It's the Monday before Christmas so that mean's it time for my annual blogging break. I like to take the two weeks around Christmas to recharge away from the blog. I'll be back after the New Year with my 2014 wrap-up posts and new content.
Sunday Sunset #34
Listening To: More One Bad Mother podcasts. I am completely addicted.
Book finished: A Feast for Crows
Reading: None yet. I'm taking a break for Christmas, but will be back reading after the New Year.
On the Nightstand: Life in Ruins by Marilyn Johnson; Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale
Making Lists: Christmas break bucket list
Around the house: Mom's new house is finally looking put together. The bar was put in last week meaning she now has a place for silverware. We're still working on some storage issues, but so far so good.
Watching: Daniel Tiger and Sesame Street... that's about it. Mom doesn't have cable and I just haven't been in the mood to watch anything on Netflix.
From Nature: Progressively cold temps this past week. Brrr! And they are forecasting snow for Christmas Day. I love a white christmas, but the cold temps can stay away.
Shopping Scores: I finished up my Christmas shopping this week. Actually I'm lying. I have all the wrapped presents bought. But after Christmas I always take the twins out shopping. There's always something specific that they wanted and didn't get. I don't really buy them presents ahead of Christmas.
Project: Finishing up my year end blog posts, getting ready to sign off for the year.
Picture: Best $0.50 I've spent in a long time...
FF #47: New Year's Cat
Just like Christmas, I decided to go with a different look for New Year's. Instead of sparkle, I went with shine. The stain top and leather skirt shine in their own ways. The look is pure rock n roll. The cat ear headband adds a bit of whimsy for a New Year's Eve party.
albertaferretti.com
$6,495 - balmain.com
charlotterusse.com
shoptiques.com
lorisshoes.com
claires.com
A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
Title: A Feast for Crows (Song of Fire and Ice #4)
Author: George R.R. Martin
Publisher: Bantam Books 2005
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages: 1060
Rating: 5/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Fall Reading Challenge;Fantasy Project; NPR Scifi and Fantasy; Mount TBR; 52 Books - W52; Well-Rounded Reader; Chunkster
It seems too good to be true. After centuries of bitter strife and fatal treachery, the seven powers dividing the land have decimated one another into an uneasy truce. Or so it appears. . . . With the death of the monstrous King Joffrey, Cersei is ruling as regent in King’s Landing. Robb Stark’s demise has broken the back of the Northern rebels, and his siblings are scattered throughout the kingdom like seeds on barren soil. Few legitimate claims to the once desperately sought Iron Throne still exist—or they are held in hands too weak or too distant to wield them effectively. The war, which raged out of control for so long, has burned itself out.
But as in the aftermath of any climactic struggle, it is not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces—some familiar, others only just appearing—are seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges ahead.
Another nail-bitting volume from A Song of Ice and Fire. I couldn't wait to see what to all the characters after the events of the third book. Unfortunately we only get half the story in this volume. Martin left the other characters to the fifth book. So no Jon Snow or Dany or Tyrion, but we do get some great stories centering on Brienne, Jamie, Cersi, Alayne, and my favorite story: Arianne Martell. I really loved getting stories from Dorne. We've heard about them for awhile, but only had contact with Oberyn. I loved meeting the Sand Snakes and the Prince of Dorne. My second favorite storyline involved Alayne in the Vale. I'm intrigued as to where that story is going. Overall a long, but very enjoyable read.
A Song of Ice and Fire:
- #1 A Game of Thrones
- #2 A Clash of Kings
- #3 A Storm of Swords
- #4 A Feast for Crows
- #5 A Dance with Dragons
- #6 The Winds of Winter
Odds and Ends
Here's my randomness for this week:
- Usually I hate shopping in person during Christmas, but this year I'm digging it... especially with my little two foot helper in tow
- Having a lot of fun making my December Daily album
- Loving hitting up all my favorite Fort Wayne only (or at least not in California) restaurants: Culver's, Moe's, Seoul Garden (new favorite), Ruby Tuesdays, Tucanos (new Brazilian place), Coney Island, Noodles and Co.
