Because my Bookmark Lit Bulletin wrap-ups got out of hand, I wanted to break up my monthly wrap-ups into two posts: one personal and one bookish/bloggy. I created Lauren Lately here to highlight all of the personal happenings in my life: events, activities, shows I’m addicted to, things I’m obsessing over, recipes I’ve loved, and goals for the next month. I decided to space them out so this wrap-up happens around the mid-point of the month and the bookish one happens at the end of the month.
✨ Check out my most recent bookish and bloggy wrap-up HERE ✨
Chris’s sister and her fiancee visit | We had Chris’s sister and her fiance come over for dinner and a fire at the end of August. We went to check out their place the previous week and they came around to see our new place after. We went to the local restaurant on the lake, got frozen yogurt in the next town over, and then had our first fire in the fire pit.
Travel to New Jersey for the dance practice | I took a quick overnight trip to New Jersey with my friends to have a dance practice before the wedding. We had a decent time practicing and felt fairly confident about our upcoming performance during the sangeet! The rest of the weekend just involved wrestling shows.
Wedding weekend | From Thursday through Sunday over Labor Day weekend, we were down in NJ for my friends’ wedding. We had multiple days of outfits and activities, included our choreographed dance. It was a fun whirlwind that I can’t believe is over already! Truthfully it was overwhelming at times but it was so special to see our close friends get married after being together so long.
Last pool days / more Labor Day weekend | We got home from the wedding and watched All In that Sunday. On Labor Day, we decided to head over to use the pool at Chris’s parents’ house before it would be closed up for the fall/winter. I loved just sitting in there for hours and reading my book!
Football and Farmers Markets | As usual, we spent as many Sundays as possible at the Farmers Market. We spent the rest of our time (when it wasn’t freakin raining – I swear it hasn’t stopped in three weeks!) enjoying the porch, watching football with our cozy candle and lights, and getting ready for fall.
Trip to Charlotte | I wrote a full recap of this trip here if you’re interested in checking it out! Overall though, it was amazing to see my team win their home opener on my birthday…. and see the new midfield design! We had a great, quick trip to the city.
TV Shows
The Good Place | This is one of the shows I talked about in my fall plans because I really wanted to catch up. I got pretty close from watching on the flight to Charlotte and fully planned on continuing for the flight home… but the downloaded episode expired from Netflix. I had 10 minutes left so I couldn’t just start the next one, which brings me to…
Riverdale | The show I watched on the flight home from Charlotte!… and for the rest of that day. I had the day off and Chris ended up working for a few hours, so I totally binge-watched as many episodes as I could. I really want to keep going this week and get current.
Movies
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before | Easily one of the best adaptations I’ve ever seen! I loved this movie – the aesthetic was perfect, the small changes made were logical/fine, and the actors were PERFECTION. I definitely need to see the next two books turned into movies please!
Crazy Rich Asians | Chris was flabbergasted at how many Asian people were in the theater we went to on a random Tuesday night. It was packed. We loved this movie so much. He thought it had so much to relate to, even though he’s not crazy rich, and appreciated a lot of the humor. I thought this had quite a few more changes from the book, but I don’t think they hindered anything.
Wrestling
.@MattJackson13, @NickJacksonYB and @ibushi_kota with More Bang For Your Golden Elite Buck! #ALLIN
➡️ https://t.co/2AEuPvrsmg
➡️ https://t.co/mNpVzZkjg8 pic.twitter.com/RXickAZMLn— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) September 2, 2018
All In | What an unbelievable show this was – and so ridiculously monumental. Wrestling (especially non-WWE) is at a serious high right now. The fact that just one group of regular ol wrestlers could develop such a huge fanbase and sell out a 10k seat arena on their own, with no real company behind them, is absurd. AND the fact that it was a superb show from beginning to end? Can’t lose.
Podcasts & Music
The Trail Went Cold | This podcast is about missing people or unsolved crimes where the trail literally goes cold and nothing makes sense. I’ve only listened to a few episodes on and off so far and the cases are really interesting.
Up and Vanished Season 2 | I got a bit burnt out by the first season of UAV at the end. I was so happy the case was cracked and those responsible were arrested, but it was frustrating to hear the same information repeated over and over. I was eager for season two because it would feature a new case. This one is fascinating so far!
The Vanished | I’m enjoying this one so much as an alternative to the Thin Air podcast that’s on a possibly permanent hiatus. I love learning about people who have disappeared, seemingly without a trace.
Sandra | I read a random podcast article the other day that listed some general recommendations and this was one. I love many of the cast members and was looking for something similar to Deadly Manners or Gossip (meaning it was a fictional, full-cast story). This is about a woman who goes to work for a company that makes “Sandra” (which is essentially Alexa/Siri but it’s real people responding to you when you ask questions). It was so addicting and quick. I loved it and listened in 2 days.
