I'm for sure a list maker. There's a scene in some silly Lifetime or Hallmark movie that I don't even remember anything about except for the scene when she talks about how much she loves literally crossing off something on her to-do list. That's how I feel, and why I can never use my iPhone for anything like that. It's not as fun to scratch off.
But, I will share with you what is on my list of some tasks I want to accomplish before the month is over. Even if I can't literally cross it off my list on the blog, I can use my readers to hold me accountable for some projects I want to try.
1. Utilize homemade weed spray and other garden pins in our yard.
2. Finally finish the gallery wall on the stairs.
3. Meal plan binder to make my life significantly easier, because doing this every week is almost torture, even though I know it needs to be done.
4. Homemade cleaners, now that I finally have some empty spray bottles.
5. Spring cleaning and de-cluttering.
What's on your list to accomplish this month?
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Book Review: Sharp Objects
I have to admit, I jumped on the Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) bandwagon this past year when everyone was talking about it on Twitter. I liked it well enough, but I didn't necessarily "get" why everyone was in love with it, and wasn't as involved in the story as everyone else seemed to be. It could have been all of the hype, and it could be that I didn't connect with the story as much as I expected to. But now I can understand the hype surrounding Gillian Flynn's work, thanks to Sharp Objects, which a friend recommended. And I loved it.
Sharp Objects tells the story of a newspaper reporter sent back to her hometown to cover the recent disappearances of young girls in the hopes that it will become "the next big story" (according to her boss). She finds herself wrapped up not just in the lives and disappearances of these girls, but also the life and death of her younger sister. And as the story goes on, we see how her past, her relationship with her mother, and her relationship with her half-sister ties into the story of these girls, bringing everything together in an ending that I didn't see coming and couldn't stop thinking about for days.
What I liked so much about Sharp Objects was the constant surprises of where the story was taking me. It was darker than I ever could have imagined, but it was dark in a way that makes you think and cringe a little rather than darkness that seems forced or even over the top. The story was well-told and the characters were strong. They were flawed and we could easily understand their motivations, all culminating in the so-surprising ending.
Sharp Objects tells the story of a newspaper reporter sent back to her hometown to cover the recent disappearances of young girls in the hopes that it will become "the next big story" (according to her boss). She finds herself wrapped up not just in the lives and disappearances of these girls, but also the life and death of her younger sister. And as the story goes on, we see how her past, her relationship with her mother, and her relationship with her half-sister ties into the story of these girls, bringing everything together in an ending that I didn't see coming and couldn't stop thinking about for days.
What I liked so much about Sharp Objects was the constant surprises of where the story was taking me. It was darker than I ever could have imagined, but it was dark in a way that makes you think and cringe a little rather than darkness that seems forced or even over the top. The story was well-told and the characters were strong. They were flawed and we could easily understand their motivations, all culminating in the so-surprising ending.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Chicago: The Non-Musical Edition
At the beginning of April, Nathan and I were just getting back from our trip to Chicago, which was fantastic. The weather wasn't as springy as we thought it would be, but it actually ended up being all right, because I never had to wonder if I would need a coat that day. (Hint: I always did.)
But aside from the weather woes, easily solved by coat-wearing, we really did enjoy our trip to the windy city. Here's our final itinerary, complete with my thoughts and recommendations.
Thursday: This was a half day for us, so we checked out the shops on the magnificent mile, including the American Girl doll store (Note: It was actually kind of hard to explain to someone--in this case, Nathan--the complexities that surround American Girl dolls.) Around sunset, we went to the John Hancock tower, hoping for some great photo opportunities. We got them.
Now, here is where I will preface that if we had to do this trip over again, I don't know if we would have not gone to the very top observation deck, but the bar/restaurant that's up there. We did the city pass (which I recommend a lot) which got us admission into five different attractions, with front of the line privileges. They were: Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Sears (Willis) Tower, John Hancock tower OR Museum of Science and Industry, and then the Art Institute OR the observatory. So, we could have gone to the Museum of Science and Industry instead if we'd just gone to the bar. BUT. While I have no comparison since we didn't go to the bar, what was kind of nice about the observatory was that we could really just walk around and take tons of photos at different places.
