Quick Lit - September

I've been doing these Quick Lit posts for over 3 years and this is the first time I haven't had mine up by the 15th!  A variety of factors and out of normal weeks (including going to a Backstreet Boys concert last week which took more than 24 hours from my week, in terms of driving, going, and catching up on sleep!  I WILL continue to find ways to mention them where it's least expected.).

Despite the weird weeks, I have gotten a decent amount of reading time in, largely thanks to our older son being back in school and our younger son taking 3 hour naps during the school day.  The introvert part of me LOVES this.  I feel more like me when I am reading consistently and getting some real quiet time. 

I am (late) linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy.  I'm on Goodreads here and Instagram here, friend me on either if you are interested!

Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald
I really enjoyed this historical fiction, set almost entirely at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, that had shades of The Time Traveler's Wife.  Joe works for the railroad in the 1930s and is surprised to come across a woman who seems out of place in the main concourse of Grand Terminal.  She doesn't look like she's from around here.  As Joe figures out the mystery around this woman, Nora, he also has his job and, eventually, World War II to deal with.  I wasn't sure where this book was all going to go but I really enjoyed the reading experience. 3.75 Stars

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
I've read a couple "bookish" books this year.  This one about a bookseller named, obviously, Nina, who likes her predictable life with her routine and schedule.  Then the father she never knew died and left her a whole extended family she didn't know about.  Her life isn't quite so predictable now.  I related a lot to her bookish ways as well as her like for planning and routine.  Also a good reminder that it's good to throw that all out the window at times.  3.25 Stars

The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis
I read a decent amount of historical fiction in the past month and almost all set in NYC!   The Chelsea was a hotel for artistic types for decades (and looks like it was recently reopened after a renovation) but this book is largely set in the 1950s.  A writer, Hazel, and actress, Maxine, befriend each other while entertaining troops during World War II and their paths cross at the Chelsea too.  It covers 1940s-1960s and the careers of Hazel and Maxine.  It was interesting and mostly fun. 3.5 Stars

Recursion by Blake Crouch
I was surprised by how much I liked Dark Matter a couple years ago and knew I was going to read the author's newest.  I don't read much sci-fy but Dark Matter was so engaging!  This had similar beats and feel as Dark Matter, about False Memory Syndrome - people have VIVID memories of lives they aren't living - but maybe could be if they had made a few different choices in their past.  But where did these memories come from?  Covering multiple viewpoints, it was a little trippy and confusing, but a solid read. 3 Stars

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
This is YA and maybe the first YA I've read where I've thought "Maybe I'm getting too old to be reading YA."   Reagan is a bit a rebel and is following her BFF, Lilah, around as Lilah does a summer concert tour (think maybe Taylor Swift, in her early country years).  And Lilah has an opening act who is a cute boy.  So romance is going to happen.  It was fine, I probably would have really enjoyed it...half my life ago...  2.75 Stars

Park Avenue Summer by Renee Rosen
Another historical fiction set in NYC!  This is the book I bought myself at a bookstore on Mackinac Island back in June (I am going to write about that trip...eventually).  I was leery it was a bad purchase choice but I ended up enjoying it.  Set when Cosmo magazine was getting a lift in the 1960s under a new editor...who knew nothing about magazines.  It follows the assistant (to the) editor as she adjusts to life in NYC and her new job.  I've read very few episode of Cosmo but the behind the scenes of the magazine world was interesting.  3 Stars

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
This book was a delight - only about 100 pages of correspondence between a writer living in NYC with a bookseller in London.  They wrote letters back and forth for decades and it was just so lovely to watch their friendship develop across the ocean, even though they never met in person.  I really enjoyed how the writer would say it's just easier to have the London bookseller get her books, rather than make the trek out herself.  Everyone who orders things online understands except they were doing all this via mail where it would take weeks or more between the request and the receipt!  4 Stars


Loving my Actual Neighbor: 7 Practices to Treasure the People Right in Front of You by Alexandra Kuykendall
I've really enjoyed her two previous books about Loving my Actual Life and Loving my Actual Christmas so I knew I was going to pick this one up.  It's not the same format as the previous two but covers 7 different ways of loving your actual neighbors - as in the people living next door, across the street, etc.  Seeing as we've had new next door neighbors for over 6 months I have yet to actually meet...this was maybe a good read for me.  3.75 Stars

The Winemaker's Wife by Kristin Harmel
More World War II fiction (poor planning on my part that I read so much historical fiction this close - usually I'm better at spreading it out!).  A young woman lives with her husband at a winery in the Champagne region of France during World War II.  The Germans' occupation affects them and their champagne more than I realized and they have to find small ways to fight back.  The story bounces between World War II and a woman around 40, recently divorced, who is visiting her Grandma in France when they take a surprise trip to the Champagne region.  I'm always amazed at all the parts of World War II I had no idea about before I read a fiction book (based on fact).  This was another one of those. 3.5 Stars

