American Gods by Neil Gaiman

This month for Book Club we read "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman.  It is widely considered his masterpiece, and I agree!

This book sucked me in from the start.  It's about a man who just got out of prison (Shadow), and his encounters with "gods" all across America.  He is enlisted for help by Wednesday who is trying to round up all of the gods for an epic battle of old VS new.  

It's a fascinating story, and beautifully written.  Geneva said that the audio version is awesome too because they have different actors do each voice (which is always amazing!).  I loved reading it, and it was clear that Neil Gaiman went above and beyond researching gods, folklore, and the American landscape to create the novel.  Interesting that he's a British writer, but he painted such a strange and wonderful picture of America and what / why we believe things (or why we don't).  

Since most of the book had to do with the characters traveling across the country it illustrated the change of scenery from state to state, the changing weather and small towns, and the kitsch of road-side attractions and stops along the way.  It really felt like you were on a journey with them! 

I hope you get a chance to pick up this fantastic book.  I'm sure there was a LOT that I missed (there was a lot of symbolism and deeper meanings that we barely scratched the surface about at the book club meeting - people probably teach classes on it honestly!), so I'll probably read it again in the future.  

If you remember the name, Neil Gaiman also wrote "Stardust" and "Coraline" - more children's / young adult stories, but still a little dark and fantastical.  

And if you want to read an utterly hilarious encounter of the Bloggess and Neil Gaiman, read this.  I promise it will make you giggle. :) 

Summertime Book Club

Last weekend we met up for Book Club! 

We held it at Bernie's house this time (Katy's mom), and she had us out on her lovely & comfortable patio.  It was a beautiful morning in the shade - we drank mimosas, and just gabbed & gabbed.  

Katy made this AMAZING homemade dip too (on top of the cucumber slices - with the smoked salmon piece - yum!) - she said she made it by blending together garlic scapes with cream cheese, and some other spices!  It was SO good, and I'm going to definitely have to give it a try!  

This month we're going to read American Gods by Neil Gaiman.  I've been wanting to read this book for a while now (this was my pick), and I hope it's as good as I have heard.  Neil Gaiman also wrote "Stardust" and "Coraline" if you've ever heard of those - but this is an adult novel, and considered a masterpiece.  Which probably means I won't understand it.  HA!  

Anyway, hope you are enjoying your summer so far!  Happy reading! 

Currently Reading - Don't Breathe A Word

This month for book club we're reading "Don't Breathe A Word" by Jennifer McMahon.  

I'm about halfway through this book at the moment, and I can't put it down!  It's a very strange and creepy story, and really exciting.

It follows two stories - one of 12-year old Lisa, back 15 years ago, just before she dissapeared into the woods.  The other of 30-something year old Phoebe - the girl that just so happened to fall in love with Lisa's older brother years after her dissapearance.  Phoebe is trying to figure out the mystery of what happened, and understand what all of this talk is about faeries - and the very mysterious shadowman.... the supposed King of Faeries.

Here is the full synopsis from the back of the book (via Amazon.com): On a soft summer night in Vermont, twelve-year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen.

Fifteen years later, Phoebe is in love with Sam, a practical, sensible man who doesn’t fear the dark and doesn’t have bad dreams—who, in fact, helps Phoebe ignore her own. But suddenly the couple is faced with a series of eerie, unexplained occurrences that challenge Sam’s hardheaded, realistic view of the world. As they question their reality, a terrible promise Sam made years ago is revealed—a promise that could destroy them all.

Anyhoodle, I've been really enjoying it!!

Other than that I've been busy busy busy preparing to leave my current job, and start my new one at the bakery!  It's amazing how much time it takes to wrap up 5 1/2 years of work - 2 weeks just ain't enough!  

Although I'm very excited about this new step in my life, I've been feeling a little nostalgic.  I mean, I put 5 1/2 years of work into this position - that's a decent chunk of my life!  It's going to be strange starting over again, and leaving the comfort of it.  I might even miss my little basement office once in a while.  

I'm so thrilled about all of the changes that are happening right now though.  It's a weird and happy time for me - all wrapped in one! 

Feelin' lots of love & changes comin' on! 

Ready for the weekend / Current thoughts

The last few days have been pretty lazy for me, and I've been loving it.  After the craziness of this past weekend (that came out of NOWHERE - in a good way, of course), I needed some relaxing time.  

John and I have been watching the Olympics in amazement, and snuggling with Fudge a bunch (much to his dismay).  He purrs even when he is upset.  Silly kitty!

