BOOKS
In March, I read 8 books. My favorite was The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton and my least favorite was Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen. Some other stats:
- 100% fiction
- 3 print, 2 e-books, 3 audiobooks
- 3.7 average star rating
- 50% diverse
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy (print, owned) ★★★★☆ | You, with a View by Jessica Joyce (e-book, library) ★★★★★ | The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton (audiobook, library) ★★★★★ | The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline (audiobook, library) ★★★★☆ | Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (print, owned) ★★★★☆ | Heartbreaker by Sarah MacLean (e-book, library) ★★★★☆ | Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen (audiobook, library) ★★☆☆☆ | Come and Get It by Kiley Reid (print, library) ★★☆☆☆
MEDIA
- Love is Blind, season 6 (Netflix) – I mainly watch this show for all the online discourse. It’s so messy! I even finally signed up for Hunter Harris’s premium substack to get her full thoughts on all the couples, which did not disappoint.
- The Trust (Netflix) – A new reality show where a group of people can choose to share a prize of $250,000 or vote one person off each night to give them a bigger piece of the prize. This was a fun show, but I think there needs to be changes to the format if they try to do it again.
- Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Prime) – I have only watched two episodes of this show, but the goal is to finish season one in April!
- Taylor Tomlinson: Have It All (Netflix) – Bri and I were supposed to see Taylor Tomlinson live in March, but her show was canceled at the last minute. WAH! So instead, we had a girls’ night in. I loved Taylor’s comedy special and was delighted to learn she is bi-curious and I am RIGHT HERE, TAYLOR. LET’S DO THIS!
- Corporate Gossip (podcast) – I talked about this podcast on my last Currently post so I won’t get into too much detail here. I finally got through their entire archive of episodes and now I can’t wait for season 4 to release soon!
- Florence + the Machine, Dance Fever (music) – My album for the month of March. This album came out in 2022, and I enjoyed it! Favorites off the album: Free, Dream Girl Evil, Cassandra, Heaven Is Here, and Daffodil.
On The Friendship Paradox, it was the month of moms! We interviewed Bri’s mom and my mom to learn more about the personalities (Bri’s mom is an enneagram 1 and my mom is an enneagram 9!), raising us, and our relationship today. It was a really fun time!
PURCHASES
- Apple watch – Using my wellness stipend for an Apple watch was an excellent decision! I love it so much and it’s come in handy during those hard workouts at the gym.
- 3-in-1 charging station – My Apple watch came with that very annoying USB-C charger and the only place I could plug it in to charge was my laptop. So I decided to invest in this guy so I could easily charge my phone, watch, and AirPods. It’s not a super-fast charger but it works for my needs.
- Short-sleeve pajama set – When I thought I was going to do an in-person sleep study, the scheduler mentioned that I would need to wear a two-piece pajama set. I mostly sleep in nightgowns these days because they’re comfortable for me. So I bought this short-sleeve sleep set for the sleep study that never happened, and I really love it. It’s very comfy!
- Small countertop shelving unit – I’ve had my eye on one of these small shelves for a while now and am very happy with my purchase. I keep it on my kitchen counter and it fits perfectly under one of my cabinets. I use it to organize my meds, coffee supplies, and other small kitchen items.
- Chip clips – The simplest product but one that brings me a ton of joy. I recently realized my life would be a lot better if I had a good assortment of chip clips to close up all sorts of bags in my kitchen, from frozen veggies to, well, chips. I bought this pack on Amazon and they’re magnetic so I don’t even have to worry about storing them when not in use!
- I’m Dead, Now What! Organizer – Someone asked me to link to the exact “I’m Dead, Now What?” book that I bought, so I’ve linked to the one I bought. Are there better ones out there? Possibly! I went for one that had a nice aesthetic but wasn’t too pricey.
MOMENTS
March kicked off with February book club. (Yes, we sometimes have trouble coordinating our book club meetings with work travel and vacations and other commitments, but we make it work!) We had a murder mystery party and please make sure you properly fawn over my friend Lynn’s beagle, Mugsy, who dressed in a suit for the occasion!
My mom, my stepdad, and I spent a Saturday at the Florida Strawberry Festival, which was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed some strawberry shortcake and some of the rides. What we didn’t love was the ride we went on before we left the festival. My mom and I were seated in a car together but the way the wind moved within this ride, it caused me to lean all the way into my mom and nearly crush her to death. She could barely breathe because she had my entire weight pressed up against her body. And then the ride started spinning in a way that made me so nauseated. I’ve never gotten sick from a ride, but the nausea was so bad I had to close my eyes until the ride came to a complete stop. OOF. I think my mom and I have both retired from carnival rides at this point.
