wearing lately: spring showers

The last day of May seems a little late to finally be posting my go-to "spring showers" outfit for the year - but then again, spring was rather late to arrive, and there have been lots of showers lately... which I find myself a bit more tolerant of when it's an opportunity to wear this cutie gingham rain jacket. 

I'm a big fan of owning a range of fun outerwear to cope with any inclement conditions, really - so how could I resist this guy on clearance? Makes a whole outfit when you throw it on over jeans and a white tee - couldn't be easier.

Speaking of clearance, I also scored this adorable canvas mini tote a couple of months ago for a steal of a deal (sadly not available any longer, but some similar ones linked above), and I just cant get enough of the cute. Plus it's perfect for rainy days, when I don't want my leather crossbody to encounter the wet. Admittedly it doesn't fit much beyond wallet, keys, and phone so not always 100% ideal - but it does coordinate very nicely with the diaper backpack, so I match well when I require kid gear to be carried along too. Ha!

reading lately: 5-star accommodations

It's been ages since I did a reading round-up based on a theme - but I've missed them, and I happened to notice recently that I had just read several books, spanning multiple genres, that are set in some sort of posh or interesting hotel accommodations. And not only are the hotel settings nice, but also they are some 4- and 5-star books!

 

Winterhouse / The Secrets of Winterhouse

I have read 2 of the 3 books in this series and will definitely read the last one - but I'm waiting until next winter, because the Winterhouse setting just requires some cold weather, with the wintery vibes of the place and the Christmastime setting for the story. These are delightful middle grade reads with a bookish, wordplay-loving main character; a magical (literally and figuratively, it turns out) winter hotel setting that you just wish was a place you could visit in real life and experience all of the treats and parties and eccentric regular guests and amazing old library; some well-paced mystery and adventure; and a touch of magic too. The Winterhouse hotel is really a character in itself, with how the history of the place plays out and helps Elizabeth learn who she really is, and I love the characters of Elizabeth (especially as she sometimes makes missteps she regrets when her pre-teen emotions get the better of her - feels very real, and yet so lovable) and her new best friend Freddy. You can see my longer recap of the first one and the second one for more - but really you don't need to know that much beyond the delight and coziness that is headed your way if you pick these up next Christmas break. 

4.5/5 and 4/5 stars, middle grade series with some classic vibes, great for bookish and puzzle/riddle-loving readers

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow / Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow

Another 3-book middle grade series; I enjoyed the first, loved the second, and am just waiting on Peter & Hendrik to finish their read-aloud of the third so that I can get my hands on it! There's lots more to this fantasy world than just the hotel setting, but that is one of the things that has made me love it the most. Morrigan Crow is a girl whose family considered her cursed and basically cast her off, so when Jupiter North, proprietor of the Hotel Deucalion and member of the Wondrous Society, becomes her mentor/guardian she starts to find a family, a home, and a realization that what was always considered a "curse" is actually her "knack", a special magical gift. The Hotel Deucalion becomes Morrigan's home, so while there is plenty of action outside of it in the stories, it is a central hub for the story, with the people that Morrigan meets there and the staff who become her family. And what a delightful and imaginative place it is - a place where Morrigan's room changes every day to suit her mood, where the head of housekeeping is a giant talking cat, and plenty of other charming and surprising things await. This is billed as a series for kids (and grownups, I say) who are looking for something after Harry Potter. I definitely see some similar vibes with the (essentially) orphaned kid who is some kind of chosen-one character but can't quite figure out why/how, with the magic school campus/training (though this really is much more a part of book 2 and not much in book 1 - and I loved it), and with the competition to earn a place in the Wondrous Society (reminded me of Triwizard Tournament a bit) - but this is even more inventive fantasy, perhaps. I love the whimsy and charm of the characters and worldbuilding (especially the hotel!), the depth of the characters (there's good vs. evil of course, but as with real life, there are shades of gray not just black and white), and the pacing of the adventure. There's definitely a bit of darkness, so they're for older elementary and up, and also there's plenty of fun.  