I have also been spending a lot of time catching up on books I've been wanting to read.  Lately I've been snuggling up with Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.  I know, I know - I'm like 5 years late.  But so far I'm really enjoying it, and I'm glad I picked it up!  

She's a really great writer, and I really feel like I can relate to her.  Well, I've never been through a divorce, but I can understand where she is in her life - feeling like she's lost, trying to find out who she is and what she wants, trying to grow and be a better person, and dealing with all of the things that you start thinking about after you hit 30 (should I have children? what am I doing with my life?), etc.

I think it's a lot of fun, clever, and heartwarming.  I heard the movie isn't great, but I'm still going to watch it when I've finished reading the book. 

Since I've been walking to work lately, I also just finished listening to another book - Outliers by Malcom Gladwell.  It was FASCINATING, and really well written.  I can't imagine reading it in book-form (it may have been difficult for me to stay focused), but it was great in audio-book-form.  

It really makes you think about how circumstances, luck, when you were born, your background, where you grew up, who your parents were - ALL of that - really plays into who you are and what you become.  He talks about how these extraordinary people may have great minds (the ones we call "geniuses"), but in reality, we aren't as far away from them as we thought.  

If you're ready to have your mind blown, and many "a-HA! that makes sense!" moments - definitely check out this book.  It was for our book club last month, and I totally slacked on reading it - haha!  But it was awesome! 

Last night I had the night to myself (John was bowling), so I ate some Ben & Jerry's, had a beer and some leftover perogis, and watched Underworld: Awakening.  I really enjoyed the other Underworld movies - the stories are great, the action is fun, and hey, it's vampires & werewolves!  Can't beat that! 

I was wondering if they would slack off on the story since this is the 3rd Underworld movie in the series (technically "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" that came out after the 2nd film was a prequel to the first film).  Yes, I'm a nerd.  I love these movies.  But they didn't slack - and it was actually pretty good!  Some interesting twists, fun action, and lots of vampire / werewolf goodness.  

They (of course) left it open-ended, so I'm sure we'll be getting a 4th installment soon.  But I'm sure I'll be more than happy to watch that one too! 

And lastly, I've been watching Felicity all over again on Netflix! 
Kendra totally reminded me of the wonderfulness of this show - I loved it when I was in High School, and I'm kind of loving it all over again now!  I've only watched probably the first 5 episodes for now, but it is making me so darn happy, it's kind of ridiculous.  I love seeing all the late-90's fashions again (just as I did when I re-watched "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), and it's so fun to get to know the characters again.  

I love how at the end of every episode there's a slow-motion-walking-through-new-york sequence too.  Never noticed it before, but it cracks me up every time!  Ha! 


I've also had some other things on my mind lately... 

Hiking & camping!  We have 2 more camping trips coming up very soon, and I'm SO excited for them.
We're planning to do two 14ers over the two weekends we go, so that should be quite the challenge.  I really hope we can have a fire this time, but with all the rain we have been getting in the evenings I'm thinking we should be okay.  I would hate to go the whole summer without having a campfire!

  
NYC!  My cousin Cody and his girlfriend Danielle are getting married in October, which means I FINALLY get to take a real vacation!  WOOHOO!  John is coming with me, and we get to stay with my sister Amber which I'm totally thrilled about of course.  I got my tickets booked, and I CAN'T WAIT!

And, of course....
BOOKS, BOOKS BOOKS!

I stopped by the library on my way home from work this week, and I got a little carried away (especially since I'm still reading Eat, Pray, Love)!

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is our next book club book, and I'm really excited to read it.  I actually can't believe I haven't read it YET!  But it's gonna be a good one I'm sure.

I also picked up The Gates by John Connoly.  He wrote The Book of Lost Things - one of my most favorite book club reads!  I don't know where I'll find the time... but I'm reading it!

I can't leave the library without browsing through the cookbooks, so I picked up At My Grandmother's Knee - a cookbook with hand-me-down classic Southern-style recipes.  So far everything looks amazing!

 
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

All images (that are not my personal photos), are from Pinterest.

Taking a break...

Sometimes my favorite reading spot is taken, so I have to find a back-up location.  Luckily there's a little grassy area under the shade of a tree nearby... 

I just love escaping into a good book when I can get a break from work!

What I've been up to lately...

This past week has been pretty lazy for me - not too much going on in my life at the moment!  I've been in a bit of a funk the past couple of days due to the fact that I got turned down for yet another job opportunity.  

