Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays! This week seemed to last FOR-EV-ER because at the end of it was a glorious four-day weekend! (We all love a good, long four-day weekend, amirite?!)

Even though the week dragged, it seemed very productive. I mentioned last week that I need to start going to the gym and eating better, and I did, but I only went to the gym once when I wanted to go 3 times. But I did meal prepping! And I ate really good…the first fours days. Friday was a bit of a bad day eating-wise, but the parents and my co-workers from my preschool showered me in goodies to eat. 😋

I’m definitely looking forward to 3 more work-free days and relaxing with my family!

If you haven’t noticed, I went from Love, Rosie to A Darker Shade of Rosie. I was inspired by V. E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series while I was trying to find a different handle for my instagram account. And I liked it so much that I just had to rename my blog. Love, Rosie just wasn’t doing it for me, y’know?

• Top Ten Tuesday: Winter TBR
• Dear Rowan, You’re Crawling!
• I Wish I Didn’t Delete All of My Old Posts

This upcoming week: expect to see a special post (Christmas characters tag!), and two personal posts (another Dear Rowan letter followed by a 5 Things Friday).

NEW

I got my Scribbler box this weekend (and I’ve been slacking on doing unboxings of my subscriptions, gah!) and inside was this mystery/thriller! It sounds good, and I’ve added it to my TBR.

READING

• HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (Audiobook) read by Jim Dale • Finished. Listened for 5hrs 16mins this week. I finished it! And wow, it was even better than I remembered it. Prisoner of Azkaban has always been my favorite. I can’t wait to re-watch the movie now. (Goodreads)
• GIRLS OF PAPER AND FIRE by Natasha Ngan • Still reading. Read 119 pages this week. Guys this story is SO good. I would’ve read more if it weren’t for the Short-A-Thon readathon that started on the 21st. I can’t wait to read more of this one! It’s real and raw and written so well. (Goodreads)
• DON’T FALL BY Rachel Schieffelbein • Started. Read 121 pages this week. This was a short book I had on my TBR that I chose to read for the Short-A-Thon readathon. It’s pretty okay actually. It’s advertised as a modern day Rapunzel retelling, but it’s a very loose retelling. It’s cute. I’m getting through it pretty easily. (Goodreads)

I haven’t watched much, but I did watch a Hallmark Christmas movie last night called Christmas Getaway. It was a cute, feel-good Christmas movie about a writer who gets double-booked in a cabin with a single dad, his mom and his daughter. It was super cheesy, don’t get me wrong, but I liked it. Christmas gets me in the mood for cheesy!

Me and my fellow teachers got spoiled this week by our student’s parents! I think I got about $75 worth of gift cards and goodies, and I just love my job and the families so much! They make us feel so appreciated.

Friday morning was the highlight of my week, though. I usually go into work at 9 AM, but my little family of 3 went in around 7 AM because my preschool was hosting a “Breakfast with Santa”, complete with a pancake breakfast (the pancakes were flipped at us and we had to catch them!) and I got another cute photo of Rowan with the big guy in red!

I did some last-minute Christmas shopping, last-minute present wrapping, and I even showered last-minute, because that’s how I roll! I have been doing a lot of reading, though, so that’s awesome! I’m trying to get at least half of my Short-A-Thon TBR read before the new year is here.

I know Rowan won’t exactly be able to “open” gifts, or fully understand what”s going on this year, but I’m super excited for him to experience Christmas for the very first time!

I’ve decided to include this little tidbit at the end of my weekly digests, and use it to hopefully find new friends and open up more dialogue between us! This meme is brought to you by Coffee Addicted Writer, where I will be linking up!

Does your book club have a book exchange for the holidays? If you don’t belong to a book club, do you think that would be something fun to do?

MY ANSWER: I’m not a part of a book club, but that sounds like an amazing idea! I wish I had the time to be a part of one, but I my reading pace would not match anyone else’s, I guarantee it. So I just fly solo!

Are you in Christmas vacation mode? Are you excited for the holidays? Also, are you a part of a book club? Leave a comment below! 👇🏻

_{I’m linking up my post to Stacking the Shelves and The Sunday Post!}