Tag Archives: audible pick of the month

Currently Obsessed With: April 2016

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Currently Obsessed With is a once-a-month (but sometimes more) feature where I talk about about my favorite things from the last month!

Currently Obsessed With

It’s May!  I can’t believe it’s May already!  I found a dress for my cousin’s wedding this month- I’m glad I found one, because I kept putting it off, and if I hadn’t found one…I think I would have been scrambling!  And I’ve been feeling a little sick for the last week or so, but I think I’m mostly over it, so that’s good.  Other then dress-shopping and and feeling a little sick, April was pretty boring, but at least this month will be really fun!  Plus, my birthday’s this month too, so that makes it even better!

Crochet:

I’ve been crocheting a lot this month!  I’ve made slippers (that ended up being a little too big, but whatever), a soap saver, and I’ve finished a couple of blankets.  I’m still working on one for me (using this pattern, it seems to be my go-to pattern for blankets), and I’ll be adding yellow next, then blue, and after that, I’m not sure.

Crochet- April 2016 Collage

I really like the idea of granny square blankets.  For one thing, it’s really easy, and after about 3 or so rows, I don’t have to think about it, because it’s so repetitive- in a good way, though.  Two, it’s easy to make it as big or as small as you need it to be.  I’ve used the same pattern for 3 finished blankets, and one currently in progress, and it’s easy to customize the size to what you want/need it to be.  And three, you don’t need to worry about the sides getting all crooked, or stitch count or anything.  Which is partly why it’s such an easy pattern.

I really wish I thought to get a picture of the soap saver before I starting using it.  This pattern is pretty awesome, but I don’t know that it’s best if you’re using the last little bits of the soap bar. They keep coming out, so if I make another one, I might try going down a hook size or two to see how that works.

I have a few projects in mind, so I might start on one of those.  Especially since it’s going to start getting a lot warmer, and working on a blanket won’t be very practical.  It’s big enough to cover me up when I’m working on it, and it’s pretty warm, so I might have to set aside once it gets too warm to work on it.

Books:

Not a lot of book buying happened last month.  I got Naughts & Crosses from Audible, and I have a bunch of e-books on hold for the library- I’m hoping I get at least some of them in time for my trip up to Oregon, but even if I don’t, I still have plenty of reading material!

T.V./Movies:

I finished re-watching Grey’s Anatomy, and I’ve since picked up my re-watch of NCIS!  That’s really it, other than my random assortment of shows I watch.  Plus the stuff on my Netflix queue that I’ve been putting off in favor of re-watching Grey’s and NCIS.

As for movies, I’m excited about seeing Captain America!  Really, really excited!  I never did make it to see Allegiant, but I know there’s another one coming out next year, so I’ll just have to catch up before then.

Around The Internet:

This post about criticizing characters with mental illness very accurately describes my struggle with reviewing diverse characters in general.  It’s very interesting to think about!

I love, love, love this post at The Perpetual Page Turner about reading Harry Potter at the age of 30.  All experiences with Harry Potter are magical!

And reading as a blogger vs reading as a reader…this post is worth checking out!  How I read now is very, very different, but I think it’s still possible to read as a reader/for pleasure instead of reading critically.

I’ve been on an enchilada kick lately, and these chicken and spinach enchiladas look really, really good!  Having I don’t know how many things of chicken in the freezer because of 50% off sales on chicken at the grocery store almost every single time I go means I need a lot of chicken recipes. Good thing I have some shredded chicken in the freezer!

I don’t usually make pancakes, and when I do, I definitely reach for the box of Bisquick, but these Funfetti pancakes look really good.

I do tend to eat oatmeal for breakfast during the week, and this DIY oatmeal packet seems like a far easier and cheaper option than buying the pre-made packets!

Music:

I haven’t been listening to much music, but there are a few songs I’ve been listening to a lot!  I’m feeling lazy, so no spotify this time, but maybe next month, I’ll have more new music!

  • Piece by Piece by Kelly Clarkson.  For some reason, this song makes me cry.  A lot.  But I love it anyway!
  • Also: 7 Years by Lukas Graham.  A couple lines make no sense (and one sort of bothers me), but overall, I really like this song!
  • And New Romantics by Taylor Swift.  I’ve been listening to it a lot lately.

Have an awesome week!

Currently Obsessed With: September 2015

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Currently Obsessed With is a once-a-month (but sometimes more) feature where I talk about my favorite things and some of the cool stuff that’s been going on.

Currently Obsessed With

I have to admit that September was really boring!  Honestly, though, it’s been so hot that all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and do absolutely nothing except browse Etsy and Pinterest with NCIS on in the background.  Now that it’s October…holy crap, it’s October!  That means NaNoWriMo is just weeks away…and the outline I said I was going to do almost a year hasn’t really happened.  I’ve read through it, and I have little chapter summary things for about half the chapters.  I’ll do what I can, and just go from there.  I’ll probably talk a little more about what I’m writing later on in the month. Once I have a better idea of what’s going on and once I’ve actually put some effort into it.

