It’s the end of the week, and the end of November, and I keep asking myself, “Where did the year go?”
I fear it’s the thing my parents always warned me about: that time moves faster the older you get. And even though — logically — I accept this inevitability, I also reject it. AWAY, YOU UGLY TRUTH, AWAY.
To contend with this pain, I thought I’d share some of my favorite things from the past seven days. Maybe reminiscing, recollecting, and sharing can be the solution.
In no particular order, here are some favorites:
Moments: Chatting reality TV (from Survivor to Married at First Sight, and yes, I promise there is a through-line if you’re a true trash panda) and playing Hot Streak at Friendsgiving. It’s not my favorite board game I’ve played, but perfect when you’ve drank nearly an entire bottle of champagne on a lazy Monday evening.
YouTube Video: Do you like sweaters? Do you wear sweaters? Do you enjoy falling down unnecessarily specific rabbit holes, specifically in regards to sweaters? Then I think you’ll like this video.
Thing I bought: Technically I ordered this a couple weeks ago, but my Holo Taco package finally arrived, which included the Sticky Base Coat. I am known to mess with my hands, especially my fingers, and will often peel my polish. Part of this is anxiety and part of it is the absolute satisfaction of a thing well-picked and/or torn and thus, my manicures often last me only a day or two, if I’m lucky. Up until now, the plus-side has been that I can change the colors I wear multiple times a week. The minus-side is perhaps everything else.
But now! Now I have a new holy grail and it is the Sticky Base Coat. It gives me about 3.5 days of manicure wear without any lift, meaning I have used it twice since it arrived and I am AMAZED. I’ve loved both manicures and finally feel like it’s worth applying magnetic polishes again.
(With the bonus that I still get to rip off my polish in a few days! The mani can still be picked at and come off in one fell swoop, hooray!)
An honorable mention goes to the NYTimes Cooking App subscription for the year. ($25 on sale.) They finally made it so their tiramisu recipe couldn’t be accessed over the paywall and I swear by it. Now I have a whole list of “Easy” recipes I want to make.
Made: The aforementioned tiramisu for family Thanksgiving. Marrying into a family with elite cooks often means that I feel incredibly satisfied, satiated, and grateful, but also like I haven’t contributed enough. So being able to share the oft-requested tiramisu makes me happy! (It’s also so easy.) I only have a single photo of the tiny bit I was able to take home, but my goodness, it was delicious.
Wrote: Is it terrible if I say this post? I wrote a lot of disparate things this week, several of them very fun bonus materials for THANKS FOR WATCHING. I am really excited for all of them, but I’m also nearing the point of being So Very Done with the story that I need a brief break from it. A little, loving hiatus, before I return and rererereread it in its final form.
Also, I’ve been wanting to blog again and this is the first post I’ve made in over two years?? Incredible.
Alternatively, I also came up with a brief outline for ANOTHER mystery that I might try to pitch Inimitable Books as a follow-up to TFW, so that’s quite fun as well. It even has a title! I also want to utilize a dual timeline, something I’ve never attempted before. How fun!
Read: A few short chapters (“short” as in a single page) of Murder Among the Stacks. It’s this adorable word search mystery, where on one page you have the story and on the other page, a word search! Eventually you’re supposed to be able to use the word searches to solve the whodunnit and honestly, this is the perfect “turn your brain off and chill” book. It also hits on some nostalgia of these activity books with a vague storyline from when I was a kid! 10/10, would recommend (if you like word searches).
Email I sent: Will this category ever come up again? I doubt it! But this week I sent off the email to my favorite local indie bookshop, hoping and requesting for them to host my launch day event. Not only did they agree, they also offered to help do a signed preorder campaign!!!!! ALL THE EXCLAMATIONS! I’m so giddy words cannot possibly do my emotion justice. I’ll keep y’all updated when those signed copies are available.
Podcast: The only way I clean my house is with my headphones on and a podcast playing. I’m currently working my way through Curse of: America’s Next Top Model, a recommendation from Clara, and it. Is. Incredible. I’m on episode 6 and absolutely riveted.
Show: My husband, the tech guy, has finally configured a way for us to watch allllll our British television and while I specifically had requested The Great British Sewing Bee, it’s Taskmaster that’s dominating our screen right now.
We’ve finished the series with Fern Brady (14), Noel and Mel of separate eras of GBBO (4), and chaos incarnate Jason Mantzoukas (19).
Now we’re starting from Series 1 and will work our way up until there’s no more new-to-us episodes to watch.
And then, maybe, I’ll finally go back to The Great British Sewing Bee. Or just start a rewatch of Taskmaster.
For some things I’m looking forward to this coming week: December! The small act of changing my calendars over always makes me grin, especially the freebie ones I get from my husband’s aunt every year that feature and support the National Park Foundation. (I also got to pick out my calendars for next year and oh boy, am I excited. It sounds like I’m being sarcastic, but that was a genuine “oh boy” and I stand by it.)
I’m also taking a mini roadtrip across Texas to visit my friend in College Station and it’ll be wonderful to see her. It’s been almost a year since we last chatted in person and I can’t wait to cozy up on the couch and binge watch some TV, nestled amongst all her holiday lighting. (She goes all out for Christmas and it quite literally is like living on the set of a Hallmark movie, but better. They should hire her.)
I also thought of a fun video idea that will require me to visit all the local bookstores in my city and maybe send off a goodie bag or two to end the year. One of the shops should even be on my way to visit my friend, so I’ll get to knock that one out early. All in all, lots to look forward to! 🙂
What was your favorite moment/podcast you listened to/email you sent this past week??
Thanks for reading! 🙂