It’s another Monday again folks, and you know what that means… Another installment of Monday Ramblings is live on the blog with another weekly roundup of fun or interesting links to things I’ve read or listened to over the week… And what a spectacular, stormy weekend we had on the Front Range. If rain is here to stay, I have decided I’m here for it!

After a week of feeling under the weather, it was nice to get active again. I played ice hockey on Friday night with my team, and although we lost, I really enjoyed myself. It’s such a great exercise, and I get pretty competetive, despite being terrible at it. We stayed at the bar for a few hours after the game and I bonded with a few of my teammates. I am really enjoying this sport, and I’m grateful that my team is so patient with me while I fumble around on the ice trying to figure out how to handle a puck.

Saturday I made some pretty darn good borsch (I used this recipe and highly recommend it. I made mine with some chunks of beef and thought it turned out really tasty. Also, as an aside, a major pet peeve of mine as a Russian-speaker is how English-speakers insist on spelling the Russian word ‘борщ’ as ‘borscht’ with a ‘t’ in English. It’s pronounced borsch, and there is no ‘t’ at all. Anyway, I digress).

I had a really restful Saturday, and took a 3 hour nap and read a book I’ve been putting off reading for ages (It’s Spare. I actually am enjoying it. I’m sure many people are burned out by Prince Harry and Meghan at this point, but I find their story fascinating, especially reading about what they went through dealing with the British tabloids. I will probably delve more into my feelings in a future post).

Sunday was rainy and lovely. I am sure I complained about all this rain previously, but lately, I’ve actually been thinking about how nice and green all this moisture has been making everything. Colorado is usually dry and hot around this time of year, so we have been enjoying unexpectedly cool weather. Anyway, I had brunch at this very charming cafe up by Evergreen. The cafe is right next to a creek, making everything so lush and gorgeous. Also, I decided that it was time I did something with my hair after 6 months of neglect. There really isn’t anything quite like getting a fresh haircut and color to make you feel better about yourself. Afterwards, I had dinner with the family, which is usually very enjoyable too.

Overall, I’m feeling extremely grateful and happy today, especially for all the nice things I get to do with all the people I love. This weekend, in particular, left me feeling very positive, and I’m glad that I get to go back into another workweek with a happy mindset.

Anyway, on to some interesting links and things…

🫶Help out

Watching the war in Ukraine unfold from abroad makes me feel like my heart is being ripped out of my chest every time there is yet another, tragic, breaking news story. In case you haven’t heard, the Kakhovka Dam was destroyed by the Russians and flooded the entire region. We don’t even know how many human lives have been lost due to this tragedy, but I can only assume it’s devastating. I’ve been finding some peace in seeing social media stories where people have been rescuing the elderly or animals. Little things like that have been restoring my faith in humanity. If you feel inclined to help, I’ve recently donated to Razom for Ukraine. They are helping by delivering food and supplies directly to Ukrainians impacted by the floods.

📖 Read This

Is everyone else also watching the tv with subtitles on or is it just me? This is such an interesting perspective on how our society is embracing subtitles more and how it’s impacting the film industry  

Here is a good twitter thread (conveniently on instagram) about why a lot of Millennials are not able to make sense of our age. There are SO many points in the thread that are spot on for me…

🍿 Watch This

I’ve been enjoying the Netflix series Godless. I’m not entirely sure why, but I’m very much into the ‘Wild Wild West’ theme lately. I especially love how it’s set in Colorado/New Mexico and paints a picture of what life might have been like around then.

🥘 Food

This German Potato Salad with Dill sounds like a great summer ‘salad’ that would also be very filling.

I’m going to try and see if I can make this oven-roasted chicken shawarma this week.

🛍️Shopping

Fathers’ Day is fast approaching. If you still need some help or inspiration for a gift, I made a really good gift guide!

I have been wanting to get myself a pair of aviators for a longtime, but I didn’t want to commit to the price tag of Raybans, as nice as they look. These Target ones look really cute and their price is even cuter ($12!!).

I hope your weekend was wonderful too! What have you been reading/listening to? I would love to know your thoughts down below!

Disclosure – If you buy something from my affiliate links, I may earn a commission at no cost to you, but just know that I only share things I truly love or would love to have!!