Friday Favorites~a weekly series where we share our favorite books, decor, fashion finds, recipes, podcasts, articles and more.
Friday Favorites No. 645
Good morning friends, happy Friday Favorites to you. How was your week? We’ve had a busy week with family birthday parties, work, and projects. This weekend we have another birthday party and dinner with friends.
The weather has been crazy here, like most of the country. Hot, sunny days and then heavy storms in the afternoon or over night. One would think with all the rain that my plants would be thriving, instead some are frying and others are waterlogged. The plants that are left were munched away by a deer last night.
On that note, yesterday I saw three adorable fawns napping under a tree close to the house. They are so cute it is hard to be made when they eat my plants.
I have a question for you, if your favorite coffee shop lost its lease would you be sad? Would you threaten and abuse people over it? Every time I think the world is crazy I wake up and it has spiraled down a little bit more and is even crazier.
We have a coffee shop in the village, they lease a small part of the local used book shop and apparently there is an issue with the lease. Both sides tell a different story but some of the patrons of the coffee shop are pretty angry about it and are insulting and threatening the staff and management of the bookshop.
I realize coffee is something a lot of people love but I cannot image threatening bodily harm or a persons life over it, can you? Aren’t there more important things to do in the world?
Ok, enough about me, I have lots other share so let’s get to it.
FOOD
Summer chicken tortellini salad, an easy and delicious pasta dish filled with fresh garden vegetables.
Don’t you just love a fresh veggie sandwich? On hot days where you don’t feel like cooking and you can’t face another bowl of cereal why not make a sandwich?
This Watermelon Cucumber Salad is refreshing and perfect for summer dinners and barbecues.
In case you missed it, an easy, delicious no-bake dessert, dip or even breakfast, Whipped Yogurt Cream with summer berries.
LINKS TO READ+WATCH+LISTEN
10 Painfully Obvious Truths About Life We Forget Way Too Often
The best snack trends from the Fancy Food Show.
Moo Deng, the pygmy hippo who became a pudgy internet sensation, turns 1
An eccentric pair of Georgian follies transformed into a gloriously creative family home
Costco embraces the two-tier economy with its new early shopping perk
9 Best Foods to Help You Stay Hydrated, Recommended by Dietitians
The Benefits of Raising Conscientious Kids
This Designer’s Pattern-Packed Countryside Estate Melds Tailored Interiors With Playful Finishes
WHAT? Apple podcast is 20 years old!
BOOKS~ ON MY LIST AND MY BEDSIDE TABLE
No! I Don’t Want to Join a Book Club: Diary of a 60th Year
Here’s a delightful novel about letting go of youth and embracing the sassy curmudgeon within.
Don’t harass her about parasailing or taking Italian language courses. Forget about suggesting she join a gym. Marie Sharp may be a little creaky in the bones as she heads toward the big 6-0, but she’s fine with it. She would rather do without all the moving-to-Florida-bicycling-across-Mongolia-for-the-hell-of-it hoopla that her friends insist upon. She’s already led an exciting life: she came of age in the 1960s, after all. Now, with both a new grandchild and a new man on the horizon, all she wants to do is make the most of what she considers the most interesting stage of her life.
In this wonderfully astute novel, based on the author’s own experiences, No! I Don’t Want to Join a Book Club is the funny and often poignant fictionalized diary of an older woman a decade or two past her prime and content to leave it all behind her. So don’t tell her to take a gourmet cooking class, and whatever you do, don’t you dare tell her to join a book club. Fresh and truly unique, moving gracefully on in years has never been more hilarious than in this forthright grandma’s take on the “third phase” of life.
Kate Jenkins doesn’t believe in fate. She believes in a clear vision, meticulous planning, and hard work in order to achieve her culinary dreams. On the cusp of opening her own Parisian restaurant, Bistro Exotique, she isn’t even concerned when her standoffish—and annoyingly sexy—neighbor dismisses her as a crazy American tourist or when she meets the wildly eccentric Garrance, the self-proclaimed Spice Master of Paris, who ominously warns her of the previous owner’s failures.
Confident and optimistic, Kate keeps calm and cooks on. Until a series of unfortunate events derail her plans and her entire staff quits.
