The Monthly Brew (June 2018)

In honor of Mother's Day I posted about how I've changed (and not changed) since Teacup Human was born. As she's only a year and a half, I'm sure many changes are still coming but these are the ones I've noticed most. (This post also taught me that you can find a Parks & Recreation GIF for just about anything.) After reading, be sure to share how things have changed and not changed for you since becoming a parent.

I also started an Instagram account - be gentle. I'm new at this.

I reviewed Allison Pataki's memoir, Beauty in the Broken Places, about the stroke her husband had while she was five months pregnant. This memoir details how their love and support of their families and friends helped them pull through one of the hardest times in their lives.

Sherrilyn Kenyon dropped by to share an excerpt from her new novel Death Doesn't Bargain - there's also still time to enter the giveaway! I also spoke with Christy Sloat about her new novel The Archivist and there's a chance to win a signed copy of her novel.

What I'm Doing

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Getting ready for summer! It's our first summer in the new house so I'm enjoying learning what plants and flowers we have in our yard. I've played a lot of rounds of "Is this a plant or a weed" with my mom. One way or another, I'll have a semi-green thumb.

What I'm Watching

When I saw the above opening for Brooklyn Nine-Nine I decided that we needed to watch the show. I'd caught an episode on a plane once, which I found highly amusing, but never got around to actually committing. A few weeks ago when this clip started making its rounds I knew it was time.

And then Fox cancelled it. And then NBC saved it.

I would like to catch-up so come fall we'll be able to watch it live, but with a toddler and other obligations we'll have to wait and see.

What I'm Reading

I am a historical fiction nut - especially if it involves the Tudors. I've already read Katherine of Aragón, The True Queen and Anne Boleyn, A King's Obsession by Alison Weir - I just noticed Anne of Cleve now has a book title: Anna of Kleve, The Princess in the Portrait! Alison has written numerous biographies on the Tudors, and other historical royals, so she's well versed in these individuals.

Each woman gets her own novel told in her own voice. While this does make them the heroine of their own story (for instance Anne Boleyn is the evil homeworker in Katherine's story, but in Anne's story Anne is a victim of her circumstances). These novels add a new level of depth to these woman and I can't wait to read them all!

Ever since she was a child, Jane has longed for a cloistered life as a nun. But her large noble family has other plans, and, as an adult, Jane is invited to the King’s court to serve as lady-in-waiting for Queen Katherine of Aragon. The devout Katherine shows kindness to all her ladies, almost like a second mother, which makes rumors of Henry’s lustful pursuit of Anne Boleyn—who is also lady-in-waiting to the queen—all the more shocking. For Jane, the betrayal triggers memories of a painful incident that shaped her beliefs about marriage.

But once Henry disavows Katherine and secures his new queen—altering the religious landscape of England—he turns his eye to another: Jane herself. Urged to return the King’s affection and earn favor for her family, Jane is drawn into a dangerous political game that pits her conscience against her desires. Can Jane be the one to give the King his long-sought-after son or will she meet a fate similar to the women who came before her?

I received Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl from a coworker who is highly in-tune with my reading interests. Currently I'm only about 100 pages in, but wow! This book is creepy! I haven't read Marisha's other books, but if Neverworld Wake keeps up this momentum, I'm definitely going to have to add her books to my pile!

Once upon a time, back at Darrow-Harker School, Beatrice Hartley and her six best friends were the cool kids, the beautiful ones. Then the shocking death of Jim—their creative genius and Beatrice's boyfriend—changed everything.

One year after graduation, Beatrice is returning to Wincroft—the seaside estate where they spent so many nights sharing secrets, crushes, plans to change the world—hoping she'll get to the bottom of the dark questions gnawing at her about Jim’s death. But as the night plays out in a haze of stilted jokes and unfathomable silence, Beatrice senses she’s never going to know what really happened.

Then a mysterious man knocks on the door. Blithely, he announces the impossible: time for them has become stuck, snagged on a splinter that can only be removed if the former friends make the harshest of decisions. Now Beatrice has one last shot at answers--and at life.

Be sure to check out my review on June 5 part of Neverworld Wake's blog tour, hosted by Rockstar Book Tours.

