Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Three Things...This is Us Edition!

Saw this on my girl Andrea's blog and when she suggested we play along, I jumped on it!!  I just love This is Us so much!!  And since it's finally returning tonight, I thought it was the perfect time to post!



So here goes...

Three Things
The This is Us Edition


3 Favorite Characters
Jack, Jack and Jack!  Just Kidding!

1-Jack
2-Toby
3-Randall (even though he's kinda annoying me this season!!)
Honorable Mention- Dr. K!  Steals the show every time he's on!!  I cried more during the scenes with Dr. K and Rebecca at Jack's services than I did when Jack himself actually died!!


3 things you'd grab from your burning house
1- Pillow and Blanket!  Because I've honestly had these things FOREVER!
2-My purse phone
3-This.... so I never forget that my first home was my happy place!


3 Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes 
1-3 ingredient Taco Chicken (here!)
2-Crock Pot Minestrone (here!)
3-My Sister's Chili! (I should really post the recipe sometime!!)

3 Favorite TV Series of all Time
1-Parenthood
2-Dawson's Creek
3-Friday Night Lights

3 Favorite Comedies (because Kevin is The Manny!)
Don't watch many comedies anymore, but these are definitely my favorite ever!!
1-The Office
2-Sex and the City (this is totally a comedy!)
3-Friends

3 go-to TV Watching Snacks
1-ice cream!
2-pretzels (the nubbs!!)
3-is wine a snack?!??!





Sadly, speaking of three things, there are just three episodes left until the season finale!!  Nooooo....

Enjoy the show!!



Monday, February 26, 2018

Spread the Love Gift Exchange...the Big Reveal!


It's always fun to receive Snail Mail, so I thought I'd join in the fun when The Blended Blog announced the Spread the Love Gift Exchange.  February is the month of love and with my surprise from Lauren of The Pizza Monster Mama, a little bit of love I did receive.




How cute is this super festive infinity scarf!?!  It was the perfect thing to wear on Valentine's Day and will even be a great pop of color in spring with a chambray button down!  I really love it.  It's different and I got so, so many compliments on it when I wore it!!


Lauren was totally on the ball.  My package was a definite surprise...coming super early and right from Etsy!!  So I had no clue what was in store for me until I opened.  I was happy to see the scarf and a little note from Lauren.


Thank you so much Lauren for my gift!  Hope you enjoyed yours too!!  Head over to Lauren's blog to check out what she received from ME!



Friday, February 16, 2018

5 things I've Learned in my Thirties...


Today’s my birthday! And there seem to be a lot of people more excited about it than me!!  I think I’m indifferent! But I am looking forward to a fun weekend of celebrations with family and friends!


For the past two years on the blog, I’ve shared a birthday post with random facts about me.  36 was not too bad, 37 was a little bit harder! Rather than beat a dead horse (and damn 38 is a lotta random!) I thought since this year since the big day’s fallen on a Friday, when we typical share a Friday Fives, Friday faves and loves, I thought I’d switch things up a bit and share a five for Friday...

5 things I’ve learned in my thirties!!  


1-FRIENDSHIP has no AGE LIMIT!
One of the things I love about being part of The Blended Blog Collab is that even though we all span different ages-30’s, 40’s, 50’s, we still have much in common.  It shows that friendships have no age limit.  This is true in my daily life as well.  I have great friends who are in every stage of life... and every time we hang, it’s always a blast.  On any given Friday, our Happy Hour crew can span from 20-somethings to 60-somethings!  For me, it’s more about the person, their personality, values and beliefs (and fun factor!) rather than closing myself off to them because they are perceived as too young or too old.  

2-How to say NO
Ya know, I’ve spent too much life doing things I didn’t want to do!  So now if there is something I’d rather not do...I simply say no to it!  And I have no guilt or regret about it!  



