Happy Sunday friends. I am enjoying a very low-key, restful weekend at home with Finn and the pups after a couple weeks of being on the move. Six nights apart was too many nights. I missed this sweet boy so much.
This post is going to be one of those all over the place life lately kind of posts so be prepared to jump around.
READING
I just finished The Midnight Library this morning and I truly loved this book. It was an entertaining fiction book while also being extremely thought-provoking and insightful.
“Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”
You know, in my own life I really try not to go down the mental rabbit hole of “what if” when it comes to choices that I’ve made or paths that I’ve taken and without giving away any spoilers this book really affirmed that life is what we choose to see and make of it.
And now for a likely unpopular opinion…prior to The Midnight Library I read The Four Winds…and I did not like it. At all. I am a Kristin Hannah fan. Loved The Great Alone last year. Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite authors dating back to The Magic Hour and Firefly Lane. While I’ve found some of her other books difficult to read and emotional like Winter Garden (that one was really tough) and The Nightingale, I always been grateful that I read them in the end. This just wasn’t the case for me with The Four Winds. It was depressing and difficult. I honestly dreaded getting in bed to read it and had a hard time connecting to any of the characters. I finished the book and it felt unfinished. It did leave me wanting to do more reading about the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression for my own educational purposes.
LISTENING
I’ve been listening to Matthew McConaughey’s memoir Greenlights on Audible and it is highly entertaining. The story where he got arrested naked playing bongo drums had me laughing out loud in my car. He’s a weird (aren’t we all) but very interesting dude. I adore the story of how he reinvented himself from rom-com roles into the types of roles he wanted to be playing. I recommend listening to this one instead of reading it because he narrates the book and he just has the best voice.
EATING
I ordered six boxes of Girl Scout Cookies from a girl in my neighborhood and Finn and I have been loving them. It was fun to introduce Finn to Girl Scout Cookies. He favorite flavor so far is Tagalongs…definitely my child! 🙂
I was a Girl Scout growing up starting with Brownies. I went to Girl Scout Camp every summer and even worked at the same camp I attended as a counselor for the summers after my senior year of high school and freshman year of college. Fun fact: at Girl Scout Camp it was a thing not to know the counselors real names. They all had fun made up nicknames. Mine was Rah-Rah because I taught cheerleading classes. 🙂
WEARING
I am obsessed with lululemon’s Everywhere Bag and wear mine all the time. It’s perfect for running, dog walking, going to the park with Finn, etc. I can honestly say that I never though that I’d get into fanny packs again but I am here for this one. It’s so functional. It’s the perfect size for my phone, keys, some chapstick, a few dollars of cash and dog bags. HIGHLY, HIGHLy recommend this bag! It comes in quite a few fun colors but I’m such a black bag girl.
And here’s a link to everything I’m wearing in this photo. They are my lululemon running staples.
SWEATING
Speaking of running, here’s a quick peek at last week’s workouts:
- Sunday: 60-minute hot vinyasa class at The Works
- Monday: 3.8 mile run
- Tuesday: 1-hour strength workout
3 rounds:
15 narrow stance 2x pulse squats holding a 20 lb dumbbell in each hand
15 chest flys with 20 lbs
10 single leg bench step ups holding 20 lb dumbbell in each hand (10 each leg) – I kept the foot planted on the bench for all 10 reps
15 single arm kneeling bench rows with 20 lbs (15 each arm)
3 rounds:
15 TRX plank knee pull ins
15 TRX seated rows
15 TRX push ups
15 TRX single leg propulsion knee drives (15 each side)
3 rounds:
15 plie/sumo stance 2x pulse goblet squats holding a 25 lb dumbbell
15 bicep curls with 15 lbs
15 single leg deadlifts holding a 20 lb dumbbell in each hand
20 tricep dips
15 knee to chest bench crunches (holding the bench behind my head)
15 traditional crunches on the bench
2 rounds:
10 upright row holding 10 lb dumbbells
10 wide overhead press holding 10 lb dumbbells
10 side raise holding 10 lb dumbbells
10 alternating T and Front raises holding 5 lb dumbbells
- Wednesday: 4.6 mile run
- Thursday: REST
- Friday: REST
- Saturday: REST
CELEBRATING
This was a big week for our family as we celebrated Sam’s 14th birthday! Let me tell you, this pup wins the award for most popular resident at my parent’s condo development with the owners and the tourists! He gets SO much love, so many pats and people who vacation there look forward to seeing him every summer.
FEELING
The escalation of violence towards Asian Americans over the last year as we’ve been living through this pandemic has been sad and disturbing. Here is a collection of conversations from NPR that you can listen to to better understand what is happening. I am making my way through them. Here is a list of organizations that advocate for Asian Americans.
SOAKING UP
I’m signing off to soak up what’s left of the weekend with Finn before another work week kicks off. I go back to Tennessee next weekend for teacher training so it’s going to be a long one! Finn is at such an awesome stage/age right now. We’re a little less than two months away from three and he’s just so communicative and fun!
