June Book Review {2022}

Oh man, last month, it was May, and I didn't get to read a lot of books...because May. lol But this month, I got in some good books!

Ok, first up...

The Other Mrs. 

Oh man. So many twists and turns! It didn't come together until the end (although some reviews i read said they figured it out early on), and then when Will started telling his side, I definitely didn't see that coming. Once I got to the last third of the book, I couldn't put it down. 

I've also read Local Woman Missing and The Good Girl by the same author, and those were good, too. Although I like The Other Mrs. better, I think. Her style of writing is so unique and different.

 

The Book of Lost Names

Oh my goodness.
This book. I had a hard time putting it down. It's so good! Another book taking place during WWII- apparently, this is one of my favorite genres, because I keep finding books for this subject! Realistic fiction, set in WWII; there are just so many stories to be told from so many different perspectives! This one is told from the point of view of a girl who is helping an underground rescue Jewish children to safety. 

  

Ladies' Night

Oh. My. Goodness. I LOVED this one! I honestly love Mary Kay Andrews and have a few more of her books waiting for me to read, but this one was SO CUTE. I loved it from the beginning. It's about a girl who created a successful blog as her full time job (um, hello?! lol), but her husband's betrayal sent that into a downward spiral. She lost her house, her blog, her money...she was forced into anger management therapy, and she happens upon a new adventure in her life. I was connected to the character from the beginning, and I felt ALL the emotions with her - anger, resentment, frustration, joy, excitement. Seriously so cute. 

The Girls in the Stilt House. 

Hmm.. I don't know about this one. I actually started it a long time ago, but just now picked it back up to finish. It was kind of like a Where the Crawdads Sing, but I didn't like it as much. It was in the 1920s in Mississippi - very rural.... two girls who come from very different backgrounds who are both running away from something, and essentially forced together to survive. I liked the book, and others have LOVED the book, but for me, it wasn't a top favorite. BUT... give it a shot! You might like it!

   

Anxious People

This one was fun to listen to (I listen to it at 1.75x speed, so I think maybe it adds a bit more dramatic to the voice )
I felt myself a little annoyed at some of the characters, but also connecting to them. How the author connects all the characters, such a unique style of writing. I definitely didn't expect this when I started it... I didn't actually read the summary before I listened to it. Do you read the synopses before reading books? Or do you just go based on suggestions, authors you know, or how do you chose books?

I just noticed it's a Netflix series, so I tried to watch it. lol It's a foreign show, so dubbed over in English, which doesn't bother me. But it was SO DIFFERENT. Just in the first episode. I couldn't watch it any more. lol

 

Taste My Life Through Food

I don't know why I decided to read it, but it was such a fun read. I love Stanley Tucci even more now. I love his quirky stories through his life, and love the connection with food he makes as he goes along; how he lost his first wife to cancer, his feelings about Hollywood, his childhood growing up... And he even shares recipes, too. The best is doing the audiobook because he narrates it himself! I love his storytelling. 

One Italian Summer

I finished this book on the way up to St. Augustine. I'm tellin' ya. Audiobooks are a GAME changer.  It's read by Lauren Graham, who I LOVE as an actress, but as a narrator? I'm still on the fence about. 

It's about a woman who loses her mom to cancer right before they go on a mother daughter trip to Italy, but she still goes...partly because she's also confused about her marriage at that time, too. And then something happens...
The beginning didn't really draw me in, but I kept reading and ended up liking the book.
I give it a 3-4 

Have you read any of these? What did you think about them? 

I'll be back next month with more. Do you have any suggestions? I'm always looking to add to my TBR list.

Hello Monday {6.27.22}

Happy Monday! I’m linking up with Sarah and Holly sharing some fun from our weekend. 

The girls finished up Winshape camp on Friday - they had a great time! Brooklynn even said she wished it was all month. lol. And Autumn made some new friends. Unfortunately, they're all up in Viera, so it's not likely she'll see them again, but I like that she's able to make friends easily now. 

THEN, I started off my weekend with a GIRLS weekend at Margaritaville!! I was so honored to be invited, and spending the weekend with this group of girls was just so uplifting. 

This tank is SO good! It's so lightweight and flowy. It's on sale too. 

And these summer shorts are my GO-TO shorts - I will buy ALL the colors. And wear them ALL the days...spring, summer, fall, and even some winter days, because...you know...Florida. lol 

We stayed at a cottage at Margaritaville in Orlando. 

If you know me, you know I have a serious love for Jimmy Buffett. I grew up listening to him and he was one of my first concerts. 

(I blew out my flip flop....stepped on a pop top)

The lobby was SO fun!

Seriously, these ladies made for a fun time!

We spent the whole day Saturday by the pool. And I bought some bingo cards, and we actually won a bucket! Heck ya!

Saturday was supposed to rain all day, but it ended up being such a beautiful day!!

