Paddle Your Own Canoe - Book Review

Book: Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living

Author: Nick Offerman

Genre: Non-Fiction 

Publisher/Publish Date: Dutton Adult / October 1, 2013

Source: Public Library

Pages: 337

Rating: 3.5/5

GoodReads  •  Amazon

I'm a huge fan of Nick Offerman's character on Parks & Rec, Ron Swanson, and knew enough about his personal life and woodworking background that I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy this books. I was right, though also pleasantly surprised by the depth and variety of this book.

A mix a narrative chapters about his life and instructional/topical essays, Offerman not only gives you a look into his life, and everything that lead him to his success in Hollywood, but also give great advice for aspiring actors and people in general.

The book is a bit racy in sections, just to warn you in case you plan to listen to this in audiobook form with your parents. Overall one of my favorite memoirs I've read in awhile.

Loved: the fun illustrations
Enjoyed: his tales of auditioning and working in Hollywood

what I've been reading....

Hi. It's nice to be back from my little break. Life got in the way of blogging and reading. It was all good stuff, but I have missed sharing here what I've been up to.

I was over on GoodReads.com the other day, listing some books I'd finished reading, and decided to check out how I was doing on my goal of reading 75 books this year. Well, the news was bad. While I've read 13 books, I'm 17 books behind... yikes! Not sure if I can catch up, or if I even care to try, but I want to get back on the horse and read more the second half of the year. I also have piles of books in my room to read:)

Books I've read since I last posted...

Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, by Lauren F. Winner
I picked this up since I loved her first book Girl Meets God and this didn't disappoint. Winner honestly shares her struggles with God and Christianity, and where she sees her self in the Christian story.

Here I Go Again, by Jen Lancaster
A hard book to explain without giving too much away, Lissy Ryder returns to her high school for her 20th reunion to discover that her memories were a little rose-tinted, and she may not be as successful and beloved as she once thought.

The Bling Ring: How a Gang of Fame-Obsessed Teens Ripped Off Hollywood and Shocked the World, by Nancy Jo Sales
While not the most well written book, it's an interesting look at the headline catching story of six LA teens who burglarized celebrity homes including Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Orlando Bloom. This book attempts to discover the motivation behind the break-ins and what lead to their obsession with celebrity.

One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories, by B.J. Novak
Random, odd, funny, heart-touching. A mix of short stories, Novak does an amazing job of fabricating unique stories, characters and places.

Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell
I've heard about how great this book is, and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. It is definitely a young adult book, but is a beautiful story of two high school misfits finding love and seeing if they have what it takes to make it last.

Help Thanks Wow: Three Essential Prayers, by Anne Lamott
One of my favorite authors, Lamott shares the three prayers that get her through tough times, and shares personal stories that lead her to these three prayers.

The Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer
I read this book with my church's small group. Tozer does an amazing job at identifying and expounding on God's attributes, such as wisdom, grace, mercy and justice. There was a lot of content that was new to me, and it's a dense book, elegantly written, and I probably re-read in a year or two.

wow I read a lot of books this year

Discovering GoodReads at the end of 2012 changed my life! Well, maybe that's an over statement, but I love keeping track of books I want to read, what I've read, and that I can easily track how many books I read a year.

I made myself a goal to read 50 books this year. I've never counted before, and nearly a book a week seemed challenging but do able. I've always been a pretty active reader, and read every night before bed, but with this blog, and getting advanced reader copies to review, I've made it more of a priority.

With that being said, I was very happy to achieve and blow through my goal, reading 66 books in 2013!

2014 goal: 
   - read 75 books
   - read one or more Steven King books

Since there was a month or two this year in which I didn't read much, I'm upping my goal this next year, and fairly confident I can do it. Also, I've never read a Steven King book, and I've been wanting to lately, so why not make it a goal also. Anyone have a recommendation for a good book to start off with?

Wishing everyone a fabulous holiday season and a great 2014!

Family Camping Trip

I recently moved closer to my family, and wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather to go camping. Luckily my parents have a decent sized trailer for all 6 of us. Though I have to say sharing a bed with my adorable niece did not turn out as great as I thought it would be.

We had a great time hiking, walking down to the river, cooking marshmallows, and got in a decent amount of reading.

If you are ever in the area I highly recommend this park (Ike Kinswa State Park in southern Washington). It has a beautiful lake for boating, fishing, swimming, and of course rock throwing.)

Every time she sees a tree she says "I climb?"

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a big trip north

Since you have last heard from me I packed up my life, and moved 630 miles to the north to the wonderful city of Portland. Here are some photos from the drive. Look forward to some new book reviews soon, and maybe some posts about some local book stores. 

P.S. I love the clouds in Oregon.

Around SF - Alcatraz Island

A couple weeks ago a few friends and I visited Alcatraz Island. I've lived in San Francisco seven years and decided I better go now.

After a very windy boat ride over, we had a great time going through the audio tour and seeing the cells. It's crazy to think about being in prison, with a city right across the bay. "So close, yet so far away."

Since we were on the night tour they also had some extra programs we could check out. I attended one on Al Capone (I was really fascinated with him in middle school) and a few other friends went to one about Alcatraz and Hollywood. I think it would have been more fun to do the night tour during the winter time, when it gets darker earlier.