3-I Don’t need a Man to Define Me!
Who I am is entirely up to me.  At this stage of the game, being single and in my thirties...some people think, I’m an old maid, some think other, not-so-nice thoughts about my singeleness... and I just think, I don’t need a man to make me happy.  Would it be nice to have someone to talk to once in awhile, to get sweet texts from on the daily, or  maybe to zip up my dress???  (LOL) Sure!  But I don’t need a man to make me happy.  I’m 38 today and right now, I’d say I’m pretty damn happy with where I’m at!


4-I’m gonna do whatever I want, when I want, because I can!!
Lately this has been my mantra. And I’m gonna stick with it. It's not to be meant to sound bitchy. It's just that, in this Solitary Life, I can. If I want to go out and have fun, I'll do it. If I wanna spend the day in my undies, vegging on my couch binging on Netflix and wine, I can do that too! Because no one's around to see me!! It's pretty much the best of both worlds!

5-You’re only as OLD as you Feel!
When I was younger, 38 seemed so old to me!  But now, NO WAY!!  How in the hell am I 38??  How in the world did that happen?  Am I getting carded at bars anymore? Nope!  But those AARP mailers??  They are a-comin’!!  I guess I can no longer say today I’m 29 for the 10th time!!  
I know it’s silly, but every time I see those Facebook quizzes that say things like “How old are you REALLY?”, “How old do you feel”, or “Can we guess your age?” I always take them...for shits and giggles!  I took one recently and it came back with the age of 24. I’ll take it!  Do I sometimes feel 75 though too...some days!!  But I have more days where I feel young , so I’m just gonna live it up and take each  day as it comes!!







Linking up today with The Blended Blog for Friday Loves, Erika for Friday Favorites, Tif for H54F

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

V-Day! Me Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!
 It's a day of love, candy, and flowers!  Not a normal single gal's favorite day of the year, that's for sure.  But I've been single so long...it's just another day! So instead of a romantic dinner with a hot guy, I'm celebrating ME DAY, instead of V-DAY  Ha!!

I put this list together last Valentine's Day, and I kinda LOVE it so I thought I'd share it again (with an update or two)! And it's not just for the Single Gals!! Hope you'll find something fun in it too!





1- Buy yourself some flowers!


2- Indulge in all the chocolate...Valentine's Day's a great excuse! (There might be a pint of Ben & Jerry's waiting for me in the freezer!!)

3- Open one of the "good" bottles of wine tonight, even if you are alone!  YOU ARE WORTH IT!!


4- Wear a red bra and panties...even if you're the only one who sees 'em!

5- Plan a Galentine's Celebration with your best girls tonight or this weekend!

6- Watch all the romantic movies...


7- Be someone's secret admirer today!

8- Share a book you love with someone you love...big or little!



9- Listen to your favorite cheesy love songs all day.

Who remembers this one!  I had to include because it's totally making a comeback!  LOL


10- Dress for the day...heart socks, red shirt, fun graphic tee, red shoes, etc.

11- Write a love letter...to yourself... and tuck it away for days when you need a little pick me up!

12- Have a good, long soak in the tub...


13- Tell someone you love WHY you love them.

14- Most of all today and everyday....



In the words of Justin Bieber, You should go and love yourself!  Have a great day!!

Friday, February 9, 2018

Let's Hear it from the Girls!


 


Do you have an anecdote you want to share?
An experience to relate?

A funny tale?

A hard thing that's still happening?

Something on your heart?

None of the above but something burning to be in print?

Yes please.


With my Blended Blog besties, we're launching a fun new series.

I'd love for you to be part of the conversation.

 Here are the details:

Each week will have a different topic, if you’re feeling extra wordy, feel free to submit for more than one theme.
  1. FEBRUARY & MARCH 2018- Fostering Strength

Through until Feb 9: Call for submissions on blog and by email.
Feb 12-16: A Portrait of Love: Talk about what love looks like to you.  Be creative. Here are 3 examples of very different versions of the post- you can really go anywhere with this. Glenna-Jordan-Sara - 
Feb 19-24: Watch Embrace (rentable on Itunes- Documentary, Gravitas Ventures, 4.99$ and create a post using one or some of the questions in the discussion guide (here)- tell us what you took from this film.

