vacation – Page 2 – Peaceful Reader

Reading Retreat 2015

In about a week’s time I will be enjoying warmer weather in a Southern city with two friends. Our plan is to have a reading retreat-24 hours of reading bliss where we will talk books, have a glass of wine, maybe knit a little as we talk, revel in each other’s company. I can’t wait and I hope this week school flies by! I’m excited to be in the presence of fareaway friends.

Months ago we each picked a book to share:

A Place at the table by Susan Rebecca White (2013):
Alice Stone is famous for the homemade southern cuisine she serves at Café Andres and her groundbreaking cookbook, but her past is a mystery to all who know her. Upon Alice’s retirement, Bobby Banks, a young gay man ostracized by his family in Georgia, sets out to revive the aging café with his new brand of southern cooking while he struggles with heartbreak like he’s never known. Seeking respite from the breakup of her marriage, wealthy divorcée Amelia Brighton finds solace in the company and food at Café Andres, until a family secret comes to light in the pages of Alice’s cookbook and threatens to upend her life. (amazon)

Dramarama by E. Lockhart (2007):
Two theater-mad, self-invented fabulositon Ohio teenagers.

One boy, one girl.

One gay, one straight.

One black, one white.

And SUMMER DRAMA CAMP.

It’s a season of hormones,

gold lame,

hissy fits,

jazz hands. (amazon)

A hundred pieces of me by Lucy Dillon (2014):
Reeling from her recent divorce, Gina Bellamy suddenly finds herself figuring out how to live on her own. Determined to make a fresh start—with her beloved rescue greyhound by her side—Gina knows drastic measures are in order. First up: throwing away all her possessions except for the one hundred things that mean the most to her. But what items are worth saving? Letters from the only man she’s ever loved? A keepsake of the father she never knew? Or a blue glass vase that perfectly captures the light? As she lets go of the past, Gina begins to come to terms with what has happened in her life and discovers that seizing the day is sometimes the only thing to do. And when one decides to do just that…magic happens. (amazon)

All three sound excellent! I finished A place at the table, am 1/2 way through Dramarama, and will read A hundred pieces of me this week. I’ll let ya’ll know how magnificent the retreat is?

Montana holiday

{Beautiful bison}

Our trip was amazing. We loved the trip out as we crossed through Sioux Falls, SD (ate at Minerva’s) all the way to Bozeman, MT and headed even further to Big Sky. We stayed at the wonderfully rustic 320 Guest Ranch right outside Big Sky. The large cabin was set up into the woods and we hiked down the small hill to the dining hall for a breakfast buffet and over to the fire pit to roast marshmallows at night. We took several hikes, went on a 2-hour trail ride on horseback, and played a lot of frisbee with the cousins. I am so excited to be home and I’m shocked that I stayed so busy on our trip that I didn’t post once. I always think there will be tons of time to laze around to read and write-not the case though so I have to make up for it with a few key photos.

{Horseback sitting at 320 Guest Ranch}

{Yellowstone Lake}

{Teenage moose}

I will share more of our adventure in the days to come as well as a few book reviews of what I finished as we drove.

For now happy 4th of July! I am happy for our freedom-hard fought as it was and is every day still in many different ways. I wish freedom could come to all people whether it be out of bondage, out of economical trials, or educational access. We have many battles still to fight.

My Vacation Reads

We just spent 15 days traveling and I can chart our journey by the books that I read. First up Strange but true by John Searles. I sat in the back of our Vue and loved the heck out of this thrilling book while I mentally thanked my husband and son for doing such a fine job of driving. Before leaving on our road trip I’d finished Boy still missing (his first book) which made me steal Strange but true right off my husband’s to-read book pile. I’m impressed with Searles’ creativity. His stories lean toward the bizarre and twisted yet are believable and oh, so crafty. If you have not picked up any of his books yet please do-you won’t be disappointed. He has a new book coming out in September, Help for the Haunted. I want an ARC of this book so much I would jump up and down to get one as I would be the perfect person to read and review it. Who do I have to beg…?

Next I read the historical fiction story The Sandcastle Girls so I could participate in my mother-in-law’s book club which gave me a reason to see Donna’s beautiful house. My review of Sandcastle Girls.

On the trip from DC to NYC I listened to my Audible downloaded copy of Tina Fey’s BossyPants. The last weeks of school I listened to this in my car and then summer hit and I let it slide. I’ve got to get used to working around my house holding on to my phone as I listen but as I’ve yet it’s more of a car activity for me. My son looked at me with his pitiful teenage eyes, shaking his head at me because I laughed out loud on the bus, subway, and street corner as we waited, rode, and walked. Laughed Out Loud. Now I want to go back and watch more 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live segments that feature her and Amy Poehler. I learned a great deal and found Fey’s life stories energizing and of course hysterical. Also she narrates which makes all the difference! I successfully clicked the finish button as we drove through Ohio on Monday.

