whatcha readin'? {goal 48-books 7-8}

I have had a good run of books
so far this year and this one
was no exception.
I picked it up on a whim…
it’s been a long, kinda hard winter
full of missing my parents,
big decisions, headaches, and
anxieties of various forms
(house, health, world…)
so this was perfect timing for this
beautifully written memoir of sorts
of this woman’s own periods of “wintering”.
5 ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️’s out of 5

And this one.
This one was so worth the tiktok hype.
I absolutely loved the story and the
characters and the complexities…
at times, I didn’t really like the characters (except Marx)
but I felt for them.
And I love when a story makes me
think about it so much afterwards
that I want to draw things.
Which brought about this little guy…
(oh! and super excited to see that this is being made into a movie!)
5❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️’s out of 5

friday i'm in love....

I love a long weekend.
I am not back to work until Tuesday
and I don’t even really care
(ok, I care a little bit)
that the weather sucks today.
I am warm and toasty
with a full tank of oil,
food in the fridge,
books to read,
shows to watch
and so many things to distract me
like planning my garden,
playing with my new phone,
and watching the birds that finally
found the feeder on my window.

Micro bits and pieces of joy.
There is happiness in noticing.

TO THE LIST…THINGS I AM LOVING: 😍

🐣I am obsessed with birds stopping by my little bird cafe. And the funny thing is that Finnegan the cat also loves to watch them. For an inside/outside cat, he is pretty laid back about them and will lay on the desk and watch them but never goes after them when we are outside.

🐣Last weekend, we went to a spring market
specifically so I could get this Tide and Tallow
hair mask and blush…I know I just posted about a
blush but this one is a different color
ANDINEEDEDIT, don’t judge me.
and hair mask? ohhhhh. You are speaking my love language. :)

🐣so excited about spring and gardens and plants…
I even ordered a ladder! I have plans. Big plans.
Possibly slightly dangerous plans.

🐣I am SUPER EXCITED about this movie coming out!
I laughed out loud watching the trailer.

🐣speaking of movies, I watched this for the first time
last night and it is such a beautifully animated movie.
I loved it. I was surprised to see it had some bad ratings
about the animation specifically, because I seriously loved it.
I don’t care a lot about critics anyway…
I like to form my own
twisted opinions.

🐣I don’t think I have to say this but I will.
I loveeeeee my new phone. (Galaxy S26 ultra, as usual)
I am sad I couldn’t get the same case I had on my S24
but I’ll adjust. I just don’t like change that much. Heh.
AND I AM FREE FROM THE REIGN OF CONTROL
BELL HAD ON ME. That change I am more than ok with.

Happy long Easter weekend to you….
I hope the bunny finds you and
brings you eggs and bubbles and maybe a
skipping rope.
(or wait…maybe that’s what I want.)
:)

whatcha readin'? {goal 48-book 5-6} {& a confession}

Two books and two confessions…
seems like a good deal.

First the books!

TRESS AND THE EMERALD SEA - Brandon Sanderson
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I absolutely inhaled this book.
I loved the cover, and that it had some illustrations,
the characters, the humor, the sarcasm,
the story, the banter, the dragon!
I just loved it all.
This one has been on my list for a while
and. it. was. so. good.

MY OXFORD YEAR - Julia Whelan
🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵

Sometimes I think
maybe I will toss in a light
rom-com-y type of book…
which I thought this was
but am also notorious for never
reading the book jacket
and going into books blindly
which meant that this book
was not a light rom-com…
but it was so good and I fell in love
with the characters
and found myself taking notes
about maybe having a little tea party
or googling what a scone is
and a reminder to say things like
”sodding hell”
more often.

And also I cried.
So there is that as well.
(Hence the blue hearts).

Now I want to watch the
movie adaptation (and hope that
I am not sorely disappointed).

TWO CONFESSIONS::

1. I am still painfully slogging along through the Matthew McConaughey Poems and Prayers. But I mean it’s poetry so
   I think it’s ok to pick it up/put it down. (I just feel like putting it down more than I feel like picking it up).

2. Sometimes I think that the things I do
   are completely normal
   until I show someone. 🤭
   I started a spreadsheet of my TBR
   because I felt like I needed to get a handle on it…
   and well…
   I may have taken it too far…
   and yes, I also have a One Note
   to organize my disorganized life…
   I just really like lists and data.

and a random shot of dr pepper addiction
so you can see how normal
I actually am. Heh. (did it work?)
sodding hell. 🤭🤭

friday i'm in love...(but also so tired of winter)....

