How was your week? I know last week was the first official week of 2019 but this week felt like the real return to normalcy after the holiday season. Chase clearly caught wind of the fact that Christmas is over because he said — ahem, whined — “I want it to be Christmas again. I don’t like all of the other days.” Granted Chase said this when he was in a serious mood (both hungry and tired) and caught sight of someone taking down their Christmas lights as we were driving, but still… I get it. Apparently the post-holiday blues are genetic.
Despite the fact that the holiday season is over, we had a pretty good week over here! I was personally very ready to get back into the swing of things and, since Chase was back in preschool and Ryder napped pretty well, I had a little more time to blog (see my bazillon-word post about sleep training after the 4 month sleep regression) and our house no longer looks like a complete disaster. All wins!
Do you guys have any plans for the weekend? We don’t have too much on the agenda and the weather looks like it will be a bit cloudy and rainy, so I’m hoping to figure something out to get out of the house at some point. We’re also planning another family movie night after having so much fun watching The Lion King together last weekend. I’m kind of hoping movie nights become more and more of a thing around here now that Chase is a bit older and more into movies the whole family enjoys (Disney!) rather than just little kid stuff. I was worried cuddles would stop once Chase became a bit older but thankfully he’s all about getting “cozy, cozy” under big blankets and cuddling up with me, Dad, Baby Ryder and Sadie for movie night!
Aaand now that I rambled on a little too long in the intro of today’s post, let’s hop right into the real reason you’re probably here: Things I’m Loving Friday fun!!
Things I’m Loving Friday
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Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
I am a big-time fan of Liane Moriarty’s books and, with the exception of one, I’ve enjoyed all of them. (If you’ve never read any of her books, my favorites are The Husband’s Secret, Big Little Lies and What Alice Forgot — and I’d recommend all of them over Nine Perfect Strangers as well.) I pre-ordered Nine Perfect Strangers when I saw she had a new novel coming out and couldn’t wait to read it! In true Liane Moriarty fashion, her latest novel had me laughing out loud and flying through the pages as the story unfolded.
The book takes place at Tranquillum House, a remote luxury health resort, and follows the nine guests attending the resort for a 10-day retreat. Right off the bat, the guests can tell the Tranquillum House is different. Between the “noble silence” — a period of time where talking and even eye contact is forbidden — to the middle-of-the-night meditations, Frances Welty, a former best-selling romance novelist, is unsure whether she should stay or leave, a conundrum that seems to perplex nearly every guest, despite the fact that they’re all intrigued, if not captivated, by the owner of the resort from her stunning physique to her unconventional (and illegal) approaches to healing.
I enjoyed the book enough to recommend it but it’s actually one of Liane Moriarty’s novels that I would say gets progressively worse as you continue reading rather than more intense, exciting and intriguing. The story is entertaining and her characters are well-developed and interesting but as the plot unfolds it becomes less and less believable and a little too out-there for my personal preferences. While I can say I liked the book, it wasn’t my favorite and I’d point you to some of Liane Moriarty’s previous novels instead if you haven’t read them yet.
Also, while we’re chatting about books, right before Christmas, I also read Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, which I enjoyed and it made me want to dive into more memoirs/autobiographies, so if you’ve read any you recommend, please let me know! And if you’re looking for a good one, Andre Agassi’s Open is still my all-time favorite and I promise you don’t have to be a tennis super-fan to love it.
One of the Christmas presents I was most excited to give to Ryan this year was a letterpress version of the poem we read to each other at our wedding. Since we were finishing up our living room update, we both wanted to give each other gifts we could use in that room since the color palate changed from beige/brown to blue/gray/white. We wanted to fill the built-in bookshelves with items that matched the updated room and I turned to Minted to create a personalized gift I thought would look nice on one of the shelves.
I opted for a framed letterpress version of our favorite poem and love the way it turned out! I was able to customize everything from the words and text to the color of the ink (frost) and the frame (brushed silver). I wanted to share this gift idea here just in case you happen to be thinking ahead to Valentine’s Day and might want to surprise a loved one with a quote or poem or something of the sort in a way that would let you view words that mean something to you every day.
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Instax Mini Camera from Kim and Carol
Early in December, I had an incredibly kind blog reader, Kim, reach out to me offering to send Chase a bright red Instax Mini camera after she read about his love for taking pictures on the blog. Her email was so sweet not only because of her generous offer but also because she wanted to send me her mother’s camera, an Instax Mini camera she held onto after her mother’s passing last summer.
She knew her mom, Carol, would love for a little boy to enjoy her camera and kindly offered to send it to Chase. The way she talked about her mother moved me and filled my heart up because I could feel the love Kim and Carol shared through the way Kim wrote about her mother and the pictures she sent my way of her mom with her family. Kim’s thoughtful gesture truly touched me and every time Chase takes a picture with Carol’s camera, I hope that somehow it makes both Kim and Carol smile.
