This will be a short review. I didn’t like this book. Yawn… here is my book review of The Choice by Nicholas Sparks.
Usually I would put down a book like this, or more likely never start it. But I needed a read and this was all I had at the moment. I know Nicholas Sparks is beloved by many readers, but for me, this is not my kind of book.
Predictable to peril, sappy and silly, the story of two neighbors who fall in love, marry, have kids, endure a tragedy but live happily ever after was boring. I knew at every page what was going to happen next.
My apologies to all those Sparks lovers…I know he has millions of fans. But I need a more challenging read and don’t plan to read anymore by this author.
We made it. I wasn’t sure we actually would but we have arrived safe and sound in Maui. My first flight since leaving lockdown on Cyprus on April 30th. Feeling grateful for Aloha and time to disconnect.
Getting here was a trial. Arriving on the first day Hawaii reopened to tourists meant jumping through a lot of hoops, waiting for test results, and stressing when those did not appear. We boarded the plan without test results. But when we landed my negative results were in my inbox, but my husband’s were not. What to do?
Arrival at the airport was well thought-out and and easy. They allowed us both to proceed, with Arne needing to quarantine but at our condo and not at a hotel as we had feared. But only I could rent a car. Luckily at least one of us could get the car. When his results arrive (hopefully soon) he will need to download the information to the tourism site. In the meantime he can not leave the condo and if he does and gets caught the fine is $5000. Whoa.
But I have no doubt all this will be worth it for five weeks on the most beautiful island in the world.
As much as we have loved being home with family, the past months have been stressful indeed as we all have tried to figure out how to operate in this world of Covid. Even though I feel safe at my house, I still have a lot of worry for my family and friends and for the question of what the future will look like.
Hawaii (photo from Canva)
Time to Disconnect for Awhile
Finally making it to Hawaii, a week later than our originally scheduled trip (scheduled 14 months ago, long before Covid), we feel happy we didn’t need to cancel at least. Maui is one of my favorite places in the entire world (that’s saying a lot considering how much I have traveled) and I am absolutely thrilled to be back here again. My last visit was in June 2016. While here we don’t plan to do much, other than relax, so social distancing will be easy. I’ve been here enough times I don’t need to do anything touristy.
I have decided to make this a real vacation as much as possible, including a social media vacation. I’m not saying I am never going to check in – I’m sure I will. But I am unplugging and letting my hair down for awhile. Stepping away from the fray.
Hawaii (photo from Canva)
Lots of Blogs and Tasty Tuesday Scheduled in Advance
But the great thing about technology, is if you plan well enough in advance, you can schedule blog and social media posts so my faithful audience won’t really notice a thing. In the weeks prior to our departure I set up Tasty Tuesday, Reading Wednesday and Inspire Friday to post automatically as much as possible in the weeks ahead.
My Time to ReCharge
I’ll be checking in to make sure everything is running smoothly and I hope you will all continue to enjoy My Fab Fifties Life while I take a little breather. A re-charge, re-access, re-center, re-juvenate breather. For this I re-joice.
See ya on the flip side peeps. Take some time for yourself too. And be kind.
I love you all. Thanks for your continued support. Aloha.
Chilling and a page turning, Lisa Jewell had me riveted to this book. Creepy yet not horror, and mostly quite believable. Here is my book review of The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell.
A few times in reading this book I was reminded of The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. It’s not exactly the same, but there were a few similarities. Mostly the fact that a stranger comes and literally takes over the house and family, eventually to peril.
Libby Jones, adopted as a baby, finally learns at 25 years old that she has inherited a house. The sole heir of a mysterious house that has witnessed murder, disappearance and intrigue.
Libby befriends a local journalist and together they begin to unravel the incredible tale of Cheyne Walk, a long abandoned mansion in the fashionable Chelsie neighborhood of London.
But Libby will be astonished to learn who her birth parents were, how they were manipulated by an unusual family who moved in upstairs and that she has a brother and sister she has never known. Her parents were murdered, no one was ever convicted and the siblings were never found. Are they dead? Where are they?
