This book is the third book written by Gillian Flynn....but not the third book in a series of books written by her...sorry, that was confusing.
I think it's important though to stress that this is the third book she has written, and I'll tell you why. It's her third best book, lol. Which is also her worst book....technically....in my humble opinion ;)
I have read hew two other books, starting with Gone Girl. I first stumbled upon this in my Goodreads circle. (If you don't know what this is, and you're a booklover, please for the love of God, click this link)
I started to read some reviews and decided that I totally wanted to read a book about a guy who kills his psychopathic wife with my same name and says he is innocent and stuff happens. That sounded great! So I asked for it for Christmas, and immediately started reading it and finishing it in like 15 hours. It was fantastic. And also the just right amounts of creepy and infuriating.
So when her next book came out, Dark Places, I thought: YES! ANOTHER CREEPY MUST READ! And I was wrong. It wasn't creepy, it was downright messed up. Like so, so, twisted and f*cked that when I heard it was going to be made into a movie like Gone Girl I immediately decided that I was not going to see it. I don't do that a lot with movies so take that how you will.
|||||||In case you're thinking, "Amy is such a baby, that book couldn't have been that bad! I wonder what it's about..." Here is a summary that doesn't give too much away. Enjoy you weirdo.|||||||||
So then I saw Sharp Objects and was.....hesitant....to say the least. Because do I read a book by an author that is equal parts great and messed up? In the end I decided I couldn't NOT read it so I picked it up cheap at Target and was on my way. I thought it was intriguing for sure.
It's basically about a woman named Camille who comes back to her hometown to write about the murder of two young girls. She is plagued by the death of her sister, from when she was younger, and copes by cutting words into her skin to describe how she is feeling and what she is thinking. WTF. When she returns to her hometown, she has some issues with her mother that resurface and her small town starts to creep back into her already f*cked up life so that sucks.
It's a pretty psychologically dark book, similar to the other ones Flynn has written soooooo yep. I'd skip it if you can help it {unlike me}
**UPDATE: I also just read Gillian Flynn's The Grown Up and it was also messed up. Just FYI.
Showing posts with label 101 Things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 101 Things. Show all posts
Monday, May 29, 2017
Monday, January 2, 2017
#37 of 101 in 1001- Photograph my favorite tree in all seasons
Yes, I have a favorite tree.
No, it is not my only favorite tree- I have four favorite trees, except one of them was cut down :/
Yes, you can have more than one favorite thing.
No, my favorite trees are not in my yard, but the one I photographed is in Libertyville, and I probably have a BOLO out on my vehicle because of how often I slow drive-by it trying to catch when it's leaves turn, or see it when the snow gingerly covers it's branches, or when the leaves fill out the whole top of it like a giant green muffin.
Can we still be friends even though I fiercely love four trees?
Here is mah arbol favorito in Libertyville:
Winter
Missing: A Spring picture!😩
Summer
Fall
And here are the other two I have pictures of...I don't have a digital picture of the one that was cut down :/
The Maui tree that is at Old Maui High school where my grandpa graduated.
A tree on the ISU quad where I studied, fell asleep by accident, and read library books for hours:
Friday, December 23, 2016
68/101 Cheer a Friend on at a Race
This is #68/101 for my 1001 Things in 101 Days.
This is not the first time I have gone to cheer on a friend at a race....but it is the most recent that falls within my timeline for this project!
On Sunday, October 9th this year, Tommy and I took the train down to Chicago for the marathon. We ended up meeting up with the Libertyville Running Club at mile 23. They have been doing this for a few years, and I'm glad that we had the opportunity to finally go!
We took the train down from Union, and then had to take the L (The Red Line I think?) to get over to the mile marker. Alllll with my bombtastic poster.
This is not the first time I have gone to cheer on a friend at a race....but it is the most recent that falls within my timeline for this project!
