Book Review: Rating System

I love reading! The bottom drawer of my nightstand is full of books I have on my reading list. I can spend hours in any type of a book store so when buying books I limit myself to storing them in this one drawer. A local used book store has a great policy of buying books at half the cover price for store credit. They then sell them at the same cost. This allows me to rotate out the books I have read without spending a lot of money.

These are some of the books on my list to read right now.
I can’t decide which I want to start next…The Historian, Middlesex or Little Bee.

Any suggestions?

I also bounce back and forth between the types of books I read. These are the books on my nightstand right now.
The two books I am spending the most time on right now are
The Weird Sisters & The Fire Starter Sessions .

I thought it would be fun to start sharing some thoughts on the books that I am reading.
Here is my Book Review Rating System…

One gold star is for books that I started and just can’t get into enough to finish.

Most books I read I would rate at  2 or 3 gold stars. These are good books, but just not something I would feel the need to keep taking up space on my bookshelf.

Four gold stars are for books I will keep on my shelf because I just fell in love with the book.

Five gold stars are for books that I loved so much that I can’t bear giving away my copy so when I come across another copy I will buy it so that I have it on hand to give a friend. I only have a few of these books on my bookshelf.

Right after having my little one in January I joined a Mom-to-Mom book club to encourage me to get out and meet some new moms. It also helped to motivate me to read more after having a new baby. It gave me some “me” time when he was resting.

This year I have read these books and would like to share my ratings.

The Room by Emma Donoghue
3 Stars

Life As We Knew It Trilogy By Susan Beth Pfeffer
3 Stars

Cooking for Baby by Lisa Barnes
4 Stars

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
4 Stars

Before I Go To Sleep
2 Stars

Handle With Care- Jodi Picoult
3 Stars

50 Shades Trilogy
3 Stars

It has been the year of reading trilogies for me. I got hooked on each one and had to go right to the next book which made me finish three books in the time it would normally take me to finish one. I also fly through most Jodi Picoult books that I read.

What are you currently reading?

Thrifty Repurposed Jewelry Storage

I love finding a new use for something that is pretty or unique and I love repurposing things. I also enjoy having the items I most often use displayed for me to see …I prefer to grab and go when getting myself ready for the day. Using a few items I have collected from here and there I created myself a thrifty repurposed jewelry station.

A piece of driftwood from Lake Michigan and some black tacks creates the right amount of visual storage for my favorite necklaces.

A favorite thrifty purchase of mine is {this} marble paper towel holder repurposed into storage for bracelets and bangles.

My newest thrifty purchase for $3.99 is this basket box.

It opens up with a removable tray. The tray also has all of these little compartments that are useful for holding smaller items.

With a little creativity I have created jewelry storage that is simple, pretty and cost me less than $10.

Visit my {Linky Parties} page to view the parties I am participating in.

Coffee Talk Tuesday

If we could sit down and have a cup of coffee I would share this with you…

I am totally loving this book! I have highlighted, wrote notes in it, and have so many page markers it now looks like a textbook, but I don’t care because it will be in my “go to” library for eternity now!

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We are nearing the end of all the home improvement projects that we hired out, but I feel like it is just the beginning of what I need to now get done. Mission reorganize bedrooms is still underway. This needs to be completed before starting anymore projects. I feel like all of our rooms have a short list of little things that need to be done in order to finish up a room or two.

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Our little guy wants to crawl, but hasn’t officially started yet. I love seeing him get up into position and rock back and forth. Some day soon he will launch!

Linking up to these {parties}!

House Haven Tour: Paddington Way

Hi my name is Jenna, I blog over at Paddington Way. I am thrilled to have been asked to be part of this series! Thank you SO much for having me!

I believe that it is so important for a home to be a haven away from the world. I strive to make our home our haven by making it warm and inviting. I love mixing vintage things with home made, and unexpected items. Though I love design, I try to not make things too fussy. I want my home to be comfortable, a place where people can put their feet up and want to stay a while. We are currently renting, so I'm limited as to what I can do, but I try my really hard to make it our haven, even though technically it's not.

Here is a little peek into our home:

The living room.

Dining.

 

Master bedroom.

 

Nursery:

Idea File: DIY Vintage Mold Candles

I love repurposing old things into quick and simple projects. {Wit & Whistle} shows us just how easy it is to make these adorable vintage mold candles.

Please “PIN” from the original source. Follow the link above.

Backyard Photo Shoot

We had so much fun last weekend getting some photos of Baby K!

A Mother’s Love

 

'When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~ Sophia Loren

 

Favorite Things PARTY

This year I thought it would be a fun twist to have a Favorite Things party for my birthday. Each guest was asked to bring one of their favorite items in increments of four. We each wrote down our favorite movie, favorite place, favorite food, and favorite color on piece of paper. We then took turns drawing a piece of paper and guessing who belonged to the favorite item. It was a great way for some of my friends to get to know each other a little better.

I couldn’t narrow down my list of favorite things so I made four goodie bags with a handful of items.

Some of my Favorite things:

Microfiber wash cloths
Jelly Belly Jelly Beans
Mint Chocolate Hot Cocoa
My DIY Sugar Scrub
Lemon flavored Hard Candy

After some scorching hot weather we were lucky enough to have a mild enough evening where we could set up our little party on our patio and enjoy the summer evening. I also include a few of my favorite things in the décor. Turquoise, garden flowers, doilies, jelly jars and mason jars!

Great friends + great food + great fun = GREAT BIRTHDAY!