- Kicking myself for not bringing another pair of pants. Really sick of jeans or cords...
- Will probably throw away these black shoes when I leave Indiana. They now pinch my toes a bit and the sides are being broken down. One less thing to haul back home!
- Excited to spend the next two weeks with the twins. We have to go see a movie, hit some restaurants, and go shopping!
- Randomly lost a #9 for my DD album. Bummer! Now I need to recreate it after I get home.
- Can't wait for all the packages arriving this week
Bout of Books 12 Readathon is coming!
I can't wait until this readathon starts! Unfortunately I will be traveling all day on Tuesday so I don't know how much I can participate that day. I'm hoping to read at least 5 books and kickstart my 2015 reading right! If you want to sign up, head on over to the Bout of Books site and join the fun!
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 5th and runs through Sunday, January 11th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team
Quote Wednesday -- Gawain
Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness. -- Shakti Gawain
Arthur: 14 Months
The past month has been a big one. We packed up the apartment and moved to East Bay. Two days later Arthur and mom flew to Indiana for the holidays. And in between we had a ton of fun with friends.
Likes: Being free to run, all the dogs ("hi da"), fruit of any kind, alphabet cookies grandma bought, remote controls
Dislikes: The cold, being stationary in his car seat (he wants the car to go!), bed time, eggs (no idea...), Santa (he got a chilly reception from Arthur)
Sleeping: Naps are good, night time not so much. He's had no problem transitioning to napping in a pack n play at grandma's. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for night time. I put him down in the pack n play for bedtime, but 3-4 hours later he cries until he can get into bed with me. Bad habit I know, but while in Indiana it seems like the best option. We will have to sleep train again once we get back to California.
Eating: Anything and everything. He does have his favorites (currently peanut butter bagels and grapes), but will usually eat some of anything on his tray. The other night we went out for Korean and he slammed some steamed rice, a crab rangoon, a spring roll, a dumpling, some fish, and some fried seaweed. I also had a good dinner, but was sad to give up my crab rangoon to the little monster. Yum yum!
Playing: Lots of interacting with friends and even strangers. He played happily with a few big boys (4-5 year olds) at the playground the other day. And I've seen him play with his similar aged friends at playdates and preschool. He's even making cars go now.
Medical Milestones:
- Walking - Check! He is even starting to pick up the pace to a run... Watch out! Here comes trouble!
- Going up and down stairs - Half-check. He's got the going up just fine. He crawls but can scale a staircase pretty fast. Going down is not so good. He gets onto his stomach and slides down, but if it's more than 2-3 steps, it's not a good thing. I'm sure he'll improve when we get back home where we have stairs. My mom's new house doesn't.
- Climbing - Check! He's getting better and better and scaling objects and me.
- Says a few words, understands more - So far, all he says is "Hi" and "Hi da" (Hi dog). He definitely understands a lot more.
- Follow simple directions - Check! If you tell him to bring you whatever he is holding, he usually will.
- Empties and fills containers - Check! His favorite is the small little trashcan at my mom's. It's become his play toy for the time being.
Schedule:Ha ha! That's a joke right? Moving and traveling make for cranky babies and tired moms. I tried getting Arthur back on a schedule, but so far it hasn't really worked. We'll have to really try when we get back home next month.
Out and About: Before leaving California we had our usual park playdates and preschool mornings. We also hit up the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo (raccoon pics). Plus two of Arthur's friends had their 2nd birthday part right before we left. After arriving in Indiana we hit the town seeing the downtown lights, Botanical Gardens with Santa and reindeer, trains at Science Central, Jefferson Pointe playground, lights at Franke Park, Festival of Trees, and lots of shopping. It's been a crazy month!
