Tag: with love kristina

Bookish, Artsy, Slice of Life YouTube Channels I Love

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Hello everybody!! Does anyone else like to watch YouTube? I feel like I can find anything on there. I do have favorites though, that I like to watch, especially in that calm down zone that we have with Wyatt. Usually Billy will be in the shower, and Wyatt and I watch half an hour of YouTube together. He has his favorites of our nighttime ‘Tubers as well, which I think is so cute. After that, we read a bit of his book and he goes to bed. It’s a nice way to wind down. I also like to put them on as background when I am doing things around the house as well. These YouTube people are all pretty different, from all walks of life, and different lifestyles and beliefs.

Anyway, here are some of my favorites lately! I’m also linking recent videos that I enjoyed.

First, in no particular order besides the order they were in as I scrolled through my subscriptions, is Harm’s Honey. Her full name is Harmony but I guess her shortened name people call her is Harm. I just love her vibe and style and energy, although I don’t always agree with some of the things she says or her exact views.

Next, Real Vintage Dollhouse! I love her vintage style from the 1940s, and her channel always includes detailed historical videos of different aspects of life in Britain in the 40s. I feel like her channel gave me the courage to embrace bold color lipstick! Plus, she is awesome because she rescued a pigeon! It is a crazy story, the pigeon actually came up to her at a pub and just wanted to stay with her. So she kept her. The pigeon was injured and had been kicked around at the pub and it was all very sad for a minute. But that pigeon went to the right woman!

Liv’s Library is our favorite book channel. Wyatt loves watching her and calls her the book lady, Liv. When he was in the hospital after surgery in a lot of pain, I put her channel on for him and he was able to relax a bit. I actually sent her an email thanking her for her work and told her about Wyatt and she wrote us back. She was so gracious and sincere! She also reads a lot of fantasy and cozy books, which I also like to read, which is of course why we first started watching her.

I also really like A Moment of Wonder. These are captioned, with music playing, and they are so relaxing and mesmerizing a bit. It is all book talk paired with a delicious looking food dish, usually dessert and a special drink. She acts like the viewer has just come in off the street into her bakery/cafe and they are just so atmospheric.

The Plant Based Bride is next up. I feel like her channel makes me smarter, in that it has challenged me to read my books a bit closer, and to investigate the themes and subtext and remember my Lit Minor roots from college.

We all love Alexis Dahl! This is one we watch with Billy too. Alexis shares history and science pertaining to Michigan, and it is always educational and interesting!

The Wild Pencil is a channel that doesn’t have a ton of video but the videos that are there, are quality.

With Love, Kristina is a vlogger I have shared before. I just really appreciate her honesty, and the realness of her life. It is not all an aesthetic for show and views. She is a real mom, who lives a real life, with ups and downs and struggles and happiness. She also just wrote a book, The Devil and the Midwife.

Finally, I want to mention Drew Binsky. This is another channel we watch with Billy too. Drew travels the world, reporting on “inspiring people, hidden cultures, and wild adventures in faraway places”. It is pretty fascinating!

Do you watch any of these channels? Who do you like? I would love to hear!

My Sunday-Monday Post!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn My Sunday Monday Post40 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello everyone! I hope last week was a good one for you all! We just sort of puttered around but it was nice to just putter!

Read Last Week:

Last week I read another cozy, Farm to Trouble and I absolutely loved it. It was seasonal, it was Michigan, it was cozy, there was an adorable little dog named Huckleberry. I can’t wait to read the next in the series but since that one is pretty autumnal I am going to hold off until fall, although it will be tough to do!

Reading This Week:

I have high hopes for this week, listing two books! We will see!

Posted Last Week:

Game Night! For Kids, by a Kid!

