The lilacs are just about done now and the bridal wreath is blooming instead. Summer is on the way, friends, and it’s a long weekend!
Have a great one!
Thursday Things
Happy Thursday! There were a few times this week when I thought this day would never get here. Now that it has I have 3 things to share with you: things I’m excited about right now.
- Plant shopping! We’ve had a super rainy spring and I’m way behind on getting things in the ground and in containers on the deck. BUT! Doreen is coming for the day tomorrow and we will be hitting my favorite local nurseries and planting will happen on Saturday. I think I’m going to go heavy on the coleus this year in the containers but I also need herbs and tomato plants and some other vegetable plants. Oh! And Dale built the raised bed for my cut flower garden last Sunday so I absolutely must get those seedlings in there this weekend. I’m exciting about playing in the dirt.
- Memorial Day Weekend is (just about) here! Hooray! It’s the true kick off to summer and I couldn’t be happier about that. I am truly excited about the deck and the pergola and driving the Mustang with the top down and just being outside as much as the weather allows. I look forward to these days all year long and I want to make the most of them.
- Summer Book Bingo! Yes, that’s right. Mary changed her mind and decided to set up Bingo cards and host a summer reading program after all. I printed out my card yesterday (I hit refresh A LOT until I got what I wanted) and I’ll be tracking all the books I finish from now until Labor Day. Will I get a cover all? Will I have to be creative with fitting the books I read into the squares I have? Stay tuned!
And that’s a wrap for this Thursday. If you wrote a post for today please share it so that we can all visit you and read it.
Watercolor Wednesday
It’s a week of meetings, my friends. One on Monday, three on Tuesday, two on Wednesday. You know what that means? Y’all get a watercolor photo today.
I’m trying for the serenity of garden buddha as I move through this week!
Thursday In New York City
Today I will wrap up our April vacation in New York City.
After 3 days of being on the go and up early, when Thursday came we all slept in (I was fighting off a lousy cough) and checked out of the hotel at 11. We had a 3:30 train and literally had one goal for the time we had to kill until the train: PIZZA. We took the subway to what is reportedly the best pizza in the city: John’s of Bleecker.
We were not disappointed! They have an original coal fired oven and the pizza is huge with very thin crust in the middle and big chewy edges – perfect for folding! We weren’t the only tourists there but there were also plenty of locals. The pizza definitely lived up to it’s reputation and I’m so glad we made the effort to go there.
After lunch we walked up to Washington Square and then, worrying about the time, we headed back to the hotel to collect our luggage and go to the train station. The traffic was heavy and we were getting nervous but . . . we needn’t have because once we got to Penn Station we saw that our train had a 90 minute delay. That delay kept getting longer and longer and, believe it or not after all that time we almost missed the train because we went down the wrong escalator, but we finally got on and got seats in the quiet car.
Did I mention I was fighting off a cough? So yeah, there’s me, hacking away and making a fair amount of noise while doing so, and getting glaring looks from everyone around me. I’m pretty sure they all thought I was Typhoid Mary. Good times.
All kidding aside, this trip was nothing but fun! It was great to have all that time for exploring the city, going to shows, eating fabulous food and drinking plenty of wine with Hannah and Dale.
I’m already plotting a return!
For the Love of Reading: April to Mid May
Time for a book update, friends. Here’s a list, with reviews, of what I’ve read since April 2nd.
The Dakota Winters by Tom Barbash
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I truly enjoyed this book and I’d categorize it as a fictional memoir. It’s full of famous people but the main character and his family are fictional. It’s set in the early 80s and the cultural references to that time are on point. The dialogue is great and the story is entertaining. I’m glad to recommend it.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I’ve read a lot of Holocaust fiction and this one is just . . . okay. I feel terrible saying that because it’s based on a true story and the details are horrific but the writing is flat and there is no real character development. It’s like a retelling of all the horrible details but without any of the emotion.
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This powerful book brings back the early days of the AIDS crisis in a heartbreaking and realistic way. The dialogue is terrific, the characters are flawed and realistic, and the whole thing is really just fantastic.
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Strong, important and heartbreaking, this memoir provides a real understanding of the founding of the Black Lives Matter movement. I highly recommend it.
Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a beautiful memoir on what it means to be a family, how secrets can destroy a carefully crafted life, and how grace and love can carry us through live changing events. Highly recommended.
Outer Order, Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Even I, organized and neat as I am, picked up some great pointers from this little book on clearing clutter. It’s inspiring and accessible and truly helpful.
The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this story about the making of Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown. The details about the embroidery and design, the friendship between two of the women who worked on the gown side by side, and the little bit of intrigue involved in unraveling their story made for a light and enjoyable read.
Finding Jake by Bryan Reardon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I had a hard time making a connection with the characters in this book and found the father to be particularly self-absorbed and unlikable. I finished it quickly because I wanted to know what happened with the story but the writing isn’t that great and it felt very repetitive and slow. I think We Need to Talk About Kevin is a much better book if you’re looking to read something on this topic.
Hello From the Gillespies by Monica McInerney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this family saga for the story and the setting in the Australian outback. That said, it could have used some really strong editing because it’s just way too long. Still, recommended for those who enjoy a good, straight forward story.
And that’s it for me. What have you been reading lately? You know I want to know!
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