Category: Musings

Update: Hurricane Douglas Watch

Yolanda @ Past Midnight7 Comments

Aloha friends!

So our islands are under a hurricane watch – we have them almost every year so I think everyone on the island is usually prepared with the supplies. It makes it more challenging this year because of COVID. Speaking of the virus, during lockdown in March-May we got our numbers flattened. I mean we got it seriously flatlined. As we opened up late May and into June, numbers started to rise, but this week…it’s been the highest daily cases. 50-70+ cases the past 3 days. And school is supposed to reopen in one week. They are rethinking doing that and as a parent, I don’t feel safe for the staff (teachers, etc…), and now I don’t feel safe to send my child even though it was only for 2 days a week.

I feel like the hurricane, covid numbers rising and school reopening has been a triple whammy – talk about anxiety. But I know I can’t control a hurricane, and I can’t control the virus. I do know I can make my family and I prepared for a hurricane and prepared to prevent catching the virus as best we can. 🤷🏻‍♀️

To relieve my anxiety I’ve been crafting – if you want to check out the 40% off sale I have on my Etsy shop click this link: Fanciful Wish – unfortunately I’m only shipping in the USA right now. Making resin crafts has really given me an outlet to dealing with my anxiety.

Of course I read as much as I can – do any of you find yourselves not able to read when your anxiety is high? I actually have to be in a certain mood to read these days. I have a TBR list that’s growing!

Cooking? I was not making bread during lockdown like everyone else because hello…there was no yeast to be found, anywhere!! Haha…I have learned to make more veggie dishes for myself though so that’s a win.

Music – because I craft a lot, I listen to music constantly and my playlists have consisted of:

  • BLACKPINK: because for some reason when I’m making kawaii resin items, it gets me in the mood for colorful things haha! It’s the only kpop I listen to.
  • Chromatica – Lady Gaga: because her music is so upbeat and energetic! And I was doing spaceship/alien themed resin pieces (like the photo above) and it just worked.
  • Hamilton Soundtrack – after watching Hamilton on Disney+….the soundtrack was on repeat for days in my house. I especially love when Eliza and Angelica sing, UGH…so good! Anyway, it was like listening to an audiobook that I could follow because it was music. I don’t follow audiobooks AT ALL. But the Hamilton Soundtrack works for me.
  • Folklore by Taylor Swift – just recently released and the story lover in me is obsessed with the song Exile and My Tears Ricochet! All her songs remind me of young adult contemporary novels and it’s such a more relaxed vibe than her usual pop songs that it’s perfect for when I’m crafting.

And when I need to watch something I turn on Netflix! This is what I watched this week while blogging or crafting:

  • Cursed – I borrowed the book and never had a chance to read it so yay for it being on Netflix! I wish they would make every ya book into a tv show or movie haha because visually, they all look amazing. Now Cursed…is violent, I didn’t realize how bloody it would be! So far I think it was pretty good, some parts I wanted it to hurry along but it makes me want to watch season 2.
  • Indian Matchmaker – because I’m always curious how different cultures see marriage and dating! This was fascinating.
  • Kissing Booth 2 – Kissing Booth the first movie was okay but I think I like this second one better because another hot guy is added to the cast! Just kidding! I didn’t think much of “Noah” in the first movie, but honestly after watching the same actor in HBO’s Euphoria, I became a fan. Anyway, it let me escape the real world for an hour or so which is what I need these days.

That’s my update and yes, typing this out is always helping me not think of the hurricane that is 24 hours away from “hitting” us. The waiting sucks haha so just gotta stay positive and busy.

Can you recommend any other Netflix shows for me to watch? Stay safe out there everyone!

Last Day Of May…and Here We Are

Yolanda @ Past Midnight1 Comment

I haven’t been able to read books the last few days. We still get covid positives here in Hawaii but it’s been under 5 cases each day, some days with 0. I think we’ve had 650+ positives overall and almost 90% have recovered, with 17 deaths. But things are getting under way now and more restrictions are being lifted, and then I saw George Floyd murdered on my social media feed. I felt – Sick. Anger. Grief. Pain…I couldn’t understand how that policeman could stare at the person taking video of the whole incident and not flinch.

The last few days I’ve been watching the protests and the riots taking place all over the USA and now even in some places around the world. Jobs are gone, there are people trying to survive out there, there are people pent up with staying indoors, there are people dying from a contagious virus (100,000+ deaths in the USA alone 😢) – we need leadership and there is none. Black Lives Matter. I’ve been talking to my son about what is happening, I’m posting on social media and donating to organizations. We need change, we need hope that things will change.

I’m sure I’ll post my May wrap up sometime in June. I can’t believe pre-covid we had plans to be on a Disney Cruise this week! 2020 really has been a crazy, emotional rollercoaster year so far. It’s been a year of grieving and pain. I’m scared to see what the rest of 2020 will bring…

Please stay safe out there. ❤️

WWW Wednesday | 3/25/20

Yolanda @ Past Midnight7 Comments

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

What are you currently reading?