On Sunday, October 9th this year, Tommy and I took the train down to Chicago for the marathon. We ended up meeting up with the Libertyville Running Club at mile 23. They have been doing this for a few years, and I'm glad that we had the opportunity to finally go!
We took the train down from Union, and then had to take the L (The Red Line I think?) to get over to the mile marker. Alllll with my bombtastic poster.
When we got there, a lot of people were already cheering. The club set up a center for donuts to be given to runners :D and other snacks. It was a little chilly in the shade, but super manageable, It was mostly a day of "wahoo"ing and "Go runners" and what not. It was a super fun day!
Yay Spectating!
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
#30/101 Host a Dinner Party for Friends + Friendsgiving 2016
So every year, Kelsey has a Friendsgiving for the people in her life.
It is always fun, always delicious, and everyone brings a dish to share. Tommy and I brought appetizers and wine. I tried a new recipe that was gluten free and people liked it so that was good! It was for a cheesy chip dip that I also got GF crackers to dip in :)
When it was time for dinner, we some how all were able to squeeze in at the table.....which blows my mind every year, lol. {See amazing picture below}
Per usual, we had a great time :D :D :D
So this year, as I am wanting to host a dinner party for some friends, I decided to host a Friendsgiving myself. Also, I wanted to try my hand at cooking a turkey for real this time, lol. So this post is also part of my 101 in 1001 Days- #30/101 Host a Dinner Party for Friends
I have to tell you, I don't actually love Thanksgiving food. I mean, turkey is probably my #5 meat, and I generally dislike the other traditional side dishes- green bean casserole, cranberries, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie....I do, however, love rolls and mashed potatoes and there's always plenty of those so yay.
Anyway, what I do love about Thanksgiving is the tradition. I love the getting together of family and friends, the all day cooking experience, and the Fall themed decor. Warm colors are my jam. So it felt right to make a dinner party around this time a Friendsgiving one, especially since turkey was on sale after Thanksgiving and I had school off for break ;)
I sent out feelers to see who would be available, and many people were seeing family or not going to be in the area past Thanksgiving, but Liz and Lauren said they could come and we set the date for November 26th.
I ended up buying a frozen turkey from Jewel on Thanksgiving day for super cheap. It was a 15 pounder too! It thawed just in time, with a little help from my kitchen sink and a running water bath. The process of actually getting the turkey ready was semi gross, but way manageable you guys.
To prepare the inside- I cut up half a stick of butter into thin square sections. After separating the skin from the breast, I set the squares of butter on the breast and sprinkled some herbs.
To prepare the outside- I mixed sage and rosemary together with olive oil in a small bowl. Then I used a brush to spread it on the skin. My mother says you can use basically whatever herbs you want, but she recommended those together. I also sprinkled the skin with a bit of salt and pepper.
Then I stuffed some carrots, onion, potatoes, celery, and herbs inside of the bird and then tied the legs together a bit with some cooking string. I also trussed the turkey prior to dressing it, but the website that I followed for cooking the turkey recommended leaving it untrussed so that it would cook more evenly. I didn't have any issues with this though so I would probably do it again next year! The website also called for adding chicken broth to the pan, which I did....and ended up adding more as the bird cooked because it kept drying up and I needed it to baste the turkey whilst cooking. I think maybe they recommended doing this with the broth if the bird was sitting directly on the roasting pan...but I'm not sure. My turkey was on a rack in the roasting pan so maybe that made a difference?
I set the oven to 350 degrees, and once it was ready, I put the bird in and played the waiting game! The website said that you should schedule 13 minutes per pound, but cooking time can vary based on how you prepped the turkey and if you stuffed the bird. I was able to keep an eye on it though, and about every 45 minutes, I pulled that large lady out of the oven and went to basting. In the final 45 minutes of the cooking time, I used pan juices and melted butter to baste the turkey. It helped crisp up the skin a bit.
