Book Review: Anatomy of an Alibi

Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was okay. It had an interesting premise, but too many coincidences and characters felt contrived just to fill in plot points, so it wasn't very believable or captivating, especially as the story went on.

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My 46th Birthday

 Well, I have to say that 46, and the mid-40s in general, aren't what I'd always envisioned. For the most part, I still feel and look young, but 46 does seem kind of old. It's weird how relative a thing age is as one gets older!

So far, at three months in, 46 has been good. The biggest thing to happen during age 46 for me probably already happened: John returned home after serving an honorable mission. I know that's not a "me" thing as much as a John thing, but as his mother, this, for me, is something special that I'm a part of. I don't expect too much else to happen during 46—knock on wood. I plan to keep going in the right direction and stay on track. Life is good. (KNOCK ON WOOD!)

My birthday was spent on Cape Cod, as it almost always is. It was a bright, sunny day. David made waffles for breakfast, and we ate outside.

What better thing to do on a sunny summer day on the Cape than go to the movies? 😆 The new Spider-Man movie came out that day, and we went to see it. It was good!

I relaxed in the afternoon on the hammock, reading and resting.

It was just David, Sam, and I, and we went out for a nice dinner at Yarmouth House, where David and I split one of my favorite dishes (Chicken Atlantis). Then for dessert, we went to Katie's in Hyannis for ice cream, where I got one of my favorite flavors that only they do: lavender honeycomb.

It has real bits of honeycomb in it!

Where were the cake and presents, you might ask? They got saved until the next day, when my mom and Jennifer were there. The celebration was spread over two days!

For the second day in a row, on a bright sunny summer day on the Cape, we went to the movies. 😆 This time we saw The Odyssey, which Sam had seen and loved (he's a fan of the director, Christopher Nolan), so we all went and saw it. It was very good!

We ate a barbecue dinner al fresco.

After dinner, we walked down to the beach.

My cake was a cool (no pun intended) and delicious "Mint Ship" ice cream cake from Lighthouse Keeper's Pantry. 

It was a fun birthday weekend! 46 was off to a good start.

Last Day Being 45

45 was a good year for me, and an important one. The most significant thing that happened was that I married David. My life changed in such good ways because of it!

I spent my last day being 45—my birthday eve—at the Cape with David, Sam, and Veronica. It was a cloudy, rainy day. We got a new dishwasher that David installed. It was a nice Bosch one that I decided to invest in because there's a decent chance that we could live at the Cape house full-time in the future. I also consider it the first step in the planned kitchen remodel that I'd like to do there. 

Out with the old...

😆

In with the new!

I love having a handy hubby! It makes my life easier!

I did some shopping and got a pretty pedicure at my favorite place.

In the evening after a delicious burger and fries dinner from The Knack, we walked down to the beach.

I like seagulls.

And I like hydrangeas. They were still in bloom at the end of July.

Farewell, 45! Thanks for being so good to me!

Book Review: Portrait of a Witch Undone

Portrait of a Witch Undone by K.S. Shay
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I like to read a book about witches every October, and I picked this one because it had a cool title and cover and a creative plot that involved the stolen works of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Unfortunately, those were pretty much the only things I liked about it. I found the story to be rather confusing, repetitive, depressing, gritty, and unengaging; the characters all behaved like annoying teenagers; and various other irritations.

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July 2026 Randoms

 

The Boston Temple

The summer flowers were so pretty. The temple gardeners do a great job.

John on his mission (last full month!)

😆

Food

I treated myself to this delicious (and expensive 😑) lobster roll on my way off the Cape one day after cleaning the house between renters.

I went to a program at a nearby library about colonial-era cooking and brought home some recipes. I made this 1750s bread—the recipe is from the 1750s with all the same ingredients. It turned out a little funny-looking (like a clamshell), but it tasted good!

Really good orange juice

Nutritious avocado toast

Actual Randoms

I participated in this.

Please do!

A path into the woods that I regularly use on my woods walks

Sam took a selfie at church

This guy is so funny. He's a nonpartisan(ish) Trump impersonator, and he gets him just right. In this one, he was pretending to be "Donna Trump," a female version of Trump running for president in 2028. 😆 I of course appreciated the name.