I spied this title first on Bookishfirst but didn’t win a copy in the raffle. That’s okay because I found it on my online library. So far it’s a quick read and I’m enjoying it!

I’m also trying to make a dent on the Bookoutlet haul I got back in December! So I’m finally reading this book – I love cover!

What have you just finished reading?

Ehhh – it was okay, more for Grey lovers (whom I really did love in book one!)…but this one didn’t hold my attention like book one.

What are you going to read next?

I have this one up next on my NetGalley to read and review, so I better get to it. A little space opera, if I can get in the mood for it.

Updates:

How is everyone doing? I hope you all are finding ways to cope with the worrisome news that is bombarding us daily. I read, I craft, I play Just Dance 2020 edition with my son so we can dance and laugh our worries away.

Speaking of my son…he is officially off from school until April 30th – SO that means homeschooling and look even before COVID-19 I knew I’d never make a good teacher. HAHA, I have only so much patience and ugh does he test me like how he doesn’t test his teacher. He’s an angel in school…at home, it’s a way different matter. He is in first grade and is learning parts of a whole, reading a clock and among other things for math. So I thought, okay I need to make breakfast this week so we shall turning home economics (baking) – into a study session.

We researched our ingredients like salt, sugar, cinnamon and learned some history about it. I explained measuring cups and spoons…hahaha, and then we made cinnamon rolls from scratch with our ingredients. It turned out delicious. So I was happy to hear from his teacher today that we get to pick up their distance learning packets on Saturday. Hooray!

Now my littlest one, she’s three and because I’m a stay at home mom, we always got up early to drop her brother off to school then ran errands to Target, or the grocery store. Hawaii is officially on a “lockdown” yet essential activities are still allowed like grocery shopping, even exercise (but practice social distancing). People who are essential workers go to work, my husband has been working from home this week, but they are taking turns so next week he will go to the office. Other than that we are at home, trying to stay healthy and safe.

To all of you – please take care of yourself and I wish you well.

Best Wishes! 😘

What I’m Reading | 3/15/20

Yolanda @ Past Midnight7 Comments

Hi everyone! It’s been a crazy few days filled with anxiety and honestly it’s motivated me to read again. I was in a slump for a bit but nope…now I just want to escape the doom and gloom for a little but each day, so I borrowed a few books.

FYI: I live in Hawaii – islands in the middle of the Pacific but part of the USA. Our K-12 schools have not shutdown but public school have started Spring Break this week. The main university here has moved to online instruction though. We shall see what else closes this week but our library was open last week still and I managed to borrow a few books. I also went back on my Overdrive account online and borrowed a few there. I’m also itching to buy some new releases on my kindle app, so I will try and narrow down which ones I really want to get.

But for now here is what I have:

Borrowed Books

Purchased:

I’m reading A Heart So Fierce and Broken at the moment – what are you reading right now?

I hope everyone stays well and safe. Sending love and light to you all!

Bookish Items | PastelrainCreations

Yolanda @ Past MidnightLeave a comment

Hi everyone! Pastelrain Creations is an account I follow on my bookstagram and I finally made a purchase on her Etsy shop. Bianca, the owner, has a good sale going on right now so definitely check her shop out!

She is based out of Canada, so I know there is a little wait with the shipping time, but it came right on time! It took only less than two weeks. Yay! 😍

The thought that went into the packaging (as a former Etsy shop owner myself) is so awesome. My packaging was not as pretty for my shop haha – I love how everything was so feminine and cute, all the way down to the thank you note!

Most of these I am gifting to friends and family that read a lot but I kept the pineapple cord bookmark for myself because I’m an island girl, pineapples are my thing! This was my first purchase but certainly not my last.

Monthly Wrap Up | December 2019

Yolanda @ Past Midnight4 Comments

Wrapping up December – I can hardly believe it! Well…what can I say about my blogging? I started my blog at the end of March 2019, and I read a whole lot of books to help build this blog. November and December kind of got me into a slump. Well not a slump, per say, but I felt like my health just went down hill in these last two months, with the flu really kicking my butt in the beginning of December. I’m still trying to get back to pre flu energy levels.

I didn’t read a lot and some of the books I did read are arcs being published in 2020. I’m including them in this list, just because. So here is what I read in December:

I will say I was more in a contemporary genre reading mood than fantasy. Trying to get back into the fantasy mode, since I have a few NetGalley arcs I need to finish up.

I hope all of you had a good reading month! And let’s hope for some good releases in 2020. 🎊

Goodbye 2019, Hello 2020!

Yolanda @ Past Midnight4 Comments

Aloha everyone! It’s not just the end of a year, it’s the end of a decade. 😲

When I think about all the big things that happened in a decade this is what I came up with:

  1. I got engaged and remarried.
  2. Went to Europe on my honeymoon.
  3. Bought a house, twice.
  4. Had 2 kids.
  5. I had my own Etsy shop for 5 years making hand-stamped metal jewelry.
  6. Started a book review blog.

I definitely tried to do a lot in 10 years for sure! For 2020, I’m looking forward to taking my first trip off this island since giving birth to my son almost 8 years ago. We are doing a big family trip (with parents, sister and her fam) – we are going on a Disney Alaska Cruise. It will be my first cruise and honestly, the first time I am traveling with my two kids. We shall see how that goes, but I’m excited!

