book club - Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis

2020-22

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Other people don't get to tell you what you can have!

Someone else doesn't get to tell you who you can be!

A goal is a dream with its work boots on.

You've got to believe in yourself and believe that you're capable of making changes to become whatever kind of person you want to be.

garden 2020 update

You guys, we grew cauliflower.  CAULIFLOWER!!!!!!!!

We planted too many tomato plants too close together - we didn't think the garden would thrive as it is.  The tomato area is a solid mass of plants.  We probably should have pulled some to make more room but let's see what happens.

The carrots are coming along nicely but we most likely won't have enough for a meal because the kids keep pulling them up to see how big they are getting.

The lettuces are going crazy too.  We have lots of salads and lettuce wraps and sometimes we just stand by the garden and eat lettuce.

BOOM.

my favorites in july

Here's a few things I enjoyed in July -

Hamilton

I didn't pay attention to the news when Hamilton came out a few years ago as me seeing a Broadway show is super highly unlikely.  But when they announced it was coming out on Disney + I was excited - and I LOVED it.  I love the actors, I love the music, I cry every time I hear certain songs.  To my extreme delight, The Girl loves the music too and we often play the soundtrack in the evenings and sing together.

After falling for Hamilton and spending some time googling the show and cast I also fell in love with these 2 albums -

Leslie Odom Jr - Mr.

Jasmine Cephas Jones - Blue Bird

And another album I'm loving -

The Chicks - Gaslighter

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2 Podcasts

Why Won't You Date Me

Nicole Byer is a dang treat you guys.

Natch Beaut

This is an unlikely one for me as to look at me does not make you think of beauty in any way, but this podcast covers a huge range of topics from skin care and self care to mental health, self acceptance and a ton of other categories.  Jackie Johnson is an amazing host and she always has great guests.  This is a podcast that I started listening to at Episode 1 and am still working my way through, but there are a few specific episodes I want to mention from 2019 - Self Acceptance with Jeffrey Marsh made me cry and I now follow Jeffrey on Twitter and Instagram; Gender Dysphoria with Ellen Ford is a great listen;  McDonald's Frappuccinos with Travis Coles; Dancing with Grandma with Atsuko Okatsuka; Brag Better wit Meredith Fineman.

Book Club - A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs

2020-21

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She was both hard and soft, sour and sweet, old and young.  That she could contain so much was what I loved most about her.  Her soul was bottomless.

"Our blood relationships don't often survive the truth."

"The past?"  Paul shook his head.  "Is nothing but an open wound."

Cookbook Cleanup Book 17- So Good

I picked up Food by Richard Blais from the Dollarama for $4 last year without looking too closely at it - I've seen him on some food shows before and he seemed like a good guy, so why not drop 4 bucks on a book?

So Good has all the usual chapters - appies, soups, poultry, seafood, red meat, veggies, sides and desserts.  A further look shows that these recipes go deeper than other books I have on my shelf - goat, squab, rabbit.... Things that don't hit our table.

I started looking for some recipes to try, and found even more stuff that wasn't for us - pasta made with bone marrow, a noodle bowl with pigs feet, Oxtail, Abalone.  There is nothing wrong with any of this stuff, it's just stuff we don't eat.

We tried 4 recipes -

Chicken Shawarma -

Radiatore Bolognese - we used pork instead of rabbit

Buttermilk Biscuits

Honeyed Blueberries

They were all good - the bolognese especially.  Would I make any of them again?  Probably not.  Did I find other stuff I wanted to try?  No.

This book is not staying on our shelf, but I hope it finds a home with someone who can appreciate and enjoy the large variety it has to offer.

Cookbook Cleanup results so far - Bookshelf - 9  Donated - 8