Yep, Friday snuck up on me again.🫣 Time to make your #5JoysFriday posts whenever it‘s Friday in your neck of the woods or whenever the spirit moves you. 💛💛💛

Post the 5 things big or small that brought you joy this week. Tag your post with #5JoysFriday & tag me & anyone else you‘d like to share the joy with! 🤗 Use the graphic if & how you like.

All are welcome to join in so I won‘t tag anyone! 💛

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku (I‘m caught up now) takes inspiration from the deep respect I have for my fellow “hivers” who dare to go to some deep dark places with their poems. I‘m a little afraid of getting stuck in the dark places, so I feel the need to keep mine pretty light. Also, the pit of despair is a wee bit dramatic, but I love me some Princess Bride!😉

Go deeper I think,
But if I dig down that far,
Can I climb back out?

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Still a day behind in my daily haikus, this should be yesterday‘s. My inspiration: a coworker sweetly brought me a cake pop to our meeting. I have decided after much (ok, maybe just some…) tasting & deliberation, I just don‘t like them. It‘s a texture thing—I‘m not a fan of cookie dough! 🤷🏻‍♀️

A single bite speaks;
Not cake, not quite cookie dough
Just wrong in my mouth!

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Still a day behind in my haikus but here is yesterday‘s inspired by the Okinawan Sweet Potatoes I was eating in my car. I‘m not a big sweet potato fan in general, but these purple beauties I love.

A slice in my hand
Creamy, perfectly purple
Quiet comfort food

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Let‘s not even discuss yesterday. 🫣🤕😵‍💫🤤😵🙄😳😱 I didn‘t get a chance to post my haiku inspired by it, so here goes:

“What fresh hell awaits?”
As I open my laptop
Monday in HR

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHourReadathon

Reading Encyclopedia Brown for #HappyHour tonight. My library didn‘t have Book 5 but the library bookstore had a copy for 50 cents, so I grabbed it. Since it won‘t take the whole hour, I‘ll finish up with The House on Mango Street.

Beverage is ice water (hydrating) & snack are these gummy candies. Mood is tired & sad it‘s Monday. Breathing better tonight but not looking forward to a long day of work tomorrow.

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

A little under-the-weather this weekend with an allergy/asthma flare-up, I‘ve spent most of the day sleeping. Childhood Saturdays with my dad were my inspiration for today‘s haiku. He helped make me a reader & movie buff, even if I don‘t love westerns the way he did. Miss him, always. Happy Father‘s Day💚

Pipe smoke, faded books,
cowboys ride through black and white,
Dad beside me still

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished last weekend for #NancyDrewBR I can only restate that I really need to review these right after I‘ve finished them as it all kind of blends together after a crazy workweek.🤷🏻‍♀️What I do remember for sure is *small spoiler alert* there were no knockouts for Nancy‘s noggin so the #NNK remains at 9/20.🤕This is good for Nanner‘s poor head since she was knocked out twice in the last book & her noggin needed ⬇️

A day late to #5JoysFriday but here‘s my post:

1. Upgrade back from Hilo because of the extra room, drink & gorgeous blue skies I got to see out my window. I wrote a #HaikuADay about it.???

2. 3 Desserts that gave me joy: Banana Olive Oil Cake w vanilla bean ice cream, Coconut Cake, Raspberry Almond Tart All joyfully good!??

3. 2 joyful lunches: Japanese bento? for with tempura, poke & fried tofu & THE BEST Bánh mì (also a haiku)??

⬇️

#HaikuHive #HaikuADay

Today‘s haiku is inspired by the coconut cold foam my local coffee shop has as a summer special. A bit of tropical perfection on top of a cup of iced cold brew…

Coconut cold foam
A cloud atop iced coffee
Sips of island life

#HaikuHive #HaikuADay

Today‘s haiku was inspired by the view from my window seat on the way home from Hilo & all the blues in the sky.
???

What if "got the blues"
Meant gazing peacefully at
A sky brushed with them?

How is it Friday already?! I woke back up to post this for #5JoysFriday so it‘s time to think of those 5 things big or small that brought you joy this week. 💛💛💛

Tag your post with #5JoysFriday & tag me in it along with anyone else you want to invite to our joy party! Use the background graphic if or how you like.

All are welcome to join in! I‘m not going to tag anyone because I‘m about to fall asleep again. 😵‍💫😵🥱😴

#HaikuHive

Now I‘m caught up with #HaikuADay ! Today‘s is inspired by the Lemongrass Chicken Bánh Mi sandwich I ate for lunch yesterday after a training. We totally stunk up the conference room but it was so worth it—I‘m still thinking about its perfection!

