Happy Friday! I hope you had a great week! Last Saturday we were notified that our daughter was in close contact with a classmate who tested positive for COVID so she’s been quarantining all week. My son started modified track and field this week. This is his first year, so it’s a new experience. Here are five from the past week:
1.Kusama at NYBG – last Saturday my husband and I went to the New York Botanical Garden to see the Kusama exhibit. I had been waiting since last year, since it had to be postponed due to COVID. It is a great exhibit and we had such a beautiful day to visit!
2. Reading – I am finishing up Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. It’s a multigenerational historical fiction set in Africa book about two half-sisters. It’s a good, but not light read!
3. Low Carb diet – Monday I started a low carb diet. I LOVE carbs so I’ve never tried going low carb. However, four days in and I already feel a difference in my energy. Hopefully, I’ll also shed some pounds before summer as well. I’m not going to lie, it’s difficult when everyone else in the family is eating all the carbss. But I’m trying!
4. Cooking – Last night I made Cheesy Vegetarian Zucchini Enchiladas from skinnytaste. They were tasty but I didn’t realize the recipe only made 4! I ended up making the rest of the family quesadillas with the leftover cheese and tortillas!
Tulips at the NYBG
5.– SpringWeather – I am loving the spring weather. Wednesday got up to low 80’s! The flowers are blooming and everything is looking lush and pretty! It’s perfect weather for lunchtime walks and weekend hikes!
Over the past year our family has become familiar with Scenic Hudson Parks. Founded in 1963, this environmental group works to conserve, protect, advocate and educate. There are currently 45 Scenic Hudson Parks located throughout the Hudson Valley in 8 different counties. With the arrival of warmer weather, now is a great time to get outside and visit some of these parks. Below are 6 Scenic Hudson Parks that we think are worth visiting. We hope to visit many more parks this year! Have you been to any Scenic Hudson Parks? Which one is your favorite?!
Dutchess County:
Madam Brett Park (Beacon) – Visit this park if you love waterfalls and don’t want a strenuous hike. Read our full blog post for additional information.
Mount Beacon Park (Beacon) – Visit Mount Beacon if you want a more strenuous hike with amazing views.
Walkway over the Hudson State Historic Park (Poughkeepsie) – Enjoy the walkway if you want beautiful views and an easy, flat path. Read our full blog post for more information.
Putnam County:
West Point Foundry Preserve (Cold Spring) – Visit the West Point Foundry Preserve if you want an easy hike mixed with history and some pretty views. Read our full blog post for additional information.
Ulster County:
Black Creek Preserve (Esopus) – Visit Black Creek Preserve if you want to cross a cool suspension bridge and get some up close views of the Hudson River.
Falling Waters Preserve (Glasco) – Visit Falling Waters Preserve for up close views of the Hudson River and a couple of small waterfalls.
Walkway over the Hudson State Historic Park (Highland) – You can also access the Walkway over the Hudson across the river in Highland. Scenic Hudson Park at Peekskill Landing (Peekskill) – Visit Peekskill Landing if you want up close views of the Hudson River with easy paved walkways and restaurants within walking distance.
Happy Friday! I hope you had a great week! The big drama this week was my son getting a large splinter in his foot, which turned into a trip to Urgent Care, and crutches. We have had him taking it easy since his first modified track and field practice starts Monday! The other drama was my daughter losing one of her air pods, when it fell out of her ear when she was getting off the bus. Fortunately, one of the teachers at school found it. Here are five from the past week:
1. Day Date - I took a vacation day last Friday. My husband and I went to Untermyer Gardens and the Hudson River Museum, both in Yonkers and both places we know our kids would rather not visit! The gardens were so beautiful and since it was a weekday morning, they were empty.
3. Family Party - Last Saturday we had family over to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. We hadn’t seen my husband’s family since July! All the grandparents are vaccinated and it was just nice to be able to hug and catch up in person. We ended up cooking a ton of food (eggplant parm, white veggie lasagna, ravioli in vodka sauce) which I took no pictures of! I also made peanut butter brownie bars and key lime bars to have along with the ice cream cake my daughter requested.
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Hello Friday! I hope everyone had a great week! This week my daughter turned 15! She had her friends over on Wednesday night to help celebrate and this weekend we are having family over. I took today off of work since I have some vacation days that I need to use before the end of June. Sadly, the weather isn’t looking great, but my husband and I plan to enjoy a day date! Here are five from the past week:
1.Eating – On a recent trip to Aldi I picked up this Salsa con Queso. It’s addictingly good and I’ve been eating it with tortilla chips all week long!
2. Reading – I am reading Happy & You Know It by Laura Hankin. It’s about moms in an infant playgroup and all the going ons in their wealthy lives. It’s a light, mindless read. Perfect after having just finished The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah which was sooo good, but really sad and depressing.
3. Ice Cream – Last weekend we went to the Danbury Mall. We got rolled ice cream and bubble tea for the kids from Papa-T. They love both these things so it was a win!
4. Celebrating – My daughter’s 15th birthday! Her birthday was Wednesday and she celebrated by having her close group of friends over for pizza and cake. They had a Just Dance Wii marathon and played giant Uno. She had a great night! I’m glad she was able to enjoy the day with friends after last year’s birthday that was right in the beginning of the pandemic.
5. Cooking – One of our favorite dinners this week was Bruschetta Orzo Zucchini Boats. The original recipe called for quinoa, but no one except my husband likes quinoa. So I substituted orzo which went well with the flavors of the dish.
