PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge Prompt: A book set in a city that has hosted the Olympics

Other PS 2020 reading prompts this would satisfy: A book that's published in 2020, A book with a pun in the title, A book by or about a journalist

TW: Harm to animals, fat phobia, racism, mental illness, death of a parent, chronic illness, classism



I honestly wasn't sure how much I'd like A Star is Bored when I started reading it. It had been on my radar, but it wasn't necessarily something I'd be trying to get my hands on. But I was sent a free copy and it was getting lots of hype, so I went ahead and read it. It's not what I was expecting, but it was absolutely an entertaining read.


Charlie works night-shift at a news channel in a job he hates. So when he gets an interview with Kathi Kannon, like the Kathi Kannon, his hero since childhood. When he's offered the position as Kathi's assistant (and consequently nicknamed Cockring), he quickly quits his night-job and gets sucked up into the crazy Hollywood life and Kathi Kannon's insane antics.


When I first started reading the book, I was immediately reminded of the play Buyer and Cellar, a witty play about a fanboy working in Barbra Streisand's basement mall. And honestly, I thought the book was about to be basically the same story. 

Are you thinking about visiting New York in the not too distant future? While the coronavirus is currently making it difficult, if not impossible, to travel, there’s no harm planning for a trip to New York either next year or even the next year after that. We were hoping to return to NYC again this summer, but obviously those plans were squashed. If you do plan to go to New York in the future, then there are definitely some key questions to ask yourself. 



What are the must-see attractions?

PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge Prompt: N/A

Other PS 2020 reading prompts this would satisfy: A book that's published in 2020, A book with more than 20 letters in its title

TW: Sexual assault, suicide, abduction, stalking, misogyny, death



I've been a fan of Michele Campbell since her first novel a few years ago, It's Always the Husband. So, I knew I had to read The Wife Who Knew Too Much. Campbell's novels are usually pretty well hyped in the bookstagram community, and it was the same with this one. Either way, I'll typically want to pick up a Michele Campbell novel when it releases.


Tabitha grew up a poor girl in a country club town, where she fell in love with Connor Ford, a rich, young man and country club member. It's a summer fling and never meant to last. But several years later, when Tabitha and Connor reconnect - Connor's richer, and married to widowed tycoon Nina. But he's always loved Tabitha and married Nina for the money. So when Nina ends up dead, it leaves a spot open for Tabitha to rejoin Connor's life. But it all seems a bit convenient. Did Connor kill Nina? 

PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge Prompt: N/A

Other PS 2020 reading prompts this would satisfy: A book that's published in 2020, A book by a WOC, A book with at least a four-star rating on Goodreads, A book with a three-word title

TW: Racism



I love a good enemies-to-lovers trope. I can’t help it, I just find them to be so enjoyable and easy to cheer for! I loved Dating Makes Perfect because it’s a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers trope, and seriously, this entire book is perfect.


The Tech sisters have never been allowed to date in high school, though the older Tech twins have always been next to perfect. So when Winnie’s older sisters come home from college not yet engaged, and their parents don’t understand why, they share it’s because they never had practice! So Winnie’s parents, ever so true to the phrase “practice makes perfect,” decide that Winnie can date in high school, only as practice, on dates they plan, and only with boys that they pick. Oh, not to mention each date is based off a scene from an American rom-com movie. Winnie must go through several of these dates with her childhood friend, now mortal enemy, and he must grade her on each date. Nothing could go wrong, right?


As soon as I started reading this book, I was totally hooked. The story is set up so well, and totally perfectly. The MC, her family dynamics, the boys, the best friend - it was so easy to fall in love with this story and its characters. But let me warn you, this book is sugary sweet, and while sometimes I would not be into that, it’s truly just done so well here. I swear, this book is perfect. 

This picture is pre-pandemic from a few years ago.

It’s a beautiful thing to see families spend time together to bond, or even just to goof around. I absolutely love spending time with my family, even when we argue - because more often than not, we sincerely enjoy each others' company. Unfortunately, life’s pressures can oftentimes make it difficult to spend a ton of quality time together, and the pandemic has certainly not helped matters if the entire family doesn't live in one household. But now, more than ever, connections are so important. Here are four fantastic ways to spend quality time with your family, even apart. 



Schedule Regular Family Dinners

If yours is a family with grown-up children who have already left the nest, your best bet is to plan regular dinners where everyone shows up. You may decide to schedule weekly or monthly family dinners. We try to visit my parents and my MIL at least once a month to share a meal, and we did more often before the pandemic hit. On the other hand, if your family is still young with children living at home, make an effort to be present at dinner every night. It helps build a unique bond, affection, and trust. Logically, there may be days you cannot make it to dinner, but the onus rests on you to compensate for the lost time. Make your partner or children understand why you couldn’t make it. Recompense them (safely) with a dinner show everyone can enjoy.



Plan Vacations and Excursions Together

Time away from home can be therapeutic and relaxing for your family. It's time for fun as well. Before you embark on a vacation however, take a moment to get ideas from each family member. This helps bring a sense of belonging to each member of the family. It is also an opportunity to discover what individual members love to do for fun. Some may prefer a beach vacation or one that involves hiking. During this challenging time, outdoor excursion are a great way to get out while social distancing. 



