It’s Thursday morning and I’m feeling rather chatty today which means it’s the perfect time for a blog survey! Since surveys are always so fun for me to read when I see them on other blogs, I love featuring them on PBF from time to time when I’m in the mood for some lighthearted ramblings.
Thank you for this “Lately I’ve Been…” survey, Presley and Courtney!
I always enjoy reading your responses to the survey questions in the comments section of survey posts, so feel free to chime in below.
Let’s get to it!
Lately I’ve Been…
Making: Roasted nuts! I’ve been on a big seasoned roasted nuts kick and enjoy playing around with different spices and oils. I think I’ve made two more batches of my sweet and spicy roasted almonds since I posted the recipe last week!
Cooking: Fish. Ever since my dad sent us back to North Carolina with a haul of frozen fish from his spearfishing trips, I’ve been cooking up some delicious fish a couple of times a week. It’s healthy, easy to make and tastes delicious. Triple threat!
Drinking: Water. Non-stop. Pregnancy thirst is real. The colder the water, the better and if it’s sparkling or flavored, I’m in heaven.
Reading: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I’ll elaborate more on this one tomorrow (it’s going in my Things I’m Loving Friday post!), but I’ve been devouring it ever since I started reading it on Monday night.
Wanting: Another good book to read when I’m done with Me Before You. I’m considering The Husband’s Secret and The Girl On The Train. I also ordered The Happiest Baby On The Block, but that falls into a separate category from my usual “pleasure reading” selections.
Looking: Forward to two weekend getaways before baby arrives! Ryan and I were able to rearrange some travel plans and now have a fun trip planned for next weekend. I’m counting down the days!
Playing: Pandora. My go-to stations of the moment: Dave Matthews, Destiny’s Child and Pitch Perfect. (For the Pandora lovers out there like me who may be looking for some great workout music inspiration, check out this post: Best Pandora Workout Music Stations.)
Wasting: Time researching fun things to do in Charleston! I am crossing my fingers a weekend trip to Charleston will work out for me and Ryan in June because the recommendations you guys sent my way yesterday have me feeling more and more excited about this mini vacation!
Wishing: My family lived closer. I absolutely love where we live right now, but since Ryan and I lived within two hours of both of our families for 11 years before we moved, I cannot help but miss living such a short drive away. And while I’m wishing people I loved live closer, I’ll also add my best friends from high school and college to this wish list. I’d even take just one of them!
Enjoying: Feeling our baby move! It never gets old.
Waiting: For the results from my glucose screening test.
Liking: Burning candles! I know this may seem odd, but for years I’d “save” my candles and only burn them on special occasions. Eventually I realized this was so silly. I buy candles to burn and enjoy so I should do just that! Now I regularly light a candle on my desk to enjoy when I type up my morning blog post and also love lighting candles in the kitchen at the end of a long day. They just add a comforting ambiance to any space and make me happy!
Wondering: How we’re going to adjust to life with a baby. It’s so crazy for me to think that the days of “just the two of us” are coming to an end soon and there’s really no way to completely prepare ourselves for just how much our lives are about to change in a few months.
Loving: Ryan. He’s the best. I feel very lucky to have someone in my life who just “gets me” and makes me laugh every single day. He’s a good one!
Hoping: For a healthy third trimester and an even healthier baby.
Needing: To get better at figuring out some sort of an organizational system for my emails. I’m drowning!
Wearing: Workout apparel and soft, forgiving bralettes. (<—Wearing that $7 find a little too much lately.) As always. And now that the weather is getting warmer, my nighttime pregnancy uniform has morphed from a large, oversized sweatshirt to soft, cozy tees and sleep shorts that I should probably retire for a while because, as my body has changed a bit, they’ve become ridiculously unflattering, but I refuse to give them up.
Following: The latest season of The Bachelorette. Guilty pleasure, baby!
Noticing: The feeling I get when we’re out on the water. I love living close to a big lake and the feeling I get inside when Ryan and I spend a weekend afternoon on the boat fills me with so much joy. Plus, it’s pretty sweet not to have to worry about sharks or alligators in the water now that we live in North Carolina!
Knowing: I have some pretty stellar friends. I cannot believe how many of my girlfriends are going to be traveling to Charlotte for my baby shower next month. They’re the best!