The Family Upstairs brings together three families, their lives and loves, their insanity and dark secrets.
****Four stars for The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
Our third and final close-to-home Sanity Staycation for summer 2020 had us searching for new hiking adventures south of Mount Rainier. And we found what we were looking for by discovering Packwood, Washington and the surrounding area.
The tiny town of Packwood, founded in the early 1800’s, has long been a jumping off point for Mount Rainier National Park. The first National Forest Service Ranger Station was here, and today most people make their living from summer tourists and winter skiers. But Packwood also was a logging community back in the day, and neighboring towns of Morton and Randle still serve in this capacity.
Moon Mountain Lodging
We loved the little cabin we rented at Moon Mountain Lodging, a collection of four cabins on a quiet and beautifully wooded piece of property about a mile from the town of Packwood. We stayed in the one bedroom Cedar Cabin and because of Covid, we used the small but efficient kitchen for all of our meals in the cabin. See this lovely spot here.
Packwood Brewing Co.
We got takeout one night at the White Pass Taqueria and it was amazing. And we visited the Packwood Brewing Company where social distancing was really easy on a week night. The beer was excellent and we played Scrabble while we drank our beer, and watched the giant elk walk right through the outdoor beer garden.
Elk
We have good friends who have a home in Packwood and we enjoyed one evening with them, and also played nine-holes with them at the members only High Valley Golf Course. Cutest little golf course I ever played at.
High Valley Golf Club with my friend Janet
We enjoyed four different hikes during our visit to the area and I recommend all of them;
SNOW LAKE – a beautiful hike with a bit of elevation but only about 4 miles round trip, the hike to Snow Lake just inside Mount Rainier National Park near Paradise takes you to a beautiful turquoise lake surrounded by forests and hills.
Snow Lake
GROVE OF THE PATRIARCHS – anyone can do this easy and flat 1.5 mile loop trail within the National Park where 1000 year-old old-growth trees are a sight to behold. I’ve done this hike many times and every time I am dazzled by the majesty of it.
Grove of the Patriarchs
LAKE PACKWOOD – unfortunately we did this 9 mile round trip hike on a very wet and cold day, but we persevered through a beautiful forest trail that is well maintained. The lake used to house many Forest Service cabins and a handful still remain.
Lake Packwood Trail
SHEEP LAKE – the trail to Sheep Lake is easy and it’s about 4 miles round trip. The lake is stunning and we visited on a fall day when the colors were at their best. The trail is part of the Pacific Crest Trail and continues on past the lake for many miles to Sourdough Gap and eventually Crystal Lake. You can make this hike a full day or just a short hike.
Sheep Lake Trail
We did not continue up to White Pass Ski Area but it is about 20 minutes from Packwood and is a wonderful winter playground. Packwood is home to a handful of restaurants, bars, a wonderful bakery and one grocery store. There are many lodging options too. Learn more about visiting Packwood here.
Discovering Packwood Washington and the surrounding area turned out to be a perfect Staycation for us. I learned a lot about this area and hope to return again.
Holy Cow this book taught me so much. And the biggest thing it taught me is how important telling the truth in the beginning is. How important it is for government and science to gain and retain the public’s trust and be truthful. The truth was held back in the 1918 Influenza and it certainly was held back in 2020.
Fascinating in scope and presentation, Barry manages to present a hugely difficult topic in a way that any lay person can understand. The vast research done for this book, the amount of detail and insight is truly remarkable. Barry starts at the beginning and takes the reader (or listener in my case as I did this one on Audible) week by week as the virus spread from the United States around the world. Killing in the end at least 100 million people.
The 1918 epidemic was the first clash of science and a virus, at a time of war, a time of burgeoning medical science and a time of very poor leadership in the Whitehouse.
The what ifs are in the hundreds. But did we learn anything from this fatal time in our history? Apparently not.
