Tag Archives: birthday

Currently Obsessed With: May 2020

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Good morning!

I can’t believe it’s June already.  This has felt like the longest and shortest year ever.  It’s been quite a year and we’re not even halfway through the year.  I have ventured out a little- grocery shopping and laundry, usually, but it’s nice to be somewhere that’s not home or work.  I got fish tacos and they were really good.  Like, they were better than normal.  Maybe it’s because I haven’t had any for a while.

Anyway, here is how May went for me.

Inspired By:

  • Subscription boxes.  I have a few I’m getting.  A couple are still pretty new, so I’ll hold off on talking about those for now.  But I’ve been getting the Feeling Fab box (May’s box is pictured below) for just over a year, and I’m really glad to have it!  I’ve been terrible about using the sheet masks and other beauty products included, but since my skin has been feeling dry and really irritated, I figured it was time to actually use of the things included.  I have been taking time to just settle down and it’s been nice, even if it’s for 10 or 15 minutes at a time.

  • CSA Box.  This was something I was thinking about in April, and I settled on the box from the W.D. Dickinson farm.  I’m getting a box every couple of weeks, and it’s been an adventure figuring out how to make things I don’t usually eat!

Watching:

  • October Faction.  I really liked this show.  I’m not sure if there’s going to be a second season, but if there is, I want to know what happens next.
  • The Order.  You can’t go wrong with secret societies, especially when family secrets are involved.
  • Outer Banks.  I don’t know why but the finding treasure aspect made me think of the Goonies.  It’s a pretty cool show though, and I really liked everyone trying to figure out what was going on.
  • Divergent.  I’ve been going through my movies, wondering if I donate some of the movies I haven’t watched to the library when it opens up.  I decided to watch Divergent because I couldn’t remember the last time I watched it.  I actually forgot how much I enjoyed the movie.  And the books, which I really want to re-read now.
  • Pride And Prejudice.  Like Divergent, I decided to watch the Keira Knightley version of Pride And Prejudice because I couldn’t remember the last time I watched it.  I enjoyed it, but I don’t know that I’ll watch it again.
  • Studio Ghibli movie marathon.  I watched Princess Mononoke, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle In The Sky.  I didn’t get to watch My Neighbor Totoro, but I’m definitely planning on watching that soon.  I forgot how much I love Studio Ghibli movies.

Reading:

Not a lot actually.  I’m just not in a reading mood right now, which is why reviews have been few and far between in May.  Hopefully, I’ll be back to reading soon.

Thinking About:

Disney.  I’ve had Disney on the brain lately.  I think I may need to have a Disney movie marathon.

Listening To:

  • The Bananas Podcast.  Sometimes, I just need some weird, random news, and this podcast definitely has it!
  • Audiomachine.  I came across them on a twitter thread of music recommendations.  I am glad I gave them a listen, because their music sounds like something from a movie.
  • Lady Antebellum.  I’m not sure why, but I have been in a Lady Antebellum mood lately.
  • Disney.  I’ve been in such a Disney mood lately, and I’ve been listening to the Disney playlist I made last year.

Dream Life:

  • Crochet.  I haven’t been crocheting, but I have been dreaming about it.
  • My grandpa.  It’s weird, because when I dream about my family, it’s my grandma who usually pops up.  But it was around the time my grandpa died, so that might be it.

Researching:

  • Sewing patterns/fabric.  For the sewing machine I got.  I’ve been looking at skirts, because I, for the life of me, can never find a skirt when I actually shop for clothes.  And I will need fabric for said skirts.  I feel like buying fabric would be a lot easier in person, but that is something I don’t want to do right now, so online it is.
  • Moisturizer.  My skin has been dry and irritated for the last few weeks, and I really want to find something that is both moisturizing and soothing.  My usual moisturizer is okay but not working the way I want it to, so it’s time to see what else is out there.

Eating+Drinking:

  • Smoothies.  I’ve been drinking a lot of smoothies lately.
  • Zucchini.  I don’t know why, but I’ve been eating a lot of zucchini.  I’m just going with it, honestly.
  • Starbucks!  I haven’t gone the last couple of months, but I have made the occasional stop now that some of the stores near me are opening up.