Thinking: Sadie is going to be quite shocked when our little one arrives. Whenever people ask me if Sadie knows I’m pregnant I just laugh because I know she’s clueless. She’s just annoyed that my belly is growing bigger and that means she can no longer comfortably sit on my stomach which used to be one of her go-to cuddle spots since personal space boundaries do not exist in Sadie’s world.
Feeling: Excited. Nervous. Overwhelmed. Anxious. Elated. Every single day. Let’s just say a lot of emotions are tied to carrying a baby!
Bookmarking: Bathroom renovation ideas. I’ve been obsessed with Houzz and Pinterest and am finding lots of great inspiration ideas for the bathroom renovations we’re hoping to begin soon.
Opening: Packages! Ever since our baby shower invitations went out, some gifts for our little one have been arriving at our doorstep which means so much to me. Our baby is already a little spoiled and he hasn’t even arrived yet!
Question of the Morning
Play along with the survey above by picking a few (or all) of the prompts and sharing your answers!
Need some guidance? Here are a few:
Lately I’ve been…
- Making
- Wanting
- Wishing
- Loving
- Needing
- Wearing
- Feeling
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Making: chickpeas! I’ve been cooking dry organic beans and doing all kinds of things with them, especially roasting, similar to the nuts you’ve been making. Soon good!
Making chicken sausage with brussels sprouts for dinner tonight.
Thinking about my trip to London England next month with my dad. Can’t wait to start finalizing the details!
Wanting November to arrive soon! We have booked two weeks in Maui!
Loving my positive energy and the happy mindset I’m in.
Needing to organize my closet and do some purging of belongings. It’s time for a fresh and clean start to the summer.
Wearing dresses! The summer weather is starting to finally arrive in Calgary, Alberta.
Feeling very loved after celebrating my 4 year anniversary with my boyfriend this past weekend!
Girl on the Train is a great book!
Also heard Happiest Baby on the Block has some good tricks that really work.
I’m due with baby #2 so I definitely understand your anticipation and excitement. I’m feeling ready for baby to be here.
Also, I absolutely loved Me Before You… it was SO, SO GOOD!
so funny about the candle thing – I used to do the same thing! I still save ones tht were super expensive or special or that I know I’ll never find again, but I still have a bunch of candles for ‘daily use’
I loved both The Girl on the Train and The Husband’s Secret, but I think I would recommend The Husband’s Secret first… The Girl on the Train was good, but it was pretty depressing, haha.
Also, my grandpa owns a house on Lake Norman, so my family vacations there every summer – our annual trip is next month, and I can’t wait to get out on the water! (I live in Indiana so…. there isn’t too much water you want to swim around in, haha) I love reading your restaurant recommendations for the area as well – I’ll have to get my husband out for date night while we’re there!
Jealous of all the fresh fish you have stockpiled!
I loved Me Before You, too! A sequel is coming out at the end of summer called After You. Can’t wait to read it! One Plus One is another great read by Jojo Moyes.
Liane Moriarty books are great, too. You mentioned The Husband’s Secret which I liked. I would also recommend What Alice Forgot and Big Little Lies if you haven’t read those already.
The Girl on the Train was good but I didn’t love it. In that genre I would recommend The Kind Worth Killing or Dangerous Girls.
Happiest Baby on the Block was a total game changer for us! My only regret is that we waited until week 6 to read it but implementing those ideas totally changed or lives with baby. I’m looking forward to reading Happiest Toddler on the Block next.
Yep, game changer for us as well. We couldn’t have survived the first several months with the 5 S’s!
the email thing…i say just blindly delete them. 🙂
Haha!!
Read “The Girl you Left Behind” by JoJo Moyes- oh my gosh it was good! I loved “Me before You” but this one blew me away 🙂
So glad to hear you like her other novels! I’ll check it out!
-Making lots of home cooked meals for my fiance. Trying to get this whole wife thing down and not just cooking for myself, and actually having a meal plan set for when I get home from work. Having something for him to take to work and come home to makes me feel like I’m taking care of him. It’s fun!
– Wanting a vacation! Honeymoon is about 4 weeks away but I’m impatient. This wedding planning stuff is stressful. Not because of family or our quest, but all the little things that need to be done still. Like place settings, certificates for the church and then for the marriage license. I need a break 🙂
– Wishing for more time and energy. Wishing I was a more motivated person when I get home from work.
– Loving coming home at the end of a long day and knowing Shane will be there to chat with. He’s my rock.
