Five Things to Tell You Vol. 37
romance, nonfiction, baking and more!
Well, hello there! So happy to see you today! This week was the last gasp of my summer break, with a day of school clothes shopping with the youngest, a pool trip, teaching the youngest to crochet, teaching myself to knit, baking, lots of reading, and then … back to work for the year on Thursday. Here we go again, my friends!
Now, please just settle on in with your favorite snack and let’s dive in …
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I feel like it’s been a hot minute since I shared any romance reads here, so today, I’ll gift you with THREE of my swoon-worthy reads from the past few months:
Savor It by Tarah DeWitt is the first in the Spunes, OR series, and I’m kicking myself for sleeping on it last year. Once I finally committed to it via audio earlier this summer, I was utterly enamored with the gorgeous coastal Oregon setting, the single dad MMC, and the lovable family of the FMC.
I decided to prioritize Savor It this year because I heard so many amazing reviews of Left of Forever, the second in the series ~ I kept seeing readers say that the second chance romance was to die for, and once I heard it was a MARRIED second chance story, I was sold. I really did love Savor It, but Left of Forever was definitely my favorite. I’m a sucker for mature formerly married people deciding well, maybe we made a mistake? And their coastal vacation together was dreamy beyond belief! I can’t wait to see what DeWitt does in this world next.
My third romance for you today is a major throwback, taking us back to 1998 with Sea Swept, the first in Nora Robert’s Chesapeake Bay Saga. I told you a few weeks ago that I’m re-reading Roberts’ Bride Quartet right now, but I also decided that I needed to expand my knowledge of her work. I'm so grateful I sought this one out ~ the coastal Maryland setting, the unique storyline, and of course, the lOvE.
Sea Swept reads very much its age, and modern readers will be a bit shocked at some of the behavior that was considered normal / acceptable in romance at that time. However, it WAS written in 1998, and it was fun reading the style of romance that was popular back in the decade in which I first discovered the genre ~ I will definitely be continuing this series!
Anyone who visits my mom and stepdad at their Colorado home soon discovers the absolute DELIGHTS that live in their freezer. As my teenage nephew stated this spring, “Man, Nana’s freezer is my heaven.” My mom, Nana to the kids, is a phenomenal baker, and she makes ample quantities to keep in her freezer for hiking snacks. That means that when I fill my pack for our treks, I pack enough baked goods to ensure I will never go hungry!
Below are three of my mom’s more recently mastered recipes from the New York Times (gift links) that I absolutely devoured while visiting, and am attempting to make myself at home. So far I have been highly successful with the Breakfast Bars and the Strawberry Drop Biscuits (made with raspberries), and am excited to try the scones soon!
The youngest and I went to the theater to see Freakier Friday on the afternoon it released, and my friends … we loved it.
We giggled the entire time and immediately requested the DVD of the 2003 edition of Freaky Friday from the library to watch at home. We both had watched it years and years ago, but it was just so much fun to revisit it and see how much carried over, how many of the actors were the same, etc. Silly fun.
And … not a movie, but movie-LENGTH: we also watched all 2 hours of THIS on Wednesday evening. Best surprise not-a-movie viewing experience ever. OCTOBER 3 ~ ARE YOU READY????
Last Sunday, I visited my Oma with my oldest daughter, my aunt and her two daughters, and one of my nieces. Oma no longer really understands who we are, but I’m so happy we all took the day together to drive from various points in the state to meet and visit her together.
Oma might not know exactly WHO we are, but she knew we were coming and was absolutely certain that we were happy to be there and loved her. We took her for a walk around the grounds and by the lake, did a photo shoot, and went to the cafe for a soda and chatting - joyfully chaotic visiting as usual, with her joining in when processing allowed.
Oma is now 90 years old and in failing health, and I am so very grateful we are able to still gift her (and us)with this time together.
And finally, an absolutely gorgeous nonfiction book that I slowly savored this week, switching between print and audio as time allowed.
The Place of Tides by James Rebanks is a wholly original meditation on nature and work that was utterly soothing and thought-provoking. Rebanks narrates his time spent with older women on a remote Norwegian island learning about their work with Eider ducks, and it was exactly the calming book I needed as I headed back to school on Thursday.
If you love nature and meditative nonfiction writing, definitely get your hands on this one!
That’s all for this week ~ thanks for reading! Please feel free to reply to this email or use the link below to leave a comment to chime in about any of these things, or to share one of your own things ♡
Thanks for stopping by!
