+ The week was weird even though I’ve been back for almost 2 weeks now, that day having to basically repeat Tuesday on my return – threw me off the whole week! Also, my tummy is still getting used to eating heavier and processed foods now that I am home. 🫤
+ I am catching up on reading but honestly, I’m not in a slump, but I also feel so relaxed from my trip that I’m taking my time reading. I feel like I’ll start reading and then take a nap after 10 minutes! 😅. So maybe I just need to get back into the reading rhythm again. I am working on July arcs though.
+ The Boy and the Heron (HBO MAX) – movie by Studio Ghibli, my son and I watched it and it was beautifully done, just some confusing parts about grief that my son and I discussed – ending was so abstract lol…like evil parakeets?! But I still enjoyed it.
+ Olivia Rodrigo – You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love – this is on REPEAT. Like I know almost all the lyrics and so now I need tour tickets! 😅
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
I’m trying to catch up on books I borrowed on Libby and starting on July arcs! It’s summer break so kids are home with me but my son’s bar mitzvah is coming up in less than 4 weeks so we are in the middle of planning and he is busy practicing and getting tutoring. I feel like I mostly recovered from my Philippines trip, I did have a stomach bug a few days after coming home but I feel better today. I am also trying to catch up on my blog reviews!
+ I was supposed to fly with my son, daughter and parents to the Philippines but the night before the flight my son came down with a bad cold. I thought okay…it’s just a cold, but then he was throwing up all night, and I couldn’t sleep worrying about him and knew I had to make a decision in the morning. My parents paid for this trip, so I couldn’t back all three of us out. Morning comes and my son has a fever so at least I had packed his bag separately the night before in case he wasn’t going to come. I was SO bummed, sad for him (he was sad) and me…but at least my hubby was already staying back to watch the dog – so I had to let go of my anxiety and prepare my daughter and I for the Philippines.
+ We landed in Manila after almost 11 hours and had to take a connecting flight to Laoag which is in the northern Philippines. It was hot, 91 degrees at night. At least the second flight was only 45 minutes. From there we were met with so much family and headed to the apartment we were renting out. For about 10 days we were in Laoag hanging out with so much family. I cannot understand or speak Tagalog (their national language), but in the north they speak Ilocano which I can understand but barely speak. It was HOT for most of the days but a week later we had nights of monsoon type rain, lightning and thunder! And some days there were scheduled power outages 🥵, but honestly it was just fun being with so much family. We went to Pagudpud, which is almost at the northern coast of the Philippines – gorgeous landscapes.
+ After time with family my cousins drove us down to Manila (an 8 hour drive). I was the one who wanted to spend some time in Manila but honestly once I was there, I was missing the cleaner air of the countryside! My mom and daughter caught something – my mom had a cold, my daughter I think was allergies because the air is so hazy in the city. And it was just so packed with people, I was trying not to get sick.
+ We didn’t realize another cousin of mine was visiting the Philippines also, so we visited her and she was about an hour outside of Manila in Laguna but she made us follow her to Tagaytay for lunch. There were gorgeous views from higher elevation – but it was traffic on those 2 lane roads. We then met more family who was in Manila! 😅
+ The day before our flight we planned to do a buffet lunch at the Okada which is basically like the Bellagio – they even have a fountain show! While we were exploring the resort my cousin said her son could get us an executive suite there for a really cheap price. She basically pressured my parents into doing it – but I wanted to do this before the trip even happened but I was overruled. Well they couldn’t overrule her haha, or felt bad doing it so we got to stay a night at the fancy hotel, which was lovely.
+ I was fine for the whole trip with some sinus issues here and there but of course, the hours right before the flight, my nose starts to drip and my throat starts to itch! I blame all the smoking in the casino at the resort. 😩. I felt like crap on the plane but it’s not like I haven’t been sick on a plane before. Thank god my daughter slept through almost the whole flight – she got to lay down since her brother’s seat was empty! But we made it back!
