My Quiet Weekends at Home Lately

My word for 2020 was less and the joke was on me because…2020 has been a lot less of normal!  I’ve been trying to enjoy my quiet weekends at home and wanted to share three things I’ve been loving during my weekends at home.

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Featured | My Quiet Weekends at Home Lately:

My Quiet Weekends at Home Lately | Snacking

My friend Azanique has been sharing her charcuterie boards and they always look SO good.  If you’re looking for advice on how to put one together, check out her IGTV here for tips.  Last weekend, I was excited when I saw that some of my grape tomatoes were ripe and I created a grazing board around that.

RELATED: How to Make the Best Charcuterie Board

Here’s what I used to put together this board:

• Effie’s Homemade Oatcakes // a biscuit made of corn flour and a hint of anise
• Blueberry Vanilla Goat Cheese // In the past I haven’t been a big goat cheese fan, but I decided to try this blueberry vanilla one and I loved it! It’s a great mix of sweet and salty.
• Cello Cheese // I picked up a huge value pack of these sliced snack cheeses from Costco.
• Pretzel Crisps // A little bit of the goat cheese and pepperoni on these is GOOD.
• Almondina Crackers // Not my personal favorite but my mom loves these!
• Sliced Pepperoni // An easy addition.
• Fig Spread // One of my -favorite- things to put on my cheese boards! This is delicious combined with different cheeses and crackers.

My Quiet Weekends at Home Lately | Reading

One of the “glass half full” things about being at home has been that I’m making lots of progress with my  Goodreads reading challenge.  My goal for the year is to read 45 books, although I’d love to stretch to reach 52 to make a clean one book a week.  Here’s what I’ve read lately:

• We Too Sing America by Deepa Iyer // This was the most recent book I finished and it had so many gems that really made me think.  I definitely read more fiction than nonfiction, but really enjoyed this.  4.5 of 5 stars!
• Asher Black by Parker Huntington // 3 out of 5. I’m not planning on reading the rest of this series which for me is a pretty strong indicator. The book wasn’t horrible but wasn’t good either.
• Kiwi Strong by Rosalind James // I’ve read most of this series and love these sports romance books. The series is based in New Zealand and is about rugby players {disclaimer: I know nothing about rugby so don’t ask me if it’s painstakingly accurate.} 4.5 out of 5!

RELATED: How to Stay Connected During Social Distancing

• Roman by Samantha Whiskey // Another series that I love! Samantha Whiskey has a hockey romance series that I’ve devoured the past few years. This is the second book in a new spinoff series. TW: This specific book does talk about domestic abuse. 3.5 out of 5
• The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory // Two of my pals, Lindsay and Tomi, have recommended this book & I was able to pick it up from my local library via curbside pickup a couple weeks ago. 4 out of 5 & have already requested the rest of the series.
• The Change Up by Meghan Quinn // A best friends to dating romance with some baseball thrown in, this book was a 4 out of 5 for me.  Looking forward to reading more of Meghan’s books.

My Quiet Weekends at Home Lately | A Good Playlist

I know a lot of people love Spotify but I’ve been using Apple Music for at least a year now and love the convenience.  One of the things I love are the curated for you playlists that update weekly but there’s a few other playlists I’ve been listening to lately:

• One Hit Wonders
• Hip-Hop/R&B Hits: 2009
• 90’s Hip Hop Don’t Stop