Well hi again!
Looks like it’s already time for our monthly coffee date.
What are you guys drinking this month? I’m happy to report that I’m back on the coffee train after a short hiatus this winter. Half-caf Nespresso pods are my saving grace right now – not enough caffeine to make my brain into a full-blown rave (I really cannot do caffeine) but just enough to get me going for the day.
Bjork’s been doing this fancy thing where he froths the milk with a little honey? Like a homemade miel? And it’s really good. So on days that I’m lucky, I might be sipping on that.
Also drinking: water and the occasional treat-yoself orange or carrot juice.
Grab your drink! Here’s what’s up.
Stitch Fix First Timer
I’m giving it a try! And this is a picture of me anxiously awaiting my next Stitch Fix shipment. It’s stupidly, awesomely, super fun.
Last month was my first fix, and I swear to you that I have never waited for something to arrive in the mail more eagerly in my life. I don’t even get it. Why is it so great? I order things online quite regularly – why did I count the days to the arrival of this special little blue-green box? Is it because it’s surprise? Or because it’s obviously going to revolutionize my wardrobe? I watched the mail EVERY DAY and when it finally came (A DAY EARLY!!!) I did not waste any time busting into that box. Here’s what I got:
- Grey v-neck top (kept)
- Black hoodie sweater
- Navy flowy cardigan
- Leggings with a blue/green print
- Gray chambray flats (kept, and pictured above)
Notice the theme with greys. My stylist did a really nice job understanding that I am extremely basic.
I have a strange obsession with fashion shows (like, of the homemade you-just-went-shopping-so-show-me-everything variety) so maybe next time I’ll try to get some pictures of the clothes before sending them back. FASHION SHOW AT LUNCH!
Books That Have Gotten Me Through Never-ENding WInter
Okay, it’s FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY getting a little melty, but dang, girl. It’s been a long winter.
Some books that I’ve read and enjoyed (savvy reader note: these are Amazon affiliate links):
- The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah – intense and difficult themes with kind of a crazy roundabout ending, but I can’t say I didn’t love it.
- What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty – a medium-intensity novel that kept my interest throughout! A rare gem.
- Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty – a combination of bubble gum pop and murder mystery, and yes, I savored every juicy bite.
- Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine – creepy and best read during the daytime. I don’t think I’ll read the next one in the series, but this one did have me hooked.
- This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel – a little more serious and thoughtful, and, for me, super compelling. It gave me a lot to think about.
- It’s Okay That You’re Not Okay by Megan Devine – annnnd then a grief book, naturally. This was an excellent read and I’d recommend it for anyone going through a hard time. Probably the most accurate and honest book I’ve read about the ongoing experience of grief.
What books have you been loving? What needs to be downloaded on my Kindle pronto for these warm spring-ish days? Fill me in.
Garden Excitement
That’s a little misleading, actually. I don’t really have a garden.
But I have lots of nice plants in my yard that other people planted for me, and one such plant is some springy tulip bulbs that are finally starting to come up (thank you, Sarah)! This is in a little area of our yard that has kind of become a mini Afton garden – everything we plant there is delicate and beautiful and full of life, and all of it reminds us of him. Look at that tiny tulip bud! I’m giddy!
On the less exciting side of garden life, I chose to plant my lenten rose on the wrong side of the house. It is supposed to be one of the first plants to come up in the late winter/early spring, but it is literally still buried under a foot of dirty snow. Excellent.
What is popping up in your garden / yard right now?
Update On Water Goals
Water consumption is up, and my new tumbler with straw is possibly the best $14 I’ve ever spent in my life.
It’s cute and it travels well and it makes drinking water so enjoyable. Who knew a straw could do such things?
One thing our team has been talking about lately is the idea of making the thing that you want to do just 10 seconds easier or more enjoyable, and as a result / magic, you’ll do it more. The tumbler is totally that. I don’t know why it’s better to pick up the tumbler and sip through the straw than it is to open a water bottle, tip it back and drink (uhh, yes I do, actually, and it has to do with getting water all over my shirt and face), but my pick-up-and-sip hack is working. Every time I refill and sip, I just really enjoy it. Enjoy = do it more. After years of this struggle, I feel like I’m finally close to staying appropriately hydrated throughout the day.
Mint and cucumber infusion has been a little more spotty. Sometimes my mint is browning, or my cucumber is mushy, or I’m just too lazy to slice it up. I tried freezing my mint into ice cubes for easy use, but it turns the water yellow and it kinda weirds me out. So… still working on that part. Maybe I need a diffuser pitcher to just keep diffused water on hand rather than diffusing each individual water bottle? Open to suggestions here.
