Author: Lauren

I'm not a good writer, so I'll just keep writing until I am.

Used Book Haul

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So I recently spent some time perusing the shelves at a variety of used book markets, both online and off.  I might have bought a few things.

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The books just followed me home, I swear!  And the ones I bought online?  Those just wandered in the locked front door!

Several of these books are ones I need to complete a series where I already own the books on an e-reader.  Some of them are for series I want to read but haven’t started yet.  And some of them are just because.  I mean, who doesn’t want more books?

I usually get my used books from Half Priced Books, and that’s where a majority of that stack is from.  But I also use Thriftbooks.com.  Both are great.

There are a couple of downsides to using online retailers for used books though.  You don’t always know what condition you are going to get your book in.  For example, I bought a book that said it was in good condition, and the cover is all banged up.  Maybe I’m just a book snob and want my books in great condition.

The other downside is that sometimes when order hardback you may get a library copy, and they don’t always tell you it’s a library copy.  Personally, I don’t mind library copies.  It means the book jacket will survive a long, long time.

Home Chef-A Review

Lauren2 Comments

So the hubs and I have been getting Home Chef meal delivery service for about seven months now.  Suffice it to say, this is going to be a positive review.

Home Chef is a DIY meal delivery service.  Meaning they send you the ingredients and you make the food.  I love cooking, so naturally, I enjoy this.  The meals range from easy to expert level.  Most meals can be cooked in 30 minutes.  Some recipes are done in an hour.  They even have some recipes that can be cooked in 15 minutes!

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We picked Tuesday delivery for our meals and, with one exception due to a holiday falling at an inopportune time, all of our meals arrived on time.  The box that didn’t, well, that arrived too hot to eat the meat.  Home Chef gave us credit towards our next box of meals equal to what we paid for the original box.  Since it wasn’t Home Chef’s fault the food was late, we gave them another chance and everything has been great since!

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The food arrives in an insulated box with the freezer packs on the bottom, over the meat.  I’ve noticed that the warmer the weather forecast, the more freezer packs there seem to be.  Huzzah!

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The meal ingredients come separated in their own bags and are labeled.  I use each bag as my garbage bag when I am cooking, so that’s helpful too.  The meat also comes individually wrapped and sealed, which is nice.

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Each meal comes with easy to read (and follow) instructions.  As long as you read over the instructions carefully before you start making each meal, you won’t have any problems.  There have been times where I missed a step because I didn’t read the recipe over once before I started cooking, and well, I should know better because I cooked with recipes all the time!   User error is always fun.

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It’s good for people who have allergies. like me, because they tell you before you select your recipes for the week what allergens are in what items!  Since I am allergic to eggs (is anyone getting tired of me bringing that up yet?), having the allergens laid out like that is invaluable.

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Obviously, if we’ve been eating it for seven months, we love the food.

I can tell you, that out of seven months of doing this, we have had only one or two times where we really didn’t like the meal to the point of not wanting to finish it.  Okay, maybe three times.  That’s not a bad track record when you think about it.  And since it’s cheaper than a restaurant meal at (usually) $10 a serving, that’s not bad at all.

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All in all, and with a smile on my face, I recommend Home Chef.

 

 

The Sticky Notes

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So it seems that I have decided to dig deep and research the heck out of both Disney World and Universal Studios Orlando.

I may have a problem.  I may just be thorough.  It all depends on how you look at it.   I’m betting the hubs would say it’s a bit of both at this point.

I don’t have a binder for my research though.  I bought a notebook instead.  To my credit, this was before I knew we were taking either trip.  I just liked the way the notebook looked.

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Yes, I bought a notebook for no reason at all other than I thought it was pretty.

I swear I don’t have a problem.  I promise.

Now this notebook is filled with notes on the New Zealand trip we aren’t taking, research from when we were switching cell phone providers, and all the new Disney things!

You know what it’s also filled with?  Well, you did click on the post, so I’m assuming you read the title so I’m assuming you know, but just in case you don’t.

It’s filled with Sticky Notes!!!

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They are all over the place!

They make dividers so I know where the meal planning for Disney is, where the fast pass selections are, what hotels we are choosing, all my random notes!

I also just randomly stick them places when I think of things after I fill the page up and I don’t wait to waste another entire sheet of paper on one line of text!

I love my sticky notes!

Okay, maybe I do have a problem.

 

Cleaning Out My Closet

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I like my closet.  It’s nice and spacious and where all my clothes live.

But, I have a lot, I mean a lot, of clothes.

