Bookworm: November 2017

Usually I start these monthly reading round-ups off with a literary quote by one of the authors I read in that month. This month, however, I'm feeling particularly cracked out on holiday festiveness (more to come) and have been quoting this little cutie on repeat, in the most appropriate and inappropriate situations...so enjoy! 

If ANYONE wants to give me books for Christmas, I'll love you forever and ever (and also be very excited about them, I promise!). 

Loved: 

Salvage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward: Being totally honest, it took me a bit to get into the rhythm of this novel, set in rural Mississippi in the run-up to Hurricane Katrina. The writing, though, has a very visual quality I tend to value in books - evocative imagery always sucks me in when all is said and done. The description of the hurricane and its immediate aftermath alone makes this a book worthy of recommending highly. 

Girl Logic, Iliza Shlesinger: Dave, Laura and I are obsessed with Iliza Shlesinger - her acerbic, take-no-prisoners humor is so fantastically fun. In novel form, her intelligence and thoughtful consideration of what it means to be a woman in this day and age come through even more clearly than in a standup set, sprinkled liberally, of course, with laugh-out-loud moments. 

Enjoyed:

Everything was pretty polarizing this month, honestly. And that's almost more fun than being lukewarm on something, isn't it?! 

Tolerated:

The People We Hate at the Wedding, Grant Ginder: I have a really hard time with books where I can't get invested in the characters, regardless of the reason. I found Ginder's cast of misanthropes particularly two-dimensional and unappealing - all of them so mired in resent and their respective pasts that I couldn't get any sense of development in them, or root for them in any way. I'm disappointed - I've read great reviews of this book, and it was a total let-down.

What Happened, Hillary Clinton: I listened to this in audiobook form - all 18 hours of it - and I have such mixed feelings about the book as a whole. At the end of the day, I think I finished the recording with a lot more respect for her, although at times I think her desire to justify actions led to a palpable bias in the narrative that I struggled (and still struggle) with across the board. Worth it, solely for the insight into some of the "why" behind the "what," but I didn't love any of it. 

Re-reads: 

Henry V, William Shakespeare: A classic. One of my favorite memories is reciting passages of this out loud with Michael years ago at the Chateau de Liz, and revisiting it was like catching up with an old friend. A pro move: reading the soliloquys out loud - in perfect iambic pentameter, of course. 

White Oleander, Janet Fitch: This was an over-break read for me - I'm slowly bringing books from MN to CA in my suitcase every time I travel, and started this one while home. It's dark - incredibly dark - but the writing is equal parts harsh and beautiful, which I am drawn to even on a second read. 

You guys, it's royal wedding time!

I've gotta hand it to them - the British royals sure know how to beat the post-Thanksgiving Monday blues! 

A bit of background: I had an absolutely execrable travel day on Sunday. My flight was delayed twice, leaving me stranded at the airport with nothing to do but people-watch, pester all my friends with inane text conversations, and have a drink. Okay, drinks. Then we boarded, were delayed 45 more minutes on the plane before leaving MSP, circled SFO for an additional 40 minutes before landing, were delayed a half hour on the tarmac THERE, and had to wait an extra half hour for our bags. This conspired to a: make me fairly Scroogey, and b: put my head on my pillow somewhere in the vicinity of 1am. 

I had one of those panic moments when I woke up, convinced I had slept through my alarm. So I checked my phone, to find it was 5:40am and that I had a weirdly high number of middle-of-the-night text messages. So I checked them. And immediately SCREECHED at the top of my lungs - royal engagement OH MY GOD. 

