Every summer I find myself at the library, checking out more books than I know what to do with. My graduate program at Hollins consisted of an intensive three months during the summer (then online throughout the regular school year), so from June through August I was always reading a ton and spending a lot of time between classes at the library on campus. I'm a big fan of fall and that new semester feeling, but there's just something so magical to me about a big stack of books in the summer.

Here's what I've got on my list this year:

• The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri: We're reading this for my book club this month. The library actually didn't have any hard copies available so I'm listening to the audiobook, which I never really do. I like it a lot and I'm actually enjoying listening to it in the car a little at a time.
• Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson: Next month's book club pick--I want to get a jump start on it (especially since I have the other one on CD) because I have a really bad habit of waiting until it's too late to start and then I have to speed read the books before we get together, even though I always really enjoy the stories.
• Encyclical on Climate Change and Inequality: On Care for Our Common Home by Pope Francis: I saw this in a bookstore the other day and was so intrigued by it. I haven't really identified as Catholic for a long time but I do quite enjoy Pope Francis. 
• Theft by Finding by David Sedaris: I'm a huge Sedaris fan. I've been to two or three of his readings and my favorite part was always when he read excerpts from his diaries, so a whole book sounds like a dream come true.
• Great with Child: Letters to a Young Mother by Beth Ann Fennelly: I haven't read any pregnancy or parenting books yet but this one was recommended to me by an Instagram friend whom I really respect and am excited to start here.
• A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin: It's no secret that I'm obsessed with Game of Thrones. I've been meaning to read the books and since Rob and I just started re-watching from the beginning, now is as good a time as any to pick up the first book (especially since the series will be over for good so soon!)

What's on your summer reading list?

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My favorite thing to do in the kitchen lately is cook fruit down in a pot with a tiny bit of sugar or honey--it makes for the most delicious little treat and I can do all kinds of stuff with it. The other day we brought some peaches home from the grocery store, but they weren't very ripe, so I thought they would be perfect cooked--putting them over heat just really brings out the natural sweetness of the fruit. I love it on everything, but especially some creamy yogurt.

Ingredients: 

• About a cup of sliced or diced peaches
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons water

Instructions: 

1. Over medium-low heat, stir peaches together with sugar and water. Bring to a low simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until peaches are broken down and soft. Allow to cool and serve with whatever!

I've been incorporating more and more dairy into my diet over the past few months, so I was really excited with noosa recently sent me a bunch of their yoghurt in different flavors to try, and I have really enjoyed having them for breakfast, as a snack, or really any time throughout the day. Rob and I even enjoyed the coconut flavor for dessert the other night (we topped it with chocolate chips because YOLO).

It's delicious not only with chocolate chips but mostly on its own, although we've also been topping it with granola or my sweet sautéed peaches. noosa is the perfect combination of sweet and tart, plus it's made in small batches with all-natural whole milk and fresh fruit purees. So delicious. I think it's going to be my go-to summer snack all season long!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

I promise not to make this blog entirely about my pregnancy, but I've really enjoyed reading a few posts from other bloggers about theirs, so I hope you'll indulge me as I share a few details about my first trimester! I'm almost 19 weeks now but started taking notes as soon as I began feeling changes in my body--I want to be able to look back on this time and remember it well!

Cravings:

• lemon La Croix

• green juice

• acai bowls

• yogurt, especially lemon or peach

• Chinese food of any kind

• everything bagels with lots of cream cheese

• chicken tenders or nuggets

I was mostly excited about my cravings at first because for a few weeks, they were pretty healthy: fresh fruit, lots of sparkling water, green juice, and smoothies. This was in March and the weather was getting really nice and I thought it would be so easy to eat really well throughout my whole pregnancy.

Then week 8 hit me and I started getting super nauseated--all I wanted/could stomach was carbs. Noodles, toast, crackers, rice--you name it, I wanted it. Rob made hot dogs on the grill one night (one of my favorite dinners) and I couldn't even be near them. That evening I had Cheetos, an orange, and ginger ale for dinner. Luckily I wasn't actually throwing up (yet) so I could usually drink some soda and have a few crackers and it would subside enough for me to continue with my day as planned.