At about half way into her cooking time, I started checking the temperature of the turkey in the three places that are recommended: the breast, the outer thigh, and the inside thigh. It took a total of about 3 hours for it to fully cook and reach a temperature in all three places above 165 degrees. I did have to put a foil tent over the pan for the last 20 minutes or so because the inner thigh was almost to 165 when the rest of the places I checked were already there and I didn't want the outside to overcook. In the last bit of turkey cooking, I also put the green bean casserole in the oven, and warmed the mashed potatoes that Liz brought. We also mixed Lauren's salad. When it was time to take out the turkey, I also put in the rolls to heat them through.
The prepping and cooking parts of the meal were cake compared to the actual carving of the turkey...lol. Thankfully the boys were there to, um, distract themselves with football and polite conversation in the family room while the three of us tried to carve the thing.
Anyway, it was fun to host them and dinner turned out great! After eating, we played some cards in the family room, took waaaaaay too many Snaps, and then had dessert. It was a super fun night and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to cook with friends and hang! Can't wait for next year!
See last year's November Happenings here.
It is always fun, always delicious, and everyone brings a dish to share. Tommy and I brought appetizers and wine. I tried a new recipe that was gluten free and people liked it so that was good! It was for a cheesy chip dip that I also got GF crackers to dip in :)
When it was time for dinner, we some how all were able to squeeze in at the table.....which blows my mind every year, lol. {See amazing picture below}
 |
| {Amazing Picture}
This year we had: two different kinds of rolls, mashed potatoes, corn cassarole, sweet potatoes, turkey, stuffing, green bean cassarole, and probably a few other mouth watering dishes that I'm forgetting some how.
We also had desserts that were, as my mother would say, to die for.
 |
So this year, as I am wanting to host a dinner party for some friends, I decided to host a Friendsgiving myself. Also, I wanted to try my hand at cooking a turkey for real this time, lol. So this post is also part of my 101 in 1001 Days- #30/101 Host a Dinner Party for Friends
I have to tell you, I don't actually love Thanksgiving food. I mean, turkey is probably my #5 meat, and I generally dislike the other traditional side dishes- green bean casserole, cranberries, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie....I do, however, love rolls and mashed potatoes and there's always plenty of those so yay.
Anyway, what I do love about Thanksgiving is the tradition. I love the getting together of family and friends, the all day cooking experience, and the Fall themed decor. Warm colors are my jam. So it felt right to make a dinner party around this time a Friendsgiving one, especially since turkey was on sale after Thanksgiving and I had school off for break ;)
I ended up buying a frozen turkey from Jewel on Thanksgiving day for super cheap. It was a 15 pounder too! It thawed just in time, with a little help from my kitchen sink and a running water bath. The process of actually getting the turkey ready was semi gross, but way manageable you guys.
To prepare the inside- I cut up half a stick of butter into thin square sections. After separating the skin from the breast, I set the squares of butter on the breast and sprinkled some herbs.
To prepare the outside- I mixed sage and rosemary together with olive oil in a small bowl. Then I used a brush to spread it on the skin. My mother says you can use basically whatever herbs you want, but she recommended those together. I also sprinkled the skin with a bit of salt and pepper.
Then I stuffed some carrots, onion, potatoes, celery, and herbs inside of the bird and then tied the legs together a bit with some cooking string. I also trussed the turkey prior to dressing it, but the website that I followed for cooking the turkey recommended leaving it untrussed so that it would cook more evenly. I didn't have any issues with this though so I would probably do it again next year! The website also called for adding chicken broth to the pan, which I did....and ended up adding more as the bird cooked because it kept drying up and I needed it to baste the turkey whilst cooking. I think maybe they recommended doing this with the broth if the bird was sitting directly on the roasting pan...but I'm not sure. My turkey was on a rack in the roasting pan so maybe that made a difference?
 |
| {Turkey humor} |
At about half way into her cooking time, I started checking the temperature of the turkey in the three places that are recommended: the breast, the outer thigh, and the inside thigh. It took a total of about 3 hours for it to fully cook and reach a temperature in all three places above 165 degrees. I did have to put a foil tent over the pan for the last 20 minutes or so because the inner thigh was almost to 165 when the rest of the places I checked were already there and I didn't want the outside to overcook. In the last bit of turkey cooking, I also put the green bean casserole in the oven, and warmed the mashed potatoes that Liz brought. We also mixed Lauren's salad. When it was time to take out the turkey, I also put in the rolls to heat them through.
