Here’s what I’m digging lately…
Novels – I was a voracious reader growing up (and when I say “voracious,” I mean my parents literally had to pry the books out of my hands for fear I would ruin my eyes from constantly having my face shoved in a book). Since my early 20’s, I shamefully haven’t had the attention span to read as much…I blame the Internet. But, when I did read, I tended to gravitate towards non-fiction (quite a departure from my novel-loving younger days). I still do love a good memoir or comedy book (or even a well-written cookbook), but I’ve been getting more into fiction recently – I just devoured The Girl on the Train, among a few other thrillers, which has been my genre of choice of late. Jeff is overjoyed – he’s a huge reader himself, and almost exclusively reads fiction. He read The Girl on the Train immediately after I was finished, and we’re going to see the movie tonight – so excited!
Onion & Chive Cream Cheese – Random, I know. I’m a huge fan of breakfast in general – it’s probably my favorite meal of the day. I eat the same thing almost every day at work – oatmeal from my work cafe’s breakfast bar, topped with berries, toasted coconut, a little brown sugar, and a spoonful of granola. I usually stick to yogurt at home on the weekend, but yesterday on a whim I picked up a package of plain bagel thins and an assortment of whipped cream cheese spreads, mostly for Jeffrey. Let me tell you – that onion and chive cream cheese really hit the spot. My yogurt may just need to take a backseat for a while.
Wine – I know, #basic. But, after months of emails promising enticing deals, I joined a monthly wine subscription club (Bright Cellars) last month – at $38 for my first shipment of 5 bottles, it was just too good of a deal to pass up, plus I’ve been wanting to keep more wine on hand instead of just buying a bottle at a time. It’s normally $68 for four bottles, but they have a referral program where you get a free bottle for each person referred (I’ve referred two people so far, so I’m up to 2 free bottles)…plus my first shipment was delayed by some kind of vendor issue, so they gave me ANOTHER free bottle for that (their customer service has been top-notch so far – I emailed them just because I thought my shipment may have been lost in the mail…I wasn’t even complaining)! I figure I’ll keep it going until all of my free bottles are used up, and by that time I’ll have quite the wine collection and I’ll stop the shipments until I’m running low (Jeff doesn’t really drink wine, so I don’t go through it super quickly). When I signed up, I took a short test to determine my taste, and you can choose to have only whites, only reds, mostly reds with a white thrown in here and there, or a mix of both, and then you rate each bottle you receive to help them choose the best wines to send for your personal tastes. The first bottle I opened – a tempranillo, my favorite! – was on point, so I’m excited to try more. If you’d like to give it a shot, you can use this link to receive 50% off your first order.
Fall TV – I love this time of year, when all of our favorite shows come back (even though a lot of what we watch these days is on Netflix or another streaming channel). We’ve been enjoying New Girl, Superstore (SO funny), and of course SNL, and I’m loving a few new shows (The Good Place is super cute, and I’m determined for This Is Us to fill the void Parenthood left in my life). I’m also anxiously anticipating Sarah Jessica Parker’s return to television in Divorce.
Cooking – I always love cooking, but I tend to hit a slump during the summer – I’d just rather be out and about, and it’s not as fun to me to cook lighter summer dishes as it is to cook hearty fall meals like soups and braised dishes. As I previously mentioned, I love to put on a podcast and take my time cooking a yummy meal. Of course, I also love baking this time of year – last weekend I whipped up a batch of frosted pumpkin cookies, and I’m itching to go pick some apples and use them to make all kinds of goodies.
Shoes – I’ve always been more of a clothes girl than a shoes girl, but I’ve been developing a bit of an addiction recently. I’m kind of obsessed with sneakers – I want a pair of New Balance in basically every color (these are a crazy steal right now and I REALLY don’t need them, but I mean…an extra 40% off!), and I just added these classic black Nikes to my collection using a Zappos gift card I had laying around. I’m also really digging block heels – especially in cabernet or navy suede (like these and these).
Leggings – Ah, the most wonderful time of the year. Well, actually, let’s include all manner of slouchy, lounge-y pants – my favorite sweats I found on a random trip to Banana Republic outlet have been getting a lot of action these days as well. I ordered a pair of leggings from Girlfriend Collective a while ago – have you heard of them? It’s this startup that’s ethically manufacturing bomb-ass leggings, and they’re giving away one pair of leggings to each customer for the cost of shipping. I’m anxiously anticipating their arrival sometime in November.
Relaxing – I’m really soaking up the post-wedding life. I feels so great to not have anything to plan or decide or coordinate, and my weekends have been filled with a lot of lounging, tidying up, and catching up on blog reading. I want to get back into home projects soon – I have big plans for our master bedroom – but for now, I’m chillin’ out max and relaxing all cool.
Sweat the Small Stuff 