Food & Drink
New favorite dining-out spots | We’ve tried a couple of local restaurants and chains recently that we’ve loved! I had Shake Shack for the first time and holy moly, it was amazing. We also got some chicken from Bonchon and fell in love with it HARD. There’s a local spot with a lake view that we like for the scenery, but the food isn’t great. We’ve been addicted to making s’mores now that we have the supplies from our fire pit and yes we use the microwave…
Purchases & Addictions
21 Days of Beauty at Ulta | This just started about a week ago so you know I’m working it. There are 21 days with specific deals throughout September and then other mini deals happening throughout the month. I have a schedule written out of what I plan to buy and when.
Laptop Stand | I have a major problem with hunching over and I work from my computer all day. My coworker got a stand a few months ago and I finally ordered a similar one for myself. I love that it brings the laptop up to my eye level so I find that I’m not hunching over as much! This one was on Amazon.
Around the Blogosphere
Do Other Reviews Bias Us? @ It Starts at Midnight | I 100% agree with this post. I am constantly feeling biased toward books based on reviews. Oh someone hated this book? I’ll probably hate it to. It leads to me either (a) reading it and getting the review in my head during my read or (b) never reading a book because too many people hate it, even though I might like it.
Organized Mood Reading @ The Infinite Limits of Love | I loved this post and used it as inspiration for my own about my TBR creation each month! I try to organize all of my books, reading, stats, and ARCs as best as I can, so I’m able to make a well-curated TBR post each month. I loved Nick’s methods for tracking her books.
Five Things on a Friday @ Girl in the Pages | I’m always excited to see my favorite bloggers get more personal! Recommendation posts like this in general are some of my favorites. I used to do a Five on Friday feature but it became somewhat pointless when I made so many other personal/lifestyle posts. I’m pumped to see more from my BFF.
When You’re Feeling Blah About Books @ So Obsessed With | Hannah’s post completely resonated with me. I’ve been feeling meh about books/reading on and off for the past few months. I thought lowering my GR goal this year would help (in anticipation of moving, life changes, wedding weekends, and just a general lack of reading time) but it hasn’t so far. I liked her suggestions for getting out of a slump so much!
Back on Track: Self Care, Not Self Indulgence @ Not Entirely Perfect | This is a fine line I’ve been blurring too much lately. Steph talks about how her life has been derailed for the past few months and she’s behind on goals as a result. I’ve been doing something similar – I often practice self-indulgence instead of self-care for my mental health.
Shows You Should Watch Immediately @ It Starts at Midnight | I wasn’t actively looking for new TV shows when I read one of the weekly TTT topics this month, but Shannon had some solid recommendations! I made sure to bookmark this post in case I’m in need of something soon.
A Tour of Stew Leonards @ The Coastal Confidence | One of my recent CT-based blogger favorites posted this blog and video about Stew Leonards. It is absolutely one of the best and coolest grocery stores ever. I live somewhat far away, but less than an hour, so I do make it there a couple times!
Last Month’s Goals & Progress
1. Plan and/or host a housewarming party | PASS-ish | I polled some friends to find out when they’d be available. We were hoping to go for late August but it’s looking like it’ll either be this weekend (9/15) or the last weekend of September. Either way, we’ve been working on cleaning up and getting the house ready.
2. Save money for bills and Charlotte | PASS | I did a good job of saving and not spending all of my money on frivolous things. My Charlotte trip was all set after I paid my mom back for some of the costs, and I’ve been keeping up with all of my other bills now that I have automated payments set up.
3. Catch up on TV shows | PASS-ISH | I didn’t start getting back into TV shows until last weekend during our flights to Charlotte and home. I hate reading on planes because I prefer to just have headphones in! I watched the shows I mentioned above and hope to continue…
Goals Until Next Time
1. Catch up on TV shows and start something new | As I said above, I have so many summer shows that I need to catch up on… but I really want to binge something else. I’m tempted to get on Game of Thrones (something I’d watch with Chris too) but have been meaning to watch Degrassi again as well. I never finished the whole thing. We also need to catch up on Marvel shows! I’ll be posting something soon on the blog about this…
2. Visit 2 more restaurants locally | We have a decent amount of good places around us and we’ve gone to the same restaurant multiple times instead. Whoops. I want to check out an Italian place for our anniversary this weekend and hopefully one other new-to-us place.
3. Decorate the house for fall and prepare clothes | I have a smaller closet than I’m used to so I’m hoping to do a major reorganization once my warm clothes are in place. Not sure how, but I will. I also want to get our decorations back from Chris’s parent’s house so I can put out some stuff for fall.
What’s Next
We have our six year anniversary this weekend, so we’ll be celebrating by going out to eat and watching some wrestling and football — what else? The end of September is mostly open though, thank god. I have my five year college graduation anniversary alumni event that I’m excited for. We’re hopefully going to have the housewarming. Into October, I always have a few fall-related plans, fairs to attend, another wedding, and Chris’s birthday to celebrate.
THANK YOU FOR THE MENTION! <3 I had a LOT of fun making my Friday post…now I just need to come up with enough things for another one lol. I'm glad you're enjoying Riverdale, I have to say I loved season 1 but season 2 just got super weird…also SUPER jealous you have a fire pit!!
Yeah season two has been odd so far!! Not sure what they’re doing hahaha