4/5 and 4.5/5 stars; great middle-grade series for fantasy fans of the magic school variety

The Unsinkable Greta James

Okay, with this one we have more of a floating hotel for the setting - an Alaskan cruise, to be specific. After her mother's sudden and tragic death, rising Indie music star Greta James has a bit of a breakdown on stage and needs to take a bit of a break from the spotlight; since she's got the time free from touring she reluctantly agrees to accompany her dad on the Alaskan cruise that had been her mom's dream and that her parents had long been looking forward to as a celebration of their 40th anniversary. Problem is, while Greta's dad was the one to give her her first guitar, she thinks he's never approved of her music career, and they haven't gotten along in years, especially without her mom there to be a buffer - and of course now they are both immersed in their own grief after her loss. I loved the cruise as a setting for this exploration/reckoning of their relationship because with a cruise you're really kind of stuck together in one place, so there's no escaping the face-to-face. Also all of the cruise activities and rooms like the casino or the amateur theater make for a pretty incongruous scene with this cool Indie musician (who is of course way younger than most of the passengers), which adds to the lighter feel of the story (really overall I'd describe it as a "fun read") despite how much it deals with grief/family drama. Plus the fact that there are lectures on board as one of the activities leads to her meeting a professor with a popular nonfiction book, and a bit of a cruise fling with excellent banter... It is at times sweet, heartwarming, funny, zingy, sad; you get a bit of romance and a bit of personal grief journey story, but at the heart it's this father/daughter relationship. Super readable - it's brain candy with some depth, and I flew through and really enjoyed it.

4/5 stars, for fans of family dramas with likeable characters who ultimately do love each other, books like Evvie Drake Starts Over, and also the niche category of famous people interacting with their "old" or "everyday" life, a random subgenre I really like, as in The Bodyguard or The Happy Ever After Playlist

The Maid

This book is a "cozy" mystery in that it is a whodunit murder that is being investigated by characters who are amateurs rather than police - and isn't really graphic or super suspenseful. With the grand hotel setting and the upstairs/downstairs feel with the maids and kitchen workers navigating the back hallways and the brash, rich guy being murdered in the penthouse, it makes for be a quick and fun read. But the narration of Molly the maid makes it so much more than just that. She's one of those characters who is quite a misfit, and as a reader you're not sure you really like her at all, until you get her full background, and understand how she sees the world - and then you might just fall in love with her, and definitely want to root for her. See the rest of my earlier review of it in this post - but for this hotel-themed post, an added note that one interesting aspect is the behind-the-scenes of a hotel. Indeed, much of the investigation hinges on this, because as a maid Molly can go unnoticed through the halls and rooms of the hotel (as she says in the opening: "I am your maid. I know so much about you. But when it comes down to it: what is it that you know about me?"), but it also adds to the overall depth of the book as it does make you consider a bit the work you don't see at a hotel, and see some examples of how people who work there are treated. Molly clearly has a love of the Regency Grand Hotel, and I love how it shines through in her descriptions of her workplace (flowery words like "majestic" and "grandeur"), but of course it's interesting how it maybe doesn't love her back, in the ways that guests and even her co-workers might disregard her contributions - but keep reading, and you'll get that full genre mashup of mystery + big-hearted found-family story.

