Things I’m Loving Friday #444

Hello, hello! Friday is here and I am ready for another fun fall weekend! I have plans with friends this evening — a  baby sprinkle that’s taking the form of a night out for dinner and drinks to celebrate my friend Carrie’s third baby — and then the rest of the weekend is pretty open with a birthday party and plans to attend the local Renaissance Festival on the agenda, too.

I hope to have a recap up to share with you guys on Monday but until then, let’s keep things moving and dive right into this week’s roundup of favorites, Things I’m Loving Friday style. Enjoy your weekend, my friends!

Things I’m Loving Friday

• Celebrating Ryan’s 39th Birthday

We celebrated Ryan’s 39th birthday on Wednesday — the final year of his 30s. Whaaat!? It’s crazy to me that this is the 18th birthday I’ve celebrated with him! Now we have three kids in the mix to make him feel extra loved and they did just that by creating a birthday scavenger hunt for Dad to kick off his special day! Ryan also let the boys pick out the flavor for his birthday cake so we dug into Oreo Funfetti cake topped with random number candles in from our birthday box because we still cannot locate our birthday candles in the millions of boxes in our rental house right now.

I also wanted to share the above pic I shared yesterday on Instagram for myself more than anything so I can remember this crazy phase of life. There’s no one else I’d want to live out the chaos with every day than Ryan and I’m very grateful for another year with him!

• Disney on Ice

(Black bodysuit / High-Rise Jeans / Shoes / Bag) 

I never ended up sharing a weekend recap on Monday so I didn’t get the chance to highlight our family’s Disney On Ice experience. We took the boys to the 11 a.m. show on Saturday and they loved it! The high point for Rhett came when Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck and Goofy skated out and he yelled “Minnie!” over and over again at his favorite mouse! (He thinks Mickey is Minnie and if you correct him you will face the wrath of a two-year-old. This is a battle I’m not willing to face so Mickey is Minnie in our house right now.)

The theme of the show this year was Frozen and Encanto and our boys don’t care much about Frozen but they were still quite into that portion of the show. Encanto was where it was at for our crew during the second half of the show though and we loved watching the performances to our favorite Encanto songs. (I think the entire arena sang “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”) It was a great show for our two big kids and Rhett hung in there for about 2/3 of the show until he was over it and played with cars in the hallway with Ryan as Chase, Ryder and I watched the last bit of the show together. Ryan and I left Disney On Ice thinking it just miiight be time to plan our first trip to Disney with the boys…

• Most Dangerous Place by James Grippando

My rating: A-

I’ve read a handful of novels from James Grippando’s Jack Swyteck series and have enjoyed all of them so far. While I read them way out of order, I like the fact that each book reads as its own standalone story so I never feel like I have to know what happened in previous novels to enjoy the books in this series. They’re legal thrillers with a likeable main character and Most Dangerous Place was the latest Jack Swyteck book I read and enjoyed.

The book begins with criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck awaiting the arrival of his longtime friend Keith Ingraham at the Miami airport. Keith planned a trip back to Miami from his home in Hong Kong with his wife Isa and their daughter Melany for an important surgery to help Melany’s hearing. As the three enter the terminal, Isa is arrested right before Jack’s eyes. Keith is confused, Isa is scared and Jack immediately goes into lawyer mode.

Isa is accused of plotting to kill the man who sexually assaulted her in college. Jack agrees to represent his friend’s wife but the path to defending her is anything but easy as he struggles to sort facts from fiction and is increasingly unsure about who he can trust.

• Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

My rating: B- (I struggled to rate this book. I really enjoyed the first half but the reasons I mentioned below really brought the rating down for me. It’s not a book I’d tell others they should never read though and I think it could be a good fit for the right audience.) 

This was my latest audiobook listen and man oh man was it a wild ride. I initially was captivated by the storyline. Two of the main characters appeared twisted and mysterious and there was a hefty mix of scandal, unease, drama and past-meets-present intrigue.

Fast forward a bit and a sprinkle of supernatural stuff started to happen. Nothing crazy and not enough for me to feel like the book was misplaced in the thriller genre but then it kicked up a notch and just became so out there… and frustrating. I LOVE a good twist. When an author surprises me, it’s the best and the main twist in this novel wasn’t predictable at all — but how could it be when unanticipated supernatural stuff is involved? And I was absolutely surprised by the ending of this book. But, you guys, the ending made me so angry. I went to bed mad when I finished the book and woke up angry all over again. I don’t want to say much more than this about the ending but if you end up reading this book and want to chuck it across the room when you’re done, know I felt the same way.

(Worth noting: I did not read ANY reviews or plot summaries before listening to this book in the Libby app. I think reading some reviews ahead of time might have mitigated some of my negative feelings. If I went into this novel expecting some supernatural things to happen, I think my enjoyment of this book may have increased but I firmly believe I still would’ve hated the ending.)

Behind Her Eyes centers around a love triangle involving single mom Louise, a woman who shared a kiss with a man who instantly captivated her in a bar… A man she quickly comes to learn is her new boss, David. She quickly learns her boss is very much married to Adele, a stunningly beautiful woman she ends up bumping into at her son’s school drop-off one morning.

When Adele invites Louise to join her for coffee, Louise is convinced it will be a one-time friendly thing. But it’s not. Adele and Louise quickly become close and Louise is determined to keep things professional with her new boss.

The closer Louise becomes to Adele, the more she learns about David and the more unnerved she is for her friend. Who is this man? Why does he seem so controlling? Why does Adele seem scared of her husband?

• Friday Flashbacks

Favorite Halloween Books for Young Kids (We’re a sucker for seasonal books in our house and this list includes a bunch of not-too-spooky favorites.)

One Pot Chicken Cabbage Bowl with Sesame Ginger Broth (One of my all-time favorite blog recipes. Veggie-packed and so flavorful! For any Paleo friends, this one is Paleo-friendly, too.)

Question of the Day

What is one thing you’re loving this week?