Best bites tend to be
Messy, smelly, glorious,
Bánh mì haunts my dreams

#HaikuHive

Wednesday‘s #HaikuADay was inspired by the beautiful full Strawberry Moon I saw on my way to the airport that morning. (I was on the freeway so the photo is not mine).

Strawberry Moon 2025

Strawberry Moon glows,
Named for harvest, not for hue,
Still ripe with magic

#HaikuHive

Catching up on my #HaikuADay Tuesday‘s was inspired by me having to fly to Hilo with work colleagues-different needs, airport timing & wanting to talk about work. My introvert soul likes to be left alone. Will they ever guess that? Probably not…I play extrovert pretty well. 😉

Airport introvert,
Don't sit by me, I‘m reading.
See you at the gate.

#HaikuHive

Alas, due to work & adulting, I have fallen behind on life, Litsy & my postings on a #HaikuADay since Sunday, so expect some catch up.

Monday‘s haiku was inspired by seeing some heliconias in the morning last week & thinking about how I love the bright colors.

Tropical brushstrokes,
Heliconia flares bright,
painting morning‘s glow

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHourReadathon

Spending my #HyggeHour with Nanners & her posse for Book #20 of #NancyDrewBR Here‘s hoping her noggin remains unknocked because we added 2 to the #NNK counter in May. 🤕

Chocolate for a snack & just water to drink because I had a lot of different beverages today & don‘t really feel like tea. Mood is tired—it was a good weekend, but busy & I‘m mentally not ready for Monday & next week. 🤷🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

A late post for my June #Roll100 picks. I haven‘t started any of these but I‘m looking forward to them.

#81 Any BOTM: Wild Dark Shore—also for #CampLitsy
#98 Any Series Book: The Shadow Cabinet #SeriesLove2025
#42 Any mystery: Laying Down the Latte—also for #FictionalTraveler

My pick for #FictionalTraveler June: #PlaceYoudLikeToVisit This (21st!) book in the Bakeshop Mystery series is set in Costa Rica, a place I‘ve always wanted to visit. 🇨🇷 I was supposed to go there once with Starbucks International but hand to cancel for a family emergency.

This book is also one of my June #Roll100 picks: #42 Any Mystery & is an ARC I just received, so I‘m excited to start it!
#SeriesLove2025

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I‘ve done more peopling than my introvert norm prefers this week/weekend but today‘s Sunday brunch with 2 old friends was worth it. Filipino-inspired prix fixe menu with proceeds donated to a local school at a downtown restaurant was ono. 😋Even better than the food was the catching up & laughter.💛

Sunday brunch with friends,
food and laughter intertwine
Filled belly and soul

(Pictured is our amuse-bouche course)

I‘m a little late getting my pick up for #ThematicCozies June: #Celebration as I‘m already well into this audiobook which is set at Sophie‘s (the MC) sister‘s wedding. Murder is afoot at the celebration in this second Domestic Diva mystery. 🎊 🍾🥂💍

#SeriesLove2025

I can‘t believe it‘s June 7th & I haven‘t posted my May recap or June TBR yet! While I didn‘t get to everything I wanted to read in a very busy month, I managed to read 16 books & took part in: #SundayBuddyRead #SheSaid #NancyDrewBR #BobWhiteBuddies #EBBR
#AuthorAMonth #ChildrensClassicRead2025 #Roll100 (All 6 books!) #FictionalTraveler #ThematicCozies #MonthlyNonFiction2025 & several books for #SeriesLove2025

Read 12 fiction, 4 NF, 2 Audiobooks

I‘m late to the #5JoysFriday party again. It‘s been another crazy work week but I‘m optimistic next will be a bit less insane. Anyway, here goes:

1. Beautiful sunset views of Mauna Kea out my plane window that I wrote a haiku about & getting upgraded both ways on the flight.??

2. Creme brûlée, dessert for Conscious Leadership class was ono ? & joyful.?

3. Yesterday‘s Zippy‘s chili (wrote a haiku about it too) ?also ono ?& joyful.?

⬇️

#DailyHaiku #HaikuHive

Not much posting lately! Yesterday was another really long workday into work-night & today I met up with former coworkers & went to the maker‘s market & then to get dim sum which inspired today‘s haiku. Yep another food one! 😋😉 Special shout out to my favorite turnip cakes!

