Five on Friday - August 18, 2023

How can it be Friday already?  It seems like I just blinked my eyes and here we are at the end of the week already.  Let’s hop right into my five for this week ~

 

1. National Fajita Day 

Today is National Fajita Day!  We’ve made sheet pan fajitas a couple of times and love them.  I use the recipe over at The Blond Cook.  You can whip up a delicious fajita meal with just a few ingredients.  It comes together so easily and quickly.  Grab some guacamole, sour cream, and black beans to top them off.  Perfect for dinner on a busy night. 

2.  The Invisible Hour

Alice Hoffman’s newest book was released this week and it sounds good!  I was hooked when they mentioned The Scarlet Letter.  Here’s the summary ~

One brilliant June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia’s mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community—an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden, and books are considered evil. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her?

 

Through a journey of heartbreak, love, and time, Mia must abandon the rules she was raised with at the Community. As she does, she realizes that reading can transport you to other worlds or bring them to you, and that readers and writers affect one another in mysterious ways. She learns that time is more fluid than she can imagine, and that love is stronger than any chains that bind you.

 

As a girl Mia fell in love with a book. Now as a young woman she falls in love with a brilliant writer as she makes her way back in time. But what if Nathaniel Hawthorne never wrote The Scarlet Letter? And what if Mia Jacob never found it on the day she planned to die?

 

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote: “A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities.”

 

This is the story of one woman’s dream. For a little while it came true.

 

3.  Extra Screen for Your Laptop

With my new job came new office equipment.  One of the items provided was an extra travel screen for my laptop.  How ingenious!  Where has this item been??  I might be the last person on earth to learn about this gadget, but just in case I’m not…  It’s lightweight and makes working from my laptop so much better!  There was a spark in my daughter-in-law’s eye when I showed it to her so I got her one for her birthday.  Whom do you know that needs one?

 

4.  Scratch Paper Art Sheets
Last weekend when we had four extra kiddos at our house, our kitchen table was transformed into a craft area.  I like to keep lots of extra things for the kids to do at the ready while I’m fixing meals or cleaning up.  One of the things that kept them busy this visit was these scratch pads.  They were a hit!  Many masterpieces were created – some using the stencils provided and others totally freehand.   They are going to be a staple in my craft supplies!

 5.  Let's all say this...

Have a fantastic weekend!  I’m wrapping up a wedding project and getting our guest rooms back in shape.  The weather is predicted to be nice and sunny, so I’m also hoping to soak up the last of the summer days before fall tumbles in.  See you back next week!