– Needing friends and family more then ever. I’m pretty independent, but now that we moved and I’m further from friends and my family I really miss them all. I miss being able to go grab lunch or a glass of wine with my girlfriends. Or go hang out with my mom when Shane’s working a night shift.
– Wearing lots of yoga pants and tanks. I work at a gym so that’s my normal attire during the week. I get excited to wear jeans and my cute tops!
– Feeling EXCITED! Weddings only 3 weeks away. Get to marry an amazing man. And we plan to start a family right away. I can’t wait to see what the rest of 2015 has in store for us. EEEEE!!!!!! 🙂
I’m in the same boat, wedding planning is fun but exhausting! I too live away from my family and wish I had some help.
I’m a candle hoarder too. And I also hoard ‘nice’ notebooks and post-its. I recently found some pencils with my name on them that I’ve seriously had since like 3rd grade, ha!
Wishing it would STOP raining so much! I want to be outsideee!
You must must must watch the shoe parenthood on netflix if you haven`t already… It is about a families story about life and it is amazing! My boyfriend and I are hooked. Such a feel good show!
Anything by JoJo Moyes is excellent. She’s actually publishing a sequel to Me Before You. I really loved The Husband’s Secret as well, but, again, anything by Liann Moriarty is worth a read!
Loving the Bachelorette so far! SO GLAD Britt didn’t make it. I’m not sure I would have been able to watch.
I’m pretty sure I’ve recommended this book already anytime someone asks for recommendations, but “The Rosie Project” is a fantastic book! So, so, so, good! I read it a couple years ago, and it’s just the perfect escape. Funny. Lately I’ve been:
Wanting – better sleep! I can get 8 hours, but they are at really un-ideal, weird times. :/
Wishing – for good news about my dad’s health! (Praying for it after his biopsy last week).
Loving – my dad! Such a generous, sweet, man. I’m very, very, very, lucky. And my husband! Who is MY PERSON. <3 <3
Needing – more Netflix sitcoms to watch. I ended up loving Grace and Frankie and the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt and I want MOAR.
Feeling- super excited for the long weekend! And the following weekend is my 7 year wedding anniversary with my husband, and we're going on a big weekend trip up north to Lake Superior/Duluth, MN. (North Woods travel is loooovely.) Look up the Split Rock Lighthouse. Pretty, pretty.
I'm also watching the Bachelorette!! Given the previews for the entire season, it looks like it's going to be CRAYZAY! And I love reading these types of list posts, as well as reading the comments! 🙂
I live in Charleston! Must try restaurants– The Granary (also for brunch), Obstinate Daughter (also for brunch), FIG, Red Drum (also for brunch), Leyla’s, Indaco, Hall’s, Burwell’s, Two Borough’s Larder, Xiao Bao Biscuit.
Lunch spots– Five Loaves, Cru Cafe, Butcher & Bee, Persimmon Cafe, CO, Tattooed Moose
And there are sooo many more, but don’t waste your time on well known spots such as Husk and Hominy Grill.
ENJOY 🙂
Thank you for these recs!
-Making roasted veggies. Every week.
-Wanting some new summer shoes. My old ones are sad.
– Needing a vacation. Seriously July cannot come soon enough! We are going to Savannah
-Loving after dinner walks with my husband and daughter.
I loved both Girl on the Train and the Husband’s Secret! Both excellent books! But, if I had to recommend just one I would recommend The Husband’s Secret, simply because I LOVE that author. I’ve read every one of her books and even though they often deal with heavy subjects, her writing always makes me laugh out loud. It’s like she is writing the things I think to myself and never though anybody else would think too 🙂
Our book club just finished Me Before You and before that, we read Girl on a Train…. I LOVED Me before You. I love a good book with an even better ending. Girl on a Train was crazy and is in the same category as gone girl. Husband’s secret is on my list of books to read!
The Girl on the Train is SO GOOD! Warning though- I read it in one day and stayed up way too late. It was that good.
Julie – if you haven’t read Big little lies – by the same author – read that before husband’s secret – i liked it much better.
Making – almond flour muffins
Wanting – to paint our house so we can put it on the market
Wishing i could really drop these extra summer lbs ! 8 lbs since when ??
Loving – my new warby parker ‘marple” sunglasses
Needing – to clean the garage and get organized – or at least the appearance of organized!
