weekend highlights and a guessing game!

We had a productive and lovely weekend. The best kind.

On Saturday we spent most of the day preparing for me to host book club that night. That meant cleaning...organizing...cooking...and more cleaning. And gardening!! I decided that since spring is nearly upon us, it's probably about time to get all the old dead plants out of the flower beds. You know, the ones I've been meaning to get to since...October...oh well. I finally did it, that's all that counts. I cut back all of the shrubs and roses and I have the scratches and cuts on my hands to prove it. Good grief. You'd think 'thorn proof' gloves would prevent shenanigans like that, but you would be wrong.

Our formational book club meeting was great! I basically just invited my friends who a) like to read and b) are great cooks...I figured that those factors alone would guarantee a successful book club, and it looks like I guessed right. At the very least I can be confident I'll gain at least 10 pounds every time we meet, so that's something. We had like eight different lists of book club book recommendations and trying to pick something as our first book was super challenging. In the future we're going to have the next month's host choose the book, but that was a lot of pressure for our first book, so we decided to all pick it together. In the pursuit of trying to pick something that would be a guaranteed hit, we ended up choosing a book that (nearly) everyone had already read and loved: The Giver, by Lois Lowry. I have loved that book for nearly two decades and am really excited to read it again (I'm going to be looking for all the things that more recent dystopian novelists ripped off from Lowry) and discuss it with someone other than my fifth grade reading group. 

I also had some last-minute crafty inspiration with my book club snacks! I didn't even find this on Pinterest-- it just came to me!!!

My snack labels are on BOOK PAGES!! I know. Brilliant. And because I know you're dying to know which book I sacrificed to be my labels, I'll tell you: I don't know. I bought a few books a couple of years ago at Goodwill for the express purpose of using them in crafts. I ripped the covers off because the first craft I did needed coverless hunks of pages. And so...I'm still using them and I don't know what they are, but I promise that I picked books that looked really boring and like no one would ever want to read them.

Yesterday's weather was way too nice to be indoors any more than absolutely necessary. Usually we go to Centergy (a yoga/Pilates fusion class) on Sunday afternoons, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend an hour inside when it was 70something and sunny outside. So it seemed like the perfect afternoon for my triumphant return to the tennis court!! (I say it like that so that you think I'm actually good and didn't spend the entire time whining and chasing my horribly-hit balls around three courts)

My mom gave me this insanely preppy tennis outfit a few weeks ago because she saw it and thought of me-- how sweet is that?? I can't say I've ever worked out in a collared shirt before, but it certainly made me feel like a more legit player!! It's safe to say my tennis game got a little rusty over the last few months off, but I'm excited to get back in the swing of things, so to speak. (Matt made that joke at least 18 times last night. Laugh with me.)

On the way to work this morning I had a great revelation for a blog I'll do later this week. Wait-- go ahead and lower your expectations. "Great" is really subjective here.

I've seen people do the "what's in my ____" thing on their blogs and Instagram-- I love it. Probably because I'm a really nosy person at heart. I always want to know what's in your purse, your bathroom cabinets, and your car's glovebox. I must know!!! I thought about tagging along and doing my 'what's in my purse' on Instagram a few weeks ago, but then I realized that I'm a packrat-hoarder in the purse department and Instagram could not possibly contain the entire contents of my purse. Clearly it needs a dedicated blog to do it justice. So I think I'll do that this week sometime. But here's the fun part. I think we should play a guessing game first.

How many lip products do you think are currently in my purse?

To help you better formulate your guess, here's the purse we're talking about:

As you can see, it's only about a foot long. Not a huge bag by any means. So...what's your guess? I'm going to be guessing too (but not here, that's not fair). And I promise I won't add or subtract any products before I count. Whoever guesses closest might get an amazing prize...like a lip product? Ha. We'll see.

Also, you should do your own 'what's in my purse' post. Indulge my nosy side, if you will. And if you won't, you can at least count and tell me how many lip products are in YOUR purse. Make me feel better/worse. Go!

PS. I read this news article this weekend and it is possibly the most disgusting thing ever. Do NOT read it/watch the video if you have a weak stomach or sensitive gag reflex. But if you're trying to convince yourself to eat less cake, this just may do the trick. You're welcome!!