{What I'm Reading}

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Often, the statement should be "What am I not reading" since I always seem to have multiple books going at once.  This year, I've decided to be a bit more focused about my reading. Usually, since I have access to so many books and audio-books (both physical and digital), I tend to be random and haphazard with my reading.

This is what 2017 should look like for me:

Morning Reading

I like to have 2-3 devotional-type books that I read every morning throughout the year as part of my ever-evolving morning routine. This year my books are:

• Tranquilologie: A DIY Guide to Everyday Tranquility by Kimberly Wilson
• The Intellectual Devotional:  Modern Culture by David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim
• Eat Pretty Every Day: 365 Daily Inspirations for Nourishing Beauty, Inside and Out by Jolene Hart

Evening Reading

I've committed to reading at least 4 books each month (although I always read far more than that). I've decided to read one book in each of the following categories in order to keep me from falling into my default mode where I only read suspense/mystery books. (I fell into this habit a couple of years ago when I needed a break from the negative and serious matters of the world.) The categories are:

• Suspense/Mystery
• Chick Lit or Other Novel
• Self-Improvement, Biography or Oher Non-Fiction
• History or Culture

You can see that I've made sure I have plenty of escapism as well as food to feed my brain. Throughout the year, I'll share the books that make the biggest impact on me.

À bientôt!

{A New Start}

Happy New Year!

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It has been a while. I didn't intend to stay away so long - my apologies to my readers. But I retreated to a chrysalis and hopefully am now emerging as a butterfly.

I took the later half of 2016 to reflect, to organize, to grow. And now I'm back. I don't have a complete plan - yet - but I'm a fresh new butterfly and I'm trying to get used to my wings. I'm looking forward to where I will fly in 2017!

Reflection

In a thrifted outfit at a work event

For over a year now, I've been trying to buy used items whenever possible, including clothes, and I've pretty much stuck to this goal. These are some of the exceptions that I've found to buying used clothes:

• Pants. I rarely find any, especially jeans, that fit my needs so this year I bought 3 pair of new jeans
• Underwear. Nope, I'm not going there
• Shoes. At first I thought I' have to buy shoes new since I wear a hard-to-find size. However, I did buy a few pair that were clean and like new - and comfortable. I also bought a new pair of knee-high boots to wear with jeans (I got these on ebay - does that count as used?) and a pair of amazingly comfortable dress sandals that I bought to wear for walking on our vacation (this turned out to be a smart move as I walked miles in them without a single blister)

Otherwise, I ended up purchasing an entire work and casual wardrobe from thrift and consignment stores this year. I did make a few mistakes, but for the amount spent, I'm not crying about wasted money.

I'm keeping my commitment to used as it's a winning proposition - acquiring nice but very inexpensive clothes, nixing support of sweatshop labor, and keeping clothes out of landfill.

Have a great day!

More

Busy getting ready for an out-of-town work event, so I thought I'd share some interior photos of the chateau in Arc-en-Barrois where I spent the night last month. Keep in mind, a total of only eight people were staying there during my visit (this includes me and my husband). One of the highlights of my trip! (I'll share more photos later.)

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Duke's Hall

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France

After 12 years, I was finally able to return to France this past summer! My first two trips were nice and I enjoyed the sites and culture, but didn't have time to savor my time as I would have liked to. I had two children with me both times and, as a mother, I was focused on their happiness and well being. This time it was just me and my husband for two blissful weeks!

One of the highlights of the trip? Discovering this chateau in Arc en Barrois on AirBnB and spending an amazing night there:

While it's not for everyone (there are no services there and the town is extremely small), we enjoyed the grandeur and solitude as we were only two of eight people staying there - and we only briefly saw two of them! A evening in the study, just off the library, sipping local wine and reading? Bliss!

More about my trip another time!

A Good Beginning

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Looking to start the day on a positive note? A Harvard professor recommends stretching for a few minutes before you get out of bed in the morning. You can learn more here.

Hiatus

So, for my one or two readers out there, I'm back from an unscheduled two month blogging hiatus! It was completely unplanned. Life just happened and next thing I knew it was already autumn.

I took the first real vacation I've had in 12 years and went to France! More about that later.

During my blogging break, I tried to focus on things that are simple and beautiful. Out went Facebook (or most of it) and any draining activities and people. One reason I have all but abandoned Facebook is because as "friends" shared ugly and negative posts, I simply told Facebook I didn't want to see those types of things. Before I knew it, my feed rarely had posts from people I actually knew! So I started limited my reading (and rare commenting) to groups I belong to that are only focused on the positive.

After reading a bit about positivity and gratitude, I now know that what you focus tends to be what you find in life. And that's what I want to share with and spread to my readers. Tune in for more later!