What I'm Looking Forward to in June

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Remember when I kinda-sorta picked out paint colors? Well the time has come! Paint colors have been chosen and we have the painting scheduled for the end of June and it should, hopefully, be done early July! I love painting so there's a part of me that's slightly bummed I won't be doing the painting, but there's also wallpaper removal involved and time is always an issue. It was a lot easier to paint our old house when I wasn't raising a toddler. I did make Joe promise that when it comes time to redo Teacup Human's room that I could paint that. Her room is still the browns/tans the previous owners had painted it and we want to wait until she's old enough to tell us what she wants her room to look like - or at least have obvious likes and dislikes.

Teacup Human is having her first swimming lessons! Our local rec center has swim lessons starting at six months, but she'll be in the 15-36 month group. She loves her baths and splashing in her small wading pool, and enjoyed floating around in my dad's pool last summer, so I'm excited to see how these lessons go.

Two of my best girlfriends are pregnant and they're both having baby showers in June - luckily different days!

Send me your recommendations! What are you doing, watching, reading, and anticipating?

The Monthly Brew (May 2018)

Hello! Welcome to The Monthly Brew - formally known as Coffee Break. We're one day away from Friday - which means we're one day away from the weekend!

The weather has finally warmed up in Ohio and I cannot wait to get outside and just enjoy the sunshine! They're building a new ice cream shop right next to the library, which has an amazing playground too. Joe and I have already planned to fill our summers with library-ice cream-playground trips!

What I'm Doing

via Sherwin Williams

Painting! Well, not yet - but I will be!

Now that we've finally finished putting in the floor of the three season room it's time for me to paint! I love painting and would paint every room in the house if necessary. However, it is not necessary to paint every room but there are definitely rooms that are in need.

Painting is such an easy way to make a home yours and insert your own style into each room. I tend to move toward neutral colors on walls because I can always add pops of color through my decor - and it's easier to change your throw pillows than the wall color when ready for a change.

I picked out a few paint chips from Sherwin Williams's Liveable Luxe collection (above) the other day and not it's just a matter of picking out the right color for each room.

What I'm Watching

You already know that my taste in TV shows range from Victoria to Teen Mom and everything in between. So this should come as no surprise to anyone, but my favorite show right now is Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. I actually watch in the night it airs - pretty unheard of for me.

Jersey Shore was my gateway to reality TV. I didn't watch season one, but started halfway through season two as Joe was an avid watcher and we'd started dating around that time. He tapped out after season two, but I was hooked!

What I'm Reading

 

Two nonfiction novels going at once - not the norm for me!

I am a huge fan of Allison Pataki. Normally she writes historical fiction, but this memoir is one of heartache and truth. I just started Beauty in the Broken Places last night so I'm not too far into it, but I can already tell my emotions are going to be put through the ringer!

A deeply moving memoir about two lives that were changed in the blink of an eye, and the love that helped them rewrite their future

Five months pregnant, on a flight to their “babymoon,” Allison Pataki turned to her husband when he asked if his eye looked strange, and watched him suddenly lose consciousness. After an emergency landing, she discovered that Dave—a healthy thirty-year-old athlete and surgical resident—had suffered a rare and life-threatening stroke. Next thing Allison knew, she was sitting alone in the ER in Fargo, North Dakota, waiting to hear if her husband would survive the night.

When Dave woke up, he could not carry memories from hour to hour, much less from one day to the next. Allison lost the Dave she knew and loved when he lost consciousness on the plane. Within a few months, she found herself caring for both a newborn and a sick husband, struggling with the fear of what was to come.

As a way to make sense of the pain and chaos of their new reality, Allison started to write daily letters to Dave. Not only would she work to make sense of the unfathomable experiences unfolding around her, but her letters would provide Dave with the memories he could not make on his own. She was writing to preserve their past, protect their present, and fight for their future. Those letters became the foundation for this beautiful, intimate memoir. And in the process, she fell in love with her husband all over again.

This is a manifesto for living, an ultimately uplifting story about the transformative power of faith and resilience. It’s a tale of a husband’s turbulent road to recovery, the shifting nature of marriage, and the struggle of loving through pain and finding joy in the broken places.

You'd have to have been living under a rock to not know of I'll Be Gone in the Dark, especially recently. I have had this book on my list ever since it was first published back in February, but given the recent events OF HIS CAPTURE I couldn't wait any longer.

A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer—the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade—from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.

"You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark."

For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.

Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.

