Late but I had to join in this #TakeThreeThursday because I play Statele everyday & have gotten really good about knowing the shapes of the states (except for Colorado & Wyoming which when you see them one at a time look exactly the same to me.🤷🏻‍♀️)

Anyway, I blew my first attempt & missed 3 because of my fat fingers & the tiny Eastern states so I zoomed way in on my second try & got 100%! 🎉

A day late for my #5JoysFriday post due to a very busy end to an already busy week, but there was joy:

1. I‘m irrationally obsessed with both the trout print & pigeon sticker from (my favorite) Blue House Mail Club. Joyful mail!💙💌💙

2. The bun is a bit smashed but this was a delicious burger & fries enjoyed with a balcony sunset view (see my “gloaming” haiku a few posts back for the view.💛😋

3. Hearty breakfast with a view before starting ⬇️

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku is inspired by the view I had from my plane window on my way back from Hilo last night. In the dark sky we could clearly see latest episode of Kīlauea‘s episodic erupting. Truly special to see from my window seat. This is not my photo—too much glare to take one but this one, found on line, is pretty close. 🌋🛩️🖤

Fire In the Night

Glimpse of Pele‘s fire
Lava glows—a red beacon
In the dark night sky

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

A busy couple of days in Hilo & back home late last night. I wrote yesterday‘s haiku over breakfast at the hotel after watching this glorious sunrise from my balcony. 🌅 🩷🧡💙

Dawn breaks in Hilo
Sky a pastel perfection…
Let the day begin

We made it! Friday is once more upon us & it‘s time to make lists of those 5 things big or small that brought us joy in another 🔥world gone mad”🔥week.

To join the joy party, make your post & tag it with #5JoysFriday & tag me & anyone else you to want to share some joy with. You can use the background if & how you want. 💛

EVERYONE is welcome to find & spread some joy! 💛🤗💛

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I‘m in Hilo overnight from meetings today to Leadership graduation tomorrow & an office pre-holiday pau hana tomorrow afternoon/evening. Got a delicious mushroom smash burger & fries from the hotel bar & ate it on my balcony listening to the mynahs before going back in to finish some work. It inspired this haiku:

In the gloaming time
Clouds gather, mynahs chatter
Hilo Bay, twilight

Hey #SundayBuddyRead pals, I was excited to see this NetGalley email today with the new Stacey Lee book that‘s on our 2026 list available as “Read Now For 5 Days.” Passing it along in case anyone else wants an ARC! 🤗.

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Behind for yesterday‘s haiku but I‘ll post today‘s. I‘m about to kill ChatGPT as I wait for them to create 2 documents. It‘s keeps telling me it will be “coming soon” & “just a moment longer” & “it will be in the next message…” I feel like Alan Rickman waiting for Roan Atkinson to wrap the gift for my mistress in Love Actually. 😵‍💫 It inspires this haiku.

Love Actually?
I wait for ChatGPT
“Just a moment more…”😵‍💫😬😩

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHourReadathon

For tonight‘s #HyggeHour I‘m hanging out with Nancy Drew & crew for #NancyDrewBR This one sounds a little familiar with its New Orleans setting.

Drinking cold cider (‘tis the season 🍎 but it‘s still warm & humid so on ice) & a chocolate chunk Crumbl mini cookie for snack/dessert.🍪

Mood is the usual weekend end melancholy + mentally preparing for work including a Hilo overnight at the end of the week.😵‍💫

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku inspiration: it‘s been mostly gray skies with the occasional burst of soft rain showers. It would be a perfect November Sunday for reading & napping if it wasn‘t a humid 80 degrees.😓😥😅

Gray-Sky Sunday

Overcast, soft rain
Ten degrees shy of perfect
Still a lazy day

#Read2025 #MonthlyNonFiction

Finished for #ChildrensClassicRead2025 I‘m sure I read this back in middle school but revisiting it in October was perfect for the season. I meant to reread The Crucible as a companion, but ran out of time. Amazing what havoc a group of young girls started, perpetuated by the patriarchy & resulting in the unnecessary imprisonment, ruin & death of so many. Jackson breaks in down in a way that is accessible to all.

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished for October‘s #FictionalTraveler #Trees prompt, I quite liked this first book of the Crown Colony series set in 1930‘s Singapore. Su Lin, a young Chinese-Singaporean woman whose childhood bout with polio has made her walk with a limp & be considered “unlucky.”. Her uncle is trying to marry her off while her dreams are bigger. I like Sun Lin & her perspective on race & class & colonialism in Singapore. The ⬇️

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Still catching up on October reviews, finished this one last week for #ThematicCozies October #Paranormal I meant to read this one (Book 6) + Book 7 in the Sonoma Witches series but just had time for this one, set a garden show in a witchy town where Alma goes to solve the murder if a colleague. Even though it‘s been a couple of series since I left off in this series I was able to pick back up & overall I enjoyed it.

