June Monthly Recap & Favorites

If you’ve been around my blog for awhile, you might notice that this post is a little bit different than usual.  Back in the day I used to do posts called Taking Stock that would give an overview of my life at the moment (view all of my previous Taking Stock posts here), and then I’d have Favorites posts that would list my favorites from the month (view all of my previous Favorites posts here).  At the beginning of this year, I decided to nix the Taking Stock posts in favor of just the Favorites posts alone.

BUT I HAVE CHANGED MY MIND.

I now think a combination of the two posts is a better idea, because I miss being able to share my actual life with you all, but also love sharing foods, products, books, etc. that I love!  So here we have it – a Monthly Recap & Favorites post!  I’m excited to try this new format and see how we all like it!

This post contains affiliate links

Life Recap:

June is a WILD month in our family!  Jessica had her last day of middle school ever (high school, here she comes!) as well as her 14th birthday, I had my birthday as well, AND Christopher and I both opened and closed a show we were working on together (Richard II – we played King and Queen!).  And after that, I was able to be a counselor for a Harry Potter-themed summer camp for a week – wow, what a fun, exhilarating, wild week that was!  I had an absolute blast!

Needless to say, we were busy busy bees throughout the whole month and it all went by in a crazy, sugar-coated blur!  It was a wonderful time, but I definitely feel like I’m still recovering a bit from all of the madness!

What I’ve Eaten:

As every one of you most certainly knows by now, I am a coffee fanatic.  Particularly iced coffee in all of its many delightful forms.  When I went to Texas this past March on my train adventure, I was introduced to the most incredible thing on earth – a cold brew system.  I literally purchased it while still on the train ride home so it would be there when I arrived, and have not stopped using it since.  This system is ridiculously simple and easy, but makes the most rich, delicious cold brew coffee I’ve had in a long, long time.  It has been VERY worth the investment, and I’d even argue that it saves me money because I’m less likely to run out the door to grab iced coffee when I have cold brew right at home in my fridge!  If you are looking for a cold brew system, this is the one to get!

I’ve talked about our love of HelloFresh before, but it’s been better and better for us – particularly in as crazy a month as June was – and I can’t help but share about it again.  We’ve gotten to try so many unique recipes that we never would’ve without this service (Korean Bibimbap, anyone?) and it really has been a nice, stress-free way for me to practice some of my much-needed cooking skills as well. If you wanna try it out, feel free to use this affiliate link for $40 off your first month!

What I’ve Read:

I’ve been super into audiobooks lately and the two I’m going to share today are both on Audible!

I listened to Kind Is The New Classy by Candace Cameron Burre, a book I was honestly unsure about when I first came upon it, but decided to try anyway and I’m glad I did!  Although I am a woman of faith, I differ very strongly from Candace in the political arena and was really unsure about what she might go into in this book, but it really did stay on message and was an uplifting, encouraging, mostly politics-free read!  I did enjoy the fact that she narrated the book herself, as I think that often makes a major difference in the quality of an audiobook.

The other audiobook I listened to was actually a book that Christopher and I went through together: a nonfiction book called If You’re in My Office it’s Already Too Late: A Divorce Lawyer’s Guide to Staying Together by James J. Sexton.  It’s basically a divorce lawyer who says “I don’t know how to tell people what to do to stay together, necessarily, but I can tell you what NOT to do…”  Chris and I are big nerds, so we LOVE to read/listen to books and podcasts about relationships, so this one was right up our alley.  While a touch vulgar and a little irreverent at times, we really enjoyed this book and found the advice and stories interesting, thought-provoking, and certainly great conversation starters when it came to our own relationship.  The author also read this book, so we loved the narration as well!

I’ve been going through the books I’m reading for my Goodreads challenge and reviewing them on instagram stories, so if you want more information of what I’ve been reading this year, go check those out here.

New Around the Home:

Speaking of reading, I’m currently reading a book called The Nesting Place and have plans to declutter, deep clean, and update the decor of our home this summer.  This has always been something that makes me nervous, and that I don’t feel I have natural skill in, so I’ve been apprehensive to make our rental house into a true home space for us, but I really feel like it’s time, so that’s a massive goal I’m hoping to accomplish this summer.  Decorating tips appreciated!!

Current Favorites This Month:

Beauty:  The Miraqueen hair curler is my new favorite thing on earth.  It’s extremely easy to use (I burn myself on regular curling irons every. single. time. and have yet to burn myself once on this gem!) and makes gorgeous curls quickly and easily.  I don’t know what I ever did without this thing, seriously.

Podcast:  Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel is my new favorite podcast on the planet.  You’re a fly-on-the-wall of a couples counseling session.  Be aware that it does get pretty deep and intense at times, but I have genuinely found this podcast fascinating and a great one for Christopher and I to listen to and discuss together.

TV: Christopher and I have been big into binge-watching (and sometimes binge-tweeting!) The Staircase – a true-crime documentary originally created in 2004, but now with updated episodes and information about the trial, exclusively hosted on Netflix.  I just LOVED watching this show and it’s bizarre events and subsequent trial.  If you’re into true crime whatsoever, this needs to be on your list.

Clothing/Accessories:  A couple of weeks ago, during my very fast-paced Harry Potter summer camp, the teal band on my beloved Fitbit broke off and would not put itself back together!  I had somehow completely broken one of the attachment clamps and it was a lost cause.  Since I love my Fitbit and didn’t want to be without it (and since it was technically a part of my costume for the show!) I went onto amazon and ordered a new band.  My new Fitbit band is a gorgeous rose gold color (that somehow still looks great with the silver Fitbit body) and adds a classy update to my device, PLUS is completely adjustable in size , which means that it even fits my weirdly-small wrists well!  Oh, and it was $13!  BOOM!

Random:  I’ve had some annoying luck with mounted cell phone holders for cars.  The first type I tried (this one) worked great in the fall and winter months, but once it got too hot the suction cup would just basically melt off and the mount would fall.  So THAT’S not ideal.  But then my friend Blair recommended this one, which mounts to your AC vents, and it’s been working wonderfully so far!

So there you have it – my June in a nutshell!  Have you found any new, awesome things this month?  Or did you do any new, awesome things?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!