It finally got colorful around here! It was so crazy. I was sick for two days at the end of April, then spent two more days inside resting. When I went back out side on Monday for work, I was shocked at how GREEN everything became in just those four days!
May was filled with lots of celebrations! We had a baby shower for one of the managers at my work. We went to the second birthday for little Theo, a birthday for one of my book club friends, and a birthday for our friend Sam. We also had two mothers day celebrations; one in Maine and one in New Hampshire.
Speaking of mother’s day celebrations… every year my side of the family does a huge brunch honoring my mom and grandma. This was the spread this year:
This month, my company did a wonderful fundraiser for the American Heart Association. There were 100 envelopes stuck to the wall. Each envelope had a number on the front. People were to pick an envelope and donate at least the amount that was on the envelope. I picked #50, so I donated $50. Once you give your money to the organizer, you put the card from inside the envelope back on the wall. I donated in honor of my mom who had quite the scare a short while back.
I also headed up the team for the Walk Against Hunger with my company. My brother and sister in law also joined us. We raised just under $300, which was short of our goal, but I was still so impressed by our team!
Alex and I FINALLY made it over to the Chunky’s theater that opened up in our town. It’s LOVELY! The entire theater is so clean and wonderfully decorated! This is a theater where you can order real meals too and get served right at your table. We had so much fun!
My grandma gave me a wonderful surprise gift! There was a reusable bag with polar bears on it, a box of blank notecards that she used a photo she took from our wedding, and an awesome bracelet.
The bracelet below is from 4ocean. This group has removed 4,496,484 pounds of trash from the ocean and coastlines by paid 4ocean employees since 2017 through the sale of their products. Purchase of bracelets like these helps remove one pound of trash from the ocean & coastlines. To learn more, visit the 4ocean site here.
This month, I finally got back into the swing of things with my yoga practice. I also bought a new B Matt from B Yoga, this time snagging one of the long versions so I don’t have to worry about my head going off mat.
The photo below was taken by our yoga teacher, Chris, during one Tuesday class.
My company also began offering massage right in the office! So I had my first professional massage (other than one 15 minute chair massage) for the first time in over six years! It was INCREDIBLE. I cannot wait to schedule another session next month.
This month, it also became really clear to me that I am totally burnt out. I’ve been doing way too much for far too long. This Summer and early Fall are already booked to be just as crazy busy as ever. But in the late Fall, I’m going to seriously evaluate things and see where I can realistically cut back.
In the meantime, I’ve been working on making more time for self care and saying no more often (at least twice a week!). I’m the type of person that always seems to say yes to please everyone else, but I very rarely put myself first. So I’d love all of the self-care tips!
This graphic came into my life just when I needed it the most:
Medical Update! Feel free to skip the text in italics below.
I went back for a sonohysterogram on the 15th and we learned that my fibroid is in the muscle! This is great news! It means I don’t need surgery right away or potentially at all, depending on if it grows or causes more pain.
Moving forward, we are going to monitor it. I’m so excited to finally be able to move forward here. Next steps are to monitor my cycle now that I am off birth control to see if simply going off the hormones will help lighten things up. Fingers crossed!
Without further delay, let’s dive in to my monthly wrap-up!
My Reading Breakdown for May:
- 5 Stars- 4
- 4 Stars- 4
- 3 Stars- 0
- 2 Stars- 1
- 1 Star- 0
- DNF- 1
Monthly Musings
Watching:
End Game (2019 Film)
I missed going to see this with our crew because I was sick, so Alex took me to see it as soon as I felt better. I managed to avoid spoilers (phew!). I really enjoyed it! 5/5
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019 Netflix Film)
Oh my goodness. If you haven’t seen this already and you enjoy true crime, I highly recommend it. Zac Efron did an AMAZING job in this role. Before you give this one a go, make sure to watch The Bundy Tapes on Netflix. 5/5
Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019 Film)
THIS WAS SO FUN! Oh my gosh. I already can’t wait to watch again. They did an awesome job. Everything looked great and the story was engaging. 5/5
Game Of Thrones (Season Eight, Series)
I am so bummed by how rushed this season has felt. I still loved it, but it’s like a book that you’re really enjoying, but then suddenly things start happening and you’re not sure if that was the plan, or if time just ran out. 4/5
Riverdale (Season 3, Series)
Oh this show… This season was INTENSE. It certainly got weird, but I love it! 5/5
Playing:
TRIVIA! My new co-worker and friend, Morgan, introduced me to Trivia down here in New Hampshire and I’m loving it! I went to a couple different spots with her crew this month and really enjoyed each. I’m a huge fan of the audio rounds.
