WEEKLY UPDATES: A BLISSFUL WEEK…

On By Laurel-Rain SnowIn weekly updates

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves, for weekly updates.

**Mailbox Monday is hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.

And let’s join Kathryn, our leader in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, at Book Date.

 

This morning I woke up early to have breakfast with my granddaughter Fiona.  We had been missing our bonding time lately due to work, etc.  So off we went to Mimi’s for food and beverage, which included a lovely mimosa.  I thought afterwards about how the morning nicely topped off a good week.  While I only read and reviewed two books, I am 2/3 of the way through my third one and will probably finish it before the night is over.  (In fact, I did finish it!  See the review below). Eight blog posts seemed to fly out of my laptop.  So I’m feeling quite upbeat about my week and my books.

I also took a Lyft to my old nail salon and enjoyed a mani…

To finalize the good things in the week, I binge-watched Season I of Virgin River on Netflix.  Loved it!  I realized as I was watching that I have Book Two of the series, Shelter Mountain, so I need to read it soon.

Meanwhile, let’s grab some coffee or tea and check out the details of the week.

LAST WEEK ON THE BLOGS:

Tuesday Excerpts:  “The Playground”

Tuesday Potpourri:  Book Buying and Book Reading…

Hump Day & Rainy Day Reading…

Obsessing About My Interiors…

Coffee Chat:  Settling Into the New Year…

Bookish Friday:  “The Vanishing”

Friday Potpourri:  Wrapping Up a Special Week…

Revisiting My One Word…

Review:  Normal People, by Sally RooneyReview:  The Playground, by Jane ShemiltReview:  Such a Perfect Wife, by Kate White

***

INCOMING BOOKS:

Two books arrived in my mailbox, I downloaded two books, and received one Prime freebie:

The Daughter, by Jane Shemilt

What Falls Away, A Memoir, by Mia Farrow (Purchased to replace my previously owned book, lost in the move).

***

Downloads:

The Country Guesthouse, by Robyn Carr

The Vanishing (Fogg Lake #1), by Jayne Ann Krentz

***

Amazon Prime Freebie:

Last Day, by Luanne Rice

***

CURRENTLY READING:

I’m reading from America’s Reluctant Prince:  The Life of John F. Kennedy, Jr., by Steven M. Gillon

Regretting You, by Colleen Hoover

***

That was my week.  What did yours look like?  On Thursday night, I had soup and a margarita at an old favorite hang-out:  California Pizza Kitchen.

***

79 thoughts on “WEEKLY UPDATES: A BLISSFUL WEEK…”

  1. That soup looks delicious! Sounds like you had a busy week. I still haven’t started to watch Virgin River, but I will. It looks good. I picked up the Luanne Rice book from Amazon Prime too.

    Hope you have a great week!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. Glad it was a good week! I saw the Krentz book in a library newsletter and the whole psychic thing caught my eye, I think I’m going to try it.

    Ooh the food pics are back. 🙂 Mmm soup. And Cali Pizza Kitchen. Wish we had one haha

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. Literary Feline

    Breakfast with your granddaughter sounds nice, Laurel-Rain. I am glad you got to spend time with her. It sounds like you had a great week of reading! And your nails look lovely. I can’t remember the last time I got a mani. I hope you enjoy all your new books and your current reads! Have a great week!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Wendy, I had really missed my time with Fiona; her work hours were crazy, but it was great to relax and spend time with her.

      I enjoy keeping up the nails…now that I’m all retired, etc. LOL.

      I have been loving my books so far this year. Enjoy yours.

      Like

      Reply
  5. Gayathri Lakshminarayanan

    I have family visiting us and they have taken over the TV. So I am so missing out on the interesting shows on Netflix. Sigh, can’t wait to waste my time over it.

    The soup looks so yummy! Have a good week ahead!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Kathryn, and I am assuming there will be a Season II! How could there not be? LOL.

      Watching it reminded me that I need to read more of the books in the series, like the second one that I already have.

      Enjoy your week.