I haven't felt much like socializing, and since I'm not spending money I figured staying in and watching a good show or reading my book would be a safe way to go!  With wine, of course.  Lots of wine. ;) 

Recently I've started re-watching Firefly on Netflix.  I have one very important question for you.  How in the holy heckfire did this show ever get canceled!?!?  The writing is brilliant, the characters are awesome, the dialogue is funny and touching all at the same time... UGH!  It drives me crazy especially when I see what is on TV now (uhm, "Whitney" is still on the air.  What is up with that?).  Anyhew, I'm enjoying it very much. 

I'm still trying to finish Buffy the Vampire Slayer too (can you tell I love anything Joss Whedon creates?), and I'm almost done!  Just 2 more episodes to go, then I'll probably someday start all of that over again too.  SUCH a great show, I'm tellin' ya.  I've only been trying to finish it since last year, but whatevs. ;) 
 
I've also been reading two separate books for my book club.  We've been drawing books from the pot a month early so that A) we can be sure that we have it in time from the library, and B) we can get a head-start on the next month's book if we want to!  

This month's book is Little Bee by Chris Cleave.  So far I like it very much!  I'm actually listening to this book on my iPod, as I've been walking to work lately to get a little more movement into my day (and to be environmentally friendly).  It's also really nice to take my time getting to work, and to enjoy the morning air.  I just love it. 

Anyway, the girl who reads the book is AWESOME.  I believe she's actually British (one of the characters is a British woman), but she does an African accent AND a Jamaican accent perfectly!  It's fun listening to her.  

The book is interesting - sad, but really good.  I love the character of Little Bee!  I am only about 1/2 way through it, but I'm enjoying it so far.  



The other book I've been reading (actually reading, not listening to), is The Road by Cormac McCarthy.  It's a post-apocalyptic story about a man and his son, traveling across the barren landscape, trying to survive.  It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2007. 

This was a book that I put into the pot myself, and I was super excited when we drew it!  I've been wanting to read this book for a while (it's my friend Matt's favorite book of all time).  

I only just started it yesterday, and I can't seem to put it down.  I'm about 3/4 of the way through it now, and I just can't stop reading it.  It's a very strange book, eerie in mood, but it has a kind of rhythm to it - the days flow into each other, and you really become attached to these characters.  It's almost as though I'm feeling what they feel, hearing the silence, my heart beats with fear when they're scared... I feel very involved in the story, and in the character's lives.  

There are no chapters - it's all separated by paragraphs, and no quotations are used when someone is speaking.  It seems like it'd be hard to follow, but it's really not.  It's actually very poetic and beautifully written.  It's very sad, but I'm so curious about it.  We've certainly never read a book like this before, and it has captivated me!  Hopefully I'll be able to finish it when I get home tonight! 

And that's about it for now!  I've been holing up in my house, watchin' Joss Whedon shows, and readin' some good books.  I'll get back to socializing soon I'm sure, but for now, I'm enjoying this. :) 

Hope you're having a great week!  

Summer Reading Recommendations

As you may know, I'm in an AWESOME book club with some of the most fantastic ladies I've ever met in my life.  

My mom and I started it about 4 years ago (WOW - 4 years!!) after we watched the movie "Jane Austen Book Club" together.  We decided to invite some girls along, and make it a monthly event.  We choose a different person's house every month (sometimes we do a picnic in the summertime), everyone brings a dish to share, and we talk about BOOKS.  It's wonderful. 

Everyone puts a square of paper into a jar with a book suggestion on it.  We ask for 2 suggestions per person, then we draw a new book at every meeting.  

Part of the reason why I love this club is because it gets me to read books that I'd never think to read - it gets me outside of my comfort zone, exploring genres I might not think to dive into.  I've come across some of my most favorite books because of our little club!  

Summer is coming and it's a wonderful time of year to sit on your front porch with a glass of iced tea and a good book (or lay in the grass in the park with a good book, on the beach with a good book..... you see where I'm going with this).  So in the spirit of the upcoming season, I'd like to share with you a short list of my most favorite books that we've read in our book club so far.  Enjoy! 

The Fountainhead (by Ayn Rand)

This was one of the first books that we read in our book club.  It was pretty intimidating (due to sheer thickness), but I have always wanted to read Ayn Rand, as she was so revolutionary as a writer during her time (and as a female writer too)!

We gave ourselves 2 months to read it, and I'm SO GLAD that I did.  It was such an interesting read, and made for some great discussion in the group.  Sometimes the architectural descriptions went over my head, but that didn't really matter.  I could still use my imagination & make it work.  Also it was cool because we have a few architects in our book club that ended up being able to answer some of my questions!  RAD!