Road Trip: Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Watching and Listening:

Hmm.. what are we watching? Nothing really new. We watched some Death in Paradise, and to my great excitement, the first new episode of Season 10 of When Calls the Heart. I loved it so much I could have watched it a second time. I feel on some level I love that show so much because it makes me think of my youth and Little House on the Prairie, of which I grew up loving so much!! I still read the books, and while as a kid I wasn’t a huge fan of the television show, I did watch it. Especially the Christmas episode, such a great one. In fact, I should see if I can find it. I wonder if Wyatt would watch it? Hmmmm.

Saturday nights used to be our movie nights, but we have sort of tapered off. Maybe because it is summer? Later tonight (Saturday) after dinner, we are walking down to the next street over’s block party. We were out for a walk while Wyatt rode his bike and one of the neighbor’s spotted us and invited us down. So if it is not too late we might take a little stroll down, even briefly.

I’ve been watching my YouTube faves as well, Darling Desi, With Love Kristina, and Dainty Diaries.

As for listening, same stuff. I am looking for some book podcasts, if anyone has recommendations!

And that is about it from ’round here! How are things in your neighborhood?

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn books and reading, television32 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello everyone! Another week, and here we are in July already! We are off to a rainy start this July and that is ok, Michigan needs it. We also were dodging extremely unhealthy air quality last week and spent so much time inside. We were among the worst in the world for air quality – it blows my mind that a fire 500 miles from us could have effects here but it shows how small the world really is sometimes.

Read Last Week:

We read more Wyatt books than mine last week, since we were trapped inside. I did manage to read one, and started listening to another.

I have been waiting and waiting for The House on Prytania to come in for me at the library and let me tell you, when I got the email, I headed directly there and did not pass go. It was so good, y’all~ I love Nola and Beau, but the other characters are just as interesting and fun to read. Jolene in particular is a hoot!

I also started listening to The Living Great Lakes on Libby, and I am really enjoying it! I mean, living in the Great Lakes state it is of particular interest to me, and I am learning so much about the lakes as I listen.

Reading This Week:

I am so excited to read this! I bought it all the way back in January but have held onto it until summer, because I am a nerd and since the book takes place in the summer, I wanted to read it in the summer. It sounds so good!

Posted Last Week:

Hello July!

What Wyatt’s Reading

Homeschool Curriculum Picks for 2023-2024

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Watching/Listening:

In TV land, Billy and I got sucked into the world of School Spirits. We were expecting something a bit cheesier or just not as well done as it is, for what it is. It is so good! And now we are out of episodes which is a huge bummer. I love Simon and Wally, such good characters!

We also have been filling in here and there with Death in Paradise, and we are on the Humphrey episodes. We had just watched Beyond Paradise in the spring, which is about Humphrey who is back in England after his stint on the islands so it was neat to go back and rewatch his origins again.

This week we also start our shark month movie marathon! Well, I guess not really marathon since we are spreading them out over a few weeks, but still..lots of shark movies beginning with Jaws on Tuesday!

In my YouTube world, I have been watching a lot of With Love, Kristina, and Alexis Dahl. With Love, Kristina does a lot of vintage (mostly vintage) videos but also declutter videos which are my weakness. They are so relaxing, just to watch things go from super cluttery to all nice and organized. Sigh. Alexis Dahl is a Michigander whose videos are all about science and history and they are awesome! I loved her most recent video about Henry Ford’s “utopian” towns in the U.P. It was so fascinating!

I already mentioned that I am listening to the audiobook of The Living Great Lakes by Jerry Dennis, which is fantastic. I have also been listening to the podcast Sinisterhood, which is true crime/horror but the two hosts Christina and Heather are hysterical and I actually laugh out loud at some of their comments. So far I have really enjoyed their episodes The Stanley Hotel and The Nain Rouge, which is a total Detroit thing!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized35 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend so far! We did so much yard work yesterday that Billy and I are feeling it this morning. Lol. Wyatt had a blast though, playing in the yard while we worked and we had a great time out there together. This morning though, I might need an extra cup of coffee to get moving again.

