I'm fighting every urge to start this blog post by saying, "Dear Gentle Reader", it appears I've been watching far too many episodes of Bridgerton! But, hello there, how are you? I hope you are doing amazing!
It has been quite some time since my last blog post and oh, how I've missed writing on here. I've been dedicating a lot of time to posting consistently on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and I've completely neglected posting here on the blog. But I want that to change so I'm getting back to it.
Over the last seven months, I've been doing a lot more reading, so I figured that my first post back from my hiatus would be sharing the list of books I've read so far in 2024. I find it's only right since the last post on my blog was a roundup of books I read in 2023.
My favorite book genres to read are romance and fantasy fiction. I'm such a creature of habit that I haven't ventured off into different genres but I am okay with that as I proudly consider myself an avid reader of romance and fantasy!
With that said, here is the list of books I've read in the first half of this year. I've also included my rating of each and at the end of this post, I've linked all the books in case you want to check them out for yourself!
Out of the 18 books I've read, 9 were rated 5 stars! I'd say that the first half of this year has been quite successful as far as good reads. I'm very much looking forward to what books I read and fall in love with in the remaining half of 2024.
Back in 2022, I started reading fiction books as a way to unwind and practice being present. Well, let me tell you that I have since fallen madly in love with reading fiction and I haven't been able to stop since.
So today, I thought it'd be fun to round up all the books I read in 2023 and share them and my thoughts on each with you!
Scroll to browse the books I read and click the video below to hear my thoughts on each book.
In this week's YouTube video, I'm sharing what I got in the mail as a content creator! Watch me unbox all of the goodies I got by clicking on the video below.
My sister has always been a wiz in the kitchen. Since childhood, she'd watch the Food Network while I did something other than learn a very useful skill which is to cook and create delicious recipes!
Some time ago she introduced this kale salad recipe to our family and I absolutely loved it the first time I tried it! Not only did I enjoy the flavor but I also enjoyed the way it made me feel. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be someone who chose to eat kale for lunch but alas, here I am, having kale for lunch for the third time this week!
I was going to gatekeep this recipe but my sister insisted I share it, so here it is.
The ingredients you'll need to create this salad at home are:
fresh kale
fresh strawberries or peaches
dried cranberries or raisins
avocado
hemp hearts
pistachios
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
the juice of 1 large lemon
The instructions are as follows:
wash and chop the kale and fruit
whisk together the dressing ingredients (olive oil, honey/maple syrup, dijon mustard, garlic powder, black pepper, lemon juice)
pour dressing onto kale and thoroughly massage it in (for about 20 seconds)
In this blog post, I'm sharing an unboxing video of the items I received in the mail today. I also share close-up photos and links of each item if you want to check them out.
Lane Woods Jewelry Oval Cut Moissanite Ring - This ring is absolutely stunning and it retails for under $200. I'm obsessed with the design of this ring and the light reflects beautifully from the 2-carat moissanite stone. // Ring linked here
Wonder Inspired Narrow Spinner Ring - This ring is so unique to me because it's a spinner ring! I'm such an anxious fidgeter and this ring is now something that I can wear, looks fashionable, but can help ease some anxiousness. // Ring linked here
Adoyi 9 Piece Gold Earrings Set - This set of earrings retails for under $20 and can be found on Amazon! As someone who has multiple piercings on each ear, I appreciate that there's a mix of huggies and various-sized hoops in this set. // Earrings linked here
