7QT // 62nd edition

It seems...frivolous, self-indulgent, and rather silly to write a quick takes post in times like these (how many more times am I going to need to write that?), but I need something to distract myself and I haven't blogged about books and clothing and toddler antics for awhile so here we go. Linking up with Kelly.

1.
Crazy children update first!
 

These two.
Every day with two children is an adventure. Will I want to pull out my hair by 8:03 a.m.? Will I dissolve into giggles watching them interact? Will I have to fight them to eat food that yesterday they gobbled down easily? It's a party, let me tell you.

Kate is growing up a lot lately, able to be very helpful when she wants to be, and I love shamelessly making her fetch and carry things for me. No shame in my parenting game, most especially because she loves doing it. She's slowly losing her nap and I am weeping tears of sadness in anticipation of when it's gone forever.

Cora is a non-stop ball of energy and destruction all wrapped up in a tiny body that can't do everything she wants it to do, so that's really fun. She crawls and climbs and gets into everything, mostly cords and plugs and dust bunnies and her new favorite, chewing on the shoes we leave by the front door. Almost 11 months old and already more of a troublemaker than Kate was at 18 months. It's gon be wild, y'all.

2.
Book updates! I've been doing a lot of reading lately while David's home because he's been reading too, and it's nice after a break of a month or so.
Amazon links below are affiliate. If you click through and make any purchase, I get a tiny percentage. Thank you!

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green: A+. Highly recommend. I have never been so immersed in a character's brain, and simultaneously wanted to escape it but had to keep reading it before, and it's quite an experience. Short summary, a girl with OCD tries to find a fugitive millionaire for the reward money. But it's SO much more than that - as is every John Green novel.

Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey: A+++. GUYS. I'm a huge sci-fi and space nerd, if you haven't gathered that already, and this space adventure series is the perfect blend of every aspect of that. I didn't think this one, since it is book 2 in the series, could be any better than the first one, and somehow it was. Great, fast-paced read although it is long. I can't wait to get my hands on book 3. Leviathan Wakes is book 1, if you wanna start it.

Still Life by Louise Penny: I've been searching for a good mystery series for awhile, and after hearing Christy talk over how many of these she's loved, I finally got my hands on the first one. (Our public library needs to get more copies because the hold list for one copy was 20 people long!) It was everything I want in a mystery series: bold and somewhat indiscernable detective, fascinating characters, crime without being gory, etc. I have the second one sitting on my nightstand right now, and can't wait to get into it.

The Good People by Hannah Kent: B-. I adored Hannah Kent's first novel, Burial Rites (my all-time most recommended book, I'm pretty sure). Because of that, I had super high hopes for this one, her second book, about the faery culture in early nineteenth-century Ireland. I loved the first half of the book, but it lost steam in the second half and just didn't mesh well so I can't give it a glowing review.

Currently reading Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty, which I anticipate I'll speed through like all of her previous ones.

3.

A very awesome problem to have, but since I lost all that weight (I'm at 35 lbs down right now, hoping to go a little farther and tone up a bit but I digress) I've grown the opposite direction of almost all my winter clothes. So I've been doing some shopping!

These jeans from Gap are my new favorite. I already detailed them on my Instagram stories a few weeks ago, but I purchased a second pair since then and I love them equally as much so I still need to share the love. They're $50 right now plus an additional 20% off with code CHEERS right now. I also got these amazing sweatpants from H&M, which are super comfy. Still rocking my amazing Lucky boots (50% off on their website today!).

4.
David and I are still trying to decide where to go for vacation next year. I keep waffling between a relaxing all-inclusive vacation on the beach, or a trip to Ireland/France/Scotland with b&b stays and a different feel altogether.

Or alternately, a train trip to Chicago for an extended weekend with play tickets and fancy dinners.
Or a secluded mountain cabin for a week somewhere in Wyoming.
Or...you get the picture.

If you've got an eye for great deals or something comes across your view that you think we should do, feel free to send it my way. I'm obviously open to pretty much anything.

5. 

This cutie, although being totally messed up sleep-wise from Daylight Savings Time ending, has developed a ton of great facial expressions. This is her concerned look, wondering why on earth Kitty was galloping around our front lawn and throwing leaves around. She also has a fantastic pouty face when she doesn't get her way, but I haven't captured a photo of that...yet.

6.
Some great reads from around the internet.

Why Catholics Should Be Aware of (and Denounce) the White Supremacy Ideology of the Alt-Right by Haley at Carrots for Michaelmas.

Thriving, Surviving, and Tithing by Jenny at Mama Needs Coffee.

Harvey Weinstein and the Economics of Consent by Brit Marling at the Atlantic.

7.
I need to finish painting and staining our new nightstands this weekend, as well as fold a bunch of laundry and get some photos printed. It's cold and gloomy so the walk I wanted to do tomorrow morning might not happen, especially since it's supposed to rain/sleet, but oh well. With David's cancer and low energy levels because of it, we've been taking it easy for awhile and it's kind of nice but I'm itching to do more (as is he, even more than me I think!). We're going to the Nebraska football game next weekend at Penn State, as long as David feels up for it, so I also need to prep for that. Probably by doing more laundry.

What are you up to this weekend? Head to Kelly's for more quick takers!
HG

Comments

  1. I'm glad you liked Turtles All the Way Down! I just didn't really get into it as much as I was hoping. Her OCD part I liked, but I didn't like Davis at all and felt her keeping 50,000 seemed so unrealistic and weird to me.

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  2. All-inclusive, girl...all-inclusive. (That's what we would do anyway, ha!) And I just have to say that doing normal things that you enjoy (i.e. writing 7QT!) is probably really important right now. In case you needed permission ;) and if y'all needed ideas on things to watch with all of your resting, I wanted to mention that there's a mini-series based on the book And Then There Were None. Logan and I are almost done with it, and while they did change a lot of the characters' attributes, we're enjoying it!

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  3. I am not prepared for any of my kids to ever not nap. What will you do? Quiet time??

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