Crochet:

Once again, I haven’t been crocheting a lot.  Which means I’m still working on that dishcloth.  I did start a washcloth, since I have a somewhat decent amount of cotton yarn I’m trying to use up, but I’ve had to frog it 2 or 3 times. Row 5 is give me some major issues.  Maybe I need to do it at home?

I do want to make this crochet headphone hat for part of my Halloween costume, since it’s the cheaper option of trying to find some of the old-school headphones.  I think this Unicorn hat might be my official NaNoWriMo hat this year.  I’ll have to learn the magic circle, but it’s about time I learned it anyway, since I tend to stay away from projects that only have the magic circle as an option.  It could be fun to crochet a fun hat every year for NaNo- last year I wore the Princess Anna hat, and while I could wear again, I really like that Unicorn hat.  I definitely need to look through my stash to see what yarn I have and what yarn I might need to get.  I’m positive that I have most of the yarn I’ll need, so I won’t need to buy that much if I do need to buy any.

I’m also thinking of doing some sort of yearly crochet project.  I did the post-a-day project a few years ago, and this is a weekly nail polish project, and the idea of doing something crochet-related would be really cool.  I’m not sure if I wanted to go with doing something daily, which is a lot of pressure, and will be more challenging during certain times of the year, so I’m sort of hesitant about that.  I do like the idea of weekly, or maybe something everything month.  At any rate, I do have a few possibilities, and I have plenty of time to figure out the details.

Books:

I didn’t do a lot of book buying this month- just Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone and my audible pick. This month, though, there are some books I need to have.  Notably, the Night Vale book, Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, and The Iron Warrior by Julie Kagawa.  And next month is Winter!

Since I mentioned Audible, I chose The Wrath And The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh as my book.  I’ve wanted to read it for a while, and I specifically went with the audio because of the narrator.  I loved Delawari’s narration in The Secret Sky, to the point where I added a book or two to my TBR because she narrates it.

I’m currently getting one book a month, but I’m strongly considering upgrading to two-book-a-month plan since I’ve been listening to quite a few audio books lately.

T.V./Movies: 

I am so glad that fall t.v. is coming back!  Granted, almost half of what I watch is on Thursdays…which makes me very glad I have Hulu.  Or maybe I need to drop some shows, but I don’t see that happening.

I’m still watching NCIS, and I watched a few episodes of The Walking Dead, but I haven’t gone back to it.  I might but I haven’t really thought about it.

Around The Internet:

You can see all of the Around The Internet things over on pinterest!

The next time I need a color scheme for something, I’m going right to Design Seeds.  I’ve been a fan for a while.

I am in love with this lamp.

The Harry Potter Alliance does some great work.  Donating is worth every cent if it means they can keep up the awesome work.  Three words: Granger-Lovegood shirts.

Ask Polly: Why Is Everyone Succeeding Except Me really hit home.

I have been eternally grateful for this cookbook, since the crock-pot means I don’t have to turn on the oven or stand over the stove in 90 degree weather.  I really need more crock-pot cookbooks.

Book Riot has a couple of especially awesome posts: the hysterical book contacts post and the awesome heart-warming post about getting Some Girls Are to teens.

Libraries are doing awesome things.

Read The World is one of my new favorite blogs.  I really need to spend some more time looking through their recommendations.  Food52 and The Kitchn are two new food blog favorites.

Music/Podcasts:

I feel like I’ve sort of ignored this part of my monthly recap posts this year, and right now, I’m not sure if I want to keep it going.  I don’t know if it’s just been non-music year, and I know over the last month, I haven’t been in a big podcast mood.  Hopefully, that will change (and soon!) but until then, this may be a sporadic thing.

Today, I am going to share some of my favorite audio book narrators, since I’ve been listening to a few audio books.

  • Khristine Hvam and Kevin Collins, who have narrated the Beautiful Creatures and Dangerous Creatures series. I’ve added some books narrated by Hvam to my wishlist, even though there are quite a few that I already have copies of because she narrates.  I haven’t looked at anything else Collins has narrated, but I really need to do that.
  • Kyla Garcia, who narrated Joyride by Anna Banks.  I haven’t looked at other books she’s narrated yet, but I like her a lot, and I will listen to anything that she narrates.
  • Ariana Delawari, who narrated part of The Secret Sky by Atia Abawi.  I’ve added books to my TBR because she narrates it.
  • Jessica Lawshe, who narrated A World Away by Nancy Grossman.  It’s too bad I can only find one other book narrated by her, because she is probably my favorite narrator to this point.

I was looking through my audio book shelf on goodreads recently, and realized I don’t even remember the narration or narrator for most of them.  There were a few I vaguely remembered liking, especially after looking at some of the books, but it’s amazing how few really stand out.  I think it’s safe to say that some of the ones that do stand out have been books I’ve listened to recently, so maybe they are on my mind at the moment.

That’s all for today, Happy Thursday!