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Currently

Currently #44

Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having a great week! Remember how I felt like July went by in a blink of an eye? Well August went by even faster. This month has been a whirlwind between traveling, big work projects, back to school, and wrapping up summer fun! 

As one month end and another one begins, I’m recapping this past month and all the memories and adventures that came with it.

Here’s a look at this month’s Currently.

What I’m Up To: This past month has been all about soaking up the final days of summer, from hiking in new places, completing bucket list items, and traveling to new places, I have been busy but in the best way possible.

It’s local festival season!
And local farm show season!
Plus, no summer event isn’t complete without a funnel cake!

I’ve attended community fairs and festivals, been spending lots of time outside and have been reading lots of fun, summer books. 

My trip to Toronto was a highlight for sure!

What I’m Wearing: I have been continuing the trend of shorts and graphic tees.When my family and I went on vacation to San Diego, California, I wore a lot of neutrals to mix and match and keep it simple for travel. Here’s some of my favorite summer outfits. My shorts are from Old Navy and so are some of my shirts too.

A few of my looks from vacation.
Lots of color coordinated outfits.
And some bright colors too!

I have also been doing my best to wear all the bright colors for my dresses for work. I only have a small window to wear in the warm months, so I’m doing my best to wear them all. 

Bright blue for work!

What I’m Reading: This past month has been such a good month for reading for me 

 Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch follows the story of a young girl who loses her mom and her mom’s dying wish is for her daughter to go to Florence and reconnect with people from her mother’s time when she lived there. This book checks all the boxes for a cute rom com book. Dreamy city, beautiful description, incredible Italian food and desserts, and a little romance too. I blitzed through this book and was so sad when it came to an end. 

The sweetest summer book!

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune tells the story a young woman who takes over her mother’s resort on the lake. She plans on making some changes when she gets some unexpected help from someone from her past that she always wanted to forgot. I really enjoyed the story and finished it within a week. I’m also excited that it’s going to be making its way to the screen as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be working with Netflix to turn it into a movie.

 

Better than Fiction by Alexa Martin and it combined two of my favorite hobbies, reading and hiking! This book follows the story of a young woman who inherits her grandmother’s book store. As she tries to manage this new project, enter a fan-favorite author. He’s visiting her small town for inspiration for his new book and they make a deal. She shows him around the area and he teaches her how to love books. 

Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler follows the story of a young woman who makes it her mission to deliver her neighbor turned best friend’s ashes to her long lost lover. However, the journey to get the ashes delivered does not go smooth. She ends up traveling with someone from her past and they endure all sorts of detours. The book goes back and forth between the past and present and there’s so many twists and turns, you will question if they will ever make it to their final destination.

What I’m Watching: As summer winds down, I’m finishing up my summer shows. I finished season two of the Summer I Turned Pretty. Overall, I thought the season was pretty good. I definitely enjoyed the first season more but I thought the second season had some great storylines and the finale left a lot of questions for season 3! If you watched, what did you think of the finale and Belly’s choice?

I also finished the first part of Outlander. This was another show that had a lot of ups and downs this season. There were some major plot twists with characters that I did not see coming. I’m anxious to see where it picks up and how things get wrapped up when it returns. 

I also finished season two of “And Just Like That”, it was such a good season. I loved the callbacks to earlier seasons of the show, the fashion and the friendships. The finale was really good, especially with the surprise appearance by Samantha! I was also excited to see that the show was renewed for season 3! I already can’t wait for next season!

And last but not least, I finished the new season of Sweet Magnolias. Although, there was some drama this season including some fights, fallouts and relationship shakeups between characters, I really enjoyed seeing the characters come together in the end.

What Inspires Me: I have been enjoying all the summer salads with fresh fruits and vegetables. I hate wasting food, so I have been enjoying salads and bowls with lots of food that I already have in the fridge. Here’s been some of my favorite salads. 

A spinach and strawberry and pecan salad. This is the perfect blend of fruits, veggies and some crunch too. 

Strawberry and spinach salad

A steak salad on top a bed of veggies keeps you full and gives you lots of flavor.

A steak salad
A peach and chicken salad

Speaking of fresh vegetables, I have been so inspired and proud of my garden. Although, I have lost some plants, I’m so happy with the ones that have grown and flourished. I’ll be doing a bigger blog post on this later in the season, but seeing seeds turn into bright, red tomatoes is certainly inspiring. 

My baby tomatoes
The fruits of my labor
Four fresh tomatoes

What I Accomplished: August was a busy month. I kicked it off by attending our local National Night Out. 

My boyfriend and I did a day trip to Toronto, you can read about our adventure here. 

The iconic Toronto sign

My boyfriend and I also went blueberry picking for the first time which was so much fun and I made some tasty muffins too!

