Summary Sunday: Winter Carnival Edition

We just got back home from a trip up to McCall Winter Carnival so I'm getting this post in right under the wire to still make it count as a Summary Sunday and not a Summary Monday. We went up with Collin's sister and her family and had a wonderful time. We ate a very filling breakfast up at The Pancake House and then walked around town looking at sculptures. We had originally planned on eating at my Uncle and Aunt's pizza restaurant (Growler's), but we were far too full from our late breakfast (in fact, I haven't eaten anything else and I probably won't before bedtime...so much French toast...).

Wow...it's been a LONG time since I've done a Summary Sunday. The last one was clear back in 2012. For those of you who are new to reading the blog (or for those of you who have forgotten what the heck a Summary Sunday is because I haven't done one in so long), each Sunday I wrap up what I did for the week. This includes the posts I posted, the recipes I tried, the books I read, the projects I worked on and/or finished, and sometimes some fun stuff I found on the web.

When I was making the blog plans for this year I decided to revive Summary Sundays. I kind of missed them. I think I just like the organization of it all. It just seems nice and tidy, doesn't it? Speaking of organization...the plan for the month still continues. January is Organization and Planning month and I am moving right along.

This year, I'm also going to add in my favorite pin of the week (because I still love Pinterest even though some bloggers have gotten angry about people saying they found something on Pinterest instead of saying specifically what blog they found it on) and maybe a few other surprises here and there...we'll see how it plays out.

So...what did I do last week?

Posts I Posted : On Monday, I made my return to the blog since selecting and announcing the 2014 Book of the Year and having an awesome guest post from my sister-in-law, Victoria. I came up with the 2014 grand plan for the blog and made myself some semi-resolutions. I'm actually kind of excited about this because the plan may help me do what I would like to do with the blog without feeling lost or overwhelmed. Well...I take that back. I'll probably still feel overwhelmed now and then. But I have a road map. And that is awesome.

On Wednesday, I started up the real activity of January's Organization and Planning theme. I put my blog planner together and shared the printables to make your own. I have to say, so far I'm loving the planner and it's making me feel in control. I'm still working on getting it fully up to speed (though I'm getting there), but it's already helped me quite a bit.

And then on Friday, I made the first 2014 BOTY review post. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik was the first book I read this year to earn above 3 stars.

Not too shabby!

Books I Read : Goodreads currently shows me 2 books behind for my 2014 reading goals. I should catch up by one this week because the book I'm reading right now is gooood and moving fast. This week I finished Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik and it was pretty darned good. Good enough to earn itself a blog review and a spot in the bracket for the 2014 Book of the Year.

Projects I Worked On/Finished : I finished designing and assembling the blog planner and have been working to get it all filled in and ready to roll. I'll be sharing this tomorrow, but (in keeping with January's theme) I finished some serious cleaning and reorganization of the scrapbook room and closet. It was a disaster. That's what happens when I tackle Christmas projects. Things get ugly people. I shall share the ugly tomorrow.

Recipes I Tried : I tried two new things this week! I made this Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana (with a few modifications) and put together a citrus salad of my own design (I'll share this sometime, it's easy). We also ate some delicious pumpkin pie pancakes that I'll be sharing in the future (I've made these before) and had ourselves some fantabulous crack bacon.

This Week's Favorite Pin : I wasn't on Pinterest much this week, but I did find myself something that got the wheels a turnin' in my head. I'm totally in organization mode right now, so this idea for organizing fabric from Rhinestone Beagle was right up my alley. The crop room (the room with all of my sewing and random crafting stuff) is a mess and I have fabric everywhere. It's in the works for a total overhaul. Fabric is definitely an issue, so this cute little storage station is something that I'm totally coveting. (The redo is scheduled to be completed by the end of March and will be featured on the blog.)

And there you have it...the first Summary Sunday post of 2014. I even finished it on a Sunday! Things are looking up. According to the planner, I'll be back plenty this week. You're stuck hearing from me tomorrow for the reveal of the scrapbook room clean up. I'll also have a couple of other posts before Friday's month-in-review, a new feature to the blog for 2014.

How did your week go?