Weekly Reads: Dumplin'

Dumplin'is the first book by Julie Murphy that I have read, and I was counting down the minutes to get my hands on it. It has popped up over and over again and must read lists. It did not disappoint. It is an excellent young adult read about body image, body issues, typical teenage friendship issues, dealing with death, and a beauty pageant. Basically a recipe for awesomeness, right? Right.

My rating: 5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked…until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

Honeymoon: Door County

Tuesday morning it was time to say goodbye to Green Bay, and to make our way up north to Door County for our last night of our honeymoon. A PSL was necessary.

 

When the lighting is good, your hair is great, and Kyle is loading up the truck, you take a selfie, duh.

Whenever Kyle goes fishing with his brother up north, he always stops here to pick me up my beloved cheese. We spent too much time and too much money here, for sure.

 

We may it to Sturgeon Bay, and Kyle and I found an adorable farm to table type restaurant to enjoy for a late lunch. Throughout our trip, I was shocked to see so many vegetarian and vegan options at restaurants. We don't see that nearly as much in Sioux Falls.

 

my husband <3

I had a beer (duh). This was one of the brewery's I had planned to stop at on the way up to Green Bay but we ran out of time. It was delish. I also had an awesome veggie black bean burger and a butternut squash soup, because I was *GASP* somewhat cheese and fried food-ed out (but not beer'd out, NEVER!) #balance or something.

 

We had some time before we could check in, so we checked out the cute little tourist shops around town. I almost bought this sign for Kyle. :) So many antique shops, I'm surprised I didn't come home with the back of Kyle's truck filled up with junk.

 

For dinner, we went further up north to the town that Kyle camps and fishes at every year for his birthday. I found a restaurant that was opened by a couple who honeymooned in Door County over 32 years ago and fell in love with the place. Awww love. It was our last night so we had amazing dinners. 

I apparently only photographed my beer. I could've never made it as a food blogger. Let's just say there were scallops which are my faaaaaavorite.

 

On our way out, I picked up this little card to frame to remind us of our honeymoon. I really hope we can make our way back there to celebrate our anniversary each year. I could've spent forever up there, and we had half a day. :(

 

Wednesday morning we grabbed a quick carb filled breakfast before hitting the road on our long drive home. 

Awesome bike artwork on the wall.

 

Kyle stopped for gas across from a dog store/bakery, so I had to buy Ollie some treats.

 

 

On the way home, it was operation buy-all-the-Wisconsin-beer. I picked up $40 worth at the first gas station we stopped at. I bought so much that I got a free pint glass with my purchase. Then on another bathroom stop, I picked up more..... 

Let's just say that my fridge is 75% delicious Wisconsin beer. And no I won't share. 

 

When can we go back and do it again?!?!?

Weekly Reads: Circus Mirandus

Circus Mirandushas cropped up on a few Mock Newbery lists so I was dying to get my hands on it, not to mention that people have compared it to The Night Circus, but for children. I could not put it down. It was amazing. And every kid and adult should read it. I would not be surprised if this walks away with an award!

My rating: 5 stars!

Summary from goodreads:

Fans of Big Fish, Peter Pan, and Roald Dahl will fall in love with Circus Mirandus, which celebrates the power of seeing magic in world.

Do you believe in magic?
Micah Tuttle does.

Even though his awful Great-Aunt Gertrudis doesn’t approve, Micah believes in the stories his dying Grandpa Ephraim tells him of the magical Circus Mirandus: the invisible tiger guarding the gates, the beautiful flying birdwoman, and the magician more powerful than any other—the Man Who Bends Light. Finally, Grandpa Ephraim offers proof. The Circus is real. And the Lightbender owes Ephraim a miracle. With his friend Jenny Mendoza in tow, Micah sets out to find the Circus and the man he believes will save his grandfather.

The only problem is, the Lightbender doesn't want to keep his promise. And now it's up to Micah to get the miracle he came for.

Weekly Training Recap

Tuesday I woke up at insanely-early-o'clock to attend an ashtanga class by Zoe Ward. It was 90 minutes of sweating my hiney off and contorting my body into positions I've never imagined. Like whoa.

 

Wednesday was group run and yoga day. Jenn ran with me for an easy 2 miles. I got to hear her abbreviated report on the Twin Cities Marathon. I only went two because I was having some out of the normal hamstring tightness and wonky knee weirdness. After the run I stretched, and then it was time for yoga!

This was my first class teaching in four weeks, since I was off while on my honeymoon. I missed my yogis, and we had a fun flow together! My hammies felt much better when I walked out of the running store.

 

Thursday morning I was back up and at em for more yoga, this time mysore style ashtanga. It was further proof that I'm terrible at memorizing the ashtanga sequence, and that I am just a baby in my ashtanga practice. Uff. That's why it's a practice, eh?

Sunday
night I enjoyed a magical hour of restorative yoga. Magic, I swear.

Honeymoon: MNF Packers Game

At around 4pm, I couldn't wait any longer, so we got a cab from our hotel to the stadium. One of Kyle's old co-workers is a huge Packers fan and was already tailgating, so we met up with them. I was so excited to bust out one of my purchases to cover my beer.

