Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Podcasts, Books, Workouts and Looks of May

Oh May, what a month you were! It was the most amazing month of my life between the wedding and honeymoon, but it was also one of the most exhausting months of my life between being busy at work and planning a wedding!

Also, if you'd like to see more photos of our day, our photographer published a post about our wedding day yesterday (which I've read so many times!!!!).  She did an amazing job capturing our day. I can't wait to see the fully galley in a couple of weeks!

Here's how the month of May shaped up!


Podcasts:

Pod Save America - I'm enjoying this political podcast by 3 former Obama speech writers/staffers. There's so much going on in the political world, which makes my stomach hurt/makes me anxious, and sometimes I feel like I can't keep up with everything that is happening. Listening to this podcast helps me stay on top of the news, but they deliver it in such a witty way and given their career backgrounds, they can bring more context to what is happening.  Warning - there can be strong language at times.


Books:

I was surprised to realize that I read 7 books in May as I felt like I did not read all that much since like was so dang busy! But I read 4 of the 7 books on our honeymoon! It was sort of a 'so so' month of reading for me as I gave 3 of the books 2 stars (with an explanation of why I didn't care for them). But I did read some fun books on my honeymoon! My favorites were The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper and The Bookshop on the Corner, both of which was wonderful vacation/summer reads! The starred book is a book I own, which counts towards my goal of reading 6 books I own.





The Twelve Lives of Samual Hawley by Hannah Tinti - 2 stars (this book has received a lot of praise but I did not care for it and my good friend who read it at the same time also did not care for it)
Mercies in Disguise by Gina Kolata - 4 stars
The Shack by William Paul Young - 2 stars (the writing quality was poor, IMO, and the story didn't work for me)
The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan - 3 stars
Grand Opening by Jon Hassler* - 2 stars (I read many Hassler books when I was in my 20s and loved them, but this one fell flat for me. It's evident it was written many years ago (in the 80s) because the author speaks about subjects such an mental disabilities in an insensitive and inappropriate manner)
Cinder by Marissa Meyer - 3 stars
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick - 4 stars

Workouts:
May wasn't my best month for workouts as I had a few things going on...  but I did have some great runs early in the month, especially a 8:40 pace (!!!) 5.5 mile run during my wedding week. I also went to several barre classes in the first half of the month. We were quite active during our honeymoon between swimming/snorkeling and hiking. Most days I seemed to hit 10,000 steps. I'm looking forward to having more structure in my workouts going forward, though!

Looks:

First, a non-wedding-weekend-related look! I wore this outfit to the pre-wedding work party my coworker hosted. I wore our wedding colors! The pants and top are from Banana (as usual!), the top is from a Cabi party I attended last spring.



This isn't the best picture of my rehearsal dinner dress, but it's the best I have as I did not take a single picture at the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner. I stayed in the same hotel as all my blogger friends that night. They were having dinner at the hotel restaurant so I got to chat w/ them a bit before heading upstairs for my last night as a single lady!


And of course, I had to include a photo of me in my wedding dress. I just absolutely LOVED my dress!   


How did the month of May shape up for you?

15 comments:

Charbelle said...

I love that you went for a run the morning of your wedding! I'm hoping to make that happen on my day as well! We will see though because it's likely to be super hot!!! I read the Shack years ago and I agree about the writing quality. I also didn't like that the books begins saying it's a true story and it's not. That might be nit picky but I didn't like that. You looked so gorgeous for your events!!! I am so excited for summer because all my cute dresses are ready to be worn again!

Marlys said...

Your dress was beautiful! I imagine you got some reading in while on your honeymoon and during traveling? It was a very busy but wonderful month for you!

Jeanie said...

I'm impressed with your reading! And I'll bet you can guess my favorite look of May!

J and A said...

Your dress is stunning! I can't get that link to the other photos to open. Can't wait to see more!

J and A said...

Update: I LOVE the post your photographer did. I definitely teared up reading it. And your photos are beautiful! You look so happy and all the details of your wedding day are incredible!! Congrats again.

Abby said...

May was QUITE a month for you! Yay! I bet you are excited to live a routine this summer and just he married! Love your May outfits -- especially your dress!!!

Amber said...

Yes I think your wedding dress definitely WINS for the month of May! You were a STUNNING bride!!

I only read 4 books in May. I only really really enjoyed one so I think that's why. If a book is not grabbing me I take a lot longer to finish it. I bought The Bookshop on the Corner when it was on sale on kindle so I'm excited to read it! My workouts were basically non-existant in May but I also traveled May 1 - 22 and was only home for 5 days in that stretch of time, so I won't beat myself up too much. I've been getting back into regular workouts now and it's been feeling great!

Alli said...

Someone gave me a copy of The Shack years ago and I think I got through about 20 pages before deciding I would rather watch paint dry. The writing is terrible, but I also found the theology offensive. Again, I did not get very far, and I do understand that this was clearly intended for a Christian audience and I'm not Christian, but I felt the book took this paternalistic view of God as a presence who is there to pat you on your head and send you on your way. I hate the view that faith itself is enough because God is just there and doesn't expect anything from you. In my own religion and my personal belief system, faith is pretty meaningless without action and the only real path to God is through helping your fellow humans (aka God's creation!).

Carolina John said...

I've also been really enjoying the Pod Save America guys. So funny! I absolutely love all of the pictures I've seen from the wedding too. That dress is certainly a great look.

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Okay, those wedding photos are probably the best wedding photos I've ever seen! You are gorgeous, the dress is gorgeous, the bridal party looks so classy, and the venue too - wow! It's picture perfect, like out of a magazine. All the little details really make an event, and it looks like you pulled off a spectacular event indeed! The story your photographer wrote to go along with the pictures is so special, and something you will always treasure; that's going above and beyond as a photographer. Love it!

Linda said...

beautiful happy bride!!

San said...

I'm impressed you still managed to read 7 books with everything you had going on in May! ;) Love your wedding photos!

Gracie said...

I was hoping the l"look" would at least include a wedding dress!

Stephany said...

The fact that you read 7 books during a super busy month is just proof that anyone can make time to read - reading is a priority for you, so you made time for it even in the midst of a crazy season.

Your wedding dress is soooo beautiful. I'm so excited to hear more about your wedding day!

Jenny said...

I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately, but I've just checked out a new book from the library that I hope will have me gripped. Also with going back to work I can listen to audio books on the bus again :)