Drinking:
I’ve been trying a bunch of new teas this month! Stay tuned for a post about that 🙂
I had a few sour beers this month! All of which I’ve logged in a new app that my friend recommended called Untappd. If you’re a beer fan, I highly recommend checking it out! For wine lovers, there’s another called Vivino that is awesome as well!
One was the Sour Monkey from Victory Brewing Company. This was just a plain sour beer that was light and refreshing. It had a very mild apple taste. This is one I definitely need to snag to have on hand for summer parties!
Another was called Wheels Gose ‘Round from Left Hand Brewing Company. It had a strong raspberry taste, which is one of my faves, so I really enjoyed this one!
Then I had a Sweet Tarts from Peak Organic Brewing while we watched Detective Pikachu. It was really tasty as well!
After the Walk Against Hunger, the Metcalf clan and Morgan went to Thirsty Moose for lunch. I snagged the Gose with Raspberry from Poppy’s Moonship. It was DELICIOUS! Definitely one of my new favorites, but boy was it pricey. $10 for one can!
Listening to:
I’ve been so hooked on Bryan Adams! He’s one of my all time favorite artists, so when I heard that he was coming to NH on tour, I made sure all the songs I have by him were on my iPhone!
I’ve also been listening to a ton of podcasts that had, for whatever reason, stopped updating in my feed.
In the bookish community:
Last month, I took part in the Spring Into Horror Readathon and this month I learned that I was one of the lucky winners! I chose the option where the host would make a $15 donation to the winner’s choice of a human rights organization. I picked Planned Parenthood.
Monthly bookish related haul:
Book of the Month:
I didn’t love the picks for May, so I snagged a book from a previous month: A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum. Stay tuned for my review on that!
Book Club:
For my work book club, we read The Music Shop, which was a super fun read! I really enjoyed it, but the majority of our group did not.
My favorite bookish photo this month:
In Case You Missed It:
- [Book Photo Sunday] My May 2019 TBR
- Honest Review Requests Done Right, Part 3
- [Discussion Post] When I Start Thinking About My Rating For A Book
- [Book Blogger Hop] Author Interviews
- Happy 1st Birthday, Bookery!
- [Book Blogger Hop] What I Do When I’m Not Enjoying A Book
- Interview with L.M. Schukraft
- Have You Heard About PRH’s Reader Rewards?
- My Sci-Fi Summer Readathon TBR
- [Book Blogger Hop ] Reading Books With 400+ Pages
Looking forward to:
For the month of June, I’m really looking forward to N0S4A2 airing! That goes live tomorrow, June 2nd!
I’m also looking forward to seeing Bowling For Soup with Alex! It’ll be my second time seeing them and I’m so pumped!
In late June, my best guy friend is getting marries!! I cannot wait to celebrate with him and his beautiful soon-to-be wife! <3
Thanks for reading!
How was your month? Have any special plans for June? I’d love to hear about them in the comments section below!
Wow! You had quite the month. I an only imagine you want to evaluate everything again. You time can be very important!
<3 For sure! Thanks for stopping by!
Wow what a month! Glad you are getting medical stuff figured out, I got off birth control back in Sept because it made me a crazy anxiety-filled person that my partner was like, “Um…maybe you should get off that stuff…” I’ll have to check out some of these beers.
Thank you! I’m so glad too. And phew!! Yeah, birth control, for as much good as it does, certainly has it’s drawbacks!
That’s good news on the medical front for you! Here’s hoping you don’t need surgery. And wow, that is what I call a meal!!!
Thank you!! Fingers crossed! I’m just so happy to have answers and know that the pain isn’t just all in my head! 🙂 And RIGHT?! It was insane!!
Wow, awesome job with the charity work this month! And hooray for getting some good news on the medical front!
Thank you! I’m so grateful that my company helps support great causes as well! 🙂 <3
What a spread! Looks delicious. And love the 4ocean thing. What a cool organization.
I’m still watching Riverdale S3 and it is crazy this season!
It sure was!! And right?! I was so excited to learn about the organization! Oh, I hope you enjoy the season!! It was totally bananas, but SO fun!
That’s awesome about the medical results! Anything that avoids surgery is great news. Happy June reading to you!
Agreed!! <3 Thank you, and happy reading to you as well!
