I read a grown up book!

Top Secret Twenty One by Janet Evanovich


I even surprised myself when I got to the end of a book that was over 300 pages... it's been a while!  Lately the only books I've finished are the kinds with LOTS of pictures.  Now don't get me wrong, I love picture books and easy readers and I'm happy to count them in my number of books for the year but I was starting think that my nearly 37 year old attention span couldn't handle a book with more than one sentence on each page.

So what was the trick... reading something light, something where I already know and love the characters and pretty much know how things are going to turn out.  The trick was the 21st installment of my favorite comfort series with my old friends Stephanie, Ranger, Morelli, and of course Grandma. You will notice Ranger gets first mention there... I'm Team Ranger in my reading life, though I'd probably be team Morelli in real life.

In any case, I enjoyed this book like an evening out with old friends.  I always look forward to the new installment of this series to be part of my summer reading even though lots of fans complain that the story is getting old and Stephanie never picks between the two men in her life.  Somehow I'm OK with that.

Special perk of this book: Grandma has a bucket lists.  I love crazy Grandma and I love bucket lists :-) and hers has some pretty spectacular things on it... a few she manages to accomplish!  Way to go Grandma!

Now -- What to read next?

Music To My Ears and Happy Photo #23

One of my awesome friends and I have hit a few concerts recently with another one on the way next week and we are having a blast as always.

This past Saturday we hit up the Delaware State Fair to see Lady Antebellum and Joe Nichols and for the first time in our concert going dates we had PIT tickets... and let's just say it's going to be hard to want to buy normal seats EVER AGAIN!  It was so much fun to be standing in the very front row and we found there was actually much more space to move around in the pit then we have ever had in our assigned seats or even on the lawn... we had plenty of room to dance around and somehow there were no overly intoxicated fans running into us... this had been an ongoing problem for us in the past...I was beginning to think we were magnets :-)

Anyway - Lady A is incredible live... one of the best concerts I've ever seen... they sound great and and they do a lovely job interacting with their fans, something I find country musicians are lots better at doing than other genres.  So go see them.  Or go see any live music, there are plenty of free summer concerts happening and it's a lovely way to spend an evening.  If you're local to Anne Arundel County, check out the Dept of Recreation and Parks Summer Concert Series or if you are a Carroll County native check out Sam Hunt at the Carroll County Fair this Saturday evening (this one isn't free- but it's a nominal $15 fee and it's a great organization).

So get out there and enjoy some tunes... at the very least turn on your boom box (is that still an actual thing or is it all just ipods now) in the back yard and enjoy some music under the stars... It's good for the soul :-)

Just for fun... here are some pictures from our awesome time last weekend!

Happy Photos #19, 20, 21, & 22 - AKA Catching Up!

My favorite reading spot: my mom's chair with a cup of coffee!

Chocolate Blizzard with Peanut Butter Cup!  Yum!  Delivered to me after a long day by an awesome person.. even better

I signed many many papers with this pen! And now I own my very own house.

My favorite sneaks with hot pink accents... the pink makes me run faster :-)

Happy Photos #17 & #18 AND Crossing things off my list :-)

 Weekend fun... ok.. I know this is almost a week after the fact but this past weekend I crossed something off of my Rocking 2014 List!  Yay!!!  I love accomplishing things and you know.. the actual crossing things off of lists is fun too :-)  We had a great time in Harper's Ferry ziplining and then exploring the town... went with a great group of friends who didn't laugh at my lack of coordination once... ok, that's not actually true, but I can't blame them.  My struggle to get up a zipline "landing ramp" was pretty funny, and there is video of it.. ack!  It was definitely scary jumping off that first ledge which was actually a very pointy rock (you know - to add to the level of coordination needed and to up the fear factor!) but I'm glad I did it and would definitely do it again.

Happy Photos #'s 15 &16

Was a lovely disconnected weekend... pretty views and great company.

#15 Hiking! We took a lovely ranger guided hike that taught us all about how volcanos helped form the mountains...very informative guide showed us neat evidence in the different tupes of rocks and chatted like we knew her forever... There was just the two of us and her which I thought might be awkward but was quite lovely instead!  Plus she thought we looked like trail runners...I took that as a great compliment!

#16 awesome cat t-shirt from an awesome friend!

Happy Photo #14

Who needs a dance floor? I'll dance anywhere...especially the car...people at stoplights need the entertainment.
..lol.  Also for those who also follow along with Facebook status updates- this is the chocolate that got dipped in my pretzel salt...double happy:)

Happy Photo #13

This sign will always make me happy...I need to find the time to see it more often.

Happy Photos #'s 10, 11, & 12

Weekend fun...

Friday-- Sparklers with the family (and great cookout food and water balloons...I lost)

Saturday-- snowballs while watching a parade (what can I say...I will always love watching fire engines and marching bands! )

Sunday-- capped off a productive day with great company and a glass of blueberry wine by candlelight (citronella of course) on the deck.

Happy Photos #'s 7, 8, & 9

#7 Cherries!! Pop loved cherries and so does his girl.

#8 Confession... I recreated this one.  A note just like this was found by a young lady when I was helping her find a book. . She beamed...it made her day and mine!

#9 Some days a super bright outfit makes me feel more awake .. and who doesn't love a Summer Reading Club t-shirt :)