Book Review: The Secret of the Nightingale Palace"

The book cover of "The Secret of the Nightingale Palace" by Dana Sachs is definitely one of those book covers that really drew me in.  Then when I found out it was partially set during WWII, I was sold!  The author winds two stories together.  The first story is about Goldie, a young southern woman who moves to San Francisco in the early 40s to start a new life.  While she is living there, she becomes friends with a Japanese family who is eventually sent to an internment camp during the war.  Before the family left for the camp, they gave her a set of Japanese prints to keep while they were away.

Flash forward 50+ years.  Goldie is now in her 80s and she asks her grand daughter, Anna, to drive from New York to San Francisco so that she can return those prints to the Japanese family.  Anna and Goldie had an estranged relationship as Anna married someone that Goldie did not approve of.  Anna's husband has since died so this trip is their chance to rekindle their relationship.

The book is broken out into different sections for the different time periods, which made it easy to follow.  I loved hearing about Goldie's time in San Francisco, especially since I recently visited that area.  I also liked the section that covered Goldie and Anna's trip across the country as Anna spends much of this trip reflecting on her marriage and dealing with the grief of losing her husband at a young age.

I really enjoyed this book and gave it 4 stars on goodreads.com!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review, and the opinions are my own.   

On Downsizing

Well we are back from our apartment hunting trip to Charlotte.  The word that sums up my apartment hunting experience is downsizing. I knew going into this weekend that I would likely have to rent a smaller space as rent is really high in the area close to Charlotte's Uptown (even though this city is allegedly supposed to have a lower cost of living). So I am losing about 450 square feet so that my rent can decrease to a level that will allow me to save money for plane tickets home. From a net perspective I am actually not saving all that much because of the difference in the utilities I have to pay in Charlotte. But I am saving as much as I can while still living in a place I can be ok with calling home.

My head has been spinning since Saturday as I try to figure out how to get my possession to fit into my new space. Here are some things I am doing to prepare for my move to a smaller space:

- See you later, piano. Considering the fact that I am struggling to fit some small bookshelves in my new home, it was out of the question to try to bring my piano. Luckily my former boss is going to keep it for me while I am gone. He wants his kids to take lessons so it works well for them to take it off my hands. Plus I know they will take good care of it.

- Adios furniture. I put a loveseat and over-sized chair on Craigslist as they most definitely won't fit in the new place. Fingers crossed someone buys them so I can get that aspect of the move over with.

- Bah humbug. My Christmas decorations won't be making the move either. I got spoiled by having storage units the last 8 years that I have lived in privately owned condo buildings. Commercially owned buildings will only provide storage for a fee, and I don't think it's worth it for me to pay a fee just so I can have access to my Christmas tree (my tree/decorations wouldn't fit in the storage available in the unit). Plus I am not sure a tree would even fit in my apt. I know I will be coming home for Christmas so I will just soak up the Christmas decorations at my parents lake home.

- Climate considerations. I'm looking hard at my wardrobe and boxing up things to store at my parents. I'm asking myself: do I need 4 winter coats in this warmer climate? No. Do I need snowpants? Not a chance. Snow boots? Nope. I know it will get into the 20-30s so I will bring some coats but I don't need a closet full of winter coats in North Carolina.

But my 6 bookshelves? Those are coming with me. I have to draw the line somewhere! Fingers crossed they fit. If they don't I guess I will just sell them when I arrive in Charlotte.

So there you have it.  Sorry this isn't a 'I fell in love with Charlotte post.' I really was hoping to come back feeling better about this move, but such is life. It's a step forward for my career and I am sure I will find things I like about my new neighborhood once I settle in.

On a positive note, I did have a really good time with my mom and it was fun showing her the trading floor where I will work. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming so I think she feels better knowing I will work with some nice people. And in general, the people in Charlotte were extremely friendly. Way friendlier than people you would encounter in the Midwest honestly. So Charlotte has that going for it.

 At the end of the day, I am reminding myself that it's only a year and I can come back at the end of that year (assuming I find a job) if I am totally miserable.

Have you ever moved to a place that required you to significantly downsize?

