Friday 5+1 (5 Things I Love + 1 Thing I Don’t) – 9.22.17

Thank you all for your kind comments and experiences on my college drop off post.  I appreciate hearing your stories, and enjoyed sharing my own.  The best part is that my son seems to be adjusting well and working hard, which makes this mama happy.  Writing it all down is kind of therapeutic, actually, so thanks for letting me share. – I’ll have to do that more often.  🙂  I haven’t shared a Friday 5+1 for a couple weeks, so I have a lot to share!  Let’s get to it!  This post contains some affiliate links.

Dresser Turned Vanity

This is a look that I never seem to tire of, especially when it’s done well.  My friend Colleen recently remodeled their bathroom, and I’m smitten with this gorgeous dresser turned vanity.  Especially since she took the time to get the piece of stone fabricated to fit the profile of the dresser so perfectly!  And yes, that’s a shiplap wall.  I’m working to put together a post of her bathroom and kitchen remodel (which are amazing), so consider this a teaser.  Isn’t it gorgeous?

Before We Were Yours

I have been busting through books like a madwoman, and Before We Were Yours was a great read, that had been showing up in my “You might like” list for awhile.  

It’s a fictional novel that is based on actual events, but they were events that I hadn’t heard of before listening to this book.  Here is the Amazon excerpt:

Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge – until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents – but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals – in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country – Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.

It was heart-wrenching and riveting all at once.  I couldn’t stop listening to it, and was even more astounded to hear how this went  on as long as it did.  Again, this was a great read, and I highly recommend it (on Amazon, it said it’s for fans of Orphan Train and The Nightingale, which is my most favorite book, ever).  True to form, it lived up to expectations.

The Secret

After finishing Before We Were Yours, I was anxious to dive in to a new book because I had been in such a great book mode.  I read The Letter awhile back, and really enjoyed it, so I gave The Secret a whirl.  Here is the Amazon description:

Mary has been nursing a secret.

Forty years ago, she made a choice that would change her world for ever, and alter the path of someone she holds dear.

Beth is searching for answers. She has never known the truth about her parentage, but finding out could be the lifeline her sick child so desperately needs. When Beth finds a faded newspaper cutting amongst her mother’s things, she realises the key to her son’s future lies in her own past. She must go back to where it all began to unlock…the Secret.

This doesn’t scratch the surface on this story – but I found it quite captivating and intriguing right from the start.  It took turns that I didn’t anticipate, and I enjoyed this book very much.  Looking forward to more books from Kathryn Hughes – I’ve enjoyed her books so far!

iCracked.com

Now, I personally have never cracked my iPhone screen, but there have been people in our family who have, and shall remain nameless.  However, I did need my iPhone battery replaced, as it seemed to be draining faster than it should.  Enter iCracked.com.  They will fix your phone and will come to your house or meet you at a location of your choice to do it, and they were cheaper than if I had gone to the Apple Store to have them fix it.  Convenient and less expensive?  I’ll take it!  We’ve used them twice, and have been very pleased with their service.

Inside the Mind of a Procrastinator

If you’re a chronic procrastinator like I am (or even if you’re not, but know people who are), please watch this hysterically funny, yet insightful TED Talk on the subject.  It’s like he’s in my head, and it’s exactly the way I think.  And it’s the reason why I find The One Room Challenge projects so appealing (and I’m going to participate again this fall).  I need a deadline.  But I can’t set the deadline…

My +1 for the week – Getting my eyes dilated

I went to the eye doctor this week, and had the lovely experience of getting my eyes dilated.  Can someone explain to me why I can’t look at an eclipse, but my eye doctor can magnify a bright light directly into my eyeball, simulating a visual visit to the sun?   My eyes hurt just thinking about it.

Have a great weekend!

Jenny