Happy Sunday, friends! I hope you all had a great holiday and/or great weekend. I’m happy to be here for Sunday Salon and thank you to Deb at Readerbuzz for hosting the chat.
What I’m watching: We watched quite a bit of television this past week as both my husband and I were taking the week off of work. We finished The Chestnut Man and enjoyed it but the highlight was watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I just love Snoopy.
What I’m reading: I’m still making progress in my reading challenges for November and finished The Testaments by Margaret Atwood for #MARM. I liked it a lot but the more I kept reading the more I started to think about the need for this sequel. Did we need it? I’ll have to think about this more but for now I want to focus on my nonfiction read, The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea and hopefully finish it for Nonfiction November.
What’s cooking: Everything squash! As it was just my husband, mom and myself for Thanksgiving we didn’t have a turkey but all week we’ve been enjoying various squash recipes. We’ve had pastas and lasagnas and all have been really yummy. I got the recipes from a friend so don’t have a link for them but this recipe is similar to the delicata squash pasta we enjoyed.
What made me smile: We spent some time at McKinney Falls State park over the week and one day we were there just as the park doors opened. My husband wanted to spend some time taking pictures and I found a perfect spot to relax near the water. I took a camp chair, a blanket, coffee and a journal and a book and had the best time reading and journaling while listening to the sound of the falls. It was so peaceful and we even spotted some turtles on the rocks near the falls enjoying the sun.
Looking forward to: Did you do some Black Friday shopping? I bought some books via ThriftBooks and Bookshop.org and can’t wait to get them so I promise a book haul post when those arrive.
Quote for the week: “We should spend more time daydreaming” ~ Daniel Levitin.
I get the feeling my week is going to be crazy as I catch up on work that was piling up while I was out but when the day gets stressful I’ll have to look at my photos from McKinney Falls State park and think back on that feeling I had when I was at the falls taking in the sights and sounds around me. Hope you have a great week ahead!
No Black Friday shopping for me at all! I do feel rather proud of myself. Not that it will last all through December, I know I’ll get distracted with all the Christmas displays.
Yes, we should spend more time daydreaming!
Have a good week ahead and thanks for stopping by my blog earlier.
I’m envious of your time reading and relaxing in such a stunning setting.. I used Black Friday to do some Christmas shopping for my kids.
I have a book to finish tomorrow which will be my last for Nonfiction November. I didn’t read any where near as many as I planned.
Wishing you a great reading week
My favorite vacation is one like you just had at McKinney Falls State Park. And, wow, it’s just thirteen miles from the Capitol in Austin. We’ve never been there, but now it’s at least on my radar.
I’d love to read Devil’s Highway. I hope you will share your thoughts with us soon.
Hopefully, you won’t have a lot of catching up to do after the holidays. Sometimes the catching up is so overwhelming that I would wish I’d never been off!
I love Snoopy, too! The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special is my favorite holiday show. And I love that quote about needing to spend more time to daydream! 🙂
Iliana, glad you got to have a nice week off of work and enjoying time with your husband and mother. You know, I’ve never been to McKinney Falls – we’ll have to go there sometime. We enjoyed a couple of days in Austin and seeing family and then came back Friday night in time to see the big lighted tree and decorations on the grounds of the Kerr County Courthouse. It’s so pretty. Small town holiday decorations are lovely. I think I had forgotten how much because it’s been a long time since I spent holidays with my grandparents in the Texas Panhandle. Their town always was very pretty with a parade and all kinds of things. Have a good week!
Sounds like you had a lovely day at McKinney Falls. Yeah, for book shopping:) I only did minor Black Friday online shopping – LL Bean. Hope your week is a good one.
The park looks beautiful and so relaxing. Hope you have a great week!
MARELI @ ELZA READS – Good for you for resisting the sales! I’m trying to support more local business and smaller indie owned stores but sometimes it’s hard to resist some of the sales. Hope you have a great week ahead!
SHELLEYRAE @ BOOK’D OUT – So glad to hear you were able to get some of your Christmas shopping done. I am always so behind but I better get on it! Yes, we all should daydream a bit more right?
DEB NANCE AT READERBUZZ – It is really a wonderful spot so if you are ever in this part of Texas do check it out. I can’t believe we’ve lived so near it for so long and just now found it! We’re putting our state park pass to good use for sure! And, The Devil’s Highway is so good but it’s hard reading. It’s so incredibly sad.
Lark – Isn’t Snoopy the best? Now we are planning to get our hands on the Charlie Brown Christmas. I want to see how much I remember of it!
Kay – I’m glad to hear you guys enjoyed spending time in Austin. Yes, small town holiday decorations are the best. Some of the ones I’ve seen around Texas that I’ve loved are in Granbury, near Fort Worth. Such a cute town. Maybe that’s something I’ll have to do this holiday season. Go check out a little town and see how they’ve done up the place! Have a great week!
Diane – Ooh LL Bean has such nice clothes. I hope you love what you got. I’ve been eyeing a flannel shirt and am tempted. Let’s see if the Cyber Monday deals are good? 🙂
Yvonne@Socrates Book Reviews – It also helped that there weren’t a lot of people there. We can’t wait to go back! Have a great week.
That squash recipe looks delicious! I love delicata squash and have had a hard time finding it ever since we moved to FL… sometimes Whole Foods comes through for me though.