3 on Thursday

Well, I haven't done a "3 on Thursday" post in a while because the holidays got in the way.  There weren't too many thrilling things to write about when I was doing nothing but relaxing during my time off work.  But now that I'm back in the real world and on a schedule, I can revive this weekly series:

One of my favorite gifts this holiday season came from Sasha - homemade kahlua.  I don't even know how you go about making kahlua, but I'm glad she figured it out.  I decided to use it for white russians but instead of milk, I used cereal milk from Momofuku Milk Bar.  It made the drink extra special - a little sweeter and even more of a holiday treat.

This is may not the best picture of me, but hopefully it shows what a great time I had on New Years Eve.  It was pretty much the best NYE in recent memory even though until 7 PM I thought it would be awful since we had no real plans.  Linds and I started with dinner at Nolita House and then Amanda met us downstairs at Botanica where we killed time before apartment party #1.  We ended up not making it to the first party because we were having so much fun with our new Australian friends.  We did end up leaving when Matt and Karina finished their fancy dinner and we all headed to apartment party #2 where we had a little dance party (pictured above).  We hit up WXOU Radio Bar after that and then capped the night off with some pizza because it's not a good night if it doesn't end with a slice.  I was also really feelin my outfit.  Nothing says NYE like sparkles so I wore a new sequined skirt that I came across just like everything else on New Years - last minute.  The best part about my outfit was that every piece was on super sale.  Those Bloomingdales sales are no joke.  If New Years Eve is any indication, 2012 is going to be a GREAT year!

As an avid reader, I love Goodreads.  I love how by saving my own reviews on this site I can remember exactly what it was I did or did not like about a book.  I also love any chance to organize and make lists so I'm a big fan of their virtual bookshelves.  Most importantly, the reviews from fellow bookworms and personalized recommendations from the site have helped me discover plenty of gems I may not have found on my own.  Another new thing I love: in the spirit of New Years Resolutions, Goodreads has launched the 2012 Reading Challenge.  It's nothing more than a personal goal of how many books you plan to read this year.  When signing up, they gave me the benchmark of how many books I read in 2011 (14) so this year I made my goal 20.  It's lofty since it means I'll need to read more than a book and a half each month when I'm a busy girl, but I figure I have several trips planned that will allow me ample reading time.  Plus, I'm already 2/3 of the way done with a book I started at the end of 2011 which may be cheating, but I'm letting it slide.  Sign up for the challenge - let me know what your goal is in the comments!