Wearing – nothing new 🙁
Feeling – glad its summer!
I really hope you get to go to charleston!! it’s one of my favorite cities in the South!
Lately…
making: a lot of quinoa salads with spring produce (radishes, asparagus, green onions, greens, ect.)
loving: being home from college and spending time with my parents!
wearing: yoga clothes!
wanting: to know more about Charleston!
My parents and I are taking a trip to Charleston towards the end of the summer! I would love to know good places/restaurants to visit when we go. I hope you do a recap post on your trip! Have fun though 🙂
I used to do the exact same thing with my candles. What the heck was I waiting for?!? Lately I have been making green smoothies,wanting Justin’s maple almond butter, wishing I had more Justin’s maple almond butter, loving walking on the trails near my house, needing time to remember all of my many blessings,wearing comfy tee shirts and feeling very content with my life.
book marking this for a later blog post. what a fun survey!
There may not be alligators in Charlotte, but they are definitely in North Carolina! I live in Wilmington and we have our fair share of them in the local lakes! 🙂
I’ve been…
Making – These little pretzel, rolo, and M&M treats. A huge hit at my choir rehearsals!
Wanting – A vacation!
Wishing – I had more money to purchase more baseball tickets!
Loving – My boyfriend and wonderful friends here in D.C.!
Needing – A new umbrella.
Wearing – Sundresses… the weather is getting pretty muggy out here.
Feeling – Well-rested and healthy!
lately I’ve been wanting chinese food reeeeally bad so tonight we are trying a recipe for sesame chicken! wish me luck! 🙂
I’m curious how the bralettes from Nordstrom’s fit. Are they pretty true to size? I would love to order some but just wanted to get some sizing reviews before I ordered.
Thanks!
If you’re in need of a good book, I recently just read, “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” and I recommend it to practically everyone! It’s told from the narrative of the family’s dog, and while that may sound strange, it is beautifully written. Given that you are a pup-lover, I think you may enjoy this book. AND I just remembered that the family goes through a pregnancy and the way the dog reacts is hilarious. Fitting for the current time of your life. Please let me know if you do read it because I think you’d really enjoy it!
“Husband’s Secret” great book with great twists and turns 🙂
All the light we cannot see is my favorite book of the year! Excellent.
The girl on the train is SUCH a good read…. I read it in one day because I was so engrossed in the story. I highly recommend!
Just curious: What kind of fish is it? The bigger the fish, the more mercury that has had a chance to accumulate in the flesh.
Your post reminded me of an article I edited a LONG time ago for Babyfit, back when I worked for SparkPeople: http://babyfit.sparkpeople.com/articles.asp?id=207
Oh you have to read The Husband’s Secret! I love all of Liane Moriarty’s books and they are perfect for summer. Big Little Lies was also really good!
The girl on the train is A-amazing…. I read it so quickly!
I LOVED The Husband’s Secret!!! I tore through it at the beach during a weekend on Cape Cod. It’s a great read.
Girl on a Train and the Husband’s secret are both so good! If I had to choose one to recommend you read first though I would definitely say the Husband’s secret– it’s a page turner
Hi Julie,
I love and have read all the books you mentioned. You won’t be disappointed!
By the way, I met your dad a couple of months ago at the Ponte Vedra Y and he introduced me to my first spin class. I’ve been going regularly (3-4 times a week) ever since! He’s a great guy! He also told me about your blog, so here I am. He’s so proud of you and looking forward to the new baby!
Enjoy your vacation! All the best to you and yours!!
My dad told me he met a blog reader recently and I’m so glad you left a comment! Thanks for saying hi to him! It made his day! 🙂
Julie, it was great meeting him.. he’s a terrific encourager! 🙂 He is soooo proud of you too, talks about you all the time! Have a wonderful weekend!
I love everything about the bathroom inspo. I had to save that to my inspo file too!
I just read both The Husbands Secret and The Girl on the Train — literally within the last 2 weeks. Both are sooooo good!! You can’t go wrong. I haven’t been that into a book since Gone Girl!
I just read My Husband’s Secret. It was sooo good. I highly recommend it 🙂
I am so jealous you live near Lake Norman! We visited a friend of ours who lives near there a few years ago and so enjoyed boating around that lake. It’s beautiful, and there are so many little areas to see!
Where did you get that candle? I think you posted about it awhile back…
Thanks!
Homegoods!