This or That — Book Edition

Since getting involved with the "bookstagram" community, I've been even more book focused than usual, which is a lot. I found this awesome idea from McKenzie—fellow book lovers unite!—and just had to do it too. 

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buy new or buy used? 99% of the time I prefer used because I love the feeling of a worn book. However, if it's a book I absolutely love, getting a brand new copy for myself is such a treat. eat 
while your read or read while you eat? I prefer neither ha! I actually really don't love to eat while reading—it's too hard for me!  
re-read old favorites or pre-order upcoming possibilities? For loving books as much as I do, I think it's odd at how little I re-read books—there are just so many I want to read it feels hard to justify spending time on something I've already read! Unless I really, really love it. But preordering kind of gives me anxiety? Haha. I have a needy personality when it comes to books. If I read a synopsis and am really into it, I want the book immediately. Preordering is for patient people, which I am not ;) 
read every single word or skim at times? Definitely skim at times. I hate to admit I do it, but sometimes we gotta get back to the dialogue, OK? 
happy endings or tragic endings? Happy. I'm not here for a tragic ending, but I'm HERE for drama and for realistic endings if they can't be entirely happy. 
audiobooks or e-books? E-books all day. I can't focus on audiobooks for shit. 
multiple books or one book at a time? Ugh, I hate reading multiple books at once but I do it occasionally. It's usually because I started reading a physical copy of something and then also have an e-book I'm reading. 
mostly one genre or a little bit of everything? I definitely lean toward certain genres (romance, contemp fiction, historical, contemp YA) but I do dabble in other genres as well. Definitely working on broadening my horizons. 
lifelong obsession or later re-discovery? Life.Long.Hunni. 
classics — yay or nay? Ehh, after getting an English degree, I probably should say YAY but if I'm being honest, I'm more a nay right now (unless we're talking Lost Generation writers like Hemingway and Fitzgerald in which case always a loud YAY). I think I'm going to come back to the classics later in life and really enjoy them though.  read aloud to others or be read aloud to? Both sound kind of ehh for this introvert haha but I would say read aloud to others, especially since that's something I can't wait to do with children someday.
absolute silence or background music/noise? Both are fine. I can read under most circumstances.
cover on or naked? ON. They're gorgeous, people spend a ton of time designing them, why take them off? (Although inside covers are starting to get pretty treatments now too.)
bookmark or dog-ear? Dog-ear!!
movie cover or original? Original ugh please.
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Anyone reading anything good right now? Happy Tuesday!

Friday Favorites

Hi friends! It's been a minute over here. I wound up in the hospital with another bout with kidney stones a few days before Christmas, so dealing with that and all the madness that comes with the holidays and holiday aftermath, I haven't had much time or energy to blog.

The Friday before Christmas I woke up with some pretty uncomfortable symptoms of what I suspected was a UTI, so I planned to go urgent care before or after work, but on the way to work, the pain worsened and I realized I must have developed a kidney stone as well. Long story short, I hightailed it to the ER where we discovered I had not one but three stones, two of which were bilateral which required bilateral stents be placed in. I've had one stent in my kidney and bladder before, but not two, and I can say the last two weeks haven't been fun. They're just uncomfortable almost all day long, especially when you go to the bathroom, and I'm on several medications that have made me feel all sorts of irregular and just not myself, so I'm really excited that I'm having them removed along with one remaining stone I have left (apparently I passed the other two last week!) on Monday. 

Definitely not a favorite haha but having everything removed and hopefully getting back to normal IS. And then they're supposed to run more tests afterward to figure out why I produce stones at such a rapid speed for my age.

ANYWAY

I have a life lately/favorites post that I had written for the Friday I ended up in the hospital, and even though it's kind of outdated/belated stuff, I still want to post it for documenting purposes. I also want to recap Christmas for sure. So those things aside, here are some favorites lately, starting with this view and the lovely winter bouquet Sammy's parents brought me the night I came home from the hospital.

-This was my first week back at work after being off for ten days. Those days were so nice, especially while I tried to manage my pain level. Having the time off was definitely a favorite, as is working for a company that is so flexible they let me work from home at the end of last week (which made it feel like I was off, even though I technically wasn't) and having a short this week was amazing as well.

