Happy first day in Phoenix.
Ellen and I arrived safely and in no time we had our rental car and now have a nice stocked fridge in our extended stay hotel of champagne, orange juice, 2 buck chuck, and apples. A runners paradise for the weekend. We are counting down the days to the PF Changs Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon .... it should definitely be interesting. I'm currently running on 20 hours of awake time. I'm a little loopy, probably not making much sense, and when I wake up in the morning I'll probably wonder if I forgot to post a blog. But right now I'm writing about absolutely nothing. Sounds like fun right? Not really. So I'm going to sleep before it is suddenly 24 hours since I've had any sleep. Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite. Laurbot
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This week it's going to be the TOP 10 BOOKS I CAN'T WAIT TO READ THIS YEAR!
Wow, not sure how I'm going to pull that one off with all the choices but there are so many classics I have been neglecting and I feel like this is the year to play catch up with the 1,001 list.
It's hard to create a list when really, in total honesty, I won't be alive long enough to read all the books I want to read. I would say the top 10 books I want to read right this instant is totally different than the books actually on this list. Anyway ... I have to finish packing and try to get a couple hours of sleep before I ditch the below freezing temperatures of B-Town and head to 75 in PHOENIX. Get excited, Rockstars! Laurbot Today's photo a day challenge is SOMETHING YELLOW. Yellow isn't really my color, at least not in the winter when I'm albino, so finding something yellow in my every day life that stands out is pretty hard. I guess I ignore the mundane and norm like the bananas on my counter, or the wheat thins box, or the sun if it had chose to shine today.
Instead, I perused my shelves and found a stacks of "yellow" books to share. I almost went with an entire stack of Nancy Drew but I didn't want to lose my place in the reading list. I have only read three of the books above ... something to aspire to. In case you want to know, here are the books listed:
I like this variety. Maybe on my future bookshelves I will coordinate the unread by color instead of by author and random chaos. Laurbot I just finished one of the best books I've read in quite some time - and one of the quickest. 20,000 Days and Counting by Robert D. Smith is all about living life like it's your last day, making the most of it, doing what you really want to be doing, waking up happy and dancing, and so much more.
All I wanted to do today was accomplish some projects I'd been putting off thinking it would take too long ... when in fact it was quick and easy and now I feel so much more organized as we continue into the new year. Watching things being crossed off my to-dos is amazing and most fulfilling, like spending my weekend with family, girlfriends, napping in the sunshine listening to the Pride & Prejudice movie soundtrack, listening to Gods word at church, and so much more. This weekend was UBER fulfilling ... I can easily say as I go into the evening that my bucket is full (and if you haven't read How Full Is Your Bucket by Tom Rath ... go buy it now). In addition, as the Golden Globe awards are on tonight, I have started the quest to see all the nominated films. Last night CLC and I went to see Silver Linings Playbook and now I'm watching Beasts of the Southern Wild (available on Redbox). 2 down - 7 more to go before February 25th! Today we kicked off our official book club - Reading Between the Wines - with an amazing group of women and I couldn't be more excited.
We cut the fruit, ate some amazing vegan breakfast dishes, poured the mimosas (and bloody mary's) and got to work. Our first book choice of the year - drum roll please - Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. I've been dying to read this book since it came out, and to see what Rowling has to offer the adults in the world after her Harry Potter experience. I'm sure it will not disappoint. In February, I will mack sure to come back, give our thoughts and let you know of our second book club choice. I know this is short and sweet, and it's only 8pm, but I'm hitting a rock hard wall, lots to get done tomorrow, and I need to be perky and prepared. Church comes first. Looking forward to spending some time reflecting and being inspired. Sweet dreams lovely land out there. Laurbot It's midnight ... really that's tomorrow but I'm still counting it as today because I haven't went to sleep yet.
Ha! Beat that. Today is Dougman's 60th! AMAZING. He doesn't look 60. I don't think he acts 60. Yet, here we area celebrating and having a great time. In January 1996, not many days from now, my mom married Dougman and it changed out lives for the better. He was a pretty awesome guy to have around and I'm glad that I've had all these years of his support and encouragement and inspiration. And now I'm really tired, so I'm going to sleep before a bunch of book reading ladies invade my house in the morning. Oops ... I might have fallen asleep for a second. Peaceful dreams. Laurbot And I'm terribly behind.