Read it. It will truly help you understand what we are dealing with in the world today. Five stars for John Barry’s The Great Influenza.
The link below is an affiliate link, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a comission if you click through and make a purchase. Thank you.
I have had so many people ask me if I’m going to do a travel wardrobe blog post this fall. You might remember I have done this in the past two years when I was heading back out on the Grand Adventure. Both these posts from the past were really well received (see Travel Wardrobe 2018 here and Travel Wardrobe 2019 here). Well the Grand Adventure, unfortunately, remains in pause mode, but since you all seem interested I thought I would offer a different take on fashion for the Fab Fifties set. Let’s look at how to incorporate summer pieces into your fall wardrobe.
Summer to Fall on a Budget
I’ve dropped thirty pounds over the past four months and I therefore needed to purchase several new clothing items over the summer. Now that the weather has turned, I’m looking through my closet and still can’t find anything to wear. What’s a girl to do?
Taking Inventory
My grey hair has made yellow one of my favorite colors in my closet
So I spent one afternoon going through my closet, figuring out what I had that fit and styling my new summer finds with many of my old (some REALLY old) pieces I have held on to over the years. I used five different pairs of pants as the base to build an entire wardrobe that can take me right on into the winter and back to spring…and it may well be we are still here in the USA come spring.
Classics
I try as often as possible to have bright colors near my face.
My style may not be your style but I think the premise is the same no matter what your favorite fashion aesthetic is – build a new wardrobe from favorites you already own. I’ve always leaned a bit to the classics, rarely buying anything too trendy or the look of the moment. I do most of my shopping at classically tailored American stores that fit a women of a certain age including Talbots, J Jill, and sometimes Nordstrom or Macy’s. I bought some jeans recently that I love at White House Black Market. I might go check that place out again soon. But the point is, with a few classics in your closet you can mix and match throughout the seasons, including learning how to incorporate summer pieces into your fall wardrobe.
Color
Since becoming a grey goddess about seven years ago, I learned that my fashion and make up color choices needed to adjust to my new hair color. If you are one of the thousands of women who has let her hair go natural during lockdown I salute you. And now is the time to consider if your make up needs a change and are you wearing the right colors – particularly colors near your face. I wear bright colors a lot, but I also like black and navy with my hair color. I stay away from pale pastels, most tans and browns and only occasionally wear gray. Bright and cheerful works for me and my complexion and hair.
So let me share with you how I took five pairs of pants and created more than twenty new outfits. Here we go.
Black Jeans
Black Jeans Four Ways
I bought these jeans at White House Black Market and they are comfortable and fit great. I will be able to wear these in endless ways, but here I show you four different looks. Left to right –
1. Summer print blouse from Talbots tucked in with black belt.
2. Leopard print sweater also from Talbots but this sweater is at least 10 years old.
3. Black t-shirt from Target and covered with oversize polka dot blouse from Talbots that is about 15 years old.
4. Finally, this ruched top from J Jill I bought right before I started losing weight, and now I am swimming in it. But I like the print so cinched it up with a little side knot and I think it looks cute.
Navy Blue Linen Slacks
Navy Pants
I bought these lined linen slacks with a button detail at the ankle at J Jill early in the summer. I like the side zip fit and the length is nice for most of my shoes. Like denim jeans, navy blue slacks are a great wardrobe basic and I’m sure I will wear these a lot. Here I styled them five ways (clockwise);
1. Simple and comfy with this long sleeve striped t-shirt I got from Nordstrom this past spring.
2. Dressed up a bit with the darling short sleeve mint green sweater from Talbots
3. Looking all business like in this soft grey cotton blazer and navy/grey plaid scarf
4. I love this summer button down from Talbots in navy checked fabric, looks great with the navy pant and
5. Paired with one of my classic blouses I’ve had for years. This white button down is from Jones New York and the pink sweater is about five years old from Talbots.