4/5 stars, for fans of Eleanor Oliphant or maybe The Good Sister, or fans of locked-room mysteries (but this one is maybe even more about the social misfit characters driving the story)

All Dressed Up

This Agatha Christie-type locked-room mystery is a fun combination of very Christie era-appropriate vibes - because the action takes place during a 20s-themed murder mystery weekend at an old mansion-turned-hotel in the woods in upstate New York, where everyone is supposed to dress/act in character - and a completely modern-day feel in which they are all dealing with their own relationship and personal issues, in the midst of acting out their assigned roles and trying to solve the campy flapper-era murder mystery weekend game. Becca and Blake are there because he's booked the weekend as a peace offering after cheating - she's not sure she can ever get beyond it but at least tries to get into the weekend to take her mind off of things. Until one of the actresses playing the maid doesn't show up on the second day... the rest of the staff say she just flaked out, but Becca's sure something is amiss, and if something did happen to the maid, then who else could have done it aside from someone staying at the hotel with them? Of course, since the characters are taking part in a mystery, it becomes very hard to know, for them and for the reader, what's part of "the game" and what's not, whether it's maids fainting over a body or a distant gunshot. In general the book has got some very meta-vibes, with the main character being super into watching PBS mystery shows and Downton Abbey, which makes her love the weekend theme and also think of herself as some kind of amateur detective, constantly thinking about what each scenario would mean if it were part of her shows - which is fun, but also it detracted a little bit for me at times because it really felt like she was manufacturing drama out of what could well have been nothing similar. That is meant to drive the plot, but it felt a tad long at times when she was constantly freaking out about something minor, and clearly the reader is meant to wonder "is it nefarious or is it not?" This is good for people who like a "lighter" mystery with not too much suspense, since we have this puzzle aspect of it, and also a decent bit of focus on the various couples' relationship issues, especially Becca and Blake.

3.5/5 stars, recommend for fans of locked-room mysteries like Knives Out, Lucy Foley's The Guest List, or puzzle-type mysteries that aren't too dark/suspenseful. Publishes in September; my free e-copy came thanks to Netgalley.

Have you read any of these?

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mini me Monday: hand-me-down style

Adding a second boy to the family comes with lots of wardrobe fun - there's the joy of dressing them in big brother/little brother gear (allll the matching stripes from Primary.com, of course, and also pjs and initial hats and sibling tees/onesies, like these mini/big latest acquisitions - might have also gotten the mom one), and then the maybe even greater joy of dressing Freddie in Hendrik's hand-me-downs. I had saved just a few very favorite things in a bin in the basement, and now not much beats getting to dress Freddie in them and compare our 2022 photos with the ones of Hendrik in 2014. Here's a little who wore it best roundup...

Unfortunately I somehow mixed some of the hand-me-downs in with the wrong sizes, so we came to them a bit late, like the plaid shirt and overalls, and only got one or two Freddie wears out of them, but you know I had to prop him up for a photo to mark the occasion (even in the same rocking chair some of the time!). Also kind of funny to see the side-by-sides when Hendrik was younger in the photo than Freddie in the comparison - makes Freddie look so huge, but I'm pretty sure he's going to be smaller than Hendrik in the end. He did start out a whole pound smaller at birth! And current-day Hendrik is getting SO tall.

Fun to have all of this cuteness back in my life, but of course all of it is old (mostly Baby Gap, a long-time fave of mine) - but I linked a few similar pieces below that would bring some 2022-available cuteness too!

five things Friday: just can't get enough edition

For this sunny and warm Friday, a few things - in addition to the *finally* arrived spring weather and blooms around here, that is - that I just can't get enough of lately:

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My rubber Birks were an obsession of last summer, and I still love them and think they're worth the cost (because they really don't cost that much) - however, I came across these dupes at Target, and a floral patterned version?! That I got on sale for $8?! They look really nice in person, and I am very excited to get a pedicure and wear these - though I am STILL in this accursed boot, so really I'm currently obsessed with the idea of any regular footwear...

A month or so ago I added a yoga strap to my collection of yoga gear (mat, blocks, bolster) and now doing classes/stretches that incorporate a strap are my new favorite thing. Such good hamstring, IT band, and back stretching. I'm still doing mostly floor classes (read: stretching) because of my injury, but these will leave any body feeling great. If you're a Peloton app user, my favorite classes that use a strap are the 10 min Focus Flow: Floor Poses from 11/3/21, the 20 min Focus Flow: Floor Poses from 1/10/22, and the 20 min Focus Flow: Healthy Back from 2/1/22 (all with Kristin McGee, my fave yoga instructor).