At the time of the crimes, the Golden State Killer was between the ages of eighteen and thirty, Caucasian, and athletic—capable of vaulting tall fences. He always wore a mask. After choosing a victim—he favored suburban couples—he often entered their home when no one was there, studying family pictures, mastering the layout. He attacked while they slept, using a flashlight to awaken and blind them. Though they could not recognize him, his victims recalled his voice: a guttural whisper through clenched teeth, abrupt and threatening.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Framed by an introduction by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by her husband, Patton Oswalt, the book was completed by Michelle’s lead researcher and a close colleague. Utterly original and compelling, it is destined to become a true crime classic—and may at last unmask the Golden State Killer. 

I actually just finished this yesterday and it's masterfully done - full review to come! It is a little heartbreaking that Michelle put so much of her time and effort into this novel and passed away before he was caught. But caught he was and I believe I'll Be Gone in the Dark helped play a part of his capture.

Send me your recommendations! What are you doing, watching, or reading?

The Montlhy Brew (March 2018)

Hello! How are you doing today? I'm calm. For now. We had a big restructuring at my office and it's been crazy-pants. Luckily, things have started to calm down and we've found our groove.

Let's just take a break from our day. Whatever you're doing, hit the pause button, take a deep breath, grab your favorite drink, and let's chat.

What I'm Doing

Trying not to stress! I don't know how true this tweet is, but it sounds legit.

Over 90% of stress is brought on by the act of over thinking.

— What The F*** Facts (@WhatTheFFacts) March 20, 2018

I'm doing everything, but also nothing. I really need to start utilizing my planner more. I bought this thing for a reason and some days it just gets carted to and from work and stays in my bag. No bueno. And pointless.

After mindlessly browsing the internet last night, I stumbled upon this free Make Over Your Calendar 7-Day Course from Crystal at Money Saving Mom. This course is meant "to teach you how to simplify, streamline, and organize your daily schedule & to-do's." I like free and I like reorganizing my life for the better. I spent all weekend cleaning out my closet, folding clothes properly, and emptying my dresser. It was so freeing and now everything is neat and pretty.

But I digress. While I haven't technically started the course yet, I do have the course downloaded and I'm ready to go. I'll follow up in my next coffee break as to how things are going.

What I'm Watching

Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant. Bit of change from Victoria, huh? I can't help it! I love the Teen Mom franchise so much. So. Much. I haven't decided on which new mom is my favorite yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Do you have any "guilty pleasure" TV shows?

What I'm Reading

I have not had a good month for reading. I read one book - one! You know what my goal was? Six. And the one book I did read wasn't even one of the ones I wanted to get read this month.

What I had wanted to do was reread the Mara Dyer series by Michelle Hodkins and reread (via Audiobook) The Remnant Chronicles series by Mary E. Pearson. I wanted to reread both these as I wanted a refresher for The Becoming of Noah Shaw and Dance of Thieves. I'll get there - I will.

Send me your recommendations! What are you doing, watching, or reading?

The Monthly Brew (February 2018)

Hello! How are you doing today? We're mid-February and that seems crazy to me. And not because I feel like time is moving fast, but I feel like this past month and a half have taken forever.

January lasted 743 days and thus far February has lasted 744. Slight exaggeration, I know. But is anyone else feeling this way? Are you falling in to the "Time is dragging" category or the "Time is flying" category?

Let's just take a break from our day. Whatever you're doing, hit the pause button, take a deep breath, grab your favorite drink, and let's chat.

What I'm doing

Being a mom. Being a wife. Being a friend. Being me.

It's easy to feel like we're getting pulled in many directions, but it's important to remind ourselves that each piece makes up who we are. The facets of our lives don't make us or's, they make us and's. And while sometimes certain aspects will have the upper hand and be more prominent, it doesn't make the other aspects less important.

What I'm watching

Masterpiece's Victoria. Season 1 of Victoria aired while I was on maternity leave last year and I watched every episode with intense interest. Season 1 takes place from 1837 when she becomes Queen at 18, to 1840 when her daughter Victoria (Vicky) is born. Season 2 picks up a month later and focuses on Victoria balancing life as reigning monarch while being a wife and mother.

What I'm reading

 

I'm finally getting around to reading Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas. I've had the book since it came out last September. Pre-ordered it, in fact. Just for one reason or another I never got around to reading it.

Years ago, I read The Princess Bride by William Goldman and absolutely loved it. I've been meaning to reread it for a while, but after listening to As You Wish by Cary Elwes I knew I had to do it sooner rather than later. The audiobook is narrated by Rob Reiner, a producer on the movie, and he does an excellent job.

Send me your recommendations! What are you doing, watching, or reading?