Gray Blue Slacks
Grey Pants
I like these pants because depending on what you pair with them sometimes they look gray and sometimes they look blue. They are a wide leg short length. I’ve paired them with different shoes here but I kinda like them with the white Converse. Cute. Left to right –
1. Dressed up with black T-shirt from Target and a black linen blazer I have owned probably twenty years.
2. The denim jacket is a staple and I love it here paired with an ancient wine colored turtle neck and my black boots.
3. Chunky cable knit black sweater (circa 1999) with quilted vest and my new red hat my friend Lisa made me.
4. And finally, my favorite soft denim button down goes with everything, including these great pants.
Pink Pants
Pink Pants
There is no reason not to bring some bright colors (beyond fall orange) into your fall wardrobe and these Talbot pink pants are so cute and comfy I plan to wear them all year long. Here are four ideas to take these pants into fall;
1. Paired with a gray and pink plaid button-down from Talbots that is about 8 years old and layered with a black cardigan from Casalon at Nordstrom.
2. The Talbots mint green cardigan makes an appearance again with this pretty scarf.
3. My Jones New York classic white button down is here with this sage green denim jacket I got on clearance at Talbots this summer.
4. And finally I love this fun look with the layered Talbots navy blue checkered button down topped with this lightweight black and white stripped cotton sweater from Talbots.
Black Leggings
Black Leggings
Yep every girl needs some black leggings no matter what the season. And since I accidentally spilled bleach on my last pair, I bought these online from American Eagle this spring. I didn’t have much cause to wear them over the summer, but I sure will now that fall is here.
1. This oversized sweater with drop shoulder neckline is from Nordstrom but it is at least ten years old. It is perfect with leggings and booties.
2. Here I paired two summer sweaters – a polka dot sweater tank from Talbots and a soft and sheer cardigan from JJill with pearls for a easy but fun look for a special occasion.
3. My classic white button down with a few accessories is all you need.
4. I love this look because this color looks so great with my hair. This sweater is a bargain purchase at Costco and the scarf I have had forever.
Key Take Aways
I love fashion and dressing in a way that I look and feel good without being flashy or trashy, dumpy or frumpy. And I really love when I can do that on a budget. Building a seasonal wardrobe that includes tried and try and a little new is easy and fun when you start with the basics you already own. Once you have the tools to incorporate summer pieces into your fall wardrobe, it will work for all seasons. My biggest advice for Fabulous Fifties Fashion is to wear bright colors that complement your skin tone and hair, while staying away from large patterns. Loose fitting is better than skintight but not to the point of baggy like a tent. Always remember to consider your footwear (a critical component of looking put together) and your undergarments (invest in the foundation so your clothes hang like they should).
I am torn about this book. That doesn’t happen to me often. I usually know right away if I am going to love a book. Or if I am going to endure it. Or if, it’s just not worth my time.
During the course of reading Fifty Words for Rain I had all three sensations. I kept reading and here is what I thought, my book review of Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie
Japan 1948. A time of upheaval and rebirth in Japan but also a time where holding tight to the old customs, pedigree and aristocratic ways was epidemic. This is when we are introduced to eight-year-old Nori when she is abandoned by her mother on the front door of her grandparents mansion.
Nori, a “bastard” child, product of Japanese royal blood mother and a black American GI. Nori is a stain on the family name. She is hidden in the attic and does not leave the house for years. Until her half brother arrives and her life finally begins.
But her skin color, her hair and how she came into the world will scar her, and taint every aspect of her life, despite her brilliance both as a student and a musician. Her grandmother will torture her and shame her until the final pages of this book.
But despite her struggles and triumphs, love and loss, and deep tragedies that change her forever, Nori still returns to Japan and to her hateful grandmother.
And it’s the final chapter of this book that has me torn. Her final choices made me crazy. How could she? I felt she was weak in the end, despite her enormous strength throughout the book.
So, I read it through, enjoyed much of it, endured some of it, and hated the end.
***Three stars for Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie.
My current read The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett
We love it when you pin and share our blog.
The link below is an affiliate link, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a comission if you click through and make a purchase. Thank you.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