The prepping and cooking parts of the meal were cake compared to the actual carving of the turkey...lol. Thankfully the boys were there to, um, distract themselves with football and polite conversation in the family room while the three of us tried to carve the thing.
Lauren did the actual carving because she's brave, and I had my doubts....but she did it!
 |
| {Liz did a great job holding the platter...lol!} |
Anyway, it was fun to host them and dinner turned out great! After eating, we played some cards in the family room, took waaaaaay too many Snaps, and then had dessert. It was a super fun night and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to cook with friends and hang! Can't wait for next year!
See last year's November Happenings here.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
#92/93 of 101 Things
This is a blogpost on #92 and #93 of my 101 things in 1,001 days goal!
Tommy and I finally went apple picking together! I have been wanting to do this for YEARS, and have just been too lazy to make the plans to go. Then by the time I think, "Hey, we should go apple picking!" I find out all the apples at the orchards near me are picked by people who actually have their shit together at the start of Fall.
So this year I put it in my calendar, and even tried to wrangle people to go with me! It ended up being just Tommy and I, but it worked out because we were able to go see Dana and Marvin before we went to the orchard. We visited their new house!
Then we drove to All Season's Orchard in Woodstock, IL. It only took us about 20 minutes to get there and the place was busy! We ended up finding a spot to park pretty quickly, and walked to the entrance. It was wet from the rain the night before, and semi muddy, but we expected that going into it so I wore my boots and it worked out well! It was $14.50 a person, and each person got a 1/2 peck bag of apples with their admission. They have a bunch of other stuff you can do there, but the other activities (corn maze, corn kernel pit, petting zoo, etc.) costs more money and we aren't 5 so we just stuck with the apple picking part.
When we walked in, we lucked out and got straight onto the wagon that takes people to the apple trees. We were given a short speech on how to pick apples, and the different kinds that were available. We got these long poles with a basket on the end to use to get the apples off without bruising them. They took a little getting used to, but definitely made the process easier and quicker! Tommy and I ended up mostly picking Jonagold and Golden Delicious. They didn't have any Red Delicious ready, which was ok with me, but they are Tommy's favorite! He ended up picking and semi liking the redder Jonagold apples that we took home.
After filling our bags, and taking a wagon ride back to entrance, we decided to get an apple cider shake, and an apple cider donut to share there. The sun started coming out and it was a fun place to sit and enjoy our treats together :) After hanging out for a bit, we walked around and picked out two pumpkins to take home.
It was a super fun day! I feel like we will definitely be coming back next year, though we might wait until they have some Red Delicious that are ready!
Tommy and I finally went apple picking together! I have been wanting to do this for YEARS, and have just been too lazy to make the plans to go. Then by the time I think, "Hey, we should go apple picking!" I find out all the apples at the orchards near me are picked by people who actually have their shit together at the start of Fall.
So this year I put it in my calendar, and even tried to wrangle people to go with me! It ended up being just Tommy and I, but it worked out because we were able to go see Dana and Marvin before we went to the orchard. We visited their new house!
Then we drove to All Season's Orchard in Woodstock, IL. It only took us about 20 minutes to get there and the place was busy! We ended up finding a spot to park pretty quickly, and walked to the entrance. It was wet from the rain the night before, and semi muddy, but we expected that going into it so I wore my boots and it worked out well! It was $14.50 a person, and each person got a 1/2 peck bag of apples with their admission. They have a bunch of other stuff you can do there, but the other activities (corn maze, corn kernel pit, petting zoo, etc.) costs more money and we aren't 5 so we just stuck with the apple picking part.