Charlotte-bound

Greetings and Happy Friday everyone!  My mom arrived in Minneapolis last night and we flew out to Charlotte.  Our mission is to find an apartment for me to rent.  Shortly after I came to terms with the fact that I would in fact have to move to Charlotte, I realized that the person I really wanted to come with me on this apartment-hunting trip was my mom.  I know I am 32 and can make decisions on my own, as I have for the 14 years since I graduated from high school and became an independent person.  BUT sometimes- you just need your mom.

I think to some extent, my parents (and other key people in my life) have felt a bit helpless as they've watched me go through this experience.  My parents have been on the receiving end of many, many tearful conversations and I think they probably feel a little frustrated that besides offering a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on, they can't DO anything.  But accompanying me on this trip to Charlotte is something my mom CAN do.  She can come to Charlotte with me and help me decide what apartment I will call home.  And there was not a moment of hesitation when I called her and asked her if she would consider coming with me.

Through this process, I have been downright negative about Charlotte and I am hoping that I can start to turn the corner this weekend and find some things to get excited about.  I hope that I find coffee shops that I can see myself reading in on the weekend and running paths that I can see myself training on during marathon training season.  I hope I find an apartment I will be happy to call home that will be walking or biking distance from work and I hope that my neighborhood feels somewhat as 'right' as my current neighborhood does.

I know that Charlotte will never be Minneapolis.  And I have to accept that.  But I am hoping to find some redeeming qualities when I visit Charlotte this week.  At the end of the weekend, I hope I come back to Minneapolis and find myself closer to a state of mind where I don't tear up when people call and ask me how I feel about my move to Charlotte.

Highlights from an Aunt Date

Even though this is a short week for me, it has not gotten off to the best start.  So instead of dumping all of my complaints/woes/worries on you, I am going to focus on the positive and tell you about something fun I did recently!

Last week, I planned my study hours so that I would have my afternoon free to spend with my nephews.  Unfortunately, the younger one (Matthew) was feeling under the weather, so it ended up being just Andrew and I - which was still wonderful.  Here are some highlights from the time we spent together!

- Andrew is part of a chess club so I asked him how it was going and said maybe he could teach me how to play some day.  He responded by asking for my email address and said:  "If you send me your email address, I will send you a screen shot of a chess board with instructions on how the pieces all move."  Who is this person and what happened to my 7-year old nephew?  No really - he knows what a screen shot is? And he followed through on this and sent me a file later that day with a voice recording of how the different pieces move.  He may be more technologically savvy at age 7 than his 32 year old aunt is.

- When I asked Andrew what his favorite class was, I was SO happy to hear that it is reading!  When we got to Barnes & Noble, it was fun to watch him pick out a book as he was so excited to get the latest Captain Underpants book!  In fact, he was so excited to read it, he sat down on the ground and started paging through it while I was picking out a book for his brother.

 - After we had picked out a book for his brother, we headed over to the 'big kid' section so I could show him the Happy Potter books.  I can't wait for him to be old enough to read them!

- We finished the afternoon by heading to Cold Stone for some ice cream.  He picked out raspberry yogurt with sprinkles mixed in. 

We had such a fun afternoon together.  I am so sad that these aunt dates will be a thing of a past when I move to Charlotte, but I feel lucky to have had as much one-on-one time with my nephews as I have had during the years I've spent in Minneapolis.  And I know we'll have more aunt dates in the future, it just might be 1-2 years before they happen on a regular basis again.

I'm the Kind of Host...

Greetings and Happy Tuesday everyone!  Today is kind of my "Monday" as I took yesterday off as a study day.  Don't be jealous, though.  I spent 6 hours studying for the CFA so it wasn't exactly a day of leisure...  I did fit in a movie night with Phil, though, so at least it ended on fun note!

On Saturday night, I had a little dinner party at my place.  It had been well over a year since I had friends over for dinner and I really wanted one last hurrah at my place before the big move ahead of me.  At the end of the night, we got to talking about what kind of hosts we are, mostly as it pertained to our approach to doing dishes, so I thought it would be a fun post topic to talk about the kind of host I am/have become over the years!

I'm the kind of host...

- that fails to take pictures of what I made to share because I get too caught up in getting everything on the table.

- that prefers to serve things that can be mostly made ahead of time - like the lasagna that I served on Saturday.  I had assembled it and froze it ahead of time so that I would just have to bake it that night.