Save me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl
Just earlier this year I read another food memoir by Ruth Reichl - that one about the start of her career as the restaurant critic for the New York Times.  This one follows her critic years when she took over Gourmet magazine in it's final ~10 years.  I've never read Gourmet but I enjoyed food memoirs and books set in NYC.  It was a strange coincidence that I read two NYC magazine world set books so close!  I enjoyed this one, she's an excellent writer and it's always interesting to read about lives different than my own. 3.75 Stars

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear
September feels like a good time to read a book about good habits, as we try to set some good ones for the new school year.  I've read other books on habits and this one wasn't so radically different than those BUT it was an engaging read and plenty of worthwhile things in here.  There are plenty of aspects of my life that could be improved with better habits.  4 Stars

Gravity is the Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty
I read another review of this book that said the last 15% redeemed the whole book for her and I agree with that.  A woman loses her Irish twin brother at the age of 16 and in the same year she starts getting mysterious mailings from something called "The Guidebook".  It seems like too big of a coincidence that they aren't related so she follows along with these sporadic mailings which culminates in a retreat ~20 years later.  She's trying to figure out what this Guidebook is about as well as still not over the unresolved mystery of what happened to her brother.  I think this book could have been easily edited down another 100 pages and still left with a good book with less filler.  But the ending was good. 2.75 Stars
 
You've Been Volunteered: A Class Mom Novel by Laurie Gelman 
I read the first Class Mom book two years ago, before Luke had started school and found it SO fun.  This one picks up 3 years later, when the kindergartners are now in 3rd grade, with a reluctant and snarky class mom who is also volunteered to coordinate and oversee the 5th grade safety patrol.  It was just a really fun read that made me glad I've never been volunteered to run something like that but also that her version of being a class mom sounds like fun.  3.5 Stars

Read with Luke
Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants by Andrea Beaty
Our reading time has really been cut down with school and we've mostly been reading picture books so this is the only chapter book we finished in the last 30 days.  We both really enjoyed Ada Twist and Iggy Peck and Rosie Revere picture books but the chapter book fell a little flat for me.  It was mostly about science that went over my 1st grader's head and it just wasn't easy for me to read.  Maybe he would like it better if he read it to himself when he was at least familiar with solid, gases, liquids, etc.  2.5 Stars

What have YOU been reading lately?  Have you been pleasantly surprised by more reading time with kids back in school?

Book Love: Dark Matter

I keep saying I don't read much Sci-Fi but then I keep saying that after reading another Sci-Fi-ish book.  As in I've said it multiple times because I've read multiple in that genre.  That might be partially (largely) due to my continued attempts at finding books I think my husband will enjoy.  He's not a big reader.  In our first 14 years together I can come up with 5 books he read.  Four of those on my recommendation (or just stealing my new Harry Potter book). 

But NOW he's on his second book for the year and I really think he'd enjoy this one as well (I've informed him I've started a "to-read" list for him in our library app.  I was definitely more excited about this than he was.).

My only context for Dark Matter before beginning this book was a story line on the second (and final) season of Agent Carter, on tv a year ago.  I never even came close to understanding it and all that real science-y science stuff just makes my head spin (like black holes, I can't devote any brain space to those because all rational and real thoughts go out the window and I can't even think.  Scientist I am not.)

BUT, this was sci-fi without being unaccessible to people like me who aren't real science-y.  There were some terms I had previously only heard of when watching Big Bang Theory but I didn't really need to understand any of those things to get the story line or to be sucked in. (String theory?  I don't get you.)

This is the story of a man, Jason, who is abducted by a masked man, at gunpoint.  The next thing he knows he's waking up, surrounded by people very eager to talk to him and get his whole story but he has no clue why they are so interested in him, where he is, and what happened to the wife and son he had.  His old life seems to be completely gone.  It wasn't a remarkable life, average job, "normal" marriage (because what really classifies as "normal"?), no huge accomplishments or rewards.  Just average all around.  Nothing enviable but, yet, he'd do anything to get it back. 

It's quite the journey to get there.  Does it make it? 

Reading the abduction scenes (which starts about page 10, no real spoilers here) late at night in a dark house was maybe not my best choice but it was (mostly?) less dark after that.  There were many twists that I didn't see coming and it was hard for me to put down.  I'd look down at the page numbers and was continuely shocked that I was 15-20 pages further along than I felt like I was 5 minutes earlier.  I generally read 50 pages at the start of quiet time every day but I read 100 straight to finish this just because I had to know what would happen. 

This book is not similar to much of what I read but I still really enjoyed it and kept telling my husband I thought he would to, pretty much every time I picked it up in his vicinity.  It was thrilling, interesting, and suspenseful.  Definitely recommend to anyone who likes sci-fi or would like to try something outside the norm!  It was quite the read.