It's kind of getting out of hot tea season, but this one is still so good I had to mention it - learned about it as one of Kelsey's current obsessions a while back, and gave it a try even though I'm not normally into flavored teas. I had it along in the car on the way to school one morning and Hendrik sniffed the air, asking, "do you have cake?!"

A current music obsession: the latest album from The Head and the Heart. It's been a while since I got into something on repeat like this, but for windows-rolled-down weather I'm loving blasting "Virginia" and "Hurts (But It Goes Away)."

And finally, even though he won't wear it until the fall, I can't get enough of this insanely adorable sweater that I got on super sale for Freddie. Bananas are one of his favorite foods, and I'm always calling him a puppy because of the funny panting noises he makes, so he just had to have this one. (And you better believe I'm considering the grown-up version so I can be twinsies with him...)

What new favorites do you have to share lately?

kid reads: social and emotional intelligence

It's hard not to be disheartened by the news - especially that coming out of the Supreme Court and Ukraine right now - and to feel helpless or to spiral (such as: going backwards on women's rights sure feels like it's going to lead to going backwards on gay rights and more...). I feel like people will say, "Vote!" which I 100% have done, not to mention that there's no voting happening for a while here. What to do today? Besides finding organizations where I can financially help, sometimes I console myself with working harder at raising good humans who will grow up to be people who love others and do the right thing.

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This made me think of a few kid books I've really enjoyed reading aloud lately - they've all got great illustrations and text, sure, but even more they've got themes and lessons that help kids understand and develop things like inclusivity, emotions, diversity, and kindness. This kind of emotional intelligence, to understand their own emotions and be aware of/empathize with situations and feelings that others might have, and the social intelligence to understand that different isn't bad, that people live in different ways and have different struggles, but we're all deserving of the same love and security and rights and agency in making choices - all of this goes a long way toward making good humans... which we're really gonna need in the next generation to fix a bunch of wrongs here :(

For emotional intelligence: I particularly like how The Crayons' Book of Feelings is about identifying emotions but also shows that emotions can be mixed, and we can feel multiple things at one time. Stacey's Extraordinary Words is so well done, about politician/activist Stacey Abrams' first spelling bee, and just an enjoyable story to read in general. Lots of great lessons and themes in it about perseverance and self-worth and more; for the purposes of this roundup I especially appreciate how it shows her handling different emotions of anxiety, pride, disappointment - as well as navigating emotions of other kids and why they might treat her a certain way.

And for social intelligence: I appreciated the board book Families Can for its sweet illustrations and cute rhyming text, and especially for its celebration of families of all kinds, whether with single parents or immigrant parents or same-sex parents or multi-generational households. Inclusivity is so important, and starting kids out with the idea that families can look all kinds of ways seems like a great way to build this. Kindness Makes Us Strong is the cutest board book - pretty overt for little kids about how doing kind things like sharing and including others in our game makes the world better for everyone. A great foundation.

Finally, the book Saturday at the Food Pantry came to me by way of an *adorable* local shop when they did a fundraiser for a kid's food bank, and even though Hendrik thinks he's too old for picture books I still read it to him as it's so great at representing the realities and feelings of families that might need to use a food bank. Hendrik was part of a food drive for his school, collecting canned goods, which is wonderful to do - but thinking about who might need these and why and putting yourself in their shoes is a necessary step too. Another helpful thing in nurturing a social intelligence in my kids, I think, is seeing what concerns other kids' families might have; I really love that this book sends the message that "everybody needs help sometimes" and also that "everybody deserves a treat" - showing that there's nothing shameful or wrong about needing help, even if people who are seeking help might sometimes struggle with mixed feelings about it, and that we all deserve the same access to food, and even treats. 

