Thursday Book Reviews

A few titles I read in the last two weeks...

I'll be the first to admit that I'm critical when it comes to books. If there is one mistake, I don't like it. If it seems predictable or too similar to other books, I don't like it. I absolutely love the Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand. Not only does it take place in Nantucket but the plot engaging and the characters strong. I could not put this book down.

The book starts with the death of Greg and Tess, a couple trying to recover from some marital problems. After leaving their twins with friends, the couple sets out on a sail for Martha's Vineyard, drowning on the trip. The rest of the book details the summer following their deaths and how the three other couples that Greg and Tess are friends with deal with the loss. There are so many surprises along the way that I don't want to write anymore to give it away.

This is a perfect summer read by the pool. I'd recommend it to fans of Ann Brashares, J. Courtney Sullivan or even Jenny Han. It would be great for those who love books about friends and summer, as I do. Enjoy this one and treasure your friends and the time you spend with them.

The Pregnancy Project is an interesting memoir by college student Gaby Rodriguez about her experience conducting a senior project about faking a teen pregnancy. Rodriguez is the daughter of a teen mom and the sibling of seven brothers and sisters who were also teen parents. Her entire life she heard people saying that she would have the same future as the rest of her family and Rodriguez did not want to become just another teen pregnancy statistic. So, she decided to fake a pregnancy for her senior project and see how others would respond to her being pregnant, despite being a good student and well-rounded individual. What starts as a well-thought out senior project that only Rodriguez's boyfriend, best friend and mother know about to a lesson in life and an international media sensation. This book starts a little slow but overall its an wonderful recollection to be the stereotype. I think adults would enjoy it but it would be most meaningful for teens to read.

A Hidden Hobby

I have a hidden hobby that many people don't realize.  Lately, time and money restrict me from pursuing it more.  I build and furnish dollhouses.  Miniatures to be exact.

When I was in middle school, I got my first dollhouse kit for Christmas.  My Grandpa and I worked together all winter to complete it.  We worked so meticulously to make sure that every piece was just right, from the shingles to the doorknob on the front door.  It was a time that I will treasure and am grateful that I had the opportunity to build it with him.

  

The dollhouse has moved from Pittsburgh to Annapolis and back again and now resides in our office.  It has survived a crash landing caused by Mittens but withstands it all.

Throughout the years, I have traveled to various miniature stores and shows, collecting pieces for my dollhouse.  I want it to resemble a hat and dress shop, so I have a number of hats and stands.  The best piece in the dollhouse is the mannequin wearing the wedding dress.  My mom made the dress out of pieces from hers and my grandma's wedding gowns.  It's incredible!

(my hat collection)

(the dress my mom made from material from hers and my grandma's wedding dresses)

A few weeks ago, I decided I'd actually unpack the furniture and set the dollhouse up on my bookshelf again.  I opened the box to discover that more than half of the furniture was broken.

My handcrafted and painted rocking chair from a show, the beautiful and very delicate side table and the glass store display were in pieces.  It was devastating to see these treasures that I had saved so much to buy and represented so much of what my mom, grandpa and I had worked on.  Hopefully, my mom can fix it but I was devastated.

Miniatures was such an important part of my life and I hope that one day I can focus on it again but for now I will treasure what I have and hopefully it can be fixed.  It's such a discussion piece and I meet more and more people that collect as well.  That's just my two cents on miniatures.

(it's always Christmas in my dollhouse)

Check out this link from one of the blogs I follow about a life-size dollhouse on display in New York and designed by Target.

I'm A Ballerina

The marathon is over, so I've had to rethink my workout routine.  I'm still running a few times a week but I've added something new (thanks to Pinterest!).  Believe it or not...I'm doing ballet.  Check out the workout here.

Just started today but it was a lot of fun and my muscles hurt.  I don't have a barre, so I use the kitchen counter.  The workout plan actually says to use that since most people don't have a barre.

Some of you might remember that my ballet days started and ended rather fast.  I was the kid hanging on the barre instead of holding it to the other positions. I also made a spectacle of myself in a Nutcracker performance.  That was the end of ballet.  Annie was more talented in that department.  I had no grace.

I always had the urge to do ballet though.  The last few years I've wanted to sign up for the adult ballet for exercise class at CCAC but that never happened.  I think my prior experience scared me away but I can definitely handle dancing in the kitchen.  I wonder what he neighbors walking by in the ally thought.

This is what I look like dancing..

I even wear the tu-tu. Not!  Ha ha!

Before Lakeside, There Was Chautauqua

When I was little, I didn't have any great grandparents.  I had Omi.  She lived with my grandma.  Omi told wonderful stories, made the best deviled eggs and loved costume jewelry.  Even well into her nineties, she was always dressed in perfect skirt and shirt ensembles, nails painted, hair done and accessorized with some costume jewelry.  She smelled amazing.  I wish I knew what her perfume was now and sometimes I catch a whiff of it on her jewelry that I have.  Her real name was Naomi but we fondly called her Aunt Omi or just Omi.  I remembered when I realized that not only was she my aunt but my dad's aunt and my grandma's aunt I was stunned; she was really old!  Omi didn't have any grandchildren and her children had died, so my cousins and I were the apple of her eye.  She died the summer before eighth grade but from my Aunt Omi I inherited an intense fascination with award shows, a to some disgusting love of black olives and Chautauqua, sight of my earliest and fondest memories.

