas in JULY? Why not June? June makes more sense because June is the halfway point! But you very rarely hear of Christmas in JUNE. Hmmm. I wonderwonderwonder why.

Anyhow, Christmas Music always makes me happy, as you all know.  So I was quite content in the hot, muggy air-conditionless truck to sing with the windows down and confuse the people in Rochester.

Driving back home to Buffalo a different station was playing all Rolling Stones all day long in honor of Mick Jagger’s 65th birthday. One might say it was Mark’s Christmas present for having to put up with me singing Christmas songs earlier.

And while I’m on the radio in Rochester kick. Can I tell you how very much I LOVE listening to the POLKA BANDSTAND on Saturday mornings on Jazz 90.1 Seriously, it reminds me of being young and listening to the radio in the kitchen with my Mom or Gma Baker right before Swap Shop. And yes, I seriously listen to Polka Bandstand. Every. Time. I’m in Rochester on Saturday morning, and I love it for real. Now you know.

There’s something amazingly calming and peaceful about the drive to Rochester early Sat morning, dropping Mark off at Wing Chun, turning the station to POLKA BANDSTAND and heading to the giant Pittsford B&N for a few hours to read. Familiar. Comfortable. Relaxing. I used to do it with him all the time and the last few months it has been much more rare. It seems there’s always something else going on. I need my fix of Ming’s Noodles or Dim Sum (and Polka Bandstand) every month or so, or I get grumpy.

Me, grumpy? Never.

Same thing with bookstores. If it gets to be two weeks without stepping inside a bookstore, I become a very unhappy Jen. Twice a month is my minimum quota. I prefer once a week. I was at the new B&N at McKinley last weekend for sometime, I couldn’t decide between a matinee of Mamma Mia or the bookstore, so of course I chose wisely and picked the bookstore. Serendipity? When I walked inside the door guess what soundtrack was playing? Oh yeah. Mamma Mia! I refrained from buying…but I do want…very much.

Inside my FAVOURITE B&N today? I heard Celtic music…nyah, could it be? I wandered upstairs to the music section where I asked the nice lady behind the counter if she was playing the new record by Great Big Sea, Fortune’s Favour.

Ah ha! She was. And I promptly purchased! And now I’m sending fortune cookies to friends.

And while at B&N I read Emily Giffin’s “Love the One You’re With” which I loved.

I love her voice. I love her chick-lit. I love that she’s a lawyer turned writer. Devoured in one sitting, guess I was in that kind of a mood. Damn Leo’s of the world.

So far, I love this weekend. I’m doing nothing social and happy as a clam. (DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I NEEDED A WEEKEND LIKE THIS? VERY VERY BADLY.)

Last night, I came home not feeling fantastic…napped until after 8 then headed to the movies to see Step Brothers. Sad to say, when we got there the late show was sold out. So instead of going home, we opted for X-Files. Um, having never seen an episode of X-files meant I really didn’t care if I saw the movie or not, ever. And well, in the end I guess it felt like what I think it would feel like if I watched a long episode of the X-Files on TV.  No aliens or conspiracy theories, which I thought the show was about.

Oh well, much eye candy throughout though. Gillian Anderson is gorgeous and my newest girl crush (red hair, it’s the red hair that gets me every time with girl crushes) and David Duchovney, Mmmm. Delicious.

Although I have a difficult time enjoying myself when paying an arm and a leg for tickets and snacks.

So what did we do this afternoon? After B&N the Wing Chun group went for DIM SUM! (Hurrah! Hurrah!) Today I was CRAVING the Chinese Greens with Oyster Sauce and Turnip Cake. And we ordered a new item Japanese Vegetable Dumplings which were AMAZING. I also love me some scallion pancake. Dear God Dim Sum makes me happy.

And then Mark and I spent a lazy afternoon at the movies watching Step Brothers. Which was ridiculous and yet still cracked me up quite a few times. There’s just something about Will Ferrell.

And I have no idea what it is.

So now? Jim’s Steakout is calling me (been SO BAD the past few days with eating well!) Tomorrow I must work during the hours of Garden Walk but might, if I feel like venturing out into the social world…check out some of the Infringement Festival. Or not. I can’t lie. Spending time with books all by myself with Mark is exactly what I want to do right now.

Hope everyone else is having a great weekend!