When we walked in, we lucked out and got straight onto the wagon that takes people to the apple trees. We were given a short speech on how to pick apples, and the different kinds that were available. We got these long poles with a basket on the end to use to get the apples off without bruising them. They took a little getting used to, but definitely made the process easier and quicker! Tommy and I ended up mostly picking Jonagold and Golden Delicious. They didn't have any Red Delicious ready, which was ok with me, but they are Tommy's favorite! He ended up picking and semi liking the redder Jonagold apples that we took home.
After filling our bags, and taking a wagon ride back to entrance, we decided to get an apple cider shake, and an apple cider donut to share there. The sun started coming out and it was a fun place to sit and enjoy our treats together :) After hanging out for a bit, we walked around and picked out two pumpkins to take home.
It was a super fun day! I feel like we will definitely be coming back next year, though we might wait until they have some Red Delicious that are ready!
Saturday, October 8, 2016
#54/101
This is part of my list of 101 things in 1,001 days!
#54- Visit a friend in another state
Last month I went to visit my dear friend Alyssa in Minnesota! It all happened rather fast.
Emily and I were texting one day, and since I was on my commute home, and it takes me an entire episode of This American Life to get home, I figured I would call her instead
Calling people: it's a thing.
So we got to talking and catching up as old friends do, and it was rather nice! Later that night, Emily text me around 9:00 p.m. and said that Alyssa would be alone on her bday that weekend because her husband, a pilot, would be out of town flying. Emily said that she was going to take a road trip and head up to see Alyssa. Welllll, I didn't get that text until around 11:00 p.m. that night, and after some support from my husband in helping rearrange plans, I decided that I would go too! Emily and I have both been saying that we wanted to go see Alyssa and the house she just bought with her husband, and that visit was long overdue so it seemed perfect!
I slid out of bed, threw some stuff in a bag, and then went to bed. The next day was Friday, and I had to work, but shortly after dismissing the kiddos, I drove to Emily's new house to meet for our road trip :D
On a totally separate note, Emily and Joe are doing so much awesome work on their new house. When I stopped by to see it for a quick tour, they had just painted a beautiful gray, and were going to be getting the floor done that weekend! (I saw it in person and it's gorgeous!!)
Sooooooo I left my car in Emily's driveway, along with my wallet and ID....though I didn't know that until about half way through Wisconsin. smh.
It was a super pretty and easy ride! Mostly because of the company, but also because there was a ridic sunset as we were driving. It was so nice to chat about life, try new snacks, and have a throwback with my girl. And the best thing? That what was the whole weekend was like!!
When we got to Alyssa's house, it was pretty late at night, but we got a tour and stayed up and chatted, duh. We met her doggie, Maverick, and then got ready for bed.
The next morning Emily and Alyssa were already up (surprise, surprise) making coffee and setting out muffins. When I woke up, I got myself some coffee and we sat in all sat in the kitchen together. We chatted about the day's plans, and decided that we would go to Stillwater and walk around downtown because they have good antiquing, and good food! We got coffees at Caribou (miss that place!) and went for a beautiful drive to town.
You guys, Stillwater is adorable. It's right along the river and has all of these old mill looking buildings. Totally picturesque. We went into basically all of the antique shops they had to offer and found a ton of cool things! I wanted to buy it all. It all. After a few hours we got some lunch at a place that was on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives called Smalley's and had their sweet potato fries, and chicken wings. They were soooooo good. The decor was fun too- totally pirate from floor to ceiling.