Have a Family Game Night

Board games or shared online games present an opportunity to promote healthy family competitions. There are so many opportunities to connect via online games lately - I've played a version of Cards Against Humanity online since the pandemic started, and it was a freaking hoot! So much fun. While you’re at it, other members can dig out photo albums of grandparents or parents when they were younger. The memories connected to these printed images are bound to create a lasting connection for you. Perhaps, it is the perfect moment to capture more shots for future reference. You never know, these fun traditions you set may be carried on to the next generation through your children.



Clean the House Together

This certainly doesn’t sound like a fun activity but just read further to discover how you can turn it around. Doing activities together with family is fun. You still don’t get it? Imagine deciding to give your living room a new look, so you decide to move some furniture around. In your bid to declutter your living space, everyone pitches in to help with some creative ideas of their own. You’ll be surprised what ideas even your four-year-old could come up with. Safety is the watchword here as you do something productive with your family.


A fun time as a family is the perfect time to bond. Today, technology makes it even more possible to find new and exciting activities to share.

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Obviously, Halloween will be quite different this year. I feel pretty sad that this is our first year living in a neighborhood, and we won't be able to welcome trick-or-treaters. I would hate to do anything that would put folks at risk, and so no trick-or-treaters coming door-to-door for us. But that doesn't mean I won't be festive throughout all of spook szn. Here are five casual Halloween outfits (not costumes) that I'm looking forward to wearing for the next two months. 

For a scary movie marathon...

Whether with your significant other, family, or close group of friends, a scary movie marathon is obviously a must for this season. I get so scared at night, so I've been watching tons of scary movies and shows during the workday, when it's bright outside. I just turn off the overhead lights and instead light up a small lamp, a seasonal candle, my jack-o-lantern string lights, and my neon bat light. Plus I have sheer curtains in my office so the sun can shine through. It's not dark, but still moody and so cozy. The cozy ghostie jammies are the perfect matching set! Bonus points if you mix and match the different pieces with other pieces (the ghostie top with jeans, or the bottom with a solid shirt!), so you get the most for your money. I chose to pair the set with oversized cozy socks so I'm comfy all night. These come in a ton of sizes and are available for the entire family. I chose the men's set because it has pockets, and the women's doesn't. For reference, I'm wearing a large in mens. I usually wear a 2X or 18 in most women's sizes. I also really love the adorable jack-o-lantern pajama set too. 

For running errands...

Thanks to Fiskars for sending me a few items to complete my blog post. All opinions are my own. This post includes affiliates links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission at no cost to you.

I've always wanted to DIY my own furniture project. I once picked up a gorgeous round dining table and chairs from the dump with the hopes that I was going to update it. It sat around our house, in the way, for years, until a friend finally took it off my hands and seemingly transformed it overnight.

I just felt like I never had the time or energy. Plus I didn't want to just horribly destroy something that was fine as-is.

But we've bought a house, and while I'm perpetually exhausted, I do technically now have more time on my hands. So I bought a sander, and Fiskars was nice enough to end me a staple gun and some different supplies, and I set to work on stripping the paint off some old chairs and reupholstering the fabric.

My sister had bought this set of chairs secondhand, and then she passed them onto us. They weren't totally my cup-o-tea, but they were sturdy and functional. So I'm excited to knock "DIY a furniture project" off my 101 in 1001 list. See the total makeover below.












I first took apart the chair using a screwdriver and allen wrench. Then I used the thickest, grittiest sanding pad on my RYOBI corded sander to completely remove the old white paint, which was by far the most difficult, tedious part of the chair re-up.







Now I'll be the first to say that my sanding skills aren't perfect, but for the most part, I removed the white paint. Once all the paint was removed, I went back over any rough spots with the least grittiest sanding pad to smooth it down. Then I put the wooden frame of the chair back together, sans the seat and back cushions.





Once I had the frames back together, I used thread snips and shears to remove the fabric and staples from the seat cushion and back cushion, one at a time. I discarded the old, disgusting fabric. I then used the older seat cushion, folded in half to double pad the back cushioning. For the seat cushions, I went with high density 2" cushions from JOANN.

For fabric, I went with an outdoor fabric. I figured it'd hold up best in terms of being used in a kitchen type setting. These chairs are used at our breakfast bar, so I eat sitting in them and I am a bit of a messy eater. But the breakfast bar backs up to the living room, which is mostly blue accents. So the fabric I chose is blue and white, which I think looks really nice.

Anyways, I cut the fabric about 2 inches longer on each side than the actual wooden seat board. Then I just pulled that sucker around it and stapled, stapled, stapled. The underside of the seat is not seen, unless you were to flip over the chair, so my theory is that there can't be too many staples.

The back rest was a bit different, because I didn't go a sewing route, which means the staples are visible from the back. So with that, I stapled the top and bottom first, the folded in the sides for a visibly nice fold - almost like wrapping a present. I then tried to staple it in as nice and uniform a row as I could.

I think the most complicated part of wrapping the back rest was making sure there were holes in place to be able to actually screw it back into place.










For these chairs, I really liked the natural wood look, but you could easily repaint or even stain the wood. for a more cohesive look for your space.




So they're definitely not perfect, but I feel really proud of them. For my first DIY furniture project, I think it went really well. It was easy enough for someone with little experience in refurnishing, and this is definitely the kind of project I would recommend to someone wanting to start on a furniture project, even just reupholstering the seats without any of the sanding would be a great first project for others too!