What’s Up & Adventures – May 2022

Welcome everyone to the May 2022 recap for the What’s Up & Adventures! Honestly, there’s no adventures at this point. My life is very much just getting ready for the new arrival to our family. Of course, there was 2 little things that did happen which was rather fun but most of it was just trying to do a lot of restructure to our home (which I won’t be showing here) including a lot of deep cleaning throughout the weekends. So, as usual, we will start with some little “adventures” and then hop into the What’s Up portion which should be a lot more entertaining, I suppose.

Annual Garden Haul

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While we struggled in our decision between whether to have a garden or not this year since we have no idea what to expect in the coming summer months, we eventually decided that we would do a little container garden! Its a step down from the normal which would be to raised garden patches but we figured this would at least be in our face and easy to maintain plus when things get hard, we can add self-watering systems to it. Plus, we chose pepper, patio cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, romaine lettuce and leaf lettuce which are all fairly low maintenance from past experience. We did also pick up a rose that has yet to go into the garden. If we do have time though, we are shifting around the berries, notably the blueberries were are getting murdered by these rogue vines that we just can’t seem to get rid of.

Baby Shower

I’m not going to bore everyone with the details of the gifts since we had a little family gathering for the baby shower. The highlight of the day did go to my sister-in-law who made us this beautiful cake from scratch and it took her a whole 4 days to put it together from the cake to the fondant decorations. Its pretty impressive and a lot of appreciation for what she did for us.

WHAT’S UP – MAY 2022

*Highlighted titles are my recommendations*

Books

Currently reading: Nevernight

Not going to lie that reading isn’t on my top priority as I shift back to working from home a little bit more. Plus the wonderful fatigue is back to visit me so its been a little hard to focus. It doesn’t help that I was having a hard time getting into Nevernight so the game plan right now is to put it down and start something else since I wasn’t supposed to but still ended up picking up 2 books as a little treat for myself. I will probably start one of those shortly.

Movies

• Uncharted (2022, Review)
• Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979, rewatch)
• Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020, Review)
• Only (2019)
• Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind (1984 rewatch)
• SPF-18 (2017)
• Last Moment of Clarity (2010)
• The Outcasts (2017)
• Basic Instinct (1992)
• Kate (2021)
• A Perfect Pairing (2022)
• Agatha Christie’s Crooked House (2017)
• Lie With Me (2005 rewatch, Review)
• Deep Blue Sea 3 (2020)

May has been a decent movie watching month as I got through some of more unknown titles on the list as I continue trying to work through some non-Netflix films in case they happen to leave. Unfortunately, nothing too exciting for the most part although The Outcasts was a pretty fun discovery for a teen coming of age film whereas Last Moment of Clarity was a real disappointment. I did catch up with 2 films that I’ve been meaning to watch for a while: Basic Instinct and Kate and they were pretty good as well. Much like Deep Blue Sea 3 actually was a silly but still rather entertaining sequel compared to the second film (which isn’t that hard to beat since that one was pretty bad).

TV

• Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes (2022)
• Who’s The Murderer (Season 7)
• Love Death + Robots (Season 3, Review)
• Who Rules The World (2022)
• The Circle (Season 4)
• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Part 1, Review)
• Stranger Things (Season 4 Volume 1)
• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Part 2)

Currently binging: Yes I Do (Season 3), Infinity and Beyond, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Part 3)

This past month’s TV adventures has been pretty decent. For the most part everything was very entertaining. With the release of Love Death + Robots Season 3, which was a fun ride and over at Movies and Tea, we’ve already released our latest After Hours episode for it HERE, and then the month ending with Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 (2 more episodes to follow on July 1st), its been one heck of a trip. The Circle USA Season 4 was a real trip as well with some fun little twists added in much like Netflix acquiring a really good Chinese drama Who Rules The World that is very much worth the watch. As for a end of month little binge, I started up Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and working through all the seasons. Who knows, it might be a first step before going back to continuing Riverdale next…

Games

• Unpacking

Gaming was fairly tame. While not listed here, I’ve been playing Crazy Diner on mobile which reminded me of the nostalgic days when I used to play Diner Dash on PC. At the same time, I’m working through the Xbox Game Pass catalogue and finally got around to playing Unpacking. I am trying to get a review up for that on Game Warp’s blog but I really just wanted to see how an unpacking game got all these nominations especially in terms of narrative. While I can see where a lot of it comes from and the deeper meaning to it and it is surprisingly easily to get sucked into it where I finished it in one sitting as its 3-4 hours long, the experience is really not for everyone and probably some people might find it rather pointless perhaps.

That’s it for this month’s Adventures & What’s Up!
What have you been up to?

My Weekly Adventures #53

The second half of October has been an interesting one. We’re finally settling into our routine after my husband had a work schedule change. Its also calmed down after vacation so in reality, I almost have nothing to really write about but as I sat here think about the last two weeks, its been pretty awesome overall. I honestly have no other words to describe it. Why? Let’s just jump right in!

Shudder

A few years ago (I can’t remember how many years now), I backed a project on Indiegogo. Possibly one of the last projects I backed there because I didn’t find it as reliable especially when projects got funded regardless of whether they reached the goal or not meaning the chances of the project not cashing out is extremely high. I think I’ve backed 4 projects and at least one of them is probably not going to happen. One I’m fairly certain will cash through as its by two big stars and there is a lot of development updates going on. Regardless, I’ve gotten smarter. We’re not here about Indiegogo but rather a project I backed on there finally came through. Its called Found Footage. Found Footage is available for both 2D and 3D (except we got our 3D glasses mailed to us so early that I have no idea where it is now). It got distribution on Shudder, which is subscription streaming service but focused on horror movies.  You don’t need to sign up to see what movies they have so go ahead and check it out because its great. They have a trial for 7 days and such and its not really expensive. However, I do have Netflix so I kept hesitating and after procrastinating too much, something great actually came out of that and I had an extended trial period. Of course, I went ahead. Nothing beats the incentive of having gotten more free stuff. What I’m curious is how frequent there are new movie selections added and that will be a huge factor in whether I keep this one as a paying member. Regardless, its changed my horror marathon line-up in the final week to say the very least and it will also mean that there will be more horror movie reviews coming up. I have my eye on a few movies such as Seoul Station, Bullhead, Dead Snow, Haunter, Cherry Tree, Martyrs for starters.

