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I was going to have a quiet night in buuut I think I'm going to change (out of a flimsy white shirt *shakes fist at the rain*) and then head to Barnes & Noble.  I had no idea that I had accumulated so many points through my bank card so I cashed them in for some gift cards to B&N and they just arrived. :D  I know what I'm doing for the next few hours!

BTW, some potentially awesome things are brewing on the apartment front.  I'll know more tomorrow!

THE HAUL:

You know what?  8 books for $20 out of my pocket (well, $40, but I reupped my membership) - not bad at all.  Thank you $60 in gift cards.

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland.  A reviewer I trust said this was pretty good and he was right - the cover is kind of awesome.  (Some of the best zombie books do not take themselves seriously.)

Phoenix Rising (A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel) by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris.  No idea but it's steampunk and the teaser on the back says "Evil is most assuredly afoot - and Britain's fate rests in the hands of an alluring renegade ... and a librarian".  Sold!

The Whisper of Leaves (Book 1 of the Kira Chronicles) by K.S. Nikakis.  A case of being drawn in by the very pretty cover.

The Falling Machine (The Society of Steam, Book One) by Andrew P. Mayer.  Wow, Steampunk is really in right now.

Chasing the Moon by A. Lee Martinez.  WOO!  I love his stuff, it's hilarious without being too over the top.  And he always has great and interesting protagonists. 

Deadline by Mira Grant.  I've been waiting for this book to come out since I finished the first one, Feed.  Probably one of the best zombie books I've ever read.

The Sentinel Mage by Emily Gee.  Seriously, by this time I was just throwing things in the cart.

The House of Discarded Dreams by Ekaterina Sedia.  Okay, Sedia writes some very strange things but they're always so well written.  I didn't enjoy The Secret History of Moscow because it was, well, kind of depressing (Moscow + Russian fairy tales = duh) but it was so well written that I could overlook that. 

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Oh my God, these Lemon-Lime Basil Shortbread cookies are so good.  They're super small, so next time I'll double the recipe, but there'll be enough for the party tomorrow (about 24 or so).  *whines*  But it means I can't eat anymore tonight!

My entire house smells like a warm citrus basil butter spread.  I smell like that!  I smell delicious!

Hands down, I think these are the best things I've ever baked.

So, a few things to those who want to try this at home:  a) they're small, so don't be surprised when you press them out; b) I've never baked shortbread, so I was really surprised by how dry the dough was until I started working with it; c) don't cook them for the 20 minutes noted in the recipe.  I can't stress that enough.  These guys were done in about 10 minutes with me keeping a sharp, sharp eye on them.  20 minutes will only result in baby hockey pucks that used to be tasty cookies.

You'll cry if that happens.  Probably.

... oh darn.  One of the ones in the new batch is a little more brown than I would have wanted.  *EATS IT*