Photographical ode to the end of our (home) harvest

As September comes to an end and the days grow shorter, so do the days we have reaping the benefits of our home garden. This was our most successful garden to date thanks to bring our well back into service. 

Today I'm sharing a photo dump from our little harvests from our garden (and some families gardens too!)

 

From the bookshelf...

Long, overdue update that's been sitting in my drafts... 😬🙃📚

22. The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1) by Carissa Broadbent

23. The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King (Crowns of Nyaxia, #2) by Carissa Broadbent

24. Six Scorched Roses (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1.5) by Carissa Broadbent

I absolutely FLEW through book 1 and finished it in little over a day. And boy, oh boy did book one leave me with my jaw hanging on the ground. I jumped right into book 2. Yep, I mistakenly skipped over book 1.5 and went right to 2. In my defense, I thought this was one of those after thought/ prequel types of books. Whooooops! 

I was torn in book two between what I would practically act in this particular situation VS what my romantic fantasy book reader wants to happen. That being said I felt like book 2 moved a little slower than book 1. There was a lot of back and forth between the characters and it started to feel a little dragged out (especially when we allll know how it's going to end up). And now I'm about to be very contradictory and say that I am a little sad that this is the end of the story for Raihn and Oraya (as main characters). It appears that this series is following the same recipe as "The Bridge Kingdom" series. We've finished with these two as main characters and will follow other main characters in the remaining series. Presumably (or at least I'm hoping) we'll see a book follow Mische and a book that follows Lilith and Vale. 

Which leads me to book 1.5,  Lilith and Vale's introductory novella. As I mentioned I read this book after book 2 but honestly I think it worked. Since I had no back story on these two it made more scenarios of deception in book two more probable. I don't feel like anything was too spoiled for book 1.5 knowing that Lilith would eventually be turned. I think we all know reading a novella, it's going to be short and sweet and we're going to get right to the point- no slow burn there. 

Overall I've really enjoyed this series so far and will definitely be on the look out for the next book in the series. 

25. Kingdom of the Wicked (Kingdom of the Wicked, #1) by Kerri Maniscalco

26. Kingdom of the Cursed (Kingdom of the Wicked, #2) by Kerri Maniscalco

27. Kingdom of the Feared (Kingdom of the Wicked, #3) by Kerri Maniscalco

Spoilers ahead. This series was a roller coaster and not in the best way. Book one had promise and was decent and engaging enough that I wanted to read book 2 and find out more. There we some missteps by the female main character (FMC), Emilia, but I was able to get past them. Book two though, ugh, I'm not sure I've ever been so annoyed with a FMC. I seriously think half of this book is Emilia having internally dialogue going back and forth and then comparing it to "the novellas" she reads. Seriously, we get it. You read a lot of books and we do not need to be reminded. Book 3 does not get better. If anything it gets worse. It builds up her sister to be the big bad wolf and enemy number one (most of which is egged on by her sister). Then all of the sudden Emilia decides her sister isn't bad anymore and she starts playing nice with everyone? What? I'm glad I read the whole way through but I am a little disappointed in this series. There was potential here but in hindsight it seems like a missed opportunity. 

28. Up next..... Divine Rivals!

An update on my TBR list! I have a growing "note" on my phone of all the books I see repeated on Tiktok. Here's what's on my TBR right now:

• The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
• Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan
• A Broken Blade (The Halfling Saga, #1) by Melissa Blair
• Lady of Ashes Series by Christine Trent
• Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1) by Rebecca Ross
• Lady of Darkness Series by Melissa K. Roehrich
• Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
• Kingdom of the Wicked Series by Kerri Maniscalco
• A Soul of Ash and Blood (Blood and Ash Series, 5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout **new add** TBH I need a "previously on Blood and Ash" recap because I remember being verrrry confused and a little burnt out by the end of reading the whole series (thus far). 

August sipped away like a bottle of wine

Predictably, August brought harvest to the winery I work at and I've been consumed with the frenzy of it all. Hopefully I'll get to reclaim some of my mental capacity sooner rather later but until then here's a photo dump from the grapes that have started to roll in! Cheers! 🍷

 

Thrifty Thursday

 

As I mentioned in my in my "Revisiting my 2022 resolutions and setting my 2023 intentions" post, I have been crushing my goal of living a healthier life style. Now a "healthier lifestyle" encompasses a lot of things including diet, exercise, mental health, ect. For me, I've been working on it all and have been reaping the rewards! Yay!

