Your Whims Wednesday #416 {And Features}

Time for another Your Whims Wednesday Party!

<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.com/"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lmtNkTowoFQ/WVuQKhczMmI/AAAAAAAAQOQ/mSO_-ut2OzsEpsg_q7kG3iu6rWXfzLW3QCLcBGAs/s1600/YWW%2BButton.jpg"/></a></center>

Here are some of my favorites from last weeks party:

Sewing Cabinet to Outdoor Bar by Virginia Sweet Pea

DIY Beach House Sign by Vintage Paint and More


Pineapple Daiquiri Cocktail by Bird's Party


M & M Cookie Bars by Big Green House


Thanks to all who linked up! Grab a button if you were featured :)

<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.com/"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cpxv2ALXe0g/WVuRDmxnl6I/AAAAAAAAQOU/MNhNi4c1xqY5WIQ6M-NqRQAYSIQQ40LagCLcBGAs/s1600/Featured%2Bon%2BMGW.jpg"/></a></center>   Now... onto this weeks party!  

Summer Seneca Lake Finger Lakes Trip

I recently got back from my 4th trip to the Finger Lakes region and feel like it is my DUTY to share this little slice of heaven with you all again! If you live within reasonable driving distance to this wine country in Upper State New York - you NEED to add it to your bucket list of places to visit.  After four trips, I still can't get enough of the region!  William and I had such a fun trip over the 4th of July so I thought I would share everything we hit up on our trip in case you want to plan your own visit!

We decided to drive up on Wednesday night, the day before July 4th and stayed in the Corning/Elmira area of New York which made it about a 3.5 hour drive for us from the Philly suburbs which was feasible to fit in after work.  When we got up Thursday morning then the bulk of our driving was done and we were ready to enjoy our vacation! We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Corning which had a GREAT breakfast buffet.  We ate up and then drove just about a half hour North to go hiking at Watkins Glen State Park. This park is SO beautiful: it has various gorges and waterfalls that you are able to hike through that were all formed by glaciers years ago.  It costs $8 bucks to park, but the views and nature is completely worth it.  

We hiked the "Gorge Trail" which had the most views of all of the water falls and other sites.  

We parked at the South Entrance and hiked down and then back up the Gorge Trail in just under an hour.  There are steps to climb and some slippery terrain, but overall it is not a super strenuous hike.  If you want a little more of a workout: we hiked Robert Treman State Park on our last trip and THAT was a hike!!!

Your Whims Wednesday #415

Time for another Your Whims Wednesday Party!

<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.com/"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lmtNkTowoFQ/WVuQKhczMmI/AAAAAAAAQOQ/mSO_-ut2OzsEpsg_q7kG3iu6rWXfzLW3QCLcBGAs/s1600/YWW%2BButton.jpg"/></a></center>

Here are some of my favorites from last weeks party:

Fluffy Greek Yogurt Pancakes by Cooking with Ewa

DIY Mandala Dream Catcher by My Pinterventures

Watermelon Krispie Slices by The Mandatory Mooch


How to Build Wall to Wall Shelving by Rain on a Tin Roof


Thanks to all who linked up! Grab a button if you were featured :)

<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.com/"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cpxv2ALXe0g/WVuRDmxnl6I/AAAAAAAAQOU/MNhNi4c1xqY5WIQ6M-NqRQAYSIQQ40LagCLcBGAs/s1600/Featured%2Bon%2BMGW.jpg"/></a></center>   Now... onto this weeks party!  

Your Whims Wednesday #414 {And Features}

Time for another Your Whims Wednesday Party!

<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.com/"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lmtNkTowoFQ/WVuQKhczMmI/AAAAAAAAQOQ/mSO_-ut2OzsEpsg_q7kG3iu6rWXfzLW3QCLcBGAs/s1600/YWW%2BButton.jpg"/></a></center>

Here are some of my favorites from last weeks party:

Hello Summer Pillows by Flamingo Toes


DIY Tiki Torches by The Scrappe Shop Blog


Dark Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Cookies by A Big Green House


Roasted Chicken with Peaches and Tomatoes by Lou Lou Girls


Thanks to all who linked up! Grab a button if you were featured :)

<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.com/"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cpxv2ALXe0g/WVuRDmxnl6I/AAAAAAAAQOU/MNhNi4c1xqY5WIQ6M-NqRQAYSIQQ40LagCLcBGAs/s1600/Featured%2Bon%2BMGW.jpg"/></a></center>   Now... onto this weeks party!  

My Girlish Whims Book Club #18

It's officially summer time and for me that means lots of time at the pool, lots of time at the beach, and lots of time READING!!! I'm back to round up my four most recent reads since my last book reviews and there are definitely some good options here if you are looking for a fun beach read yourself!

I'm actually typing this up while I came down to Ocean City New Jersey with my parents for a quick weekend trip. We got to sit on the beach for a few hours yesterday and it was quite the ideal situation for getting some reading done! The beach actually got to be pretttty hot in the afternoon, so after a few hours we headed back to the campground that my parents keep an RV at for the summer and relaxed there for the evening as well. I got to do all my favorite activities at the beach this weekend: run on the boardwalk in the morning, spend the afternoon at the beach, and hang out with some wine at the campground for the evening (with more reading as well!)

I read about 200 pages of my current novel just between Friday and Saturday down here, so its definetly time for me to get these last reviews up before I start working on more :)  Here are the past few books I've read!

This post contains affiliate links

It's Always the Husband

By Michele Campbell. Synopsis from Amazon:

Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny first met as college roommates and soon became inseparable, despite being as different as three women can be. Kate was beautiful, wild, wealthy, and damaged. Aubrey, on financial aid, came from a broken home, and wanted more than anything to distance herself from her past. And Jenny was a striver—brilliant, ambitious, and determined to succeed. As an unlikely friendship formed, the three of them swore they would always be there for each other.
But twenty years later, one of them is standing at the edge of a bridge, and someone is urging her to jump.
How did it come to this?
Kate married the gorgeous party boy, Aubrey married up, and Jenny married the boy next door. But how can these three women love and hate each other? Can feelings this strong lead to murder? When one of them dies under mysterious circumstances, will everyone assume, as is often the case, that it’s always the husband?
A suspenseful, absorbing novel that examines the complexities of friendship, It’s Always the Husband will keep readers guessing right up to its shocking conclusion.

Ugh. I believe that this is officially the first book picked for our in person book club that I did NOT like! In fact, when I got to about 25% of the way through the book I actually felt like quitting it – and I ALWAYS finish my books! I am kind of glad that I ended up finishing it because the end was a lot better than the middle (and I like to think that I’m not a quitter, hah!) but still.  This was just not a winner for me.  I think the biggest problem was that between all three of the main character girls, there really was not one of them that was completely likeable! They were either too bratty, snobby, clingy, back-stabby, jealous, etc. etc. etc.  During their college years all 3 of the girls just had extremely annoying and immature personalities and I could not find myself rooting for any of them.  At the beginning of the book, the book flashes back and forth a bit between the future and college years, but overall the college/younger years consists of almost half the book and I just could not get into that portion.  When the story returns to present day with all 3 girls reunited I actually did gain interest in the story again.  There was a decent amount of mystery and small amount of suspense and honestly the ending did take me by surprise.  However, the ending was NOT worth suffering through the beginning part of the book and overall it was just a DUD for me. This is nothing like Big Little Lies or any of the other popular thrillers it was compared to.  I would SKIP this if I had to do it all over again!