You Really Like Me

The past week Amber and Suz both sent me the versatile blogger award.
The way to play the game is to link back to the person who awarded it to you, list seven random things about yourself, and tag 15 other bloggers.

1. When I was in high school my school's football team was ranked number 2 in the country. And yet I never went to a single high school football game. I'm still a little embarrassed by this, and don't like to admit it so you should feel honored I'm letting you in.

2. In Kindergarten I wanted my name to be Amy. Not necessarily because I didn't like my name, but because I could spell Amy and couldn't spell Shoshanah.

3. I hate getting rid of things. But for the first time ever I went to Goodwill a few weeks ago to donate some t-shirts. Almost all of the shirts I donated were ones I used to wear in high schools.

4. Speaking of old clothes, the dress I wore to my 8th grade graduation is still in my closest. Maybe I should have donated that as well?

5. I loved Jamba Juice in high school, and feel like I'm being disloyal with my current addicted to Smoothie King. But there's not Jamba Juices in Louisiana, so I guess it's really their fault.

6. My favorite Disney princess is The Little Mermaid, mainly because Ariel is my middle name.

7. I'm really looking forward to Halloween this year, only because it will be my first time handing out candy at my own house.

I'm not actually going to tag anyone else, but mainly because I tend to forget to post my awards then feel guilty. But if you feel like listing 7 random things about yourself, this award is yours!

And speaking of forgetting to post my awards, Amanda sent me the Happy 101 award back in March. Yeah... at least I'm remember to post it over half a year later right?
For this one you're supposed to list 10 things that make you happy (try to do at least one of those things today), and send it one to 10 bloggers who brighten your day.

1. Spending the day outside tanning and reading magazine
2. The smell of any baked good baking in the oven
3. Surprises
4. The start of the new fall tv season
5. Eat fruit picked from my own backyard
6. Spending time with old friends
7. Roasting marshmallows and making s'mores
8. Having the time to sit around doing nothing without feeling guilty
9. Reading (and loving) a new book
10. Couches that you can fall into and relaxing

Again thanks for thinking of me and I promise will do my best to share the next award a receive within less than 6 months.

~Shoshanah

The Florida Recap

As promised I'm back recapping our trip to the white sands in Destin, Florida. While we did wind up having a good time, it probably won't go down as one of the all-time best vacations, mainly because we were sick while we were there. The boy caught a cold the night before we were there and finally started to feel better the morning we left. And on top of that both him and I wound up with food poisoning. I guess it's better being sick on vacation than while your stuck at home, and it gave me an excuse to watch episodes of Toddlers & Tiaras and Bridezillas for a whole day. The boy's been calling it the worst vacation ever, and while it sounds extreme, I can't think of any other vacation where we've both been sick. But now to the good stuff.
This is the condo we stayed in. It's kind of hard to tell from the picture but the hotel was built on a curve so that every room had an ocean view. And speaking of the ocean view...
You can also see some of the condo's pool from this picture. There were 2 full-sized pools, 1 kiddie pool, and of course a hot tub. As I mentioned last week, we spend most days outside reading by the ocean or the pool, where the pool tried his best to avoid having his picture taken.
Although his sister managed to capture the only slightly normal picture of the two of us. And yes, I am wearing the new bathing suit I posted about here, when I was trying to decide which one to buy.
And then there were cute pictures taken of the boy's niece and nephew. (This is probably my favorite picture of the whole trip, I just wish it was centered a little better.)But all too soon it was time to head back home.I know after writing this I wish I was back at the beach, so I'm pretty sure you all feel the same way. Hopefully the pictures were able to give you a little escape before the week kicks back into full gear and summer is completely gone.

~Shoshanah

The Perfect Beach Read?

Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
I started reading this book at the beach read thinking it was the perfect choice. After all it's by Jennifer Weiner who write pretty amazing chick-lit, and there's even a beach on the cover. But I was a bit surprised, but not necessarily disappointed, to find that it wasn't quite beach read material. Although I knew what the basic story was going into it so it shouldn't have been to big of a shock.

The book tells the story of Sylvie Serfer and what happens to her and her two daughters when he politician husband has an affair that the media discovered. It's not really light material, which made it a bit deeper than your average ocean side escape. It wasn't the syrup-y sweet read I wanted, but even so I was still a fan.

