Monday Reads

Here's what I am reading on this lovely, autumnal Monday. 

• 102-Year-Old Woman Isn't About to Let Anyone Else Change the Oil on Her 82-Year-Old Car, via Relevant Magazine (related:  Margaret Dunning, 101, loves her 1930 Packard 740, via SFGate)
  
• Pin your way to social activism, via Darling Magazine
• Motherhood Mondays: Heart braid, via A Cup of Jo (I'm not a mom, but I want to find someone with long hair just so I can make this braid. Takes me back to my Little House on the Prairie obsession days, ha.)
• To Share or Not to Share? That is the Social Media Question, via Mashable
• Want to talk politics at work? Think again, via The Oklahoman
• Secret style icon: Angela Lansbury, via Rookie Mag (thanks for sharing, Abigail!)

And here's a glimpse at my reading list when I am away from the Internet:

• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
• James: Mercy Triumphs by Beth Moore
• Barnheart: The Incurable Longing for a Farm of One's Own by Jenna Wogenrich
• The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters by Charlotte Mosley

Cheers, and happy reading. Hope your Monday has been beautiful! 

My vacation abroad: the Olympics

One of the biggest bucket list goals that I have accomplished so far is attending the summer Olympics. The. Summer. Olympics. Even a month later, I get all teary-eyed when I see the pictures of all that took place during the two week period. And it's even better knowing that I was there to experience a small part of it.

The back story: about six years ago, I started plotting this trip, and I jokingly asked my cousin, Cheyanne, if she wanted to join me. Chey was 10 at the time. So imagine my surprise when her grandmother agreed to let her go with me! It started coming together in 2011, when tickets went on sale and I bought some. No turning back at that point!

Fluffy clouds on our flight into London.

Oh, you know, just running into random friends on London streets.

Waiting in line to get our tickets.

Our first event--beach volleyball!

The men's teams from Canada and GB.

Our first view of Olympic Park and the torch.

It rained, in typical London fashion. 

We happened to meet some of the Team GB Basketball players. KD would have been better, but I can't complain!

If you go:

• Consider purchasing tickets to semi-finals or finals matches. Even the cheap seats had good views. If I could do it again, I would shoot for tickets that take place closer to the medal ceremonies. Your chances of seeing someone from the USA will be a lot greater!
• Buy tickets to something the host country is good at. The spirit of Team GB was fantastic, even though they lost both matches that we saw. I can only imagine if we had seen dressage or cycling or crew! 
• Give yourself a day to catch up from jet lag. We had to hit the ground running, and I may or may not have dozed off at the beach volleyball. (At least I didn't fall asleep in the National Museum, like last time.)
• Stay within walking distance to the major attractions. The Tube station got a little crowded, but we lucked out and could walk to Hyde Park, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, and so on. 

All in all, I had a wonderful time, and I am already planning my next Olympic adventure. I've always wanted to go to South America! I think know I watched too many Betty Grable movies as a kid. 

Home, sweet home.

I made it back to the USA safely, and although I am a little jet lagged (still!), I am very happy to be home.

I had an incredible trip and I can't wait to share photos, stories and lessons learned! Until I get all my pictures curated, I will leave you with what greeted me upon my arrival home. There is nothing quite as sweet as getting flowers at an airport. I am one lucky girl!

Oh, and also: Go Team USA! I still have Olympic fever until the torch is extinguished on August 12. I can't get enough!

Vacation reading list

One of the best things about travelling long distances for vacation--whether by plane, train or automobile--is having a dedicated time to read. I fall so deeply into books that reading for 30-minute segments just doesn't do it for me. So a trans-Atlantic flight is the perfect excuse to read a new book. Thanks to recommendations from my friends (and a few purchases from my Amazon wishlist), here are a few titles I have settled on for my upcoming trip.

1. Barnheart by Jenna Woginrich




Yes, I am the weird girl that reads about homesteading and farms for fun. Call it my rural upbringing, but I love books that detail a simpler life in a modern world, and Woginrich's earlier work, Made from Scratch, was a beautiful look into the reality of living off of the land. I'm excited to see what new stories and revelations her latest book with entail.

2. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin




I'm reading this at the recommendation of one of my co-workers, but it has been on my radar for a while. I don't have any past experience with the author, but the subject matter interests me. I always forget that the things you do (not just what happens to you) impact your mood and feelings. Hopefully this book will be a reminder to me to make proactive choices that lead to a happy life.

3. The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett




I love the movies, but have never read the book. I think it might be a little more hard-boiled in tone than the book (there was already a pretty descriptive flashback with cannibalism involved in the first or second chapter... Myrna Loy would have never approved!), but I think it's worth a shot.

4. The Works of P.G. Wodehouse




I ran across some of Wodehouse's books at Full Circle a while ago, and they seemed like the exact type of fiction that I like--set in the early 20th Century, full of social commentary and tension between the rich and the wanna-be rich. Even better, because of copyright laws, a lot of his earlier works are very inexpensive in Kindle format.

If you need a little inspiration this morning...

...just watch this. It gets me every time.

[Belated] summer project list

The other day a coworker and I were commenting on the blog of our friend Sommer, who somehow finds time to work and do a thousand other awesome things. When we both wondered how she does it, I jokingly said, "she probably doesn't spend as much time on Facebook as we do."

Later on that evening, the truth of that statement really hit me. I have pinned dozens of cool ideas, I have tons of goals and aspirations, and my bucket list isn't getting any shorter. Yet I spend time on Facebook liking the latest batch engagement photos instead of doing the stuff that I want to do in the first place.

So I decided to help myself change that bad habit. I made a list of the things I wanted to do this summer, and put them in one of my pretty blue mason jars. Anytime I am bored I won't have an excuse!

So here is to getting things done!

Happy Monday!

I don't know about you, but Mondays never really bother me. I like the idea of a fresh start, a new to do list and a more chances to have fun and laugh a lot. Plus, any time I get the Monday blues I just throw on a cute dress and new lip gloss (like the new color of Sugar Tinted Lip Treatment... yes, please). It works wonders to lift my spirits, believe me.

I had a fantastic weekend, involving multiple trips to my favorite bookstore (my weakness), a few new records and the discovery of the ultimate antique store. But more on those later.

Instead, I will leave you with my current song obsession. We sang it in church the past two weeks and I can't get enough. I have decided it's the theme song of my current season. Enjoy!