Simple Meals + Honest Book Reviews + Practical Living
Starting solids is one of those parenting milestones that sounds adorable in theory but quickly transforms into a chaotic reality of food splatters, persistent stains, and the bewildering discovery that a 15-pound human can create such an impressive mess with just a few spoonfuls of pureed sweet potato. Even as a mother of four, I still find myself slightly overwhelmed during this beautiful yet incredibly messy phase of development.
Hello friends, today is one of those check-in posts — the kind that comes after a week where everything falls apart at once. The kind where everyone gets sick, your to-do list goes up in flames, and you survive on adrenaline, caffeine, and the crusts from your children’s PB&J sandwiches. You know the weeks I mean.
Today we’re diving into God of the Woods by Liz Moore — a new-to-me author whose latest novel absolutely swept the internet. It even won the Goodreads 2024 Readers’ Choice Award for Mystery & Thriller. When I saw that, I thought: Okay… let’s give it a try.
I’m so glad I did. Despite being just over 450 pages, it’s the kind of slow-burn literary thriller that keeps you completely hooked — rich backstory, layered characters, and that perfect back-and-forth structure that pulls you through chapters without realizing you’re still reading.
“What’s for dinner?” It’s such a simple question. And yet, it’s one of the most soul-draining things a mom can hear at 4:04 p.m. — precisely when my daughter hops into the minivan after school.
First, she asks for a snack. Then comes the big one: “What’s for dinner?”
And I don’t know about you, but that question has a way of making my blood pressure rise just a little bit each time. So today, we’re going to get to the bottom of why this question is so uniquely irritating — and then I’ll share a few practical strategies to make it a little less rage-inducing.
About a year ago, I started keeping a single note on my phone, broken down by month. At first, it was meant to be a loose outline of:
Very quickly it became part digital journal, part running to-do list, part brain-saver. It is now one of the most practical tools I use: a living reference for planning ahead, remembering deadlines, and making sure I’m not reinventing the wheel every 30 days.
Today we’re talking about All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker, a book I read a couple of weeks ago that completely swept me away… until the ending left me feeling weirdly empty and frustrated in a way that’s hard to describe.