I have not seen one, ONE, movie nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars this year. Who am I and what happened to the real Lauren? Just in case, here's the recap:
I have read the book, Life of Pi, and heard that the movie is very good. I've only heard amazing things about Silver Linings Playbook and hope this weekend I might have some spare time to go check it out. I now have until February 25th at 7pm (or something) to try and squeeze in 9 movies in order to give my best opinion on what I feel will win. For the past two or three years I have been able to accurately predict the winner - The Hurt Locker, The King's Speech, & The Artist. All amazing films. I can't wait to see what wins this year and to get caught up with some much needed movie watching. Sadly, I might have to put the books down for a a few hours here and there in order to accomplish this goal but I guess we all have sacrifices to make. First world problem. Speaking of ... I'm going back to reading. Laurbot Every once in awhile something springs back into my memory and reminds me of old obsessions I used to have, much like reading and cupcakes and Jane Austen. With books, I collect many of the same authors, hopefully to one day have their entire collection of works, in some cases all first editions. For example - James Patterson, Janet Evanovich, John Grisham, Michael Connelly, etc. Along those same lines, I spent a lot of time doing this same thing with movies and favorite film stars. I went through a big Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts & Michelle Pfeiffer phase - not to say I don't still enjoy them, I just don't spend as much time stalking IMDB wondering when their next movie will come out. I found a sister "soul mate" this summer, while boating, all because a song from the Practical Magic soundtrack came through her iPhone and we realized in that moment how much we had in common and how rare it would be to find someone that would have something as random as the Practical Magic soundtrack on hand so readily. Now I can't stop listening to it in the mornings while I get ready for work. And I'm sure it won't be long before I need to pull the movie out of the archives and rewatch it. Over, and over, and over, and over again. AND, as I sit here hoping to return to Pride & Prejudice: the Wild & Wanton Edition because a girl can't start enough books before finishing others, I turn on some random channel and low and behold Batman Returns is playing with, in my opinion, the best cat woman ever - Michelle Pfeiffer. "Honey, I'm home. Oh. I forgot. I'm not married." - Selina Kyle Maybe I need to add cracking a whip to my life list. Seems like that could be a fun skill to add to the resume.
Okay, back to the latest TV obsession ... Law & Order: SVU. And maybe an early bedtime. Ciao. Laurbot I'm borrowing this title from another bookish blog - The Broke and the Bookish. This week the subject was 2013 reading goals ... but I'm not in the mood for that tonight. Instead, I'm going with my choices for Top 10 Books of 2012 - and if you haven't read them then you should just got buy them right now.
Now, how does your wishlist feel? I said I was on a book buying freeze until I received another book in the mail. Amazon Prime is really starting to pay off (and you should just add that to your wishlist too). I promise, that's it. I don't have any other books on order, I'm trying really hard not to buy another copy, in a different edition, of Pride & Prejudice, and be a good girl for the rest of the month as I try to zoom through the looming stack on my end table. It looks like this: It's getting to be a little insane. Trust me, I will be the first to admit it. Let's check back next Tuesday to see what it's looking like. Hopefully a few more books will have magically disappeared onto the finished shelf.
Anyway, off to D.A.N.C.E. with Ellen and CLC. Good times shall be had by all. Laurbot ... One Hour Later ... dance is over, blog is posting, and I can feel all my muscles working to relax. Giddy up! I used to participate in this weekly post about what people were reading this week, what they finished and what they added to their collections. I haven't done it in awhile but I'm always intrigued by other people's reading habits, and what they have decided is most important to start reading at any given time. Lately that is affecting my reading choices more than anything. So, just for giggles, here's my list.
What I'm Reading:
What I Finished:
What I Added:
I need to put myself on a spending freeze and get a little caught up. I know I say this a lot to my friends, but sometimes a girl needs to be okay with the books on her shelves, or night stand, or book bag, or end table, or backpack, or iPad, before going to buy more. So there it is ... my weekend in review on books and reading. Wasn't that fun! Until next time. Over and out. |
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