Hi, and welcome back to the Cafe! Two weeks off seemed like both a lot of time and not enough, but I’ve got a bunch of changes coming up that I’m excited for. At least, I think it’ll better help me manage everything going on at home right now and into August when my kids go back to school and we have a new schedule to adjust to.
Let’s Catch Up a Bit
I had so many plans for the past two weeks, blogging-related. I had hoped to get all of my Book Highlight posts done, but barely scraped together enough time to get the two for Kiss of Salt and Summer of Georgie up (they’re both indie books featuring some nice summery weather. The first is a cozy mystery reminiscent of Agatha Christie and the second is a delightfully fun women’s fiction I absolutely adored). Though that’s kind of my own fault since I spent most of my plan-free evenings devoted to reading (the same book I spent almost the entire two weeks on – I swear, it wasn’t exactly boring, but it was incredibly long, but funny, amusing, and some of it even really made me laugh. But, yes, extremely overly long).
Anyways, we had a flood of dentist visits, an anniversary, a birthday (which involved Chuck E. Cheese), the Fourth of July, a trip to Knott’s Berry Farm, a trip to JPL, going to look at a couple of houses, a surprising number of grocery trips, and a 1000 piece puzzle to do (I swear I’m an introverted homebody). So things were kind of busy. Though I have to say that getting to go to Knott’s on a weekday was amazing. Most of the lines were so short that my kids got to go on some of them repeatedly. I had so many plans for responding to comments and emails early on and then getting as many posts scheduled as possible, but, well, it was really, really nice to just focus on life for a while. It was also surprisingly nice to take a break from writing. I love writing, but, after a while, those people in my head get me jumbled up and I can’t always tell fiction from reality.
Other than spending more time than usual out and about (which makes me feel more exhausted than I usually do at the end of my breaks), I also managed to spend a lot of time baking. There were the usual chocolate chip cookies and brownies, but we also took a bit of a French turn. I made madeleines for the first time, souffle for the second time (which involved making both creme patisserie and creme anglaise), and (French) meringue for the nth time. As this posts, I’ll be preparing to make pretzels with my kids for the third time, so I guess it’s time to detour into Germany. Well, I always expected that I would spend more time baking over the summer with both kids out of school…And I do want to try to make Sachertorte one day.
In other news, I purchased alcohol for the first time at the ripe age of…somewhere in my mid-thirties (this after being mistaken for my children’s older sister now that my oldest is nearly my height at least twice during the week previous). I don’t like the smell or taste of it, but happened to be making Grand Marnier souffle, so kind of needed to get the Grand Marnier. That specific souffle wasn’t my idea, but I guess I should get myself carded at least once in my lifetime?
What’s Up Next
Plenty of changes, but that’s kind of my thing anyways, so I’m sure it’s no great surprise by now. I haven’t taken as many steps as I wanted towards really getting The Curated Bookshelf going, but I’m hoping I’ll add a little more to it by August. This month’s theme is Sun Drenched Books. Since I took 2 weeks off, I’ll be sharing 10 books instead of 12, but I’m planning on getting it to 15 a month.
What about reviews? I seriously still hate doing reviews, so I’ll be writing shorter reviews and putting a bunch into one post that I’m aiming on posting 2-4 times a month. There will still be full-length reviews, but my plan is to severely cut the number of them because I find a total lack of interest in writing them has been what’s been slowing me down.
I’ll still be posting my Impressions and No Tomorrow, otherwise I’m shifting the focus to The Curated Bookshelf and will hopefully be peppering in some rambling/discussion posts about reading and writing. There’s a bunch of other things I’d like to write about, but I’m thinking I might need another blog for that. And I suppose my ratio recipe for Grand Marnier souffle will make an appearance at some point. My husband took some good photos, so I just have to give myself the kick I need to finally add another baking post.
Anyone have anything exciting coming up the next couple of months? Any upcoming posts you’re excited to share?
Sincerely, kat
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The Lily Cafe 
I don’t have much exciting coming up after taking a bit of a break in June. My husband and I are celebrating 20 years of marriage on Wednesday and then I am hoping for a relaxing remainder of July and August because this summer has been sooo busy so far! I need a break! Lol
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Happy anniversary! My husband and I are also talking about how so many marriages seem to end after 5 years, so 20 years sounds amazing. I hope the rest of the summer is more restful!