Goodreads | Amazon


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Homemade Hot Chocolate

Happy Easter (season)!  We had a beautiful day and it was gorgeous out and, no matter when it falls, Easter almost always feels like the real start of spring.  It's wonderful and now I can drink alcohol and spend money and you can guess which one of those will probably happen first (yes, it's spending money on something fun).  

You might be thinking to yourself, "Why is she posting about hot chocolate when it is spring?"  That is an excellent question.  It's because I'm still drinking hot chocolate due to our cold start to spring.  There was snow on the ground recently and we were just skiing a month ago and it's still rather cold some of the time!  Cold enough I've worn my fleece lined leggings under pants in the past week!  I still have very cold toes most of my waking hours!  I've never been a coffee drinker (and if 8 years in public accounting and 4 years of stay-at-home parenting hasn't attached me to the stuff I don't think much will (pending those long awaited twins, of course)) but do enjoy GOOD hot chocolate.

 chocolate chip coconut scones | fabric covered books

And that's the key.  This is GOOD hot chocolate.  Growing up we'd get it as a treat, mostly after playing in the snow but I never cared for the powdered, packaged stuff.  I always tried to get my Mom to buy me the powdered apple cider (which I still like, even more so this way) and that did work sometimes.  Those instant powder hot chocolate mixes....ehhhhhh.

THIS however, you take real chocolate, cocoa powder, and sugar (of course), and grind it all up.  You can use various kinds of chocolate, I used a lot of dark because 1) it's what I had in the freezer and 2) dark chocolate is the best chocolate (which is why it's what was in my freezer in the first place).  Then you add it to hot MILK which is key.  This stuff is not watery.  It's full, thick, wonderful hot chocolate and definitely a kind I get get on board with drinking.  In moderation, of course.  This much sugar on a regular basis would make me too jittery and wound up so I reserve this mainly for working mornings or after playing in the snow with Luke (because apparently I'm ok with a wound up 4 year old) or special occasions.  I'm not going to tell you it also tastes great with caramel vodka but...it maybe does.  If you happen to have that in your cupboard.  (Which we do.)

So, to summarize, this is excellent hot chocolate.  I highly recommend., besides maybe giving it to 4 year olds right before quiet time.  You can probably imagine how "quiet" that was.  It also keeps forEVER or at least a couple years, because that's how long it takes me to get through a batch when I'm only drinking it once a week, in the colder months.  So go ahead and make now, enjoy on a few colder mornings, and the rest will still be great in the fall! 

 

 Homemade Hot Chocolate
yield: approx. 36 servings
Ingredients
-2 cups sugar
-16.5 ounces good quality chocolate*
-1 cup cocoa powder**
-2 vanilla beans (optional)

*I used a mix of Ghirardelli 72% and 86% dark, do NOT use chocolate chips, Ghirardelli bars aren't very pricey at the grocery store
**Dutch-process if you have it.  Dark chocolate cocoa powder if you don't.  I've used both, in varying proportions.

Directions
1) If you have vanilla beans, slice them open and bury in the 2 cups of sugar.  Let sit overnight (or longer) and then dispose of the vanilla beans.  Otherwise, just use the straight sugar.
2) Roughly chop or break the chocolate (I just whacked the fully wrapped bars against the edge of the counter a few times).  Add the chocolate, cocoa powder, and sugar to the bowl of a food processor.  Process in pulses until everything is finely ground and combined.
3) Store in an air-tight container at room temperature.

To make hot chocolate, heat 1 cup of milk.  Add 2TB of mix.  Stir well.  ENJOY!

Source: slightly modified from Annie's Eats, originally from Confessions of a Foodie Bride

Quick Lit - May

Another month, another book post!  With some lazy (hopefully) summer days ahead, maybe I can finally get my TBR below 40!  I'm very active on Goodreads, friend me over there!

Other book posts in the past month:
 

 Book Love: Sugar | Book Love: Dark Matter 

 Book Love: Loving my Actual Life | Book Love: The Little Book of Hygge

 The Right Kind of Phone Books

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
This was a phenomenal book.  There is a disease, wipes out a good portion of the population.  It starts at the beginning and then bounces back and forth telling the (sometimes) interconnected stories of a bunch of people.  It was different from almost every thing else I've read and so well done.  4.5 Stars

Love the House You're In: 40 Ways to Improve Your Home and Change Your Life by Paige Rien
This was a rare random library pick-up and it was fine.  I've read a decent number of home/design/DIY books over the years and while this one didn't have anything really mind blowing, it did get me thinking about a few things (and inspired this post: 10 Things I Love About Our House) so it was a worthwhile read.  3 Stars

Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way by Shauna Niequist
I've read most of her books now and I think I've enjoyed everyone more (even though I am reading them in backwards order).  A collection of essays on thoughts, change, learning the hard way (just like the title says...).  I've listened to many podcast episodes with her as a guest (just by searching her name in the podcast app) and I think hearing her talk makes me like her books even more.  Worthwhile if you need some help accepting things in your life.  Or if you just need to be inspired.  4 Stars
 

Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar
Middle grade fiction (with a fantastic cover), based on the author's real-life experience of spending close to a year in a body cast following a car accident in the 60s? 70s?  I forget how far back.  It was a really quick read (since it's written for ~10 year olds) but a interesting and likeable one. If you need to remember the feeling of being 10/11/12 and some of those growing feelings but then mixed in with the horribleness of being bedridden and at the mercy of others the whole time.  3.5 Stars

Salty Kisses by Robin Jones Gunn
The latest in the long saga of Christy & Todd and all of their "forever friends".  Christy & Todd are settling into this parenting thing with new house guests and road trip to see some other old friends.  A LOT of cameos by characters from other books, seriously, almost everyone she's ever written about in this world.  I will read everything she ever writes about these people.  Ever.  Been in my life for 20+ years now so I'm a little invested. (Although I think the series may have peaked around The College Years?  Maybe?)  4 Stars


Fireworks by Katie Cotungo
This one brought a very different kind of teenage years nostalgia!  It's about two best friends picked to be pop stars in a new girl group.  In Orlando.  In the late 90s.  If you don't know, that's the time and place that great "boy bands" like Backstreet Boys (maybe my all-time favorite music, no judging) and NSync began.  I wouldn't have read this book if it was about being a popstar right now.  But late 90s?  I'm all in for that.  I never wanted to be a famous anything but I found this really enjoyable.  3.5 Stars


Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon
I picked up this one after enjoying her The Wife, The Maid, and the Mistress.  Both books based on historical facts but with missing details filled in.  In this case, the doomed flight of the Hindenburg in 1937.  You guys, I really thought the Hindenburg was a blimp until I read this book.  I had no idea it basically had a hotel on board and that civilians died.  Apparently I missed all of that in history class.  I enjoyed it quite a bit besides never being able to keep straight some of the names.  I feel a little more educated now.   3.5 Stars

The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming by Sally and Sarah Clarkson
I really wanted to like this book after hearing it spoken of very highly.  It's written by a mother/daughter pair and looks how to make your home life giving, family oriented , and welcoming.  All things I completely agree with!  But it felt a little bit like "we have this all figured out and this is what our perfect family did"...and that was off putting.  2.5 Stars

The Danish Way of Parenting: What the Happiest People in the World Know about Raising Confident, Capable Kids by Jessica Joelle Alexander and Iben Dissing Sandahl
Another random library pull (occasionally I feel like my TBR stack isn't big enough and I panic!) and it wasn't a great one.  I don't disagree with anything in this book really but I read the whole thing and still don't see what it had to do with being Danish.  It mostly just seemed like good parenting tips capitalizing on the Danish/Nordic trend?  I believe it was self-published originally...which makes sense.  Avoid.  Unless you are super intrigued.  2.5 Stars


What have YOU been reading lately?  Tell me below!

Looking Back at April

I think I'm now ready for Sam to be a month old...and he's two months already.  That whole first month was pretty much a blur with a lot of stress and not enough sleep.  Now it's spring and the days are getting warm and so long.  We're outside a lot (or at least I can kick Luke outside to burn some of his endless energy) and I am missing my runs, a lot.  I never expected I'd be nostalgic for all the miles I ran pushing a 35lb kid in the jogger! 

April had Easter, Luke's double birthday party day, Sam's baptism, Matt started a new job, and a new niece!  It was busy!

Looking back:
1 year ago: Book Love: Dark Matter (and I've been trying to get Matt to read it ever since.)
2 years ago: Homemade Burb Cloths (love finally getting to use these!)
3 years ago: Keeping the House (somewhat, mostly) Clean (still follow this!)
4 years ago: Real Expenses: One Year of Formula & Diapering (very informative!)
5 years ago: Let Me Tell You About the Call That Changed {Our} Destiny
6 years ago: Frustrating but Then Uplifting (story of adoption...)

1) Easter flowers!  Pink tulips are one of my all-time favorites!
2) Painting to briefly keep big brother busy while baby brother needs lots of attention.
3) LOVE finding him looking at books all on his own!
4) Reading, frozen coke, combos, and quiet time.  One of my favorite combos.
5) Oh look, more reading.
6) Running!  Painful but always excited to get back out!
7) And we're cloth diapering again!
8) Snow!  In mid-April!
9) Notice the snow boots with shorts...
10) Unintentionally used his London blanket on the day the royal baby was born!
11) Monthly trip to the downtown library!
12) Survived taking both boys downtown to get fingerprinted.  Which involved parking blocks away, remembering to leave my phone in the car, wrapping up the baby in blankets, speed walking to make my appointment, getting us all through security and the metal detector, being asked if I was there for a gun permit, and getting fingerprinted while holding the baby.  And then repeat in reverse.  Always a relief to have done!
13) Flowers picked for me by my boy!
14) Wish we could blame the kids for this mess...but we can't...
15) But we can blame him for this one!
16) Spring flowers!  They smell amazing!!