So this week is a bit weird. Tomorrow is a holiday here in the States, and we are having some family over in the afternoon. Then Tuesday and Wednesday we have Wyatt’s overnight EEG at the hospital. I can never read in the hospital plus I will be trying to keep Wyatt entertained because keeping an 8 year old who feels fine confined to a hospital room is not fun, especially when they are hooked up to wires. And it will be just me and Wyatt for most of the day, since Billy will be working. He will joins us after work for the overnight part, but the daytime hours will just be Wyatt and I. Sleeping is bit hard too for kiddo. I saw this meme on the IG account Epilepsy Memetherapy and it is so true.

Read Last Week:

I REALLY wanted to read this book and I was hoping my hold would come in, so I was sort of avoiding reading anything in case it did. And on Wednesday, it came in! I practically raced to the library to pick it up, and it was definitely worth waiting for. It is a short, fast read, and I read it literally in one day. I LOVED it. I can’t wait to read more T. Kingfisher. It was both creepy and funny – the main character has a sense of humor very close to my own and I just couldn’t stop reading it.

Reading This Week:

I am not sure how much I will get to read this week! I do have a book all ready though in case I do get some time.

I also have a giant photo book to flip through.

Posted Last Week:

The Spring of Cary Grant: Operation Petticoat

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

The Spring of Cary Grant: Suspicion

Watching and Listening:

We have been watching the same things that we have been – Brokenwood and When Calls the Heart. Last night we changed things up though and watched Dungeons and Dragons, which was actually really good. It was just really fun and made me laugh out loud at certain parts. Chris Pine was great in his role, as was Hugh Grant!

As for listening, I have been listening to True Crime again after a long break. I am catching up on Morbid, Redhanded, and Going West. There was even a Morbid/Redhanded collab!

I am saving all my favorite YouTube channel updates for the hospital. Once Wyatt falls asleep Billy and I put on our headphones and watch stuff on our phones so we don’t wake him up. I will be watching lots of Darling Desi, Dainty Diaries, With Love Kristina, Alexis Dahl, It’s a Charming Life, and The Rambling Rose.

And that is from around here! I hope all is well in your world!

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP15 Comments

It’s a cold lazy morning around here today. I am soooooo over this snow and winter. Spring needs to get here! I am letting Wyatt watch tv in our bed this morning, while I sit here next to him drinking coffee and writing this post. I am reluctant to get out from under the covers today. I made quick coffee this morning, Keurig version – Newmans Own blend. It does the job but I drink it way too fast!

Let’s start with a Wyatt update. Yesterday he was able to go back to physical therapy (where he did awesome!) and then we went straight from PT to Detroit to Children’s Hospital for his follow up appointment to check his incisions. They thought he looked great!

Is daylight savings kicking anyone else’s butt? Wyatt and I are such primitive creatures I think. We are both having a hard time adjusting! I read that for some people it is hard because the darkness in the morning and the light in the evening is confusing to your brain and body, making you more tired in the morning and then more awake in the evening. That seems to be true for Wyatt and I. It’ll even out but dang I was draggin’ wagon yesterday almost all day, UNTIL it was bedtime. Billy however is just one of those rare people who can sleep anywhere, anytime, no matter what.

Wyatt had a playdate with Mermaid girl Friday while my SIL went for a check up at her baby doctor (one week until her due date!) and they played like crazy. Board games, restaurant, drawing, they just were into everything and having so much fun. My messy house got even more messy and I loved it. I wanted them to have fun! Wyatt was wiped out afterwards! It was good to see him have so much fun. Then Saturday was his little party! My mother-in-law got cake and ice cream and invited just a small amount of people over. Sadly, a few family members were sick so they didn’t come so we didn’t get to see them, but Wyatt still had fun. My mom definitely enjoyed hanging out with my in-laws two dogs – she is snuggling Murphy in that picture.