As for reading books and blogging – the blog will still be here but I won’t be reading 200 books in one year like I did for 2019. It was overkill for me and started becoming like a chore back in November. I’m much happier reading my usual 60-70 books a year, so I will pace myself accordingly. I want to have a nice balance of NetGalley arcs to read and library books so I control my book spending. I have no more room on my shelves. 😔

And for other hobby news – I miss crafting. I miss my Etsy shop, it’s been closed because when my daughter was a baby it was a lot for me to juggle, so I closed it temporarily. But I think I’ll be opening it up again in 2020. My gift to myself this Christmas was a Cricut Explore Air 2 – it’s a cutting machine. I used to hand stamp metal keychains and other accessories, but now with the Cricut I’ve been playing with acrylic keychains with adhesive vinyl stickers/decals and glitter. Lots of glitter…and glue. 😂 I’m in love with it. Here’s a few starter projects I made:

I’m still learning how to design and weed the vinyl stickers. I’m testing out different fonts that work better with cutting certain words and phrases. It’s so different from hand stamping, where I just picked up a stamp, centered it and banged it with a hammer. I like how with the Cricut I can design the phrase in one go and I can add color with the different types of adhesive vinyl available to me. Hand stamping is basically metal and black ink but it has it’s charm too.

I miss hand stamping because I loved pounding with the hammer. 😆 It was a stress reliever I think, but the pounding can wear on your joints. One time I had an order of 300+ metal tags! I was pregnant at the time doing it and I remember my wrists hurt so much after that week. With the Cricut, it does the cutting work, all I have to do is stick it on acrylic blanks. I love both mediums but for now with my daughter still not in kindergarten, I think the Cricut machine is the way to go. So I am excited! I’d love to add some bookish accessories to my Etsy shop. 😍

So these are my main things for 2020:

  • Disney Cruise Trip
  • Open Etsy shop again
  • Maintain book review blog

Of course it sounds simple and in between these main things are all my kids activities, holiday parties/events, birthdays, a few concerts and broadway shows (got tickets to Mariah Carey and Jersey Boys already haha) – basically life happens. 🤷🏻‍♀️

New Year’s Eve in Hawaii is a BIG thing. So many people light fireworks and as a kid, I loved it, but now that I’m older, my allergies cannot handle all the smoke the fireworks give up. It’s like the whole island is on fire that night. I’m staying in and going to wait until midnight when the whole island goes off with fireworks and watch through my window. How do you celebrate the New Year in your town, city, country?

I hope ALL of you have had an awesome decade, a good 2019 and let’s have an AMAZING 2020! Happy New Year everyone! 🎉🍾🎊 And as we say in Hawaii, Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

I Have the Flu 😒

Yolanda @ Past Midnight8 Comments

Has it really been five days since my last post? This is what happens when had nothing pre-written but it was a busy week and then bam, Friday morning I woke up with a low grade fever but I knew I felt off. I dropped my son off to school and went straight home because all I wanted to do was sleep. As my temperature rose I had a feeling I had the flu…because of course of all the times I forget getting a flu shot, it’s this year!

So my hubby had to rush home in time to pick up our son from school and hold the fort down while I stayed pretty much bedridden. Ugh…I had no energy to even read. The chills, body aches and headache was the worst! I slept for pretty much two days and then I went to urgent care just to confirm I had the flu and sure enough I do. They gave me Tamiflu and hey…that stuff works. I mean it makes me nauseous and I can only eat toast at this point…but my 103 fever is now down to 99 degrees, so…YAY. And I need to be okay, because my daughter caught the flu from me. 😢 My hubby did bring her right away to the doctor so now she’s on Tamiflu as well and yes…she did get her flu shot a few months ago, so it didn’t help her this time around. I do hope it makes her symptoms less severe than mine. I hate seeing her sick. 💔 I’m praying my son doesn’t get it…but most likely he will since he was hanging out with her all day. Unless his vaccine shot really comes through for him! I mean he screamed like a banshee getting it, maybe it will work! 🙏🏼

So I’m going to take it easy this week, take care of my baby girl and pray she gets better before Christmas. I’ll have a few posts here and there but probably not as much as usual. But know I’m still around! Take care of yourselves! 😘

Happy Thanksgiving | 11/28/19

Yolanda @ Past Midnight4 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers and bloggers who celebrate, and to all of you around the world as well even if it’s not a holiday you celebrate. I’m so grateful and thankful to all of you who have stopped by on my little space on the internet blogging about books. 🤷🏻‍♀️ The fact that you even take one minute to give me a like, follow me or even read what I write…seriously…I am thankful and it means a lot to me. THANK YOU!!!

I had this whole Thanksgiving post written and of course, my hubby had to do something to the router right now or whatever and guess what…my post didn’t auto-save SO…I’m not even going to try and re-write it. 🙄

Just know, I appreciate all of you and I wish blessings upon you and your loved ones this holiday season.