Book Review {January}

Happy Thursday friends!  I hope everyone had a great Valentines Day.   G and I went to the movies and we saw Three Billboards...I’m trying to see all of the Oscar nominated films this year.  I’ve seen 5 so far and Three Billboards is one of my favorites.  

 This week has flown by! In January I read two books and since I have book club tonight I thought this was a good day to post my January book review.  I absolutely love reading and if I can spend a little time each day it’s a good day.  

Last month I read two books.  The first one I  read Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.

I thought this book was absolutely incredible and I couldn’t put it down.  Historical fiction is my favorite kind of book to read. This book follows a family of children taken from their parents.  The family lived in a shantyboat on the Mississippi river and there  were very poor but they were a very loving and the parents adored their five children.  When the mom goes to the hospital to have twins the kids  are taken and their story of survival begins.    This book was based on s real place-The Tennessee Children Home Society and a real woman- Georgia Tann who ran the whole operation.  I honestly had no idea about that terrible place or that awful woman until I read this book.  This is a hauting book and one that I keep thinking about.  I think we will have a great discussion tonight at our book club about this book.  

From Amazon

Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family's Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge--until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents--but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility's cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.

The second book I read was Fire and Fury:  Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff.  There was so much buzz about this book and so much on TV about the release of this book that I started reading it the day it came out.  I was both fascinated by this book and angered by it at the same time.  One year into his presidency, I still cannot believe that Donald Trump was elected.  

From Amazon

With extraordinary access to the West Wing, Michael Wolff reveals what happened behind-the-scenes in the first nine months of the most controversial presidency of our time in Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.

Since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, the country―and the world―has witnessed a stormy, outrageous, and absolutely mesmerizing presidential term that reflects the volatility and fierceness of the man elected Commander-in-Chief.

This month I am reading Beartown and Kevin Zraly's Wine Course.  I really love both books so far. I'll have a full report on both of them at the end of the month.  

Happy reading

xoxo

Crafty Wednesday {Mardi Gras and Valentines Decorations}

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Today is my Dad’s birthday.  I know he reads here sometimes-so Happy Birthday Dad.  I wish I was in Illinois so I could celebrate with you ❤️❤️

We don’t do much for Valentines Day. Restaurants are so busy tonight so we are going to stay home and order take out  and I made a heart shaped desert for us.  After dinner at home G and I are going to see the Three Billboards movie.  I’m trying to see all of the movies nominated for Best Picture for the Oscars.  After tonight I have three more to watch-yay!

Since Mardi Gras ended yesterday I made us a King Cake (with Rice Krispie treats) which was SO good.  Ava and I actually ate some for breakfast and then I took the rest to work for my co-workers.

  

I do very simple decorations for Valentines Day.  For small holidays I decorate the Hutch in our dining room.  It's fun and festive and it's a simple way to celebrate a holiday.  I have had my Valentine Decorations for years.  I didn't get anything new this year I just used things I have used in past years.  

My favorite Valentine decorations are the mailboxes I made for Brock and Ava when they were younger.  When they were younger I would put Valentine Treats for them in the mailboxes.  

This year I turned my Christmas countdown calendar into a Valentine countdown calendar for Ava.  I bought this countdown calendar from my fabulous friend Sabrina at my annual Holiday Market.  

A few years ago I bought a heart garland on Etsy.  I love getting it out every year.

A few months ago I made a vertical planter for our dining room.  I usually have potted plants in it but before Christmas I added some boxwood and pine cones.  For Valentines I added some sparkly hearts to make that little area of our dining room festive.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Xoxo

Happy things {January}

For most of last year I wrote down one happy thing that happened each day as a way to keep track of the god things that happened last year.  The last one I did was in August and you can read the post here.

I keep this little jar on my night stand and then each day I add a little note about something happy that happened each day. 

January flew by!  It was a fun month-Ava came home from the Czech Republic, I went to Florida with my friends for our annual girls trip, and I celebrated my birthday.

Here are my happy things from January

1-early morning workout and breakfast with friends
2-coffee date with friends and three workouts!
3-cozy night at home with Graig
4-Amazing and relaxing restorative yoga class
5-Autumn cafe reopened!  Went to happy hour with girls
6-Swap party with the girls
7-Brunch at the Autumn
8-Walk around neighborhood which was lovely after months of cold and dreary weather
9-Coffee date with Inez and Donna
10-Dinner for Ashley's birthday
11-Florida trip with my BFF's
12-Florida trip with my BFF's
13-my Bday!!  Ava returns from the Czech Republic and dinner on the beach to celebrate!
14-Florida trip with BFF's
15-Return home from Florida, see Ava and have dinner at her favorite resturant
16-full day retreat with my students before the start of the spring semester
17-My birthday party!
18-lunch with Ava and Rachael
19-Ava's winter photo shoot.  Her BFF Mary took the pics and she got some good ones!
20-Graig's bday!  We played in a Pitch card tourney with friends and we won!
21-My birthday cooking class with friends
22-leftovers and a quiet night at home
23-Rotary presentation with Graig
24-Productive day at work
25-Amazing yoga class!!
26-lunch with Ava at Brooks
27-Made my first dinner with my new Wok!
28-Tried Rock Climbing
29-Made lasagna with Ava
30-Ran this morning and it felt good!
31-Quiet night at home with the family

I love looking back and seeing all of my happy things from each month.

I hope you have a great Tuesday!

Xoxo

Catch up!

I am SO glad last week is OVER.  I had some technical issues with my blog, I got in a fender bender on Tuesday (not my fault-but so frustrating dealing with the insurance companies!) and I've been sick since Tuesday. I do hope that this week is better!!

