5 Bookish Hashtags to Explore on Instagram

It's no secret that I love Instagram. Lately, I've been spending a lot of time exploring the community, and my favorite posts are definitely travel photos and bookstagrams. Today I'm sharing five hashtags that I particularly enjoy exploring on any given day. :)

photo via @megtristao

1. #currentlyreading | This was the first "bookish" hashtag I discovered on Instagram. It gets a lot of use, so there are always new photos to scroll through.

6 Ways to Make Your Mornings More Productive

Morning is an important time. It sets the tone for your entire day, and it's home to the best meal ever (see #5 below). Since I went back to school and changed jobs last year, I've been spending a lot of time at home, so a morning routine has become more important than ever to start my day off right. Today, I'm sharing five six easy tips to help make your mornings more productive as well!



1. Don't use the snooze button. Pretty self explanatory, right? Does anyone really feel better after getting 15 extra minutes of half-sleep in the morning? I know I don't.

5 Books to Read in 2015

Last year, I was super excited to surpass my goal of reading 30 books: I read 40! This year, because of my transition from full-time to part-time work, I set a pretty lofty goal of reading 52 books. I'm also a graduate student, so I don't have unlimited time to read for pleasure, but I'm hoping my spring and summer breaks will be filled with lots of reading. :) It was pretty hard to narrow down my TBR list to only five books for this post, but here are the five books I most want to read in 2015. (Right after I finish the #SCWBC14, of course.)

5 Must-Have iPhone Apps

Just one day before leaving on my honeymoon, I upgraded to an iPhone 5S. Woohoo! My previous phone was an iPhone 4, and though it worked fine (if fine = randomly shutting off, the battery icon being stuck at 19 percent, and all the apps wonking out because of the iPhone 6 updates), I was excited to finally get a phone with a nicer camera (8 megapixels vs. 5, if you were wondering) right before my big trip. Anyway, the point is: obviously I had to download some apps the minute I walked out of the store. I have been making a conscious effort not to clog up my phone with unnecessary apps to help preserve its efficiency, but here are five apps I would rather not live without. (And the best part is: They're all free! I don't pay for apps. Pssh....)



Instagram | Duh. I am addicted to Instagram, as my almost-daily posts probably illustrate. And the only reason I don't post more is because I don't want to scare away potential followers (and because I like to think I hold my Instagram photos to a pretty high standard). If you like photos of beautiful books, cozy coffee cups and pretty places, you should definitely follow me! :)

5 Fun Things We Did on our Honeymoon

My spanking-new husband and I just returned from our honeymoon on Monday evening, and though I definitely plan to share more photos and stories in upcoming posts, I wanted to give you a little sneak peek to enjoy this weekend. :) We decided to visit Asia for the first time for our honeymoon and split our time between Cambodia (Siem Reap) and Thailand (Chiang Mai, Railay Beach and briefly Bangkok). Here are five fun things we did during our adventure:

5 Podcasts for Any Personality

Earlier this year, I mentioned I had started listening to podcasts at the gym while I was training for my triathlon. Then, in the past week, six different people recommended a new podcast to me; I started listening to it this week and am already hooked. So for today's "5 Things" list, I thought I would round up five of my favorite podcasts! They are each pretty different, so you should be able to find at least one that interests you. :)

5 Best (Complete) Television Series on Netflix

I used to watch a lot of Netflix. (And let's face it—the only reason I don't watch as much now is because I actually have cable and can DVR current shows.) Today, I bring you the top five complete television series available on Netflix for your viewing pleasure!

(Note: This does not include shows that are still on air, such as Law & Order: SVU, Criminal Minds, Parenthood, or several other fabulous shows you can find on Netflix. Heck, I guess I'll have to do a separate post about those next week!)

The Five Coolest Winter Olympic Sports

Of course I had to get an Olympics post on here before the Games end! I will admit, I'm more of a Summer Olympics fan (mostly because I love gymnastics but also because of the greater variety of events), but any Olympics are awesome in my book! So, without further ado, I bring you the five coolest winter sports (in my humble opinion). Pun intended! ;)

5 Historical Fiction Novels Set in the United States

I love historical fiction. (Are you surprised? No. Hmm ... you know me well.) Even as an avid reader of this genre, though, I typically imagine tales of the Tudors or stories of Holocaust victims when I hear the term "historical fiction," and I often forget how many great historical fiction books take place in my very own country: the United States. Therefore, today I bring you:

5 Awesome Things Your Local Library Offers

When my fiance and I got DVR in our apartment last summer, I started recording all the Criminal Minds episodes that aired and kept an Excel spreadsheet on my computer to track which episodes which were recorded and which episodes were upcoming, so Jonathan and I could start watching the show in order from season one, episode one (#nerdalert). After three seasons of this meticulous record-keeping and sifting through the 50+ episodes on our DVR, I had an awesome idea: the library.

Of course I always knew the library had DVDs and CDs, but for some reason it had never occurred to me that I could rent entire television seasons! It's way better than DVR because I don't have to fast-forward through commercials, and the library has shows Netflix doesn't offer (Exhibit A: Criminal Minds). That got me thinking about all the other awesome resources my local library has, and yours probably does, too! Here are five such fantastic things:

Photo via @mcstroup; design by Megan.