Chip turned 6 on March 16! He’s the best boy. He was such a rambunctious, crazy puppy who would only settle down and sleep if he was in his crate. I remember my mom saying, “I just want him to snuggle next to me on the couch!” Well, now he is a big snugglebug and my mom is his favorite person in the whole wide world. (I can relate!) I can’t believe he’s already six!
I joined Crunch Fitness! I haven’t belonged to a gym since before the pandemic, but I am really glad that my mom wanted to join this gym because I’ve been really happy with my experience so far! We’ve done a spin class, yoga class, and personal training session ($10 with a new membership), and we’re signed up for a HIIT class tonight. We’re trying out as many new classes as we can right now, and having fun doing it.
Sweet Olive had a pediatric cancer walk this month and I was more than happy to attend! (Even if it did make my sciatica act up.) We got to walk around Raymond James Stadium (where the Bucs play) and go onto the field, which was fun! I think Olive had a good time, which is the most important thing.
When our Taylor Tomlinson lady date got cancelled, Bri decided to bring the night out to us. We had the best night in with a girl dinner (lots of dips and crackers and veggies!) and then popcorn and candy for the show (which we watched on Netflix). The best part of this night was that Bri’s friend Roxana, whom she met on a plane a few months ago and is now besties with because that’s how Bri operates, came over and I got to meet her! We are hoping to do these nights in once a month if possible because we all enjoyed our time together so much!
I started seeing a chiropractor this month to help with my sciatica. I am so glad I did this. I’ve had sciatica before and I’ve always just tried to make it go away on my own with heat therapy and stretching, but this time, I knew I needed more comprehensive care. My chiro is amazing and I’m hoping to start seeing results soon!
Lucy turned 3 on March 29th! I can’t believe this little nugget is already three… I love her so much and I’m glad I was able to spend part of my Friday with her. We went out for ice cream and then had dinner (where they had a doggie menu!) so she was eatin’ good on her birthday.
March book club… in March! We had a great time on Saturday. We made candles at The Candle Pour, went out for lunch at a Mexican takeout restaurant, and then wandered around a market for about an hour until our candles were ready to be picked up. Such a fun day out with my ladies!
What’s something you watched in March?
Have you seen After Midnight on CBS? Taylor Tomlinson is the host, and she’s adorable and the show is hilarious. We’re behind, haven’t watched in awhile, I need to get on that. Your such a fan of comics, I think you would love it.
I am also over carnival rides. I am always up for a good Merry Go Round, and will try to get on the prettiest horse I can find, but otherwise, no. I don’t need to be part of a human centrifuge, which is what so many of them feel like. Barf inducing for sure.
Mugsy looks very handsome dressed up for the book club! Mulder HATED being dressed up, he would grumble and whine until we took things off of him. We first met him at a Halloween dog party held by the rescue, and all of the dogs were in costumes, except him. They had tried, and then taken pity on him.
Blah, I mean ‘you’re’ such a fan, not ‘your’. I hate that mistake most of all when I am the one that makes it.
I haven’t seen After Midnight yet and I need to watch it! I’ve seen clips here and there, but I’ve yet to see the full show.
I was surprised that Mugsy wore the outfit for the entire night! He was a trooper.
I can attest that having a ton of chip clips on hand is never a bad idea. My husband bought a bunch of them for the condo for our first family vacation and we’ve kept out supply charged up ever since.
I keep meaning to check our Mr. & Mrs. Smith and what is stopping me is a puppy who plays with squeak toys for hours at a time. I know you sad you’ve only watched two episodes, and do you think that’s because the other shows that you watch are just more interesting, a lack of time, or is it maybe not that good of a show? Just curious.
I am really enjoying Mr. and Mrs. Smith, so it’s not a lack or interest. I think it’s that I have to really pay attention to this show (which I want to do!) and reality TV, I can put it on while I do other things.
What a fun month! I mean, mostly fun, other than the carnival ride and finding out about your spine misalignment. But! You’re getting it fixed and that’s the main thing.
I read Black Girls Must Die Exhausted and gave it 4 stars – that said, I can’t really remember much about it. I should go back and look at my notes!
Your girls’ night in sounds SO fun!