- that is totally ok with having people bring things to share instead of taking on the whole meal on my own.  On Saturday, I provided the appetizer (olive tapenade, assorted olives, crackers, and cheese), the main dish (lasagna), and the dessert (baked apples with a rum sauce + vanilla ice cream).  My guests brought wine/beer, salad, bread, and the rum for the dessert sauce as I didn't have any rum!

- that has to do the dishes when the meal is over.  In other words, I am not a soaker.  I know that this is not optimal host behavior because it sort of takes me out of the hub of conversations, etc, but I just can't handle having dirty dishes piled up on my counter or a dirty lasagna pan soaking in my sink.  Luckily my condo has an open floor plan so I can still be part of the conversations.  

It was kind of bittersweet to gather in my condo one last time.  I know there will be dinner parties in the future as I do really think I will move back eventually, but I am not sure how soon that will happen, so I tried to savor the time as much as possible on Saturday night.

Do you enjoy hosting dinners?  What kind of dinner host are you?  I LOVE having people over for dinner, I just don't do it as often as I would like!

Currently...

Good Morning and happy Friday!  I hope this finds you all doing well!  I had a great Valentine's Day and hope you did as well!  The dinner I made turned out great and while the souffles did not puff up as much as I thought they would, they tasted good which is all that matters!

I thought I'd close out the week with this "currently" post that has been floating around the blogosphere (originally posted by Amy)!

Currently…

feeling tired as I have not been sleeping well this week.

writing way more at work these days after a very long dry spell of not publishing anything!

reading a book that I will be reviewing for TLC book tours at the end of the month.  My reading has definitely declined this month as I increased my CFA studying hours from 15 to 18 hours, so that eats up some precious reading time.

listening to the Ingrid Michaelson channel on Pandora.  I heart her!

eating more home-cooked meals than I did this fall.  It has been nice to be home most weekends as that gives me time to make something to eat for lunches during the week!

wishing I felt more certain about all of the decisions I have made/will make in the weeks to come, like deciding to move to Charlotte and figuring out where to live.

enjoying the time I am spending with Phil as he tends me make me feel more calm about things and keeps reminding me that the move to Charlotte will work out.

drinking so much coffee.

learning a lot at work now that I am trying to write articles on my own (in the past I co-authored them with my previous boss).

missing a time in life when I wasn't making so many critical, life-changing decisions.  I miss those simpler times.

thinking about my upcoming trip to Charlotte next weekend and hoping I find an apartment that I like that is in my price range and will have room for my big dining room table.

using the new lasagna pan my parents got me as part of my birthday present when I entertain 3 couples this weekend!

What are you up to, currently?

I'd Rather: The Valentine's Day Edition

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!  I know this is a day that tends to be met with either excitement and enthusiasm...  or groans of annoyance!  I am in the excitement/enthusiasm camp, even though I've only had a boyfriend 3 out of my 32 Valentine's Days I've celebrated!  I get that people hate the commercialized aspect of this holiday and hold the view that your love for others should be expressed every day - not just Valentine's day - and I completely agree with those views.  But I like that there is a day each year that is dedicated to the expression of love - whether that is love for your significant other, family, friends, etc.  So that is why I like this holiday!

Given the polarized view on this day, I thought it would be fun to do an "I'd Rather" post to sum up how I feel about today!

I'd Rather...
 - stay in and make dinner than eat out in a packed restaurant.


- receive French macaroons (especially salted caramel flavored) than flowers.

- receive flowers on a random day than on Valentine's Day, but would of course accept them today as well! :)

- receive tulips or gerber daisies or something like that than roses as roses don't seem to last very long - but would graciously accept any flowers that I received, of course!

- eat Laffy Taffy and conversation hearts than expensive chocolates (I'm not a huge chocolate person).

-  celebrate the day running and take in this view...

 
and enjoy a post-run hot cocoa from Angelina's...

as I did 2 years ago today than celebrate in any other city!

- but... since a Valentine's Day trip to Paris is not in the cards anytime soon, I'd rather spend the holiday with Phil, cooking lentil enchiladas (his favorite meal I've made thus far), Spanish Rice, and Chocolate Souffles (wish me luck, this is a new recipe for me!) than spend the holiday any other way!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!  Regardless of your relationship status, I hope that this day - and every day of the year - is filled with love!