Everyday Life and Menu Plan (9.11.16)

School! School! School! Wahoo!

It's great being getting into some routine again and the kids are happy to be back. They really like their teachers and are excited for the year ahead. Although, things still seem hectic with all the beginning of the year stuff. Especially since I joined the PTA board this year, as well as our annual jog-a-thon committee. Lots of little events and helping with so. much. paperwork. But it's all good and I'm so glad that I am able to contribute to my kids' school.

Adding to the busy schedule is soccer practice and we had our first game this weekend in the most beautiful weather! I'm pretty psyched that I'll be able to wear my Birks for a little longer. Maybe we should eat hot dogs again this week... 

Nah, we'll do our best to ration them out!

• Monday - Pizza
• Tuesday - Barley Risotto with Kale and Butternut Squash (from Mountain Mama Cooks)
• Wednesday - Penne with Spinach Sauce (a super easy weeknight Giada recipe)
• Thursday - Sriracha Teriyaki Meatball Bowls (from Baker by Nature)
• Friday - Baked Chicken Taquitos (a staple from Our Best Bites)
• Saturday - Chicken Parmesan (a favorite from Tyler Florence)
• Sunday - Chicken Club Salad with Guacamole Dressing (an oldie but goodie from Rachael Ray)

As always, I'm linking up with Org Junkie and Mommy Run Fast- be sure to check out all the great weekly menus! 

Books I Read in August

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood 
This was a NetGalley ARC and you can read my full review here!

Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave
This was straight up predictable chick lit. A girl finds out her fiance has a pretty big secret he's been keeping from her. So she dramatically goes home to her family's beloved vineyard days before the wedding to sort out her life, only to find that her father plans to sell the land. She's a little whiny, a little self absorbed, and a little clueless. There were some entertaining moments, but it didn't strike me as anything great. Although I blew through it quickly, and it was a perfect bleary eyed airplane read. 

Morning Star by Pierce Brown
As a whole, I thought The Red Rising series was fantastic - full of great characters, vivid world building and so much heart. Alas, I felt the final book could have been reduced by AT LEAST 100 pages. There was too much focus on plots within plots, battle after battle and so many extraneous characters that I could care less about. But, the most compelling part of the book (the story of Darrow and his closest friends) rose to the top in the end and I was glad I persevered. All's well that ends well.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
I had seen this title on NetGalley and was curious, but I ended up requesting All the Ugly and Wonderful Things instead. Wouldn't ya know, both novels ended up being on the selections for my one month trial Book of the Month! I hemmed and hawed over all the interesting sounding selections, but went with Dark Matter (the one they chose for me) and was SO GLAD. Within the first five pages there is mention of a tesseract (my favorite childhood book is steeped in tesseract lore) and the story is perfectly set in Chicago! It is sci-fi, yes, but I would hope it does not deter anyone who isn't a fan of that genre. It is also a love story and fascinating food for thought about how our lives are impacted by the choices we make, about the road not taken. As I mentioned last week, it reminded me A LOT of The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I wish that Dark Matter was similarly a little longer and the characters fleshed out a bit more. But on the whole, I blew through it in two days and still think about the story.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

I now understand the hype surrounding this million dollar (literally and figuratively) debut novel. (Here's an article about how she landed the seven figure deal.) It is awe inspiring how Gyasi creates an epic story in just over 300 pages. It is essentially a collection of interconnected short stories that tell a much bigger story. The book spans seven generations of the descendants of two Ghanaian half sisters, one who is married to a white slave trader and one who is sold into slavery. The narration switches back and forth between one member of Effia and Esi's families as we hear from each new generation, and as I got further and further along their family tree, I kept flipping back to the chart at the beginning. At first I felt a little frustrated at trying to remember who belonged to whom. I have to wonder if it was somewhat difficult to keep the families straight on purpose. Like so very many descendants of slaves, most of the characters had absolutely no way to trace their own family roots, no chart to look upon. So I did not look at it again and just immersed myself in each story. I was overwhelmed with emotion as it came together in the end - poignant and beautifully. Truly a must read.