Kate is about to throw in the kitchen towel on her lifelong dream when Garrance offers to use her mastery of scents and spices to help her, but it comes at a price: Kate must work with Garrance’s son, Charles, a world-class chef and total jerk. After Kate hesitantly concedes to the deal, she slowly learns to open her heart and mind to new concepts, not quite sure if the magic she’s experiencing comes from Garrance’s spices, from within herself, or from the growing chemistry with Charles. One thing is certain, though: her kitchen is getting increasingly hot.
The Foolish Gentlewoman
Sentimental, affectionate, uncritical, Mrs. Bracken so easily attached herself to persons, places, and even objects that after no more than two days in an hotel she had a favourite waiter, a favourite ornament, a favourite view. She had adored her husband, and was very fond of her French pepper-mill.
World War II has ended and widowed Isabel Brocken, kind-hearted and generous if perhaps just a bit foolish, is back in her old family home on the outskirts of London, accompanied by her friend Jacky, just out of the ATS, and her newly-demobilized nephew Humphrey. They’re soon joined by Isabel’s surly brother-in-law Simon, who has decidedly mixed feelings about her but whose own home is under repair for bomb damage. Into this uneasy mix comes Tilly Cuff, a poor relation to whom Isabel has been inspired-by a rare church venture and a particularly inspiring sermon-to make amends for having, many years before, sabotaged her one chance at romance.
When Tilly proves manipulative and even ‘malevolent’, the happiness of Isabel’s household is threatened. And where the story goes from there is pure unexpected delight. In The Foolish Gentlewoman, Margery Sharp provides us a thoughtful, funny, and terrifically entertaining slice of British life in the immediate aftermath of war.
MORE BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
If you have already read these books or missed something I have featured before on the blog check out My Bookshop on Amazon.
SHOPPING~OUTFIT OF THE DAY
Are you hot? Me too! What do you wear to stay cool on hot, humid days? I pull out a sun dress and a pair of sandals, that’s it. It’s cool, chic, comfortable and I look and feel good. Todays’ outfit is effortless, a white sun dress, sandals, a bag in case you need to carry something and that’s it!
Outfit Details Below~Click the Photos
This white dress is versatile and a blank canvas. Wear colorful accessories and show your personality!
Looking for more outfit inspiration? Check my LTK!
UNTIL TOMORROW
I hope you enjoyed the recipes, links and books I discovered this week on Friday Favorites.
Before you go:
Tell me something wonderful about your week!
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Don’t forget that Kim, Juliet and I will be back tomorrow on Weekend Meanderings!
If you have missed a Friday Favorites post you can find them all here.
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On My Radar~Summer
Thank you for your inspirational posts. I get so much from them, the recipes the books and the fashion are delightful. In answer to your request to tell you something good about my week here goes.
My week was great because I literally got to wake up every morning and spend each of the last seven days with those I love.
Carrie, that is the best kind of week! How wonderful to be surrounded by those you love.
I appreciate your kind words about the blog, it is a labor of love.
Hi Elizabeth.,
To answer your question about the coffee shop closing inside the used bookstore. There is always two sides to every story. The business relationship that has dissolved between the two parties should be kept between the people involved in dissolving their lease. When one or both parties feel they have not been treated fairly they like to gather negativity to boost their side up. Turning people against people is totally unprofessional and emotionally immature. It makes you wonder why one would want to air such bad stuff into your community/village. It is usually resolves around money. Money matters brings out the very worst in people. We are living in different times, sounds like such bad karma.
Sending you a day of peace and hope in the world you live in. Whatever happened to treating people with kindness and respect?
Katherine, it has been so sad to watch the dissolution of a 9 year partnership play out. Sadly there has been collateral damage and I believe there will even be a libel lawsuit.
As you say, why would you air your dirty laundry in public. It is almost a metaphor for the current climate in the US, lots of misinformation, mudslinging and everyone has picked a side and cannot be swayed to the other side not matter the information presented.
I hope that you are having a wonderful week. Stay cool!
I love Margery Sharp and would like to read the one you mentioned. I have collected several of the Dean Street Press books and always enjoy them.
Paula, do you have a favorite Margery Sharp book? Have a wonderful week!