5 Things

I saw this post by Heather at Heather's Hurrah, and I decided to steal borrow its structure to share things that have been going on with me since I've been mostly absent from the blog game. 

Most of you know, I went home to Texas for a visit in late May.  Here's 5 things I did while there:

1. ate a lot of food
   
2. visited family
   
3. fed the family cows
   
4. shared some quiet with my stepmom
   
5. saw niece 2 graduate high school as valedictorian
   

In honor of my niece's graduation, my mom, my niece, my sis-in-law, and I shared a getaway in San Francisco.  5 things touristy things we did there:

1. rode a double decker bus for a bus tour around the city
2. visited Muir Woods
3. drove the world's most crooked street
4. rode a trolley car
5. had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf

Here's 5 pictures from that fun time:

5 people I've been lucky enough to see:

1. had a meal, a chat, and some laughs with these beauties, Rachel from A Nesting Nomad and Kristen from See You in a Porridge:
   
2. shared a meal in Texas with this gal that I've known for 25+ years, jenn from quirky pickings:
   
3. while in Cali, I got to see my stepsister, her lovely husband, future bambino, and fur baby:
   
4. shared a girls' getaway in Sonoma, CA with two of my most favorite people in the world, college friends, Katy and Kari:
   

Okay, that's six people, but they were all worth mentioning.

I absolutely adored Sonoma and would happily go back and spend time there again.  Here's 5 reasons that I fell in love:

1. wine tasting rooms
2. cute cottages with beautiful gardens
3. independent shops with shop cats
4. good food and near perfect weather
5. a Friday night farmer's market that seem to bring locals and tourists together

Remember when I had a pile of books that I was happy to give away to share with other readers?  Well, I'm doing it again.  I send it to you for free!  The only catch is that I encourage you to share the love, pay it forward, and give it to another when you're finished with it.  First come, first serve.  5 books up for grabs:

1. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
2. Lie in Wait by Eric Rickstad
3. Violent Ends edited by Shaun David Hutchinson
4. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
5. The Cleaner by Paul Cleave

Hold up, wait a minute.  I've got more books to give.  How convenient is it that I have 5 more on offer?! 

1. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
2. An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire
3. We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
4. Summerlong by Dean Bakopoulos
5. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

I've read 5 books for Book Challenge by Erin 7.0 (goodreads group, facebook group, my reading list), and I have 5 more to go to complete the first round of the challenge.  These 5 books are next to be read:

Speaking of my book challenge, I'm breaking away from "5 Things" to give a shout out to the reading rock star known as Bev from Confuzzledom.  She's the first to complete our challenge this time around.  Way to go, Bev!

Now, tell me 5 things going on with you!