Everyday Life and Menu Plan 9.5.16

Alas, our summer has come to an end. It's bittersweet for me, nowadays. Yes, I'm definitely ready to get back to a routine, to not refereeing fights constantly and having some time to myself. The kids didn't express a great desire for any camps this year, and since they both can pass the swim test, I decided on 'camp pool and beach' for most of the summer. I... don't think I'll make the same decision next year! By mid-August we all needed a little break from each other and something totally new in the routine. But! We still had a ton of fun and I will miss our easygoing mornings, sleeping late, and always being outside in the sun. The warm weather is already beginning to make an exit from the PNW. Not before we got one last swing in the hammock earlier in the week...

And we squeaked in our family hike today, and it was lovely.

We spend the day at Big Four Ice Caves hiking, having a picnic and playing frisbee at least once every summer and it was another perfect day for it. It's cool to see how the caves differ from year to year. This year was pretty dry, so there was only one ice cave. But still plenty of rocks to collect and make into cairns. 

Another a lovely sight this week:

Oh, yeah. Vienna Beef Portillo's hot dogs are on the menu this week!

• Monday - Pizza
• Tuesday - Thai Ground Beef (a favorite from Cooking Light)
• Wednesday - Chicken Florentine (from Pink Parsley)
• Thursday - Portillos Hot Dogs!
• Friday - Chicken Fajitas with Frontera Sauce and Fixins
• Saturday - Penne with Vodka Sauce (staple from Rachael Ray)
• Sunday - Turkey and Pinto Bean Chili (easy recipe from Food and Wine)

As always, I'm linking up with Org Junkie and Mommy Run Fast- be sure to check out all the great weekly menus! 

If, Then... Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

As I piece together my monthly book reviews for August, I couldn't help but share a quick "If/Then" post. It's a common tool for finding new books and I felt like I HAD to share my recommendations for folks who enjoyed Dark Matter by Blake Crouch - which I most certainly did! 
It was a riveting love story, that uses quantum theory and the idea of multiple universes to drive the suspense of will they/won't they come together in the end. And Chicago, the city of my heart, is depicted wonderfully as the setting. There was SO MUCH that was reminiscent of The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, which is an absolute must read and beloved by so many. It is also a love letter to Chicago and uses quantum theory as it pertains to time travel to create suspense in this unforgettable story. Perhaps I should have switched the order, in the graphic above! I'm not sure the cover of Crouch's novel and the sci-fi description will lend appeal to a wider audience and those that have read Niffenegger's classic. So, if you read the description for Dark Matter and wrote it off, give it another look. 
Now, I would not necessarily recommend the movie version of The Time Traveler's Wife... However! The Adjustment Bureau, based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, was made into a WONDERFUL film and there are similar themes about destiny and the choices we make that felt like such a perfect fit with the other two. I highly recommend as a romantic movie night that will appeal to those who like a good action flick, as well as a love story!

The Stages of Introducing My Child to MY Favorite Childhood Book

When I wrote about experiencing The Amulet Series with my son, I shared my absolute favorite book from my youth: A Wrinkle in Time (and my treasured signed copy).

(Apparently Chelsea Clinton's favorite book growing up, too! Here's a great article from The Atlantic on the subject. Nerd girls unite!) As I mentioned in that post, I wanted to read it with him before introducing the graphic novel. We read it together at the beginning of the summer and I was surprised at the myriad feelings I experienced. Sure, I was excited to share Harry Potter with him for the first time and we finished The Prisoner of Azkaban this summer (We're on a 'one each summer' schedule.) But, although I'm a HUGE fan of the boy wizard, I read J.K. Rowlings books in my twenties. It's not quite the same anticipation of sharing something that shaped your own childhood.

First stage: Trepidation. Will he like it? What if he DOESN'T like it? It IS a little weird with flying space centaurs, creepy children and disembodied brains... I hadn't re-read it in a good twenty or so years and these things were making me chuckle. This fascinating New York Times article explores the idea: Is It Harder to Be Transported By a Book as You Get Older? And it made sense to me. So! I decided that even though it wasn't totally transporting me like it did the very first time I read it eons ago, it might be a different story for my kid.

Second stage: Nonchalance. Feign indifference: d'you want to read it tonight, or something else? *while crossing fingers that he wants to continue reading* 

Third stage: Hope. He wants to keep reading! Can you read with me for ten more minutes, please!? Well... OKAY.

