Friday Ramblings

Howdy friends, and happy almost weekend!  For a while now I've been thinking about not blogging on Fridays anymore.  It's the day I get the least amount of traffic, and sometimes I struggle with what to write.  We shall see.  Then again, does traffic really matter?  Probably not.  And I always have something to say.  Like today, when I've got a bunch of ramblings...

With the holidays and all of it's doings, there wasn't much time to read.  But the two books I did finish were SO good, I need to share.

I discovered Beatriz Williams last year, and this is my favorite book of hers so far.  It's got love and intrigue and a little historical fiction thrown in.  Several nights I stayed up way too late because I couldn't put it down.  

And then there's Amy Krouse Rosenthal's book.  If her name sounds familiar, you might remember her piece in The New York Times called You May Want To Marry My Husband.  Last year as Amy was dying of cancer at the age of 51, she wrote this beautiful essay.  Go read it, and then get this book.  It was written many years before her diagnosis, and I've never read anything like it.  It's clever and creative and tons of fun.  The world lost a truly talented, unique author when she passed away last March.

I've set a few concrete goals for this year, which I'll get around to sharing eventually.  I also love the idea of intentions as goals.  Or just a way to live every single day, right?

Speaking of 2018, I took one of those Facebook quiz thingy's that pop up, and apparently my word for the year is "Alchemy".  Which I found interesting, because one of my favorite books of all time is The Alchemist.  It means "any seemingly magical process of transforming or combining elements into something new".  I definitely feel like it's time for me to become something new, so maybe it really is my word.

A few weeks ago, my cousin invited me to go wedding dress shopping with her.  This made me so happy because a) I love wedding dresses and have kicked around the idea for years of opening a shop and b) I worry that I'll never get this experience with my own kids, because I have boys, and what if their fiance's don't like me?  Anyway, can I just say that the dresses of today are SO stunning?  I mean, I love my dress from 27 years ago, but it can't compare with the gorgeousness my cousin tried on.  Since you can't see her face, I'm sure she won't mind if I share this picture... And yes, that's a chiffon cape on the back and I was swooning.

Watch: the second season of "Better Late Than Never" is on, and I highly recommend.  Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw & George Foreman travelling the world and having hilarious adventures.  My boys call it the old geezer show, but it's hysterical and heartwarming and will make you happy, I promise.
Do not watch:  Downsizing, the new Matt Damon movie.  It started out promising, and then went down the most bizarre path that made absolutely no sense.  

The Blended Blog has some great Monday prompts this month, and I hope you'll join us.  This coming Monday we're talking about resolutions, and I'll be sharing where I do and don't want to go with le blog this year.

And there's still time to sign up for our Share The Love gift exchange.  Go here to fill out the google form and find all the details.

Okay, my rambling is done.  Have a great weekend!