Music, Books, Miles and Looks of August

Wow.  August.  I just can't even.  It was quite the month.  The joy column holds passing the CFA, hosting Heidi, and visiting Alli.  The sorrow column holds losing my aunt, my RA diagnosis, and the passing of Phil's father (not my story to tell so I have not talked about it here, but it has been hard to not physically be there for him, as a friend, during this challenging time.  I feel helpless trying to support him from afar.).

I'm hoping the sorrow column is shorter in September.

Music:

 

















Hercules by Sara Bareilles - I'll be honest - it took awhile for Bareilles's newest album to grow on me.  Now I am obsessed.  One of my favorite songs is Hercules - it's about falling on your knees and asking for some strength so obviously it hits home with me, especially the last stanza:  "This is my darkest hour, a long road has led me out here, but I only need turn around to face the light, and decide flight or fight."  You better bet I will be choosing fight.


Eavesdrop by The Civil Wars - The Civil Wars is the newest band that I am OBSESSED with.  I was introduced to them thanks to Becky's post.  I loved the song she posted so much, I decided to buy their new album - and their old one, too.  Both albums are amazing.  Their music is just hauntingly beautiful.  I was very sad to hear that they have had a falling out recently and cancelled their tour dates.  I hope they can resolve their difference as this is a duo that I HAVE TO see live.

 
Disarm by The Civil Wars - Yep, I am posting a 2nd song by this band.  I couldn't pick between Eavesdrop and Disarm.  Plus this is a live performance so you can tell how talented they are.  You may recognize this as a cover of a Smashing Pumpkins song.  Now what are you waiting for?  Go buy this album.  

Books:

My reading was really spotty this month and with the exception of one book, I didn't really "love" most of what I read. I felt like I had a hard time focusing on books (which is understandable) but I still managed to read 4.


A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash  - I had a hard timing rating this book, but overall I would give it 3.5 stars. The first half sort of drug for me and I had a hard time getting into it, which may be because I had a lot of distractions in my personal life (I was reading this when I was home for CFA results/my aunt's funeral). But I really enjoyed the 2nd half of the book and would still recommend it to others.

The Journey Home by Michael Baron  - This was a fast, easy read but was sort of 'meh' for me. Not a bad book but not a great read for me.

Tiny Beautiful Things:  Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed - I will be the first to admit that I did not love Strayed's best seller, Wild, but I loved this book. It's a collection of her responses to advice columns and while you may not relate to the questions posed, each response contains some nugget of wisdom. I could quote several of her responses, but I will save that for blog posts as they are far too lengthy for me to do them justice here. Definitely a great great read.

Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler - This is one of my least favorite books I have read this year.  The premise is that the main character, Delia, just up and walks away from her family in the middle of their beach vacation.  She has 3 kids, 1 of which is still in high school.  I guess I just could not relate to a woman who just walks away from her family for no real, compelling reason (at least not one that she could articulate IMO).  Sometimes I can enjoy a book despite the fact that I don't like the main character - that was not the case with this one.

Miles:

Miles.  Ha.  Well, I could add up my airline miles instead of running miles.  I flew to Minneapolis, El Paso for my New Mexico trip, and NYC.


I honestly don't know when I will be logging miles on the road again, but maybe by next month I can be back in the pool swimming laps and doing water aerobics.  We will see how my body does with the drugs I will start this week.

Looks:

Once again, I'm sharing 2 looks I purchased this summer (on sale) from Banana Republic. I think they could maybe give me a stipend of some sort for the marketing I do for them.  I'm just saying.

1st look:  color blocked dress.  And the stupid boot.  And a tennis shoe on the healing foot.  I know, I am nothing but stylish.  I like this dress, but because of the placement of the color blocks, it makes me look like I have hips - which I am not used to as I have more of a 'ruler/boyish' frame.  But I do love the color combo. 

2nd look:  Casual cotton stripes dress, paired with my favorite stripey bag.  And the boot.  Woo hoo.  I said last month that I was hoping to never share another outfit pic that included the boot. I hope that is the case this time.  I do love this dress, though.  It's really comfortable and I like the different striped patterns - and the fact that it has sleeves as I tend to get cold easily. Oh and hello, Manhattan skyline in the background.

What is the latest band or musician that you've become totally obsessed with?