Treat Yo Self Tuesday: Christmas Wish List

In this edition of Treat Yo Self Tuesday, I'm going to share a few things on my Christmas wish list for this year! 

ONE:
Unfortunately, my kitchen is small and unorganized. This would look super cute and help keep mail off the kitchen table.

TWO:
I'm totally in LOVE with every single thing that Stay Home Club has to offer. And Olivia Mew, founder of SHC, seems like a really cool chick.

THREE:
My little Gob Bluth Funko pop figure is getting a little lonely sitting on the shelf above the stove and I think Hodor would give him some comfort and someone to chat with. Hodor!

FOUR: 

You can call me the Queen of Catan.

FIVE:
I just got this skirt in a wonderful burgundy color and it's my absolutely my new favorite article of clothing, so obviously I need it in this pretty navy color as well!

Welcome, November

I've been dreaming of winter and snow since mid-July. There are a handful of records that I always promise myself not to listen to until there's snow on the ground. And I've been so, so antsy this year that I've already listened to ALL of them, saving nothing for the snowy season that's ahead!

Here's everything that I've been listening to so far:

Biking in Manchester

I love riding my bike, I really do, but I've been SO lazy this summer when it comes to riding. All last summer I rode with the Manchester Community Bike Group, a group that meets every Friday at 7 at city hall then rides until everyone decides it's time to go downtown and drink instead. However, the only ride I've been on with them this summer was the first one back in May. Unfortunately, every Friday this summer I've either been away on vacation, it's been raining, or I've just had some other plans come up. 

Well, Josh and I finally went on a semi-decent ride. I say semi-decent because it was 90 degrees out and we only went about 9 miles. And I was so tired and sweaty and thirsty by the time we circled back to the downtown area that a beer was definitely necessary. 

I already know I won't be able to get to this Friday's Manchester ride because I'm going to a play with my mom, but I'm hoping to keep my butt back in the saddle and start riding with the group again until it gets too cold and snowy. 

Well, Well, Wells

Josh's mom and little brother, Tyler, went on vacation last week in Wells, Maine and we went up for one overnight to visit them! We actually weren't in Wells too much. When we got there, we stopped by the beach, but then headed to York to go to Goldenrod Kisses, creator of the most delicious salt water taffy in the world, and to grab some dinner. Tyler was really over-tired and didn't understand why the hostesses at Inn on the Blues would give him a coloring sheet, but have no crayons. Preposterous!

The next day, we went to Saco and spent the day at Funtown, where we rode a bunch of rides until are heads were all fried in the heat. We drove back to Wells and grabbed some pizza at a swanky restaurant before heading back to the beach with Tyler's skim board. He picked it up so quickly! 

I was pretty bummed when it was finally time to go home, but once we got there I found some tomato babies on my plants! First of the season! Woo!

Summer Reads: Landline

Simply put, Rainbow Rowell is an amazing author. I was blown away by her young adult novel, Eleanor and Park, a love story about shy, red headed Eleanor, and music obsessed, outsider Park. I quickly moved onto Fangirl, a story of fan-fic writer Cath who is feeling separated from her twin sister during their first year of college. After a recommendation from a coworker I also read Rainbow's novel for adults, Attachments, the story of IT guy Lincoln, who reads the e-mails of and learns closely of the lives of office workers Beth and Jennifer while he slowly falls in love with Beth.

There are perks to working at a bookstore. A few months ago, we got in an advanced reader copy of Rainbow's next book, Landline. A coworker mentioned she had picked it up, but would lend it to me once she was done. Well, I finally finished it about a week ago, after having borrowed it for more than a month. 

When we first meet Georgie McCool it's close to Christmastime and her marriage is in trouble. She struggles to manage her work and her home life at the same time and often chooses to work more than spend time with her husband, Neil, and their two girls, Alice and Naomi. When Neil takes the girls to his parents home in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie decides to stay in California so she and her sitcom writing partner, Seth, can work on scripts for a new show that's due right after the holidays.   

When Georgie starts to wonder if she's finally ruined her marriage, she breaks down and questions many things. She ends up staying at her parents house for a few days, where she sleeps in her childhood room and finds an old yellow landline telephone. She plugs the phone in and calls Neil in Omaha. But when he picks up, Georgie soon realizes that this is not the same Neil that she's married to today... She's talking a Neil from her college days, right before he proposes to her on Christmas Day. At first, she sees the magical phone as an opportunity to fix everything that's wrong in current day. But then she wonders, what if she messes up? What if she says the wrong this? What if Neil of the past never proposes to her at all?

I'll let you read for yourselves to find out what happens to Georgie and Neil in this great book about love and loss. And hopefully from there you will read the rest of Rainbow's books, too!

Christmas in August

It's just been one of those days. One of those days in the middle of summer where I long so much for snow and heavy blankets. So I turned on some twinkle lights, lit a mistletoe scented candle I had kicking around from last year, and found White Christmas on Netflix. 

Except it's 80 degrees in Manchester today and I'm sitting on the couch wearing a summer dress and the fan is pointed right at my face. 

Well soon enough it will be fall, so I better enjoy summer while it's here!

Let's Dancing!

My friend Joey went to Japan a while back and came back with an incredible shirt with a bear that said "Let's Dancing" on it. This mix is inspired by that shirt and features many of my favorite jams from this summer. 

 Enjoy!

Treat Yo Self Tuesday: Gift Giving

In this edition of Treat Yo Self Tuesday, I'm going to share a few fun items that I would love to give as gifts to some of my friends. Some of these I wouldn't mind receiving myself!

As a fan of Broad City, this set of prayer candles with Abbi and Ilana on them RULE. These would be amazing on any gals nightstand. And if they made a Hannibal Buress one then all my guys friends would get one too!

Kate Gabrielle of Scathingly Brilliant makes the BEST stuff. I want to give this X-Files brooch to my bartender friend Gina so she can add some mystery to her State Park Bar shirt! Kate is currently away in Disney World until August 8 and if you order with the code DISNEY15 (at any of her four amazing shops) you'll receive 15% off and a handwritten postcard from her trip!

I've never really used tarot cards, but this Twin Peaks set seems like a pretty great place to begin! If you look through this Etsy you can buy cards individually and the drawings and details are pretty fantastic. 

For my birthday last year my boyfriend got me a simple blue knit blanket and at first I thought it was a pretty strange gift. I figured that was the kind of gift only mom's gave, but I soon realized how practical it was to have and I used it all the time that winter. I would now proudly give a blanket, particularly this one with all the lovely embroidering, as a gift. 

Finally, I would gift this Emily Winfield Martin portrait to myself! I just read her book, Oddfellow's Orphanage, last week and I want all of her illustrations to cover my walls.