Grateful For:

  • Having a job.  I feel like this has come up a lot but I am still grateful to have a job to go to.
  • Taking time to relax.  I’ve taken quite a few baths, and a couple of times a week, I’ll just be in bed with a sheet mask on.  It’s nice to just sit and do nothing for a few minutes.

Good Things:

  • Registering for summer school.  I decided to go back to school, and I’m actually excited about it.  I’m taking math, English and medical terminology.  Hopefully, it’ll go well.  I’m not worried about English or medical terminology but math is not my strong suit, so I’m hoping I’ll do okay.
  • Sheet masks have been a godsend.  They’ve been really soothing for my face right now, and I found a few that I liked enough to order more.
  • My birthday!  I turned 34!  I didn’t do much but the Studio Ghibli movie marathon was what I did on my birthday.  I also made myself a chocolate cake, and it was really good.  Other than that, I didn’t do much.

That’s all for today, and I’ll be back with a couple of reviews soon.

See you soon and stay safe,

Currently Obsessed With: May 2019

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Hey everyone!  It’s actually good to be back with my monthly wrap-up feature, and I’m really hoping this will come back more regularly.

May was a pretty fun month!  It started off great with YALLWEST, which I already talked about here.  I’m not really going to talk about it again, but I had a lot of fun, and I can’t wait for next year!

So, this is an April thing, and not a May thing, but I have to share a picture of the cake we had at book club in April.  It’s too cool not to share.  I can’t believe it’s been a year already!  The cake was made by celestialsweets, and you can find her on instagram here, if you want to check out her other creations.  All of which look awesome, by the way.

I also had a birthday, which was fun!  I’m pretty sure I ended up with food poisoning, but at least I started feeling the effects of it at the end of the day.

I never realized how cool the benches were at Fiesta De Reyes.  I know that’s super random, but it’s true!  I love how they’re decorated.

Usually when I go to Old Town, I get my coffee and some candy, and leave but it was a nice day out, so I decided to wander around for a while.  I always get taffy, and every once in a while, I’ll add some other candy too.

Anyway, Cousins is an old-timey candy shop and it’s fun just to go in and look around.  Even though I didn’t get any tea this time, when I do, I always get the black currant tea and the peach white tea.  I also love their highlander grog coffee.  If you happen to be looking for recommendations for coffee or tea.

You thought you were done looking at benches, weren’t you?

You’d be wrong, because there’s one more!

It was definitely a good day to stop and admire this flowers.

And also these flowers.

Plus this really cool plant.

And a huge tree!

And I don’t know why, but I always have to look at this flagpole!

No birthday is complete without ice cream.

Oddly enough, I didn’t have cake…but I was in the mood for ice cream, that I sadly didn’t get a picture of.  I didn’t think of it until I was done eating.  And of course, since it’s me we’re talking about, I did get some yarn.

I’ve been thinking about making some washcloths and those little face scrubbies.  Since I don’t have a lot of cotton yarn in my stash right now, I stopped by my local yarn store and got some.  I have a few projects going on and I swear, there’s a post coming on what I’m working on.  Not today, because I have zero pictures, and when it comes to craft projects, it’s always fun to actually see them.

That’s all for today, and I hope you have a great day!

Currently Obsessed With: May 2017

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Currently Obsessed With is a once-a-month feature where I talking about my favorite things from the last month.

May was fun!  I find myself needing to review quite a few books…but unable to find the motivation to sit down and write them.  They will be coming, though, I promise.  Maybe I’ll start going to the library or Starbucks or something once or twice a week to get myself back into writing and blogging, since that’s the only place I seem to be productive these days.

For whatever reason, I’ve had a hard time writing at home, and I really have to sit down and force myself to do it. But if I’m not at home, I’m perfectly fine.  It’s weird, because while I’ve always managed to write at home just fine, it’s never been this hard.  I’m randomly in the mood to blog, but maybe the lack of motivation is a weird way to get me to take a break?  I haven’t really taken a break from blogging since I started back in 2010.  I can’t believe it’s been that long, but maybe it’s overdue.  I’ll be glad to get back to it consistently because I really miss it.