p.s. one other unrelated way - except not entirely unrelated, because Stacey Abrams! - to feel a bit helpless at the moment: I heard an interview with a strategist who said that getting involved with politics at the state level is crucial right now, because if Roe is overturned it'll come down to the states. So if you live in a battleground state, donating/campaigning for your state representatives, or if you live in a "safe" state, adopting a battleground state to sign up for writing letters, donating to candidates, etc.  

currently

consuming: avocado toast topped with M Salt, which is - dare I say - even better than the cult-favorite everything but the bagel seasoning from Trader Joe's and a daily Americano. Also even better when eaten solo on a screened-in porch while playing New York Times spelling bee on my 24-hour mom break recently...

feeling: mixed. SO happy that spring is finally arriving and my favorite back yard tree is blooming. But I'm still in a boot recovering from a stress fracture, so I'm pretty immobile. This is my favorite time of year for running, going up and down our town's tulip-lined lanes; that's most definitely out for this year, but I really can hardly even walk to the park or the farmers market at the moment, so the warm weather's arrival is making me feel super frustrated too.

finding: a craft project to pick up, being inspired to go back to my old crafting days after listening to Sutton Foster's memoir, Hooked. What a delightful listen, and her dual passions of crafting and Broadway musicals speak to my nerdy theater kid, decoupaging high school self (photo from here with an on-point review/summary). She makes me want to learn crocheting, but I've also been meaning to try some candle making, to re-use some of my favorite candle jars that have been used up.

following: my listen of Sutton Foster's audio book with a watch of her first TV show, Bunheads, on Hulu. It's an Amy Sherman-Palladino creation that I hadn't heard of. Only one season, but fun since I'm a sucker for dance-themed plots and also just very obsessed with Sutton Foster at the moment.

spending: on updated spring/summer wardrobes... growing boys both need new sizes of everything, and the momma in non-maternity wear this summer is treating herself to a few summer wardrobe refreshers :) I'm excited about this lineup for them and this one for me - and especially to re-create this outfit from Jill, with my white jeans, tank, denim jacket, and new birks. Just need to be done with the dang boot so that I can finally wear all of my shoes again!

What are you currently up to as we head in to May? Link up a post below, and come on back Wednesday, June 1, for celebrating, giving, taking, trying, and wearing.

 

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mini me Monday: sibling summer style

With warm weather slow to arrive here this spring, I've had plenty of time to replenish the boys' warm-weather wardrobes - because of course they both wear a different size than they did last summer! And so while I was at it, figured I might as well make them cutely coordinate...

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Lots of rompers for Freddie, whether in chambray or stripes, plus some shorts and onesies. Gap and Old Navy are my go-tos for them, but still can't get enough of Primary.com this time around with baby clothes (especially since it's so easy to coordinate big brother ones!) He's already getting use out of his sunglasses any time we go out in the stroller, and also for sun protection there's the adorable initial baseball caps - they have matching navy ones, but I also just snagged a red one on clearance for Freddie in a size up for when he outgrows the baby one.

Hendrik's summer wardrobe is updated with lots of basics - a few pairs of chino shorts and then striped and solid tees in white, gray, and navy with a few splashes of red that go with his birks for this year (he wore last year's to the ground, he loved them so much). Definitely learned my lesson last year having a few things that didn't quite "go" in his wardrobe. Not leaving any room for accidental clashing outfits this summer, ha! I had good luck with a big stock-up during a JCrew Factory sale, with a few good Target and Primary.com finds for him as well... see the widget below for some more selections if you're in the market for some classic selections.

For swimwear, we're trying out the selections from Primary this year. Hendrik always wears a rashguard with his swim trunks - so nice for people with fair skin! - and for Freddie we're going with the one-piece version to make things even easier. Now we just need some beach weather. Maybe in a month? Maybe??