So, although challenging at times, and kind of intimidating at first - it was definitely an awesome read.

Grass (by Sherri Tepper)
This was one of our first true science fiction novels, and it totally blew my mind.  The first couple of chapters make it a little hard to get into (it's a bit hard to understand), but once you get past that and into the meat of it, it's absolutely thrilling.

It's basically about this planet covered with an amazing variety of grasses.  A plague has been taking over the other planets, and Grass is one of the last ones that shows no signs of it.  There is a group of elite people that go on "hunts" while riding animals called Hippae.  The Hippae are smarter than they seem, and young girls begin to disappear.  Is the planet truly free of this plague?  Where are these girls going?  Why can't these people just stop going on their "hunts"?

This book was not just an exciting read, but it brought up many social issues, and was another great one for discussion.  I really enjoyed it!

The Stupidest Angel (by Christopher Moore)

This was one of the books that I recommended as a Christmas book.  We normally try to keep to a theme during the holidays (scary books for Halloween - holiday books during Christmas / Hanukkah, etc), and I am a HUGE fan of Christopher Moore books, so I had to throw this one in the mix.

Although some of our members thought it was a bit ridiculous, I absolutely LOVED this book.  It was totally hilarious, and fed into my slightly darker side of humor that I've always loved from Moore's books.

There's a really dumb angel that can't seem to do anything right, and plenty of zombies.

Yes, I said zombies.

It's truly hilarious, and I hope that you can set aside any judgement and give this book a shot.  I laughed out loud!

The Unit (Ninni Holmqvist)
This book was interesting, and not entirely what I expected.  It kind of reminded me a bit of the book "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood.  It takes place in the future, but it certainly doesn't seem that far away...

Basically, in this story, when you reach a certain age, you're taken to a facility where your organs are donated / used for medical tests.  You're no longer of use to society except by these means.  The Unit you're held as prisoner is the most comfortable place you can imagine - with wonderful food, beautiful shops and gardens, health centers, etc - everything for free.  But in the end, you must pay the ultimate price.

The story of the woman (Dorrit) is really wonderful.  Well, wonderful, sad - many things.  Again, this one is a very interesting critique on society (and how it treats older people), as well as how the characters interact with each other in the story.

Julie & Julia (by Julie Powell)
Our book club had some mixed reviews on this one, but personally I loved it.  The movie didn't really do it justice, to be honest (I watched it after I read the book).

The title kind of explains it all - Julie Powell lives in NYC with her husband, and she decides to make every recipe in Julia Child's famous cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".  She blogs about it, stresses, goes through ups & downs, and discovers new things about herself throughout.

In the movie, I kind of hated the main character (Julie).  She just seemed like a bitchy whiney person, and I couldn't stand her.  Although I LOVED Meryl Streeps portrayal of Julia Child (she was really amazing - I loved her!), I didn't think Julie was very true to the way she was in the book.  In the book I really cared about her, and I could totally relate to a lot of the things she went through.  She had her breakdowns at times, but so does everybody!  She was much more relate-able (and loveable) in the book! 

I think it's a wonderful story of doing something out of the ordinary (and very challenging), to take a step forward in your life - even if that means knowingly walking into something that you might fail horribly at. 

The Likeness (by Tana French)
This book was hands down one of my favorites!!  It was kind of a sequel to "In the Woods", but you certainly don't need to read that book to understand that one (it shares the same characters, but that's all - I didn't read "Woods" myself).

The story is about an ex-undercover agent that comes across a case of a girl that was murdered.  The catch is - she looks almost identical to the girl that was killed.  With thorough training, she goes undercover as the girl that was murdered to find out who her killer was.  Part of this includes living in a house with 4 of her friends - any of which could be a part of the girl's death.

It's an amazing, and beautifully written tale.  It gives me goosebumps just thinking of it!  I will definitely read this one again.  The characters were phenomenal, and the writing was very poetic - even with the very eerie and mysterious storyline.














Bossypants (by Tina Fey)
As expected, this book was absolutely hilarious.

I have always been a huge fan of Tina Fey - she's truly one of the most talented comedy writers / comedy actors today!

I actually read the book the first time, and the second time I listened to it on audio (she reads the book herself).  It made it even funnier to hear her read it, although I did have a few "laugh-out-loud" moments when I was reading it myself!

