The Paris Wife

Ernst Hemingway was a brilliant bastard- that’s for sure.  Keyword here is bastard- the man suffered personal relationship woes for his creative genius. I recently read “The Paris Wife” by Paula Mclain for my book club, which is a fictional account of Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley.  Told from her perspective – it was truly a love story with the expected heartbreak (she was his first wife, the man had four – clearly this one was going to end). I thoroughly enjoyed being brought into their lives – particularly following their European adventures, and seeing the many other famous authors and intellectuals the couple interacted with (Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald). I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction based on real people.

(photo from wikipedia)

life lately

February was a terrible blog posting month for me. Normally I can find some time, or want to sit and write about what's going on - February I was like eh...

It's okay with me though, I like my blog, but I like getting out too. I was totally enjoying reading the blogs I follow, I just wasn't feeling overly inspired on my own postings. So, on that note what's new lately?

For me, I've recently nailed down a vacation week, and booked a plane ticket. To me that was one giant step for me since I cannot stand not having a trip planned or at minimum in the works. I am also trying to figure out another time to take another week off in the early part of the summer. As they say, once you start you never stop planning trips.

I've also becoming highly addicted to my new gym class, so much so that I feel bad on my rest days because I miss it when i am not there. Is that a little disturbing? I am enjoying feeling inspired at the gym though, and that's refreshing to me.

I've decided that my favorite food for 2013 is tacos - I find myself wanting them anytime they are on a menu, or I am near a place that has them.

I also love extra big ice cubes- such a classy little invention. 

the perks...

Movies that do the book justice – it’s not often I feel that way. I read the book, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” probably 6 years ago. I was living in Brookline, MA at the time and I remember wishing I was old enough to have grown up at the end of the 1980s/ very early 1990s like my older sister, since I remembered being a little elementary school kid. I finally got around to watching the movie this past weekend, remembering some of the difficult subject matter of the book and wondering how well the movie would address that. I thought it was tasteful, and really showed how the protagonist Charlie found himself in the process of navigating through his first year of high school. And I found Emma Watson extraordinarily believable as someone other than Hermione Granger ( as a Potter-lover, that was truly a feat to shout about). Definitely a movie that will make you cry, this gets my approval as a must see, even if you loved the book.

(photo from pinterest)

February Round Up

How are we already in March? Really I feel like it was just January – is this what 2013 is going to be, just feeling like every month flies by? February was a good one for me- I got a lot of things in that I wanted to, and worked towards a few of my personal goals. Below is a short list of highlights

• Spent an extra special long weekend with Mr. Norbs – he’s such a happy little one, and a social butterfly. It was so nice to get to spend a long time playing and snuggling the little guy while he’ll be still. I have a feeling that he’s going to outgrow being held before I know it.
•  I ran an excellent race at the beginning of the month- enough to renew my faith in the gym time I’ve been trying to but in. I shaved almost 30 seconds of each of my miles on a four mile race- which for me was crazy.
• I exceeded my goal of 20 workout days in February – clocking in a total of 23 days that I worked out. For March I am looking to go for 22 workout days, and see if I can pull a total of 30 hours or more at the gym.
• Some vacation planning got underway - making me happy to know something its in the works