+ I’ve kinda been jet lagged, plus had to get over the cough which only lasted 2 nights – so it was definitely allergies. Now I’m catching up on my blog and social media accounts – I’ve been making a few mistakes here and there but I’m blaming the jet lag!!
+ Every Year After (Prime Video) – I’m watching this one but it’s kind of slow so I stopped at episode 3. Will continue when I have more time.
+ Olivia Rodrigo – You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love – this album is AMAZING. It’s on REPEAT and I need to get tickets to her tour. 😩 I need to hear it live and sing my heart out. I love EVERY song!!! My daughter who is 9 has loved her since GUTS (how did a 6 year old love All American Bitch? LOL…I don’t know but I think it’s the screaming she loves), I loved her since SOUR, my son also became more of a fan from GUTS. So yeah I need tickets…🙏🏽
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
I am back from my 2 week trip in the Philippines, and what a wild trip it was! It started off with my son being sick with a bad cold and fever the day of the flight to Philippines so I had to make a stressful decision and leave him behind with his dad (who couldn’t take off from work anyway?). So yeah…I was stressed and then trusted my hubby could handle things. Anyway I’m back – I did manage to read 3 books while on vacay and I’m still working on another one.
+ Last weekend I was in Palo Alto, California to see BTS at Stanford Stadium. It was quite an experience! It was the first time for me flying into San Jose Airport and I like how small and not busy it was – not sure if that is usual, but it was such an easy place to fly into. Our hotel was a small vintage boutique hotel, built in 1924, called the Cardinal Hotel and it’s close by to the University. It’s vintage but renovated and I loved the room, even though it had no a/c – it did have a ceiling fan. I love how walkable it was – it is basically in Silicon Valley so it was interesting seeing Waymo driverless cars everywhere!
+ The concert was an experience! It’s my second stadium concert this year. This one being at a university stadium – there was a lot of walking involved since we didn’t rent a car. I had to pick up my pre-ordered army bomb light stick, which was easy, it’s for my daughter, since I was going to dance and take some video during the concert. We didn’t even try for merch. I was not about to stand all morning to try and get a shirt. 😅 We got to the stadium but I told my sister we didn’t need to stand in the lines, it will go down. Plus it was hot in the sun, and DUSTY – I didn’t anticipate the wind and it kicking up all the dry dirt around the stadium. So we stood in the shade across the street from the lines until the gates opened and the lines went down. My sister even got a chance to go to the merch lines to see what they had left…she got me a shirt that only had 2XL for sizes lol…I can sleep in it. We got in easy, found our seats and waited. What was fun about waiting is people passing out freebies. My sister made some freebies to pass out also.
+ BTS was amazing – my sister is ARMY, but my daughter and I are casual fans. Doesn’t matter, I was dancing my booty off and singing as best I could. I just love concerts in general, it’s my stress reliever. Expensive, I know! Also my bias (favorite) is Jungkook because his voice and that man is beautiful. I also love Jimin and Jin. So I was ecstatic that Jungkook came down the ramp on our side. 🥰 I saw lots of kids, families, elderly at the concert, which I thought was sweet!
+ I tried to post some videos but for some reason they are saying it’s “private” on wordpress. 🤷🏻♀️. So here are a few pics of Jungkook and V. Anyway, a time was had. I was EXHAUSTED after the walk back to the hotel, plus why was the street cleaning vehicle out in full force on our hotel street at 11:30PM?! Like…why?!…so I slept I think around 12:30am, a very restless sleep because my body/legs were aching, and I was winding down from the concert. We needed to get up at 5am to catch our flight, once again so happy there was no traffic and it was a Monday, airport was small and quiet – easy to get through. And I knocked out on the plane.
Here are some of the freebies we got at the concert from ARMY – they are so sweet and creative! Like, the time and energy to make these or buy them, pack it up, and carry them around then pass it out – I’m so grateful. Overall, it was a fun experience/concert – my sister hadn’t gone to a concert in 15 years…and now she’s even more addicted to BTS. I’m more addicted to Jung Kook after that concert 😅.
