Friday 5ive- June 12, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week. June is a month filled with birthday, anniversaries and graduations in our family. Two of our nephews graduated from high school this month, and their school and family were very creative in their celebration of this auspicious occasion.

1)  Last Saturday was my husband and my 33rd Anniversary, and we celebrated with a surf and turf dinner on the grill at the home upstate where we are staying on weekends. We’ve never grilled lobster tails and they turned out pretty good! It was a lovely evening and we got to share it with our older son and his wife.  We celebrated their 2nd anniversary on Monday with takeout from Underhill Crossings in Bronxville. The food was delicious- we shared Clams Casino and I had a tasty Cobb Salad and Ravioli in a Sage Butter Sauce. We will be ordering from there again! You can find their website here: http://underhillscrossing.com/

Anniversary flowers

Grilled lobster tails

2)  This week I voted by absentee ballot in the Democratic primary in New York State. It was an easy process and I have voted in every election since I was 18. It’s important to make your voice heard and it’s our responsibility as citizens to vote.

3)  I told you a few weeks ago that my sons and I signed up for Summer Around the Finger Lakes, where we ride enough miles between June 1 and September to ride around each of the 11 Finger Lakes. This week I crossed the 100 mile mark, along with my sons and my friend Kelly who told us about the ride. They are all in the Top 50 riders, our of nearly 1000 riders. Go team! It’s not too late to join, more information is here. http://yellowjacketracing.com/races/summer-around-the-finger-lakes

4)  Every week I try to order a book from an independent bookstore. This week I ordered from Books and Crannies, a black-owned bookstore in Martinsville, Virginia that I found on Twitter. I love that the woman who owns the store is a mom to an 11 year-old son and 1 year old daughter, and she closes her store to go watch her son play basketball for his team, and brings her daughter to the store while she works. As a mom whose sons played sports, I appreciate that. If you can, support an independent bookstore. You can find Books and Crannies here. https://www.booksandcranniesva.com/


5)   I got a lot of reading done this week. I read Emma Straub’s All Adults Here, a wonderful family story about accepting and loving people as they are, and it’s a good read for Pride Month. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318841/all-adults-here-by-emma-straub/

 I also read Catherine Adel  West’s novel, Saving Ruby King, a family drama set on the South Side of, Chicago, about the secrets that can destroy generations. I loved that the neighborhood church is actually a character that narrates events that happened within its walls. It’s a fantastic, heart wrenching novel.https://www.harlequintradepublishing.com/shop/books/9781488057250_saving-ruby-king.html
 I also read That Summer in Maine by Brianna Wolfson, about two teenager girls who spend a summer with the man they never knew was their father. It was a week for family dramas. https://www.harlequintradepublishing.com/shop/books/9781488088599_that-summer-in-maine.html

I hope you stay safe and healthy.