NumberNineteen

Caught My Fancy - January

We are headed towards the end of January and I think that it's high time for a Caught My Fancy post!  We need something bright in this gray month, don't we?

 

Noble Mount Jammies - I received a pair of these for Christmas and they are the best.jammies.ever.  And, take it from me, I know flannel jammies (ask my family). I wear flannel pjs all winter and sometimes in the summer if the AC is on high!  And these are my favorites. First of all, they came beautifully packaged in a box that I couldn't bear to throw away.  And the pajamas themselves are so soft and thick.  I got a set in a London Bridge print (pictured above) which is sadly no longer available, but there are so many other cute ones.

 

Cat Plays Whack-A-Finger - If you need a giggle, watch this video.  A cat (who looks much like my sweet Dexter boy) is utterly entranced and challenged by a box and a re-appearing finger. I need to get a cat again soon. And a box with holes.

Pink Martini - I recently was digging through some old CDs (yes, I still listen to them!) and pulled out Pink Martini's Sympathique.  I am falling in love again with their jazz/lounge/European/South American sound.  Can't figure out how those sounds can all come together? Check them out, they are dreamy:

 

Anthropologie Purple Cut Glass Cake Plate - I hit the gift giving jackpot with this stunning cake plate.  I am 99% sure that the recipient doesn't read my blog (if so: Hey Erin - Surprise!), so I feel safe sharing it here.  My friend LOVES purple and loves to bake.  When I found this cake plate on Anthro's website, I knew that I found the perfect birthday gift for her.  I hope that she loves it as much as I think that she will.

Finally, I cannot let the opportunity pass without shouting out to the most inspirational people in my world, our world right now -- the marchers in Saturday's worldwide demonstrations for civil rights, equality and respect.  You have given me hope and inspiration.

Save

Favorite Books of 2016

For those of you who have been reading for awhile, you'll remember that I made (and met) a goal of reading 100 books in 2015.  It was a tight squeeze to fit in all of those books, but I made it!  I made a conscious decision to not have a reading goal for 2016, as I felt that I was a bit rushed when reading at times and missed out on some of the details in the books.  So, my total for 2016 was 78 books.  Not too shabby but I didn't feel rushed to get to the next book.  

Though I read a lot last year, there were only a few that really stood out to me, which I'm declaring my five favorite books of 2016.

Martha's Vineyard - Isle of Dreams by Susan Branch - This was my favorite book, the most influential book, the one that I think about most often and the one that I've re-read and the one that I'm sure to read many more times.  If you think that you know Susan Branch from her cute calendars, you must read her trilogy of memoirs to really get to know her.  This one is the second in the set and describes the pivotal point in her life that she moved to Martha's Vineyard and became the women that we know from her cookbooks and art.  It's about figuring out who you are, what you want and rising from the ashes of a difficult time. 

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton - I discovered Kate Morton this year and have loved everything that I've read by her.  This is the first one that I've read and I think it is the best.  A young girl witnesses a crime that changes everything she thought that she knew about her mother.  Years later, as her mother is dying, she tries to put together the clues to her mother's past that will explain what she saw.  It switches back and forth between modern times and wartime London.  The ending is COMPLETELY unexpected  -- literally, it keeps you guessing until the last page.

Everybody's Fool by Richard Russo - I love Richard Russo and was so excited to find out that he wrote a new book.  It is a sequel to Nobody's Fool, but you don't have to have read the latter to enjoy this book.  It takes place in Russo's favorite area to depict -- a small industrial town in upstate New York which is suspiciously like the Albany/Saratoga Springs area, full of lots of unique characters. This book is both laugh out loud funny and touching. 

Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina - This is my YA favorite for last year.  Meg Medina is a super talented YA author and I loved this book, based upon her teenage years in 1970s New York, specifically 1977, the Summer of Sam.  You feel like you were there -- a time when New York was gritty and pretty scary.  Her main character, Nora, is juggling her need for independence, a boyfriend, an abusive brother and absent father and the fear that cloaks the entire city as a serial killer is on the loose.

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson - Downton Abbey fans, here is the book to fill the space left by it's absence! It's the summer of 1914 in an English village.  Beatrice Nash has just arrived to become the new school mistress.  She wants to remain aloof and mourn the death of her father, but she is soon drawn into the lives of a local family.  As they head towards the beginning of the First World War, their lives become intertwined.  It's so full of great characters and atmosphere -- Please BBC!  Make this into a series!!!

I hope that you find a book that interests you among my favorites.  If you are interested in other books that I have read, you may check out my Goodreads profile at Goodreads.

Random Stuff

Hi All! I meant to post this about a week ago & it completely slipped my mind.  It started "Christmas is all cleared away around here and I've completed my first week back to work in the New Year."  Haha, whoops, old news now!

There are a few, random, fun things happening this week that don't fit into any particular category but I thought would be fun to share. 

 

First of all, I'm so excited about the gift I came up with for our annual friend's White Elephant Christmas Party.  In recent years, the party has been pushed to January because of the craziness of December, and it has turned to be even more fun that way.  It's a grown-ups only party which includes dinner.  The real centerpiece of the party is the White Elephant/Yankee/Chinese gift exchange.  Each person must bring a gift that costs approximately $20.  Every year, we push ourselves to come up the most creative, most steal-able gift that we can think of. 

Perusing Pinterest, I came up with this idea -- an indoor s'mores kit!  How fun is that?  I picked up some sterno & skewers as well as lots of fun sweets for gourmet/out-of-the-box s'mores.  I love it so much.  I think that we might need to get some sterno and have an indoor s'mores night of our own.

 

Next, I got a new Crock Pot for Christmas.  My old was was literally falling apart and I couldn't program it to specific cooking times. I got this one:

source

I'm really excited to use this one more often than I did my last one.  The question is, what to make?  Do any of you have really good Crock Pot recipes?  I'm not much of a stew fan, but other than that, I'd love to hear from you with your favorites. I'm thinking that Skinny Taste's Salisbury Steak Meatballs might be a good one to try.

source

Finally, I hit up the Big Flea last weekend.

I was on the hunt for Christmas ornaments to replace the ones that were lost during the Great Christmas Tree Disaster of 2016. 

I got pretty lucky, I think! 

 

And, I found this set of salt and pepper shakers that I couldn't resist for my Santa collection.  How cute are they?

So, here it is, my belated January update.  I have a few post ideas in the back of my head that I'm hoping to get typed up before things get busy again!

Save

Save

Save

Pantry Before and After

Happy 2017!  I hope that everyone had a fun New Year's Eve.  We spent ours at home, indulging in a wonderful candlelit meal of filet mignon with blue cheese sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and ending with chocolate mousse.  It was just right, celebrating with my most cherished people in my favorite place. 

 

 I don't know about you, but the week between Christmas and New Year's always becomes one of "clean up and clean out".  I become a whirling dervish of organization.  One project leads to another and before I know it, all of the closets in the house are tidy and we have a huge pile of things for the charity shop.

This year, my main goal was the pantry.  These before photos should tell you why:

Notice that random grocery bag of stuff on the right and the overflowing bin.

An entire day later (these things always take longer than expected), a clean and organized pantry!

Snacks with snacks! 

Small things in bins rather than scattered around the shelves, falling over.

Like things with like and all of the little bits corralled into bins and plastic boxes.  Here is one of my favorite things about this organization project: those cute red bins and plastic boxes?  From Dollar Tree!
 

Because a Before and After is so satisfying:

 Before                After

I'm going back to school in 2 days, so I'm going to try to relax tomorrow as much as possible. 

Save

Save

Save

Save