Came home and got right to work with things... cleaning, laundry, feeding the kids...like really? Why do you need eat ALL THE TIME!? lol

This sleeveless swing dress is probably one of my new favorite dresses! I also got it in black. It's on sale right now too! 

Started a new workout calendar. I think I might really like it! If you want the calendar you can download it HERE. 

My workout outfit that day was the flow tank, seamless hustle shorts. 

After church, I decided it was time.

Time to go through the "Hand me down" box. 

I purged that sucker WAY DOWN... fortunately/unfortunately, we're getting to the stage where there aren't a lot of hand me downs any more.... so this box is just the "stuff that doesn't fit yet, holiday clothes, and winter clothes (minus the jackets. They're so poofy, I just keep those hanging up).

The wall of clothes to pass down to our favorite little girl. 

I wore the code joggers and classic V for the rest of the day, SO DANG. COMFY. 

My dad made Autumn a "desk" for her to do her art on - it's more of table, but it looks so great in her room. He loves doing projects - and this was simple, but he just took a piece of good wood, rounded the edges, added some legs, and coated it with oil to make it nice and smooth. 

And last.. but not least, I picked up my groceries for THIS WEEK'S MENU. 

So fun...adulting and such. 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I'm off to do another load of laundry. 

Friday Favorites {6.24}

Happy Friday, friends!!  Today's post is a quick look at my favorites for the week....

My favorite recipe from last week's menu - The One Pot Chicken Fajita pasta! It ended up being really good! It was a tad spicy, so you could probably trade out the Rotel for just diced tomatoes. But we ate it and liked it! 

My favorite outfit? Whew - ok... that's hard. BUT...

I'm wearing the Nantucket shorts from Zyia and the Cloud Shirt from Athleta - SO COMFY!

I also got this Draper James pajama outfit - honestly, it was my FIRST matching pajama set, and my girls were like "what are you wearing?! oooh. I like it." lol That just goes to show you how I dress for bed. Maybe I should look into that more. haha

But then there's THIS outfit... and oh my goodness, doesn't it just put you in a good mood!?

It's the Spring Bud pocket light n tights, and the pink copper charge tank. I just keep looking at thinking how happy it makes me. lol.  They're ZYIA - light n tights are their MAIN attraction!

Check them out HERE. 

I also finished another workout calendar - which I LOVED. It was a great hybrid of workout programs. Download the calendar in THIS post. 

My favorite Amazon purchase?? Oh vey. Pretty much everything from my 4th of July Haul!

Check out the post!

My favorite show? Well, I don't do much watching TV - but I have stumbled across The Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix. And I LOVE the movie with Matthew M. (I can never spell his name right lol), and so far this show is pretty good!

My favorite moment from the week? 

There have been a few from the girls - they have been so excited about Winshape Camp, and listening to their stories and watching them reenact stories during dinner has been a lot of fun each day.

This was the first day I dropped them off. In true fashion, I got a GREAT picture! lol BUT, that's real life. 

But honestly, maybe THIS moment, might be my favorite.

I went shopping at Old Navy, and I tried on a fitted dress. Probably the first time ever, honestly

And I didn't hate it.

I'm still 20 lbs heavier than where I was last year, and despite my good eating and consistency with working out, the scale is not budging. Like at all. But I can feel changes in my body. I'm more toned, my strength is up, and I can feel my outer thighs slimming. I have to remind myself, I don't workout and eat healthy to be skinny, or to be a certain number on the scale. I do it to be healthy and strong. Today, I kind of loved the skin I was in

The dress is from old navy and is on sale right now. Find it HERE

Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend! I'll be back on Monday.

Meal Planning {6.27.22}

Good morning, and happy Thursday! 
I've decided to move my meal plannings to Thursday... I usually make my grocery lists on Fridays or Saturdays, so that I have my lists ready to go by Sundays. Maybe you're kind of the same? So I thought be better to do them BEFORE the week ahead. So, the date up top will be wrong for this post, but that's because it's for the next week's meal. Make sense? Maybe. lol

So here's next week's meals.

I like to have 1 each of:

-chicken

-"taco tuesday" variation

-seafood

-pasta

-sandwich/burger/hoagie

1. Grilled cheese and tomato soup - I don't normally think of soup in the summer, but when I asked the girls if they had any meal requests for the month, that was one of them. SO...here we are lol.  THIS is the soup that we normally eat. Ron bought it one time on BOGO at Publix, and we've never looked back. And I'll probably "jdudje" our grilled cheese up, just because. lol

2.  Burrito Casserole - this actually came from a Country Crock recipe I came across on Instagram! They don't have it posted anywhere else that I've found, but I saved in my IG and just go back to it. 

3. Honey Chipotle Chicken -   The girls and I don't like things too spicy, so I don't use too many chilis, but the flavor of them definitely adds to it!

4.  Sweet and Sour Shrimp Rice Bowls - We haven't had this yet, but it sounds yum!!

5. Chicken and Broccoli Noodle Casserole - I usually really like recipes from Skinnytaste, so we'll see  how this one is!