Books finished: 13 for the month, 62 for the year.
Things added to the garage sale pile: Near 50, I went on another big purge...
Miles ran: 4.54, a 4.54 mile improvement over March!
Currently watching: I finally finished The Crown and we finished season 5 of Lost (we only started the show a year ago...).  When we actually get to watch tv at night we're working through a DVR backlog.  There just isn't as much time...
Most read post this month: Quick Lit, followed by Luke's Star Wars/Lego/Superhero Party
Luke's current favorite song:  It's always these weird Star Wars parodies that Matt shows him and I refuse to acknowledge...

I'd say maybe May will be calmer...but I already know it won't! 

Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I don't make cookies often, or at least different kinds of cookies.  If I have a cookie craving it's usually fixed by these easy chocolate chip cookies.  But one of my monthly goals has been to try a new treat recipe each month, basically something I don't have to make (like supper) and just want to.  Obviously this has gone great seeing as I haven't yet posted a recipe for any of these and it's November. 

After a string a busy days Luke and I had a day at home and that called for cookies. This has a longer ingredient list but don't let that itimidate you.  These were fairly quick to mix up and the end result is worth having a mixer and food processor to clean.  We had done fairly extensive dough taste testing so I knew they were going to be good but the baked cookies still exceeded my (high) expectations!  It might have been the salt on top but no matter what, these were worth the time.  I definitely ate too many taking this picture, and every other day since they came out of the oven.

Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
yield: about 90 small cookies
Ingredients
3 cups (480 grams) old-fashioned oats
1 ½ cups (195 grams) flour
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup (two sticks) butter, chilled, cut into cubes
1 ½ cups (330 grams) packed brown sugar
½ cup (100 grams) sugar
2 TB caramel vodka (or insert alcohol of choice, original recipe called for bourbon)
1 TB vanilla extract
1 TB molasses
2 TB heavy cream
1 egg yolk
1 egg
12 oz (340 grams) dark chocolate
coarse salt for sprinkling

Directions
1) In a food processor, pulse 2 ¼ cups (360 grams) of oats until there is a good mix of finely ground and whole pieces.  In a bowl, combine those oats with the remaining ¾ cups (120 grams), flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.  Stir to combine and set aside.

2) In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed for about one minute.  Add the vodka, vanilla, and molasses and then the cream, egg, and egg yolk.  Beat until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add in the dry ingredients.  Mix just until incorporated.  Stir in the chocolate with a spatula.  Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours.

3) Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray/oil.  Roll dough into about 1 ½ inch balls and place approximately 2 inches apart on sheet.  Bake for 9-11 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. 

4) Once removing cookies from the oven, sprinkle with salt and leave on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.  Store in a sealed container at room temperature. 

Source: slightly adapted from Baked Occasions via Annie's Eats

Reading Recap - August 2022

August was a good reading month for me!  I read slightly more books (1...) than many other recent months and, generally, really enjoyed what I was reading!  I was slowed down a bit at the end, my two weeks of COVID and nausea didn't lend themselves to much reading although I think I still finished 4 books!  I keep waiting for my reading to really pick up speed...maybe once my running slows down (in number of miles...my pace has significantly decreased with being sick!).  

I'm very active on Goodreads here, somewhat active on Instagram here, and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy on the 15th!

Only one other book post in the past month:

{10} Chapter Book Series We've Read Alou

And now what I've been reading!

Upgrade by Blake Crouch
Man, it feels like a really long time ago that I read this.  I liked this better than Recursion, less than Dark Matter.  But he still writes pretty accessible sci-fi that seems to appeal to a wide range of readers.  Family secrets (I literally gasped at the end of one chapter), a dystopian future, and biologic technology.  His books are always hard to explain but are usually pretty gripping.  3.5 Stars

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
This is the book I buddy-read with 3 of my sisters last month, even though I'm not sure any of us were actually reading it at the same time.  It was my 4th or 5th time through it and even though some people make some really bad decisions (this seems to be the only book I tolerate cheating in), it is still such a fun read.  New York City, 30 year old friends, long relationships, the aforementioned cheating...it's just a delight.  4 Stars

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
I really enjoyed this book about two friends who spend their summers together next door at a lake somewhere...north and somewhat chilly.  It eventually turns romantic and I am a sucker for the childhood best friends trope.  I was sucked in a and flew through this in a weekend (which is about as fast as I can read anything 300+ pages, given kids and all).  Loved it.  4.5 Stars

Haven Point by Virginia Hume
This book was set in Maine which is why I read it.  It was historical fiction about a small island and the different relationships there.  I really, don't remember all the details at this point other than it was fairly slow and less happened than I expected.  3.25 Stars