In other news – I got a new rug! Our other one in the den was just so dingy and since we spend so much time in there and with Wyatt healing, I felt like I needed something new. It is so bright and cheery! Next I need new couches since my cat Maggie (who passed away in October) used these as a scratching post; now that she is no longer with us (I still miss her everyday) we plan on replacing these, maybe in late spring. It didn’t make sense to do that until she was gone since she would have just done the same to new ones. For now though, a new rug it is! Not the most level photo, but I was kneeling in front of the other couch and Wyatt decided to hug around my neck while I was taking it. Lol.

Well, we need to start school soon, and then I need to get cracking on this house! It’s gone to the dogs over the past few weeks with everything, and I need to get it back in order.

Speaking of, does anyone else enjoy watching people declutter and organize on YouTube? I have no idea why I find it so calming but I do. I watch With Love Kristina for many reasons, but lately she has been decluttering and I feel relaxed after watching. She feels like a very real YouTuber, who shows her messes. She was also very preggers in this last video, but I saw yesterday on Instagram that she had her baby, so congrats to her!

And that is the big and small of it over here! How are things in your world?

Vintage, Whimsical, Creative YouTube Channels I Love

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized16 Comments

So sometimes when I want to just sit and veg to recharge my batteries, I enjoy watching YouTube. I am an endlessly curious person (nosy) and I love reading blogs and watching YouTube and following people on Instagram because I am always interested in what other people are doing and how they are living. I don’t envy their lives but I do usually learn about new things from them and sometimes I am just plain entertained.

I watch booktubers, homesteaders, and then just people who defy a category in my mind. They share their whimsy, their creativity, their vintage style, and I love just putting my feet up for a minute or two, drinking some coffee or wine, and tuning out to them.

Let’s start with..hmm.. Rachel Maksy. I may have mentioned her here before, I don’t remember, but I love her videos and what she shares. She makes the coolest stuff, and isn’t afraid to try things – like a vintage Creature from the Black Lagoon lady costume. She describes her style as grandpa, she has great vintage hair styling videos, and she is quirky and talented. My favorite video – her recreation of Evie from The Mummy.

The next YouTube channel is one that I just started watching, Dainty Diaries. She just does the cutest little cottagey things, and I enjoy watching her gardening content, which is different than the gardening content I watch on the homestead channels. This one has an aesthetic to it, rather than planting food to eat, which is also something I am interested in. This is more…I’m growing things and doing it in a pretty way. I haven’t watched too many yet, but the one I have liked the most so far is her video about making a hedgehog door in her garden gate.

Sage Lilleyman is an Australian woman who posts uploads that are vintage living related – sewing, housewife stuff, etc. I used to watch this British show where a family would have their house turned into a different decade and they would live like that for a week, and it fascinated me. I will never get over the woman who had to get fully dressed up and scrub her front stairs. Anyway, Lilleyman’s YouTube reminds me of that show, just on a smaller scale.

With Love, Kristina is another vintage living type channel. She uploads about books, slow living, body positivity and vintage style. She is another newish one that I watch so I haven’t seen too many but I have enjoyed the ones I have watched. My favorite is her video on living the perfect hobbit day. I would love to have a hobbit day! (Hmmm… maybe we will….)

And finally, Darling Desi. She is a whimsical watch for sure. She is just always so happy and romanticizes everything, loves to read (particularly Jane Austen) and has such an enthusiasm for everything. I love to watch her seasonal videos and book reviews in particular. I can relate to the seasonal type stuff she does, as I like to live that way as well – although with less style and frolicking.

If you need an escape or just want to see some vintage styles, check these ladies out. I would never dress this way, too time consuming for me. A Get Ready With Me Post would be like ten minutes. I never wear makeup, have wash and go hair, and am super happy in my super casual clothes that I can get dirty in outside with my kid or while painting or whatever, but I still like to dream about some alternate universe me who maybe does do this.

Have you watched any of these? Do you have any suggestions? Let me know!