Five on Friday - April 15, 2022 ~ Southern Italy Books, 10 Year Anniversary, Jurassic Quest, Sushi Boat Night, and Blurb Books!

Happy Five on Friday - I hope you all had a great week! I'm happy to have a long weekend and we are on our way to the cabin for a relaxing family weekend and I'm so excited! 

ONE 

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Alright, I don't plan out my reading much at all, but each month I try and stick to a little bit of a reading "theme". So, if you don't know yet, my Italy trip that was cancelled two years ago is actually going ahead on May and I'm getting so excited, so I thought I'd round up a few books set in Southern Italy that I could get reading to get me excited for my trip! 

Here's a few books set in Italy I'm planning on reading soon:

• Love Your Life by Sophia Kinsella ~ Based on the original hardcover, I had no idea this was set in Italy, but I'm loving the cover of the paperback and am excited to read this one! Following a breakup, or main character goes on a trip to Italy and finds herself in a whirlwind romance, but as they return to London things get a little harder - can they make things work? I'm excited for this one! 
• Meeting in Positano by Goliarda Sapienza ~ This is a translated work, so I think it was originally written in Italian and loosely based on our author/actress's life. Set in Positano (a town on the Amalfi Coast that I'm staying in!) our main character meets a friend - this is set in the 50's and focuses on 30 years of friendship! I think this sounds lovely! 
• Our Italian Summer by Jennifer Probst ~ This is set around three generations of a family healing and coming together set on a trip to Italy. The daughter is getting in trouble, the mother feels disconnected and both want to please the grandmother! I think this sounds lovely! 
• The Worst Kind of Want by Liska Jacobs ~ Okay, this sounds a little darker and sexier than the others - it's all about the "dark exploration of the inherent dangers of being a woman". Our main character is whisked away to Rome to help watch her "wayward" niece, but instead gets drawn in to her darker lifestyle and goes on a bit a tailspin in to a partying world. This sounds so interesting! 
• Summer in the Islands by Matthew Fort ~ This one is a true story and an account from the author as he travels around Italy via Vespa - this account is actually him island hopping to all the Italian islands. I wish we were doing a little more island adventures while we are there, but we can't fit it in, so I will live vicariously through this account! 

I also have been eyeballing One Italian Summer that was a new release about a girl who goes on a trip to Italy after her mom passes and ends up back in time and meets and befriends her Mother - it sounds lovely. Also, I've read Sex and Vanity, and it is set on Capri if you're interested in a bougie setting! 

TWO 

Mitch and I celebrated 10 years together this week - on Tuesday (not married, but together) and I think 10 years is a big deal! We celebrated with a dinner out to one of our favourite restaurants, Karma, and found an amazing vegetarian alternative to Butter Chicken - Malai Kofta and I cannot wait to try and make it at home! So good! 

THREE 

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This past weekend we went to check out Jurassic Quest when it was in Calgary and I have some mixed thoughts! We loved the big dinosaurs and the exhibit at the start, but then we had to wait over an hour for one 30 second ride on a dinosaur (this was after we spent over $50 for the little boys to have "unlimited" rides - I feel like they oversold, didn't plan tickets). The boys enjoyed the raptor show and jumped and the bouncy castles, but for 3 people to go for $130, it didn't quite feel worth it. Again, boys had fun so not a regret, I might not rush to go back next year.

FOUR 

 

I thought that after the Jurassic Quest afternoon, the boys would like a sushi night - we loved the restaurant with the bullet train for sushi, so I knew a sushi boat would be a blast (and it was a hit!) Elliott and Damian both went to town on the boat, but everyone enjoyed the picks and it was the perfect end to a day out for us! 

FIVE 

One of my goals this year was to focus on scrapbooking a little more, so I finally finished the huge year of 2015 and ordered the full year book, plus a honeymoon and wedding album. If you guys are interested in ordering photobooks, Blurb is my favourite - I've been using them for years and the quality is fantastic! If you want $30 off a book over $70, you can use this referral link here: https://www.talkable.com/x/yR8b1x

I hope you all have a great weekend and Happy Easter!