Overall: the tumbler + straw is a game-changer.
Hey, Speaking Of Straws
I’m having a major moment (hopefully more than a moment) with NOT USING PLASTIC STRAWS.
The thing is… I love straws! I know the anti-straw campaigns are aimed at telling people they don’t need straws, but I thoroughly enjoy a good straw and beverage situation.
So since I love straws and I love the ocean, I’m just committing to only use straws of the paper, metal, bamboo variety. You know, reusable or compostable. Good for the earth. Nice to the fish and turtles. Better for everybody.
Earth Day sort of got me all fired up this year, and I feel inspired to try to do my very small part. Here’s my mini master plan:
- For eating at a restaurant – ask for no straws and just drink outta the glass.
- For driving through a drive-through, uhh, NOT LIKE I EVER DO THAT OR ANYTHING – ask for no straws. Keep paper straws tucked into the glove box of my car, and/or maybe a few in my purse for convenient, non-plastic sipping. Easy.
- For drinks that I take on the go (water, smoothies, etc.) – use my aforementioned $14 tumbler with reusable straw.
Plastic consumption – are you thinking about it? Do you take steps to reduce it? Talk to me about it.
And if you’re looking for a rabbit trail, you can read more about the why of plastic straw reduction here.
That’s it!
But one last question.
Is your dog obsessed with laying in the sun?
And are your pants perpetually covered in dog hair? Because that’s a heavy yes to both in my life.
I hope you already know it, but I love checking in with you guys each month. I always get a big smile on my face when I read through your comments as if we were on an actual group coffee date. Happy REAL spring this time!
XO
i love these posts! 🙂 i have a ban.do tumbler too, and i love it! makes drinking water fun.
To help me drink more water I really like to track my water consumption using an app on my phone. There is something about meeting a goal that I love and I get a lot of satisfaction when I can document another glass!
I totally appreciate your Kelly Kapoor reference. It was not at all lost on me 😉 Fashion show, Fashion show, Fashion show at lunch! I do the same thing and make my patient husband listen to why each new piece is a wonderful addition to my wardrobe! I’ve been reading your blog for years, and you are so bright and sunny. I love it. Thanks for sharing.
I just finished “Fly Away” by Kristin Hannah. So good, I was in tears for much of it. Such a wonderful friendship and how you lose people you love but have to find a way to go on. I am hooked on her now, she has written many books and I will grab one each time I’m at library. I still love reading an actual book????Love reading your posts Lindsay, thank you for sharing!
Since I have retired (3rd grade teacher) I have been reading tons! Here are two of my recent favorites in fiction. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng and After Anna by Lisa Scottoline. Love your blog and recipes by the way.
It’s weird that you’re going no-straw, but you have no problem using extremely wasteful coffee pods. I have a Keurig myself, so I understand the convenience of coffee-podding. But I only use a reusable coffee pod that I fill and empty myself. I couldn’t live with myself throwing out a pod (or three!) every day.
On straws: I use metal ones. Once you get used to them, they’re quite lovely. I highly recommend them.
okay…I am not normally a germophobe but that is one thing that brings it out of me…I have worked in restaurants and seen the ‘clean’ glasses and ME NEEDS ME STRAWS to keep from sipping those glasses LOL 😀 …sorry earth 🙁 #imtrying
I love reading your coffee date posts! Definitely feel you on the reduce-the-straw use game. I love straws, too, and drink far more water from them than I do just a plain cup, so I’ve invested in some reuseable ones, too!
Also, yes to both of your dog questions. Finally, love your reference to The Office! Kelly Kapoor… always giving us laughs.
Pursuant to your book suggestion request: The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory was absolutely delightful, Educated by Tara Westover was engrossing, and lastly Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson was a sweet and interesting look at creating alternate families. Enjoy!
i love that you love reading! soooooo, because you do, you HAVE to start reading a trilogy by Marisa de los Santos. the first one is called Love Walked In. the sequel is Belong to Me. the third release is called I’ll Be Your Blue Sky. seriously, the characters are so FABULOUS you’ll be sad when you’re done reading all three.
I’ll trade you Kristin Hannah recommendations. I’m reading The Nightingale and it is really good. It is set in France in WWII.
Great post! I am a tea drinker. Specifically I have been drinking green tea with peppermint, and I also adore my Egyptian licorice tea.
The best books I have read this winter/spring have been:
Hillbilly Elegy
Same Kind of Different As Me
These is My Words (currently reading and immensely enjoying it)
My little Irish jack russell loves sunning herself (as soon as the temps here in Michigan reach about 50 degrees)!
This is My Words is the first in a trilogy, and it’s fantastic!