College Boy read Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan while we lounged in Silver Spring. He read it quickly because he was engaged (a challenge…) and turned it over to me. This amazing tale combines the love of books with 21st Century technology and stirs them together with a great story. Clay Jannon, main character extraordinaire, finds a job at Mr. Penumbra’s book store where things are a bit weird and not many books are sold. Clay takes a closer look at the books in the back of the shop to discover why and with his quirky cast of friends ends up shaking up poor Mr. Penumbra and his bookstore! Excellent story!

Random Quote:

“To run Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore around the clock, one owner and two clerks divide the circle of the sun into thirds, and I get the darkest slice. Penumbra himself takes the mornings-I guess you’d call it prime time, except that this store doesn’t really have one of those. I mean, a single customer is a major event and a single customer is as likely to show up at midnight as at half-past noon.” (21)

I finished Sloan’s book and moved quickly into Sara Gran’s film noir mystery Dope. We swap books in this house like others share toothpaste. My husband read it on the way out to DC while College Boy drove, College Boy read it from DC to Penn Station and I read it on the car trip home. It’s only 243 pages long but packed with a slew of interesting characters and a gritty, intense story that takes place in 1950 NYC.

It begins like this:

“Josephine,”
Maude said my name flatly, like I was dead or she wanted me to be. I sat across from her at a booth in the back of the bar, where the daylight never reached and the smell of stale beer and cigarettes never cleared. Maude had been the mistress of a gangster back in the thirties and he’d bought her this bar to set her up with something after he was gone. It was on the corner of Broadway and West Fourth, and if you’d never been there before it would take a minute to notice that there wasn’t a girl in the place, other than Maude. {1}

And that’s it! This is why it is important to have good, long, wonderful vacations-to READ lots of great books (and to see a few amazing sights).

Ahhh, the bookstores…{NYC}

Of course we ventured into a few bookstores in the city and bought a couple a books but mostly we just loved the comfort zone of books surrounding us.

{G.G. @TheStrand}

The Strand; Oldest daughter spent last summer in NYC working as an intern and loved pretty much everything about being a New Yorker. Her favorite book shop was this one. Groovy Girl and I met up in the children’s section and picked up the exact same picture book, read it, set it down minutes from each other and laughed about it when we realized we’d been reading the same book. I ended up buying the picture book as this was a pretty significant moment and later in life or even tomorrow I can look at this picture book, Tallulah’s Tutu by Marilyn Singer, and remember that we had this “in sync” moment.

Shakespeare and Co.: Big Daddy saw this bookstore just two blocks away from The Strand and we ducked in to see what we could see. It might have been a quick {ish} stop if he hadn’t found the downstairs script area. I think he bought about 8 plays to review for this coming year. They had a lovely selection of children’s book as well and we loved just browsing.

{G.G. @Shakespeare&Co.}

We could have spent hours at both bookstores just for the respite in-between walking. I’d wanted to find Books of Wonder but we never made it there, which means there must be another trip.

O what foodie fun!

We are now back in DC after three fun-filled days in New York.

{College Boy Relaxing at the Milburn}

Our Highlights:

The Millburn-fantastic, friendly staff especially if you get Adam on the phone. The suite we had was spacious and it was wonderful to have the kitchenette space. I could keep my water bottle cold and save the few leftovers we had. We’d go back if we wanted to be in that neighborhood again. I loved the romantic lounge, the breakfast, and the lending library. My husband picked a book for me from the shelf; Pete Hamill’s Forever.

{Groovy Girl w/ her Milk Bar Cereal Milk shake}

{Veggie Bun from Momofuko’s}

Momofuku’s flavors! I loved the veggie bun (David Chang’s) with an egg cracked on top as much as the cereal-infused shake. We hit this spot kind of late last night (8:00-Friday) for us and we walked back to the hotel with food in the bag and shakes in our hand. Guess who finished their shake first?? If you think me; you are wrong. (Groovy Girl took that honor as she sucked it bone dry before her dinner)

{Doughnut bench}

Doughnut Plant; unfriendly staff but delicious doughnuts. I loved my vanilla bean and jam but the big hit was the carrot cake cake doughnut! The cinnamon was powerful and made for an aaaamazing flavor combo.

{Favorite “Big Nick’s” Pizza}

College Boy loved all the easy places to get a slice of pizza and he sampled several “best pizza” spots around town. We had several on the fly meals from local spots like the fish and chips we ordered at 8:00 for dinner while Groovy Girl had a bowl of chicken orzo soup. It was greasy (the fish) but hit the spot.

Friday lunch we went to Lupa in Greenwich Village which College Boy had picked as the one BIG place he wanted to go. He knew about Lupa because Action Bronson worked there as the chef. I’d made a reservation and had talked to staff there before our visit but once we got there I felt much less excited. I knew it was expensive so the prices weren’t a shock but the staff and the ambiance did not provide a relaxing experience. The pace was frenetic and the space was cramped but the kids loved their pasta dishes. I had a lovely spinach salad with roasted fennel and spring peas. I wouldn’t need to go back though. Once was good.

