Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Podcasts, Books, Miles and Looks of January

Oh January.  I greeted you with such excitement and you kind of let me down.  I was happy to see you go.  But I have high expectations for February as it includes my birthday, a trip to Mexico, and a visit to my parents' lake home!

Podcasts:

Modern Love Podcast, Episode 2.   I've been a long-time reader of the New York Time's weekly "Modern Love" essays, so I was thrilled when I learned that they were starting a podcast! They have a professional actor read an essay and then at the end of the podcast they interview the author of the essay. There are only 3 so far and they are about 25 minutes so you could easily catch up if you haven't started listening. My favorite of the three was episode 2 which is entitled, "Just One Last Swirl Around the Bowl." On the surface, it's about the death of a family's goldfish, but it's really about grief, mortality, and dealing with the loss of loved ones.

Books:

My reading was low in December but it bounced back big time in January, mostly due to the fact that I was not able to be as active as I normally am and I planned waaaaaay less which was glorious!  I read 9 books this month and my favorite was Kitchens of the Great Midwest, which I highly recommend! The starred ones counted towards the Read Harder Challenge.


Gratitude by Oliver Sacks* - 4 stars
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - 4 stars
A Pig in Provence by Georgeann Brennan* - 3 stars
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - 4 stars
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal - 4 stars **favorite**
The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck by Sarah Knight - 3 stars
Blindness by Jose Saramago* - 3 stars
Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by Joshua Fields Millburn - 2 stars
The Known World by Edward P. Jones* - 2 stars

Miles:

Oh boy, January was not a great month for working out due to my health issues. I really wanted to work on building my long runs but that was sidelined thanks to my RA. My total mileage for the month was 47 miles but I managed to go to yoga 12 times and did 5 other strength training workouts. Here's hoping that February is a much better month. I'm starting to question whether I will be able to train for and run this marathon given the state of my health these days... time will tell I guess.

Looks:

I guess January was the month for red as both of the looks I am sharing feature the color red! 

My first outfit features a red wool skirt that I got from J. Crew Factory during their black Friday sale which I paired with a Banana Republic button down. A girl at work had the same skirt and after I complimented her on it, she sent me the link and told me it was 50% off and said I should get it, even though that means we might be twins at work some days. I also bought it in a bright blue color.  


The second outfit features a pair of red cords that I bought at a Cabi party I attended in the fall. I paired it with a warm sweater I bought when I bought the skirt above as it was also 50% off. I wore this outfit on a double date in January when it was like -30 degrees outside with the windchill so I was all about being warm and having as little skin showing as possible!

17 comments:

Charbelle said...

Love your outfits! My assistant and I unintentionally end up twinning a few times a week. It's kind of funny how often it happens.

I appreciate that even though you don't love shopping you have found alternatives so that you have a great wardrobe that always looks fantastic!

Nora said...

Love the color red on you! Adds such a fun pop of color during the dreary winter months. Way to go on your reading- that is awesome.

I'll have to check out the podcast you recommended. Sounds like it would be right up my alley!

Marlys said...

I love both of those outfits - red is great on you! And, yes, it is a good color for our dreary winter weather!
I just know February will be a great month - this year is going so fast!
See you in a few weeks! It will be fun to hear all about your trip to MX!

Anonymous said...

Love the outfits, especially since red is my favorite color. As you know I just picked up Kitchens of the Great Midwest and I am loving it.

Leigh said...

I love your button down and skirt! I find button downs that fit me really well hard to find

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

I always feel like there are about 10 things I can comment on when I read your posts! However, I will stick to one: The Read Harder Challenge. I am sure since you are a list person that you have a list of which books you are thinking of using. I am having trouble with a couple of the categories and would love to see your list, especially for books you have already read and have loved!

I also have Ready Player One and the Goldfinch on my to be read list and I am glad to see that you gave them both four stars. The category I am the least worried about is the food memoir, as I have a bunch of them in my collection that I have not read yet, so I may end up reading several of those, since you so highly recommended The Kitchens of the Great Midwest!! Some categories (like the Historical Fiction before 1900) will be very easy; Others (like a play, a comic and the transgender one) seem like they may be more of a challenge to find, so I am hoping for some recommendations from others in these categories!

Jeanie said...

You may not have had the miles but you have the style -- and boatloads of January pages! February will look up, I know. After all, there's Mexico!

Raquelita said...

Both outfits are fabulous! I love those red cords, especially.

Your cross-training in January was impressive. I'm sure your overall fitness will really pay off as you start amping up your mileage over the course of race training.

Amber said...

I am loving the Modern Love podcast too! I just was catching up this morning while getting ready and listened to the one about Open Adoption. So interesting. I like the interviews at the end as well and I also like that they are nice and short.

That red skirt is so nice! Love it.

Oh and 12 yoga classes is so awesome!! So glad you have been able to make such great use of your yoga pass. I think that will serve you well when you go into training.

Stephany said...

Ooh, what were your thoughts on the Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck? You gave it 3 stars... so I'm guess it was "just okay"?

Here's hoping you have a much healthier February!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Lovin' those red pants :-) Also, I wanted to let you know that Christopher and I are taking part in the February challenge to get rid of stuff!!

Linda said...

You just reminded me of a bright red pair of pants I had in college that I LOVED SO MUCH.

Ah feeling nostalgic.

San said...

Definitely hoping that February is better for you healthwise and that you the RA flair up goes away.
I love the colored cords... I think it's a great pop of color! :)

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

You are so cute. I've really tried getting into colored pants but I just haven't found the right pair for me yet

Jenny said...

Red is a great antidote to winter, I love your outfits especially the red pants. I really enjoyed reading Ready Player One and I heard that his second novel Armada is good too but I don't know anything about it yet.

Cherry Blossoms said...

Super cute outfits! Looking so cute. Winter looks good on you.

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