Reading January - May

So, what - you document all the books you've read monthly for 2 years and then - poof - no more?? What the heck?

Yes, well. Life.

The last time I checked it was February. Now it's June?? How did that happen?? Oh yes, visits from friends, getting ready for a jewelry show (you guys, I created over 100 pieces of jewelry), taking care of my parent's house and cats for an extended period of time, plus all sorts of construction happening in my apartment (central air installation - yessss!! Except one of the guys put his foot through our ceiling and we had some major, major drywall patching...) - yeah, I guess that explains why March through now is a complete blur.

Here's what I've been reading in my very limited downtime...

Currently reading The Goldfinch - all 775 pages of it. I wouldn't say I LOVE it with capitals, but it's certainly interesting and it's keeping me guessing. Nearly 800 is a lot of pages, and it's kept my attention.

Eleanor & Park was pretty great. It's a really sweet story and I just wanted to give the girl a hug and a home.

Part of Sisterland centers around an earthquake and I picked it up right around when we southern Californians experienced a large-ish (for us) earthquake. I was a little disappointed in the direction the story took towards the end.

OMG, I could not get through The Taste of Apple Seeds. Try as I might, I just wanted to move on. I skimmed the last half of it. Sorry, Katharina Hagena, it just wasn't for me.

I love Sarah Addison Allen, she creates fantastic worlds that I just want to step into.

I re-read The Night Circus and enjoyed it as much as the first time

The Debutante was written by the same woman who wrote The Perfume Collector. I really enjoy how her storylines weave all over the place in time.

Hollow City is the second installation of books from Ransom Riggs. What I love most is that he finds old photographs and crafts his story around them. That being said, the story in this felt a little forced, compared to the first book.

I was suuuper hesitant to Gone Girl after I read Dark Places last year, but I was pleasantly surprised. There are some great plot twists in this. Yes, I know I'm probably one of the last ones to read this book, but come on. Dark Places. Almost too much.

I have big goals for the rest of my day. Want to hear about them? I'm going to do laundry, attend a webinar for a new volunteer position I'm starting (more on that another time), and attempt to clean my apartment. Like, put all the boxes away, get rid of the shredding that's been piling up, dust all the plaster and drywall debris off the surfaces, fish the DVD remote out from behind the TV where it's been living for a month, try to make some room in our cabinets for the beautiful set of dishes my grandmother is giving me, and maybe, just maybe, get my oil changed and/or wash my car!! No joke, you have no idea how excited all of this makes me...

What do cats have to worry about, anyway?

While the rest of the country is freezing it's butts off, I'm sorry to report that California has been lovely...

Sunny Day

Sunny California

James and I had a few days off together around New Year's (New Year's?? That's sooo long ago!!), and we treated ourselves to brunch at the Brownstone Cafe in Fullerton, a real rarity these days. Our joys are simple: a brunch together, seeing a movie in the theater, shoe shopping...okay, that one is really my joy, but James was a trooper and went with me and told me that the new heels I was looking at were nice with the jeans I had on.

New Blue Shoes

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

We went to see a late screening of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and we loved it. LOVED. There were maybe 5 other people in this giant theater with leatherette seats, so these vast Icelandic and Himalayan landscapes were just right there, front and center and so personal. The music was fantastic (James downloaded the soundtrack immediately upon returning home), the photography was beautiful - to us, everything about it seemed right.

Cal, asleep on my lap for an hour

We've also spent quite a bit of time at my parent's house the last couple of weeks. My mom was having surgery and was going to be in the hospital for a few days, and my grandmother has been staying with my parents since her husband passed away in November. She's not very steady on her feet anymore and just needs a bit of help with things, so James and I stayed nearby. An extra bonus was having two cats around!

Max - just look at this face!

Cal and Max are taking all the extra bodies and extra equipment in their stride - they're cats, what do they have to worry about, after all?

Max and Cal

When I've been home, I've been busy on new jewelry designs. I'm making samples to keep at the gallery, plus putting together necklaces that are a collaboration between me and Lisa Mertins, a lovely ceramic artist. Pictures coming soon...

Plenty of Glitter...and then some...

Since returning from England a few weeks ago, life has sort of been go-go-go. We're getting ready for our biggest show of the year at work (children's book illustrations - yay!) and I've been working on a few jewelry projects in the mornings. James and I have been cleaning the house like mad (not fun). Plus the weekends have been taken up with a bridal shower, a bar mitzvah, and a bachelorette party. I've really barely seen James since our trip.

Last of the summer artist demonstrations at work - this is a watercolor in progress by Julie Hill

James and I have decided to try to cut down on the amount of TV we watch and do other things instead, which means we have "Wine & Cheese Hour" several times a week. YUM!

Work in progress on a family tree inspired piece of jewelry

Rumor has it...

I spent yesterday morning at Hamburger Mary's in Long Beach at a Sunday brunch drag show with the latest bride-to-be's bachelorette party. Bottomless mimosas, all-you-can-eat buffet, LOUD music, and outrageous drag acts. This one above was the most tame - the spitting image of Adele. But rest assured, there was plenty of glitter, sequins, huge hair, major makeup, and super high heels, and then some...

THEN I found a package of a double season of Gilmore Girls at Target for cheap, and guess what I spent the rest of Sunday doing? This will probably ruin the cutting down on the TV time for a little bit.