I told my daughter on the plane, I’m done with concerts this year but honestly I really want to go to Olivia Rodrigo. 😩 Me and my kids love her and I lost the Ticketmaster war for that one. But maybe that’s a good thing because I need to get my money back up after Bruno and BTS. 😅
+ My youngest nephew graduated from high school yesterday! We went to attend the ceremony and give him leis afterwards.
We are leaving for the Philippines on Tuesday, and will be gone for 2 weeks! Can’t wait to see family and do a trip where it’s not a concert, standing in lines, being with thousands of people, and buying expensive merch. 😂 So this will be our real vacation – time to relax, chill and see family! Can’t wait!
+ I can’t wait for Olivia Rodrigo’s new album – and her single The Cure just came out. I LOVE it – it feels nostalgic and reminds me of the alternative/rock music I used to listen to as a teen in the 90’s.
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
There is so much I want to read! Hopefully I can get some reading done on my two week trip in the Philippines! I’ll have these on my kindle for sure and then some.
+ I hope everyone who celebrated had a good Mother’s Day last weekend – I totally forgot to do a post for that day! 🤦🏻♀️ I’ve just been so consumed with my trips – right now I’m in Palo Alto, California to see BTS perform at Stanford Stadium tonight! But my Philippines trip is right after and I’ve been stressed trying to figure out packing, etc….also not knowing what to expect because my parents have planned this trip. I’m excited to see so many family I haven’t seen in decades, plus my grandmother who is 103 years old. It will be nice to see her and have her meet my kids!
+ So this week I’ll just be packing and probably not get a lot of reading done. I guess this means I’ll be gone from this blog for 2 weeks. I’ll have things pre-posted like reviews and Top Ten Tuesdays, I think. But essentially won’t be answering comments. I’ll do that when I get back.
+ Off Campus (Prime) – I read the books 10 years ago when they came out so all I remember is Hannah and Garrett because he was the hotshot, popular hockey guy. Also remember Dean because he was the naughty one always sleeping around. Other than that I’m glad I don’t remember everyone and everything so I wasn’t comparing details to the books! Overall I enjoyed it – but I did find myself drawn to John Logan’s character and I love Dean and Allie’s chemistry.
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
It’s been a busy week with my two trips coming up – going to Stanford (California) this Saturday to see BTS on Sunday. Then a week after that I am going to the Philippines for two weeks. So I won’t be here much, but I’ll have posts ready to publish. In the meantime I finished my May arcs yay! Just trying to finish my June arcs that publish while I’m on vacation so I don’t have to play major catching up.
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
I’ve been forgetting to post these WWW Wednesday posts for some reason – just slipping my mind? Stress? lol…I have 2 trips this month, and they are coming up quick. The first trip, I planned. But the second one…I’m relying on my parents! lol They planned it and I’m scared 😅 because I feel like I have no control over any of it.
Anyways here is what I’ve been reading – but I think I’m not feeling like reading lately because I have so much on my mind but I’m hoping to finish my arcs that are due in early June since I’m not sure about my wifi situation when I go to the Philippines.
What are you currently reading?
Hart’s Landing by. Melanie Harlow – 5%
This Book Made Me Thing of You by. Libby Page – audiobook – 57%
The False Vow by. Lydia Gregovic – 12%
When the Light Returns by. Joanna Ruth Meyer – 24%
+ Happy May everyone! It’s the first Sunday in May and nothing special happened this past week. We are just trying to get to the end of this month and get everything done with kids and their last month of school which will be cut short since we are leaving on a trip to the Philippines during their last week of school.
Curses, Keys and Secret Societies by. Breanna Randall
When the Light Returns by. Joanna Ruth Meyer
Shadow Reaper by. Lynette Noni
This Book Made Me Think of You by. Libby Page
Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:
+ Running Point (Netflix) – Season 2 – this show makes me laugh so much! Love it!
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
Past Midnight Book Reviews & More 