Canadian Gaming Expo Montreal

On October 21st and 22nd weekend was the first time that the Canadian Gaming Expo has been held in Montreal. We went for the free event and did a little coverage for the games showed in the expo area. The coverage post will be up on That Moment In shortly but a little delay due to the hiatus last week. For the first time, my husband’s changed schedule now has him being free when these events happens so he can come with me. It was a lot of fun. We found a good parking spot (which is a pretty awesome accomplishment) and had a lot of fun.

Pretty New Things #1: SNES Classic & GT Sport

Wouldn’t this be a great new segment if only I had money to spend? 😉 I’m grateful for everything I have especially since I love to joke about my first world problems as I fully acknowledge that they are. However, I ended up asking my husband what he wanted for  Christmas and asked him whether GT Sport would be good for his early gift and I knew the answer already. He wanted the fancy limited edition steelbook with all the extra bonuses like extra cars and preorder had extra stuff as well. He really enjoyed the beta a few weeks ago and I know the $90 I put into will be put into good use as the replayability usually is worth it since Gran Turismo is one of those games who takes their sweet time to get out their next one to make sure it adds on a lot more improvement and polish and a better experience.

Aside from that, after I talk about being super poor, I need to justify that the stars aligned and I ended up getting a SNES Classic. October 23rd is a heavy day for myself but it was a day that came with so many great stuff and nice things that happened that I was able to forget the heaviness a little.

Pretty New Things #2: Nice Leggings

Have you ever wondered when you change your seasonal clothes that things just vanish? Mine are always leggings.  Luckily, I went to check if there was a sale at Dynamite Clothing and there was! I picked up these Moto Leggings and a pair of basic high rise leggings. They are super comfortable and feels very durable which is thicker so very suitable for the cooler weather.

Friend’s Baby Shower

Last Saturday, a few of our friends got together to celebrate one of my elementary & high school friend’s baby shower. She’s having a baby boy. I’ve never been to a baby shower but being invited to one was pretty fun. We played a few games which was great, won some candy and caught up with everything about her pregnancy and baby and everything else. I couldn’t stay long since I need to get back to the overtime work but it was nice for those few hours to see friends.

Letting Go

Emotionally, it seems this last month or so has been quite crazy. Perhaps not so apparent on the blog although I’ve mentioned it here and there but I’ve been working out some stuff on my own. More like admitting that I can’t do everything and that sometimes, its just that the right thing to do is to let go. It seems October is one of those months who will always be known for that. Anyways, this weekend, I finally let go of this thing that I’ve been trying to pursue. For the last month, my husband and I have been talking about it and working out the feelings about a lot of those issues and its helped me a lot. While I’ve gotten over a lot of it, there’s still some residuals feelings after actually committing to the decision. Anyways, I don’t really want to elaborate on it too much. Its nothing major just something I’ve spent a lot of time and my life working for (something of a hobby) and now choosing to stop.

Why No NaNoWriMo?

For some of you who have been here for at least the last year or so, maybe even followed me because of the NaNoWriMo writing thing, for the first year since 2012 (or 2013..I can’t remember), I’m not doing NaNoWriMo. I don’t mind the hard work and I actually do have an idea on what I’d like to write about, however, this year has been crazy and I not only need a break but instead of writing, I want to use that time to edit one of my previous novels. Its something I have meant to do for years and years. I don’t intend to publish it as an ebook or anything but its been something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m a reader and its been nice to see what being an author feels like to get that imagination and creative juices and really hammering out a novel and figuring out plots and outlines of different genres over the years but authors go through the entire phase and it sounds like a crazy hard time but definitely an experience I’d like to try and see if I can at least have one of those novels edited and get a few drafts until I think its perfect. Plus…I promised my husband and my best friend that I’d stop NaNoWriMo last year and edit so I’m really just following through on that promise to them this year 😉

With that said, if you are doing NaNoWriMo, I’m cheering for you! Keep it up! Know that you can do it! Message me if you ever need any ideas on staying on track or at least how to push through. My 5 years (or more) of experience has taught me a few tricks. Doing word sprints with the WordNerds are one of those tips. Don’t know who the WordNerds are, search them up on Youtube. 😉

Mini Update: Now Till the End of 2017

I had wrapped up this post and was thinking about now till the end of the year! December, or a good part of it, will be working on a holiday marathon/themed month. Phoebe and I have already started thinking about the Battle of Ingredients menu. I guess the update really is for November. With NaNoWriMo out of the picture and Game Warp needing to get back on track, November is going to have heavy focus on getting a lot of the backlog cleared up. I have screeners and unfinished books and TV Binges that need to be written and a few movies that I haven’t reviewed either. Its going to be a busy trek to the end of 2017, especially with my mind already feeling like making a few changes here.

With that said, as always in November and December, I ask you what brings you to Tranquil Dreams? 🙂

Cute Kitty Pic

Coming up: 

• MTL a Table (in place of the Battle of Ingredients)
• Movie Reviews & TV Binges
• Book reviews