I actually just ordered Chase a little $8 album (blue, of course) for his Instax Mini photos because he’s been keeping them in a “special place” and I thought he might enjoy having an album of the pictures he’s taken since he has a bunch from over Christmas, a friend’s birthday pajama party and random around-the-house photos.
My mom is the queen of quality stocking stuffers! This makeup brush cleaning pad was in my Christmas stocking this year and clearly my mom knew I desperately needed to clean all of my makeup brushes. Confession: I’m not sure I’ve ever cleaned them and if I can it’s been so long I can’t remember the last time I did it. Is that horrifying or what!?
Anyway, I made it a point to clean all of my makeup brushes with castile soap and this cleaning pad this week and feel like my face should glow like a newborn baby’s now that my brushes are all clean of dirt and pore-clogging grossness. Even if that doesn’t happen, I do feel a lot better knowing I’m using brushes that are actually clean for the first time in years.
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Friday Flashbacks
High Protein Frozen Mint Hot Chocolate (This one has a 4.7-star average rating from 20+ reviews and is such a great way to satisfy a raging sweet tooth in a healthy way!)
Butternut Squash Grain Bowl (One of my all-time favorite meatless meals and it makes fantastic leftovers for lunch!)
Question of the Day
What is one thing making you smile this week?
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How funny! My mom gave me that makeup brush cleaner in my stocking as well! She had received it in a fab fit fun box and knew I could use it.
will you share the poem on here? I tried to enlarge the photo but still had trouble reading it…. just curious what it says and who it’s by (or are you the author?)
I hope they don’t get tooold to snuggle either- my husband still will still chill out by his parents on the sectional; and our 11 year old still lays across the door of the bed ….
Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend!
Yes!!! You can find the poem in this post: https://www.pbfingers.com/2010/12/20/wedding-recap-the-ceremony/ (And no I’m not the author 🙂 I wish I was that talented!!)
Things I’m loving: adding collagen to my coffee (my poor body is definitely in need), and noticing that the days are getting longer again! Hooray for more daylight!! Have a great weekend.
I feel ya on the daylight!!!! Bring it on!
Oh my gosh, Julie! Your updated room looks SO pretty! I love your shelves! My seven year old son still cuddles! And I totally agree with you about Leanne’s latest book…great first half but I didn’t love it once they could speak to each other. I just read Can’t Flanders The Year of Less and watched the Marie Kondo Netflix series…and got rid of another four bags of stuff! I am trying to only buy what I need this year and not what I want!
Lianne’s! Darn you auto correct!
I want to watch Marie Kondo’s series!!! I read her book years ago and it made me want to get rid of ALL THE THINGSSSS.
I am so glad to hear you say that about Nine Perfect Strangers. I was so excited to read it because I absolutely love her books-but I felt disappointed by the end of the book, 100%!
And one thing I am smiling about this week…we are painting my dining room this weekend!
Same!! It started off very interesting and had so much potential but got weirder and less believable as the book went on. I still liked it enough but definitely not one of her best books!
Can’t means Cait… I really must proof read before I post!
Oh my gosh, now I am realizing I haven’t cleaned my makeup brushes in ages, either. YIKES! Adding that to my to-do list this weekend. Also, thank you for the honest review on Liane Moriarty’s latest novel. I have been wanting to read it but am thinking I’ll start with one of her earlier works instead.
Absolutely start with one of her earlier books! If you end up liking her books it’s still worth a read and entertaining enough but definitely not one of her best!
I too just recently finished Michelle Obama’s book and loved it. I “read” it as an audio book which she narrates, so it was like she was telling the story. Loved it and was sad when I finished it! While I usually enjoy a good suspense novel or mystery, I will sometimes read a good memoir and then geek out on several of them. Some I have enjoyed are Roslyn Carter’s First Lady from Plains, Hillary Clinton’s Living History, Bill Clinton’s My Life, Laura Bush’s Spoken from the Heart, Madeline Albright’s Madam Secretary, Arthur Ashe’s Days of Grace, and Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime. But my all-time favorite has been Condoleezza Rice’s tribute to her parents, Extraordinary Ordinary People.
I completely agree with you on Nine Perfect Strangers. I flew threw it because it was good, but it just wasn’t her normal great book. I then read the new Kate Morton book and I usually love hers and this one was just kind of “meh”. So 2 disappointments while expecting to read something great.
And I love your new family room! The colors are so peaceful!