We moseyed on back to the car stopping here and there, and enjoying the weather. Then we headed back to pick up Alyssa's niece and go to dinner with her in-laws to a really good place called Doolittles. The food is amazing, and it was nice to sit outside as the sun set and visit with Kevin's family that is taking care of our girl out there! After dinner we went back to Alyssa's house and walked through the neighborhood and down the street to a cute little bar where they served me a drink off of a picture of my license that Joe took for me since I left my entire wallet in IL....heh. To the bartender I was like, "I'm 28 I promise. I have a picture of my passport that my husband sent me. Or here's a picture of my license that I left back in IL when I decided on a whim to drive 6 hours to come see this girl for her bday!" And the guy gave me a glass of wine, yyyyyyeeeeeeeaaaaaassssssss.
Then we strolled home to Alyssa's, chatted some more all snuggled on the couch together (duh- it's not a girls weekend without some kind of snuggling) and then poured into bed.
The next morning we drank coffee in the crisp weather on Alyssa's porch with the sun shining and the birds singing deciding where to go for brunch. The place we went to was all mason jar-y and cute and we ate outside and took a picture before Emily and I had to hit the road to be back at a decent time on a Sunday before a full work week. We hugged, and cried, and laughed, and then hugged and cried some more because it was such a nice weekend and no one wanted to leave. Alyssa suggested a different more scenic route home that was a wonderful choice, and Emily and I started the drive. (Emily is such a trooper btw. She drove that whole thing.)
When we got back, Tommy was there with Joe and they were working on some things for the house. Emily's parents were also there helping. We all checked out the new wood floors (OMG) and then got dinner at a place nearby that they liked. We ate it outside on their porch on a makeshift patio table and chatted with Emily's parents and about the trip. It was perfect. Tommy and I said goodbye around 8:00ish, and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep on the ride home, lol.
Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. I mean, though I had a lot to say about the weekend {See Above, ha} I really cannot put into words what it was really like. What's it's like to have such friends. What it's like to engage in some of the most meaningful conversation I ever have in life. What's it's like to truly have people in your life that you are yourself with. That's what this girl's weekend was. In a nutshell. A very big, very happy, loving and fervent nutshell.
Love your girls fiercely and always!
#54- Visit a friend in another state
Last month I went to visit my dear friend Alyssa in Minnesota! It all happened rather fast.
Emily and I were texting one day, and since I was on my commute home, and it takes me an entire episode of This American Life to get home, I figured I would call her instead
Calling people: it's a thing.
So we got to talking and catching up as old friends do, and it was rather nice! Later that night, Emily text me around 9:00 p.m. and said that Alyssa would be alone on her bday that weekend because her husband, a pilot, would be out of town flying. Emily said that she was going to take a road trip and head up to see Alyssa. Welllll, I didn't get that text until around 11:00 p.m. that night, and after some support from my husband in helping rearrange plans, I decided that I would go too! Emily and I have both been saying that we wanted to go see Alyssa and the house she just bought with her husband, and that visit was long overdue so it seemed perfect!
I slid out of bed, threw some stuff in a bag, and then went to bed. The next day was Friday, and I had to work, but shortly after dismissing the kiddos, I drove to Emily's new house to meet for our road trip :D
On a totally separate note, Emily and Joe are doing so much awesome work on their new house. When I stopped by to see it for a quick tour, they had just painted a beautiful gray, and were going to be getting the floor done that weekend! (I saw it in person and it's gorgeous!!)
Sooooooo I left my car in Emily's driveway, along with my wallet and ID....though I didn't know that until about half way through Wisconsin. smh.
It was a super pretty and easy ride! Mostly because of the company, but also because there was a ridic sunset as we were driving. It was so nice to chat about life, try new snacks, and have a throwback with my girl. And the best thing? That what was the whole weekend was like!!
When we got to Alyssa's house, it was pretty late at night, but we got a tour and stayed up and chatted, duh. We met her doggie, Maverick, and then got ready for bed.