That sounds like a busy but fun month! I love that you were able to have so many celebrations to enjoy and that mother’s day brunch looks DELICIOUS. Yay for donations and raising money for charity. The yoga class looked amazing and hopefully you will be able to cut back soon <3
Olivia-S @ Olivia’s Catastrophe
It sure was! Phew! It was wicked fun, but I think how crazy busy this month helped to push me into finally realizing I do too much though. But hey, that’s a step! <3
It’s so wonderful to see that you donated for a good cause. My dad has been struggling with his heart since I was 6 years old, we almost lost him in 1997. Then last summer he got very sick again and sadly passed away in August, but I always feel so grateful for people who spend money on good causes like that so others can live longer!
I do hope your mum is okay now. Have a great (even greener) June! 🙂
The heart associations is a big one for me. I’m so sorry to hear about your dad! <3 <3 It's so difficult losing loved ones. We came very close to losing my mom. She had a 97% blockage and a 99% blockage... Her original doctor kept telling her it was stress... Finally she got a new doctor, a female, who ordered a stress test that she failed in the first five minutes. So that set off the appointments and surgeries to see what was going on. She had three stents put in, one that collapsed shortly afterward, so she needed another surgery to fix it. She's still struggling with pains in her chest and other things that have popped up since the surgeries, but doing much better than she was. Now she's on a quest to find the right medications to help. The human body sure is amazing but terrifying! The biggest lesson she's taught me from all of this is to trust your gut and make sure to get second, third, or fourth opinions if you're sure something is wrong when everyone keeps telling you you're fine.
Yes, it’s good to year that your mother has the right care now, but I totally agree.
It’s amazing that a body is working the right way, because there is so much that can go wrong with it!
<3
Wow what a busy month, and you still found time to read some good books! I love that book mark too. Great post!
<3
What a wonderful Mother’s Day tradition! Look at all that delicious food! It sounds like May was all around a big celebration for your family. The Heart Association is one of the big charities we like to support too, given our family history. I hope your mom is doing better after her scare. I am so glad the news about your fibroid was positive in that you won’t need surgery. What a relief that must have been.
We saw Pokémon Detective Pikachu last month too, and really enjoyed it. I really liked Endgame too.
I hope you have a great June, Erica!
Thank you! It’s a big hit every year! I love that we bring as many people from my moms side of the family in as we can 🙂 And thank you! She is doing better, though she still has some hurdles to get over. Not needing surgery was definitely a relief! I was petrified that I was going to have to go under. I really don’t do well with the anesthesia. Yay!! I’m so glad you enjoyed those films! What a great couple months it has been for movies! 🙂 I hope you have a great June as well!
You had such a great month and look at that food. So glad you got to assist so many great causes too. I can’t believe how many 5 star reads you had. I think I’ve had fewer this year than last. I am about 400 pages into NOS4A2 and did watch the first episode last night. I liked it but found it kind of underwhelming. I know it will pick up as it was only the first episode. I wonder how many are in this season? I’m also a tad disappointed that so much was changed. Hope you have a terrific June and glad the medical issues are getting ironed out.
<3 It was such an amazing month!! I'm definitely grateful. Oh, that's a great question! I just hope they don't rush the show to fit it into a certain length. I guess we'll see how it goes! :)
I haven’t listened to Bowling for Soup in high school – hadn’t thought abouf them in ages.. I hope you enjoy the show. 😉
Thank you!! 🙂
You’ve been a wonderwoman this month! Busy and productive!
The brunch looks delicious, and I love the tradition of celebrating mom and grandma together.
You did well in reading and getting lots of 5 stars books for the month. I love to get that many in a month!
It was a crazy month, that’s for sure!! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by! <3
Sounds like a great month. Your workplace sounds AWESOME! I love that. I still need to see Endgame and Detective Pickachu; glad you liked both.
-Lauren
I’m totally spoiled with the perks at my job! They’re such great people! 🙂 Ah! I hope you get to see each film soon!! I’d love to see what you think of them!
The food from the brunch looks delicious, that’s such a nice tradition! It’s awesome how many good causes you supported this month. Also, that mention of the massage totally made me want one or two or three. Possibly every month lol. I definitely understand and feel you on the burn-out feeling. I’m excited to read Into the Drowning Deep which means that I’m stoked that you enjoyed it, too. I’m cautiously awaiting N0S4A2, too! I’m very interested to see how Joe Hills original material is adapted and changed for the on-screen-medium. I hope you have a great month of June! c:
<3 Oh my gosh, getting a massage is SO worth it! I hope you're able to get one soon! I hope you have a great month as well!