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
This was a fun and chaste romance about a female bodyguard who gets assigned to guard a big movie star.  Said movie star is back home in Texas while his mother undergoes some medical treatments and thus the bodyguard pretends (at his insistence) to be his girlfriend so his family won't know about the threats against him.  It was fun and romantic, I enjoyed it.  3.75 Stars

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan
This was delightful historical fiction about a group of women who come together in rural England during WWII, originally as a sewing circle to mend and trade clothes given the rationing at the time.  Their purpose shifts a bit as they fix and tailor wedding dresses so as many area brides as possible will get to be married in a white dress.  It was charming, female-empowered, and so much lovely friendship between the ladies.  And based on a true story!  4 Stars

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
This was a time travel novel, a woman traveling back from her 40th birthday to her 16th, and reliving the day many times, seeing if any changes she made could change some hard things in her life at 40.  It felt very 13 Going on 30 but also that movie was mentioned in the book.  It was fun and a page turner that didn't dwell too much on the mechanics of possible time travel. 3.75 Stars

101 Reasons Why We Love the Queen by E. Dunne & H. Sutcliffee
This was a  quick read that ended up being my 100th book of the year.  It was charming and the illustrations are very cute.  I had purchase requested it from my library (and then they lost it for a few months when I put it on hold).  Would be especially poignant to read now, in light of her death.  Also, it would take approximately 11 minutes. 4 Stars

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
I just couldn't get into this book.  It was a woman falling in love with a ghost?  Or what she thinks is a ghost.  I thought it would be a quick and breezy romance read but it was not.  Also, I was reading it when I first got sick and my focus wasn't there, that probably didn't help my enjoyment of the book. 2.75 Stars

Desserts Can Save the World: Stories, Secrets, and Recipes for a Stubbornly Joyful Existence by Christina Tosi
A joyful celebration of how easy it can be to make someone's day, maybe by sharing sugar or doing something small to help them out, or inviting a friend to do something.  The author is the woman behind the Milk Bar, a bakery we have visited and enjoyed in NYC and in Vegas!  It was just fun and empowering and a delight. 4 Stars

The Midcoast by Adam White
This book was weird.  It took place in Maine which is how it ended up on my radar but maybe I need to stop letting that guide my reading choices.  It was very slow and about a possible scheme of some sort but also told in such a round about way that it was hard to enjoy.  Would not recommend unless you really like literary fiction and slow novels. 2.5 Stars

Read with Luke
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
This is the book we gave Luke for his birthday...in March.  We started in July maybe and then it still took us awhile to get through it.  Luke loves the middle-grade survival books and this was another of those.  I got a big choked up at the end and I think he'll be able to reread it to himself before too long.  We'll continue the series!

What have YOU been reading lately?

Favorite {Grown-Up} Reads of 2017

Happy 2018!  I'm still not done with 2017 where I had another great year of reading!  It's far and away my biggest hobby, probably something you've realized if you've been around here awhile!  It's my favorite "me" time, how I unwind, largely how I learn, and how I get to live a tiny bit of a bunch of different lives.

This year I read a lot.  200 books.  That number was helped by rereading the Little House series as well as the two longest series in the Christy Miller & Forever Friends saga - two 12 book series that I could get through a few a day.   Those shorter books certainly helped push me to the 200 mark but I still did a lot of reading, regardless of how short the books were!

Here are my 10 favorites for the year, something I always enjoy looking back at but also agonize over a little!  This post has sat in my drafts longer than it should have, as I tried to narrow it down to 10!  Some were obvious choices, some took more thinking and reviewing of my Goodreads.  I only included new to me reads this year, 62 of the books I read were rereads and since I obviously like those enough to spend time on them again, I didn't include them so my list can be different every year!  Also, most of these came out in 2017 but not all.  My FULL list is here.

Now, in no particular order, my favorite (non-picture book) reads of 2017:

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The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay (previous post) 
I, as a 30 something adult, read a decent amount of YA.  And I don't feel bad about it.  This was one of my absolute favorites of the year. Nastya is new to school and doesn't speak.  She's overcome some tough stuff.  She "befriends" a boy, Josh, who has had plenty of his own tough stuff in his life.  They actually become friends and things happen, as things always happen.  I hadn't heard of this one until last year and then realized a lot of people with similar tastes had read and enjoyed it!  Fantastic.

A Paris Year: My Day-to-Day Adventures in the Most Romantic City in the World by Janice MacLeod
I'd love to live in Paris for a year, or maybe would have liked to do so pre-kid, in my 20s.  Regardless, I read a decent amount of Paris set books to fulfill that longing.  This one was a follow up to Paris Letters, another favorite of mine.  All told journal style with pictures and paintings.  It's a very pretty book and super easy to get through.  Great for when I have those itches to go to Paris, and much cheaper than a plane ticket!


Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (previous post)
I read this mainly because it was pretty highly regarded sci-fi and I've been looking for more books for Matt to read (I am certainly more interested in getting him to read more than he is in reading more).  It took me 50-75 pages to get into the story of  Jason who is transported to an alt world where his life isn't his life.  Once I was IN the pages turned so fast.  I'm very much trying to get Matt to read it.  It surprised me by how much I might like (some) sci-fi. 


Grace, Not Perfection: Embracing Simplicity, Celebrating Joy by Emily Ley (previous post)
I've read multiple books in the last year or two in the "simplify your life" genre and this was one of my favorites.  The title says most of it: embracing simplicity and celebrating joy.   Who doesn't want more of that in their life??  Also, this was a super pretty book.  It's on my reread stack for 2018!

Loving my Actual Life: An Experiment in Relishing What's Right in Front of Me by Alexandra Kuykendall (previous post)
I was struggling with adoption stress last spring (or for the last 6 years) and this was such a great reminder to love my life as it is, even when wishing there was more.  Besides that, also some practical advice for improving our day to day around home, where most of our living takes place.  Another I should reread annually.

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han (previous post)
This was a surprise 3rd book to a supposed two book series and I fell in love with the first two when rereading them in anticipation of this one.  I love Lara Jean's relationship with her sisters and Dad, how important family is to her, about figuring out what life will be when graduating high school.  The whole series is fantastic but this is the one I first read this year.

The Futures by Anna Pitoniak
One of those books that I think just came at the right time for me this year.  It was just a fun read about a couple living life in New York (another genre I'm a sucker for) in the late 00s and how they navigate life together, their jobs, the city.  I know the New York setting is a draw for me but I really liked the story too.

Winter Solstice by Elin Hilderbrand
Another surprise ending to a series that was supposed to be complete.  I've been reading about the Quinn family every Christmas since 2014 and I loved another peek at their lives.  This was a much better end to their story than last year's Winter Storms.  I finished it on Christmas Eve and it was perfect timing.  I cried.  And started looking at picture of Nantucket, as I usually do after finishing one of her books.  Their drama reminds me of one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies - The Family Stone.  Different problems but same love of family and the complications it can bring.


At Home in the World: Reflections on Belonging While Wandering the Globe by Tsh Oxenreider (previous post)  
Spending a year traveling the world with 3 young children sounds tough.  And expensive.  But Tsh showed it doesn't have to be, even though there are plenty of challenges with navigating logistics and emotions.  It inspired me to want to travel the world or least some of it, with Luke.  It dove into what makes a home and home, how you can find "home" across the world.  Just wonderful. 


Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Another one I read mainly looking for books for Matt but I ended up loving it.  It's the world after a disease wipes out most of the population and how the remaining people navigate what's left.  There are surprising connections made that I didn't figure out until the final pages.  Definitely outside my normal genre but it was just incredible.  Very readable and just so good.

What were the best books YOU read this year?  I LOVE these sorts of lists!  

Favorite {Grown-Up} Reads of 2016
Favorite {Grown-Up} Reads of 2015

Attacking the Problem Areas: Painting inside the kitchen dish cupboard

Yep, I knew it would happen and I finally found some time.  We're now up to three painted kitchen cabinets and I have mentally planned how I'm going to finish all the upper ones by the end of the year.  It's been over a year since I started this crazy project of painting the inside of our cabinets and cupboard.  First was our cleaning cupboard in the kitchen.  Then the coat closet and cupboards in my office.  Then our dishes cabinet.  Now this one.  The first few were all painted a weird mustard yellow that we haven't really seen anywhere else in the house.  These kitchen cabinets (besides the cleaning one) are all wood/particle board with really old contact paper on the bottoms.  I've done enough of these to know what a difference fresh, white paint can make so I'm more than willing to put in the time to get them done.

I realize if you are much busier than me (work full-time, have more kids, etc.) that this seems like a pretty frivolous way to spend my time.  I get that.  If I was still working there is a good chance these would never happen (seeing as they didn't in the 7 years I lived here, working, before Luke).  BUT...I spend a lot of time at home these days (although lately it doesn't feel like much!) and I enjoy doing what little, free, things I can to fix it up.  Plus, the motivation to purge more things is always wonderful.  Our last garage sale was just a few weeks ago and I already have a new box going.

The longest part of this project may have been scraping off all the old contact paper.  When working on this cabinet I found some evidence of a layer on contact paper on top of this yellow one.  I still think this lovely yellow speckle is from the 50s/60s just because of it's look.  No matter what, it's been on there a few decades.

Please excuse the shadow of my arm.  It's very hard to avoid in our kitchen.

It probably took about 2.5 hours to get the contact paper off the 4 shelves.  Then a quick wipe down and onto the priming.  The first coat is always a little discouraging because it always looks like crap, maybe worse than before.