The next morning Emily and Alyssa were already up (surprise, surprise) making coffee and setting out muffins. When I woke up, I got myself some coffee and we sat in all sat in the kitchen together. We chatted about the day's plans, and decided that we would go to Stillwater and walk around downtown because they have good antiquing, and good food! We got coffees at Caribou (miss that place!) and went for a beautiful drive to town.
 |
| {Mug that matches my soul} |
Then we strolled home to Alyssa's, chatted some more all snuggled on the couch together (duh- it's not a girls weekend without some kind of snuggling) and then poured into bed.
The next morning we drank coffee in the crisp weather on Alyssa's porch with the sun shining and the birds singing deciding where to go for brunch. The place we went to was all mason jar-y and cute and we ate outside and took a picture before Emily and I had to hit the road to be back at a decent time on a Sunday before a full work week. We hugged, and cried, and laughed, and then hugged and cried some more because it was such a nice weekend and no one wanted to leave. Alyssa suggested a different more scenic route home that was a wonderful choice, and Emily and I started the drive. (Emily is such a trooper btw. She drove that whole thing.)
 |
| {Morning coffee on Alyssa's porch- TAKE ME BACK!} |
 |
| {The drive home} |
Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. I mean, though I had a lot to say about the weekend {See Above, ha} I really cannot put into words what it was really like. What's it's like to have such friends. What it's like to engage in some of the most meaningful conversation I ever have in life. What's it's like to truly have people in your life that you are yourself with. That's what this girl's weekend was. In a nutshell. A very big, very happy, loving and fervent nutshell.
Love your girls fiercely and always!
Monday, December 21, 2015
#52 & #37 of 101 in 1001- Camping with Friends and Wine Tasting
This is part of my list of 101 things in 1001 days...Camping with friends and go on a wine tasting!
Of course, as we were loading the truck and the mini camper, it was pouring rain! After getting everything together, Tommy and I rode to the campsite in Joe's huge truck (huge) with their friend Kyle and their doggie May. When we got there, it was super dark, and we had to unload things by the light of the truck. Luckily, Emily's parents were there before us and set up tents for everyone to share. We were able to hang out around the fire, and then went to bed :)
For breakfasts on the trip, we had fire roasted pancakes, bagels and cream cheese, and like, scads of clementines. We also had snacks to munch on all day, and so.many.coolers.
On the trip, there was tons of room for activities. We went on multiple hikes, my favorite one being the day we got lost of course. We drove a ways to this beautiful place full of what Illinois basically calls mountains. They were tall cliff like rocks that were flat on top (for the most part) so you could climb them and take amazing insta-worthy profile pics, which is basically what we did. We are Millennials after all- if you don't have a picture of it on Facebook, it didn't happen so....
In June Tommy and I had a fun trip with friends! By now, you may have seen it on my Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat (I'm big into social media you guys) We all loaded into cars and took the loooong drive to southern IL to go camping! We went with the campy ringleaders (Emily and Joe) and some of their friends that we have met a few times through the years.
Of course, as we were loading the truck and the mini camper, it was pouring rain! After getting everything together, Tommy and I rode to the campsite in Joe's huge truck (huge) with their friend Kyle and their doggie May. When we got there, it was super dark, and we had to unload things by the light of the truck. Luckily, Emily's parents were there before us and set up tents for everyone to share. We were able to hang out around the fire, and then went to bed :)
For breakfasts on the trip, we had fire roasted pancakes, bagels and cream cheese, and like, scads of clementines. We also had snacks to munch on all day, and so.many.coolers.
On the trip, there was tons of room for activities. We went on multiple hikes, my favorite one being the day we got lost of course. We drove a ways to this beautiful place full of what Illinois basically calls mountains. They were tall cliff like rocks that were flat on top (for the most part) so you could climb them and take amazing insta-worthy profile pics, which is basically what we did. We are Millennials after all- if you don't have a picture of it on Facebook, it didn't happen so....
Some of them were easy to get to with a trail leading up to it. Others were not as easy and required some spidey like skillz. Most of those types of rocks I opted out of climbing, but I got some good pictures!
