book review(s)

I have two book reviews from last month to share today. If you recall I was reading The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith, then jumped right into Yes, Please by Amy Poehler. I am here today to give my thoughts and overall opinions of each book. 

Lets start with The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith. In case some of you don't know Robert Galbraith is a pseudo name for J.K. Rowling...yes her. I will start this by saying that I have never read a Harry Potter book from cover to cover. I thought the first one started really slow so I put it down and never picked it back up. I have also only seen the first Harry Potter movie- I know, no judgement. I was a little hesitant to read this book for that very reason. J. K. Rowling's writing isn't my favorite. This book was no different. It started extremely slow for my liking, but I didn't put the book down. I kept pushing myself to keep reading, and by the midpoint I was completely hooked. Without giving too much away this book is a murder/mystery novel with a twist. It takes place in London so I do read to myself in a terrible British accent, but the ending left me sitting on the edge of my seat-never wanting to put the book down. Overall I think this was a great read with an okay story line. There is a squeal called The Silkworm that I plan on reading this fall. 

The second book that I read was Yes Please by Amy Poehler. If you have no idea who Amy Poehler is you have either (a) been living under a rock for the last 10 years, or (b) have no access to the internet. Please take a minute to watch this lovely lady at work. Back to the book review. I love Amy Poehler and want to be reincarnated as her when I die so I knew I would love this book-even if it was complete garbage. I am here to tell you that it is not complete garbage-it is actually quite amazing. This book is an autobiography/memoir/life lessons book. It was a light, easy read meaning that I could go through 60-100 pages in one sitting without being book drained or thinking too much. Overall I would give this book two thumbs up-because I only have two thumbs. It is also now available in paperback which is the one thing I didn't enjoy about reading this book. I am an avid spine folding reader so having it only in hard back was a little bit of a bummer. 

moving weekend

This weekend was the much anticipated moving day! We wrangled up some friends with trucks and moved most of our stuff from our townhouse to the new house.

We spent Friday packing up the last of our kitchen and our clothes. It was very odd to sleep in a townhouse full of boxes and empty dressers/closets. Saturday morning rolled around and we needed some more boxes to finish up the last of the packing.

Lunchtime came and the guys were moving machines. We finally got to walk on our newly refinished hardwood floors-which were treated extremely delicately when it came to heavy furniture. I supplied them with Coke and pizza once all the heavy lifting was done.

Once all the boxes were allocated to the correct rooms-the unpacking process began. I honestly don't know which is worse...unpacking or packing. I have successfully unpacked the master bedroom and most of the kitchen over the weekend. This week I will probably focus on the living room, bathroom and guest bedroom. We need to purchase a few things like some bathroom storage, a dining room table, new light bulbs, and a new shower head. The joys of moving!

As you can see our fur baby has had no issues adjusting to the new house. He made himself right at home on his cozy bed.

reno and demo: stage nine (final days)

We are less than two weeks from moving day. TWO WEEKS! I am trying my best not to lose my mind in this move. 

Over the weekend we got the dining room and kitchen painted and finished. 

As you can see, the counters are covered in paper because we are getting the floors done sometime this week-hopefully. The floor refinishing process makes a huge mess and produces a ton of dust, so we covered as much as we could to reduce the clean-up afterwards. 

You can also see at the top of the walls/ceilings we are missing some crown molding. Our contractor will be installing the crown molding once the floors are finished and able to be walked on. We are hoping to get the floors done on Friday because our contractor is free on Thursday to install the crown molding. 

Keeping this post short and sweet so we can do some final touches to the house while the floors are getting re-finished. 

reno and demo: stage 8

The kitchen got 90% completed this weekend. Our contractor came in and installed the back splash for our counter and peninsula area. We have to wait for the mortar to set before we can apply the grout. Once the grout goes on, we are able to paint the few walls that still remain bare in the kitchen and dining room. 

This is the peninsula area that "connects" the kitchen to the dining room. It can hold four bar stools comfortably-five if we need it to. We chose a stainless steel finished subway tile for this small area that needed a back splash. It's a nice contrast to the white subway tiles and white cabinets. They should also make for easier clean up and stain resistant. 

All of the appliance are also installed and working-YAY!

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Most of the downstairs also got painted this weekend. The stairwell, foyer and living room are all painted and ready to go. We decided on Woodrow Wilson Putty as far as wall color goes. We describe it as a khaki grey/neutral. In the sunlight it looks more taupe and under the lights at night it has a darker grey vibe to it.

This color is a continuation from the hallway upstairs, which you can read about here.

We are in the home stretch- no pun intended- of this renovation. I am hoping to get most things done this week/weekend before the floors get refinished next weekend.

friday favorites

Just a few things on my brain this lovely Friday afternoon. 

Jergen's Wet Skin Moisturizer // Buffalo Chicken Dip // Kindle Reader // Bath and Body Works Fall Collection

I haven't tried the Jergen's Wet Skin Moisturizer, but I am dying to get my hands on it ASAP. I am all about having smooth, hydrated skin-especially with the fall and winter months ahead of us. This product works like lotion, but you apply it while your body is still wet from the shower. Not sure how it compares to regular Jergen's but I am ready to give it a try. 

We are having a cookout/pot luck at a friends house this weekend and I need something that can be made quickly, since our schedule is so hectic. Since my cravings from my currently || september post are all about tailgating and football season I thought it was a perfect time to try and make buffalo chicken dip. There are so many variations on this recipe, but the basic ingredients are the same. It seems like it will be a quick and easy dish for a Labor Day weekend cookout.

I will say this statement right now... I LOVE THE FEELING OF A BOOK IN MY HANDS. That being said, I am looking at purchasing a Kindle-I know THE HORROR!!! The thought of reading something that's not an actual book breaks my heart a little on the inside. I love going to the library and checking out books-they smell so good. I like physically turning the page of a book and closing the cover when I finish. With all that out of the way most would ask why I would even be thinking about a Kindle and I will tell you why. I like the idea of it fitting into my purse or travel bag with ease. I also LOVE the fact that it can hold more than one book at a time. I don't want to pack multiple books for a weekend trip and take up space in my bag. I also like the fact that I can read at night while my other half sleeps- I know I can get a book light, but that may be too bright and it leaves a weird glare on the book pages. I am still up in the air on this purchase, but I am doing some serious looking/research on the products available.

Last, but certainly not least is all the fall scents at Bath and Body Works and other fragrance stores! Fall is by far my favorite season of the year. Cooler weather, less humidity, football, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, holidays.....ahhh the list could go on forever! I am pumped to stop in Bath and Body Works and pick up some candles in the next few days to get the season started off right. 

currently || september

craving || it's almost football season so I am looking forward to tailgate food- which includes wings, taco dip, chips, BBQ, and everything else unhealthy, yet delicious!

listening || mostly, just my Spotify playlist for work, but also loving Top of the World by Tim McGraw. It's his new single on his latest album.

planning || to make the move across town. I haven't started packing anything yet, so I need to get on that immediately.

reading || Yes Please by Amy Poehler. If you love Amy Poehler in any fashion this book is for you. Review will be coming shortly to the blog-along with a review of The Cuckoo's Calling.

decorating || the upstairs of the new house is completely finished so I am focusing on downstairs. We are T-minus a month from moving day and there is still quite a bit of painting to do on the main level of the house.