-This Eddie Bauer coat is definitely a new favorite. Chelsie has one and wore it while we were in NYC and I loved it so much, I knew I was going to add it to my Christmas list. I don't own anything in this "peacock" color and I'm super into jewel tones right now, so I'm digging it. It's incredibly light (it's down feather) easy to move in, which I love because I haaaaate constricting coats more than anything, but I can't believe how warm it keeps me. Highly recommend (and it's on sale right now!)

-These last few weeks have been so good with Sammy. We've been able to spend a ton of time together because I've been home during the day when he's home before he goes to work. It's been awesome to have that extra time together while still getting my own alone time too.

We've spent a lot of time (okay, all our time) on the couch because I haven't been feeling up for doing much, but also 'cause we're super lazy in general. It's been fun to spend more time in our basement (I'll read while Sammy plays video games) on the couch that's scary comfortable. We even turned our fireplace on one afternoon.

-In wedding-related news, we booked our photographer! I'm so excited to have that vendor taken care of because they're already booking up for 2020! Crazy. Isn't her grid so beautiful? She's the sweetest and I'm so excited to meet her when we do our engagement pictures. 

-I got this AWESOME Monopoly game from my mom for Christmas ;) these are my four favorite ladies.

-And, a surprise to no one, the obsession continues. Love these books I received as well.

-Speaking of, I'm reading Last Christmas in Paris and am totally enthralled with it. I started it before the year was over and wanted to finish closer to Christmas since it felt rather festive, but I didn't get around to it. Luckily, it isn't an overtly festive read, so it doesn't feel weird to read it now.

It's so good. It's set during WWI and told almost entirely through letter correspondence, which makes it a relatively quick read. I can't wait to finish and see how it ends and I definitely want to read all the things these women have written.

-On the book front, I managed to reach my reading goal just under the wire! I did read about ten super easy, romantic-comedy type books, which makes me feel like I cheated a tiny bit, but they're still books! And they still took time to read! ;) Upping it to 55 books this year. My goal is to eventually average around 60.

 -My mom also got me the Barefoot Dreams blardigan everyone in blogland talks about and it is as good as they say. I definitely wouldn't spend the money on it myself even though I KNOW I'm going to wear it an obscene amount and it would be worth the investment, but it's a lovely gift to receive. It kept me very cozy this week at home, as did the cabin socks pictured below that I'm now obsessed with as well.

-I was gifted several self-care related items like bath bombs and face masks aka my favorite things, so I spent one afternoon finally breaking in our bath. Disappointed to find that our stopper is faulty and I had to refill the bath twice before calling it quits haha. Hopefully we can get that fixed because I would love to be able to take baths throughout the winter.

-A definite favorite: when Sammy picks up soup for me even though I insist I'm not hungry even though I really am and just didn't feel like getting up to cook anything haha.

-I had a surprise day date with Chelsie last week which was so nice. We got lunch at Benedict's in downtown CL—I had their "holiday panini" turkey, brie, and a cranberry-orange relish on ciabatta bread—and got our nails done.

-I took more staged photos of my ring because I can't help myself. That's the ornament I got Sammy this year. It has an image of how the constellations looked the night we got engaged on the back.

-This guy finally started using his bed for napping. And is getting HUGE.

 -Henry had a rough night one night last week (he threw up three times) and by the morning, he was not having it in his crate anymore, so I took him downstairs and thought he would be fine to be in the kitchen for a little while by himself so I could go back to sleep for a bit (we do this a lot on the weekends so he can play in the kitchen or just stretch out while we're still waking up), but he was also not having that and wouldn't stop crying, so momma came down and laid on the couch with him.

Which lasted approximately thirty seconds when he left to go sit at the other end of the couch so he could look up the stairs and wait for Sammy to come down.  He loves his Dad. No appreciation for what his mother does ;)

-We spent the last three days of our break watching a ton of TV which ended up feeling kind of gross haha but I couldn't muster the energy to do much because my symptoms were rather unpredictable. All our favorite Disney and childhood movies were on last week, so couch time was rather well spent.