Now let me be clear, I am very, very happy about this. However, my closet has taken a major hit. None of my clothes fit! So now I'm on the hunt to rebuild my colorful closet! 

I've always loved going thrifting but unfortunately living in a small, country town the selection is not great. And have you been to Goodwill lately?? They've lost their minds with their pricing!

That being said I'm no stranger to the online thrift scene. There's a lot of great options for tracking down items from past seasons, items that sold out (though I LOATHE resellers) or just finding a different size. I especially love a good deal, so I'm always on the hunt for those!

So as I rebuild my closet I'm going to share these "Thrifty Thursday" post to showcase all my finds! 

First dress up is from a Goop X Lilly Pulitzer collaboration done in 2018. I was excited to find this silk maxi- and at steal of price IMO. 

True to Lilly fashion- this maxi is very long. I could probably get away without hemming it if I wear some tall heels or wedges (as seen here). One of the cool features of this dress is that it is optional to have slits! Each side has a row of buttons that you can adjust if you desire one slit or two or none. I haven't seen this on any other dress before. 

This dress was found on the RealReal. They don't often have a lot of Lilly and I've had varying buying experiences with them. One time they tagged a dress right through a sheer panel and tore a hole in it.😖 Whyyy??

I must have been thinking pink because my next thrift find was this Lilly Darlah dress in Havana Pink Clawdia! I've been on the look out for this pink Darlah for awhile now and was pleased to find it on one of the facebook buy/sell/trade groups! I was even more smitten when it arrived to realize it wasn't paisely print but lobster print! 🦞

I definitely plan to track back down some of my favorite Kate Spade dresses but since it's sunny and summertime I've got Lilly on my mind 🌞

Stuff your Kindle Day is here!

 Hip hip hooray! Stuff Your Kindle Day is here!

Don’t have a kindle? No worries! The name is definitely misleading because this day is for everyone with an e-reader or using an e-book app.

That being said, Stuff Your Kindle Day is a day where you can literally get thousands of free e-books no matter your viewing device!

This day is brought to you by amazing authors that have decided to give back and offer some of their e-books for FREE. It happens four times a year (the next days are September 20 and December 27).

The most popular website for this is Amazon of course but other stores that see e-books can also be offering this deal. Don’t have an e-reader? Guess what? You can download the Kindle App for FREE. (Have I mentioned how free everything is? 🙃 I just love how accessible this day is for everyone!)

Now let’s get to stuffing! The best way to find these books is to go to your favorite genre and then sort by price “low to high”. This will bring all those $0 books right to you. Then all you have to do it “buy” the book!

Don’t worry about “over stuffing” your e-reader because once you “buy” that free book it’s linked to your amazon account forever. Which means you’ve got allllll the time in the world to read through your free books!

So what are you waiting for?! Go stuff your e-reader because it's only happening today! 

LP Splash Sale!

Lilly lovers rejoice! Lilly has yet again surprised us with a sale that they are calling the "Splash Sale". Once upon a time, Lilly only held the "After Party Sale" which only ever happened biannually. And-that-was-it. APS was notoriously rough- often crashing the site or having items disappear from your cart. Think the Taylor Swift Eras Tour Great War but for Lilly. 

However, like many other companies during the pandemic Lilly started having little surprise sales to boost their numbers. They have since dropped the name APS and have had more sales throughout year- which in my opinion has been great (even though some of the prices haven't been as cheap as we've seen in the APS)!
With the announcement of the Splash Sale I wanted to share some of my favorite styles we'll see included in the sale!

This Ashler will be in the sale and I plan on snatching up the other print!

My favorite shift style, the Mila! A great classic Lilly shift!

The Parigi! Likely a doorbuster because this is a popular style!

One of my all time favorite silhouettes- the Edith!

These are the styles I'm hoping to snatch up during the sale! 

Now even though this isn't the APS I would definitely play by APS rules:

Get in the waiting room before 8am EST time to be put in a virtual que. 

If you can save your card info for faster check out, do it!

