Monday Musings

Highlight of the week: I had a fun day with a new friend, a fellow reader, knitter and Air Force spouse, and she introduced me to a local coffee farm/cafe where I had a very delicious iced peppermint mocha and got to stroll through a grove of coffee trees (there's a picture on my Instagram)! Green World, the coffee place, is new since we last lived in Hawaii and I'm sure it'll be a frequent stop when we head up to the North Shore. We also stopped by the beach while we were out and about; it was a gorgeous day!

Through a strange/serendipitous turn of events, I made another new friend this week, Julianne of Outlandish Lit. We met -- in real life! -- when she and her boyfriend got stranded in Honolulu while flying standby from Japan back to the States. It's been fun getting to know another book blogger in person -- and super-nice to have someone to talk books with! They've spent three nights with us, and my fingers are crossed (for their sakes!) that they'll finally get on a flight home today!

Reading: I finished up "The Moor" by Laurie R. King, the fourth book in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mystery series, and it was just what I had been in the mood for. It was a great historical mystery that took place on Dartmoor (the same setting as "The Hound of the Baskervilles") and I was enamored with King's vivid descriptions of the moor. The harsh, cold, desolate atmosphere of the moor also fostered a super-cozy feeling inside; here's one of my favorite quotes from the book:

"I pulled one of the armchairs up to the fire, threw some logs onto the red coals, kicked off my shoes, and drew my feet up under me in the chair. It was very pleasant, sitting in the solid, patient old house, in the wood-panelled room with the threadbare, sprung-bottomed furniture. The fire crackled to itself, the cat slept on the bench, the fox and hounds ran across the carved fireplace surround, and occasional voices came from the other end of the house. Sighing, deeply content, I began to read."

Then I read an advance-reading copy of "Cooking for Picasso" by Camille Aubray (review), a dual narrative involving the French Riviera and Pablo Picasso, which comes out tomorrow. On Friday I began the "experience" of reading "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara. I'm not too far in yet -- and I've got a long way to go, as it's over 700 pages -- but I'm intrigued. I've heard this book packs a major emotional punch, so I'm planning to follow it up with "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child." I can't possibly be sad while reading about my favorite wizards!

Knitting: Nothing at the moment, but I'm going to cast on for a cardigan this week! It's the new Earnest pattern by Joji Locatelli; it's got gorgeous texture and even more gorgeous cables. She's hosting a Fall Knit-Along complete with prizes, and I'm excited to participate. And maybe I can get a taste of fall from other people's photos, since I certainly won't be experiencing fall here in Hawaii!

Watching: I watched the second half of season 1 of "UnREAL" and for some reason I just wasn't as into it as I was the first five episodes, which I found utterly addicting. I almost felt a bit disgusted with the continued antics of the characters, whose lives are all a hot mess and who seem to attract an unrealistic amount of drama. I'm not sure if I'll watch season 2 or not. As for movies, all we watched this week was "In the Heart of the Sea," starring Chris Hemsworth and based on "Moby Dick." It got off to a slooooow start, but it was pretty good (though I wanted to cry every time they were hunting whales!). And of course we've been tuning into the Olympics!

Listening to: "The Ocean" by Mike Perry and Shy Martin.



Buying: I bought a Groupon for four 12x12 canvas prints from Canvas on Demand. We already have a couple photo canvases from that company and they're awesome. These four are destined to decorate the landing on our stairs, which is in desperate need of some color and cheer. I've had fun sorting through some old photos and picking out some options. We'll either do four scenic photos or two scenic photos and one each of Conan and Lily. We've been to sooooo many beautiful places the past couple years that it's ridiculously hard to narrow it down!

Looking forward to: Lots of afternoons sitting out on the patio with a cold drink and "A Little Life" this week! And going to the beach and the movies next weekend. We had big plans for this weekend, but Jarrod ended up being on call at work, and then it rained, so no beach for us. And I'm super-excited to cast on for my next knitting project!


I'm linking up with Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?