I Conquered A Thing — July 2014 Rewind! (GET IT GIRL!)

Image From This Month

With Sarah J. Maas and Susan Dennard at the Color Run!

JULY In One Word

5 Things About My Life In July:

1. I conquered the Color Run: I’ve mentioned YA Runs A 5K and that was this month! I was really nervous about it because the one other 5K I did was NOT VERY GOOD FOR ME (10 degrees out and I only ran 2 times in preparation after a lifetime of being lazy) It was a great event with a mix of authors and bloggers! I was proud of how much I had run and, while I still don’t particularly like running, I felt really good about it and might continue to run a couple times a week! It was also fun because my pals Alexa and Elena came to stay with me!

2. I survived a week watching the nieces — So my sister got married at the end of June as you might know and they went on the honeymoon and our gift to them was watching the babies for a week. The two boys stayed at my dad’s and then Will and I had the girls — ages 10 months, 2 1/2, 7 and 16. It was a really good week to be able to spend time with them and it was NOT as difficult as I thought it would be. I thought the baby would be a mess without mom and I thought Genevieve would living up to the terrible twos like she does for my sis. But NOPE good behavior!!

3. I found a new favorite ice cream place: I HAVE a favorite ice cream place but it’s in downtown Philly and I’m not trekking there for ice cream on a normal day. The ice cream places seem to be limited in our area (WAH SO MISSING THE ONE NEAR WHERE I USED TO LIVE) but we finally tried this place that we’ve eaten at a couple times and it was delish. Not the BEST ice cream but now when I’m craving ice cream we can go there instead of buying it at the store because there’s no ice cream places we like.

4. I read Isla and the Happily Ever After— !!!!!! If you know me you know how long I’ve been waiting for that book and how happy I am!!

5. Will had his first week at the new job: He got a new job last month and he started the week after we watched the nieces. It seems to be going well for him and it’s definitely a better situation for us now!

6 Songs That Were Most Popular On My Ipod This Month:

I put all my Monthly Rewinds In a Spotify playlist so you can listen to them here now ! I also have a July playlist filled with other AWESOME songs that wouldn’t fit on here….seriously this might be my favorite playlist yet.

1. Start Again by Bishop Allen (I discovered their first album Charm School my freshman year in college (2004) and it was my most listened to album for sure. Happy to listen to some new stuff from them!)

2.  I Got Your Back by Paul Otten (One of his songs also made this list last November — really loving his music!)

3. Mother & Father by Broods (I have been obsessed with them this year! Every new single has been a LOVE for me)

4. Battles by Hudson Taylor

5. Disappear by Seryn

6. Brighter Days by Saint Raymond

 Honorable Mentions: Thirteen Sad Farewells by Stu Larsen, Are You Behind The Shining Star by Trampled By Turtles, From Eden by Hozier, Like A River Runs by Bleachers ( their whole album has been on repeat as I mentioned in my New To The Queue post this month..their singles have dominated this list each month so I figured I’d leave them off), This Is The Place by Sam Brookes, Feel by Bombay Bicycle Club, Tonight (Young Hearts) by The Colourist

Follow my JULY playlist

Top 3 Books I Read This Month:

I read 8 books this month which surprised me but then didn’t because I did some good pool side reading!

1. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas — Is it surprising to you I have something that ISN’T contemporary on this list?? I read Throne of Glass during Memorial Day weekend and this month I decided it was time to binge read CoM & HoF. As I type this I’m close to being done with HoF!
2. Let’s Get Lost by Adi Alsaid — Road trip book!! And very thought-provoking!
3. Isla & the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins: I so loved this one!! I have one issue with it, which I’ll share when I review it, but it didn’t really diminish my love for it if that makes sense!!

Most Popular Review This Month

Historical fiction for the win! You guys should definitely check out Brazen by Katherine Longshore!!

Most Popular 5 Blog Posts Overall This Month

1. How Do YOU Define A Spoiler?— This was SUCH a great discussion and I’m STILL responding to comments because it was that awesome of a discussion. Verdict: Spoilers are so subjective but do the best we can not to be asses about it!
2. What Is A Bookworm To Do??— In which I have a bookish dilemma and you enable me!
3. Top 10 Of My All Time FAVORITE Movies: It was so fun to talk about movies I love!
4.True Life: I Think I’m A Creep: Oh you guys I love you and that you let me know I’m almost normal. Maybe a little past that line but almost normal.
5. 10 Classics I Need To Read : I’m actually really craving to read a classic after making this post! Going to make some time this Fall I think and you helped me prioritize!

What I’ve Been Up To On The Youtubes This Month:

I’ve been quiet on the Youtubes this month. I haven’t felt like filming but I have two videos I still need to edit and put up. Balancing both has been HARD this month. I was all gung ho…but now I seem to not have time!

3 New Obsessions In July

3 Things I’m Looking Forward To In August

Favorite Quote From A Book I Read In July

From  Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour ( I think this SO applies to books too!)

“We love films because they makes us feel something. They speak to our desires, which are never small. They allow us to escape and to dream and to gaze into the eyes that are impossibly beautiful and huge. They fill us with longing. But also. they tell us to remember; they remind us of life. Remember, they say, how much it hurts to have your heart broken.”

6 Posts I Starred In My Reader That You Should Check Out

1. Hannah’s post on cultivating a curiosity for stories: This post was pure perfection. I wanted to comment on it but I was like I HAVE NO WORDS. I got goosebumps when I read it because this is how I feel!

2. Thou Shalt Determine A Thing’s Importance By How Easily It Can Be Measured:  I LOVED THIS. This was just a general LIFE post that really spoke to me but I was really thinking about how this applies really well to blogging. It’s easy to put the worth in these things that can be measured but they don’t really tell of something’s value and importance and aren’t the whole picture.

3. You’re Standing Where The Grass Is Greener: This could not be more true!! I needed this reminder as I’m really trying to work on embracing where I am in life.

4. For The Pursuit of Happiness: I loved this post from Jess and it made me reflect quite a bit. I am always a person who feels like I have to justify something I do but why can it not simply be for the pursuit of happiness?

5. Meg’s post about sex positive YA: I really loved this post and so respect Meg for sharing her experience. This is a REALLY great post!! (also, there are some really great suggestions of sex positive YA in the comments but I’d love to hear any books you think I will particularly love that are sex positive!)

6. Maggie’s post on how she has no desire to own a lot of books: She is surely in the minority in this community and I loved her thoughts because I’ve always been a bit of a minimalist when it came to books I keep after reading them but my book buying habits have also changed during my time of unemployment.

Pick a category (or 5… or all of them) and tell me what went on in YOUR life this month!! What sort of things were noteworthy for you this month? New obsessions? Any new song recs?? Best books you read this month? Great posts I missed on your blog?