Sunday Sunset #33
Listening To: One Bad Mother podcast. It is my life!
Book finished: None (see below)
Reading: A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin (it is a monster at 1000 pages, but I'm working through it)
On the Nightstand: A Hundred Pieces of Me by Lucy Dillon; Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale; Life in Ruins by Marilyn Johnson
Making Lists: Never-ending to-do list. Being away from home has allowed me to take a step back and decide what I want to do in the coming year. I've got my new One Little Word picked out and a lot of projects to accompany it.
Around the house: I'm currently staying at my mom's house in Indiana and it's insane. The house was recently renovated, but there are still things to fix. Just on Friday, the contractors finally finished installing the bar. Now my mom has kitchen storage! And they finished the flooring. We we have to fix the ant problem (an exterminator is coming in next week) and an electrical issue (keep tripping the breaker when using the microwave. Other than the chaos of recent renovations, it's a nice little house.
Crafting: Working on my December albums (all four of them!) and that's about it. All of my recent crafting purchases have been sent home to California so no play time for me until after the new year.
Watching: Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Sesame Street in the morning. As we are stuck indoors most days (Midwest cold!), Arthur has gotten to watch some tv during the day. I try to limit it to one episode a day, but on Friday it was a lot more due to the big house construction.
Wondering: Where we should go with our rental car this week? I finally decided to rent a car for a week while here. Arthur and I have been stuck at the house because mom's car is used as the delivery vehicle. I need to take advantage of the rental while I can. I'm thinking the indoor playground, the coffeehouse/playground, the library (probably multiple visits), grocery shopping for mom, visit to grandma and grandpa, coffee date with friend...
From Nature: Cold, but not frigid yet.
Shopping Scores: I've grabbed lots of cute Christmas gifts for the boys and a few for my mom. Plus I took advantage of some online sales for house goods and craft supplies back home.
Project: Lots of year end blogging posts, retreat planning, preschool planning, and general house ideas.
Picture: Arthur sitting in his car with the tv remote (not the real one, but he loves to pretend).
FF #46: New Christmas
For this year, I wanted to not go with red and green. Instead, I chose burgundy and gold. The color palette is still festive and elegant. I love the subtle details of the dress. The shine adds to the festive mood. The shoes are a great contradiction to the dress, but something about them just fits The rest of the accessories are simple yet complimentary. My favorite piece is the bracelet.
Victoria Victoria Beckham a line dress
$1,485 - liberty.co.uk
bergdorfgoodman.com
luminaire.com
Susan Caplan Vintage gold bracelet
$150 - johnlewis.com
revolveclothing.com
Videos for Your Thursday
I do so love my period movies.
Looks interesting...
Had to include the big 2014 mash-up video
OMG OMG OMG... must see!
Quote Wednesday -- Logan
Books are my disease. -- James Logan
Top Ten Tuesday -- New to Me Authors 2014
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!
- John Green -- How has is taken me this long to read anything from him? I love watching his vlog Brothers videos. I finally got to two of his novels and want to read the rest...
- Nick Hornby -- J has been hassling me to read Hornby for years. I picked up High Fidelity and A Long Way Down and loved them both. I need to read About a Boy next...
- Diane Setterfield -- I love The Thirteenth Tale even when the others in my book club were not excited. I want to read her newest novel Bellman and Black.
- Kristen Callihan -- I started the Darkest London series and can not wait for the next book in the series to be released early next year.
- Erik Larson -- I really enjoyed The Devil in the White City. Even though it's history, it read almost like a novel. Now I need to read his Thunderstruck.
- Deanna Raybourn -- Loved the first book in the Lady Julia Grey series. Need to keep reading.
A shorter list, but some great new to me authors on there.
Music Monday - iPod Shuffle
Three more shuffled songs before the end of 2014...
