the giraffe life

When I used to buy books, I felt obligated to read them even if they were dreadful to get my money's worth. But checking out books from the library has removed that feeling, as has getting older and receiving encouragement from others to just let go of books that I'm not enjoying. That's not to say I stop reading books willy-nilly but it's nice to have that guilt-free option in the back of my mind if I'm struggling to finish something.  This month in particular has been rough for actually finishing books (or maybe I've just been too picky) so I thought I'd share the books I didn't complete rather than the ones I did. (Though if you're interested in what I did read, you can always check out my goodreads page.) Links take you to the book's page on goodreads A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - Pretty hard to read a romance novel when you hate the supposed love interest (in this case, a super bossy vampire named Matthew). The final...

Usually my meal planning is fairly laid back. I look over the sale ads, pick out 2-3 meals I feel like making this week, and try to do as much of the cooking as possible on Sunday so we can ride out the work week on leftovers. But this does sometimes lead to dinner ruts or accidentally making two very similar meals super close to each other (tacos and enchiladas a few days apart).  I figured keeping track of what we're eating for longer periods would alleviate the dinner ruts and help us remember some of those recipes we just haven't made for a while.  I saw this idea on pinterest and liked it immediately, but it's taken me seemingly forever to just DO IT. I gave up on making it pretty like the original and that made all the difference.  Completely fictional menu plan to give an idea of how it will look - I don't cook nearly this much, considering there are only two of us to consume all the food. And don't mind Monkey's tail, the turkey sketch, or that I f...

Most of my maternity wardrobe One thing I've really struggled with this pregnancy is getting dressed! Sounds silly, right? It's tough to find blog posts about how much maternity clothing you'll actually need because it's so personal. What one person considers appropriate work attire or "enough" doesn't always match your situation. So I figured I'd throw my experience out there :)  Here's what I've bought and my thoughts!  Oh, and I linked to something similar when I could. Links are not  affiliate - these companies don't even know I exist!   Work Appropriate - 19 items for $298 1 pre-maternity cardigan 2  tank tops - $20 (worn with pre-maternity cardigan) 6 short sleeve  blouses - $70 (1 from a yard sale, 1 from a thrift shop, the others buy 3, get 1 free) 4 long sleeve shirts - $25 (1 from a yard sale, 1 from a thrift shop, 2 from Pink Blush end of season clearance) 1 formal dress  - $88 (worn with  pre-maternity  ...