Three Thoughts Thursday

1) Beauty and the Beast was SO amazing last night. I've seen the original animated movie countless times (of course), and I've seen it as a play twice (I cried both times) and read many re-tellings of the story, so I was so excited to see this new movie. I also love Emma Watson (what's not to love?!) and I think she was incredible. I'm not sure that my kids are anywhere near ready for it but I can't wait until they are. It was perfect - I loved that it was a bit more French than the animated movie, and the costumes and the new songs were amazing. I also really enjoyed the evening out with one of my best friends who I don't see often enough. It was exactly what my soul needed this week.

Here I am in my shirt that I made and red rose earrings:

2) I recently discovered this Facebook group which is basically just an excuse to chat with random people about books all the time. Think Show Us Your Books, but every day. I was enjoying the Modern Mrs. Darcy book club for a few months, but it costs money (and the FB group is free), and it uses another platform so I was never logging into it. It is kinda fun. I am grateful for the areas of the Internet to chat books because although many people in my everyday life read a lot, we aren't always reading the same books around the same time, or we have wildly different tastes, OR, we don't see each other enough to chat books in a lot of depth.

3) If you loved Serial, you might want to check out this new podcast coming next week. It's not the same, but it does sound awesome. I'm excited because Brian and I listened to Serial together and we haven't really had a podcast that we both enjoyed since then!

Linking up today with Kristin and Amanda.

Thoughts on Thursday

Sharing some Thursday thoughts today....

1) So far this year, I have read 6 books with a WWII theme (although one is still unfinished). It goes without saying that these books have been a bit intense and sad although VERY well written and enjoyable. I think I need a little break, so I am looking forward to a couple of fluffier reads over the next few weeks. One thing I can say is that these books have really REALLY opened my eyes and made me appreciate the easiness of my life and my fortune to live in a free and peaceful country.

2) I love being a mom. It is easy for me to remember this when things are going well in our house, the sun in shining, everyone is sleeping well, people aren't crying or fighting as much as usual...but I really need to remember it on the hard days. That being said, I can tell that we are headed into the "sweet spot" of parenting. (I am positive that I'm jinxing it just by typing those words - we still have a "terrible two" at the moment, lol).

My 4 year old dressed herself ;)

3) I don't really take a lot of selfies (or post them) but sometimes you just have to document a good hair day (it is especially important to show to a future hairstylist because my bangs are never cut correctly)!

4) I can't remember where I first saw this Anti-diet post from The Londoner but my cousin shared it this week and I love it. Is anything in this post newsworthy? No. But the way that she presents the information is fantastic. I am going to print off the two charts and reference them when I am feeling like I need extra motivation in regards to eating and exercise.

5) I have been tracking my sleep lately just out of curiosity, and finding that although I sleep pretty well, there are some definite "wide awake" moments in the middle of the night (according to the app) when I am pretty restless. Have you ever tracked your sleep? It's kind of interesting. I go to bed pretty early every night because I get up between 5:00-5:30 on work days...but I think I could still improve my sleep quality.

6) I love the new intermediate/advanced yoga class I am taking. It's been 3 weeks and it feels GREAT. I totally credit yoga with how well I ran in my 5K last weekend because I haven't been training very hard for that race. My legs feel strong though and my breathing from yoga has really translated to running. I'm sure Alyssa has some great posts on this topic but the two activities are really more linked than you'd think.

7) We have 0 plans for this weekend & it's supposed to be really sunny and nice, so I think we'll spend lots of time outside at the playground and maybe even take a quick beach trip. Can't WAIT. :)

8) We are also still really enjoying White Collar but might do a movie this weekend...any recommendations?!?!

Linking up for Thoughts on Thursday with Running with Spoons 

Thinking out loud Thursday #1

I came across this great link up on Running with Spoons' blog called Thinking Out Loud Thursday, and it fit with how I am feeling about posting on the blog lately, so here I am!! I'm sharing some random thoughts I've had lately here :)

Running With Spoons

1) What is the best way to sanitize your entire home? The 4 of us have been sick off and on now for almost 6 weeks, the worst of which was over Christmas...and I am just so sick (haha) of it!!! I am doing some major scrubbing this weekend if I get any energy back!!

2) Does going to bed before 9 pm every day this week make me lame or awesome? I'm inclined to think the latter - my body needs the rest!!

3) I am excited to make shrimp something for supper tonight (recipe to be determined) and edamame for my kids who won't eat shrimp. We NEVER buy it but it was on sale last week and has been in the freezer waiting to get consumed!! Any recipe recommendations?!

4) I've been smugly thinking that a lot of our snow melted this week which is great for my 5k trail run race on Sunday, but no, tomorrow we're supposed to get another 20 cm which will make things interesting on Sunday! Luckily I have some of those ice grippy things because the race route is pretty hilly and will not be plowed completely.

5) Am I the only one who thinks of my kids' pajamas as "lucky" when they sleep well in them? My husband thinks I am crazy. Our oldest sleeps fantastically, all the time, anywhere. Our younger daughter sleeps fantastically 90% of the time, but when she gets sick, she sleeps like crap, so when we're in that phase, I like to stick to "good luck jammies" that she's slept all night in before ;)

6) I am craving some time to sit and read but I've been going to bed so early that I haven't finished this book that I started LAST WEEK. Gotta get it done today & move on - my pile from the library is getting higher and I need to finish them soon!! However, I did read What Alice Forgot in the meantime and I can't stop thinking about it!!! Loved it SO much.

7) Is anyone else LOVING Anne Bogel's (Modern Mrs. Darcy's) podcast? It is called What Should I Read Next? and it is so entertaining listening to people chat about books in that format. I am totally hooked and I want to be in a real-life book club so badly!! I am hoping I can start one this year.

8) I am loosely following IIFYM these days, aka flexible dieting, and I love it. I need to be a bit better about tracking it in MyFitnessPal but what I love about it the most is that I am MUCH more aware of serving sizes and the calories in what I am eating. For instance, if I'm going to grab a quick snack, a handful of dried cranberries is NOT worth using up almost all my carbs and a meal's worth of calories! It really makes me think about the types of foods that get you more "bang for your buck" aka vegetables. I loved this post about it earlier this week too.

9) Lucy got an adorable monster bowling set from my sister for Christmas & yesterday we named all of the bowling pins #amIacrazymomorafunone ? Their names are Ivan, Sylvester, Jeremy, Julia, Stripey and Circle Wercle (Molly named those last two herself).

10) Someone on a local mommy facebook group posted a great idea earlier this week - when she retires she wants to charge people $5 to sit in their car with their sleeping kids while they quickly run into a store for something. I have thought SO MANY TIMES about hiring a babysitter when I have to do errands in the car - it can be a big pain to drag 2 kids in and out of a bunch of stores, especially in the winter!!!

Hope everyone is having a great week! Check out some other random thoughts over at Running with Spoons!!!