Saturday Vibe:

Turnip cakes, dumplings,
Dim sum—to touch the heart's joy
In small, steamy bites

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

A busy Friday & I was craving chili for a late lunch. Thanks to delivery I got Zippy‘s (a Hawaii classic) for a not-so-sad desk lunch & today‘s haiku inspiration.

Friday Style

Cheddar lava clings,
beans burst soft in cardboard walls,
Zippy‘s chili hug

Hi Friends! You all didn‘t seem to need a prompt last week but I thought I‘d put one in before I crash out after a very looong day!

It‘s already time again to post those 5 things big or small, that brought you joy this week! Tag your post with #5JoysFriday & tag me in your post. Also, if you want to tag some friends, that would be great because I can‘t stay up another minute to tag some of our regulars.😵
ALL are welcome to join in! 💛🤗💛

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Late to today‘s haiku party. It‘s 9 PM & I‘m still working. 😵‍💫 Today‘s haiku was inspired by the quarterly Conscious Leadership session taught by our CEO (& my boss). TBH, I‘m not the best at meditating but I try…😉🤪

I sit in stillness
Chaotic thoughts start to quiet
Then my nose itches

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku is inspired by my window seat view on my plane ride home from Hilo, just before sunset.

Note: Kupuna means elder in Hawaiian, to honor the mountain‘s revered status. It‘s the highest peak in Hawaii & when measured base to peak (including the underwater base) it‘s technically the tallest mountain in the world.

Window Seat at Sunset

Mauna Kea sleeps
kupuna crowned in soft light—
my heart, full of awe

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

In Hilo today for 3 focus groups so today‘s haiku was inspired by my morning & flight home book choice which is this one (pictured) that I‘m reading for the #AuthorAMonth & thinking about what makes a perfect airplane book for me.

What kind of books do you like to read while flying?

The perfect plane book
Action or laughs, something light
Best travel buddy

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I wrote this haiku last night as I was humming along to this song on my sappy song playlist & picked up a prescription. I got home last night & crashed before I posted it, because… Mondays… 😵🥱😴

Rainy Days & Mondays

Mondays get me down,
Always—but not rainy days,
They‘re good for reading

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHourReadathon

Spending my #HyggeHour with Trixie & the gang for #BobWhiteBuddies along with tea & my favorite dried cinnamon Fuji apple slices.

My mood is sad that the weekend was so short & that it will be another crazy workweek—although hopefully not as bad as the last two weeks.

#Read2925

I think this is my final review of May, completed last week for #FictionalTraveler #SpanishSpeaking & the 6th of my #Roll100 picks for May (#4: Any BOTM). I‘ve put off reviewing it because I‘m still not sure how I feel about it. It‘s a quiet book about grief, depression & finding your life. Ruth leaves her job in NYC for a lake town in Guatemala, a place she felt most real in when she was there years before. It sort of meanders, ⬇️

#Read2025 #MonthlyNonFiction2025 #RealHistory

Finished last week for #SheSaid Elizabeth Packard was an amazing woman who I knew very little about until this book. She did so much to fight for her own rights but even more to fight for the rights of the voiceless—women & those with mental health issues, or really rather, those who were judged to be insane but were not & typically forced into asylums by husbands or male family members to silence ⬇️

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished last week for #Roll100 (#40: Any ARC) & the second in the Miss Prentice's Protégées series, this one features Lottie who keeps losing governess jobs with her unladylike behavior as she borrows horses from her employers & fights advances from her latest employer‘s son. Miss Prentice thinks she‘d be better suited as a ladies companion & sets her up with a challenging dowager who can‘t/won‘t keep a companion. ⬇️

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished earlier in the month. This is the first book in the Miss Prentice's Protégées series & since I received the second as an ARC, I had to read this one first & checked it out from the library. It‘s described as a “Regency romp” & it is—light & fun. In this one the MC is Georgie who has yet to get a governess job since graduating from Miss Prentice‘s school & takes on 3 unruly children left with their uncle who ⬇️

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished yesterday for #Roll100 May (#3: Any ARC) I find I love the comfort of a cozy fantasy, even better if it‘s a foodie cozy fantasy as then one is. About Arletta, a human with no magic, just getting by on selling her amazing baked goods when Theo, an elf shows up with an invitation to the Langheim Baking Battle, an elf-run magical baking contest that no non-magical has ever won or been invited to but would change ⬇️

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I‘m happy our daily haikus are continuing. They give me peace & joy. Today‘s is about the early-rising birds outside my bedroom window. I like hearing them while I slowly wake up.

