Lately I’ve been feeling similarly about TV series as I do about movies. There are soo many. Truly hard to keep up.

Still, I really try to watch series in the year they debut. With studios canceling shows just weeks after they release them (wtf), I do try to get my views counted. Although that may be fruitless since my #1 fave this year has already been canceled. 😭

This year we enjoyed watching all of the available seasons of For All Mankind and a truly exceptional fifth season of Fargo. Some honorable mentions are Death and Other Details (already canceled), Baby Reindeer, Agatha All Along, and The Brothers Sun (also already canceled).

I never know where to put comedy specials, but I also loved Rachel Bloom’s Death, Let Me Do My Special which was theatrical, funny, and heartbreaking.

Good news is that some of these are getting a second season! Here are my fave miniseries and series debuts from 2024.

10. Black Doves

9. Mr. & Mrs. Smith

8. How to Die Alone

7. Bad Monkey

6. Presumed Innocent

5. Interior Chinatown

4. A Man on the Inside

3. Nobody Wants This

2. Fallout

1. Kaos

There are too many movies! 😅

But for real, it was tough keeping up with all the movies. Even in the final days of the year as I was furiously trying to get through my list, I kept discovering more! So there’s a bunch from 2024 I still want to watch, but I’m afraid I must call it.

Hoping to do a better job tracking things and actually getting into the cinema in 2025. Follow me on Letterboxd!

Some honorable mentions include Inside Out 2, We Live in Time, Twisters, Dìdi, Heretic, Jake Johnson’s Self Reliance, and I had a lot of fun with John Cena’s Ricky Stanicky.

10. Hit Man

9. It’s What’s Inside

8. Deadpool & Wolverine

7. His Three Daughters

6. Thelma

5. A Real Pain

4. Rebel Ridge

3. My Old Ass

2. Challengers

1. Wicked

We just got back from the annual ui.dev Disneyland trip and I’m wishing we were still there. We had four park days this trip, so we spent some time doing rides we’ve never done before and trying new foods. We normally survive on churros and corn dogs, so it was fun to mix it up.

Of the new (to us) foods we tried, these were my faves. Some notes and honorable mentions below too.

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

1. QuesaBirria tacos, Cocina Cucamonga @ DCA
   Everyone raves about these and they are not wrong. So delicious. I will be thinking about that consomé every day until the next time I have it.
2. Raspberry rose macaron, Jolly Holiday @ Disneyland
   I’ve actually tried this before, but had to include it. I ate every macaron I could find and this one is the best by a mile.
3. The Monstropolis float, Tropical Hideaway @ Disneyland
   I love Dole Whip but I usually only want a few bites. I could have eaten this entire float myself (though I shared it with Clay). It’s ube-dusted pineapple/mango Dole Whip, with passion fruit coconut juice and lychee. Incredible. I think it’s a Halloween seasonal item, so hoping it’ll be around again.
4. Churro toffee square, Bakery counters @ both parks
   Very good, though we had two of varying thickness and I think it works best when the toffee is thinner.
5. Breakfast Sandwich, Smokejumpers @ DCA
   This was my favorite breakfast item we tried this trip. Sausage, egg, cheese, hash brown, green chile, and a spicy sauce. Ours was piping hot fresh which probably makes a huge difference (we tried the famous chimichanga and it was pretty soggy).
6. Buffalo chicken dip, cart by the castle @ Disneyland
   Comes with some soft bread. When you need something to dip and are disappointed with the other options. (We did try the new cheese at the Little Red Wagon, but I don’t think it worked with the corn dog. Needs a pretzel or chips.)
7. Chocolate peppermint brownie pie, Bakery counters @ both parks
   This didn’t taste all that chocolatey to me? But I think it works better that way. Kind of a spiced and mild taste and the peppermint shines.
8. Shanghai rice cakes with shrimp, Din Tai Fung @ Downtown Disney
   I put this last because maybe it doesn’t count since it’s not technically in the parks. We got take out here and tried a bunch of things. Everything was wonderful, but I especially loved this dish.

Some honorable mentions of course include the classic Disneyland churro, the bread bowl of clam chowder, and specifically the cherry garnish on the Vintian mineral mousse @ Docking Bay 7.

Way back in April we decided it was time to get Gravy a bud to hang with. We visited the country shelter, scooped up this little lady, and named her Tater.

She was about a year old and found wandering the streets of west Phoenix. It really felt like she had a previous owner as she took to her name immediately, coming to us when called from the very start. She knew how to sit and how to fetch a ball.

We didn’t have any info about her breed, though we assumed some husky because of her blue eyes and curled tail. She’s got a weird build with a long narrow body and oversized head and front paws. She looks like a mishmash of different breed parts.

We had some luck with Gravy’s DNA test so we submitted one for Tater too.

We were surprised by pit bull and laughed because that chihuahua DNA is doing some heavy lifting, keeping her at a small 20lbs. I think she looks like a different breed depending on the angle you look at her.

With her strange proportions, her natural resting position is a sploot. She clumsily flops anywhere and everywhere, almost like her front and back are controlled by two different brains.

She sits on her butt, legs out in front like a person, finding any soft surface she can use as a chair.

Inside her huge head is a giant tongue that flops out when she’s warm and peeks out in some of the cutest bleps you’ve ever seen.

Introducing Tater to Gravy took a bit of work. He’s a nervous pup and she’s just a whirlwind of energy. They’re learning how to chill and play together and it’s been fun watching them navigate their new relationship.

In the mornings Tater is chill and cuddly, earning her the nickname Sweet Potato. And in the late afternoons she’s a total menace and we call her Loaded Baked Potato. She’s got an intense stare and plays with a similar intensity, though she’s surprisingly gentle with children.

She loves to chew and will eat anything and everything she finds, including feathers, wood, and concrete pieces. Her high-pitched bark will pierce your soul and she’ll chase a squeaky toy until she collapses.

It’s been a fun and challenging six months and every day she’s feeling more and more at home. We’ve been loving our Gravy years so far and we’re very glad Tater’s here now too.

I’ve been enjoying this season of Top Chef, but I’ve also been nervously awaiting this week’s episode. The Quickfire featured the blind taste test (which is always a treat).

A few months ago I got to chat with Kristen Kish and Stephanie Cmar for the aftershow web series The Dish with Kish and the episode just released! We chatted about my project Top Chef Stats and I quizzed them on some taste test trivia.

It was overwhelming but fun and a really cool moment for me as a Top Chef superfan. You can check out the episode on Peacock or Bravotv.com!

Watch The Dish with Kish