I'm perhaps too obsessed with the British royal family. I think Kate Middleton is the best, and I love the Queen and Prince Philip. George and Charlotte and their smooshy cheeks fill me with happiness every time they're out in public. But Prince Harry? Secretly my favorite. I've had a petite crush on him since his army-man days, and I have a lot of respect for the work he's done with children and veterans in recent years. Plus, he seems like a bit of a troublemaker at heart...and I love a troublemaker at heart, of course ;) 

Imagine my delight when he stirred everything up by starting to date a divorced, American, half-black actress. And that delight only grew yesterday on seeing them together, first at the photo call in his mother's favorite garden, then watching their absolutely adorable engagement interview (check it out here if you haven't already, it makes me incandescently happy!). A few thoughts...because you KNOW I have thoughts: 

- I love that she wore kickass heels and a sleeveless dress (and no nylons!) for her first official appearance. I want her Aquazzura shoes BADLY but, alas, way out of my budget. And the whole bare shoulders thing? Way to start shaking things up right away, Meghan!

- They are SO GROSSLY, ADORABLY IN LOVE. The way they look at each other is beyond sweet, and the way they interact just seems so natural and comfortable and perfect. 

- Comparing this interview to Kate and William's, seven years ago, it's clear that Meghan is much more polished and confident than Kate was.  A few factors here: Meghan is accustomed to doing press and interviews due to her role as an actress, and she and harry are, respectively, seven and four years older than Kate and William were at the time. I was still so thrilled to see how natural and charismatic and warm Meghan came across...she seems like the kind of woman I would love to have a long, chatty lunch with (champagne mandatory). 

- Favorite bits of the interview: the part about the corgis loving her right away, and the tiny little shiver-shimmy thing Harry does when their interviewer mentions Meghan "gaining a husband." He is THE CUTEST. Be still my heart.

- One of my funniest friends sent me this after learning of my complete freakout, and I laughed my ass off, subsequently shared it with every one of my royal-loving friends, and saved it to share here: 

And there you have it...my royal obsession still going strong. Even though my favorite ginger prince may be off the market, someday my prince will come and, in the meantime, we have a royal wedding to look forward to, WHEE! 

"You are building the most fabulous life."

Happy Thanksgiving, campers! Today, I'm grateful for all of you. 

I am, as always, thankful for my fantastic friends and above all the love and support of my family. This year, however, I'm ruminating on something a little bigger than in years past. 

2017 has brought enormous change for me, and I am beyond thankful that it has been so positive across the board. Had you asked me last Thanksgiving where I would be this year, I would have probably shrugged and assumed it would be living in downtown Minneapolis, working at Travelers, hanging out with the same people, maybe dating, maybe not. Instead, I live in California with two of my best friends, working for one of the most renowned academic institutions in the world. I wake up every morning to palm trees, never wear a coat, and weekend in wine country. And I am happy - incandescently so. 

A friend of mine once commented on an Instagram photo, "You are building the most fabulous life!" The phrase has tuck with me for the last few years - especially in light of my 2017 resolution to be intentional in all things. It's been a mantra, at times when my life hasn't felt so fabulous. I'm thankful, though, that choosing to be intentional, to step out of my comfort zone, and to keep building that fabulous life has led me to where I am today. I am grateful that taking a huge leap has been as easy as it has been, and that I can truly say today that I'm this happy and fulfilled by my life. 

So on this Thanksgiving, here's to the friends I've made and lost, the family that has had my back through everything, the roommates who make me smile every day, the abundance of delicious California wine waiting for us on tonight's Thanksgiving table, and to you - today, may your hearts be as full as your plates!

Five minutes of stream-of-consciousness

I have a meeting in five minutes but I'm too stuffed from Worksgiving (which just wrapped up!) to do any concrete work in that window, so I'm going to post up just super quick here. 

1. Taylor Swift's new album is stealth awesome - I had VERY mixed feelings about "Look What You Made Me Do," but some of it is shockingly catchy. I'm hooked on "King of My Heart," "Delicate," "Dancing With Our Hands Tied," and "Dress." Also an excellent length for a solid hour workout at the gym, which is nice. 

2. Laura and I restarted "Gossip Girl" last night, and Dave watched the better part of an episode with us. Trying to explain it to him was hilarious and also hammered home (hard) the vapidity of the show. 

