First week of school! If you have school going kids, school has either started, or about to start – depending upon which state you are in, you are probably dealing with something school-related! Frisco ISD always opens midweek which sorta kinda provide a start-and- a- break for kids and eases them into the school year. Our college kids are in college as well! In case you did not, do read the post put together by our staff for last-minute items that may have been missed!
How was your summer? I really took it easy this yearly break, although lot of driving with kids’ activities and therapies but overall did not over-schedule anything so that was convenient on all of us. I did manage to style a mini shoot end of summer – look at the pictures here! Some of the other highlights are as follows…
Places
We ended the summer by visiting Louisiana – my favorite state brimming with history and culture!! Our last trip was to New Orleans for our 20th anniversary two years ago. This time we stayed with our friends, Sarina and Jamal in Lafayette. Their kids and ours have a bond that literally seems physical because all three days that we stayed there, they were glued to each other – doing all their activities together – watching TV, playing video games, eating – all without conveniently acknowledging the existence of their parents! These kinds of vacations are so relaxing on couples with kids. You do forget you have kids and it’s an almost 24/7 adult catching up! It was so much fun. What added to our relaxation was the overnight trip my husband and I took to Rip Van Winkle Gardens on Jefferson Islands. The kids stayed with our friends while we treated ourselves to the calming beauty of the historic place in New Iberia. I will be doing an exclusive post on the place and our rejuvenated trip!
My friend Sarina is an amazing artist – she crochets beautifully! She is not only good at the handiwork, she is also creative with the items she makes! The big and little pieces she loops with a perfected hand, are all so lovely!! Whether it’s a tiny crocheted item like mug wrap, or big Afghan, the neatness of her handiwork is evident in each piece. I had the pleasure of taking some of the pictures of her creations.
Her prices are really reasonable. I could only take photos of some of her blankets and the cup warmer but she can make pretty much anything from very cute spa sets, table runners, scarves, leg warmers, hats…and so much more! You can email her with details of what you want. She gifted me the blue one which looks amazing on my chair in bedroom and comes in handy when I am reading books or writing blog posts!
Movies
Due to lack of time (or focus of my disposable hours on blog, reading, styling and what not), I am not much of a movie or TV watcher but I have my telly faves and obsessions! Netflix and Amazon Prime provide such fun along with frustrating browsing moments – you make up your mind to sit and watch a movie and before you know thirty minutes have passed, your teacup is already empty and you are still scrolling from movie to movie, watching trailers, still undecided on what to watch. To cope with that and to save my precious time, I started making a list of movies on my phone during these browsing sessions – movies we missed from years, or movies that recently got added. If you are like me there are so many films you probably have not seen or knew existed. One such on my list was “Stranger Than Fiction” starting all my favorite people – Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Will Ferrell, Dustin Hoffman and Queen Latifah, all justifying the assigned roles perfectly. It was great to see Ferrell try a serious role. He is an IRS auditor with quirky habits and schedules (read spectrum) which all changes on a certain Wednesday. He discovers through an ‘internal voice” that he is actually a character in a novel. Now what is the statement they make at the beginning of the book?
“This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.”
Purely coincidental as it was, the author’s imagination however becomes a death threat to the character. Per plot, the main character dies in the end, which is a signature ending of the novelist’s work. The movie provides a literary joy, a light romance story, glimpses in to life of a quirky person – we loved it very much – is a good choice to end a busy day!
And…Downton Abbey movie is releasing next month! I am definitely waiting for it but I am also a tiny bit apprehensive – it’s like watching a movie after reading the novel – 52 episodes transformed to 2 hours and 2 minutes!! Knowing Julian Fellowes’ work, I am sure he is going to do his magic and it will be a production worth every minute!
Another classic novel’s adaptation is coming out as a movie too – remember Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy from Little Women? Yes! Mine and I am sure many others’ childhood read. My kids read it as well as part of their curriculum and it was different reading with them after decades! Looking forward to that one too! Some comfort in watching the watched and read – isn’t there?
Talking about movies, I recently came across a really amazing movie blog called Stuff I Watch! It is written by Nadia Ahmed and she does a great job of catching up with all the new English and desi movies!! Unlike me, she is an avid movie watcher. I found her while looking for movie reviews for Cake and couldn’t stop reading her thoughts on one after the other movie! Definitely a good source to check before you invest your two-three hours in a movie!
Books
I had been dealing with a reader’s block! I asked my bookstagrammers for cure and they came up with amazing tricks and tips to overcome those! Here are the helpful comments from fellow readers.
Some books from last few months – Becoming was a long one but worth the read, review will be up soon. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine was amazing and so touchy! Please read – if you loved A Man Called Ove, you would love it (different but similar). Trevor Noah’s Born A Crime was an auditory treat! He is my favorite comedian and I am so grateful he wrote and read his autobiography. Probably my best read so far this year! Highly recommended and if I may further take liberty to impose my opinion, try the audio version. Listening to him simply transports you to his childhood!
Want to know what I am reading? My bookstagram is @booksection. See you there!