#Read2025 #MonthlyNonFiction

Finished last weekend for #SheSaid & my third #Roll100 October pick #38 Any nonfiction. A sobering (because I‘m well into the hag camp age-wise) read about the demonization of 40+ aged women. The author hits some points well but lost me in others especially when her points were more chaotic. It was interesting & provocative which is why it gets a pick, but I‘m not sure I learned that much new from reading it.🤷🏻‍♀️

#Read2025

Behind on my reviews, I finished this one last week for #SundayBuddyReads Stacey Lee is one of my favorites & I love how she writes YA Historical Fiction & creates wonderful strong young female characters. Was it her best? No, it was a little all over the place but it was a fun chaotic ride & I liked the glimpse of 1930s Hollywood, L.A. & Chinatown. Also I only had it partially figured out at the end-always a bonus to be kept guessing.

Just a day late with my #5JoysFriday post, so that‘s an improvement, right?!

1. This gorgeous green bouquet my friend put together as a belated birthday gift.💐💚

2. The view from my skylight just after a morning thunderstorm always brings me joy.🌩️☔️💜

3. Stopped for my favorite chicken salad salad for lunch. The lime cilantro dressing is joy in my mouth!😋

4. Loco Moco for breakfast is always joyful, even if it looks like a hot mess!😋 ⬇️

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I‘m going to try to get back on track with my daily haikus since October went a bit off the rails. Today‘s is inspired by breakfast with an old & dear friend where we caught up at a neighborhood spot we hadn‘t been to in ages.

There‘s comfort in things staying the same, the same abruptly friendly service, same coffee & biscuit with honey butter…

Nostalgia served warm,
Comfort friend and comfort food,
Heartfelt Saturday

So happy to see everyone posting for #5JoysFriday even if I didn‘t get a post up last night! I was in town for meetings in the afternoon & I went to a work reunion & then fell into bed when I got home at 11PM.😴🤣💛

Anyways, you probably know the drill unless you are new. To join in just make a post of the 5 things big or small that brought you joy this week. Tag it with #5JoysFriday tag me & anyone else you want to join in.

All are welcome! 🤗

#Read2025

Catching up on reviews. I had planned to read a couple of #OctaviaButler books for #AuthorAMonth October but ran out of time. I did relisten to Kindred which I first listened to back in 2017. The lapse in time between readings did not lessen the power of Butler‘s story & its weight on my soul. Not an easy listen, it is very intense & haunting with more than its share of triggers; slavery, violence, sexual assault, etc. but excellent.

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I remain behind with life & haikus as usual. Today‘s is inspired by the 4:00 PM meeting I had with our Finance Team to discuss the budget forecast. Yes, it‘s that fun time of year! I hate late afternoon meetings enough already… 😵‍💫🤑🤕

Late-day money talk
Budget doom at 4 p.m
Zero stars! Hard pass!

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHourReadathon

Tonight‘s #HyggeHour is being spent with this one from #ChildrensClassicRead2025 I‘m trying to capture a fall vibe with apple cider (cold) & this cinnamony pear cheesecake I got at a craft market this weekend. Listening to an instrumental mix called Witchy & Woodsy on Spotify: https://spotify.link/HzoCirVDNXb 🍂🧡🍁

Mood is not ready for Monday & a busy work week but what‘s new?! 🤷🏻‍♀️

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished during the week for #Roll100 October #72 Any Retelling. This is a fun (hopefully start to a new series) featuring Caroline Bingley who jumps in to help Georgiana Darcy when she leaves Pemberley after her maid disappears to London. There‘s a murder & Caroline is determined to solve it. A good cozy mystery & while Caroline is still Caroline, she grows as she investigates & becomes quite likable (while Georgiana ⬇️

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

I finished this one last Sunday for #EBBR & as usual, pretty much forgot all the cases already & which ones I solved. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I really do need to review them right after I read them or take notes. I do remember that (***Spoiler***) I didn‘t realize that ALL of the animal facts in the one story weren‘t true so I guess I solved it with the🦘but not completely as I thought I was done.🤔Anyway, they remain fun quick reads.

#HaikuADay

Very behind on my haikus so taking a cue from @dabbe & some of my other #HaikuHive friends & using my annual rewatch of Rosemary‘s Baby today for inspiration. (It‘s one of my all-time favorite horror books & movies.)