Fourth stage: Dry Mouth from suuuuper long reading sessions. But that's fine because...

Fifth stage: Elation! He loves it! And I feel really lucky in that regard. Everyone has different taste in reading, and what they want to get out of a book. He really has a thing for the silly (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, etc.) and I don't think that was ever my bag, so this is awesome.

Sixth stage: Endless Conversation. We got into so many great discussions about the book. A Wrinkle in Time is rife with conversation starters about big topics like good and evil, spirituality and being yourself. Not to mention all the inevitable questions about my childhood, when I read the book. We even spent some time researching all the different cover art, because he wanted to see what the version I read looked like. If you google Wrinkle in Time Cover Art, there seem to be DOZENS. Mine looked like this:

Like the heyday 70s Are You There God? It's Me Margaret covers. 

And, of course, he got his own copy of the graphic novel when we were done reading. 

It sits on the floor next to his bed (well, there's lots of stuff on the floor) and he's already re-read it twice. I've purchased the rest of the quintet and I hope that he enjoys them, too. Something tells me he will, though...

Everyday Life and Menu Plan 8.29.16

Well, it looks like our summer weather is over for the most part in Seattle. I think we did a pretty good job of enjoying the sun while we could. The kids experienced their first mini golf outing and it was HILARIOUS. I told them that we were not competing, because I've had ENOUGH of competition from them over the summer. It was all about having fun and learning how to use a putter. We didn't keep score and I let them pick up and move their ball whenever, or let them sort of draaaaag the ball the last foot or so into the hole. But that elation over seeing a ball disappear into a PVC pipe to shoot out of a hole elsewhere was priceless.

We hit up the pool a few times and yet another new beach.

Waverly Beach was fun, but parking was treacherous and slim pickings. Also, there wasn't as much sand to play in - a huge plus in MY book, not so much for the kids. But, the park made up for it and we had a lovely day there.

It was also school supply shopping week, and I lucked out with a VERY quiet day at Target!

And it's teacher meet and greet this week! And the following week... SCHOOL STARTS! I'm seriously not the only one that's excited. My kids are kind of burned out on the pool, the Y and EACH OTHER.

• Monday - Pizza
• Tuesday - Thai Coconut Chili Chicken with Roasted Broccoli and Brown Rice (trying this new recipe from 12 Tomatoes for chicken breasts on the grill)
• Wednesday - Pesto Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Roasted Asparagus (a staple from Damn Delicious)
• Thursday - Aidell's Sausages on the Grill
• Friday - Spicy Chicken and Avocado Enchiladas (a favorite from The Novice Chef)
• Saturday - Korean Style Short Ribs, Spicy Green Beans and Mashed Potatoes (easy and delicious recipe from Food.com)
• Sunday - Chicken BLT Chopped Salad with Fresh Lemon Garlic Dressing

As always, I'm linking up with Org Junkie and Mommy Run Fast- be sure to check out all the great weekly menus! 

The Stack - August Library Haul

It's not a huge haul of physical books this month, yet I'm not sure how many I'll get to in September because I've got a lot of great digital content on my Kindle right now. However, I'm going try my best to eke out as much reading as I can - especially since the Olympics are over!

Shelter: A Novel by Jung Yun is a highly anticipated debut novel that came out in early spring and my hold finally came in. 
The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe (on Book Riots most anticipated of 2016, best books of February AND best of the year so far lists) was great find on the paperback picks shelf, so I'll likely hold on to if for awhile. 
The Raven King by Maggie Steifvater is here! I'm not sure if I want to end my adventure with the Raven Boys too soon, though. I'm both excited and wanting to put it off a little longer...
 And my mother finally got me to check out a Harlan Coben book: Fool Me Once. Even though I'm not a big fan of thrillers, her review and the description has me intrigued. Plus, millions of readers can't be TOTALLY wrong, right?

New digital books in the queue/ARCs:
Moonburner by Claire Luana (new YA Fantasy given to me by the author! She's a local runner!)
You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott

Still in the queue:
I'm going to start in on the ARC of COMMONWEALTH by Ann Patchett as soon as I'm done with Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Small Great Thingsby Jodi Picoult (a NetGally ARC)
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter 
Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood
Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye

As always, I'm interested in any thoughts/if you've read the books on this list or others I should know about!