Happy November 1st! I hope your Halloween was full of lots of treats and not so many tricks. My son dressed up as Chicken Jockey from A Minecraft Movie and came home with a large candy haul. He is not a fan of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups (my fave) and he traded them all with his friends, so I was out of luck!
I know that I am way overdue on a weekly update – October was chaotic in the best way! We hosted family, I traveled for work for three of those weeks, we attended a few kid birthday parties, my son won his basketball championship, I’ve been listening to The Life of a Showgirl on repeat, and we are getting ready for an in-town move. Grab a cup of coffee for a few updates!
(My recent travels took me to Huntington Beach – the views were beautiful!)
Lattes for Literacy Update
I’ve officially been doing Lattes for Literacy for over 6 months now! Earlier this month I made a $100 donation to the Walnut Creek Library Foundation and my employer completed a 50% match for a total of $150. Yesterday I made a $20 donation to the Contra Costa and Solano County Food Bank, where every dollar that’s donated makes 2 meals. (We know that kids can’t learn to read if they are hungry.) I love this quote:
Do for 10 people what you wish you could do for everyone.
If you are new to the blog, read how my Lattes for Literacy project got started. It’s a personal endeavor to save money on my daily coffee order and use the funds to donate to local libraries and literacy programs in the East Bay.
Let’s Get Touristy
My husband’s parents were in town in early October and it was rainy, however, we did fit in a date night and a day trip into the city. We were able to sneak away for a late dinner in Danville at Laconda Ravello – I had the truffle gnocchi and my husband had the carbonara. Delicious! It was a dreary Monday, so we basically had the whole restaurant to ourselves.
As a family, we took BART into the city and walked to Fisherman’s Wharf where we had lunch at Eagle Cafe and then headed to the Aquarium of the Bay. My son has now been to an aquarium on the East Coast, West Coast, and Gulf Coast! We then stopped by the Ferry Building for treats before heading back home. I got a cafe latte from Blue Bottle.
Due to the weather, we spent quite a bit of time around the house. I’m not much of a puzzle person, but I know my in-laws are and I had this 1000 piece puzzle called “The Spirit of San Francisco” ready for them when they arrived! Needless to say, it was completed by the time they left.
Reading Lately
In October, I finished The Correspondent by Virgina Evans. I love that it was written in letter form and there were a lot of book references – including works from Ann Patchett and Joan Didion! I laughed out loud in some parts and cried in others. It was a 5-star read for me!
I also read The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett since it is the December Modern Mrs. Darcy book club selection. It’s about Queen Elizabeth stumbling into a traveling library and subsequently falling in love with reading. This one is perfect for a busy holiday season at only 128 pages!
Reading Sprints
When I travel, I like to challenge myself with reading sprints to see how much I can read in a constrained time frame. For instance, on a recent trip, as soon as I hopped on BART that morning, I read until I arrived at SFO – more than an hour of reading time! I did similar sprints on both of my flights. I was able to start The Correspondent and read over half the book in one travel day!
Currently Watching
My husband and I have very different preferences in TV shows, but we do agree on a few, including Dexter: Resurrection. We started and finished within two weeks. We watched Dexter when we first started dating and enjoyed Dexter: New Blood a few years ago. We haven’t watched Dexter: Original Sin (yet)! Did you know the entire franchise is based on this book (e-book is only $7.99!).
I also watched the second season of Nobody Wants This over a weekend. The episode with Leighton Meester made my millennial heart happy – in case you didn’t know: Adam Brody was Seth Cohen on The OC and his wife, Leighton, was Blair Waldorf on Gossip Girl, and Kristen Bell was the voice of Gossip Girl.
E-Book on Sale!
Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid’s latest book and is currently on sale for $2.99. I don’t often stay up past my bedtime reading, but I had to know how this one ended, and it did not disappoint. Buy it now!
Now I’m off to do some packing while making some progress on my latest audiobook. A few questions for your weekend:
- What are you currently reading and watching?
- What was your Halloween costume or what is your favorite candy?
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