Blues Traveler "Run Around"
The Killers "Sam's Town"
Damien Rice "Then Go"
Sunday Sunset #32
Listening To: Barking dogs and baby yells
Book finished: Thirteen Reasons Why; Divergent; The Hobbit; A Study in Scarlet; Beloved
Reading: A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
On the Nightstand: Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale; Life in Ruins by Marilyn Johnson
Making Lists: House projects; Retreat groceries
Crafting: Working on my December albums (all four of them). I just the first week's pictures printed yesterday. Now it's time to lay them out, place them, and embellish.
Watching: PBS. Arthur and I have been watching Sesame Street (about 10 minutes) every morning. Lots of fun.
Wondering: When will all my packages arrive? The problem with online shopping...
From Nature: Cold and blustery here in Indiana. I am completely cold.
Shopping Scores: I've been online Christmas and sale shopping like a crazy woman. I have Christmas almost done. I also bought a ton of house goods and supplies for preschool when we get back to California.
Project: Planning a ton of things. Specifically I am working on the mom's retreat and preschool. I am also sporadically working on my blog and prepping for next year. And I'm in the middle of a huge Pinterest clean out.
Picture: Arthur loved the bubbles at the library.
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Title: Beloved
Author: Toni Morrison
Publisher: Vintage 1988
Genre: Literature
Pages: 291
Rating: 3/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Fall into Reading; Time Top 100; Rory Gilmore; 1001 Books; Ebook; Lucky 14 - Been There Forever
Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement.
I was intrigued by the storyline. And the characters were great. I really fell for Sethe and Denver. But I must say that I was not a fan of the writing style. After almost 300 pages of the writing, I almost didn't make it to the end. I wanted to see what happened to everyone, but the writing was getting to me. My biggest complaint was the dialogue passages. Often I got very confused about who was speaking at any given time. Not a fan at all...
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
Title: A Study in Scarlet
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Publisher: 1887
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 160
Rating: 5/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Fall into Reading; Ebook; Monthly Key Word - Red; Well-Rounded Reader - Mystery; Back to the Classics - Mystery
"There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it.".... Arthur Conan Doyle ..."A Study in Scarlet" Here, in "A Study in Scarlet", Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduces us to one of the most popular and studied characters in fiction; Sherlock Holmes. In this first novel of this most complex and some would argue, tortured man, he relates the first meeting of Holmes and the narrator of these adventures, Dr. Watson. Amazed by his amazing perception and the depth of what Holmes knows (and what he apparently has no need for) Watson is soon to learn that "No man burdens his mind with small matters unless he has some very good reason for doing so."
My first official Sherlock Holmes story. I've only ever seen the movie and tv adaptations. Yeah I know... bad. But I am fixing it! So I read A Study in Scarlet where we meet Holmes and Watson and investigate their first case together. Well, I really enjoyed the mystery, it was the characters that kept me reading. The main characters are a delight to get to know. I also really enjoyed the sparring with Lestrade and Gregson. Fun fun! While it probably won't be soon, I definitely want to read the rest of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
FF #45: Night at the Ballet
The perfect gown for a night out at the ballet. I love the detailing on the gown. It reminds me of the detail work in my hometown theater. I love staring at the ceiling there... The accessories are all just to accent the detailing.
Oscar de la Renta gold sequin dress
net-a-porter.com
Jerome C. Rousseau wide sandals
theoutnet.com
Charlotte Olympia brown handbag
forwardforward.com
$64 - lamodauk.com
$35 - oliverbonas.com
Odds and Ends
Here's my randomness for the week:
- I forgot how much I loved driving around and seeing the Christmas lights
- Itching to organize my new crafting area
- May have taken on too much with 4 December memories albums (but I'll get them done!)
- Glad I packed a travel craft bag
- Mad at myself for leaving my iPad at mom's house (t-10 hours)
- How have I not watched Marry Me before? That show is hilarious!
- I love getting packages in the mail!
Quote Wednesday -- Houston
At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities. -- Jean Houston