Book Club

Sunday night was the beginning of a fabulous new book club. When aren't books or clubs fabulous? Never. Since moving to Memphis it has been difficult to find a group of gal pals to be friends with. Upon evaluation, most of our friends in Memphis are either above 65 or below 13.  I felt like it was time, after 5 years in town, to grow a group of friends.  So...I invited 8 young women that I know through various arenas and that are in my approximate age group (22-32) to come. I don't know any of them very well, nor did they know one another.  It was a chance to bring various opinions and perspectives to the table. On Sunday night 6 of us gathered and discussed what a scallywag Ernest Hemingway was. I don't believe there is really any ever debate over this factoid. The premier book- The Paris Wife, A New York Times Bestseller about the life of Hadley Hemingway. A must read. Within our group we have a banker, a teacher, a speech therapist, a realtor, an artist/interior designer, a social worker, ME (whatever, I am), and a university senior. Many opinions, many perspectives, many big voices came to the table. 

And on the table was...

My Kate Spade wedding china. 

I haven't used my wedding dishes for quite some time. 

It was fun to have a reason to get them out.

A touch of Kate Spade and Jonathan Adler

Not French, but definitely stylish. 

Just before the gals arrived, I had a quite moment to sit down and have a sip of wine. 

I was so very, very excited. 

Dinner Menu: 

Wine...duh

Mesculine green salad with cherry tomatoes, champagne dressing

Mushroom and shrimp risotto (Balthazar NYC recipe)

French tea cakes for dessert

Within our group we have an upcoming wedding and in the spring will have a baby amongst us. 

Many things to plan with and around, but our next selected book is "The Help". We do live in Memphis for Pete's sake. Jackson is just down the road. 

summer reading - growing vignette

I wouldn't call my summer reading pile "academic" by any means.  But I would call it fun.  After reading seminary books for 3 years I'm needing something a little less complicated and something way more funny!

On Thursday on my way home from work, I stopped off at Burke's Books in Cooper Young.  They have a fabulous $1.00 section.  Yes, that's right $1.00.  At that price, I wish they were peddling more than books.  I went in the store with the intention to pick up The Paris Wife which is a little less fluffy and left with (as the cashier guy said) "a big pile of pink books".

My stack of "pink books" is starting to grow into a little more than a summer reading list.  It's starting to look like it's own vignette in my living room. 

Some of these books I've just purchased, or I've had, or I've read before and decided that they were interesting enough to read again. 

I bought the Starbucks book a few weeks ago because I'm wildly fascinated with the fact that this country has totally embraced the idea that they should buy a $5 cup of coffee each and every day.  

I include myself in this statement. I don't buy one everyday, but I do throw down probably $20 per week.  And now, I've paid $25.00 to read their book.  What's the world coming to? 

The Devil Wears Prada and the Starter Wife are shows I could watch again and again. There's no guns, nobody is bleeding...they're little light shows as my Mama calls them.  And as Weiser said in Steel Magnolias, "You know if it's any good they're going to make a mini series out of it." True story.  

Moving on.

I don't know what to say about my Lauren Conrad book other than the girl has made a career for herself. She's my age and by golly I'm bound and determined to pick something up from what she's putting down. There's got to be some lead to pick up from her success, right? (I'm grumbling as I'm typing because I'm also trying to convince myself of this.)

The Savvy Chic book I bought on sale at Anthropologie quite a while ago. (Are you laughing at the irony?) I've been thumbing through it for a few months (yes it has been that long) and I'm going to read this puppy. It wasn't a $1.00 but it also wasn't free. 

Both Savvy Chic and LC's book are on fashion.  If you think you're to good to read a book on fashion, it probably means you should read about 30 books on fashion!  Again, a true story.  Take example from Andy in The Devil Wears Prada. Live it - Learn it! 

I've never heard of May Kay Andrews but her book looks great.  It's about a gal who's fixing up a house. I read the title and it fit with my other pink books so I decided that it sounded good to me.  

So with a vignette full of books, the summer reading process begins.  

That is...If I can stop reading blogs long enough to do it!