Another coat of primer, 2 more coats of paint, and a few days later and we were left with this:

It's always so exciting to see this come together and see what a difference the hours made.  Painting was about 30 minutes a coat and then my favorite part: relining the shelves and putting things back.  Even if I remember where everything was, I try to rethink where things should go based on how often they are used (and a little about how they will look).  The Pyrex we use most often is on the bottom, the serving dishes we use less are at the top. 

Scored this vintage pyrex from my Mom during our garage sale.  I haven't used it yet but even just the look of it is great.

I didn't take any before pictures of the upper cabinet but that one got some paint too.  It's mostly my larger plastic storage and some extra freezing things.  I have to stand on a chair (or the oven) to get to it so it's not the things we are reaching for constantly. 

Somewhat shocking to have a popsicle mold not in use.  We've made A LOT of popsicles this summer.

What's the take away from this posts other than "look at what I did!"?  I'm motivated by seeing a good before and after and that is what keeps me going on this little (but big change!) projects.  I also cannot believe that, no matter how many times I go through a cupboard, there is something about emptying it out, getting it all fresh and white, and having to put things back that majorly inspires some purging.  Things that were ok to sit in a dark cabinet somehow don't fit in the pretty white ones.  Try it.  It works.

And a good before and after.  I'm still amazed every time I open the done cabinets.  Then I open the undone ones and am extra motivated to get to them!

Drive-In Love

One of our absolute favorite things to do in the summer (or even just the warm months) is go to the drive-in.  It's second only to the lake as the best activity for the best season.   We still talk fondly of the year we made TEN drive-in trips (from April - October), including 3 within 15 days.  It was AWESOME. 

We don't get to go nearly as much now with a 4 year old to consider, with it being a long (and late) night for a sitter and a lot of movies not being appropriate for a 4 year old.  But we still aim for about once a month, always going for our anniversary in May, and with Luke a few times over the summer.  He's seen a lot more (kid movie) new releases than he would otherwise, with all our drive-in trips.

(Because while we'll pay $20 for the whole family to go to the drive-in for Despicable Me 3, we will most certainly not be paying even more than that to sit in a dark theater to watch it.)
 

I've written about our drive-in love before: Drive-In and Reasons Why the Drive-In is Awesome and You Should Go.   But I figure every other year or so a good time to refresh and remind all you dear readers of our love for the drive-in. 

We've spent many happy evenings at various drive-ins (total different ones visited: 5.  Total states we've been to a drive-in in: 3) and as soon as we get home I start getting excited to go again, even if it's 2am and I know there will be a kid up in about 6 hours.  There is just something magical about the drive-in.

We try to be there early for a good spot (what constitutes "good" depends on the drive-in but we aim for one of the front two rows.)

Sometimes we just open up the back of the Jeep, lay out blankets and pillows.  This is my favorite.

Other times we take our collapsible camp chairs and sit all three in a row, Luke in the middle for child wrangling and popcorn sharing reasons.  

I always take a blanket because even in July it can get chilly outside at midnight. 

 

One of the drive-ins we frequent has a playground in the grass between the front row and the screen and that one is definitely Luke's favorite.  He plays by himself (he sternly tells us to stay in our seats).

I always have a book and can get in some reading.  Matt often takes a magazine.

We usually eat supper before we go (since gates don't open until 7ish) but always support the drive-in through the concessions.  We buy popcorn and the adults share a large Mountain Dew (I don't want to find out the effects of that much caffeine on a 4 year old at 2am). 

We play, read, eat, watch the sunset. 

You don't get an experience like this inside a theater.


No matter how we are sitting we usually have the back hatch open and can listen either through the car radio or take a small portable one.  Sometimes there are enough other people around with their speakers loud enough that we don't need ours.

The movies start at sundown.  Sometimes the sun is still setting as the movies start.  It makes for a great experience.

Watch a movie. 

Cross the gravel to visit the bathrooms.

(Hot water optional here.)

Intermission, avoid the concession stand because it's really busy right now.

It's about 11pm and we are just getting ready for our second movie of the night (or heading home, sometimes that's the case.)

Or, sometimes, if you are me, falling asleep wrapped up in blankets on a chilly night while Matt watches the second movie.  (Depends on the movie.)

Movie's over, head home.  It's almost always past midnight.  (Earliest drive-in night: done at 11:30pm, in October.  Latest drive-in night: done at 2:30am, in July.)

Listen to the music over the ending credits as we drive away (except those darn Marvel movies, where we always stay through all the credits, no matter what we've heard about extra scenes).

Hope the 4 year old falls asleep on the way home.  Hope the adults don't. 

(Occasionally, maybe once a summer, we get to do the perfect lake->drive-in->lake combo which combines all the best of summer at once.  There was even one time we had lake->jet ski ride->drive-in->lake which is the ultimate trio for a summer night.)

Home.  Unload the car.  Put away blankets, chairs, the radio.

Start dreaming about next time.

(And hope the 4 year old sleeps past 8am.)