Books:

I did buy a few books last month!  I got The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye, Soldier by Julie Kagawa, and Binti and Hello, Moto, both of which are by Nnedi Okorafor.  I also got a couple of cookbooks: Joy The Baker’s Over Easy and Five Ingredients Or Less Slow Cooker Cookbook by Stephanie O’Dea.  Now that it’s summer, it’s pretty much time to dust off my crock-pot and find some new recipes.

I know it sounds weird, but I use the crock-pot more during the summer than any other time of year. It just gets so hot that I don’t want to turn on the oven or stand over a stove and cook anything, and the crock-pot is a pretty easy (and wonderful) way to cook that doesn’t require the oven or the stove.

I’m actually really excited about the slow cooker cookbook, because I really like her recipes- the ingredients are things I either have on hand, or things I can find easily at the grocery store.  I can’t wait to start making things from it.  I’m also really excited about the Joy The Baker cookbook too.  I have her other cookbooks, and I love her recipes, so I had no hesitation in ordering it online.

I also got The Rose And The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh and When Dimple Met Risha by Sandhya Menon from Audible.

Crochet: 

I’m still working on the blanket I mentioned last month!  I still don’t know what I’m going to work on when it’s too hot to work on it.  I’m going to have to find something in the next couple of weeks, because I figure by the end of the month, I’ll have to set it aside.

It might be the perfect time to work on a Viking hat- I’ve always wanted to make one, so I might start on that first. I also ordered a beginner embroidery kit from Etsy, since I’ve always wanted to try my hand at something besides crochet, and that seemed like a good start.

I also have this shawl that I started last year, and I’m considering going back to it.  It’s been in time-out for a long time, because the stitch count is completely off, and I didn’t want to keep going…but I also didn’t want to frog it either.  At this point, I’m considering frogging it and starting over, because being off on the stitch count is really bothering me.

Crocheting something that required a lot of attention during my lunch was not a good idea- I eventually switched over to projects that didn’t require any (or minimal) counting because then I wouldn’t lose track of where I was.

I’m also considering doing something made out of granny squares- I’m towards a blanket (of course) or a bag. Making the squares will be fun, but I’m a little hesitant because eventually I will have to put the squares together and there would be so many ends to weave in.  I have the feeling that they may sit there for a while before I get around to doing that.  By the time I have enough for some sort of project, summer would be over though.  Since I’m not sure what to make with them, I’d probably skip over the one method of attaching the squares where you do it as you go along.

T.V./Movies:

Let’s start with movies!  I saw Guardians Of The Galaxy, and it was fun.  Which wasn’t surprising, considering the first one was fun, but Groot was my favorite part of the whole movie.  I have the soundtrack, but have yet to listen to it- I liked the music but not as much as I like the music from the first Guardians Of The Galaxy.  I did really like a couple of the song, though.

I never made it to Everything, Everything, which I want to see, but I don’t know that I want to see it enough to see it in an actual theater.  Also, there aren’t a lot of showings, and none of the times work super well for me. They’re not horrible, but I don’t want to see the movie enough to make it work.

As for t.v., I’ve been watching The Crown on Netflix!  I really like Matt Smith in it, and I wasn’t sure if I’d like him in it.  And I’m not sure who’s playing Queen Elizabeth, but I really like her!  I also watched a few episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale, and I like it, but not as much as I thought.  It’s hard to watch- mostly because it’s something I can see happening.  Not to the degree that it’s happening in the show, of course, but so much of what’s happening seems so very familiar, and not in a good way.

I haven’t read the book, though, so I wonder if maybe that’s why I’m not as excited as I thought?  In a lot of ways, I’m glad I got to watch it before reading the book, because I don’t have the book to compare it too, and I can go into it with a fresh set of eyes.  Plus, the wait list for the audio book is really long- it’s narrated by Claire Danes, which I think will be cool/interesting.  I did try reading it a few years ago, but it didn’t work for me, so I’m hoping the audio will work better for me.

As for what to watch next…I’m not sure what to go with next.  Nothing is really jumping out at me, but I’m considering watching this series called The Keepers.  It’s about this nun who was murdered, and the connection it may have to a priest who was accused of abuse.  I’ve heard a lot about Anne With An E, so that’s on the shortlist. I’ve only the first couple of books, and that was when I first started blogging years ago, so maybe I’ll watch it and then re-read it.  And I haven’t watched the latest season of The 100, so I’m between those 3 for now.

