The Bright Side (5/15)

Posted May 15, 2020 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 3 Comments

As we’re all going through the same global pandemic with various levels of “stay the F home,” I thought it would be fun to highlight the good things in each week, instead of dwelling on the negatives, the unknowns, and the uncertain future. I tend to do some kind of wrap-up or rundown of my week/month/etc. on Fridays each week (often linking up with Friday Favorites/Currently) so this isn’t too much of a diversion from that. ✨ Cooking and Baking I know I’ve been talking about this a lot (probably too much for a book blog??) but we’re still making a lot of good stuff! We did a lot with the Cravings cookbooks (post to come, sorry not sorry) and I made Zucchini Bread finally. I can’t believe this only called for one cup of shavings (one zucchini) because now I have two more ready to go for more bread 😉 It looks terrible and ugly because of the parchment paper creases and folds, but good lord – it’s SO tasty. Also pictured are two Cravings recipes – the chipotle-honey chicken with mango-avocado salsa and blueberry cream cheese pancakes. ✨ Mother’s Day We did a run around to our three parents’ houses on Mother’s Day to distantly say hello and drop of our traditional flowers. My mom has a brown thumb for sure so she loves a hanging plant for her front yard each year – nothing else. Chris’s mom and my stepmom both have impressive gardens, so we get […]

What I’ve Been Watching

Posted May 13, 2020 / Media, Personal / Information / Etc. / 1 Comment

I did a post like this back in 2017 but haven’t done many since – I usually am watching wrestling and a few TV episodes in between everything, plus I have my monthly wrap-ups for things like this. Since life has been mostly the same and I’ve been doing more weekly “positive things” posts instead of monthlies, I thought it would be a good time to bring this back around. Here are some of the shows and movies we’ve been watching since I last updated you, or in general during quarantine! Watching Solo Virgin River I’m not fully in love with this one but it’s been decent background TV for when I’m cooking or dicking around the house. I know the whole point of the show is “big city nurse has to win over small down misogynistic doctor” but the doctor seriously annoys me here. I don’t know if it’s because EVERYTHING is annoying me lately? But I can’t stand him. I ended up falling a little more for the show once I got rolling though, so I’m glad I decided to watch. Outer Banks I am the first one to tell you how much I love watching so-bad-it’s-good TV shows and movies. We do this allll the time. I will say that this show definitely veered into this-is-actually-bad territory and I kind of hated it? I am not exaggerating when I tell you I wanted to punch EVERY single character in the face. Even the decent ones like Kiara […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #287: Abandoned/DNFed

Posted May 12, 2020 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 4 Comments

Books I Recently Abandoned (Removed from my TBR or DNFed) Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. I sometimes include DNF reviews on my blog but it’s usually if they’re a review copy and I want to share something about it. I don’t do it all the time though, because it’s not overly fair to review things if I didn’t finish the book. Anyways, here I’ll be highlighting books I recently DNFed as well as books I removed from my TBR for other reasons (bad reviews, reviews that implied plot points I don’t like, etc.). Removed from my TBR Plans I’m most sad about 99 PERCENT MINE because I seriously loved her debut. I just saw so many mixed or negative reviews for it that I decided to remove it from my TBR. WE HUNT THE FLAME had a lot of hype, which is why I put it on my TBR, but I knew I probably wouldn’t get to it? I saw reviews that it was super slow-going and that can be hard for me with fantasy books. THE DEAD QUEENS CLUB is another with not-great reviews that I was quick to remove from my TBR. I’m bummed about FIX HER UP because it’s one a LOT […]

Blog Tour: The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly

Posted May 10, 2020 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Review This book was so dang cute! I sometimes use the word “predictable” as a compliment, and that’s the case here. I WANTED this book to be a badass girl trying to take down gender norms and rules at the medieval-themed restaurant, and also have solid elements of friendship and maybe romance. This book met all of my expectations and was exactly like I predicted it would be, and that made me so happy! I also really appreciated how diverse in representation this was, really across the board. Kit herself came from a very poor family and it was ingrained in a lot of the things she did or the decisions she made. I really enjoyed the strong relationships between her and her family too. Kit’s mom and brother were very present and always working together to make sure they could pay the bills and get food on the table. They were a team and she had a nice, open relationship with both of them, even when she struggled to tell the truth to her friends. She had a diverse group of friends/wenches (lol) at the restaurant also trying to become knights. Kit really struggled throughout the story in trying to figure out how to break it to everyone that they likely wouldn’t actually be able to make a tournament happen. This felt real to me because she was so determined to make it happen and didn’t want to let anyone down, but she knew she eventually would have to. […]

The Bright Side (5/8)

Posted May 8, 2020 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 2 Comments

As we’re all going through the same global pandemic with various levels of “stay the F home,” I thought it would be fun to highlight the good things in each week, instead of dwelling on the negatives, the unknowns, and the uncertain future. I tend to do some kind of wrap-up or rundown of my week/month/etc. on Fridays each week (often linking up with Friday Favorites/Currently) so this isn’t too much of a diversion from that. I’m back after taking last Friday off for my Bookmark Lit Bulletin monthly wrap-up, so here are two weeks’ worth of good things! ✨ Brad Leone / Bon Appetit I know I’m behind on the craze but our latest obsession of cooking-related YouTube has brought us into the wonderful world of Brad Leone and the Bon Appetit test kitchen. We were already watching Epicurious (under the same company umbrella) so this has added another fun element. Brad’s “It’s Alive” videos are SO funny and genuinely all we watch most Friday nights. His tomato ricotta toast is something I spotted a few bookish friends eating recently and was wondering where it came from… and now I know! I quickly added tomatoes and ricotta to my grocery order to test it out. It was so tasty! I can’t believe how much flavor tomatoes have when you cook them just a little bit?? ✨ Pickling Chris and I have really been diving deep into cooking shows lately and one of the main things we decided to try […]

