If you follow me on Pinterest, you may be familiar with my Lovely Libraries page, where I pin pics of all the beautiful libraries I come across in my blog research. I’ve always loved the idea of having a private library of my own, but it wasn’t until I started the Pinterest page that I started thinking about what it might look like.
It didn’t take long for me to discover I have a very distinct style when it came to libraries. I love the old-timey “power libraries” with ornate wood paneling, floor-to-ceiling shelves, and plush reading chairs. I started making a mental list of all the things I’d like to include in my dream library, so I thought it would be fun to share some of them with you!
I’ll eat just about anything while reading. We all know there are certain high risk foods when it comes to books—passing on the spaghetti is wise when skimming your leather-bound Melville—but I tend to ignore the warnings. I’ve been known to chow down on chocolate, pizza, and even ice cream ON THE CONE while flipping through a new book. Cuz I’m hardcore.
But there are other foods that just beg for a book. I’m talking about the kind that actually give you a craving to read. The foods below are ones that, for me, just make the act of reading complete. Prepare to start jonesing for good food and good books!
While planning the reading kit for this month’s Borrower menu, I wound up stumbling across a LOT of cute miniature things, especially fairy gardens. I’d heard of fairy gardens before—miniature outdoor displays set up to look like fairies live there—but I had NO IDEA they could get so elaborate. There were ones carved out of rooted tree stumps, embedded in stone walls, and even built from scratch to look like real, miniature homes! They had me wishing I could live there, so I made a list of my favorites to share with you. Here are my Borrower dream homes!
You may remember last August when I shared a post about my very first comic con. In short, it was AWESOME. I had no idea what I was missing out on all this time! This past weekend, I went to an even BIGGER comic book convention, the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (or C2E2 for short). I was originally planning on publishing a different post today, but I had such a blast at the con that I decided to scrap my plans and share the geeky wonderfulness of C2E2 with you! 😀
Food and books. They’re kinda my thing. So much so that my blog has changed the way I read. Now when I’m reading a book strictly for pleasure that won’t appear on the blog, I still reach for my pencil to make a note when the author mentions food. It’s made me notice a few things, most especially that authors can get really creative in how they use food to forward the story.
Howdy, folks! As you know, King Arthur is our January Book of the Month, and I’m loving every minute of working on it. I didn’t pick one specific book version of the Arthurian legends, partially because there are so many…and also partially because I don’t know which is my favorite! I love that there are so many versions of the story. To me, our continued cultural draw to these legends is proof of just how timelessly awesome they are. But which modern versions are the best? In no particular order, here is my completely subjective list of favorite King Arthur retellings:
Pretty much every Agatha Christie fan I know has a strong opinion on whether Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple is a better sleuth. Me? I’m completely torn.
I LOVE Poirot’s little eccentricities and penchant for perfection (in Cards on the Table, he’s heard to say, “I am always right. It is so invariable it startles me.”). Then again, I love the simple, unobtrusive way Jane Marple always manages to crack a case just by reflecting on her own experiences with human nature. I wish I could trek through London with Poirot on a case, but I’d probably want to end the day sipping tea by the fire with Miss Marple.
What about you? Where do you stand? Let me know in the poll below, and you can leave an explanation in the comments!
Howdy, Wonderlanders! Many of you have probably heard of Yummly, the online recipe database where you can share, save, and ask questions about recipes. I heard lots of good things about it, so I went to check it out…and now I’m becoming one of their publishers! HUZZAH!
Thanks to Yummly, I’ll now have awesome recipe printables available for each new recipe I publish (I’ll be adding printables to my old posts gradually over the next couple months). I’ve also got a new Yummly sharing button with my other share buttons at the bottom of each post, so you can save my recipes to your Yummly recipe box straight from my blog. MORE HUZZAHS!
You can check out my personal Yummly profile here. My publisher profile will be up soon too, and I’ll add the link to that here when it’s available.
Not a Yummly user but want to become one? Don’t worry, you can fix that here.
As you can probably tell, things are looking awfully monochromatic around here. Up until today, I was using a Mojo Marketplace blog theme called Writer. The theme creator sent out an update today that changed the whole theme to something much more “minimalistic”…and much less customizable. It got rid of header menus, backgrounds, pretty much everything. As you can imagine, I was not a happy camper. So I disabled it, and we’re currently sporting a free WordPress.org theme until I find a replacement (still pretty minimalistic, but at lease this one shows menus! Yay!).
Hopefully, I’ll have something strikingly gorgeous ready for you by tomorrow. For now, I’m settling in for a long night of unexpected theme browsing. Three cheers for the caffeine that’s going to get me through it all!
Howdy, folks! I just got back from ringing in July in the best way possible: 5 days of cabin camping with old college buddies! It’s a summer tradition that started 5 years ago. Now that we’re scattered across 3 different states, it’s the most important way we keep in touch. Despite the mosquitoes and lack of cell reception, it’s the highlight of my summer. There’s just something magical about age old inside jokes, ice cream cone s’mores, and late-night discussions about how The Lego Movie is basically The Matrix.
On our way to get groceries for the cabin, we stopped at a Mickey D’s for wi-fi so I could post our final Tom Sawyer recipe: Tom’s Whitewashed Jelly Doughnuts. I brought the leftover doughnuts with me to share at the cabin, and my oh my were they popular, especially with blackberry jam (possibly more so than the original raspberry jam I used). If you’re looking for a drink to go along with your own jelly doughnuts, we just released our Tom Sawyer tea from Adagio: Becky’s Peach Tea! Click here or the image below to visit our tea gallery!