Morning Sounds

Sunday, birds chatter
Early risers greet the light
I prefer to snooze

#Read100 #MonthlyNonFiction2025

Finished a few weeks ago. When I was in kindergarten we had to have a TB skin test where we lined up. The nurse(?) administering it told me “to watch the bubble” & I promptly passed out. I woke up on a cot, was forced to drink the carton of warm whole milk that was sitting outside class in a wagon all morning & eat a graham cracker & the entire experience left me with a decades long phobia of needles & seeing ⬇️

#Read2025

Finished last Sunday for #ChildrensClassicRead2025 & one of my #Roll100 May picks (#70: Any Children‘s Book). Written in 1906, is a sweet story about a unique group of dolls & their dollhouse. While I didn‘t love it, I liked it well enough for it to be a pick.

#Read2025 #AuthorAMonth2025

Finished today for #AuthorAMonth May. I loved James & wanted to read more Everett & ended up with this one because it was available from my library. I don‘t read a lot of Westerns it‘s just not a genre I gravitate to, but Everett drew me in with his sly wit & dark humor that had me laughing while also wincing at the racism & ignorance of the MC, Curt Marder & other characters in the book. I did not love the ending.

#Read2025

Finished a few weeks ago-another #Roll100 pick for May (#30 Any Audio) & it was enjoyable. I‘m a Molly Harper fan but I prefer her paranormal series to her other books without supernatural creatures. Still, this mystery was fun-involving a proposal planner at a “pre-bridal retreat” at a resort with an obnoxious client & winds up involved in 2 murders I liked the MC, Jess, & the quirky cast of side characters & there was good snark.

#Read2025

Finished earlier in the week, it was one of my 6 #Roll100 picks for May (#7: Any Memoir). I really enjoyed the audiobook read by Ina herself. When I first started food blogging in 2008, I joined a group called Barefoot Bloggers & we cooked 2 of her recipes a month. In 2017 another group I was with cooked a recipe each week for 6 months, so you can say I‘ve cooked with her A LOT! I‘ve also watched her shows & follow her on Instagram & ⬇️

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

I finished #13 in the Trixie Belden series for BobWhiteBuddies a couple of weeks ago but have been really bad about posting reviews. This was one of my favorites growing up. I was excited about the island setting & sailing & Trixie getting a powder blue swimsuit 🩵 & Jim noticing the color (Jim ruined me for high school boys!) 😉😂 I also liked it when he & Trixie dressed up & went to the “dive bar” to listen & spy. ⬇️

Better late than never for my #5JoysFriday post for a short week than nonetheless felt unending. Here are my joyful moments.

1. I love flying into the different islands—this is Kauai & seeing the beauty will never cease to be joyful.💙

2. In my neighbor is Da Painted Tree—a tall stump that the owners paint seasonally for holiday & such. It got knocked down somehow in January & I was afraid it was done for but this week it popped up again ⬇️

#HaikuADay

It‘s the last Haiku of the month! Congrats to the #HaikuHive for all of the lovely daily haikus & thanks to @dabbe for hosting. The view of fluffy white clouds from my window seat inspired today‘s haiku.

I love when the clouds
Look like whipped cream drifting past
Swirls of latte foam

My #Chatterday Saturday unfortunately consists of catching up on work & focus group notes but I‘m doing it at the coffeeshop so it doesn‘t feel so depressing. I also am managing a few chapters of this book I am trying to finish for May.

I also have a ton of book reviews that I need to finish as well as my #HaikuADay & #5JoysFriday post, so I apologize in advance for all the upcoming posts.

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Stuck in traffic on the way home but I saw three rainbows that inspired today‘s haiku:

Spotted three rainbows
Traffic jam? No worries, sis!
Watch as nature smiles

Hi Friends, I‘m so sorry I didn‘t send a message out about #5JoysFriday! I was traveling & my plane got delayed flying back & I fell asleep when I got home last night.🥱😵😴 I‘m having a hard time believing it‘s Friday already!

Thanks to those of you who posted already! 🤗 If you want to join in, just post the 5 things big or small that brought you joy this week, tag it with #5JoysFriday & tag me & anyone else you‘d like to share the joy! 💛

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Headed out to Hilo for meetings & an employee focus group & feeling like I just did this same thing inspired today‘s haiku.

Wasn‘t I just here?
Coffee cooling in my hand—
Rinse and repeat life…

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I‘m late with today‘s haiku which is inspired by my introvert hangover. Too much peopling this week with employee focus groups, training classes, inter-island travel & an all hands dinner meeting. 😳😬😵‍💫😵🥱

The kind of tired
That you feel bone deep—way too
much extroverting