My favorite part was that they opened the hospital up for us. It's located above the cell area, and is closed during the day. I enjoyed taking photos of the peeling blue paint on the wall, but I will spare you all those photos. An interesting thing about the hospital is how large the cells there were. There was a plaque showing which room was Robert "Birdman of Alcatraz" Stoud's and my guess it was about 3-4 times larger than the cells. His wikipedia page says he spent 11 years confined to the hospital wing, but I imagine that was nicer than the regular cells.

Overall it was super fun to do the tour with friends and I highly recommend going at night. Be sure to get tickets a month or two early since those tickets sell out earlier than the day tickets.

what I've been up to lately

I've been a bit off the radar this last week, spending the week with my family up in Oregon. The day I got there we celebrated my nephew's birthday party, and luckily had beautiful weather and were able to BBQ outside. The rest of the week was mostly me getting worn out running around after my niece and nephew (age 2 and 4 respectively). They have an impressive amount of energy.

 Blowing out the candles took a few tries.

Flying kites at the park. My mom bought these great little kites. 

They didn't need much wind to work, but running with kites is always fun.

They are adorable, lovable and balls of energy that don't stop.

My adorable niece, with her other aunt. (I have a lot of competition for favorite aunt.)

I miss these kids, looking forward to seeing them again soon!

my (girls) weekend - Point Reyes

It's always nice to get out of the city, spend some quality time with my friends, and breath in some nature. This last Saturday, three friends and I drove north across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Point Reyes Area. I love how close this area is to SF and all the wonderful things it offers: kayaking, oysters, hiking, a cute little town, ocean views, and a view of a fault line.

Luckily the weather was amazing, and we had an amazing day grabbing brunch, walking on the beach, and eating oysters.

Bolinas, CA

my weekend - tile decorating at HEATH

I don't know who this guy is.

This sunday I went with a friend to Open Studio at Heath Ceramics in San Francisco to paint a tile. It was fun to be creative and I'm excited to see how it turns out after their fire them later this month.

They provided us with a simple, blank tile, about 6x6" and lots of fun things to use as stencils.

While the dots didn't really turn out how I expected them to, I think they look cool, though who knows how it will turn out once fired. With a couple rubber pads on the bottom with should make a great trivet.

I have loved their beautiful ceramics since I went to their studio in Sausalito for a tour, where they show you how much care and attention they put into their products. If you are ever in the Bay Area I highly recommend checking out one of their multiple show rooms, or at least visit their site to see their dishes.

my weekend - sisters edition

Last week I had the pleasure of hosting my two sisters in San Francisco. It was a fun filled 4 days, though somehow, me, the youngest, got worn out the fastest. It was worth it, even if I gained 5 pounds from all the delicious food we eat. The weekend included a day trip up to Sonoma, visits to many coffee shops and restaurants, some walking around the city, and lots of long conversations over food.

I recently got a brand new DSLR camera and had a great time playing with it this weekend. Hope you enjoy the photos.

While up in Sonoma Had a delicious lunch at The Fremont Diner, with chickens running around the picnic area. Aren't my sister's leopard print sunglasses awesome?!

I'm always trying to get good candid shots, and this is one of my favorites. My sister was telling us a funny story about her favorite comedian, Jim Gaffigan, and making us laugh.

I sometimes forget how much graffiti there is in the city. They make the perfect, colorful portrait backdrop and my sisters were willing photo subjects. 

Thanks to my roommate who took a photo of all three of us sisters. (flowers at Mission Cheese)

Miss you sisters!

other things I love: Quilting

While I do really, really love reading, I also love some other things. Ever few weeks I plan to share with you the other things that pull at my heart strings. The long process from the initial idea or a quilt to the last stitch of the binding appeals to me. Once I get going on a part of it, for example piecing the top together, I love that I have a project that can keep my focus for hours, providing the right backdrop to lose myself in many, many episodes of West Wing.

My foray into quilting came originally from this blog post on Posie Gets Cozy. The traditional quilt with squares scares me, since I figure I can never get all the squares to line up (might be silly but it's a real fear I tell ya.) This style of quilting, English Paper Piecing, using hexagons looked more my cup of tea.

Growing up I sewed pillowcases, scrunches, and curtains, but sewing by hand was new to me. I taught myself how to paper piece quilts by reading a few blog posts and while I've never checked my work with anyone else, I figure I'm going ok since the quilts haven't fallen apart.

I have finish two small quilts, one each for my niece and nephew (the top two photos) and used up some scraps of fabric I had to make the pink, blue, green and brown one above (still waiting for batting, backing, and quilting.)

Currently I am working on a twin size triangle quilt for myself, with much larger pieces than the hexagons (photos above and below). It took some time to decide on the design and fabric, in the end it should look like rows of hanging banners, similar to this quilt. I have so many ideas for color and shape combinations I would love to try, just wish I had unlimited time and resources to make it happen. 

My lovely weekend

I hope everyone had a great weekend. The weather here in SF was beautiful!! I have to say, this is one of my favorite time of the year, before it gets too rainy, and before the foggy summer.

I discovered a community garden in my neighborhood. I was enjoying the sun so much and wanted to stay outside longer so I biked over to Golden Gate Park and walked around there for a little while.

Sunday I got lunch with a friend (all that food isn't mine), and sat outside soaking up the warm weather.

I did actually get some reading in. My stack of books to read is at an all time high (literally), and they are all pretty big books. Need to spend some quality time this week with my head in a book.

How was your weekend? I hope you had the chance to get outside also.