The book is basically about how Tina Fey came to be.  Her awkward adolescence, her journey through college, adulthood, marriage, becoming a parent, then becoming a huge success.  It's inspiring, funny, honest, and downright awesome.

I didn't think I could love Tina Fey anymore, then I read her book!

Audacity of Hope (by Barack Obama)
This is definitely a book that I never would have picked up myself.  I'm not big into politics, that's for sure.  But something about this new presidential candidate (we read this just before the election in 2008), really got to me.

This book was really well written, and gave a whole new insight to who Obama is.  He's intelligent, articulate, has great ideas, is compassionate, and honest.

I don't care what anybody says about this guy, but I think he's pretty rad.  I truly think that he is a president that will do great things for America, and hopefully get us out of this slump.  I'm glad that I voted for him, and I will surely do so again.  














Shadow of the Wind (by Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
I've written about this book before (just after we read it) - and it is definitely one of my new favorites!

You can read my full summary / interpretation here, but basically it's very much a coming-of-age story.  It's also beautifully written, so poetic, and will make you fall in love with the magic of books (and stories) all over again.

The characters are also really wonderful.  I can't wait for you to meet Fermin.  He's so awesome!

In Defense of Food (by Michael Pollan)
This book completely opened my eyes to what REAL FOOD is and what our diets should truly be made up of. It was well researched, well written, and a fantastic read.

Pollan goes into the many myths about what we call "food", and what is truly good and nutritious for us as humans.  He goes into how eating healthy & raw foods in their most basic state can prevent anything from heart disease to cancer - and even reverse the effects.  Food is a magical thing, and we truly are what we eat.

His mantra is "Eat food. Not too much.  Mostly plants."

Those are certainly words to live by!

The Book of Lost Things (by John Connelly)
This was our first fantasy novel - we were in a mystical world with dwarves, princes & princesses (that were not what they seemed), and a boy learning what it means to grow up.

This was kind of like a fairytale for adults.  It was scary and sometimes disturbing - sometimes even very sad.  But it had wonderful message throughout, and I ended up in tears at the end.

I will definitely be reading this one over & over again.  It made me think of my childhood, and how the world isn't always how it seems (especially in fairytales).

Habibi (Craig Thompson)
This book was our first graphic novel!  It was truly one of the most beautiful books I've ever seen.  The artistry in the illustrations must have taken AGES - there is so much detail!  It's a very oedipal like tale - with a young woman who adopts a child and takes him into her care.  They are separated when he's a teen, and they each take their own separate journeys.  Eventually they fall in love.

The story is very based around Christian ideals in congruence with Muslim ideals.  It was based around the two religions and their similarities, but also how everything related to the lives of the two main characters.

It was a lovely story (very sad at times), and really beautifully illustrated.  If you've never read a graphic novel before, this is truly a work of art.


Anyway, those are my favorites! 
I hope they help you put together your own reading list this summer.  Definitely tell me your thoughts too if you end up reading any on this list - I'd love to hear what you thought! 

My own beautiful breakfast (and the Joy of Books!)

This morning it was snowy and cold here in Denver, but somehow Stacey & I managed to get up and go for a jog!  It was actually so beautiful and quiet out at 6am - the snow was falling in big fat flakes, and there was no one around.  It was so peaceful!  We tried out our Yak Trax for the first time (the little strappy things you put over your shoes so that you don't slip), and they worked amazingly.  I guess now we have no excuse to miss running when it's snowing now huh?  Haha! 

After being inspired by the photographs from yesterday, I snapped some pictures of my breakfast this morning.  I had oatmeal with almond milk, blueberries, and a little bit of honey (and a sprinkling of coconut).  And of course a cup of steaming hot green tea!
 

I made the mistake of putting a little bit of blackstrap molasses on top of my oatmeal too, and spent some time trying to scoop it off.  Not the best taste in the world, but it's a great source of iron.  It tasted pretty awful on my oatmeal though!

This is the snow we woke up to this morning!  Yesterday it had to have been about 60 degrees, and now it's a winter wonderland!  That's what it's like living in Colorado, that's for sure.  It's supposed to warm up again by this weekend, so I'm hoping that the snow will be melted so that I can go outside & skate around!  Ha!

And check it out!! I even had time to work on some Sudoku puzzles this morning.  I realized that I already had lunch from yesterday at work (my dad took me out for a salad instead), so I had some time to myself.  Pretty rad!  

