friday fixations

{new fall shows} I'm really enjoying some of the new shows this season, so I thought I'd share my current favourites:

{new girl} I'm extra loving this adorable comedy starring Zooey Deschanel (who doesn't love her, right?). And the best part? Idle Husband likes it, too! It's funny, quirky, and cutesy smart and I absolutely adore how nerdy Jess is. I feel like a lot of the things she says and does are what most girls' inner dialogues are really like (but most girls are usually too afraid or embarrassed to act or speak that way).

{pan am} This show is great if you love ogling amazing vintage looks and decor (and brushing up on history -- hello, past social studies teachers! I know nothing about anything that happened in the '60s and they were super interesting!). I also love Colette's french accent, the CIA intrigue, and Maggie's independent and crazy personality. I think things will be picking up pretty soon, but I don't think it's too late to start watching.

{happy endings} This isn't a new series, but I don't feel like as many people watched it as they should have during its first season. In fact, I was kind of surprised to see it back this year. It reminds me of Friends, but in the later years when things were quirkier, funnier, and weirder -- in a good way. None of that heavy drama junk weighing down fun scenarios.

{up all night} I HAD to watch this for Will Arnett (we love Arrested Development) and Christina Applegate (she's always been a favourite). I was so happy (and relieved) that it turned out to be a smart and witty comedy that also just happens to have a baby (baby-centric shows always make me nervous because they can so easily veer into being too baby-ish, i.e. all story lines revolve around baby). Oh and Maya Rudolph as a mock Oprah character is fantastic! She's just the right kind of crazy needed to add interest.

{wrigley's apple pie gum} I'm not a huge gum fan but man, is this delicious. It tastes exactly like an apple pie! It's definitely not a gum in my sense of the word, but when you're staying away from sugar and unhealthy treats, this is the perfect thing for when you feel like you're losing your will power. We also tried the strawberry shortcake and I'd say skip that one. It's good, but it tastes like artificial strawberry and nothing like cake. It definitely doesn't live up to the apple pie. They've also got it in mint chocolate chip, orange creme pop, and key lime pie. I'd love to try them, too.

{icy geometric shapes} I love how this geometric garland looks. Wouldn't they be great as individual tree ornaments, too?

{long johns} When did -5 start feeling like the ice age? I didn't think that was too bad when I ventured out today, but it didn't take long before I wished I had more on my legs than a thin covering of jean. Last year, I found some amazing microfibre long johns tucked in amongst Superstore's microfibre shirts for men, women, and children. I was only able to find 2 pairs of them in cream, but despite the poor colour choice, I wore them almost every day. (I would practically sob at the thought of taking them off.) Have a look in those cardboard displays the next time you're there. The long johns sell out really quickly for a reason.

{peeled grapefruit} I used to eat grapefruit the typical way, sliced in half with a grapefruit spoon, but then, unexplainably, I decided to peel one like an orange. I don't even like peeling oranges, but I quickly realized that peeling a grapefruit has such a big payoff. A large amount of the bitterness comes from the inner membrane and even getting a little taste of it can put you right off the whole fruit. Now I have a little grapefruit ritual. I peel the outer skin, pull the two halves apart, then peel the membrane off of each segment (it's not as time consuming as you'd think. The membrane separates from the fruit quite easily). I then put the peeled fruit into a bowl with cinnamon, vanilla, and a bit of sugar and eat it with a spoon. I don't think I'll ever eat a grapefruit by cutting it in half again.

{advent calendars} I'm thinking about creating one of these this year (something like this but maybe with old socks?). I've always had an odd fondness of them even though I grew up never "doing" the whole advent thing. I'm just debating whether I want to do the full month or focus only on the last 12 days before Christmas. I wonder if a full month would get exasperating after a while of coming up with fun treats and things to do. Twelve days of Christmas would highlight the season enough and would give me a direction for each day based on the song (for this year at least). Are you going to have a homemade one, buy a chocolate calendar, or not going to bother at all?