      Like

      Reply

  8. I’m glad you had a good week and had a lovely breakfast catch up with your granddaughter! Life can get so super crazy sometimes so I’m glad you both carved out that time. 🙂

    Regretting You is one I’ve been considering reading even though Colleen Hoover books scare me a bit as they always seem to put readers through an emotional mangle. (So I typically avoid them despite wanting to read them.)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Your week looked great – in books and your excursions. I picked a historical fiction from prime first reads and then was looking at the page yesterday and saw at the top that I could pick two this month. Did you notice that? So I picked a thriller (can’t remember the name but I’ll include it in next weeks book arrivals). Have another great week!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. Three books and eight (!) blog posts is a fabulous week in my eyes.

    And I know you are enjoying your time with your granddaughter. What a great way to start a day.

    I love it when my mailbox is full, and it sounds like you’ve enjoyed such a state this week.

    Have a wonderful week!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  15. Bonding time with a granddaughter is always a wonderful way to spend time! And that soup looks FABULOUS – so creamy and enticing! What is it? I hope you have another great week, Laurel – as this one looks to have been lovely:).

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  16. What a wonderful week! Love that it included a little bit of everything – time with family, good food, personal pampering (I desperately need a mani this week!), and of course books and blogging. I’ll be interested in your thoughts on America’s Reluctant Prince… can’t resist a book about the Kennedys. Hope the week ahead is another good one!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, JoAnn, enjoy some pampering and relaxation! Good books are always needed in our weeks.

      I can’t resist books about the Kennedys, either, so I’m loving how this one gives us a closer look at John and how his early life traumas affected him going forward.

      Enjoy your week.

      Like

      Reply
  17. The Cue Card

    John Jr. — what a tragic awful ending. I wonder what he would be doing today if he were still alive. I think it would be something different than the magazine George he was doing at the time, but I’m not sure what. Looks like you’ve been having great reading weeks, enjoy!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Susan, I always want to cry when I think of him and his lovely wife, not to mention her sister…dying like that. As I’m reading this book, I’m thinking about his choices and how he took risks. The author of the book has done some research that suggests that people who go through the childhood trauma he experienced may take extreme risks.

      Enjoy your week!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  19. Trin Carl

    I’ve never heard of Virgin River-it sounds fantastic though. I’ve been responding to people’s post later and later on Sundays. I’ve got an improv class at 12, and usually a follow up theater review to write from a show the night before.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  22. I wish I could get my posts to fly out of my lap top, I am still struggling to find that balance. Maybe this week. Hey we made it through the first full week of January. It’s all good. Glad you had a wonderful breakfast catch up with your granddaughter!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  27. Sounds like a good week for blogging and reading – way to go! And that soup is totally making me hungry. Now that break is over and I’m back to work, I don’t have nearly the snacking time I was getting used to! LOL

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  29. I love that you get to see Fiona so much and you take the time to pamper yourself! I listened to America’s Reluctant Prince and it made me realize how difficult it would be to grow up in the spotlight like that. I want to read a Robyn Carr book – so many people I know love her work. I hope you have another great week!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Kathy, reading about how John’s early traumas affected his life going forward was a poignant reminder of how much tragedy followed him in his life, even to that very sad ending with the plane crash.

      Enjoy your week…and I hope you do read a Robyn Carr book soon.

      Like

      Reply

  30. Looks like you had a great week and some fun outings! Your nails look so pretty! And I love soup.

    I had a hard time with the new Robyn Carr! I think I just wasn’t in the right mood for that kind of book. I am going to try again later. I have that Luanne Rice on my list to read too. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Erin, I haven’t started the new Robyn Carr book…I do tend to wait to get into books until I’m in the mood.

      Like right now, reading Regretting You…the book didn’t grab me immediately, but then the pace stepped up and something totally unexpected kept me going.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thanks, Cheryl, my time with Fiona is always wonderful.

      I read Farrow’s memoir years ago, but the copy I owned didn’t make it over here. So I bought a new copy, since I want to read it again.

      Enjoy your week.

      Like

      Reply

Please leave your thoughts. Comments, not awards, feed my soul. Thanks!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.