               
Feb 26- March 2: Affirmations and self-talk: share your tips, what do you do to build up your confidance? Life hack survival tips: What do you do well that helps you get through life? See an example of a post here.
March 5-10: I’m *insert your age here* and I tried it : any fun trends you want to share that you’ve tried? Or that you’ve been dying to try and just need that little push ? Have you accomplished something that you are really proud of? Here’s an example of what Abbie tried at 35.
March 12-16: 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 somethings.  Talk about this period in your life and what you’re going through.   Here are a few examples: JodiRenee
March 18-23: A woman you admire : tell us about the strong women in your life.

March 26: Last week- closure and intro into April and May on our blogs.

*DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION is at least a week before it is to be published.
 

 Our goal is to reach out to our reader community because we know there are some great voices out there with stories to be told.  Please pick a couple of topics that interest you and prepare a guest post.  

I will include a bio of your awesomeness and your words. I'm sorry to say that I'm not paid so neither will you but I would love to promote any links you have to your amazingness and send you free hugs. You don't have to be a blogger to participate!

Not super-desirable in this series...

1. Posts that sound like "do it my way 'cause it's the right way."
2. A blatant advertisement for a business (mentions are fine!!).
3. Meanies. You know who you are.
4. More than 7 swears per line. Ow, my ears.

To sum up, in the words of of the lovely Malyn, "I was never at the cool mom table but we made our own table and we're all invited."

You in?

Email me, Katie at solitarylifeblog@gmail.com or message me on Facebook or Instagram if you've got a great idea or an already formulated post!

You do NOT have to a professional blogger/writer/person. Just be yourself!

Can't wait to hear from YOU!
Katie

Thursday, February 8, 2018

January Book Round-Up!



January is typically my hibernation month.  And this year's January was no different!  Every other night I was in bed by 8, with either my book in hand or listening to an audio book.
I think this helped me to really up my book quotient for the month. Because never have I ever read 13 books in a month!!  Crazy!!

13 is a lot to recap so for some you'll get more of a review than others!! That'll probably give you a good indication about how I liked the book too!

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkannn
This book became available to the public on January 9th, but I was lucky enough to receive an advanced readers copy from my library's advanced readers club, where I'm given the book to read and review.  I read this book over the course of two snow days.  I just couldn't put it down.  It was crazy, twisty good!  Not what I expected! Highly recommend!


Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult was recommended to me by my bestie Mel, as her favorite read of 2017.  The audio book became available before the print version did at my library so I listen to it.  One of the narrators was stage and television actress Audra MacDonald, so I kind of loved that!  I loved this book, too!  It was a difficult subject matter to tackle, but I really enjoyed the story and the intertwining of characters.  One of my favorites of the month!

The Art of Racing in the Rain
This was another audio book.  And I'm glad I read it this way because the narrator is a dog.  Even though I didn't like the turn the story took in the middle, this book was still wonderful.  So many great insights about life and it's twists and turns.  At the end of the book I bawled...and bawled and bawled!!  I was sad at the turn of events but I was also sad to have it end.



Lilac Girls
Another book with different points of views and narrators was Lilac Girls.  Set in War time and spanning countries and generations, it tells the story of woman brought together by the war.  It took me a little bit to get into, but once I did, I really enjoyed this book.  Another one that brought me to tears!  Clearly, I read a lot of heavy books this month.

The Forever Summer by Jamie Brenner was one I had on hold at the library for quite sometime.  When it became available to me I was excited and read it rather fast.  I can see why it was considered a good beach read.  It was a fun story about a young lawyer, who after losing everything, gets the shock of her life, when she finds out she has a half sister.  From there, lots more family secrets are uncovered!  I liked it a lot!

So after so much heavy, I needed light and fluffy!  Three books fit the bill!