I think it's the perfect time for the book considering how often this same story has broke lately. I enjoyed all the pop-culture reference that you could discover even though names weren't actually used. I mean when she mentions the golfer who cheats on his wife with an uncountable number of girls, or the biker guy who cheats on his award winning actress wife, who do you think of? I also loved how this awful event was able to bring the women in the family closer together, than they otherwise would have been.

I really did enjoy the book, despite the fact I wouldn't consider it to be the ultimate beach read. But since summer's on it's way out maybe it's the perfect time to pick it up!

~Shoshanah

Gay Lord Robert

A Favorite of the Queen by Jean Plaidy
I blogged about how much I love Jean Plaidy's book here and here, and so it seems a little silly to be doing so again, but even so I really do love her book. A Favorite of the Queen (originally published as Gay Lord Robert in the 1950s) is the last book in her Tudor series. As you can see from just the cover the book tells the story of Queen Elizabeth I's and Robert Dudley's romance.

From the cover image I was expected to have the book centered more of Elizabeth herself, but Dudley is clearly the star. The cover is definitely more of a marketing piece designed to fit with the others in the repackaged Tutor series. And while I understand why the changed the title (since gay has come to be used as something different now than in the 50s), I do think Gay Lord Robert suits the book as the far better title.

Honestly, the main thing I have against this book is that I read it at the beach. I had started it before and hoped to be finished before we left, but that didn't quite happen. And well, this isn't a good beach read. Like other of her other books I always wind up learning something new reading it. But laying out in the sun I had difficulty keeping all the names and historical figures straight. I would definitely recommend it as a great historical fiction read, but I would strongly advise you not to try to reading it while also trying to get a tan.

~Shoshanah

The Return

I'm back from Florida! Although to be honest I was back before the Jewish New Year, and since I'm finished for services I figured a quick hello was in order. And for all of you wondering just how long we were actually there, I can at least confirm that this post on Sunday was actually a scheduled post that went up while we were actually in Florida.

I won't be posting a full crazy week long recap, because really how many times can I really say, "Today we went out to the beach and I read." But I will be sharing some pictures early next week! I'll try to get up a book review (or two!) this week, but until then here's a small teaser.
Until then, hope everyone has a sweet new year! L'shana tovah!

~Shoshanah

Getting Ready

I've officially decided on my reading material for our upcoming trip to Florida.
Yes, I've probably gone a bit overboard here. But if I'm going overboard on clothes I might as well go overboard on books and magazines as well. Plus we're driving which means I don't have to worry about fitting it all into a carry on. And it also means I have several hours of driving as a passenger, good thing I don't get carsick. We're taking the boy's car which is a manual, and since I can't drive a manual he can't expect me to drive.

But maybe you think I should be talking to him while we drive? Well it seems her sister with her two kids doesn't think she'll be able to fit everything into his parents' car. So the driving arrangements are the boy's mom, his sister, his brother-in-law, niece, nephew in one car. The second car is the two of us, and the boy's dad. I've decided I'll be in the back to go them some good father-son bonding time. Or really to make myself feel less guilty about listening to my ipod, sleeping and reading the whole time.

So now that I have all types of books to choose from while I'm in Florida, which ones do you thing I should start with? Have you read any of these? And are you a chronic over packer as well?

~Shoshanah

Running Away to the Circus

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
I had heard great things about this book, but it wasn't until I heard about the movie that I decided to read. And I'm definitely glad I did. Once I started the book I couldn't put it down. Seriously, I bought the book and was finished within 36 hours.

The book takes places in the 1930s and tells the story of Jacob Jankowski, a college student who almost accidentally runs away and joins the circus. There is a romance story, and in a while it reminded me a lot of The Notebook. Besides the actual romance, there's all types of historical tidbits of what circus life was like during the Great Depression, and a fun bit of randomness are all the 1930's circus pictures throughout the book.

Having read the book I can't wait to see how they've done the movie. I don't think the movie lends itself very easily to the screen, but its such a great story I know why they're trying. I even think Robert Pattison should fit perfect as Jacob, and Reese Witherspoon will be great as Marlena, a performer whose act is with the liberty horses. It's easily one of the best books I've read in a while.

Anyone else love this book too? Or are you planning on waiting for the movie for this one?

~Shoshanah