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Thank you!
And yes, many marriages don’t make it as far as ours. My brother and his wife have been married 25 years, my parents will be married 59 in September! So some marriages go a little longer than five years at least!
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It sounds like you have a full plate and kudos to you for wanting to bake in the summer. I don’t even look at my oven until autumn is fully formed! In the meantime I’m publishing my next book very very soon and then giving myself a much needed rest. A theme park sounds like a great idea.
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Haha, my husband’s criteria for anywhere we live is that it must have air conditioning, which seems to always be on since it’s always hot all summer where I live. Congratulations on your next book! You definitely deserve a rest!
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I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this post, Kat! I don’t know why but — hearing about your day-to-day, “living life” stuff with your family puts a smile on my face every time. Probably because I’m a wife and mother and busy creative like yourself; and therefore, I get it and can relate to so much of what you share. Furthermore, I’m thrilled you were able to go on a little hiatus from the regular routine (although none of our breaks are COMPLETELY true breaks and none of them ever seem quite long enough). I went on a little hiatus myself but am finding that it’s been harder to get back into the swing of things again than I thought it would be. So, kudos to you for being ON IT. You go, girl! Yes, and I’m so embarrassed to say that I’m waaaayyy behind on getting caught up on your wonderful posts. I truly apologize for that. I’ve been extremely distracted with the whole “simplifying life” stuff that I’ve temporarily dropped some of my beloved activities (like reading my wonderful friends’ posts) in order to get myself situated in a new way of approaching living life. But, I’m going to get myself together very soon. As a matter of fact, I’m so excited about the exciting changes you have coming up. And, “The Curated Bookshelf” looks like it’s up and coming and moving. Plus, you always seem to get so much accomplished (even when you’re on a break from the regular). I’m so impressed with that. For me, I’m coming to find that long breaks are hard on me when it’s time to come back and get back to work. In this one I just got back from, I totally didn’t do any creative work and I’m still trying to get myself together. Guess I should have done a little somethin’-somethin’ while I was on break to keep the creative juices flowing. But no, I wasn’t going to do that. It was good to live in the moment with family and friend and get to explore and just hang out doing things I don’t normally do. Anyway, you continue to be an uplifting inspiration to me as a wife, mom, and creative. Keep doing your thing, dear friend. IT WORKS! And sorry for the lengthy message. You know I haven’t visited with you for awhile, so I have to make up for lost time. I’ll try not to be such a stranger over here, going forward. Take care.
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Jana, you’re going to make me cry! Your break sounds like it was wonderful, and it’s so well deserved. It’s good to take a complete break now and then. But, yes, getting back into the swing of things is so hard. I don’t really know how I manage to get things up and keep the flow going because I teeter between total exhaustion and wanting to keep that low-key break feeling going. I got a taste of the pure family life without anything to interrupt and now I’m having a hard time really getting things rolling. But it warms my heart that you notice at least something is going up and that you’re excited for the things I’m introducing. I’m so excited for them, too. And I know I post a lot, so I totally don’t expect you to catch up! I’m very much looking forward to what you’ve got coming up, and any words of wisdom related to back to school (can’t believe that’s right around the corner!). I’ll be sending my kids back into the classroom and it both feels like something we all need and just completely stressful because handing their education over to someone else after handling it for almost 2.5 years is scary! On the bright side, I’ll have 2 kids who can at least sort of read and write next summer, and I’ve definitely been eyeing some of your products for use during our summer work! Anyways, I hope back to school goes well for you and your son, and I can’t wait to read more of your posts!
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Yes, I SO appreciate how you’re able to keep things going with your creative genius and add new layers to what you’re already doing. And how exciting for you and your household! Both kiddos going off to school. I pray that all three of our big babies have a most splendid school year. And that this academic year can be a little MORE than half-way normal amongst the pandemic. But our children will be alright. I’m feeling pretty secure in stating that. Children have a way of going with the flow; it’s us adults that have a hard time adjusting to the times (at times). (How many times can I say “times?”) Anyway, maybe I should add to my prayer that I pray WE will have a most splendid school year. Hee. Hee.
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Haha, I absolutely agree! Children are so much more adaptable. But I hope we all have a wonderful academic year, hopefully without any further events that might disrupt life again.
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