I was immediately going to suggest “Open” – but then I saw you mentioned it! I tell everyone about it. I really love listening (as opposed to reading) autobiographies, usually on my walks to work or if I’m on a long drive. Recently listened to Elizabeth Smart’s “My Story” and while it was heartbreaking, I definitely recommend. Right now I’m reading Carole Radziwell’s “What Remains”- will have to report back once I’m finished!
Thank you for these recommendations — love the idea of listening to them tell their own stories!
Aw no, I’m reading nine perfect strangers now, still have 16 hours on audio… but thanks for the honest review!
http://Www.themilestraveled.com
Happy New Year! Born a Crime (Trevor Noah) and My Beloved World (Sonia Sotomayor) are the best autobiographies I’ve read…
Born a Crime is one I actually have on my list! Thank you for the recs!!
I also preordered Nine Perfect Strangers and read it a little while ago and felt the same way as you when reading it. It was a good book but not her best. Your updated room is so pretty!! I hope you have a great weekend! Xoxo
Hi there! What color did you use in your living room? I am on the hunt for the right color for our office and have a blue/gray in mind, but when it comes down to picking one out, suddenly everything is too blue or too gray!
I know EXACTLY what you mean! Who knew selecting a gray could be so complicated!? We went with Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams and are so happy with it!
On the memoir front, definitely check out A Mind Unraveled by Kurt Eichenwald. I just read it a few weeks ago and couldn’t put it down!
I’ve been thinking about surprising my 3 yr old girly with an instax camera! I think she would LOVE it so much. She goes around pretending to take pictures and says “say cheese!” while she holds her hands up to her eye. I’m glad Chase is loving his!
I’m currently reading Becoming right now and absolutely love it! I want to read What Happened next. If you are like edgier (?) books, Dan Savage’s American Savage made me feel all the emotions, whether you agree with everything or not, I think it’s nearly impossible not to enjoy this book
I don’t know if this book had already been mentioned, but I love Erin and Ben Napier from HGTV Home Town and their book, Make Something Good Today is on the top of my reading list!
I just read Thirst by Scott Harrison if you want a nice autobiography. He founded charity:water but used to be a club promoter. It’s interesting, uplifting, and a fairly quick read.
Love your blog! This Amazon deal on Instax film just popped up in my FB feed and I remembered the sweet story you posted about Chase and his camera this morning. Let me know if the link doesn’t work when copied because I don’t know if you have to be in the FB group to access it. https://www.facebook.com/1668446126725693/posts/2250765168493783?sfns=cl
It won’t let me delete my comment, but it looks like it is no longer valid. 🙁
That is so sweet that Chase loves his Instax. And that it was such a heartfelt gift made me cry. My 2 girls have Instax and they take pics of their friends and make their own yearbooks. It’s so cute!
I would recommend the memoir “Educated” by Tara Westover. It’s one of the best books I read last year!
If you are looking for a good memoir/autobiography, you MUST read Educated.
What a lovely gesture from your blog reader to send Chase the camera. There are some lovely people out there. ?
Hope you are all having a great weekend! That little camera is such a cute idea for kids! I’m really looking forward to when my daughter can sit through a whole disney movie! So far we can only do like 10-20 minute increments of anything before she’s “all done” haha she’s only 19 months though. This disney gal cannot wait!
Last week, the slightly early run rises really made me smile – they made my morning runs so enjoyable. ?
I also enjoyed Big Little Lies and What Alice Forgot. My favourite memoir is Noah’s Born a Crime – I really recommend it as an audiobook as this platform was born was Noah’s brilliant narrative – my boyfriend and I enjoyed listening to it together a lot. I also enjoyed Tara Westover’s Educated – it’s disturbing at times but tells a very compelling story.
Hope you had a lovely weekend with you boys and wishing you a wonderful start of this week.
1. Your living room looks so good!
2. Sadie is so cute all cuddled up in the background of the picture of Chase!
3. I also read Nine Perfect Strangers and while I enjoyed it, especially the characters, I agree that it was a bit far fetched especially the twist in the middle ?
This is an older memoir, but The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom is an amazing memoir from a woman who spent time in a Nazi concentration camp during WWII. She’s a Christian who was caught helping Jews and her faith is woven beautifully throughout her memoir.
What is that book you read in one day that was on your insta story?
Where the Crawdads Sing — It was wonderful!
Okay Julie -2 questions! One- where did you find your beautiful living room rug ? I love the blue and white combo:) And two- how the heck do you keep white couches and chairs clean with 2 little boys?! We have a gray sofa and I constantly feel like our two little ones are getting fingerprints, dirt and stuff all over it 🙁
Hi Julie,
Wondering if you mind sharing what size you got in the letterpress art – whether it was the 8 x 8 or 11 x 11? Thanks so much!