I remembered I got some pretty awesome pictures of our morning-after-new-year's celebration as well.  John & I were up in Breckenridge with our friends Bill & Geneva.  After a night of partying, we woke up late to a beautiful sunny day.  We walked down to a little breakfast place and got some delicious breakfast burritos, and coffee.  It was lovely!  

"Uhm, excuse me?  I believe I ordered the LARGE cappuccino?  Holy cow.  Look at the size of this thing!  It's like Campbell's Cup o'ccino!"  If you don't know what that's from, please go out & rent So I Married an Axe Murderer right now.  You will thank me for it!

Awww... John's all tuckered out!  Haha!  That's his hungover face.

 

I think the above photo is one of my new favorites.  Just a great moment, and I love the lighting!  :)  

On a completely different note, I just watched a video that my friend Denny posted on Facebook, called "The Joy of Books".  It's just wonderful! 

Honestly, I'm a bit sad about the booming Nooks and Kindles out there.  Sure they're ridiculously convenient, but there is something about holding a REAL book, turning a page, smelling the paper - it's just wonderful.  I hope that the world can still appreciate books even with the new technologies out there! 

Anyway - on to the snowy day!  Hope yours is a great one!

The Shadow of the Wind

I just finished reading this month's book club book - The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. 

It was an AMAZING read, and I'm so glad that we picked it out as our "Halloween" themed book.  Although it wasn't particularly scary in a traditional way, it definitely had haunting scenes, and exciting / suspenseful moments throughout.

What I loved about this book went above and beyond what I expected - the characters were amazing (just wait 'till you meet Fermin, he's fantastic), and the story itself was peppered with short stories that all connected and wound themselves into the whole basis of the book.  Every story that was told began to unravel the bigger mystery bit by bit until the shocking conclusion at the end.

The story follows Daniel - a young adolescent who works in his father's bookstore in Barcelona.  He discovers a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax, and makes it his life's mission to find what happened to the author and the rest of his books.  A mysterious man is going around the world trying to find every one of Carax's books so that he can burn them, and Daniel will do anything it takes to find out why.

It's not only a mystery, but also a beautifully written and very poetic novel.  It's a wonderful homage to the beauty of books and reading - and the way that stories suck you in and change you in the end.  It talks about the importance of embracing life and living every moment fully.  I'm not ashamed to say I totally cried at the end!

It's a pretty dense book (a lot of information you don't want to miss), but a very deep and wonderful story.  I think the version I rented from the Denver library was just under 500 pages.  So if you're taking a long journey, or if you want a great winter book to snuggle under the covers with, definitely pick this one up.  You won't regret it!

Sunday Funday / Sister's Birthday / Book Club!

Time to play a bit of catch-up! :)

A couple of weekends ago my friends all gathered for "Sunday Funday" in Wash Park.  We used to do these pretty much every Sunday during the summer, but everyone has been so busy that our first of the summer kind of ended up being the last!  Whoops!  

We still had a great time - there were plenty of games to be played, and plenty of catching-up to do with everyone.  It cooled off a lot at night too which was great! 

 

Oh my gosh - I'm such a dork.  Haha! 

 

 

  

I kind of love this picture of Katy & George!  Aren't they just gorgeous? 

What a beautiful evening, and a great way to round out the summer! 

This past weekend was quite fun in itself!  Thursday was my little sister's birthday, so we met up in the morning before I had to go to work.  We went to Watercourse (just one of our most favorite restaurants in Denver), and when the server found out it was Taryn's birthday, he brought her a little surprise! 

  

Yeah, that's a vegan sweet potato cinnamon roll.  That's what I call a happy birthday!

On Sunday we had Book Club - we read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland last month.  We also welcomed our newest member, Kendra!  Check out her blog A Grimm Tale - she just moved to Denver, and we loved that she wanted to join our little club.  She rocks! 

This pic is blurry, but Lauren decided to dress very Alice in Wonderland -like for the meeting.  It was totally adorable! 

 

Nikki also brought her little one, Nico - who was just born in July!  My mom couldn't stop asking about him - I think she was just thrilled to hold the little guy.  He's so adorable!!

Adorable AND fashionable! :) 

 

Remember those sweet potato cinnamon rolls I just mentioned from Taryn's birthday breakfast?  Lauren brought some to Book Club.  YUM!!!  I can never get enough of those!  All the other food was delicious too - I just wish I would've thought to take a picture before I started eating it.  I have no willpower. ;) 

There's Kendra - our newest member!  YAY! 

 

We sure do love talking about books!!

Hope you all had as wonderful a weekend as I did! :)