 

And a necessary selfie to show off my new hat (with rain in the forecast it was a necessary purchase (or so i tell myself).

For a non-Packers fan, he sure looks like he's having a good time. AND he's even wearing green!

 

Packers colors are green, gold, hunter orange, and on occasion: rain gear. Glad we snagged ponchos for a buck before we head over. It rained on and off throughout tailgating, but clearly I didn't care. At one point I uttered, "I'm....just....so.....happy!" to Kyle and almost exploded on the spot.

 

I wasn't quite to their level of busting out dance moves, but good for them.

 

And when it was finally time to make our way in, the skies just opened up. 

 

Like a little kid on Christmas morning over here.

 

Go Pack Go!

 

Surely not the best photo of the newlyweds, but it's the only one we got in the stadium, so it'll have to do.

 

Best. Honeymoon. Ever.

Weekly Reads (Listens): Why Not Me?

Why Not Me?is the newest book by Mindy Kaling, but you probably didn't need me to tell you that. I adored her last book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? so I was excited to pick up the audio version of this one as soon as it came out. I convinced Kyle to listen to the first disc on the drive home from our honeymoon. Let's just say that he is not Mindy's target audience.

The other three discs I listened to on my own, and I enjoyed them. Some decent LOL moments.

My rating: 3.5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

From the author of the beloved New York Times bestselling book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and the creator and star of The Mindy Project comes a collection of essays that are as hilarious and insightful as they are deeply personal.

In Why Not Me?, Kaling shares her ongoing journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life, whether it’s falling in love at work, seeking new friendships in lonely places, attempting to be the first person in history to lose weight without any behavior modification whatsoever, or most important, believing that you have a place in Hollywood when you’re constantly reminded that no one looks like you.

In “How to Look Spectacular: A Starlet’s Confessions,” Kaling gives her tongue-in-cheek secrets for surefire on-camera beauty, (“Your natural hair color may be appropriate for your skin tone, but this isn’t the land of appropriate–this is Hollywood, baby. Out here, a dark-skinned woman’s traditional hair color is honey blonde.”) “Player” tells the story of Kaling being seduced and dumped by a female friend in L.A. (“I had been replaced by a younger model. And now they had matching bangs.”) In “Unlikely Leading Lady,” she muses on America’s fixation with the weight of actresses, (“Most women we see onscreen are either so thin that they’re walking clavicles or so huge that their only scenes involve them breaking furniture.”) And in “Soup Snakes,” Kaling spills some secrets on her relationship with her ex-boyfriend and close friend, B.J. Novak (“I will freely admit: my relationship with B.J. Novak is weird as hell.”)

Mindy turns the anxieties, the glamour, and the celebrations of her second coming-of-age into a laugh-out-loud funny collection of essays that anyone who’s ever been at a turning point in their life or career can relate to. And those who’ve never been at a turning point can skip to the parts where she talks about meeting Bradley Cooper.

Honeymoon: Green Bay

I woke up the Sunday after our wedding with the typical (or so I've heard) post-wedding blues. Until I realized that I was going to see the Packers play at Lambeau Field for Monday Night Football the VERY NEXT DAY.

We got a really late start to Green Bay on Sunday. I had planned for us to be on the road by 10am. Six hours later......

 

We didn't get to our hotel until 12:30pm and we were exhausted. Luckily I got to watch the Blood Moon eclipse the entire drive to Green Bay. 

Monday we woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed. Kyle hightailed it off to some bait shop while I got ready for our day. He wanted to have the infamous cheese curd burger that I had the last time I was in Green Bay, so I obliged. For a 7pm football game, there was already $20 parking at the restaurant we went to. 

I ordered a beer, even though it late morning, I still got a beer, and the server asked why Kyle wasn't having a big kid soda. When in Green Bay, man.....

 

 

 

 

A whole page of Wisconsin brewed beers? ahhh.....

Buffalo and bleu cheese cheese curds. Good god.

 

I made Kyle take a picture with this giant beer can because it's his favorite kind of beer (yuck).

Next we went to the cheap-ish Packers/Wisconsin store near the stadium. Last time I was here I discovered this place AFTER i spent way too much at the Packers Pro Shop. I almost had Kyle convinced to buy this Badgers zip up. #babysteps

Next up: Titletown Brewery!

 

The restaurant was full, so we went over to the tasting room which was stellar. Why don't I have my own brewery? I enjoyed a delicious flight, and even found a light beer for Kyle to enjoy. The actual bar was broken beer bottles in resin over the top. So cool.

The events manager took us up to the recently opened upper bar so we could see the view from up there. They recently started doing weddings there, and the mayor's daughter used it for her wedding reception. #jealz

From there we went tailgaiting, but the game will be a separate post (this should not be shocking). Tuesday morning, we went back to Lambeau to say goodbye to my buddies before we were on our way to Door County.

  

I tried to justify a life sized wall hanging of Aaron Rodgers, but couldn't quite do it. I did manage to come under budget with my Packers Pro Shop purchases though, so I'm pretty proud of myself.

One last pic before we left the atrium.

Bye bud!

 

Until next time Vince!