I will have my spicy review of Black Girls Must Die Exhausted on Monday, so prepare yourself, lol. I expected to like it more than I did. I might have liked it more if I had read it in print; the audiobook narration could be a bit dramatic at times.
Okay, I need to hear more about this book club. Your March event seems like an outing, but you did not mention books; has it morphed into just hanging out or do you still do book stuff? Also, I had no idea that Florence was still putting out albums! I used to listen to them a lot back in the early/mid aughts! I am going to go and check out that album and maybe I will find a new song for my Pick Me Up playlist!
I have not read any of the books that you read, except for Opal and Nev, which I think I told you already that I could not get into. I wonder if I should try again, given your review. I think I started it as an audiobook and it was a little slow and I was not in the mood for that, so I DNFed it. Sometimes it is just my current mood though, so I may give it another shot. Something I watched in March….I finally finished Lessons in Chemistry; my friend and I were watching it in basically 30 minute increments, so it took us a long time to get through it! It was good but I feel like it deviated from the book a bit. However, it’s been a while since I read the book so I am not 100% sure how close it tracked. We started watching Pachinko and are about 2/3 of the way through and I am liking it so far, but this is a similar story; I think I read the book in 2018 so I don’t really remember very many details.
We talked about the book during lunch!
I still need to watch Lessons in Chemistry – hopefully soon. I don’t mind when TVs/movies deviate from the books as long as the core of the book remains there. Different mediums require different plots, sometimes!
Mugsy is tooo cute. I want to squeeze him.
I used to be a lot braver about rides, but now I get sick if they go around in circles (think: I’m over here barfing on a carousel!) and things like roller coasters that jostle you a lot irritate my neck/back. I don’t think of myself as Old Old, but my inability to handle theme park rides suggests otherwise, I guess.
Someone was talking about retirement planning and writing a will and I literally couldn’t even read their post because it stressed me out so much and reading about the death planner made me realize that I honestly cannot consider what happens when I die. I clicked on the link, starting reading the description, and noped out of there so quickly. I think maybe I need to talk with myself about why this is the case!
Mugsy is the goodest boy!
It’s hard thinking about the death stuff, I get you! My mom is trying to get everything aligned with her and my stepdad and I just HATE hearing about it, even though I’m glad she’s putting everything in place for making it easier on my brother in me, but she’s living forever, right, so what does it matter???
I haven’t yet opened the death planner so time will tell if I can get through it.
Okay, I am not a dog owner so perhaps if I were I would not have made the mistake of THINKING MUGSY WAS A DECAL ON YOUR FRIEND”S SHIRT. It legit took me a few minutes to figure out he was a real dog sitting on her lap – bwa-ha-ha.
This comment made me actually LOL! Looking at it again, it DOES look like Mugsy is a decal on my friend’s shirt!
I think we finished Mr. and Mrs. Smith in March. We really liked it except the final episode. I also finished Lessons in Chemistry which I thought was so well done, even though they made some changes to the storyline. Brie Larson was sooo great as Elizabeth Zott and I love who they casted as Mad, too.
You had a great month of reading! Mine has been so ho hum. I am hoping it improves from here!
I’m glad to hear that Lessons in Chemistry was good! I was hearing mixed reviews originally, but now I’m hearing more positive reviews. I need to give it a try soon!
Ooh, you had a lot of cool experiences in March!!! But yes- I know those rides where you totally smoosh the other person. Also, I used to love spinny, swoopy rides but now they make me nauseous (so sad!)
Chip and Lucy both had birthdays!!! And you had lots of events with your girlfriends. Overall it sounds amazing except for the sciatica- I hope you get some relief soon.
It was definitely a great month for me – I can’t complain. And I feel grateful to have found a good chiro to help with the sciatica, so hopefully that will be relieved in April!
Two doggie birthdays – how perfect. <3
You had a great month, sciatica notwithstanding. I love how you and Bri pivoted (and what a fun idea for food!), Olive hosting a walk (wow, she has come so far), and that you are loving your Apple watch. The sciatica needs to take a hike. Here's hoping it resolves soon.
So late to comment but it looks like March was such a fun month. I love your book club get togethers as I have mentioned numerous times before.
Just recently I was thinking about carnival rides and if I would like them today. I was never a huge fan mainly because it was expensive and we rarely did any but I always wanted to go. Now I don’t see the appeal. And your experience isn’t encouraging. Glad you made it out.