Friday Favorites

Hello and welcome to my Friday Favorites! Today I am linking up with Andrea!

1. I made chocolate covered strawberries a little while back and they were so good! I don't make them very often but I always forget just how good they are!

2. These were my flowers for July. I liked how colorful they were and also all the different varieties of flowers that were in this bouquet!

3. Have you tried Olipop? I found it at Wegman's and was really surprised at how good it is! It's actually good for you as it contains prebiotics and natural ingredients. They also only contain between 2-5 grams of sugar which is really surprising for something like this! We've tried the vintage cola, root beer, and orange cream. The vintage cola and root beer truly tasted like a cola and a root beer, but the orange cream was weird.

If you happen to look for it it's stocked in the refrigerated section either with natural foods or probiotics. I also saw it in the individual drink section. 

4. Definitely not a favorite but we had a severe thunderstorm a couple of weeks ago and this huge branch came crashing down on our roof during the middle of the night! It's probably a good 8ft long. It was so loud! And definitely not something you want to hear at 1:30 am! 

5. In case you missed it, on Monday I shared a review of the book Woman in Shadow and on Wednesday I shared some pictures of the late spring flowers at the Norfolk Botanical Garden!

6. I wanted to add that if you receive my blog posts through your email, unfortunately that feature is going away and blog posts will no longer will be sent by email. I've tried to find an alternative way to send blog posts by email but so far have not been able to find anything. Or at least something that is free. So if you want to see new posts you'll have to bookmark this page and check back or follow through bloglovin'!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Late Spring Flowers at the Norfolk Botanical Garden

I've posted quite a few pictures from the Norfolk Botanical Garden, but every time we visit there is something new blooming! These were some of the late spring flowers we saw back in early June.

We haven't been able to visit much lately because it's been really hot and humid here, but I do have another post coming soon of an exhibit that is going on there!

I couldn't believe just how large some of these cherry blossom bushes/trees were! They were so beautiful! And the flowers in the last couple of pictures in this post are really pretty! Does anyone know what kind of flowers they are?

What are your favorite spring flowers?

Woman in Shadow Book Review

Woman in Shadow by Carrie Stuart Parks

From back cover:

A woman off the grid.

Darby Graham thinks she's on a much-needed vacation in remote Idaho to relax. But before she even arrives at the ranch, an earthquake strikes. Then a barn on the edge of town is engulfed in flames and strange problems at the ranch begin to escalate, and Darby finds herself immersed in a chilling mystery.

A town on fire.

More fires erupt around town, and a serial arsonist sends taunting letters to the press after each. As a forensic linguist, this is Darby's area of expertise...but the scars her work has caused her are also the reason she's trying to escape her life.

A growing darkness.

As the shadows continue to move in, pieces of the town around her come into sharper focus. To make it out alive, Darby must decide if she can trust the one man who sees her clearly.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really enjoyed the Gwen Marcey series and everything I've read by this author since then has been disappointing. Fortunately, this book was better than her last several books. It still didn't reach the same level as the Gwen Marcey series, but it's an improvement.

I found Darby to be an interesting character. She was unique and flawed and had experienced a lot of trauma in her life; but I still felt disconnected to her. There was a lot going on, (maybe too much going on.) a lot of characters, and a lot of information at the beginning it was hard to really get to know Darcy quickly.

Darby is a forensic linguist, and while it did play a part in the story, I wish it would have played a bigger role. It's such an interesting job that I would have liked to have learned more about it!

There is certainly something mysterious about being somewhat stranded in a remote location that makes for a very interesting read. The setting is really interesting and having grown up in the Northwest as well as having lived in Idaho, I was easily able to picture the scene and what was going. Even if you've never been to the area it's described well enough that it almost plays like a movie in your mind!

There was a large cast of characters at first and I had a hard time keeping them straight. A couple of them were unique and easy to remember, but the rest were kind of a blur. To the point when the killer was revealed it took me a minute to remember who they were.

I thought the arson plot line was a bit unnecessary. Or at least wished it had tied into the main story-line better.

I also agree with other reviewers that the romance was a bit odd. It just didn't  fit in the story very well and just felt odd and stiff. I don't like it when characters instantly fall in love. The 'tension' between them was ridiculous. 

Overall I found this to be a good story. Not one I would probably go back and reread, but certainly memorable!

I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. 

Currently

Reading - Nothing too exciting unfortunately. I've read a lot of books lately, but I've kind of been in a rut as far as anything good. Pretty much everything I've read has been mediocre. Have you read anything good lately?

Watching - America's Got Talent, Lego Masters, Emergency Call, The Chase, Dateline. We just finished up Home Town on Discovery+. I'm not sure why we never started watching it sooner, but my mom and I really liked it! 

Eating - Lots of berries! I've been stocking up on berries whenever I go to Costco or Whole Foods. I'm really not much of a fan of summertime, but fresh berries is the one thing I really look forward to!

Needing - To work on some scrapbooking. I have not been in a creative mood for a while which has been disappointing. I want to do it, but I feel like I have crafting block (sort of like writers block or something) where I want to craft but just have not been inspired to do so.

Looking forward to - Fall. It's been so hot and humid here that it's annoying not to be able to go out on walks. 

Playing - A lot of Animal Crossing! I'm working on my island which is a time consuming process, but a fun one! I keep looking at ideas on Pinterest as well as visiting my brother's island and my sister's islands for ideas.

Pinning - Animal Crossing island ideas and layouts!

What have you been up to lately? Are you watching any good shows or done anything fun lately?