Popovers tend to go FAST so if they're on your list start there first!

Items aren't held in your cart, so multiple little orders is the safest way to secure your bag!

SHOP SMALL! The Signature Stores have the best support and service I highly recommend shopping with them first. **Also some of these stores will start the sale tonight at midnight!**

Finally, be prepared to wait. And wait. And wait for your order to get to you. I feel like they've gotten better since the APS days but you will get a warning that it could take up to FIVE WEEKS to receive your order.

**Also, it's worth noting that these sales are typically FINAL SALE only. If you end up with something that doesn't work for you or fit right I recommend getting on facebook. There are a TON of Lilly resale groups and usually create threads for specifically sale fails. 

So what are you hoping to snatch during the Splash Sale?!

Happy Shopping! 💗

 

From the bookshelf

When I started rereading ACOTAR back in December, I did not intend to reread the entire Sarah J. Maas universe. But here we are. I was paralyzed by intimidation to pick up and read all 880 pages of "A Day of Fallen Night". So what did I do instead? I reread the Crescent City series. Now you might asking; "Amber, aren't those books also 800 pages each"? Yes. Yes they are. 🤦I can't make it make sense either. 

17. House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1) by Sarah J. Maas 

18. House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City, #2) ) by Sarah J. Maas - To be honest the first time I read these books they weren't my favorite. The first book I felt complete lost during the world and character building. And while I would still rank these behind ACOTAR and TOG, I did enjoy these books much more this time around. I still have the same feelings about the Bryce and Danica relationship. Even after a second read I still feel like this core relationship gets 💩 on the most. After reading this so closely to the other series I am way more excited for January 2024 when we get "House of Flame and Shadow" and the crossover event Sarah teased at the end of "House of Sky and Breath". 

19. A Day of Fallen Night (The Roots of Chaos, #0) by Samantha Shannon- Patting myself on the back for getting over the length of this book and jumping in. AND IT WAS WORTH IT. I was afraid I might not remember enough of "The Priory of the Orange Tree" to get into this but I honestly wish I had read this book first because it was that good. Without any spoilers here all I can say is that Samantha Shannon did not hold back and that nobody is safe- be prepared for some tears. It is a bit slow in the beginning but, again, there is some world building and back story that needs to happen before getting into the thick of it. I did physical book AND audiobook on this one. I really enjoyed the audiobook actors for this book! 

20. Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) by Rebecca Yarros- THANK YOU BOOKTOK! To say this book was heavily recommended by booktok would be an understatement. So  much so that I still have not gotten my hands on a physical copy of this book because it's sold out everywhere. I couldn't be happier to report that this book lived up to the hype. Was there predictability? Sure. Overall though I really enjoyed the story and even happier to know that the next book comes out in November! There's defiently some twists and unanswered questions that I can't wait to be answered. If you just binged the entire Sarah Maas collection and are lost on what to read next- read this! 

 

21. The Endless War (The Bridge Kingdom, #4) by Danielle L. Jensen- For me, this was an underwhelming read. I enjoyed Zarrah and Keris's story in "The Inadequate Heir" and this fell pretty flat. After the ending in the last book I wanted a redemption story for Keris but I don't feel like we got one. Even Zarrah's character seemed to take a blow in this book. She went from a strong, confident lead character to a self doubting character. We get the smallest glimpse of Lara and Aren and that wasn't enough. I much prefer their story. We get some subtle hints at the end of book to carry us over to the next book- which will jump into Ahnna's story. Hopefully we'll see some fresh material in that book 🤞 Also, it is worth noting that this book is only available in audiobook format and will not come out as a physical book until the end of November. 

22. What's next? Good question! I have a growing "note" on my phone of all the books I see repeated on Tiktok. Here's what's on my TBR right now:

• The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
• Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan
• A Broken Blade (The Halfling Saga, #1) by Melissa Blair
• Lady of Ashes Series by Christine Trent
• Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1) by Rebecca Ross
• Lady of Darkness Series by Melissa K. Roehrich
• Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
• Kingdom of the Wicked Series by Kerri Maniscalco

I've also been thinking about picking up a Kindle Paperweight in the upcoming PrimeDays. I have an older Fire tablet but it's difficult to read with outside due to the glare. If anyone has any recommendations please let me know!