-Sammy had to work NYE which was good 'cause I didn't feel like going out or doing much. It was a little lonely throughout the day after he left for work, but I tried to keep a little busy by taking down all the Christmas decorations (aside from our trees and garland which we'll take down this weekend), cleaning our bathroom, and making Marcella Hazan's pasta sauce for dinner. It's an incredibly easy recipe, and I've always wanted to try it, and it turned out awesome. I served it with herb chicken tortellini, Italian bread, and the tomato cucumber salad Sammy loves.

-We ate early in the evening, so I had some snacks waiting for us when Sammy got home from work. We watched a few episodes of Hoarders (we're weird) before switching to a NYE countdown.

-It was really special to ring in the New Year with my two boys. I've never had such a low key NYE. Usually I'm at my mom's (which I definitely did miss this year, I won't lie) with my whole family or with a big group of friends. But this year it felt fitting to be in our new home, just us three.

-The last day of "break" included two movies I've been wanting to see (Cockblockers—funny, Bad Mom's Christmas—not so funny), getting a little organized for the week, and pup naps.

-Sammy picked up something for dinner while he worked, and I had leftovers so I didn't have to cook. And finished the night off with some tea and animal crackers from Aldi. Seriously, get some if you have an Aldi near you. 

-On Wednesday night just as I was getting home I was thrilled to hear Sammy had already eaten at work because I just haven't been on a cooking kick as you can tell from the 100 times I've mentioned it in this post. So I made myself a snack plate and lived my best while watching To All the Boys I've Loved Before for the 78th time. HOW PUMPED are we for the news about the sequel?! Just me? I need a release date stat.

I think that's it for me! We're having dinner at Sammy's brother's tonight which I'm excited about because we don't get to spend enough time with them. Tomorrow my dad's family is having a Christmas party, and Sunday I'm so looking forward to relaxing all day, doing some laundry and meal prep since I know I won't want to cook after my surgery on Monday, and watching the Golden Globes—I love award season!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! xo

*linking up with Andrea!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, all!
I'm very much looking into sleeping in this weekend. That's for sure going to be a "favorite" ;) but let's get into some other ones first.

-I got this bag from Costco last week and I'm in love with it. It's enormous and fully insulated so it will keep things hot and cold. When I'm trying to eat well, I take a lot of prepped food to work so having a bag that will keep my haul cold while I'm on the train is awesome. 

I brought it with to the family picnic on Sunday and it held all my stuff with so much extra room. I love the design and I know we'll get a ton of use out of it on future picnics, beach trips, running errands, etc. Best part? It was $8. OKAY, Costco. I see you.

-Another Costco favorite: new sweats. Literally been waiting to buy clothes at Costco. It's become a very weird thing of mine. These are amazing. They're lightweight, which is how I like my sweats, super soft, and I live in them the second I get home from work. The sweatshirt has a semi-quilted detail on the sleeve which makes it appear more expensive than it is.

  
I sized up like several sizes because they seemed to run small and the last thing I need are fitted sweat pants... sounds like my personal nightmare.
Also best part: the were like $10 and $12. I'll be buying every color, ok, bye.

-Speaking of eating better, here's my haul from last week. I wouldn't necessarily say eating better is a "favorite" of mine because I generally enjoy food that is honestly just bad for you ;) but having my body feel better from eating cleaner food is a favorite for sure. 

-Goodreads has become a favorite this week despite my initial strong dislike for it. I should be the last person to dislike a site like Goodreads since I love books so much, but there was something about the format that was off putting to me so I never really utilized it. But then this week I saw someone pledge to do their reading challenge and was like, YEP, need to do that too even though we're already more than halfway through the year... and I went and pledged to read 75 books. Have only read 11 so far. So pissed about it. But I'm determined to get real close to that number by the end of the year considering I have about 20 books already started. I've been adding every book ever to my profile which has forced me to go through all the stacks in my room and it's brought me so much joy this week. Add me if you're on there! 

-My Dad and I are going to see John Mellencamp this weekend at Ravinia and I'm so excited. I got him tickets for Father's Day and have been looking forward to it since. Last year around this time we saw John Fogerty and we loved him. So I'm thinking this might be a new tradition for us. 

