What I’m Into | 8.2014

Well, August sure seemed to fly by. We visited the Renaissance Fair for the first time and had a blast. Lots of fun things filled the month, including these books and shows.

Read & Reading

My commute was made far less annoying by listening to The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett and Our Lady of the Forest by David Guterson. August, or rather just Labor Day weekend, provided some good reading for me. I finished No More Words by Reeve Lindbergh, Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner, The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphical Biography by Sid Jacobson and The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon. All of them were quite good!

Watched & Watching

Bachelor in Paradise…the drama is just too much fun.

Manhattan…This is well-scripted, produced and cast. It’s amazing. It airs on WGN.

Married…I really like Judy Greer, and I’m happy to see her in a starring role. Dark and funny!

Saving for Later

 

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This recipe for Italian Pot Roast & Parmesan Risotto looks amazing!

I’ve pinned a lot of navy blue and gray pieces and outfits to my Fashion board for fall. Various additional items in those colors will really fit into my current closet.

What were you into this month?

**Linking up with Leigh Kramer**

What I’m Into | 7.2014

While this post may not make it seem so, I’ve felt super busy this last month. Take a look at what’s been going on…

Read & Reading

Reading is a place I’ve excelled this month, finishing Zenith City: Stories from Duluth by Michael Fedo, The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer, Cartwheel by Jennifer duBois and Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead. My favorite read this month by far was definitely Cartwheel!

Currently, I’m not exactly reading anything. I finished Zenith City at lunch. I have a number of books queued up at home, but I’m not sure yet which one I’ll grab.

Watched & Watching

While Claire was with her grandparents lat week, we watched a few of the movies that we can’t watch with her. Prior to that, I think I just watched a ton of kids movies.

World War Z….I haven’t read the book and honestly probably won’t. The movie freaked me out. I like to think of my zombies as slow moving and easy to outrun.

Chernobyl Diaries…just don’t.

Friends with Kids…loved it! Jennifer Westfeldt did a good job writing and directing.

We also very quickly finished True Blood’s sixth season. It’s so much fun to watch!

We recently watched The Lego Movie and Rio 2. Both were a lot of fun!

Saving for Later

Treehouse, house in the trees…very tomato/tomahto when it looks like this! Bonus: it’s built from a recycled barn! I’m pretty sure I found a new blog to follow!

Cooking

I have no concept lately of what cooking is.

Obsessed With

My Pinterest board for a party I’m helping plan is full of various succulent arrangements. I love how they mix with rustic or more glam items!

Two words: Capsule. Wardrobes. I’ve been obsessed for awhile. So simple to get ready every morning. Now I’m thinking about how I can make this happen in my own closet. My goal will be to create a capsule of basics and add in some pieces of color and pattern. I’ve been pinning quite a bit. My favorites are ones that show the items and all the outfit possibilities.

What were you into this month?

**Linking up with Leigh Kramer**

What I’m Into | 2.2014

Please just assume I’ve written a cliche about being tired of the cold weather here. It was actually a witty take on the cliche, though.

Watched & Watching

As a person, I greatly dislike Tom Cruise, and this had frequently impacted my thoughts of his movies before even watching them. But my husband doesn’t pay attention to celebrity gossip, so he’s added a number of Tom Cruises movies to our queue. I begrudgingly agree to watch them, and then realize I’m totally pulled in. Most recently this happened to me with Oblivion.

Like most households, we’ve watched a lot of Olympics coverage this month. Claire comes home from pre-school and asks if we can watch. Thanks to watching Cool Runnings with her a week before the Olympics started, she’s a bobled fan, and in particular a Jamaican bobsled fan!

CSI returned last week. After how many seasons, I’m still interested in watching the show that launched the entire franchise. Some storylines and crimes are beyond cheesy, but I find the show as a whole very entertaining.

Saving for Later

I adore this house tour from Apartment Therapy.

Alice Walker on Creativity from Brain Pickings. Alice Walker. Creativity. Brain Pickings. You can’t go wrong with that combo.

An overabundance of opinions: the case for climbing down from the social media soapbox. Amazing. Must read. Please go there now!

Cooking

Three words: Homemade Zuppa Toscana! Yes, if you’re a fan of the Olive Garden staple soup, then you’ll love this recipe. My husband requested that it become a regular meal. It does take about an hour of prep, which isn’t easy on a weeknight by the time I get home from work, but I might attempt to freeze some of the next batch.

Obsessed With

Can I say I’m obsessed with reading books and not reviewing them? No? OK, well then please expect the last two books I read for black history month to be reviewed in March.

What were you into this month?

**Linking up with Leigh Kramer**

What I’m Into | 1.2014

So cliche to say, but January has flown by. It’s been so cold and so fast. Because I’ve spent a lot of time inside, I’ve watched a lot of TV and browsed a lot of the internet.

Watched & Watching

My guilty pleasure this month has been Rob Dyrdek–Fantasy Factory and Ridiculousness. It’s just so funny!

On Christmas day we took Claire to Frozen, and we all really enjoyed it.

The Bachelor! I’m not attracted to Juan-Pablo at all, but my husband and I have been really into watching this.

Saving for Later

Budget Travel put out their list of 10 best budget trips for 2014. I hope more travel finds its way onto our calendar this year. Maybe not these trips, but I can dream!

A very interesting perspective from Alyssa Rosenberg on how Beyonce’s and Jay-Z’s Grammy performance is a good example of how marriage can be mutually beneficial.

Creativity is one of my two words for 2014. I’ll write about them later. I read this great piece at Elise Blaha’s blog about how she encourages inspiration.

Cooking

This Jalopeno Popper Chicken Chili from Prevention RD was delicious. I definitely have to make it again.

Mine doesn’t look nearly as pretty, but I’ve made the skinnytaste Zucchini Lasagna twice and it’s been a hit!

Obsessed With

Whatever makes yard work easier is OK in my book.

I went on a mad Project Life pinning spree. I think these little guys from Jennifer Labre Designs are cute!

Crewel work! I was fortunate enough to put my name on some of my late Grandma’s pieces. They still haven’t been distributed yet, but I know exactly where they’ll go. This piece (not my Grandma’s work) is a really nice autumnal scene.

What were you into this month?

**Linking up with Leigh Kramer**