First Friday Five {February}

Another first Friday means another chance to tell you some of my favorite things. I know, it’s your favorite time of the month, right?

Here’s what I’m loving this month.

1. Royal dramas. The Crown on Netflix and Victoria on PBS. The first is a historical fiction about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the second about Queen Victoria, obviously. I’m not sure I would recommend having both of these shows “in progress” concurrently but they are fascinating (and yes, they are fiction based on true events) looks at female leadership in male-dominated worlds. (Also, they give me a Doctor Who fix. In The Crown, Matt Smith plays Elizabeth’s husband, Philip and in Victoria Jenna Coleman is the title character. When I can’t watch the Doctor, I can watch my favorite actors.)
2. Unroll me. I’m not sure where I saw this, but it’s an e-mail service that helps you unsubscribe and consolidate your inbox. You choose what to do with each sender: keep it in your inbox, unsubscribe, or roll it up. Then, each day, you get ONE email with all your rolled up emails (I’ve gotten as few as 2, as many as 11) and you can click on each individual one to read it or just skim over it. My inbox is still out of control, but this is keeping the crazy at bay.
3. The Price is Right. I used to watch this game show religiously in the summers as a kid, but I’ve stayed away from daytime TV as a stay-at-home mom (unless you count Netflix and I don’t. So there.) until recently. My husband was out of work for a few weeks and we made an 11 o’clock couch date each day to tune in to The Price is Right while we ate lunch. I have another entire blog post brewing about watching this show, but Drew Carey and this game show are one of the highlights of the last month.
4. Ticket to Ride. We first played this board game with friends months ago and loved it. Then Santa brought us our own game fro Christmas and we have played it almost once a week (or more) with the kids. It’s the kind of game that’s really never boring no matter how many times you play it because it all depends on strategy and planning instead of luck.
5. Dystopian fiction. Before the last few months, I’m not sure I had read a single work of dystopian fiction. Late last year I read The Hunger Games series and this month I read the Divergent series. Tell me what I should read next in this genre! I preferred the Divergent series but devoured both series in a matter of days.

Favorites in your life from the past month? Share away!