Becoming a volunteer is something that is not only good for the people you're helping, but it’s good for you, too, especially if you want to change your routine up a little. When you choose to volunteer, you can pick many different sectors depending on your skills and preferences. Some will want to work with animals at a shelter, and others might like to help the homeless at a soup kitchen or perhaps work with children who need extra care. I find that volunteering at 5Ks and bike races that are basically fundraisers for organizations are really fun and thrilling for me. 

Whatever you choose, this is your chance to get out of your regular routine and do something different (because when you are volunteering, you never know what will happen next) and help others at the same time.



Explore Your Area 

Going on vacation is a wonderful way to change up your routine, but it can be expensive and it’s time-consuming. Plus, it’s not the ideal thing to do during a pandemic since there are so many restrictions to think about. Something that can change your routine but cost you next to nothing and take much less time than a vacation is to explore your local area. You might think you already know the place you live well, but if you really look at it, you’ll find there are places you’ve never been to and areas you’ve never looked at.

Have you been to all the galleries and museums if you live in New York? Have you tried a bus rental to tour celebrity homes if you live in LA? If you live in a smaller place, have you eaten at all the restaurants and checked out all the stores? What about the public spaces? Make it your mission to find a new place every week, and your routine will definitely change. 

 

Start a Business 

 
Starting a business is not going to appeal to everyone, but if you are truly bored with your current routine and want to try something new, this can be a great option. Start it as a ‘side hustle’, and although it will be additional work (which has the benefit of preventing boredom), you won’t have to quit your current job either, at least not until your new business takes off. For example, I'm currently super into embroidering felt, so I've began selling (or trying to sell) custom bookmarks and embroidery items, just in time for the holidays. DM me on Instagram if you're interested!

When you run a business, there is nothing routine about it at all, and it’s a great way to stay busy and challenged at all times.

What do you find yourself doing in order to get out of a rut?

*I have been compensated for this post, however all opinions are my own.

Ingredients:
Small chopped yellow onion
Seeded and diced jalapeño (I used one, but you could use more per spice preference)
3 lbs chicken breast with all the funky pieces cut off
3 cloves of garlic, freshly minced
2 tsp Creole seasoning
½ tsp basil
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp onion powder
1 jar of mild salsa verde
2 cans white beans, rinsed & drained
32 oz chicken broth
1 regular block of cream

Directions:
Put all ingredients in a large crockpot in the order listed above.
Cook on low setting for 8 hours, or high for 4.
Transfer chicken to a cutting board and shred.
Use whisk to stir up everything in crockpot until cream cheese is melted. There may still be a few tiny specks of cream cheese and that’s okay.
Place chicken back into crockpot, stir up, and serve.
Top with shredded cheddar, sour cream, chopped jalapeños, etc. Or eat as-is.

That chicken chili is heavenly! I swear.


To stay cautious, I served everything with paper bowls and plastic spoons, plastic cups for drinks - that way I didn’t have to worry about dealing with folks mouths and germs on our everyday dishes. For toppings, I got squeezable sour cream, chopped jalapeños and shredded cheese went into tiny plastic ramekins with lids, and Fritos were put into snack-size zippered baggies. It wasn’t a super sustainable luncheon, but I feel it was done pretty safely. For most of the plastics, those were emptied and/or washed and recycled. What’s more is we stayed under 10 folks and all immediate family. It was a really enjoyable time.

I also really took precautions with cleaning before cooking, after everyone was finished eating, and after everyone left. Cleaning stone countertops has been interesting, simply for the fact that our counters are granite and so it’s tough to see any speckles or messes left over without getting at eye-level. But I make sure to wipe them thoroughly with disinfectant wipes and then I spray with an all-purpose cleaner (I’m loving Mrs. Meyer’s fall scents right now - particularly apple cider!) and wipe clean with paper towels or clean dishcloths. I don’t use sponges on surfaces just because of the bacteria they hold.

