Monthly Recap | March 2019

READING

I read 9 books in March to bring my total of books read in 2019 to 32. I’m well on my way to read 100 books this year! My top three books from the month were:

• Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, for anyone looking for a sweet and fun love story. I adored Josh and Hazel so much!
• The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes, which had such a unique plot that kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. One of those books I’ll be rushing to recommend to everyone I know.
• Pachinko, which is a sweeping novel following a Korean family living in Japan at the time of World War II. It follows this family from the 1930s to the 1990s. I learned so much about Korean and Japanese culture and realized I know very little about how the war affected this part of the world.

WATCHING

• Friends, seasons 8 and 9 – I’m nearly done with my rewatch and all I want to do when I finish it is start over from the beginning. I may be in perpetual binge mode with this show. It’s just the best.
• The Case Against Adnan Syed – I’m really glad I still haven’t canceled my HBO Go subscription, even though I don’t use it nearly enough to justify the $14.99 monthly expense. But it means I got to watch this four-part documentary about Adnan Syed (from Serial season 1). The documentary was a bit anticlimactic in my opinion, mostly because we already know what happened with his appeals, but I did find it interesting to learn what has been going on in the years since the podcast aired and to get more background on the people involved.

BUYING

• Sterilite stacking drawers – I bought this pack of six drawers ($34) that stack right on top of each other. I have four of the drawers stacked two-by-two underneath my bathroom counter to hold my washclothes, medicine, extra beauty products, etc., and it is perfect. The other two drawers are stacked in my closet.
• A library card – I spent $100 to buy a library card, which sounds crazy but I promise it’s not. My local library system is great for print books, but its online system is very much lacking in e-book and audiobook selections. The neighboring library system’s Overdrive is so robust and it actually saves me money to spend $100 to use their system rather than buying all the books I want to read. (Not to mention, I’d need to invest in an Audible subscription to listen to audiobooks.)
• A plane ticket to Boston! – For our yearly trip this year, my girlfriends and I are going to Boston (!!!) and we all purchased our plane tickets this month. We have an adorable Airbnb booked, too, and I am looking forward to a really fun time exploring Boston in the fall.

LISTENING TO

• Dr. Death – This podcast series was wild, and I’m so glad I finally got around to listening to it. While the first episode hit a little too close to home (considering my Pops died after having spine surgery), it gradually moved into an entirely different realm, one I could not have fathomed for the life of me. Definitely a great podcast that I recommend!
• Keep It – This month Keep It was killin’ it with its podcast guests. I especially loved the episodes with Mandy Moore and Busy Phillips. I have mad love for both actresses, and it was fun listening to them.
• Season 5 of Invisibilia – The fifth season of Invisibilia launched in March and every episode has been FASCINATING. I was especially drawn to The Remote Control Brain, which is about a woman who has severe OCD and depression and gets an implant in her brain that helps her control her mood. If you’ve never listened to Invisibilia, season 5 is a great place to begin (and then go back and listen to the archives!)

THE HIGHS

• Meeting Taylor Jenkins Reid – It was so fun to attend my first book signing and get to meet an author I greatly admire. TJR was everything I expected, and I’m so excited to have my first signed book on my bookshelf.
• Chip turned 1! – My little fur-brother is officially a whole year old. I bought him some presents to celebrate his very first birthday (a toy and some bones to chew on) and we sang happy birthday to him while he ate a “pup”cake. He’s not spoiled, nope, not one bit!
• A shopping date with my mom – On the last day of the month, my mom and I went outlet shopping. We left around 9:30 and didn’t get home until after 6, so we really did it big! It was so much fun to spend time with her, and she didn’t even complain when I made her stop at two used bookstores (and she even picked up two books of her own to read!)

THE LOWS

• Feeling disconnected – I’ve been feeling this weird sense of disconnection, a feeling that I’m not fitting into any specific group. It has me questioning a lot of things, mainly how I want to spend my time and who I want to surround myself with to do that. Growing pains, perhaps.
• A reading slump – I fell into a reading slump in early March and it was awful. I just didn’t want to read and none of my books interested me at all. I attribute the reading slump to trying to read The Grapes of Wrath, hating it so much, but wanting to finish it. Once I finally put that book down and gave myself a few days to get over it, my reading picked up again. But man, reading slumps suck. I’m glad mine didn’t last too long.
• Not meeting my no-spend challenge – Oof, it was hard to accept defeat for this goal. But March just wasn’t the best month to not spend money. And hopefully, I’ll learn from the mistakes I made in March.

ANTICIPATING

• Taking photos at a friend’s wedding – One of my favorite people is getting married this month in a low-key celebration, and she asked if I would come out and take some photos of the wedding. I was so honored! I’m looking forward to capturing their special day in the best way I can.
• A wedding reception – This same friend will be having a wedding reception the weekend following her wedding, and I am sooo excited! It will be a fun evening filled with dancing and love and laughter.
• LEAVING FOR IRELAND – Ahhhhh, yes. The best part of April will be leaving for Ireland on the 29th. I am so excited to explore Ireland with my favorite person!