I loved walking through Greenwich Village and as we window shopped I know I spotted Jane Lynch walking through with a beautiful brown leather backpack on her back. We also completely loved Central Park, which was the highlight when I was a teen as well. Groovy Girl and her dad rented one of the motorized sailboats at the pond. We also spent a long time hanging by the Alice in Wonderland statue. All in all it was a wonderful trip, too brief, but it was like giving the kids just a taste of the big city.

Happy Monday from sunny Colorado!

We’ve had an excellent trip to Colorado. Teenage Boy and Greg returned last week. Groovy Girl and I have been lucky enough to stay for an extended time to help my brother move into a new house and we are happily spending a lot of extra time with my dearest friend, Jen and her four kids. These photos share Teenage Boy and Groovy Girl’s trip to Grand Lake to fly fish. Teenage Boy has lots of experience as every summer he has been able to fly fish with Grandma Janice and Grandpa Dean but it was Groovy Girl’s first time. She caught a 10-inch brown trout but that didn’t get captured before being returned to the stream. You can see they saw a lot of wildlife while fishing!

Wordless Wednesday; Colonial Williamsburg

Cousins enjoy Colonial Williamsburg

Vacation Blues

A vacation is a beautiful thing until you get home. Dirty laundry times 10, cranky kids and (a few) dead garden plants are what you get when you return. Oh, and a lot of wonderful photos.

Surfer Boy

We absolutely loved the OBX and would vacation there again in a heartbeat!

Handsome Husband and Teenage Boy

We stopped in Richmond, VA to visit my stepbrother, Sean, and walk through VCU-one of Teenage Boy’s college choices for soccer. We had lunch at a very earthy place right off campus, 821 Cafe, which served a well-rounded vegan, veggie and meat-menu.

Cousin with Groovy Girl on Roanoke Island boat

What I miss about vacation: my in-laws, watching the pelicans skim the water, dolphin sightings, watching the sand crabs scurry, walking in the sand, collecting seashells, hot tubbing, kids giggling as they chased the waves, cooking meals together, touring Roanoke Island and cocktail hour-appetizers included!

Owens’ Restaurant Anniversary Celebration (me, Teenage Boy and Writer Girl)

I’ve been in school meetings since our return but one day soon my laundry will be done, the house will return to normal and summer will flow forward.

I hope everyone has an amazing journey this summer-one that will bring you umpteen piles of laundry equaling the number of smiles!

Vacation Reading

Groovy Girl and her 9-yr-old cousin

We played on the beach early this morning. One of the many great things about the Outer Banks beach is it is not crowded! You don’t have to fight for space to set your chair down or wade through rows of people to get to the water. I sat in a beach chair while Groovy Girl and her cousin ran in and out of the ocean, hundreds of times, laughing each time. After chasing the waves back and forth they took to collecting shells and showing me each and every one. When they were younger we always had to be right there next to them but now that they are 8 and 9 I can sit in the chair and read and still keep and eye on them. Pure mama joy. I did romp with them in the waves for a bit but after that my main job was to exclaim every time they brought a new shell to my chair for inspection. (oh, yes that one is very smooth, striped, pink, etc.)

My husband’s side of the family are very intellectual and love to read. I did a fair amount of reading on the trip to DC and have been able to keep reading while here. We visited two bookstores; one in Adams Morgan area of DC and one at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. I picked up a used book at each of these lovely stores and I hear there is a great indie bookstore here, which we plan to seek out and find in the next few days.

I finished Cutting For Stone (I was almost done with this before we left Chicago) by Abraham Verghese, Little Klein by Anna Ylvisaker-great little book, Newsgirl by Liza Ketchum and am more than half way through Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, which was a used hardcover ($6!) I found in Adams Morgan! Yeah, love those kind of finds-it was on my summer reading list already. I started Summer Affair by Elin Hildebrand but set it aside until I finish Before I Fall. Every single person (except for the 8/9 year-olds) read this afternoon as a storm whipped up and kept us from playing by the beach. When not reading we tend to play games together; Guesstures, Scattegories, Password, Mexican Train, etc.

I remember the first time I went on vacation with my soon-to-be-husband’s family years ago…I remember how relaxed it made me; like I belonged.

What does your family do when they spend time together?

Tomorrow is the longest day of the year and we plan to be up for most of it. Starting the day with fresh doughnuts from Duck. Yum!

Beach Baby

This is where we spent Father’s Day for half the day.

We spotted dolphins and pelicans so far.

It was windy and beautiful.

My father-in-law and his two sons, Brett and Greg

Tomorrow I want the sun to be out and the wind to be gone. Please.

I miss my dad but I’ve not focused on that today as it makes me weepy sad.

Celebrate.