For example, I have 20 pairs of jeans,  20 pairs!

Just to let you know, I used to work for a clothing store.  So all the fancy jeans with patterns and rips that I used to wear all the time?  Yeah, I don’t reach for those anymore.  Which is a shame, since I still love them all.  I have a lot of clothes from my time at the clothing store that I no longer reach for.

Which makes me sad because it means I no longer need them.

But someone else will, which is why I always donate my clothes. It’s good to donate your clothes.  Someone else who needs them gets them, and you get a warm fuzzy feeling on the inside from doing a nice thing!

I will miss some of those clothes though.

Well, I Might Be Doing This Next Year

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I’m actually hoping I get to do this.

Cause hooray!

What is “this” you may be asking?

This is getting to go to Universal Studios Orlando with my friend!

Whoo Hoo!

We are meeting today to go over things like trip dates and, you know, budgets.

Now, I just have to focus all my energy on finding a decent job.  I’ve been a happy homemaker for the last two years, so I’m ready to enter the job market!

Now, how does one use a multi-line phone again?

My First Book Club

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I joined a book club.

While this may seem small to you, it’s huge to me.  I’ve never been part of a book club before.

Which is very weird because I’ve always surrounded myself with people who loved books.  Apparently we just never got our act together and formed a book club.

So very, very weird.

I mean, I suppose I could start one with my friends now, but they live in a different city and we wouldn’t be able to get together once a month to talk about books.  That would make for a lonely book club.

So yes, I joined a book club.  And the first book I got to read for it was on last year’s TBR!

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman!!!

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What a terrible picture.  This is what happens when you take a picture after you have cracked the spine!   Anyway…

I’m so excited to go to my first book club meeting!  I can’t wait to meet all the other awesome ladies and talk about my first love!  Books!

 

The Affair of the Mysterious Letter-A Book Review

Lauren3 Comments

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You know that feeling you get when you stumble across a truly great find in a bookstore?

Yeah, you know that one.

Of course, you don’t realize it’s a great find until you’ve finished with it.  Which is problematic.  Because then you want more of it.  But what if there isn’t more of it?  Then you are left with despair!

That’s how I feel right now.

Despair.

Because my book is over.  And it’s not (currently) a series.

Now, what is this book about that you so distraught, you might ask?  Well, it’s a retelling of Sherlock Holmes if Holmes was a woman…and a sorceress. Her name is Shaharazad Hass.

The plot of the story is written from the perspective of her roommate, Mr. Whyndham. He writes the story as if he is writing a serial for a paper or a magazine.  Which does mean the chapters are short.  Some of them are very short, maybe two full pages at most.

The world-building and character development are delightfully zany.   The plot is very intriguing (I mean, really, it’s great and twisty!) but it’s all the little things that drew me in.  The minor characters are just as intriguing as the major ones.

I just want more of this world.

Can I have more, please?

 

Dining at Disney

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I forgot that traveling with a food allergy is problematic at best.  Thankfully we have plenty of time between now and when our reservations actually have to be made for me to check all the menus.

I just figured that it couldn’t hurt to start planning now.  It never hurts to start planning early, really.  I mean, I actually like the research.

It just makes me so hungry!

What are your favorite places to eat at Walt Disney World?

 

2020 TBR

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It’s that time of year.  The time when we proudly proclaim the books we are going to try and read over the course of the next year.

That’s right, it’s TBR time!

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The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, Circe by Madeline Miller, The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang, The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso, The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall (I am currently reading this one) and Oathblood by Mercedes Lackey.

And these are just the physical books, I have a few e-books that I have already purchased that are in the TBR as well.  And maybe an audiobook… or two.

The audiobooks are Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell and Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.  I prefer to get my non-fiction through audiobooks, I usually can’t finish it otherwise.  Usually.

My e-books are Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, Renegades by Marissa Meyer, The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope by Mark Manson, and The World According to Mr. Rogers: Important Things to Remember by Fred Rogers.

That’s only 14 books,  I can do that this year, right?

2019 TBR Follow Up

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Well, how did I do on my 2019 TBR?

The answer is not well.  Not well at all.

I read one book.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman.  And that was only because the (quite frankly excellent) mini-series was coming out.

And did I read any of the new books I bought that I shared with you back in June?  Yes, but not many.   I’m actually working on reviewing the ones I have read.

So what does this mean?  It means I failed miserably.  The TBR’s have their own shelf like they are all special!

Oh well, I’ll just start a new TBR and fail at that one too!