Last weekend Ava and I went to a chili cookoff with some friends to support the Art Gallery in our town.  The event is called the Chili Bowl and we each picked out a beautiful pottery bowl to put our chili in.  I like to go to this event every year and it's always so fun!

Last weekend was the Father/Daughter Valentine Ball. It is sponsored by the YMCA and since I teach fitness at the Y and since I LOVE to decorate and plan events.  They asked me to help with set up.  It was so fun and I plan to do it every year.  We decorated all day Saturday and it was so fun. The dance was held that evening and 300 fathers and daughters came to the dance. 

When Ava was younger she went every year with Graig.  It was so fun helping her pick out her dress and help her get ready for the dance. Here are some pictures from a few of their past father/daughter dances. 

Last Wednesday we got a big snow storm so Ava's school was closed and so was the College where I work.  We stayed home all day in our pajamas and watched netflix.  It was a great day!!  We love snow days. 

Friday night we had our monthly craft night for Branch and Bloom.  I was going to stay home because I was sick and then Rachael got the flu so I went and taught the class by myself.  Thankfully two of my dear friends were signed up to take the class so they helped me with it.  This month we made a rustic photo gallery.  It was a fun Friday night but I was SO sick and tired.  I went home after craft night and went straight to bed and didn't leave my house for the rest of the weekend. 

This week I have book club and I'm going to see Lady Bird.  I am trying to see all of the Oscar nominated movies before the Oscars.  Last week I saw Phantom Thread.  I know it has good reviews but I didn't like Phantom Thread at all.  I hope Lady Bird is better!

Have a great Monday!
xoxo

Saturday Snack {Mexican Street Corn}

Last night my friend Heather and I went to a cooking class in Albany.  It was her birthday present to me and it was the perfect gift because I love cooking.  The cooking school we went to has a ton of classes.  I’ve done other classes there before and I always love going because I learn something new every single time.  I picked a Mexican class for us to do for my birthday.

 Our teacher was so great.  She was laid back and super helpful and it made for a fun experience.  She teaches a lot of the ethnic classes so I’d love to go back and take another one of her classes.

 We made so many things including-a Mexican salad, smoky black beans, lime chicken, homemade corn tortillas,  salsa and guacamole.  My absolute favorite thing we made however was the Mexican street corn.  It was absolutely delicious and I will be making it this summer for barbecues.

Here is the recipe.  I will be adding this to my recipe book and making this one a lot!!!   Since it’s winter we used frozen corn and it came out super yummy.  I think it would be delicious with fresh corn in the summer.  The Mexican Chocolate pudding was good too.  I’m just not a chocolate lover so it wasn’t my favorite thing we made. 

Here are some pictures of the other things we made. 

Top left-salsa

Top middle-Lime Chicken sauce

Top left-Lime Chicken after we puréed and cooked the chicken Bottom left-Smokey black beans Bottom right-Guacamole

Our favorite part was making homemade tortillas.  It really is an art.  We spent a lot of time trying to make them and I still have a lot to learn.  I was super tempted to buy the tortilla press but I resisted.  I honestly think I’ll just buy corn tortillas in the store. It was fun making them though. 

After we cooked everything we sat down and had a feast!  Here is my plate. 

It was a great night!!

Xoxo

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday friends.  This was another super fast week.  I’m so happy it’s Friday!!   Today I’m linking up to Erika, Narci and Andrea to share my Friday Favorites.

1.  This picture came up on my time hop this week.  It’s hard to believe we’ve had our dog Lilly for 6 years.  She’s a cocka-poo (cocker spaniel poodle mix) and is the sweetest dog ever.  She loves eating, naps and taking walks around our neighborhood.  

Here is Lilly today ❤️. We love her so much!

2.   I finished two books this month.  One was Fire and Fury the book everyone is reading about President Trump and the other book was for my book club and it was called Before We Were Yours. Obviously two very different books.  Fire and Fury outlines in great detail why Donald Trump is unfit to be President.  It was also interesting reading the details about his daily life in the White House. The other book I read was for my bookclub and it was Before We Were Yours.  This book is based on a true story of children taken from poor families and adopted by wealthy families in the 1930's-1950's.  I hope to do my book review post next week with a full report on both books.

3.  For our February craft night we are making these hanging photo galleries.  We are going to get all of the supplies together this weekend and make a sample for our craft class next week.  I think they are so adorable!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Xoxo

Recipes {January}

One of my 18 for 2018 goals was to make a special dinner two times per month.  I wanted to re-cap the recipes I did in January so I have a place to look back and see all of the recipes I have tried.

Well this didn't technically happen in January but I made lobster tails for the first time ever on New Year's Eve.  These were SO easy to make.  I will definetly make them again.  You can see the post I did on this recipe here.  

For my birthday my friends Heather and Rachael threw me a Cooking Class Birthday party.  Heather is an amazing cook and we did the class at her house.  I keep trying to convince Heather to teach cooking classes in our town.  I think that would be amazing!!  For my birthday we made Ina Garten's sausage rigatoni.  You can see my post on this recipe and my cooking class here.  

I love Chinese food and for my birthday I got a wok.  I made two Chinese dishes for us this past weekend.  One was Terayki Chicken and I made Fried Rice to go with the Chicken.    I got both recipes from The Recipe Critic Blog.  She has the best Asian recipes.  We are going to make Sesame Chicken this weekend.   

That's my recipes for this month!  I hope to try a few more in February!!

Xoxo