Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Music, Books, Miles, and Looks of August

Music:



Felt Good on My Lips by Tim McGraw - Yep, I am still on a summer country kick!  I love this song!  I bet it's awesome to see him perform this live.  I adore Tim McGraw and have such a crush on him.

Books:

I read a lot of books in August!!  

The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares -  I actually did not like this book when I first started it, but ended up loving it.  It tells the story of a sort-of love triangle between 2 sisters and their childhood friend, Paul.  I think Brashares is such a great writer.  One of my favorite lines from the book was, "You could spend the rest of your life longing for a single idealized moment that may not have even happened."  That quote resonates with me as I have definitely romanticized certain times from my past.

Looking for Alaska by John Green - Another great book by John Green. Having loved the book, "The Fault in Our Stars," I thought there was a good chance this book might fall short of my expectations. It did not. Green is a brilliant writer! It's classified as young adult, but I think it transcends that genre and deserves a league of its own, honestly.  

All Over the Map by Laura Fraser - This is the sequel to the book, "An Italian Affair," which I read and loved in the my 20s.  I enjoyed this book, but didn't LOVE it and it's not something I'd really recommend to others.  In this sequel, Fraser is trying to reconcile the fact that she is 40, single, and childless.  I can relate to the fact that her life is turning out differently than she imagined, and some of her thoughts mirror mine, like when she says, "... I am losing the threads of my story that have to do with disappointment, with regret, with difficulties with men.  I am happy for the wonderful men I have in my life, would be happy for a new love, and am happy either way."  But there were also many passages where I just couldn't relate to her, like when she stays in relationships where she seems to be settling.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed - I had a hard time writing my goodreads review for this book.  On one hand, I love reading about Strayed's experiences hiking over 1,100 miles of the Pacific Coast Trail.  On the other hand, it was painful to read about some of the decision she had made, such a using drugs and (repeatedly) cheating on her husband.  I sypathize with the fact that her rough childhood and the experience of losing her mom at a young age were the catalyst for some of those decisions, but it was still difficult to read...  That said, I would still recommend this book!

Bloom by Kelle Hampton - I requested this book from the library after seeing it mentioned on several blogs that I read.  It was such a great book. In this book Hampton shares the experience of unexpectedly finding out her daughter has Down Syndrome when she is born.  It's heart breaking and uplifting at the same time and is beautifully written.  It also includes many adorable pictures of Hampton's family.

Paris in Love by Eloisa James - This is memoir about an American family that moves to Paris for a year.  It's not something I would widely recommend but it was a good book that provided a 'Paris fix' for me (which is something I seem to need on a monthly basis!).  Each chapter included snippets that she has shared on twitter and FB, which initially gave the book a bit of a disjointed feel, but  grew on me by the end.

Miles:

It was another strong running month, which included my first (of 3) 20 mile runs!  Eeks, hitting that point makes the marathon seem so much more real.  I ran a total of 163.25 - I am not sure, but that might be my highest mileage month ever!!  I continue to feel really strong on my runs, which I think is due to the fact that I came in with a really strong base.

Looks:


This is my favorite casualish look of the month.  Of course it involves stripes.  Just call me the ambassador of stripes!! I got this dress half off at Gap.  When I bought this dress, the (gay) sales associate told me I will meet my husband wearing this dress (he saw me try it on).  Ha.  I think it will be a great fall dress as I can pair it with tights and boots.  I am pretty sure this will be my Julia Child night outfit!



This is my favorite "professional" look for the month.  I had a 50% coupon for Banana Republic so decided to buy some staple items for my fall wardrobe.  I will be traveling so much, I know I will need more of these type of outfits, so I am glad I got some on sale.  

22 comments:

Gracie said...

I can totally see that dress for fall, too! That's the kind of piece you want in your closet.

missris said...

LOVE that dress! But I'm also a stripes ambassador in a big way :) They're just so versatile!

Caroline said...

Love your two outfits! How crazy would it be if the salesman was right?! You'd have to like hunt him down and tell him, ha.
I also love Tim McGraw :)

AshleyD said...

Both of those outfits are so cute! Now I really want to go shopping!

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

I love Tim McGraw too. Actually most of his songs are pretty great! You ran A LOT this month. I knew you had put in a lot of miles, but I didn't realize it was that many! You have really ramped it up fast. It's amazing how running more than one 20 miler can really up your mileage!

Marlys said...

Lots of reading and running this month! And I love both the outfits and your new hair-do! They will come in handy for all the traveling you are doing in the weeks ahead!

Raquelita said...

You did do a lot of reading this past month! I just made a couple of requests from the library for recreational reads and hope they come in soon. I'm trying to spend less on books on and e-books for a couple of months.

I love the striped dress!

Leigh said...

Love your second outfit (and your first too!). Might have to check out BR, though I don't have to be that dressy for work. I love these posts because you read some great books so I always find new books to read through you

Nora said...

I would LOVE to go shopping with you sometime. You have such an awesome professional look and it looks so great on you, too! I still feel like I haven't found my professional look yet. Maybe I need to go to the Gap where you got the striped dress =)

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

I LOVE your BR look. So flattering. I need a new pencil skirt to replace one I had to donate last year.

Elizabeth said...

Awesome job on the mileage--that's amazing! LOVE both outfits :) And you can mix & match all of it into so many other combos. I felt the same way about Wild--we read it for my bookclub earlier this summer. I enjoyed reading her journey but it was the 3rd book I'd read about the PCT and they all sort of started to read the same.... thanks for the book reviews though---I'm always looking for new suggestions, even with a stack of 20 to read on my shelves! :) Haha. Hope you have a great week ahead.

Amber @ A Little Pink in the Cornfields said...

I just got Bloom today from the library, I am sure I am going to love it!

That striped dress is adorable on you!

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

I see a red scarf with that dress (maybe even a beret??) and it'll be perfect for the Julia Child night (I bet comfy, too!)!!

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

I totally left out looks when I did this because my outfits were all the same as July haha. You definitely killed the reading this month too, good work!

Finally, I could not agree more about Tim McGraw. I am not one for the random celebrity crushes but if I have to have one, he is definitely mine. I've seen him in concert kind of an absurd number of times and once I touched him. True story. haha.

Becky said...

Holy mother of reading Batman! You tore through some books last month!

Love those outfits on you - and can't wait to see your new 'do in person soon!

P.S. Tim McGraw never gets old - love to hear him, love to see him. The end.

Stephany said...

I adore that dress SO much. You always have the cutest outfits!!

Amber said...

I really love both your "looks" this month! I also think I am going to start doing this recap on my blog - it's so fun :)

Abby said...

I love love love you in that dress! The striped one. Too cute!!

Are you getting a lot of reading time with all the traveling you are doing this month? I'm sure you are facing many lay overs. It seems like whenver Ryan travels for work his flights get delayed because they are usually flights that were booked at the last minute.

Does Tim McGraw still write music? Or is that an older song of his?

qwerkyqook said...

Holy buckets, that grey/purple combo is awesome. I want that exact outfit in my closet!!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

I love your outfits girl! They look very classy :-)

Shoshanah said...

I really liked The Last Summer (of You and Me) back when I read it. At the time I remember seeing that they were working on a movie version, but since then I haven't heard anything about it. But I'm still hopeful that it's going to happen.

Melissa said...

You had a busy reading month- as usual for you! I think Looking for Alaska is my favorite by John Green, but possibly because it's the first I ever read from him a few years back. I love the 'famous last words' thing and the last line from that book is one of my all time favorites, ever.