There's a person in there...
After the legit rock climbing adventure, we decided to eat our packed lunch, which was super fun and felt like middle school, and go for a walk on one of the designated trails in the park. I made Tommy and I wear sunscreen (obvi) and tried out my new Coola sunscreen! I have to say, it is totally my new favorite brand. It's super light, has great coverage, and since I bought the unscented spray, I didn't get a headache from the smell. That's pretty good for me guys!
I climbed it to the top!
We actually started to pick up the pace a little bit at this point because we didn't have a ton of light left in the day, and it felt darker under the cover of the trees. Also, we hadn't seen people in a while, and the trail started to become harder to follow. At one point, we crossed the river on slippery rocks, stepped over some huge fallen tree trunks, annoyed some bees that stung poor May puppy, and walked past a large snake that was partly covered in leaves but too close for comfort on the trail. It was then that I basically freaked the fuck out and we all decided to turn back on the trail.
Pictured: me sporting the "not showered" look, which I rocked most of the trip, lol.
After the legit rock climbing adventure, we decided to eat our packed lunch, which was super fun and felt like middle school, and go for a walk on one of the designated trails in the park. I made Tommy and I wear sunscreen (obvi) and tried out my new Coola sunscreen! I have to say, it is totally my new favorite brand. It's super light, has great coverage, and since I bought the unscented spray, I didn't get a headache from the smell. That's pretty good for me guys!
Okay, back to the walk. We found this trail not too far from our car, and thought we would take the 3 mile route. It looked like nice and flattened, and we even saw some people on their way out as we started. Then it began to get muddy... had more and more trees...and got confusing because there were other trails that jutted out from the main one we were on and not always maps to tell you about the other route.
As we got deeper and deeper into the forest, we saw a ton of cool stuff! There were huge flat rocks, and slopes with a beautiful winding river below. We took some time to explore, and kept walking further down the path.
The next five pictures are actually a different day of hiking, but they give you the idea of what we saw on the trail....also, keep reading, but I was a bit too scared to be whipping out my phone to take pictures....
We actually started to pick up the pace a little bit at this point because we didn't have a ton of light left in the day, and it felt darker under the cover of the trees. Also, we hadn't seen people in a while, and the trail started to become harder to follow. At one point, we crossed the river on slippery rocks, stepped over some huge fallen tree trunks, annoyed some bees that stung poor May puppy, and walked past a large snake that was partly covered in leaves but too close for comfort on the trail. It was then that I basically freaked the fuck out and we all decided to turn back on the trail.
We walked pretty fast- like more than a stroll, but less than a jog. Powerwalk? Sure. We powerwalked the entire way back, including the arm swing (mostly on my part though...lol)
And we made it back to the parking lot before it started to get dark, but MAN was I tired! Like, I've run three half marathons, but I can do a two mile POWERWALK hike in the woods. lol
All in all it was a fun hike. I made sure to get a sweaty AF picture after we got back to the car because memories. Here it is, don't we look adorable?
Most of the camping trip was hanging out, playing cards and bags, drinking, and lounging in the youtubed hammock near the fire. Everyone else decided to go kayaking, and Tommy and I hung back and laid in the hammock and read/took naps. It was so nice!
A whole other day we decided to go wine tasting at Blue Sky Winery near the camping grounds! There are a bunch of wineries down there I guess, who knew? We tried a few different kinds of wine, sat on the patio outside, snacked, and enjoyed the beautiful day. We also went on a short self guided illegal walking tour of the vineyard, and even tried some grapes (which I don't recommend- they were too hard and tasted gross, lol) I took a bottle home with me to save for a special occasion in the future
The trip was basically everything a camping trip should be: little to no showering, campfire smores, bonding, and hiking with friends. Oh, and spiders. And sore backs from too many nights of sleeping on the hard ground. And being so, so, hot because it's summer in IL.
YAY! Can't wait for next year!
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