-Scandal. I forgot how much I love Scandal. I binged the shit out of that show the last few days in order to finish season five and six so I'm ready for season seven in October and now I can't wait. I have no idea where they're going to go with season seven now that there's a new president in town, but that makes me even more pumped for it, especially since it's the final season.

-I'm starting to see Halloween and other holiday pins infiltrate my Pinterest feed and I couldn't be more excited for it. I'm SO pumped for the holidays, it's crazy. Definitely need to write up my Fall Bucket List and post it on here.

-I saw on Cup of Jo that CVS started carrying several Korean beauty products and they were talking about the JJ Young Pore Steaming and Cooling mask. Apparently, it gives your skin this steaming sensation which opens up all your pores to release all the junk and then it finishes with a cooling sensation. I rarely need to be convinced to try any kind of mask and this was certainly no exception. It sounds awesome, so I ordered it ASAP. Can't wait to try it out.

I hope everyone has a fun weekend!

xo

Five on Friday

Friday, Friday! This week has felt longer than usual with our bosses over in Italy for a book fair (and me, here, trying to prove I can hold down a fort), so I'm happy we've made it to the weekend.

I got some rando thoughts and opinions below (what else is new?), so, fair warning. 

-One-

This Sunday is my and Sammy's sister-in-law's first baby shower! Her momma is throwing her one and has kept everything (except the date, of course) a surprise for her. And since she's been in the dark, that means I have too, so I'm excited to see how all the little details come together. 

Since Sammy's mom is throwing her another shower next month, Sammy and I will give them our gift then, but I didn't want to go to this shower empty handed. Sammy's brother had mentioned adding a few Chicago Bears items to the registry, which is wife promptly removed haha. So I took it upon myself to make up a little sports themed gift to give them. 

  

I ended up finding a few cute things on Amazon (of course) that I've been hoarding for a few months now. I went with this cute board book, a Bears outfit, and little Bears "tennis shoes".

And while I'm not particularly fond of football, there is a sport I'm very fond of...

And since we're champions, this was necessary ;)

Sammy's family are all Sox fans (just my luck, right?), but his SIL and I are Cubs fans, so we made a promise to one another that when we each had kids, we'd make sure to buy them Cubs gear. 

Naturally the World Series onesie was the first purchase.

I also went with this book because it was one the baby can definitely grow into as it's more text heavy than some other "baby" books. I can't wait to read this to him or her so they can hear about the greatest place on earth.

I thought I was done, but the gift still felt a little incomplete (even though I swear Sammy and I have a plethora of stuff we're giving this baby at the next shower). I ended up finding this toy on Amazon for $20! And that one-click buy button makes it too damn easy. 

Can't wait to celebrate this baby and their parents this weekend!

-Two-

I mentioned in my last post that I've started to feel differently about weddings. Or rather, my personal opinions about my own wedding (when, where, how) as I've watched friends start to (and finish) planning their own. 

I always thought I would want this huge, glamorous event and I'd have all these binders and checklists to keep me organizing while planning. But after going to a planning session with my best friend and seeing the nitty gritty of wedding planning, I've decided to kind of go away from that. Not that I don't want a glamorous wedding, definitely do, I think it will just be a different kind of glamorous. I basically want to get married in a field, under a willow tree, and have our favorite neighborhood Italian place cater it, and we'll all eat and dance under a white tent. 

  

Despite having reservations about marriage and a wedding (even though I've been in a long term relationship for a decade), I've always had about 37 wedding boards. Like seriously, one for everything you could think of. Flowers, dresses, decor, random advice, rings, photography, shoes, vows, etc., (I know, crazy right?) About a month or so ago, I got kind of weird about it and made almost all of them "secret". All of a sudden there was something special to me about keeping them private with just myself, not that I think people are holding their breath to see my psychotic number of wedding boards. I only have a few left public, one being my ring board just in case a certain someone wants to take a look ;) I went through it last week and deleted every ring pin except for like two. That look exactly the same. Not subtle, at all. 