Symptoms:

• so sleepy--I took a nap every day at 2PM whether I wanted to or not

• my boobs grew immediately and really hurt (this was the first thing I noticed and the thing that made me wonder if I was pregnant in the first place--it was probably only at 4-5 weeks.)

• I think I peed every 25 minutes for several weeks

• had some cramps that freaked me out at first but then read were normal at the beginning

• started feeling nauseated around week 8

Exercise:

• I was still going to barre 4-5 days a week, and tried to incorporate Platform (Pure Barre's extremely difficult version of a cardio class) once a week. My nausea was really intermittent at first, which was great because I was able to work out regularly for a really long time, and I found that even if I did feel nauseated before class, once I started moving I would feel a lot better. I even went to Pure Barre teacher training in Colorado during week 9 and felt pretty good!

• Ender and I walk at least a half hour almost every day, so even if I don't get to the studio for a workout we're at least getting up and doing some exercise very regularly.

Things I Thought I Would Miss But Didn't:

• Caffeine: I knew I would miss coffee but I thought switching to decaf wouldn't be satisfying. Turns out I don't need caffeine as much as I thought I did and really just like the flavor and ritual (although let's face it, decaf doesn't taste as good as regular). I was also doing some tea, and after a few weeks the smell of hot coffee really grossed me out so some chai or Earl Grey in the morning was exactly what I wanted.

• Poke Bowls: I surprisingly haven't been eating much sushi since we moved to California, but I did have an almost-weekly poke bowl habit. Lucky for me, the thought of raw fish those first twelve weeks didn't sound appetizing at all and I didn't miss it one bit. (Ask me about it again now though, I dream about them daily!)

Things I Didn't Think I'd Miss But Did:

• Lunchmeat: Deli turkey is kind of my go-to lunch and snack thing, and I didn't realize how much I loved it until I couldn't have it anymore. I love it in a lettuce wrap, on a rice cake with a bit of mayo, even just on its own. You can heat up deli meat to a certain point and then it's safe to eat during pregnancy, but since I don't really eat bread, a hot turkey sandwich just didn't sound good (and sort of defeats the purpose of a lettuce wrap or open-faced rice cake sandwich to me). I keep saying that all I want is a cold deli turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and mayo and Rob laughs at me, saying I'm going to overhype it and be disappointed when I finally get it; it's become such a thing that now my brother jokes that he's going to order me something from Jimmy John's and have it delivered at the hospital as soon as we let him know I'm in labor. (He better not forget.)

Weirdest Thing I've Eaten So Far: a frozen Indian dinner from Trader Joe's...for breakfast.

Silliest Thing I Googled: "Can you go trampolining while pregnant?" 

Feelings: 

• Wanting to tell people but also wanting to wait. We felt like it was too soon, but when we went to Charlotte in April I was 8 weeks and we didn't want to miss the opportunity to tell some of our friends in person.

• Not actually feeling pregnant and wondering if it was all a misunderstanding.

• Feeling guilty because it happened very easily for us and we have so many friends who have struggled to get pregnant.

• Being excited but also scared because we're on the opposite side of the country from my mom and friends. I would love to be in Charlotte for this.

• I was cautiously optimistic at 4 weeks when I found out, then got really excited for a few weeks, and then at 7 weeks I felt this completely overwhelmed sense of "holy shit, now what?"

• This cosmic sense of returning or "meant to be" because I was also born here in the Bay Area.

Other Stuff:

• My friend Shawna sent me a Bump Box (it's like Birch Box but with pregnancy stuff) and it was so sweet of her. There were these little hard candies called Preggie Pop Drops and they helped so much with nausea. It was such a nice gift and I would totally send it to a pregnant friend.

That's all for now! Let me know if you have any questions! Looking forward to sharing a few more posts like this with you in the future, and I'd love to hear from you if you've had similar (or different!) experiences.