And here comes your next lesson. We went over to Giordano's pizza, which had been recommended, and it was a 45 minute wait when we got there. We decided we didn't want to wait, and then commenced to walk around the city for about 20 minutes trying to figure out what we wanted to eat. Somehow, we ended up at Giordano's again because we got turned around, so we decided just to eat there. Then the wait was an hour-plus. But all the time we spent was totally worth it for the most amazing pizza ever.
Friday: This was a big day for us. We went to the Field Museum AND the Shedd Aquarium. Lots to take in. The Field Museum had so many cool exhibits--one on dirt, one on cave paintings in France, and the T-Rex. We really could have probably spent a whole day here. The Shedd Aquarium was fun, as well, and there were cute baby belugas (which basically ensured that I sang the Raffi song all weekend) and an interesting exhibit on sharks. We ate dinner at Michael Jordan's steakhouse, which was amazing.
Saturday: We braved the El on the weekend to head out to the Frank Lloyd Wright house and Oak Park. As you learned before, my mom and I had looked at the houses he designed around Oak Park, but Nathan and I went inside the actual house he lived in. It was very cool for house nerds such as myself, though we both agreed that we wished there was more focus on his life than was provided. After a visit to Navy Pier, we also explored the city via water on an architecture tour, which was great because our tour guide was hilarious and also very knowledgeable.
Sunday: Now, we unintentionally booked our trip over Easter weekend, and I didn't think anything would be open that day so we got tickets to "The Book of Mormon." But, as it turned out, almost everything was open so we probably could have gone to a museum this day and might have had smaller crowds and gone to the play another night. We did go to the Sears Tower after the play though, and it was pretty busy, so maybe we planned right.
Monday: Our flight left Monday afternoon, so we spent the morning at the art institute. We hit up all of the high points and still had some time to explore some other exhibits. And surprisingly, we didn't have any flight trouble either way, except a few gate changes.
Chicago is definitely close enough to go back to, and I think there's still so much we could have done. I think a trip back is definitely in order.
But aside from the weather woes, easily solved by coat-wearing, we really did enjoy our trip to the windy city. Here's our final itinerary, complete with my thoughts and recommendations.
Thursday: This was a half day for us, so we checked out the shops on the magnificent mile, including the American Girl doll store (Note: It was actually kind of hard to explain to someone--in this case, Nathan--the complexities that surround American Girl dolls.) Around sunset, we went to the John Hancock tower, hoping for some great photo opportunities. We got them.
Now, here is where I will preface that if we had to do this trip over again, I don't know if we would have not gone to the very top observation deck, but the bar/restaurant that's up there. We did the city pass (which I recommend a lot) which got us admission into five different attractions, with front of the line privileges. They were: Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Sears (Willis) Tower, John Hancock tower OR Museum of Science and Industry, and then the Art Institute OR the observatory. So, we could have gone to the Museum of Science and Industry instead if we'd just gone to the bar. BUT. While I have no comparison since we didn't go to the bar, what was kind of nice about the observatory was that we could really just walk around and take tons of photos at different places.
And here comes your next lesson. We went over to Giordano's pizza, which had been recommended, and it was a 45 minute wait when we got there. We decided we didn't want to wait, and then commenced to walk around the city for about 20 minutes trying to figure out what we wanted to eat. Somehow, we ended up at Giordano's again because we got turned around, so we decided just to eat there. Then the wait was an hour-plus. But all the time we spent was totally worth it for the most amazing pizza ever.
Friday: This was a big day for us. We went to the Field Museum AND the Shedd Aquarium. Lots to take in. The Field Museum had so many cool exhibits--one on dirt, one on cave paintings in France, and the T-Rex. We really could have probably spent a whole day here. The Shedd Aquarium was fun, as well, and there were cute baby belugas (which basically ensured that I sang the Raffi song all weekend) and an interesting exhibit on sharks. We ate dinner at Michael Jordan's steakhouse, which was amazing.