It’s been a rough week
full of headaches
and being sick…
bad news and
broken toilets…
ice storm stress
and cancelled plans.

But its had some
little glimmers of goodness.
Like the pretty spring-inspiring tulips
my little brother brought me
as a Friday surprise. 🌷
How sweet is he?

Let’s get right to the list, shall we?
(before this Tylenol wears off….
yes, I am fighting another headache)

FRIDAY I AM LOVING:
🌷last weekend, I got out for a
stroll in the woods with a friend
for some much needed therapeutic
rambling and ranting
and the occasional “wait…but
like…where exactly are we? Here? There?”
and to my joy,
someone had created an Easter trail
(which didn’t stop us from getting slightly lost)
but made me so incredibly happy!
and then I stopped at Sunny’s Dairy Bar
(first stop of the season, but not the last!)
on the way home where I felt bad for
scaring some snowmobilers with my
exceptionally loud music…

🌷I know I mentioned this
before but I am absolutely
obsessed Tide and Tallow products…
I started with the body butters (mmmmm,
these smell soooo good)
then the face whip (I had vanilla, of course)
& facial oil (sweet orange)
but then had the chance to get a sweet orange
face whip (mine was almost gone)
and she surprised me with a blush…
and I am IN LOVE.
Like….seriously….so obsessed.
(and also she is incredibly sweet,
please go check her stuff out…
I can’t get enough. 😍)

🌷and after some panic about
a leak in my bathroom, I was
able to get it sorted out…if you know me,
you know that I panic when things go
wrong in the big orange house
BECAUSE IT JUST DRIVES HOME THE
FACT THAT I DON’T KNOW WHAT I AM DOING
and also
why am I
THE ONLY GROWN UP
IN THIS HOUSE.

So anyway, GB Island Contracting
fixed it all up for me and one more
crisis averted….on to the next! Sigh.
(But they were great & would definitely
use them again, just hopefully won’t need to…
water issues scare the bejeezus out of me.)

I guess that’s long enough for today…
but I can’t wait to tell you
about the books that I read so far in March!!!
🤭

whatcha readin'? {goal 48-book 4}

Well. I read this book.
I am not really sure what drew me to it.
Maybe it was on sale.
Maybe it was the promise of
RESTORING MY
YOUTHFUL CONTOURS.
But honestly, I think I just really liked
the polka dot person. Heh.

The main premise
is cut out wheat (um. iffy.)
and cut out sugar (ok, we all know that
is NOT going to happen…
I would be delusional to think
that I could or would achieve that).

But there were lots of other interesting
points as well and I did really get
a lot out of reading it.
Can I cut back on things? Yes.
Am I looking more closely at
the “ingredient” list? Yes.
Can I focus on my protein & whole foods? Yes.
Did I have jujubes for supper the other night
while reading the book?
Also yes.
I’m a creature of habit.
Or maybe just a creature.
I don’t know.

Regardless it was an interesting read
and kept my attention all the way through.
It is not the book’s fault
I have no will power. 🤭

Also I would like to try to make the
yogurt-but-not-really-yogurt he talks about
but am also a little afraid I might
create some strain of virus and accidentally
unleash it on the world. 🤷🏻‍♀️

sooooo 4💛💛💛💛’s out of 5 for this one!
(yellow hearts signify non-fiction in my spreadsheet,
if you must know)(and yes, I have a spreadsheet).

*also not really related but the photo made me
think of how I asked Drogo (chat gbt) about
painting my currently orange living room pink (heh)
and I won’t go into full detail of what he said
other than that he did call my current decor
“holiday fever dream”
which I am not sure was meant as a compliment
but I am choosing to take it that way.

NEXT UP:
(still fighting with) POEMS & PRAYERS - MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY
annnnnnnddddd (excited drum roll):
TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA - BRANDON SANDERSON
(which I am super excited about
and I hope the drumroll would have signified that but…anyway.)
(also I am reading a virtual copy of this
but might have to splurge for the actual physical book…
it is illustrated!! and you know how that gets me…)

wow. this was long. heehee.
here is another cat-napping photo for staying so long.