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Currently | It’s Officially Summertime

currently june 22 2014

Time and Place // 8:10 a.m. at my desk

Eating and Drinking // Blood orange cranberry black tea and cherries (I love cherry season so much). I’m still thinking about the awesome dinner we had last night — steak, sweet corn, and two types of salad. Yum.

Reading // After a slow reading week, I sat down yesterday and made myself finish a couple of books I’ve been working on for a Book Riot piece going up this week, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty (Sept. 15 from Norton) and Nine Years Under by Sheri Booker. It was a bit of a morbid day, since both books focus on life in the funeral business. I’m not sure how much recreational reading I’ll get done this week — I was asked to be a reader for a regional literary magazine and I have quite a few submissions still left to read before my deadline on July 1.

Watching // The boyfriend and I watched Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel last night and I thought it was really delightful (and so very much a Wes Anderson movie).

Listening // I’m still working my way through Siege and Storm, the second book in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy. The third book, Ruin and Rising, came out on Tuesday, so I’ll jump into that next.

Making // I have a couple of thriving basil plants, so last night we made a tomato, mozerella, basil and balsamic salad. It was so great.

Blogging // This week I posted a couple of short audio book reviews and a pretty lengthy piece on the idea of blogging for books versus blogging because of books. The comments on that second post have been really fascinating to read. I’m still catching up on replying, another project for today.

Hating // The boyfriend and I live in an old rental house with old appliances. Right now, the refrigerator is driving me nuts — it’s got a broken shelf and there’s water dripping from something that’s pooling in one of the vegetable drawers. Every time I open it I just sigh.

Loving // Our rental also has some unruly gardens out front and along the driveway. They’re a bit of a mess — gardening isn’t really my thing — but I do love when some of the big flowering bushes open up like they did this week.

Avoiding // At the beginning of the month I issued myself a personal challenge to not buy anything new this month. I faltered a little bit last weekend when I was in the Twin Cities — I got that new mug pictured above for work — and was tempted by some clothes online, but it’s largely been successful. I’m hoping I can keep up the cutback in spending through July too.

Wanting // Despite having way too many books, I’m getting a little antsy to buy some new ones! My birthday is in July, so I think I’ll splurge a little bit on some new titles — still deciding which ones!

Anticipating // Our trip to the lake for the Fourth of July is two weeks away, but I am still excited! Like the crazy person that I am, I’ve already started putting together the stack of books I want to take. I’ll be sure to share that before we leave.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Bryan G. Robinson June 22, 2014, 11:50 am

    I really want to see The Grand Budapest Hotel so I’m glad to hear you and your boyfriend enjoyed it (he did enjoy it, right? 🙂 I saw you did, but wasn’t sure about him. 😉 )

    I’m looking forward to the Fourth of July too already. I think this spring/summer so far, it’s been looking forward to a couple of mini-breaks every couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I think that from mid-July to mid-August, my mini-breaks end, but it’s been a fun few mini-breaks and is helping me get from week to week when I have a goal. Hope you and your boyfriend enjoy your Fourth of July at the cabin (? is that right, cabin? I think that’s what you’ve mentioned before, but I’m not sure).

    • Kim June 24, 2014, 7:23 pm

      Yes, the boyfriend liked it too 🙂

      My summer is a bit the same way — breaks at the beginning of June and the beginning of July, then not much after that. And yes, our Fourth will be up at my parents’ cabin, one of my favorite places.

  • Stephanie June 22, 2014, 12:17 pm

    I ADORE cherry season as well and bought my first batch this week. I also love the Tomato/Basil/Mozzarella salad so much and reading about it made me want to have some right now. So the Siege and Storm audio is good? I just downloaded it from Audible yesterday and am looking forward to it.

    • Kim June 24, 2014, 7:23 pm

      I love the entire Grisha trilogy. I’d be hard-pressed to say which is my favorite, honestly — highly recommended.

  • Vasilly June 22, 2014, 4:50 pm

    You have a lot on your plate right now! I need to check out your Book Riot piece once it goes up. Nine Years Under has been on my tbr list for a long time now. Your blood orange cranberry tea sounds so good! 🙂

    • Kim June 24, 2014, 7:24 pm

      It’s been a busy few weeks. I said yes to a few more things than I should have 🙂

  • Kim June 23, 2014, 7:02 am

    We got Grand Budapest Hotel on our waiting list on Netflix. Looked like a good one. I’ve also got some thriving basil plants that I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with- might try our hand at grilling a margarita pizza this week or using it to make pesto.

    • Kim June 24, 2014, 7:26 pm

      I’m thinking about doing a margarita pizza next — fresh tomato and basil is calling my name.

  • Jeanne June 23, 2014, 7:38 am

    Love the picture of Hannah! I am looking forward to your birthday 😉

    • Kim June 24, 2014, 7:26 pm

      Me too (for both)!

  • Meg June 23, 2014, 8:22 am

    You’re a July baby, too?! How did I not realize that? We really are blogging twins. 🙂

    We went to see “The Grand Budapest Hotel” on Father’s Day — Dad’s request — at a cool old-timey movie theater, and it totally fit the theme of the film. I really enjoyed it, too! Cool and funky and fun and different.

    • Kim June 24, 2014, 7:26 pm

      Yup, July 8. When is yours?

  • Rowena June 23, 2014, 1:01 pm

    I’ve been hearing good things about The Grand Budapest Hotel and I’ve been wanting to try it out but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’m glad to see that you enjoyed it.

    I’ve been trying to not buy anything either but unlike you, I haven’t been successful yet. There’s always next week! 🙂

    • Kim June 24, 2014, 7:27 pm

      I’d say I’ve been moderately successful. I can’t promise what will happen the next time I get to go to a bookstore though!

  • Monika @ Lovely Bookshelf June 23, 2014, 10:28 pm

    I love your cat!! So cute. 🙂

    • Kim June 24, 2014, 7:27 pm

      She’s cute, and a bit of a snob 🙂

  • Jennifer June 24, 2014, 9:41 pm

    Happy Summer!

    Love the elephant mug! I have way too many coffee mugs but whenever I come across a particularly cute one, I feel like I need more!

    Also, the meal that you made looks amazing!

    • Kim June 26, 2014, 7:48 pm

      I haven’t bought a new mug in awhile — I was due 🙂

  • Leah @ Books Speak Volumes June 25, 2014, 10:37 am

    I love the elephant mug! And that tomato, basil, and mozzarella mug sounds heavenly.

  • Jenny @ Reading the End June 26, 2014, 11:03 am

    Love that elephant mug. I think it’s worth breaking your spending embargo for!