Other than the camouflaging of messes, I really love our countertops. I’ve only ever had those dreadful formica counters, so stone countertops are a dream. It wasn’t a non-negotiable when we were house shopping, but it was definitely high up on the “wants” list. I think if we’d bought a house with formica counters, I would’ve definitely looked into getting a new countertop surface. Luckily there are several places to choose from in the Atlanta-area. Click Countertops offers plenty of beautiful high-quality and affordable options. If you’re searching for granite or quartz countertops in Alpharetta, GA or the surrounding areas, they offer quick turnaround times and competitive pricing. I know for us, stone countertops have really made our space feel a bit fancier. We even have a breakfast bar with those same stone countertops, which is where I eat almost daily, and where my dad enjoyed his cup of chili.

Our birthday luncheon for my dad was a success. Hopefully if you’re planning some tiny family get-togethers this fall, these tips have been helpful for separating foods into smaller single-serving sizes. I definitely think having a couple immediate family members over for lunch was a much safer option than even considering dining out (which I absolutely refuse to do - you can’t wear a mask while you’re eating!). Either way, please do what makes you comfortable while being mindful of the safety and wellness of others. The holidays are going to be weird this year, but hopefully a small single-serving get-together will be just perfect.

Reviewing the book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe was one of the most challenging books to review and rate in a while. Fried Green Tomatoes is a classic - both book and film-wise. I picked up the book to finally read it in anticipation of Fannie Flagg's upcoming novel, The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop, which returns to the same small town of Whistle Stop, Alabama. I'd seen the Fried Green Tomatoes movie several times, but it's been years since I'd sat down and watched it all in one sitting, so it was nice to not have the movie fresh in my mind when diving into the reading experience. But I did watch the movie right after reading the book, and they are truly two entirely different experiences.


Late 1980s. Evelyn Couch meets old Mrs. Ninny Threadgoode in a nursing home in Birmingham, where Ninny is a resident and Evelyn is tagging along with her husband to visit his mother. During those long visitation days, Evelyn makes nice with Ninny as the older woman shares stories from her past. Evelyn, an empty nester and trying to rediscover herself, is all ears. Ninny's stories rage from the the 1920s and beyond, mostly focusing on the 1920s and 30s, when Ruth Jamison and Idgie Threadgoode opened a small-town diner in an even smaller town, and brought the community together in ways no one may have thought possible. 


First and foremost, Fried Green Tomatoes is a lesbian love story. It's progressive and before its time in terms of sexuality and gender expression. While Idgie is referred to as "she" throughout the book, she dresses very masculine and at one point even participates in an "all-male" theatre production. So reading a love story about two women in the 1920s and 30s, where everyone in a tiny town in Alabama is a wonderfully hopeful book. It's heartwarming and provided this deep sense of contentment and joy.

While the movie is fantastic, a total classic, and boasts an incredible fanbase, it lacks in so many ways compared to the book. I mean, I get it. The movie is already almost two and a half hours and there's only so much you can do with limited time. But the book isn't just about Evelyn and Ninny, or Ruth and Idgie. It's also about the entire Peavy family. There are entire chapters of the book entirely dedicated to the Black family of the story. It's not just Sipsey and her son Big George. It's George's children, too. But with all this comes a lot of problematic racism. Yes, the book is set mostly in the 1920s and 30s in the South, so without the racism would it be realistic? Yet again, it's the 1920s and 30s in the South, and people are so accepting of homosexuality, which doesn't quite fall in line with how the South functioned during those times (or even now). So why can we have acceptance in White, gay love, but not in Black existence? This is where my rating dropped and reviewing becomes difficult.

The book is incredibly well written and made me so happy at times, but then the racism would creep in and ruin it. And it wasn't just blatant KKK and the n-word racism. There was also deeply engrained racism and microaggressions like colorism. Of two of the Peavy children, one is much darker in skin tone and another is much lighter. The darker child is constantly described as being more violent and angry. Then there's the case of Sipsey and George's sole purposes being to serve the white folks. It was heartbreaking for me to see that racism in an otherwise lovely story.






Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is classic for a reason. It's a feminist love story at its very core, but it also carries some of the not so complimentary traits of many classics, like racism. I would've loved to have seen the progressiveness shown in Ruth and Idgie's case to have covered other areas as well.  I'm hoping to see some changes in the upcoming novel, so keep an eye out for that review. But overall, it was actually a really wonderful story and I can see why it's a classic. And while the movie version is incredible, I would encourage all fans to read the book as well, because there is just so much more to the story.