 

 

Chautauqua.  I spent a few weeks every summer there until I was five.  Omi had a cottage on the lake.  There was a dock and a deck overlooking the lake.  The cottage was small with only two bedrooms.  Looking back now - I'm not sure how we all stayed there. I remember swimming off the dock and hating it (yes, the water was too cold and the bottom muddy), visiting Midway Park across the lake to ride the big slide and going into the Chautauqua Institution.  My memories of the Chautauqua Institution are limited - visiting the bookstore, playing in the "Holy Lands," and going to Sunday School.  I loved visiting Omi there each summer.  Those five summers and the few but fond memories I have of them will be treasured for the rest of my life.  We only went until I was five because Omi sold the house that summer.  She was almost 90!  My parents and aunts and uncles couldn't afford to keep it.  It broke my heart.

 

 

We started going to Lakeside the next summer though.  Sometimes I wonder what would have happened had Omi's house never got sold and we went spent part of our summer there instead of Lakeside.  Aside from the fact that Annie and I probably would have been better sailors since the lake is smaller and calmer, there wouldn't have been the same possibilities that were presented at Lakeside.  I would have never been the editor of the Chautauqua Daily (I don't even know if I would have made it on staff).  I would have never met the summer sisters or all of the wonderful people that I now consider family.

 

 

I took a few days off from work following the half-marathon and we went to Chautauqua.  The last time I was there was 2009 I believe (we went skiing at Peak n' Peak for New Year's and went over for a few hours).  I wanted to introduce Dennis to Chautauqua.  We walked around the Institute, visited the wineries, hiked at the Chautauqua Gorge and looked for rocks at Barcelona.  It was a very relaxing trip and it was wonderful to be back.  I went to Omi's cottage to take pictures.  We had lunch in the park where we used to go pump water.  The Chautauqua Bell (I used to think it was called the Taco Bell) is there until season starts. 

 

It's amazing how different your perspective is of certain things as a child and then an adult.  The cottage seemed so small.  The "Holy Lands" not as awesome.  Midway Park more fair than amusement park.  I will never feel the same way about Chautauqua that I do about Lakeside but it was an important part of my childhood thanks to my parents and Aunt Omi, it introduced me to the Chautauqua traditions that are very similar at Lakeside and made lasting memories.

 

 



Runner of Steel Recap

Last Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day.  Perfect for completing my second half-marathon.  I would be lying if I didn't say I wasn't apprehensive, especially after some bad training runs and the events that unfolded at the Boston Marathon.

 

I will be the first to admit that it was not easy.  Not one part of the journey - training, race day or recovery.  It was also not my best run either but I DID IT!  That's what counts!  Yes, I had to walk a few times and I took longer than I had hoped but I need to look at he positive.

At the beginning of the race, I got caught up in the herd, which is never good.  I ran my fastest 5K ever at 33 minutes (I know, I'm slow) and my fastest 10K as well at just over an hour, which gives me confidence for future shorter races. However, I hit a wall soon after the 10K mark since I was running so fast.  I finished though!  My time doesn't matter.

(Photo Credit: Pinterest)

Four days later and I am almost back to normal.  I was a little sore at the beginning of the week but my biggest problem has been dehydration.  I thought I was drinking enough but it wasn't good enough.  Since Sunday, I've been a textbook case of dehydration but thanks to lots of water and Gatorade I'm definitely on the mend.

I ran because had such a great time participating last year and wanted to do it again this year; however, my goals shifted in the last weeks of training.  I ran for Boston. For those that died or were injured.  For those that worked so hard to qualify and then couldn't finish.  For the hope that marathons will someday return to the great community events that they used to before the tragedy.

(Photo Credit: Pinterest)

The half-marathon has been at the forefront the last few months. It's weird now that it's over.  I can just go to Highland Park to run for no other reason but to run.  I thought about training for the triathlon downtown in August but I have to work. I'm trying to talk my sister Annie into running the Canton half-marathon in September or running the relay there with our sister Meg, my fiancé Dennis and her boyfriend, Dalin.  We will see.  For now, I'm going to run, swim and bike and enjoy the warm weather and of course do the Lakeside Annual Fund Run in a few weeks.

Running the half-marathon would not have been possible without the support of so many of my friends and family, including Dennis, Amy, Barb and Meg.  Dennis encouraged me every step of the way during training, especially when I didn't think I could do it; made sure I was downtown the day of the race, even if it meant squeezing me into the back of the KDKA live truck; and took care of me during these last four days of recovery.  Amy got me started on this running kick a few years ago and even though she is much faster than me, she is a constant motivator and I loved running with her the first few miles.  Barb and Meg got up early to come down and cheer me on at the last mile when it was most needed.  I'm grateful to the four of you and to every one of my Facebook friends who liked my statuses, read my blog posts and posted words of encouragement.

(Barb, Meg and I at Point State Park following the race.)

It was an exhilarating journey and I can't wait for the next one!