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?