Our haul
The best way to use blueberries!
Soaking up the end of summer with nighttime concerts.
Summer S’mores!

My family and I took our family vacation to San Diego which was so fun! We packed a lot in and made a ton of memories. It was the best way to spend time together before we all went our separate ways from school to work.

From the palm trees
The hikes and ocean
Enjoying some iconic West Coast food.
The San Diego Zoo
Balboa Park

Goals from Last Month: I accomplished my goal of running my first 5K, you can read about my journey here. 

Finishing my first 5K!

I accomplished almost everything from my summer bucket list. There were a few things that I didn’t get done, but I plan to do them in the fall.

The best part of this past month was all the family time. The older I get, the more, I realize how important family time is and how much I try to treasure every moment I have with my family and siblings. This summer has been so special that we have all been home under one roof.

End of summer Lobster rolls!

Goals for Next Month: Even though it’s September, I still plan on enjoying the warm weather and soaking up the sunshine. I’m not ready to think about fall yet, but I know I will have to eventually, right now, I’m all about savoring every last bit of summer. I will also be sharing my fall bucket next week!

Enjoying evening walks after work can continue in the fall.

There you have it, another Currently in the books. Tell me, what were some of your favorite parts of August?

Let me know in the comments below! Have a great rest of your week and end of August! See you back here on Friday!

Categories
Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites #54

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! I hope you had a great week! It has been a busy week of work and getting ready to go away with my family for a little getaway! I’m looking forward to getting away, going somewhere new and having a great adventure. Today, I’m linking up with Erika and Andrea for this week’s Friday Favorites as I highlight some of my favorite things this week. This is a fun mix of things I have been loving and I hope you will too!

Harry and Meaghan New Project– As an avid fan of Harry and Meghan’s, I am always curious about what projects they are working on. They recently announced this week that they will be working with Netflix to adapt Carley Fortune’s book Meet Me at the Lake. I just finished the book last week and really enjoyed it. You can read more about it here. The book tells the story a young woman who takes over her mother’s resort on the lake. She plans on making some changes when she gets some unexpected help from someone from her past that she always wanted to forgot. I really enjoyed the story and finished it within a week. I’m excited to see how it gets turned into a movie and the fact that Harry and Meghan are behind it excites me too. There are so many books that are being made into movies over the next few years, the book nerd in me is really looking forward to it.

Seafood Boil– I have been trying my hand at some new recipes this summer. From cookies, to drinks and dinners! A few weeks back, I tried my hand at my first seafood boil and I was so pleased with how it turned out and so was my family. I have always thought these meals look delicious, from the seafood of lobster and shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes, but was always intimated to try to make it on my own. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t that hard to make. Essentially, you just boil each of items in a big pot with seasonings and let it simmer. Just be warned, it takes a while to make, so build in enough time for cooking. I got my recipe for it from Jessie James Decker’s cookbook, Just Feed Me, but you can find your own online to tailor it to your tastebuds. We had two big trays of food that fed six people with leftovers. Definitely a favorite by all and a great summer meal!

The most delicious meal!

Good Reads– As an avid reader, I decided to try out using Good Reads to track of my books. For years, I would just write down the books I have read and want to read in a notebook, but now I’m hoping a Good Reads account will help me keep things more organized. I get book recommendations from friends, blogs, even just displays at the library, so I’m hoping this will give me another avenue for book suggestions. If you have a Good Reads account, what are your favorite parts of the account? I’m looking forward to exploring it more. The hardest part so far has been adding all the books I have read so far.

A new way to track my books!

The Outlaws– I have been spending so much time outdoors and doing all the summer things that I haven’t been watching a lot of movies. I will watch a show or episode of my weekly series at night but haven’t seen a good movie in a while. Last week, I was catching up on some work and watched The Outlaws on Netflix. It tells the story of a couple getting married and at the last second the bride’s parents decide to attend the wedding. The groom is convinced they have secrets especially when his bank gets robbed, and he notices some similarities between the robbers and his future in-laws. This is a funny, action comedy that is perfect for an older family since there is some adult language and rated R. You can find it on Netflix, check it out when you are looking for your next movie to watch on a Friday night. 

Such a funny movie!

New Wall Flower Scent-After a summer of enjoying my lemonade and ice tea wall flower from Bath and Body Works, I had to get a new one. I decided to go with Gingham Gorgeous. I have been wearing this scent as both a body mist and lotion over the past few weeks and I have really found the scent to be refreshing and floral. I can’t wait to try this new scent as a wall flower and enjoy it over the next few weeks.

New scent for August!

That’s a look into life this past week. Some things I’ve enjoyed and things I’m looking forward to. I’m looking forward to all the family time over the next few days! Tell me: what are you looking forward to this weekend!? Happy Friday and happy weekend!