Planner Streamlining

Posted May 7, 2020 / Goals & Planning, Personal / Information / Etc. / 2 Comments

I talk a lot about my planners and how I use each of them for various things, but it’s always a work in progress for me. I buy something with the best intentions and end up forgetting it, using it for something completely different, or half-ass the whole thing. I recently streamlined how I use my planners during this quarantine period because yes, there ARE still things to do. There are definitely less events out of the house, but I still need to plan (now more than ever!) meals, groceries, house chores, work, and reading. Here’s how I’m doing it all now. Artful Agenda: Blog/Books, Calendar-Based, On-the-Go Lists My online planner is the best place for me to include anything that I’d want to reference while on my computer or phone (on the go). I traditionally use it for easily adding appointments (like when I’m leaving my hair appointment and schedule my next while I’m there) or events when I’m with friends (determining our next holiday party or something). While this will be true again someday, right now it’s mostly helping me from a blogging perspective. If I have a few posts I want to plan out and complete, I’ll include them in the to-do sections. I’m able to leave this tab open on my computer and reference it whenever. The second thing this planner is currently helping with during quarantine is planning out my grocery shopping and lists whenever necessary. Obviously I’m shopping less often than the million times […]

May Currently

Posted May 6, 2020 / Currently, Personal / Information / Etc. / 8 Comments

I’m linking up with Anne In Residence for this month’s Currently post! I usually include these in a Friday post but I’m trying to spread the wealth with content when needed (and I’m working on my The Bright Side posts on Fridays)! What I’m… Making Ummm, everything?! Like everyone else in the world, it seems, we’re doing way more homey cooking and baking. This past weekend I spent Sunday making three meals from the Cravings by Chrissy Teigan cookbook, and we have a handful more to make right away too! I finally put the boxed cake mix I’ve had forever to good use by making snickerdoodle cake mix cookies too. Lots of home-cooked meals around here! Missing Oh man… aren’t we all missing juuust about everything right now? We don’t feel like much is different on weeknights since we generally stay home 3-4 nights after work, but we find ourselves more sad on the weekends. If we go out to run errands on a Saturday, we always wish we could spend time out at a brewery or restaurant. We picked up hard cider from a favorite place last weekend and were dying to stay in and do a tasting the whole time. Learning How to make pickled things! We’ve been obsessed with everything cooking-related online, like The Chef Show on Netflix and anything Bon Appetit/Epicurious have to offer on YouTube. We learned how to pickle the other day and put it to the test with pickles and onions. Both yielded very […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #286: Bookish Party

Posted May 5, 2020 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 0 Comments

Things I’d Have at My Bookish Party Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. I would love to have a book-themed party! I’m trying to find a good way to very subtly introduce them for our wedding but I’m not sure yet. Here are a few decorations and food I’d feature at my book-themed party! Decorations: I would have some cute invitations featuring a book stack, give bookmarks as a gift to take home/party favor, include children book cupcake toppers in the decor, and have a cute bookish banner hanging up. Food: I definitely would make pumpkin pasties from Harry Potter, cute button cookies based on Corduroy, and November cakes from The Scorpio Races. Yes, I haven’t read that book yet but I know those cakes look damn good.

Review Round Up | Beach Read, A Deadly Inside Scoop, and The Summer of Impossibilities

Posted May 4, 2020 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 1 Comment

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 books I’ve read or listened to recently. Sometimes they’re newer releases and sometimes they’re all backlist titles. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! Woo, boy. I had HIGH expectations for this book. A few bloggers/booktubers I follow closely loved this one (and Madalyn told me I’d love it) so I was really preparing to be wowed. And I totally was. This book exceeded my lofty expectations. January, a romance writer, and her college nemesis and literary fiction writer, Gus, end up neighbors in a sleepy Michigan beach town for the summer. January is getting through the death of her father and all of the secrets she’s learned in the wake of his passing, all while trying to clear his house (and second life) and write a new book. She’s not feeling very romance-y at the moment and when her and Gus meet up, they decide to swap genres for the summer and see if that breaks their writer’s block. Naturally, they get closer throughout the summer, and take each other on genre-relevant field trips so the other person really learns what they should be writing about. I LOVED that this book was very much a typical romance book (and sort of a love letter to the genre) while also managing to invent new tropes. Who knew that TWO grumpy main characters could be so perfect?! Usually you have one grumpy and […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | April 2020

Posted May 1, 2020 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 1 Comment

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days. Good lord, folks – my reading has been so back and forth this month. Chris suggested a few times to just stop forcing myself to read certain things, take a break from the book causing a slump, and read something you’re really excited about. I did this for BEACH READ and DATE ME, BRYSON KELLER and each time I was inspired to keep reading right afterwards. Sometimes certain books are just magical, folks. I knew I would finish the month still behind on my challenge, but I at least wanted to read 10 books to get “back on track” in that way. 9 books read in April 9 new books • 0 rereads • 0 DNF Pages read: 3,094 • Average rating: 4.1 stars Sources: 7 for review, 1 gifted, 1 Book of the Month Formats: [Review] 6 egalleys and 0 physical ARCs 1 hardcover, 1 paperback, 0 ebook, 0 audio, 1 combo Genres: 5 contemporary, 2 mystery/thriller, 1 graphic novel, 1 historical Age Target: 6 adult, 3 young adult, 0 middle grade, 0 new adult Check out my 2020 challenge sign-up […]