QUESTIONS
What are you reading? What should I read next!?
What are you listening to? Any audiobook or podcast recommendations?
What are you doing this weekend?
I LOVE that Lululemon Fanny pack! I have an older version of the black and it has an orange inside so I can always easily find items ? However, after a year of use, the buckle broke! Lulu is awesome and offered to replace it but I’m trying to get it fixed because I just love the contrasting inside so much. And yes, the size is perfect for EVERYTHING! I stopped using a regular bag and just wore it everywhere! Enjoy ?
I love how lululemon will always make things right when it comes to product issues and defects!
I received the Lululemon Everywhere Bag as a gift for my birthday last year and I use it ALL THE TIME!! It’s pretty much replaced my purse since I haven’t done anything fancy since before the pandemic!
Oh maybe I need to join you in letting this be a purse stand-in. 90% of the places that I go are so casual and don’t need a proper purse!
Also a huge fan of the lulu Fanny pack bag. Excellent for popping into a store when you don’t want to lug a purse! Also great for dog walking.
Yes!
I’ve been wanting to read the Midnight Library I will now put it on my reading list. I am currently reading the Berlin girl and really like it. I have been avoiding World War II novels for several months because I got a little burnt out but this one sounded interesting and I am glad I picked it up.
My big accomplishment this weekend was an amazing 13 Mile Trail run this morning. I planned on doing 10 and it was so beautiful out and I was enjoying the trails so much I stayed out a little longer and am so happy I did.
CONGRATULATIONS on your run! That certainly is an accomplishment. It is the best feeling when you go longer than planned on any run…especially a long run. I savor those types of runs so much.
I also read The Four Winds – I agree it was very heavy, but nonetheless I enjoyed the storytelling. 😉
If you’re interested in learning more about the Dust Bowl, I highly recommend Ken Burns’ two part documentary on it – it’s SO fascinating. https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/
Ohhhh thank you for sharing this link!
I recently read The Midnight Library, too, and like you, I loved it. Entertaining and thought provoking book. I plan to read more books by the author.
I recently finished The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab and enjoyed it. I felt it was a little slow in the beginning, but after the first 25-30% of the book, the pace picked up and it was good.
I would also be interested in reading other books he’s written!
Ok, I’m definitely going to try out the lulu Fanny pack! I currently use spibelt for running, but it doesn’t always stay put and it’s not very spacious. Thanks for sharing!
Also happy belated birthday to Sam! He looks like he’s smiling in that picture ?
I think if you tightened the lulu fanny pack it would work pretty well for running without moving a lot. Someone ordered it from my suggestion on IG and she said she’s loving running with it! And yes, I love it when dogs look like they’re smiling.
If you’re into psychological thrillers, I just finished two really good ones: White Ivy by Susie Yang and The Push by Ashley Audrain. Both get a little dark, FYI, but definitely kept me on the edge of my seat as I was reading them. I also really enjoyed The Midnight Library and read another book with sort of a similar concept but it’s much more humorous – its called Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore.
Oh, I am! Thank you! I just started The Flight Attendant but I will check these out ASAP!
I am in the middle of reading the Midnight Library now! Such an interesting concept! I just finished Anxious People, which if you liked A Man Called Ove, you’ll probably like this one too… although starting out the characters were a little annoying but it all comes together at the end. I also just finished The Last Flight, which is a super quick mystery/thriller and it was a nice break from more serious books I’ve been reading. Four Winds is actually the book we just selected for our next book club meeting…
Last weekend, we went to an indoor pool for the first time and it was actually so much fun. The don’t have the slides open, but my daughter is also almost going to be 3 so she was ok with just “jumping” into the zero entry pool and running to us. They really limited the number of people in the leisure area and limit reservations to an hour, so it was almost like having the pool to ourselves. My daughter had a blast, so we might do that again. We are also taking her up to the mountains on Thursday to see how she’ll do on skis! if nothing else, i think she’ll have fun riding on the gondola and playing in the snow!
I’m glad you said that about Anxious People because I started the audio book and lost interest. Didn’t especially love any of the characters but I will go back and listen a little further now that you said it gets better. I read The Last Flight recently and enjoyed it! You may love The Four Winds. Many did!
How wonderful that you were able to get back to the pool! It sounds like your daughter had a great time. And good luck with the skiing. It will be so nice to see the snow and mountain scenery.
OMG, I HATED the four winds also? What was she thinking? There is NO WAY that all these bad things would/could happen to one person. I found it incredibly unrealistic and depressing with little to no character development. Also, I didn’t like that she kind of got political with this one and it was just soooo different than her other books!
I absolutely hated The Four Winds and I usually love anything she writes. The mother/daughter relationship was so repetitive and annoying. I felt like they had the exact same argument verbatim the entire book. And don’t even get me started on her glamorizing communism. I really enjoyed The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl. I listened to the audiobook via my library.
As a sufferer of anxiety and a mother to a child with depression, I LOVED The Midnight Library. Such a powerful lesson that life is what we make of it and that everyone has their ups and downs…even Olympians and rock stars.