I haven’t listened to many podcasts lately, so I’m super behind on those.  I’ve given up hope for catching up on Gilmore Guys and Alohomora- their episodes tend to be long (especially Gilmore Guys, those 3.5/4 hour episodes kill me sometimes), and it’s hard to get through anything that’s over an hour-and-a-half tops.  But since I’m not really in the mood to watch anything, maybe I’ll switch over to podcasts for a while.

Around The Internet:

  • I don’t think about what it’s like to be a truck driver, but this article about truck drivers is pretty interesting.
  • I always wonder about storing certain foods (especially produce), and this list of resources seems like it will be really helpful.
  • I really like this article about writing ASL.  It’s such a visual language, and I wonder if some of the points mentioned in the book are why I had major issues with Soundless by Richelle Mead.
  • There are two interesting articles about some of the changes made to what the Librarian Of Congress can do.  You can find them here and here.
  • I think trigger warnings are important, and I love this post about why they matter.
  • I’m still on the fence about watching 13 Reasons Why- I was not a fan of the book, and from what I’ve heard about the t.v. show (from sources I trust), I’m not sure it’s for me.  I do want to know what people are talking about, though, so maybe eventually?  At any rate, there are a ton of articles and blog posts about the series, and this is one of my favorite posts I’ve seen so far.
  • I have yet to see the video, but this article highlighting a panel Chimamanda Adichie and Trevor Noah did on cultural identity in both literature and life makes me want to watch it even more.
  • If you’re looking for podcasts about food & nutrition, this list might be a good place to start.  I haven’t listened to any of them, but a couple have caught my eye.
  • Speaking of food: I made this lemon chicken, and it was really good!  Unfortunately, I went to make it, only to realize I took out a package of chicken thighs and drumsticks instead of all chicken thighs, but it was still really good with the drumsticks.  If anyone is wondering.
  • I also really liked this recipe for skillet chicken, and I like the idea of this breakfast meal prep.  I usually stick with oatmeal, since that’s a lot easier for me to prep, but I might do this every once in a while.

Fun Things I Did In May:

  • I did a Star Wars pub trivia thing with some friends.  I am completely horrible with Stars Wars trivia, but it was still fun!
  • I went to a book signing for Injection Burn!  I know Jason, and it was great to go and support him and his book!
  • My birthday was a few days ago!  Car stuff took up part of my day- it turns out I had a nail in one of my tires, and that was why it randomly needed air, but thankfully it was able to be patched up.  I will need new tires pretty soon, though, but not right away.  On the plus side, my car is good, and there’s nothing wrong with it.
  • Back to my birthday!  I did wander around Old Town for a while.  They have this shop that sells coffee and tea, and I was in desperate need for both, so I stopped by and got some.  I love their Highlander Grog coffee and their black currant tea.  I also stopped to get some salt water taffy from Cousin’s Candy Shop, and it’s fun to see them pulling the taffy and cutting it up.  Plus, they usually have samples.
  • And I know I can buy olive oil and balsamic vinegar elsewhere (and for a lot cheaper) but I just really, really like this roasted garlic olive oil and fresh apple balsamic vinegar.  I also like that they have a tasting room, which I would never think to do.  And tacos!  It’s Old Town, so there are a ton of Mexican food restaurants, and since I was really hungry, I figured I might as well eat something, and fish tacos sounded really good.

June Things I’m Looking Forward To:

Honestly, it’s not much.  I am looking forward to the launch party for Now I Rise by Kiersten White, but that’s it. Maybe I’ll do something else, but who knows?  I have plenty of time to figure it out.

Music/Podcasts:

Well…I haven’t been listening to anything new, music wise.  I do have a couple of podcast recommendations I want to share.

  • I just started listening to The Baby Sitter’s Club Club, and even though I’ve listened to the most recent episode, plus their first episode, I am already a fan.  It makes me want to go back and re-read the series along with them, because I haven’t read those books in forever.  Even though it’s been a very long time since I picked up a BSC book, it’s still easy to follow along.
  • I also started listening to My Favorite Murder.  It’s worth checking out if you like true crime, and I think it’s pretty interesting.  I’m a few episodes behind, but I’m hoping I can get caught up soon.

That’s all for today!  Have a great Sunday!