Grits in the City - discounts and faves

Hope you enjoy all these as much as I do!

january reads

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My reads for the month were a bit super charged by December me — as I started several things which I only was able to finish once I found my way into 2024. It was a pretty eclectic mix of books. Sharing my top line thoughts, below. For my thoughts on Kate Kennedy’s bestseller One in a Millennial, check out this separate post on the book and the launch event!

The People We Keep by Allison Larkin (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5)

This book takes you on quite the ride. I haven’t loved a flawed character in a long time like I loved April. I sometimes find I lose my connection with them or they cease to be likable, but I loved her through it all. I had such a defined sense of space on this one, which says a lot with the multiple scene changes that happen throughout the book.

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one in a millennial

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Even before my love of reading was reinvigorated I had one starred book release for 2024 noted — One in a Millennial. Obviously I was dying to dive into the book from the person behind the only podcast I regularly listen to these days, Be There in Five! The book focuses on pop culture with a focus on 1990s, 2000s and present day – so I decided this long-form blog post with photos, links and lots of info was a must do.

The Book

I came in excited for this one already in looking at the book alone. The cover featured a mix CD in Kate’s writing. These were my fave to do back in the day! The book is obviously pink (I forgot the Pantone color of the year for 2016 was none other than Millennial Pink!) and includes the author’s doodles on the inside front and back jacket.

I hated to be coming into an event on January 24th, only one day after the book came out, without reading it beforehand. I ended up coming close though, listening to it on Audible before I got my hard copy at the signing. Kate says it’s not a “memoir” — but in so many ways it totally is, though not through the more standard approach to chronologically going through her life. Instead it is a set of essays that are true to the time, but inherently very personal from her perspective. They touch on so many of the little things that were so important to life during that time. I am not a true Millennial but would say I’m a Xennial, especially after reading through this book and identifying with so many things I’d forgotten about that make up so much of my earlier life experiences.

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hello from a nanowrimo failure

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Oh hello there. Yes, it’s me.


I was so excited to finally do NaNoWriMo again this year and win for the first time since having kids. For those of you who aren’t familiar, NaNoWriMo happens every November. It’s 30 days of writing with the goal of finishing 50,000 words by November 30th. By doing so, you’re deemed a “winner” — even though you may or may not be done with what you’re working on.

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taylor swift eras tour: movie

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On a bit of a whim, I decided to take the kids to see the Taylor Swift Eras Tour movie — their first movie ever. I’m all about trying to instill in them our love of music so it felt like the right fit. I was a little worried about the length, but I took the pressure off by resigning myself to being okay with the money spent — even if we only managed to make it 15 minutes.

I made the most of it though. I bought them both friendship bracelets they managed to lose the same day. I got them fun heart-shaped glasses to wear as well. We got the special popcorn box they had just for the movie and sat down to see what would happen. How would it go?

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lesson learned: run smart

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This past Saturday, I was chased by a pit bull while on my run. It was absolutely terrifying. I was around the 4 mile mark into my 9 mile run. I saw a dark flash as the dog darted from their front door, running through their deep yard before catching up with me. I picked up my pace and she did too, lunging at me and coming within inches of my ankles. I succeeded in avoiding her somehow but only because she decided to finally turn back towards her home.

I wanted to give up and call someone to get me as honestly I was scared to go back by the house (as I had to do in order to get home.) But I kept on going. My breathing was so fast and every noise startled me as I felt like everything was coming at me.

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strasburg railroad and pennsylvania railroad museum

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It was a bit rainy one of the days of our trip, so it was time to get a bit creative to come up with some fun options that wouldn’t be entirely ruined if the rain lingered the entire day.

Breakfast at the Lancaster Beignet Company

I couldn’t resist working a visit to Lancaster Beignet Company into our schedule for the week. I loooooove beignets. With the exception for Cafe du Monde, I haven’t come across anywhere else that has been so focused on them!

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tori amos, a road trip and chocolates

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When Tori Amos announced she’d be back on the road in 2023 for a second leg of her US tour I was thrilled to see the venues in a travel radius of our house.

I elected to skip the Beacon Theater in NYC and Count Basie in Red Bank in favor of Wolf Trap and Hershey. I absolutely love Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia. I’ve seen both the Indigo Girls and Joss Stone there — and the opportunity to see Tori there wasn’t something I could miss.

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day trip to the franklin institute

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Our kids love museums. Philadelphia isn’t too far of a drive but we’ve only been there with them a few times to go to the Philadelphia Zoo. For a while, I’ve been wanting to take them to the Franklin Institute so a few weeks back, I decided to surprise them with a trip. What was the verdict? Read on to see!

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