Books & Brunch....

Or Bellinis... Pretty much anything with books :)

So over the course of the last couple of years I was apart of two different book clubs, both of which saw their untimely demise. I've been an avid reader all my life, but never was a part of any reading groups or clubs. My friend and I, both defected from the failed book clubs and have been in the works to start our own club... We met a couple of weeks ago for brunch & discussed The Twelve Tribes of Hattie. After our initial get together we exchanged books with each other and met back up today to discuss. We went to happy hour at Brio Tuscan Grille, hence how the Bellini's came in the picture...well sangria for me, but Books & Bellini's flowed better... Now we are in the process of trying to figure out our next read, and how to incorporate others into the mix so we can actually have a club & pick books to discuss as a group....

My friends & I have been trying to narrow down our lists of our top five and top ten favorite reads... I didn't realize how hard of a task that was until I actually sat down and thought about how many books I have read in my lifetime... Literally has to be in the thousands...no exaggeration...

But I was able to narrow my list down to the following (four of which I have mentioned before):

1)The Shack- William Paul Young
2)The Coldest Winter Ever- Sister Soulja
3)The Lovely Bones- Alice Sebold
4)Gone Girl- Gillian Flynn
5)The Story of Beautiful Girl- Rachel Simon
6)Olive Kitteridge- Elizabeth Strout
7)One Thousand Gifts- Ann Voskamp
8)The Lincoln Lawyer- Michael Connelly
9)Flowers in the Attic- VC Andrews
10)The Confession- John Grisham

When I look at that list I feel like I have left so many authors and books out.... I've read so many books, that I sometimes forget they even existed until I see the cover or start reading the first few pages... Hopefully we can get the book club up and running & I can compile a list of books I have read and those that I want to read in the near future...

One of my goals is to have a library of books in my home with hardbound copies of my favorites and of classic books & fairy tales... I know this is probably the nerdy-est thing I have ever written, but books genuinely make me happy :)

To be continued......

My Weekend in Pictures

Memorial Day Weekend 2013~ Pictures Only......

it's okay- the finale

This is the very last edition of It's Okay Thursday... and it's okay....

-to move on to bigger & better things
-to be empowered
-to not be a people pleaser
-to speak up
-to plan ahead
-to take control of your life
-to not engage in negative conversations
-to have always wanted to add an apostrophe to the It's in "Its OK"
-to see a therapist if you NEED someone to talk to
-to engage in retail therapy
-to love yourself
-to want more
-to be happy.

And then I updated my bucket list.....

So.... In light of my current status in life, it is not too often that I have weekends full of these sorts of shenanigans....

In my defense, I made a conscious effort to completely indulge this weekend so I wouldn't have time to sit up and remind myself that exactly one year ago my ex and I broke this exact past weekend... But I digress....

And contrary to popular belief, just because you are a classy lawyer lady does not mean you can't attend hardcore rap concerts.... and go to drive-thru liquor stores (there was no alcohol consumed in my vehicle) or have bottomless mimosas at brunch and/or indulge in other activities which shall remain nameless..... I will just plea the fifth......forget digressing.....

We saw Jeezy perform Friday night, and the show was AMAZING... The crowd was a tad sketchy, but I still had a blast & I can now update my bucket list & cross out attend concert for a guilty pleasure artist....

I didn't get home Friday night until almost 5 am.... But I woke up like a trooper and went to brunch for a birthday celebration... Prickly Pear Mimosas are now my new favorite! 

I slept the remainder of my Saturday away and woke up bright and early for the 7:15 service at church. After that I went to brunch and three pitchers of mimosas later... The remainder of my Sunday took a turn back into the realm of plead the fifth..... 

Good times. Good times. 

The only thing I didn't like about my weekend is that it is officially feeling like summer down here and I HATE being hot.....

Feel Good Friday.....

We survived another week, and that is something to celebrate! 

This week was busy as usual, but I definitely have no complaints about that at all.....

The weekend should be interesting to say the least...

Here are are few words to start the weekend off right with:

Happiness Is.....

That overwhelming feeling of contentment, laughs that cause tears to flow freely down your face, a glance or even just peaceful silence..............

Ten Things:

1. Warm Saturdays gossiping on the porch with my mom, sister & aunt

2. Reading all night, just because & not because you have to

3. A thank you or a God bless you from a stranger

4. That first bite of my favorite meal

5. Inside jokes with my best friends

6. Happy hour

7. Paying off a bill and seeing a zero balance on the account

8. Visiting the ocean & watching the waves

9. Taking pictures

10. New outfits

Happiness is appreciating all the gifts that God has given you.

Being grateful & never taking anything for granted.

I tend to overlook the obvious in my never-ending quest for more...but when you break it down simplistically, happiness is all around me....

Frequent Flyer Miles.....

One of my favorite things to do is travel & vacationing has been the hot topic of conversation among my friends and I.

I usually try to take at least one nice trip a year, and various mini-vacations in between time to keep myself from going insane... but I have been slacking on my planning lately. So far in 2013, I have been to Alabama, Dallas & New Orleans....and I will visit Atlanta, Miami & West Palm Beach, Florida at the beginning of next month...but all of these (except West Palm Beach) are places I have been before.

I want to go somewhere new(or somewhere that I have not been in a long time), I just don't know where.....

Miami is one of the first trips I took all on my own with my girlfriends for Memorial Day weekend way back in 2006...Aside from travelling to Louisiana with my family, I had never been anywhere, not even on an airplane until that trip... Once I figured out that riding airplanes was a simple task,it was full speed ahead for me.

Since then I have been to Los Angeles(where I should visit more often since half my family lives there & in the surrounding area) San Antonio & Austin (my state is so big that all the various cities are like actually leaving the state) Oklahoma, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, (my home away from home) Las Vegas, North Carolina...Cozumel & Progresso, Mexico (cruise destinations) Montego Bay, Jamaica & Nassau, Bahamas... I don't really count Louisiana as a true vacation spot since I used to live there & that is where the other half of my family resides...
*In retrospect, I really haven't been that many places, but for someone who literally did not ride an airplane until I was almost 25 years old, I think I am doing alright travel wise...*

The thing is, I have no clue where I want to go next...

One of my girlfriends is currently in Brazil right now with a few other friends... my other friend is going to Dubai & Israel next month, and two others are going to Toronto in July and my nephew will be spending the summer in Hawaii interning all summer....

Let's just say...I'm a travel weirdo... The same way some friends you call for happy hour, some you call when you want to hit the club and have a good time (not that I club often these days) and others you have quiet time with conversations & cocktails...I have friends that I leave city limits with. I love all my friends dearly, but I also know them well enough to know which ones I would actually be able to experience a fulfilling trip with... and that plays a factor in determining my next destination...

If I take another trip with my girlfriends, I would love to go to an island destination.... Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Dominican Republic or possibly another Caribbean island... it would definitely have to be somewhere singles friendly & all-inclusive...

If I go on a trip with my sister, I would love to explore Chicago, San Francisco, or NYC.... We had a blast shopping and exploring Philadelphia & another city trip would be awesome...

If I go somewhere by myself, I would love to go to a spa in New Mexico or a resort in Maine where I could leisurely explore, shop & read.....

Or, I could just continue to save money & wait until next year to go somewhere more extravagant....Spain, Portugal & Italy are my dream destinations...hopefully one day I will get to see them in person....

Time is definitely not of the essence & I am probably only up thinking about trips because it is almost summer and the world is going on vacation...

But I do like to plan & have events to look forward to so it does not hurt to start planning early........

The first step is just figuring out where I would like to go...