My Life in February: Poutineville, Valentine's Day, and The Casual Vacancy

February was a much quieter month for me than January... and I consider that a good thing. It was overall a very relaxing month spent indoors cozying up against the cold!


Earlier this month, I celebrated a friend's birthday at Poutineville, a gourmet poutine restaurant. Our party ordered a "Heart Attack," a 15-pound behemoth of poutine carried out by our waiter whilst wearing a lab coat:

OMG SO MUCH DELICIOUS POUTINE!! If you don't know, poutine is a Canadian dish that consists of french fries, gravy, and cheese curds. It usually comes in fast-food-quality form - that is to say, nothing TOO special. But this restaurant, Poutineville, specializes in various different poutine dishes and really augments the quality of them too. DELISH!! Our party easily polished off a Heart Attack and had to order another one for the table. I would definitely go back to Poutineville sometime to try out what other varieties of poutine they have to offer!


In February, I also "celebrated" Valentine's Day. That's in quotes because I've never personally felt the need to do anything particularly special pertaining to the holiday before.

The card I gave my boyfriend for Valentine's Day this year, hee hee (source)

So yes, nothing super special for Valentine's Day this year (or any other prior Valentine's Day), but I DID get to spend the day with my boyfriend's grandparents, whom I haven't had the chance to visit with in a long time. It was so lovely to visit with them for the day and eat good food! For me, the important thing about Valentine's Day is that you spend it with loved ones or share your love with them in some way. So I call this Valentine's Day a success!


And finally, I also took in the first two episodes of The Casual Vacancy, the BBC adaptation of the J.K. Rowling book with the same name:

When approaching book-to-movie/TV adaptations, I always try my darnedest not to get TOO caught up in the details of the book and everything the show is getting wrong. The important thing is that the overall tone and message are captured from the book. And I think this BBC adaptation accomplishes that. But. There are definitely a few changes that were made in the transition that niggle at me. For the most part, the changes that were made were necessary ones - things that wouldn't have translated well to the TV medium from the book. But I'm not quite sold on this adaptation to be honest. The Casual Vacancy, the book, moved me in SUCH powerfully meaningful ways. I have yet to experience the same depth of feeling from the TV show (though there is still one more episode to go, so fingers crossed!). In addition to which, in the book Jo's political views are on full display, and yet weaved in so expertly and subtly into the novel's storyline and themes. The TV Show on the other hand is definitely more on the nose. BUT enough nitpicking: this BBC adaptation of The Casual Vacancy really IS pretty dang good (some quibbles aside) and I'm enjoying it so far.

Blog Posts in February:

Waiting On Wednesday: Penguin Spring 2015 Catalog
Waiting On Wednesday: Random House Spring 2015 Catalog
Review: Just One Day and Just One Year by Gayle Forman - 5 Stars
Review: The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare - 2 Stars
Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins - 5 Stars
Series Review: The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan - 4 Stars
My Life in January: O.Noir, Potted Potter, and Dino Hunts
Also: I guest posted over at Random Ramblings' Show and Tell feature - three other bloggers and I showed off a special book in our lives and talked about why we loved it!

Best Book Read in February:

In preparation for the TV adaptation, I reread The Casual Vacancy (via audiobook) this month and was again reminded of what a masterpiece it is. Even though it's a completely different book from Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling's stamp is still clearly all over it - from the intricate characters, to the clever writing, to the insightful and politically-charged themes and messages. This book is EVERYTHING and it is BRILLIANT! I know, I KNOW I'm definitely in the minority with this one as most people were either bored to tears by it or outright hated it, but what can I say? I loved every minute of it! Definite all-time fave.