Husband From Hell 🔥👿

Of all the witches,
Satanists and evil ones,
Guy is still the worst

#Rosemarydeservedbetter

Honestly, it was kind of a crap week & I‘ve just been in avoidance of much this weekend so I‘m a couple days late on my #5JoysFriday post & most life stuff. There was some joy this week though so here goes:

1. Bag of rambutan I‘ve been enjoying this week.😋
2. Went out to dinner with an old work colleague & a new one she wanted to connect me with. The paella🥘& dip spread were delicious & joyful.
3. Lilikoi breakfast bowl was fresh & joyful.💛
⬇️

I looked up from my work desk & Friday was almost here again! Time to make your lists of the 5 things big or small that brought you joy this week. 💛

Make your post & tag it with #5JoysFriday then tag me & anyone else you want to share joy with. Everyone is welcome to join in! 🤗

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHourReadathon

Reading the Oct Encyclopedia Brown for #EBBR during #HyggeHour tonight & with my extra time, more of Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Investigator (which is quite charming & fun so far).

Listening to this soundtrack: pov: you‘re Meg Ryan: (for the fall & pretending you are in a 90‘s romcom) that I‘ll link ⬇️

Snacks are this iced tisane (it‘s still hot & humid here) & fall popcorn. Mood: not ready for Monday!

#Read2025

I enjoyed Bunny 4 years ago even though I wasn‘t sure what I read & thought that “the book might be mocking me for not being as smart as it.” (I don‘t know, that‘s what I wrote.🤷🏻‍♀️) Anyway, I thought I‘d like this prequel/sequel, but I really didn‘t. I felt like what seemed effortlessly quirky in Bunny seemed like trying too hard to be quirky here. Also why did it need to be so long?! Anyway, I finished & it was a pan for me.🐰🪓⬇️

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished last week for #BobWhiteBuddies it is good timing as the book is set in Fall so it made for a good #HyggeHour last week. I didn‘t remember this one all that well so I guess I didn‘t reread it much during childhood.🤷🏻‍♀️ It takes place in Sleepyside & involves the disappearance of “Hoppy” the grasshopper weathervane on top of City Hall & the side mystery of missing coins & a new teacher‘s aide at school who ⬇️

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Another haiku to catch up on my dailies. This one is inspired by my sushi breakfast. I picked it up for dinner last night but snacked on popcorn instead & wasn‘t hungry so I ate it this morning. I can happily eat sushi or poke any time of day. 🍣💙🍱😋

You like your pancakes
For dinner and I like my
Sushi for breakfast 🍣

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I‘m pretty behind on my daily haikus so I will try to post some to catch up today. This one is inspired by the bag of rambutan I picked up from the grocery store yesterday. I love their soft hairy spikes & the sweet/floral tart flavors of this juicy tropical fruit.

Wild-haired rambutan
Sweet surprise beneath the spikes
Island candy joy

A day late on my #5JoysFriday post but the work week was crazy & I had 3 days of peopling ending in a large 1.5 days HR conference. Last night I just crashed & slept, so here we go.

1-2. Fall themed snacks not involving pumpkin spice bring me joy. Both the Brown Butter Sage & Stuffing Popcorn from Target are joyfully addicting & apple cider & Starbucks apple crisp oatmilk latte make me happy.

2. I used Barnes & Noble GC & rewards points to ⬇️

Hi Friends! I‘ve been out-of-pocket this week. Work has been crazy & I was at a half-day pre-conference session & I‘ll be at the conference all day tomorrow… which is FRIDAY! 💛🎊💛

Time to make your post with the 5 things big or small that brought you some joy this week. Tag your post with #5JoysFriday & tag me & anyone else you want to share the joy with. 💛

EVERYONE is welcome! 🤗

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku is inspired by the dichotomy of how time moves on a busy work Monday—both creeping by & zooming forward.

How do the clock‘s hands
Travel so quickly, yet so
Slowly on Monday? ⏱️🕰️⏰⏳🕔

Thank you @Eggs for the #majicmonday tag! 🤗 I love the nature & the beauty, in my neighborhood, community, on my island (Oahu) & all of the islands in the state. You are seldom very far from a beautiful ocean or mountain view here. 🏝️🌊💙

If you want to join in & talk about your town/city/region, consider yourself tagged! 😊

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHoyrReadathon #JustOneMoreChapter

For HyggeHour I‘m camped on the couch with Trixie & the Bob-Whites for #BobWhiteBuddies (Book #18)

I am desperately trying to create a fall vibe with this stuffing popcorn that I may need to get more of 😋& (cold) apple cider 🍎 because it‘s 77 degrees F. here at 8 PM & I want it to be colder & feel like fall. 🍂

My mood is resigned (if still melancholy) to it being Monday tomorrow.😵‍💫

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

It was lovely having four days off but I am dreading Monday & another crazy workweek & that anxiety has inspired today‘s haiku.