I guess all of this is to say that I feel like I'm getting way closer to being ready. Like feeling pretty "normal" about the whole thing which is a huge jump from where I used to be. And it feels really, really good. 

-Three-

Well I start therapy next Saturday. Nice segue, huh? If you couldn't tell from my number two, I have a few things I could probably work through ;) 

I'm actually really excited about it and feel like it's a smart connection to make. I'm hoping to meet with her on an as-needed basis whenever things come up that I'd like to talk through. Especially with Sammy officially in the world of law enforcement, having a neutral party to reach out to if my concerns/worries start to feel overwhelming will be awesome. 

For me, therapy is an act of self-care which is so important for our well being. Plus being open about mental health is something I feel strongly about which is why I have no issue mentioning it here. 

I was excited to read in her bio that while she focuses on traditional cognitive therapy, she also incorporates solution-focused therapy and meditation into her sessions which was a huge draw for me. Also, I accidentally on purpose found her on Pinterest and I'd like to be bffs with her which is obviously a really healthy reaction ;)

Anyone have any awesome experiences going to therapy?

-Four-

Books, man. I love them so much and I'm unapologetically dramatic about it. But I haven't been reading nearly as much I should/want to. Last week I started See Me by Nicholas Sparks because I thought it would be a quick read and because I'm an idiot. It was so bad. I think people are constantly confusing the appeal of the movie adaptations with his actual writing talent. I know that sounds super mean, but it's just not good. So I decided I had to get back to being a little more filtered in my reading choices...

 This month I've made a goal to read at least four books and work back up from there. I've also made a goal to stop reading shitty books for the sole reason of finishing them.

On the middle grade/YA front:

Because (from left to right):

-This is a middle grade that came out in March and has been receiving a lot of lovely reviews. The young boy who is the protagonist is recording messages on his iPod to send up to space in his rocket, like Carl Sagan did with the Voyager Record, in hopes of connecting with extraterrestrial life. Heavier topics like an absent father and distant mother are woven subtly throughout. I haven't finished, but so far it's lovely and so funny in the most effortless way. Plus, look at that cover. I mean, come on.

-I think I'm last to jump on the Nicola Yoon train, who seems so charming. I recently heard they're making Everything, Everything into a movie so I knew I wanted to read before it came out. Her second book that came out last year has been consistently getting rave reviews, so I think it's time I check her out. 

-There's no explanation needed for this, but of course, I have one. They're also making this into a movie (Hugh Jackman signed on!) and as if I wasn't already embarrassed enough for having not read this yet, the movie announcement definitely pushed me to move this to the top of my to-read pile. I think Sherman Alexie is a literary genius, especially for a younger audience and I'm so glad they're making this into a movie because the more adaptations of his work out in the world the better. 

On the adult front: 

  

Because (from left to right):

-I actually received this ARC yesterday and finished it last night. I'll talk more about it in my review I'd like to do at the end of this month. The author began writing it as vignettes, so the "chapters" aren't really chapters as they're typically around 2-3 pages each. At first I kept reading because it seemed to be good research from a writing technique standpoint, but then the story sucked me in. It's pitched as Me Before You meets One Day, which I guess I agree with, but I didn't like either of those stories haha but I definitely enjoyed this. It also made me want to read Bridges of Madison County because it has a similar vibe and I remember the movie haunting me the first time I saw it. 

-I ordered this on Amazon because it seems like every other blog post I read mentions this author! And it seems pretty unanimous that this is her best book, so I grabbed it because I felt like I needed more adult (non-overly-literary) fiction in my life. 

Has anyone read any of these? What did you think?

-Five-

I got back on the Rent the Runway wagon. I've rented two dresses from there before and while I liked my experience renting from them, the dresses didn't end up looking like I wanted to. That's primarily because I chose dresses that weren't the most flattering option for my body type #classic but I think I nailed it this time around. 

I reserved two fancy skirts for two bridal showers I have at the end of this month: 

  

And a chiffon maxi dress for my SIL's baby shower in May:

I'm anxious to get them and try them on!

Has anyone had experience with their Unlimited Membership? The price tag seems a little heavy at first, but I became more intrigued as I kept thinking about it. If anyone has tried it, let me know!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

xo