Saturday: We braved the El on the weekend to head out to the Frank Lloyd Wright house and Oak Park. As you learned before, my mom and I had looked at the houses he designed around Oak Park, but Nathan and I went inside the actual house he lived in. It was very cool for house nerds such as myself, though we both agreed that we wished there was more focus on his life than was provided. After a visit to Navy Pier, we also explored the city via water on an architecture tour, which was great because our tour guide was hilarious and also very knowledgeable.
Sunday: Now, we unintentionally booked our trip over Easter weekend, and I didn't think anything would be open that day so we got tickets to "The Book of Mormon." But, as it turned out, almost everything was open so we probably could have gone to a museum this day and might have had smaller crowds and gone to the play another night. We did go to the Sears Tower after the play though, and it was pretty busy, so maybe we planned right.
Monday: Our flight left Monday afternoon, so we spent the morning at the art institute. We hit up all of the high points and still had some time to explore some other exhibits. And surprisingly, we didn't have any flight trouble either way, except a few gate changes.
Chicago is definitely close enough to go back to, and I think there's still so much we could have done. I think a trip back is definitely in order.
Monday, May 6, 2013
April Showers Bring May Flowers
And April absence brings May blogging? That's my attempt at being creative. Obviously I am still working on getting back into this whole writing thing. But I still (nerdily) chuckled at my little joke.
To start us off, I wanted to talk about my (sort of) participation in Camp NaNoWriMo in April. If I would have set my goal at 10,000 words, I definitely would have achieved it. But 50,000 did not happen unfortunately, a lot due to motivation and some due to life.
The more times I set specific word goals, the more I realize that writing for word count is not for me. I would assume that this strategy is one that would motivate me, because I am such a scheduler and words are easy to schedule in each day. But I feel that sometimes it takes away from the actual writing process, and I feel rushed and/or overwhelmed (depending on the day), which makes writing not as fun. I don't have the time to really think about what I want to write and how I want to write it without feeling on the clock.
Several months into deciding on my own writing process, I 've learned that a deadline is important, but since this is my first attempt at writing a book, the higher word count is not going to get me there. Based on how I write and think and feel, I should be writing less so I don't feel pressured or guilty if I don't achieve whatever goal I have set for myself. Because there are some days where I really exceed my goal and others where I don't.
So I think this was my last time participating in NaNo, at least with this book based on where it is. I find that difficult because I really like the idea of it--writing as much as you can without thinking about it as much--but I know that it's not as realistic for me based on my personality. But I guess we'll see what happens come July 1...
To start us off, I wanted to talk about my (sort of) participation in Camp NaNoWriMo in April. If I would have set my goal at 10,000 words, I definitely would have achieved it. But 50,000 did not happen unfortunately, a lot due to motivation and some due to life.
The more times I set specific word goals, the more I realize that writing for word count is not for me. I would assume that this strategy is one that would motivate me, because I am such a scheduler and words are easy to schedule in each day. But I feel that sometimes it takes away from the actual writing process, and I feel rushed and/or overwhelmed (depending on the day), which makes writing not as fun. I don't have the time to really think about what I want to write and how I want to write it without feeling on the clock.
Several months into deciding on my own writing process, I 've learned that a deadline is important, but since this is my first attempt at writing a book, the higher word count is not going to get me there. Based on how I write and think and feel, I should be writing less so I don't feel pressured or guilty if I don't achieve whatever goal I have set for myself. Because there are some days where I really exceed my goal and others where I don't.
So I think this was my last time participating in NaNo, at least with this book based on where it is. I find that difficult because I really like the idea of it--writing as much as you can without thinking about it as much--but I know that it's not as realistic for me based on my personality. But I guess we'll see what happens come July 1...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)