Writer and star of The Office (one of my most favorite shows ever!), Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and Why Not Me? fit the bill!  Her books of essays were thoughtful and funny and I really enjoyed both!  I have had Why Not Me? forever but after realizing it was her second book, I put it back on the shelf.  I'm glad I read the first book and then started her second again.  Both were quick reads (like a matter of hours...ha!) that entertained me!



My library recommended Furiously Happy to me.  It's a memoir by author Jenny Lawson, who was new to me.  She suffers from severe depression, as well as many other symptoms.  The book took a look at her illness in detail and how she deals with humor, because quite simply she needs to and she won't let her illness take over.  Honestly, her story was quite eye-opening to me and I felt myself rooting for her throughout!  Good...

I read two middle school novels this month by author Lynda Mullaly Hunt.  Loved them both.  Every teacher and student should read Fish in a Tree.  It's main character, Ally, is dyslexic and the story shows her navigating it in school.  With an inspiring teacher by her side she is able to make strides and get the help she needs. I loved the story and it's characters so much.  A true portrait of middle school...something I'm now navigating daily!! Gift this one to all your teacher friends!!!

Hunt's other novel, One for the Murphy's was both tough and inspiring!!  It's another one that had me in tears by the end!  I can't say I loved  the end but the story was wonderful.  Main character Carly is a heroine to root for!  Highly recommend.  Oh and I feel like the teacher in me should let you know I think it's best for grades 6 and up!  Some of it is tough to read...heartbreaking but uplifting at the same time...if that makes any sense!  Give it a read.

Not really worth mentioning were a trilogy of books I read called The Deanna Madden Mysteries.  Basically they were fluff.   Easy reads to to listen to while cleaning the house or fall asleep listening to at night... Just OK!  Lots of people on GoodReads seemed to enjoy them more than I did.  HA!!

Find all my January Reads on Good Reads here!!

Whew!  Lots of reading in January!  I don't anticipate reading as much in February.  I'm already behind.  The last book I started in January, I'm still reading, just about a hundred pages in.  But I'd love some recommendations.  Let me know what you're reading this month in the comments below!! 

At the beginning of the year I found this book bucket list for 2018 on author Debbie Macomber's Facebook page.  I saved it to my photos and while looking for pictures for this post, I came across it again.  Turns out, this month alone, I pretty much ticked off more than half this list! LOL  The only thing I need to finish it are:  a book that been made into a movie, read a book that's new this year, and read a book as a family!  #solitary life!  (maybe my sisters and I could all read the same book!!)  Are you a part of any reading challenges this year that I should know about??


Happy Reading!

Until next time...

*all books are linked to amazon, just because...I'm not an amazon affiliate!  :)

Sunday, February 4, 2018

TBB Asks: Love

The first Monday of the month is always my fave!  Love these #TBBAsks posts!  The first Monday of February, my favorite month, even better!!  Grab the graphic and link up with us too!!



1- Hugs or Kisses?  Definitely both, but I'll admit to getting more hugs...from all my little students on the daily!

2- Candy or Flowers?  I love, love , love flowers! But who doesn't love candy too!?!?  Mostly Chocolate!!

3- Baking or cooking?  Neither, but I cook more than I bake these days!!

4- Do you remember your first kiss?  Even though it wasn't memorable, I do...

5- Favorite Color of Roses? Red roses are very pretty, but I like multicolored bouquets the best.


6- Conversation Hearts?  No but I love the SweetTart Hearts!  So bad for you but so delish!

7- Love notes?  Nope!  #SolitaryLife

8- Decorate for Valentine's Day?  A little bit...

9-  Red or Pink?  I wear more pink, but I like both colors because they're a lot of fun!!


10- Dark Chocolate...definitely!!  It goes best with Red Wine!!

11- Love at First Sight? Nah?  Now, lust at first sight...

12- Valentine's Cards? I don't really give any cards!  They are so expensive!  LOL

13- Favorite Chick Flick?  Oh so many!!  But Pretty Woman is the go-to!!


14- Stay in or Go Out?  On Valentine's Day??  I'm staying in!


Now it's your turn!!  Join in on the fun!!