Another April Coffe date! I enjoy it. And the straw tips? Incredible!!
Oh yes…I’m someone with two hairy dogs and my female loves laying in the hot sun here in GA. And she’s black. Go figure. Dog hair is my second skin I swear!
Can you do a tour where you stop at coffee shops and have real life group coffee dates with everyone? Because I would absolutely show up for this. 🙂
But until then, I love these blog posts!
My dog is a total sunbather! I loved What Alice Forgot!
Lindsay,
I love your little coffee updates each month! I wait until I am home from work, get me a cup of tea, and then sit down to read (and enjoy) your current interests. To answer your questions:
1. Garden–I am a proclaimed black thumb if it is not a succulent. However, I have been thoroughly enjoying the spiderwort growing wild in my yard and am gearing up for our local rose festival in May.
2. To drink: I have been on a chai kick–tea, never coffee–as well as water, from a glass bottle which goes everywhere with me.
3. Stitch Fix–never tried it, but I agree wholeheartedly with Simone about packages in the mail–so glad I am not alone. I eagerly await a package, checking obsessively where it is and then refuse to open it right away so as not to kill the anticipation.
4. Books–I have been catching up on some older books by authors I enjoy. Currently reading Murder House by James Patterson and Living Well Spending Less by Ruth Soukup. I am enjoying both.
5. As for if I deal with dog hair….YES!!! Where most people get dust bunnies, I get fur bunnies that will hide everywhere and love to cling to my clothes. As the dog-mama of an Australian Shepherd and an Australian Stubby, the fur is endless and no color is safe to wear. My shepherd loves to lay on the top step outside, sun or no sun. My stubby will lay in the sun but only on cold days, and only if it requires no extra effort. Now my mother’s Chihuahua lives for laying in the sun.
I read “The Couple Next Door” last month and really enjoyed it. And I read “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” a while back and liked that one, too.
Yes to the dog hair, good gawd, yes.
I’ve got some reusable produce bags in the Amazon cart. It’s one area of waste that is relatively easy to eliminate.
Have you seen the silicone Luumi straws https://luumilife.com/ ?.
This coffee date was so fun!!! I’ve started putting butter and coconut oil in my coffee. My bff recommended it like 3 years ago and I thought she was nutso, but when you use a blender it makes it into a latte kind of deal! Still kinda weird but interesting. I loooooved Stillhouse Lake. It was kind of creepy but I read the next one in like 2 days. If you’re looking for something a little not so psycho crazy, I loved The Rage of The Plum Blossoms and Now That You Mention It. Interesting reads with super fun characters that made me laugh. I’m hoping to attempt some gardening this spring. I murderer a beautiful flowering bush last fall by pruning it a little too much (it was growing like 1,000ft and I didn’t know what I was doing!)
If you like a good book with a lot of twists, turns, and keeping you in wonder, I’d recommend “The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair”.
Hands down – one of the best books I’ve ever read. My co-worker found it in a book store in MT where the employees of the bookstore leave post it notes on books they’d recommend & why.
Hey Lindsey,
I love these posts!
Lately I’ve been using the app Overdrive to check out books on my tablet. You just input your library card(s) into your Overdrive account, and then you can check out e-books and audiobooks. While I don’t think e-books can ever replace the magic of an actual printed book in your hands, it’s been a super convenient way for me to read books –especially when traveling!
My co-workers get their StitchFix sent to the office so we can all partake together. It also helps to get the others’ opinions about the piece, the price point, and the look!
Lindsay,
You are so fun. I’m so glad you have a little bit of caffeine back in your life! Loved this post…
1. Stitch Fix…I wait for my Birchbox delivery with the very same enthusiasm.
2. Coffee, always. Strong and dark, milk and sugar!
3. Hardest read this year – “The Great Alone”. Sweetest read – “A Fall of Marigolds” by Susan Meissner. Weirdest but ended up loving it – “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine”.
4. Garden- I live in the Carolina’s, so we’ve been up and blooming since like February. I’m just excited to be living in a new house that has FULL SUN!!! Herbs! Yay!
5. LOVE Straws – the reusable kind. Straws are life! Love the concept of mint and cucumber infused water…just can’t make it work.
6. Dog hair….Lord have mercy yes. Chocolate Lab = dog hair in and on everything. She loves a good “sun bath”.
7. Transplant your Lenten Rose to a new spot in the Fall.
Thanks for all you do!
I love this for so many reasons. 1. That coffee sounds amazing. 2. Meh on Stitch Fix, nothing ever fits me. 3. Thank you for the book recs. Writing them down. 4. Yes to no straws! 5. Yes, my pants (and everything we own) are ALWAYS covered in dog hair.