Goodreads rating: ★★★★☆

When I came across Florida Man on Netgalley, I requested it immediately. Not only did the title completely interest me, but I also noticed it was by Tom Cooper, the author of The Marauders - a book I read several years ago when I was just getting into reading again, and thoroughly enjoyed. I was convinced I would love this one too. So I either had a completely different mindset when I read The Marauders, or Cooper's writing in this book completely changed. Florida Man was so all over the place, I couldn't even write my own synopsis because I had no clue what the point or description of the book was.


Brief synopsis pulled from Amazon: Florida, circa 1980. Reed Crowe, the eponymous Florida Man, is a middle-aged beach bum, beleaguered and disenfranchised, living on ill-gotten gains deep in the jungly heart of Florida. When sinkholes start opening on Emerald Island, not only are Reed Crowe's seedy businesses—a moribund motel and a shabby amusement park—endangered, but so are his secrets. Crowe, amateur spelunker, begins uncovering artifacts that change his understanding of the island’s history, as well as his understanding of his family’s birthright as pioneering homesteaders. Meanwhile, there are other Florida men with whom Crowe must contend. Hector “Catface” Morales, a Cuban refugee, trained assassin, and crack-addicted Marielito, is seeking revenge on Reed for stealing his stash of drugs and leaving him for dead (unbeknownst to Reed) in the wreckage of a plane crash in the Everglades decades ago. Loner and misanthrope Henry Yahchilane, a Seminole native, has something to hide on the island. So does irascible and pervy Wayne Wade, Reed Crowe’s childhood friend turned bad penny. Then there are the Florida women, including Heidi Karavas, Reed Crowe’s ex-wife, now a globe-trekking art curator, and Nina Arango, a Cuban refugee and fiercely protective woman with whom Reed Crowe falls in love. There are curses. There are sea monsters. There are biblical storms. There’s something called the Jupiter Effect. Ultimately, Florida Man is a generation-spanning story about how a man decides to live his life, and how despite staying landlocked and stubbornly in one place, the world nevertheless comes to him. 


So to get started, this book is extremely problematic. The book is set (mostly) during the 1980s in Florida. While the main character is white, the cast is pretty diverse. There's a main character who's indigenous, there are Cuban refugees. But here's the deal - Yahchilane (the indigenous character) is most likely a murderer. One of the Cuban refugees is a drug lord and ruthless killer. The Cuban woman is shown as extremely angry and short-tempered. The Cuban child is sexualized starting at a young age. It's all very cringe-worthy. And these characters are just the tip of the iceberg.

Then there's the issue of pedophilia. Another of the main characters is obsessing over young children, shows his dick to young girls, films pedophilic videos. And though he's seen as a frustrating character, people continue to let his actions slide on by.

Not to mention the plethora of racist and homophobic slurs and accusations. I was not at all comfortable with this book. 

And even without all the problematic content, this book was choppy as hell. It’s about five different novels rolled up into one, and I only gave the book two stars, because somewhere in there was an interesting story. But I was often confused on the timeline. Too many things were actually happening that were completely unrelated and gave no greater purpose to the rest of the book. The one thing in the book that I actually found to be shocking is actually in the synopsis above, but I notoriously hardly ever read synopses before reading a book so I had no idea I should’ve gone into the book knowing that.

If done well, this book could’ve had very similar vibes to Stephen King’s Duma Key, which is a book I love to pieces. It could’ve been the not so scary equivalent. But it wasn’t done well. The book felt so long, I had some character attachment by the end, but the story itself was just too chunky, choppy, and random. And honestly, if I never read the words “beach bum” again for the rest of my life, I’d be a-okay with that. I get that repeating similar words and phrases over and over again was a literary way of making the reader feel the monotony of being in the same place your entire life with no desire to leave. But I had a desire to stop reading this book. 






I don’t like to tell folks not to read a book, but I’m not sure who the target audience is here, and I truly think this book is more confusing than it’s worth. And like I mentioned, so much of the book is just truly problematic, and it was difficult to read at times because of those concerns. If it sounds up your alley, I just heed you to go in at your own risk.




Goodreads rating: ★★☆☆☆















*I received a digital review copy of this book free in exchange for review. All opinions are entirely my own.