3. It's raining here in NorCal today, and I feel like a brat complaining or even being remotely irritated by that, given I'm headed home Saturday to 20-degree windchills for a week. YAY MINNESOTA. (Friends - hit me up! Excited to catch up with people!) 

4. My new uniform as of late to account for absurdly variable temperatures: ankle pants (Old Navy's Pixie, always), a button-down, and a pullover sweater. Ditching the sweater when it gets warm in the afternoons couldn't be easier or feel more delightful. 

5. I baked six dozen pumpkin cookies for Worksgiving last night and made cinnamon cream cheese frosting for them. They are so rich, so decadent, and so impossible to resist. Someone save me from the leftovers please! 

6. I'm mildly irritated with myself over a few random situations I'm in, and not finding much clarity with, when I feel like I should just cut to the chase and/or cut my losses. Apologies for vague-writing about that, but it felt good to get it out. Also, I have 280 characters on Twitter now (does everyone?) and it makes me really happy for no apparent reason. 

All for now, friendies! Happy almost-weekend! Stay warm, stay dry! 

a micro-post on routines

YIKES another accidental ten-day break from writing - shameful! It's no excuse, but I've been busy with work lately, a bit under the weather, and of course packing plenty into a social calendar that's gotten a bit intense over the last several weeks. We've had friends in and out, and I've been in and out too. Add to that Daylight Savings and colds throwing a cramp in my sleep, and you've got one cranky, unmotivated, spastic Liz running amok in Northern California. 

It's gotten me thinking much more about how I need to get in better routines throughout the week. A few turbo-thoughts: 

- I set my alarm for 6am every morning but don't actually get to work until around 8:30. At the peak of my summer ass-kicking routine, I was waking up, journaling for a bit, reading (often the New York Times, or else the book of the moment), and ensuring my life was organized and ready to go for the day. Today, on the other hand? Snoozed until 6:45 after a restless night, watched like 30 Instastories, and didn't make my bed. Now I'm sitting at work, low-key obsessing over the fact that there's laundry I need to fold and my room is a mess and of course that means my life is a mess...and it's throwing me off in general. 

Goal: get back to the 6am wakeup, and actually, you know, wake up. I liked the journaling over the summer, but I think I'm going to try to get in a mini-workout before my 7am shower - it's better at getting me going than lounging in bed reading, after all. 

- I've been on a major cooking binge lately - for some reason, this time of year, I always find myself drawn to the kitchen. It's been such a fun activity to dive deeper into these days, especially with a huge kitchen and two hungry, appreciative/complimentary roommates. That said, I'm spending a lot of my after-work time waiting in the checkout line at Safeway, screwing around in the kitchen, and cleaning up when all's said and done. I genuinely enjoy it, but it's not the best use of my time. 

Goal: Grocery-shop on weekends and have a meal plan for the week so I only have to hardcore cook a couple times a week. Be better at putting together lunches for work that are grab-and-go, whether that's individually packaging leftovers or prepping for a week on Sundays. In general, do more work up-front to make dinners easier to pull together. 

- And of course, there's the evenings themselves. Having roommates who are around a lot has been great - we genuinely enjoy each other's company, and choose to spend time together after work almost every day (which is really fun). What it isn't, though, is super productive - maybe someday I'll tell you about the week we watched Disney movies every night, or the time when Dave and I binge-watched Emily's vintage season of "The Bachelor" (to prep for Arie's return this January, duh) in about five days...

Goal: Work out after work, before even coming home or sitting down. Use evenings to write more, or to get out and do things instead of parking in front of Netflix. Swap evening wine/beer/cocktails for water and tea a few times a week (at least!). And actually start going to bed at a normal hour instead of using my 8:30 arrival time at work to justify hitting snooze so many times the next day! 

Just a quick brain-dump to get something, anything, down on digital paper today - but happy Monday, campers, and hope you're all kicking ass!