Uptown Girl

We started out a gloomy, rainy, humid morning with the American Top 40. They headed to mid-July 1979 for some classic disco and R&B. Hits from my very first summer (I would have been about 4 months old at the time) include "Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward, "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" by McFadden & Whitehall, "The Logical Song," by Supertramp, "Good Times" by Kool & the Gang, and that summer's two top smashes, the title track and "Hot Stuff" from Donna Summer's massive hit album Bad Girls.

I was shocked when I opened my door and discovered it was barely in the mid 80s. It was supposed to be in the lower-mid 90s and sunny all weekend! I knew those guys on the broadcast news weather forecasts couldn't accurately call the weather in a paper bag. I ignored the on-off rain showers and headed out for this week's farm market run.

I did make one stop at an estate sale in Collingswood, but besides some ok furniture, there wasn't much of interest. I moved on to the farm market, which was bustling, despite the weather. Melons and the little yellow apples are out now, and everyone has piles and piles of tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini. I eventually bought white peaches (they were cheaper at the orchard booth than the yellow), blackberries, apples, two zucchini, cheddar cheese (I ran out yesterday), Cuban peppers, a really ripe tomato, and plum butter (the blueberry butter in the fridge is getting low).

I rode home through Newton River Park. It was raining even harder than before; I was getting quite wet. I did have one more errand to run in the neighborhood, though. I ran out of dental floss the other day and forgot to buy it at work last night. It was cheaper at CVS anyway, a $1.99 for a two-pack of your basic waxed string.

Spent about an hour or so at home when I got in, having leftovers for lunch and finishing Green Lantern. This adaptation of the very long-running DC Comic book series (he was one of their earliest characters) gives us Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, a hotshot pilot who has just lost his job on a crucial mission after a stunt goes wrong. Jordan isn't feeling very good about himself or his abilities...until he encounters a crashed space ship and an alien in green. The alien gives him a ring and a statue that powers it. Turns out the ring gives him the power to become a superhero and join an elite force of aliens dedicated to protecting the galaxy. Not all of the Green Lantern aliens are happy about having a mere human on their squad. Hal does his best to prove that a human is as good of a superhero as anything in the galaxy when a monster that feeds on fear threatens the Earth.

Not great, not bad. I've never been a real big fan of this character to begin with (where DC is concerned, I've always been more of a Superman kind of girl), and the movie didn't do much with him. Reynolds was pretty good and the special effects were marvelous, but the plot was simplistic and the dialogue only so-so.

Headed out as soon as Green Lantern ended. My first stop was the Oaklyn Library for this week's volunteering session there. The rain had slowed down a bit by this point, enough for me to ditch my blue raincoat (which was hot and sopping wet from that morning anyway) and trade my wet sneakers for sandals that would dry faster. There wasn't much to do at the Library. I pulled a few new DVDs from the older ones and organized some kids' titles. I was done in less than a half-hour.

The rain started to pick up again as I headed to Cuthbert Road to pick up the bus to the Towne Center. The Towne Center is the shopping center/apartment buildings in Cherry Hill that house, among others, Wegman's, Best Buy, Dick's, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Barnes & Noble. I had two things I couldn't hold off on anymore. My old work sneakers were falling apart, and I needed some new underthings, too.

I ended up buying New Balance sneakers (the brand I always use) at Dick's and underthings at Nordstrom's Rack, probably their outlet for the leftovers from the big Nordstrom's in the Cherry Hill Mall. Took a peek at Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Talbot's, and the Christmas Tree Shop. The Christmas Tree Shop was disappointing. I was hoping they'd be a year-round Christmas store, like Winterwood in Cape May County. Alas, at this time of year, they basically seemed to be a more outdoor-focused Bed Bath & Beyond. Talbot's wasn't much better. I liked their elegant clothing, but they didn't carry plus sizes and their prices weren't great. Couldn't find The Artist at Best Buy, and their price for Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows was not wonderful. Was tempted to grab The Three Stooges Scrapbook at Barnes & Noble, but decided it was unnecessary and would hold off on it until later in the summer.

I did get a WebKinz Lil'Kinz hippo for a very good price at Discovery Toys. With my Stooges thing going on, I had to name him Curly. I also treated myself to a frozen dessert at Kiwi Yogurt, basically a smaller, less expensive version of The Yogo Factory in Westmont. This time, I made sure to just buy a small cup of Low Fat Birthday Cake Frozen Yogurt, with a small spoonful of yogurt chips, dark chocolate chips, and sprinkles.

And...while I'm glad I got the chance to check out the whole Towne Center, I think I'll be doing my clothes and shoes shopping at the Cherry Hill or Deptford Malls from now on. The sneakers and underthings were a decent price...but they might have been even cheaper there. I'll mainly hit this mall when I want to browse Barnes & Noble or Bed Bath & Beyond.

Quickly stopped by WaWa for a pretzel and a fountain soda when I got in, then just headed home. I made chicken pepper stir fry and farm market corn for dinner while watching Scoop. Woody Allen directed and co-starred in this cute romantic comedy-mystery set in London. A slightly geeky journalism student  (Scarlett Johanssen) and a magician (Allen) get caught up in a big scoop when the spirit of a dead reporter gives her a message from beyond - a handsome businessman (Hugh Jackman) may be a serial killer. Johanssen is intrigued at first, but Jackman's charms soon have her falling head-over-heels...and questioning why she's even deceiving him in the first place. But as Allen knows well, things aren't always what they seem, even hunky Australians...

I'm not the biggest fan of Allen, but he was really a lot of fun in this cute, quirky mystery. Johanssen was adorable as a Velma-style character; Jackman devil-may-care charms were on full display. I wasn't entirely crazy about the supernatural subplot (including the whole thing with the reporter continually coming from the other side to give Johanssen tips), but the rest of it worked so well, I'm surprised this isn't one of Allen's better-known films. Worth your time if you like Allen, Jackman, or cute mystery-comedies.

Ooh, and I took advantage of the cooler-than-expected weather to turn off the air conditioning and bake a blackberry-blueberry grunt. I wish it came out better. I think I undercooked it, but it was really getting  hot in my tiny kitchen!