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March seems so long ago! It was a good reading month though with a bunch of 4 and even a 5 star book! This month I read a lot of suspense/thriller books. Here are my March reads!
3 stars:
While I Was Away by Waka T. Brown – (January 2021, Middle Grade/Memoir) Twelve-year-old Waka is sent to Tokyo, Japan for five months to live with her grandmother to improve her Japanese. She attends school while navigating a new language and trying to make friends. This book is based on the author’s own experiences. I found the book fairly slow and am not sure how much it will appeal to the targeted audience.
4 stars:
Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens – (August 2021, Suspense/Thriller) I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. Hailey McBride is living with her aunt and her super strict husband. She runs away to live in the woods, hoping that people think she was a victim of the Cold Creek Highway killer. Meanwhile, Amber Chevalier is murdered by the killer. A year later her sister Beth arrives to attend a memorial for her sister and other victims and ends up staying in Cold Creek. As she tries to find her sister’s murderer she puts herself in danger. I’ve been a fan of Chevy Stevens for awhile and this suspense read didn’t disappoint.
Dear Childby Romy Hausmann – (May 2020, Suspense/Thriller) Lena Beck has been missing for 14 years. A woman named Lena appears at a hospital. She has killed her captor after being held captive in a cabin with her two children. The police and Lena’s parents try to figure out what happened but there are many unanswered questions. Told from three different POV, this book is a bit on the dark side. It is different from, but has similarities to Room by Emma Donoghue.
Every Last Secret by A.R. Torre – (December 2020, Suspense/Thriller) – Cat and her husband William are a wealthy and successful couple. When Neena Ryder is hired as a life coach for William’s company, she becomes a bit obsessive over Cat and William’s life. Told in alternating chapters between Cat and Neena, the two women become engaged in a game of manipulation. Although none of the characters were likable, this was an enjoyable, suspense read.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab – (October 2020, Fantasy/Historical Fiction) In 1714 a young woman makes a deal to live forever but is forgotten by everyone she meets. But after 300 years, she ends up meeting a man who is able to remember her. This book has been so hyped up on previous book posts and social media. I didn’t know anything about this book before reading it but decided to see if it was worth all of the hype. The first half of the book was pretty slow for me and I almost stopped reading it. However, it really picks up and I ended up really enjoying it.
When I was You by Amber Garza – (August 2020, Suspense/Thriller) Kelly Medina accidentally discovers that there’s another woman in town with her same name. The two end up meeting and become friends but one of them becomes obsessed with the other and one of them disappears. This was a good suspense read with a lot of twists.
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins – (January 2021, Suspense/Thriller) Jane is a dog walker in a wealthy suburban neighborhood where she meets Eddie. He is a young, wealthy recent widow, whose wife, Bea, died in a boating accident. The two end up falling for each other, but Jane can’t get over Bea. This is allegedly a modern retelling of Jane Eyre (which I read YEARS ago and didn’t love). However, I found this to be an enjoyable read with lots of twists.
5 stars:
Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson – (January 2021, Historical Fiction) Pheby Brown was born a slave but promised her freedom on her 18th birthday. But on the day of her birthday she is sent to Devil’s Half-Acre, a jail in Virginia where she is force to become the jail owner’s wife. However, she does whatever she needs to do to protect her loved ones. This book is based on true events. Although it’s about a difficult subject, this book is very well written.
Sharing with Steph and Jana’s monthly Show Us Your Books linkup!
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Hello Friday and Hello April! We will be doing a lot of celebrating this month with Easter, our wedding anniversary and our daughter’s birthday. This week I used some vacation days and had four days off from work. The weather wasn’t great, so we didn’t do too much. However, it was relaxing and restful. On Sunday (Easter) we are hosting just my parents for dinner. They have been fully vaccinated and it will be nice to finally be able to eat a meal with them. Happy Easter! Here are five from the past week:
1.Vaccinated – Monday afternoon I got my second COVID vaccine (Moderna). I am fully vaccinated! I was super nervous that I’d have a reaction, after hearing stories. However, besides a sore arm and feeling a little achy all over I was fine. Now that vaccine eligibility has opened up to those age 30 and over, we got my husband an appointment in mid-April.
2. Reading – I am finishing up What Could Be Saved by Liese O’Halloran Schwarz. I’m trying to finish it since it’s due back at the library on Saturday and can’t be renewed. At this point, I’m not loving it and am reading it to finish it. Up next is Layla by Colleen Hoover. I’m very excited since she’s one of my favorite authors!
3. Decluttering – This week I spent a LOT of time organizing and decluttering. Yesterday my husband helped me drop off donations to Yorktown Love in Action and the Goodwill. There is plenty more cleaning and decluttering to be done, but it feels so good to get the stuff out of the house.
4. Baking – This week my daughter made banana chocolate chip muffins since we had some overly ripe bananas.
5. Anniversary Dinner – My husband and I celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary on Sunday (Easter). We opted to celebrate earlier in the week. Although we’ve been vegetarian for over almost a year and a half now, we wanted to celebrate at Brothers Fish and Chips in Ossining. They have a seafood tasting menu that is amazing. You never know what you will get, but everything is always delicious…and beautifully plated. It was so good and I was soooooo full!
6. Watching – We started watching Mank (Netflix) because it’s gotten so many Oscar nominations, but I fell asleep. I finished watching The One (Netflix) and have started Tell Me Your Secrets (Amazon).
