5 Things Making Me Happy For Now

Books on weird topics, a journaling epiphany, and other things from sabbatical life week one.

Sabbatical week 1 has been a success. I shopped in an actual grocery store! I meal-planned and cooked new recipes. I didn’t have to tell my kid, “You can definitely get away with wearing those jeans one more time” because I actually did some laundry. I also read a book—in the middle of the day. It’s weird. It’s also a transition. The ghostly whisper of “you should be at your desk working” hasn’t fully gone away, but I was able to hush the ghost most of the time.

So today I thought I’d share five things that are making me happy for now this week.

(1) There is a book about organizing your refrigerator.

I know “there’s a book for everything” but I’m still so happy when I find a book that is so perfectly specific. When I was browsing Amazon’s 3 for 2 sale last week, I ran across this book.

Fridge Love by Kristen Hong is exactly what you think it is. A whole book about organizing your fridge and the best place to store your items in your particular fridge. I love an organizing project and my fridge was in desperate need of an overhaul. It was the perfect sabbatical week one project.

Now, the author is a nutritarian and half the book is recipes, so be aware of that, but I really enjoyed the organizational tips, the beautiful photos, and the comprehensive guide on how to store each type of fruit or vegetable. My fridge has never looked better.

I also found these handy dandy organizing trays for bottles and jars in the fridge and these storage containers to mimic extra crisper drawers, so my fridge got quite the makeover.

(2) Finding a list challenge that my teen and I can do together

Y’all know I love a list-based challenge, but I’m usually doing those solo. However, recently I discovered the book 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die edited by Robert Dimery and Bruno McDonald. My kiddo is very into music and plays guitar, drums, and bass, so I thought maybe he’d be interested. He was…vaguely, but it was still A BOOK and he’s not bookish.

However, I did some research and saw that someone had made a Spotify playlist from the songs in the book, and I got an idea. The teen and I spend a lot of time in the car together because his guitar lessons and band rehearsals are about a 1-hour commute round trip. We always listen to music together in the car, so yesterday I asked him if he wanted to tackle the 1001 playlist.

He was in! And so last night we put the playlist on random and then made a game of guessing what year we thought the song was from based on the sound and the album cover art. When we got out of the car, he told me to make sure and not reset the playlist so that next time, we could jump back into it. #momWIN

(3) Discovering a journaling app that may fix my chronic journal-quitting

I have quit more journals than I’d like to admit. For being a diehard lover of paper planners and notebooks, I suck at journaling. However, for this sabbatical, I really wanted to keep a journal. After looking through my notebooks and knowing I’d probably not succeed if I did the same thing I always do, I decided to look for a journaling app. I downloaded the Day One app and, y’all, I’m in love.

The interface is very clean and simple. I love how it organizes entries. And it doesn’t make my hand hurt like long bouts of writing do. I’ve journaled every day this week! I realized that, though I love paper for planners, brainstorming, and lists, journaling is much more writing-intensive. And I don’t handwrite as fast as my thoughts, so I get frustrated and tired. Typing entries is so much quicker, allowing me to process my thoughts in more of a stream of consciousness way instead of having to slow down to make sure I’m writing legibly. I’m a convert.

(4) Recipes that are both easy and fantastic

I have a lot of cookbooks. Some have authentic, complicated, long-ingredient-list recipes that are worth the time, but the ones I go back to most often are the ones that have the simple, quick meals I can throw together on a weeknight.

I love Ina Garten’s cookbooks for that reason. But this week, I went with a new “old” book I recently bought, Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food: Great Food Fast. This book came out in 2007 so the recipes don’t feel as “modern” as some other cookbooks, but the short ingredient list and prep times make the meals great go-to options for weeknights. Plus, Martha Stewart hasn’t been around this long by making bad food.

This week I made her Tandoori Chicken with Yogurt sauce (the yogurt sauce was basically raita using shredded green apple instead of cucumber.) There were only a few ingredients and of course, it wasn’t authentic tandoori chicken, but it was so good! And I loved the yogurt sauce. My whole family gobbled it up. Thanks, Martha.

(5) A book with a dual timeline

We all have certain tropes we like in books and one of mine is stories with a dual timeline. My first book was one of those! So when I picked up 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard this week and saw that it was dual timeline, I was a happy camper. I also love the 80s style font on the cover.

I’m only about a third of the way through the book, so I can’t yet report whether or not it will be a successful read for me, but I will say, it’s definitely been a page-turner so far.

Alright, those are my five things this week. There’s no movie marathon movie this week, but that will be back next week. Blame the Olympics. ;)

Now, I’d love to know, what’s making you happy for now?

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On the RAD Reading Podcast

There’s nothing wrong with wanting ALL the books. Give us all the books! Unfortunately, very few of us have an unlimited book budget. So today we’re sharing our best tips on how to keep your TBR piled high without having to dig for quarters in your couch cushions. 

Listen in your favorite podcast app:

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• Or add to your favorite podcast app with their “Add by URL” feature and paste this link there: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/rad-reading

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Have a great weekend!

Roni

*Book links are affiliate links (Amazon, Libro.fm, and/or Bookshop.org), which means I earn a small commission if you buy through my links. Also, I receive advanced listening copies of some audiobooks through Libro.fm’s Influencer program. However, all reviews and opinions are my own.