Wow! The last two days have been an absolute blur of excitement and energy after I finally got to share the big news about my upcoming entertaining cookbook! I have been in complete awe of all of the love and comments and calls and texts that came pouring in after I got to share this news. The book writing process can be a bit of an emotional roller coaster, and I’m happy to say that I’m riding the high of the coaster right now. If you haven’t gotten a chance to yet, you can check out more of the book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble where it’s available for pre-order, and read a bit more about how this all came to be in my blog post sharing the news. After you do that, keep on reading for a few more fun links from the week:
Reading List. Sharing my reading list here has been doing wonders for keeping me accountable with my goal of finishing 24 books in 2018 (that’s two a month!). I flew through three more books that were all light reads this month to put me on track for the goal! I read Seven Days of Us, which I flew through because of the breezy writing and constant rotation of narrators – I’d recommend this one! I read The Gunners, which I really enjoyed reading right up until the end, I was left unsatisfied with the ending – bummer! And I leafed through Emily Ley’s A Simplified Life. It was a good compilation of some of the ideas from her previous book with much more focus on the routines and systems in place at our home. Perfect time to read it with spring-cleaning on the mind!
Spring Cleaning. Speaking of spring-cleaning, I have to share with you the most amazing product that my husband bought for our house to help tidy-up after a long winter: the Bissel Spot Clean Carpet Cleaner. We have wall-to-wall carpet in our playroom and office, and area rugs in most other rooms of the house, and they have been looking grimy from all of the dirt and salt that gets tracked in throughout the winter (and you know, kids and pets!). He bought this spot cleaner and it completely removed all of the stains and discolorations from our rugs, they look brand new. I’m obsessed with it and feel like I need to shout it from the rooftops, because it’s a much easier (and less expensive!) solution than getting them professionally cleaned.
My other spring-cleaning project this week was taking all of the clothes out of my dresser and refolding them in the KonMari method from The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I know I’m a crazy person for saying this, but it actually does feel life changing to open my dresser draws and be able to actually SEE everything standing up in neat little rows. I hope I can keep it this neat because it’s so satisfying and much easier to get dressed in the morning!
London Prep. I am SO excited for our London trip at the end of the month, and have already started to do a little bit of packing prep! I love keeping an ongoing packing list on my TeuxDeux app so that if I think of things in the days leading up to the trip, I can jot them down. I also ordered a gazillion things online and returned about 99% of them (per usual!), but did settle on the comfiest pair of walking sneakers, a darling new rain coat with striped lining, and a smart little red, white and blue card holder so that I don’t have to lug around my giant wallet. Only a few more weeks to go!
