Randomosity on Fridays: Ice Cream and Books!

OMG, I can't believe I never knew this. Did you know that July is National Ice Cream Month?! I kid you not. Ice cream is one of my top favorite things - yes, things, not just in the category of food.

So in honor of that, I'm revising my Randomosity to include ice cream. I have had the distinct pleasure of being located around ice creamy deliciousness in the past few years, deliciousness which I will now share with you so that if you're ever in California, you'll know where to go. This, of course, also means there will be pictures of ice cream in this post. You have been warned.

1. Fosselman's Ice Cream Co.'s retail store, which is an old fashioned ice cream parlor/soda fountain, is  located just a town or so over from me, but I had never gone there until like 2 years ago. The ice cream is handmade, fresh, and comes in 48 different flavors - some specialty and seasonal flavors. This is also a family-owned company, which is weird because my high school Vice Principal is a Fosselman.

In this picture, I think we had Chocolate-dipped strawberry, English toffee, Spumoni, Espresso coffee, Real Mango, and Fresh Peach.

2. Another ice cream place beginning with F, Fenton's Creamery is located in NorCal, specifically Oakland. Luckily for me, my alma mater is located around those parts. So my roommates and I went there to celebrate one of their birthdays, and a good time was had by all. Our mistake? Eating dinner right before going. The ice cream portions are HUGE there, or in any case, they aren't small and the ice cream is very rich. My roommate and I split a small self-created sundae- coffee & cookie dough ice cream drenched in caramel - and we couldn't finish it (and I ate most of it - I'm an ice cream monster, it's true). The next day, I wasn't hungry until well past noon.

Fun fact, Fenton's was featured in Pixar's UP. It's where Carl and Russel go for ice cream.

3. More ice cream good fortune happened while I was at Cal, the gourmet ice cream parlor Ici opened within walking distance. What's so special about Ici? Everything is handmade fresh daily from local and organic ingredients. They even hand-make their cones (chocolate-tipped and sprinkled with sugar), which I think I might enjoy more than the ice cream itself. Ici was opened by Mary Canales, formerly a pastry chef from the very delicious Chez Panisse restaurant (which itself is apparently known as "the birthplace of California cuisine"; went there for graduation and it was a good choice).

Here begins the BOOK half of this...

4. I finished reading The Adoration of Jenna Fox and wow! Though the premise was intriguing, it took a couple of reviews to convince me to put it on my library list. But I am SO GLAD I picked this book up. It was so good. Sure, there's the big questions about bioethics and man vs. nature/God and what is it to be human, but at it's core, the book is about a teenage girl trying to figure out who she is and what her place is in the world. It's about growing up and change and expectations and family and letting go. Out of all the YA books I've read so far since I went on my reading spree, this is one of the best. Yes, I liked it that much, but maybe I like existential questions.

5. I HAVE SAPPHIQUE! That did deserve ALL CAPS. You may recall I won an ARC from Steph Su Reads, and it arrived Monday and I ran around freaking out because it is gorgeous. I actually started reading it by Tuesday, but I didn't get too far, so I handed it off to Luce (since she is also super excited we don't have to wait until December to read it!). I hadn't finished Jenna Fox at that point anyway.

I'm reading The Demon's Covenant right now since the book is due soon and Luce has Sapphique. I am loving it. The snarky dialogue is a winner and was one of my favorite things about the first book.

(Special) 6. Avatar: The Legend of Korra, the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, was announced Wednesday as green-lighted and set to premiere in 2011. I am uber stoked about this! This time around, the Avatar is a teenage girl. One of the things I loved about the original series was that all the major girl characters were well-developed and strong in different ways. The new series takes place 70 years after the original series. There will be a steampunk city. Asian/Inuit fantasy world + steampunk + girl main character promises to be one EPIC WIN. So excited!!!

So yeah, it's been a long work week, but a great everything else week! What are you excited about? How will you be celebrating National Ice Cream Month? Have a fantabulous weekend!

P.S. I saw Inception this past weekend too. Do go see it/get your mind blown. (Actually, it's more mind-blowing after the fact when you start thinking about it too much.) Also, hot men in suits. Just sayin'.