Awesome in August

August has worn me out, you guys. It’s been non-stop working with plenty of weekending thrown in. I’m desperately in need of this long weekend. Let’s make it happen.

Let’s start off with my favorite thing, eating. We were supposed to take it easy on the eating out this month, and I guess we did cut down a little bit, but we still managed to enjoy some turkey burgers at Islands, a wicked strong cocktail at Hula Grill, some overpriced hummus at the Moana Surfrider’s Beach Bar, and a super cheesy pizza at Harbor Pub & Pizza.

We’re about to dig in to Season 2 of Falling Skies. Season 1 started off insteresting but slow, but by the end of the season, there were enough plot twists to make you dizzy. In that “I’m completely hooked” kind of way. I’m hoping life will slow down just a touch so we can jump into the next episodes.

I read Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. It’s a collection of short stories about various Indian families who have put down roots in America. Lahiri’s writing is elegant and evocative. The first story was about a woman who had recently lost her mother, and I found it a bit difficult to get through, which should be considered praise. It definitely stirred up a lot of emotions. Then I was humming along enjoying the ride, and she managed to hit me in the face with a baseball bat in the last five pages. That’s an ending that will stay with me for a long time.

The internet’s got me dreaming of blowing up one of my photos and making my own Giant Tiled Photo Art to hang in my kitchen a la A Beautiful Mess, though I doubt I could ever make it look that cute. Foodie with Family is killing me with Cheesy Barbecue Chicken and Bacon Eggrolls. Since I can’t escape Asian food in Hawaii, I might as well join in with an American version. And I sort of want to turn my house into a mall cookie stand and make these Homemade Dinky Doozies from Annie’s Eats. So good.

We also attended the Greek Fest this year, and I ate loukoumades, and then promptly had to talk myself out of eating more loukoumades because they’re basically heaven.

Now for the stuff you thought was awesome. You’re dreaming of fall and pumpkins and getting into Pumpkin Spice Gooey Butter Cake. You’re probably also trying to avoid the lingering heat by checking out Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel No Bake Cookies. And you really love Labor Day, and why wouldn’t you . Be sure to eat all the food ever and get A Dozen Awesome Labor Day Recipes.