Book Review: Unbroken

I just finished Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand a few days ago. I've been reading a lot of "fluff" books and YA fiction so I thought I should try a grown up book. And I really liked it. I was worried it was going to be super depressing and hard to get through, but Laura Hillenbrand really did a great job telling this heart wrenching story without making me feel too heavy or down while I was reading it.

Unbroken is the story of the Olympic athlete Louis Zamperini. While training for the 1940 Olympics WWII broke out and Louis joined the war. Serving as a bombardier his plane goes down in the Pacific Ocean leaving only 3 of them alive. After floating on the raft for 47 days, beating sharks, dehydration, and ocean storms they find themselves on a Japanese occupied island. They are then sent to endure years of torture and hard labor in POW camps.

This story really is what the cover says: a WWII story of survival, resilience, and redemption. One line that has stuck with me since I read it, was after the POWs were freed one said that if they knew they would have to go through the same ordeal again, they would rather die. It really is amazing the amount of suffering a person can live through, but it was so heartbreaking to hear of the broken men that returned to the USA after living through such an ordeal.

I know it sounds a bit depressing the way I describe it, but I really don't want to give everything away. It did leave me feeling inspired, if not a little emotional. I would recommend it as one of the most worth while things I've read in a while.

Bread Painting

What do you do with a 3 year old and a 1 year old on a cold, rainy day and you have no car? Bread painting, of course. I stumbled across this idea (I can't remember where) and thought it was the cutest idea. We mixed milk and food coloring together, got ourselves some bread and paintbrushes, and went to town. Summer was only interested for about 2 minutes before she decided to just eat her bread, but Logan lasted a lot longer. But as long as Summer has food in her little hands she's happy so this was a resounding success in the Newell household. After the bread was all beautified we popped it in the toaster and had a nice afternoon snack.

Turkey Day

We are having our Turkey Day today instead of yesterday. But that doesn't mean I wasn't thankful a lot yesterday (and most days for that matter). I was especially grateful for my husband. He started out the day perfect by waking up with the kids and letting me sleep a little longer after a long night with Summer. Then he spent the rest of the day working on our patio outside, making the pie crust for my pies, and helping me clean up the pie disaster. Oh, and this morning I got out of the shower to hear him vacuuming the stairs. Living with another person can be trying sometimes, but I am so thankful that I chose him to spend eternity with. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and took a chance to remember everything great in your life. 

Here's a little peek at what I'll be wearing for our feast tonight. I'll be putting the stretchy dress to good use today!

Dress: Nordstrom Rack (old) // Scarf: Banana Republic (similar) // Belt: Stolen from Hubby // Shoes: Gift // Tights: Macy's (shop)

Style Up

One of my favorite things to do is surf the web (or pinterest) for outfit inspiration. I love to see an outfit, and then mentally go through my closet to see if I could copy it. Most of the time I can get the feel of the outfit, even if it's not exact. I'm the kind of person who gets tired of clothes really quickly, but doing this really helps me to find new ideas for old pieces of clothing. It has extended the life of many a shirt and has opened my eyes to what exactly closet staples are. I wouldn't consider myself a fashionable person, but I've grown a lot since starting this blog.

This week I recently discovered StyleUp. It's a fashion community that you can sign up for, enter your zip code, and they will send you e-mails every week day with an outfit photo and the forecast for that day. I haven't loved every outfit they've sent my way, but it has been pretty fun to take the inspiration from that photo and apply it to my outfits. They also have a quick little survey to try and peg down your style, and you can go on their website and give input on different outfits and save them for later. I love reading the comments and seeing all the different takes on one outfit. Check it out if you feel you're needing a little inspiration this fall.

This outfit was based on my StyleUp email for today. I really love it, and would honestly like to dress in something like this every day.

Shirt: Target // Skirt & Boots:Gifts // Belt: Borrowed from my husband*

* I just need to take a second and talk about this belt. I honestly have no idea how Brian can fit in this thing. It fits me perfectly and I'm wearing it around the narrowest part of my body. I knew he was skinny, but there is no way this belt actually fits him properly!

Butterfly 1st Birthday

We had Summer's 1st birthday party about a month ago but I am just now getting around to posting about it. Logan is really in to planning birthday parties and he had been planning a butterfly birthday for Summer since about May. It was actually a really good idea, I love how her party turned out.

We kept it really simple with a few friends and family and just some snacks and cake. The decorations were all really simple too (except for those butterflies on the wall that I traced and cut out for 2.5 hours). I used a purple and pink theme with some white accents. Pinterest was such a great tool for coming up with ideas. I don't know what my parties would be like without it, it's such a crutch for me now!

 I chose this simple cake thinking it was something I could do, but my awesome cake-decorating sister ended up doing it anyways. I love how it turned out. We used lime peels for the leaves of the flowers, and the cake around it had a bit of a lime taste that tasted so good. That part was the best part of the cake!

I think she liked her cake!

Crockpot Thai Yellow Curry

I love it when I find a good crockpot recipe. I've been thinking over all my favorite recipes lately and trying to make them into crockpot recipes. It's just so easy and simple, and it makes your house smell amazing for the whole day.

And this curry was now exception. My house smelled unbelievable all day, and by dinnertime I was so hungry. I'm happy to report that this tasted as good as it smelled. The leftovers were gobbled up quickly and I was left wanting more. So now I am sharing this wonderful recipe with you, you're welcome!

Oh, and if you're ever looking for a good website for yummy recipes try Everyday Reading. I haven't tried a recipe she's recommended and not loved it.

Crockpot Thai Yellow Curry
Adapted from Everyday Reading

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

3 Tablespoons red curry paste

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk

1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

1 lime, juiced

2 teaspoons brown sugar

Cilantro for garnish, optional

Rice, for serving

Place the chicken in a crockpot and add curry paste, curry powder, coconut milk, and broth. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. About 30 minutes before serving (around the time you're starting the rice), shred the chicken, then whisk the cornstarch together with the fish sauce and lime juice until smooth, and pour into crockpot. Add sugar, stir to combine, and let cook for 30 more minutes, until sauce is thickened (add more cornstarch if you want it even thicker).

Serve over rice.

Trick or Treat

Oh, you though that since I haven't posted in over a week that you would be spared the Halloween pics of my kids? Think again. I just dropped my mum and sister off at the airport. They've been here for almost two weeks, and since my office also acts at a spare bedroom my blogging has suffered. But never fear, I am back! And with pictures of my beautiful girl and sill super hero in their Halloween costumes. And no, I did not make them. Maybe one year I'll get myself organized enough to do that.

 Summer was Princess Jasmine for Halloween. When I was shopping for costumes the model for the costume looked surprisingly similar to my baby girl, and that is where they got me. I am such a sucker for advertising it's not even funny. I can't even count the head shakes I've gotten from my husband at my weakness for a good ad.

 It took us weeks of convincing, and finally my husband drawing a beard on himself, to get Logan to have a fake Tony Stark beard. He had a mask but I knew he wouldn't wear it for long. I love the beard though. Every time I looked at him I couldn't help but laugh.

I have quite a few more pictures, but I thought I'd spare you. Happy (Belated) Halloween!