Sunday Scaries

Four days not working
Gone in a blink, and with them
Ease and peace of mind

Thank you @Eggs for the #SundayFunday tag! 🤗

I have lots of favorite witches but I think I‘ll go with the characters that Sangu Mandanna writes, specifically Mika Moon in the tagged book & Sera Swan in A Witch‘s Guide to Magical Innkeeping, although all of the witchy secondary characters in these books are a delight too. I like my witches quirky, witty & funny & her characters are good examples of all of those attributes. 💚💚💚

Play along! 🤗

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished this one on Thursday, it‘s my first #Roll100 read for October #47 Any Library Book. Being back with the Thursday Murder Club is always a treat. In this one, it‘s been almost a year since the events of the fourth book & the friends are regrouping around a wedding which brings forth a new murder to get involved in. While not the best of the series, I‘ve grown to love these characters so much & Osman keeps the ⬇️

#Read2025

Finished in one sitting Thursday night at Silent Book Club & have to give it a pick although it was more satire & gleeful gore than creepy horror. Governess Winifred Notty is quite a character & the title becomes more than apt when she starts working for the Pounds family. Not for the squeamish, the gyro I picked up for my dinner sat untouched once I got into the story. 😱 I liked the twist & turns & very dark humor of this quick read.

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished this one last weekend for #NancyDrewBR & it was for lack of a better word, fine. I vaguely remember some of it from childhood but not a lot of the details. We had purse snatching, old dolls & a search for the missing father of a young girl who is a talented musician & a good “gypsy” unlike most of the others in the book who are busy stealing & marrying off child brides—yep, it‘s pretty racist. ***#NNK counter⬇️

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku is inspired by the #JustOneMoreChapter readathon hosted by @TheAromaofBooks this weekend. I was up too late reading last night. 🤗

Just one more chapter
She said, nine chapters ago
Sleep can wait tonight

These are the books I am focusing on this weekend, 📚📚📚

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Yesterday‘s haiku was inspired by my lunch at a favorite Indian restaurant. Garlicky lamb bhunas, garlic nan, rice, raita & a creamy cooling mango lassi which hit perfectly on a hot humid day.🥭💛

Garlic and spices
Dance gracefully in the air
Cold mango lassi

While I was not excited about a certain birthday this week, I did find joy, especially in the past 2 days which I took off & outside a trip to the DMV to renew my license I just did only things I wanted to do which involved food, books & reading books while eating food.

1. These moth earring I got last weekend at the monthly makers market are joyful.🩶

2. A birthday poke bowl lunch

3. After the DMV I treated myself to breakfast & finished ⬇️

We‘ve nearly made it to Friday, so it‘s time to share those 5 things big or small that brought you joy this week!💛 I had a “me” day today which involved lots of reading & my third foray with Silent Book Club tonight. It will all be on my #5JoysFriday post tomorrow.

To join, make your post & tag it with the #5JoysFriday hashtag. Tag me & anyone you want to share joy with.🤗 Use the background how you like.

EVERYONE is welcome to join in! 💛🤗💛

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

A much needed day off, I took myself to breakfast & was struck by the way the glass looked when I finished my butterfly pea iced tea. I took a pic to preserve the icy purple beauty & it inspired today‘s haiku.

Purple Ice 💜🦋

On a humid day
Butterfly tea cools the glass
Icy oasis

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I had to run to the pharmacy after work & I decided I wanted Raising Cane‘s lemonade (& chicken strips but mainly the lemonade). There were 2 geckos🦎🦎frolicking on the menu sign in the evening darkness. Watching them made me smile & inspired today‘s kind of silly haiku.

Drive-Thru Companions

I guess geckos are
Tiny fans of chicken strips
Me too, little friends!

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku is a bit late because I was trying to think of something peppier but honestly this birthday is bumming me out. I truly appreciate all of the well-wishes of friends & family & I know I am lucky & blessed to be here, but I‘m just not excited about adding another year to my age & this year in particular. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Birthday rolls around
Counting years with heavy sighs
Blues beneath the cake

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku was inspired by this postcard I got at the local maker‘s market on Saturday. Something about the serenity in the waves pulls me in & gives me peace.

Watercolor shore
Soft clouds drift on golden sands
Waves of peace roll in 🌊

My #Roll100 picks for October:

#72 Any Retelling: Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Investigator
#47 Any Library Book: The Impossible Fortune
#38 Any Nonfiction: Hags (Also for #SheSaid)

I‘m excited about all of these & have already started two of them. 🤗