I can’t think of the last time in my life (at least since having kids) that I have packed and unpacked a suitcase so many times. This spring has been a season of travel. Last month I had my quick trip to New York City. (Update: I was able to watch my Life Reimagined video that I shot while in NYC. I can’t share it quite yet, but I’m so happy with how it turned out!) This month I was able to get away for a few days to Florida with Mike. His trip was pretty much all business, while mine was pretty much all lounging. I’m eternally grateful for my family and neighbors who make it possible for us to sneak away together. I’m also eternally grateful for piña coladas.
In just a few days we’re headed west! Yes, our big trip to California is right around the corner. You may remember it was our Christmas gift to the kids. We’re all super excited. We’ll spend four days in Los Angeles, a day at Disneyland, and 3 days in San Diego. If you want to follow along, be sure to find me on Instagram. And maybe Snapchat? I just joined, but have absolutely NO clue what I’m doing. That, my friends, is what having a teenage daughter is for. I’m angie.six in that foreign land!
While we’re navigating the west coast, here are a few things I found while still firmly planted in the midwest:
Disclosure: This post contains a few affiliate links.
Listening:
I’m still way behind on the podcast craze, but there are a few that I’ve been absolutely loving. One is Modern Love. Each week, a celebrity reads an essay from the New York Times column by the same name. The topics of the essays are so varied and interesting, and never fail to captivate me. I especially loved “My First Lesson in Motherhood,” read by Connie Britton. As a reader, I also adore the new podcast from Anne Bogel, What Should I Read Next. I think I love listening to people talk about books almost as much as I enjoy reading them! I’m on a quest to find a podcast that the kids and I would enjoy together. Any suggestions?
Reading:
Thanks to a recommendation from What Should I Read Next, Eli and I are reading The Crossover by Kwame Alexander together. Reading something written in verse is new for us, but the topic (basketball) and the writing have us hooked. I’m also tearing through a fantastic book on parenting teenage girls. Chock full of useful and panic-reducing information, Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood by Lisa Damour is a book I’m going to be shoving into other parents’ hands on a regular basis. On the fiction front I started The Possibilities by Kaui Hart Hemmings . You might remember her as the author of The Descendents, which was made into a movie starring George Clooney. On the audiobook side of things I’m listening to How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran. Imagine Bridget Jones and Cameron Jones melded into one teenage girl growing up in the gritty suburbs of London. It’s a fun (but definitely not safe for work or small ears) listen so far.
Loving:
I’ve been admiring maxi dresses from afar for the last couple of summers. They seem so cute on other (taller) women, but all wrong when I try them on. Every maxi dress I’ve tried on has been too long, or too tight in the wrong places, or so loose it looks like a potato sack. And don’t even get me started on the bra issues!
I finally found the perfect maxi dress at the Gap that is big-busted, short girl perfection. It comes in petite sizing, so I don’t have to hem it, it’s clingy in a sexy way (as opposed to sausage-casing clingy), and I can wear a normal bra with it. I’ll be wearing it all summer long, dressed up and dressed down.
Surfing:
Have trouble deciding what to read? How about reading a book based on your Myers-Brigg personality type? (I’m an ISFJ-T, so I added A Little Life to my TBR list.)
Our 19th wedding anniversary is just around the corner, so these tweets that only married people will understand made me chuckle.
As a person who never excelled at math, this article fascinated me. It also changed the way I talk about math to my kids.
What’s on your short list of favorite things right now?
Brandon says
I’m in the middle of Brilliance by Marcus Sakey and really enjoying it.
Angie Six says
Just read the plot synopsis and it sounds intriguing! Do you think you’ll read all three back to back?
Brandon says
I’ve got the 2nd already. Haven’t looked into the 3rd (if it is out or not).