It’s been a rough week for me… for no particular reason.  It’s finally cooled down outside (high is only 106 today!) and we’ve even been getting some RAIN! (GASP!) It’s not like the rain back home, though.  I remember one particular summer back home where it rained for 47 days straight (yes, I counted).  Here it will just downpour for like 20 minutes, let out a couple claps of thunder, and that’s that.  But I’ll take what I can get.

I’ve locked my keys in my car twice this week.  To clarify, I’ve locked my keys in my car twice IN MY ENTIRE LIFE, both of which were this week.  The most recent time happened after work in the Costco parking lot.  I threw my purse in the trunk while I loaded up the groceries (Is this not a normal thing to do? I don’t like putting my purse in the cart. I don’t have any real logic behind this reasoning.)  I wanted to hurry home so I threw everything into the trunk and then slammed it shut.  Then had an immediate heart attack realizing that my keys were inside my purse, which was now locked safely inside my trunk.

Thank god my phone was not in my purse (by some miracle) so I was able to call the BF to come rescue me.

I might as well just start with the cat gifs right off the bat.

Surely, you’ve heard of kitten mittens, no?  You know, kitten mittens?

Yes, THOSE kitten mittens!

Moving on to my new instagram obsession, @idafrosk.  She is my first and only non-animal instagram obsession.

How does one captivate me without the use of adorable animals?  My making their food look like adorable animals, obviously.

See what I’m sayin!?  FREAKING ADORABLE, RIGHT!?

Have you been keeping cool with oven-free desserts?  Because I have.  So many desserts… ice creams, pies, and snacks galore.  And after a recent bout of inspiration last weekend, I think I might have enough no-bake recipes to last us through the end of this unbearably hot July.

I’ve even got some non-dessert recipes, too!  I mean, it’s been a while since I’ve posted one of those.  I promise that I don’t eat dessert all day every day.  I do have an actual meal from time to time.  With real food.  Honest.

It’s just hard to photograph food with a hungry BF standing over me (especially when he’s had to smell it cooking).  Also hard to photograph food with a hungry me standing over the food.  Like, “Oops, I meant to take pictures but I was hungry so I ate it instead.”  That’s totally happened.  True story.

I finally tried my cookies & cream cereal.  Turns out, it’s delicious.

The Hershey’s Cookies & Cream cereal tasted a lot like a chocolate-y kix to me.  I took a bite expecting it to be another cloyingly-sweet chocolatey cereal, but I was wrong.  The cereal is just a lightly-sweetened combination of chocolate and vanilla kix-like poofs.  I wouldn’t say it tasted like “cookies and cream” necessarily (I even caught myself with my eyes closed trying to hone in on a “cookies & cream” flavor), but it was still delicious nonetheless.

After much protest, I’ve finally submitted to and made a vine account.  For the record, it’s super difficult to record videos while you’re doing things.  It’s only a matter of time before I drop my phone into a pot of boiling water (or something along those lines).  I mean, really that’s a ticking clock on its own accord.

I’m also loving this salsa matrix from Tasting Table:

What I’m reading:

On my long list of things to do is learning how to can.  I think that article may help.

These summer guides from FoodieCrush and Tasting Table, full of refreshing, summer recipes.

Check out this roundup of 10 must-have seasoning recipes, it even features a recipe from one of our favorite bloggers Movita Beaucoup!

Inferno by Dan Brown, which (technically) I’m actually listening to… in audio book form… on my drive to and from work.  But it’s actaully a really good book.

This article about Neptune’s new moon.  Well, not really “new” in the literal sense, but “new” to us humans who didn’t know it was there.

Even though I’m clearly a cat person (evidence above, and here, and all over here), this article titled “21 reasons a dog is the best investment you will ever make” (guess what that’s about) makes a pretty convincing argument.