November Recap

It’s the last month of 2020! Can you believe it? I’m so happy that this year is almost behind us. I just pray that 2021 is a much smoother ride. A new president and a COVID vaccine should hopefully help us get back to normal. I hope so, at least!

November was a lovely month for me, so let’s recap:

READING

I finished 12 books in November, bringing me to 141 books for 2020! I’m pretty certain I will be able to hit 150 this year, especially since I have the last week of the year off work. 🙂 Here are my favorites from last month:

• Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, a really sweet YA love story that was the perfect novel to read while waiting for the election results
• Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Verendeh, a truly magical book about love, loss, and imagination
• Come Away with Me by Karma Brown, a novel that follows a husband and wife as they move forward after an unimaginable loss

WATCHING

• The Amazing Race – We’re nearing the end of this season of The Amazing Race! I’ve enjoyed this season, although a lot of my favorites are already out of the competition and I don’t really like the three teams leading the race. Ah, well. We’ll see what happens!
• Golden Girls, season 6 – I’m back on the Golden Girls train! I had to take a break after my anxiety was triggered during an episode. This show isn’t always as lighthearted as you might expect! But I turned it back on and found myself falling back in love with my favorite foursome. I can’t believe I’ve nearly finished the series!

LISTENING TO

• (mis)Representative Democracy on Throughline – These episodes were published in October, but I didn’t listen to them until November, and they were so very good. This is a three-episode miniseries about voting in America. Episode 1 (The Electoral College) discussed how the Electoral College was made. Episode 2 (How We Vote) explored all the ways that voting has changed throughout the centuries. Episode 3 (The Most Sacred Right) examined Frederick Douglass’s lifetime of fighting for the right to vote.
• Liar Liar (Donald Trump Golf Stories) on Hall of Shame – I looooved the pettiness of this episode, hehehe. In this episode, the hosts explore all of the ways Trump has lied about his golf game, including some insanely childish tantrums he has pulled. If you want an episode where you can laugh at how ridiculous our (SOON-TO-BE FORMER) president is, this episode is for you.
• How Chelsee learned to love budgeting on Real Talk Radio – After a long hiatus, Real Talk Radio is back with a new series called “But How Though?” which digs into the nitty-gritty of how people met their goals. This episode was especially helpful to me, as it got me thinking pretty deeply about my own finances and how I want to move forward with my money goals and budgeting as a whole. (I also really loved their discussion about how much they spend on food, as it made me feel less insecure about how much *I* spend on food myself, haha.)

BUYING

• A new Christmas tree ($200) – I’m super happy with my (fake) Christmas tree! It’s so much bigger and fuller than the tree I used to have, and I really love it. Plus, it’s pre-lit so I didn’t have to struggle through the process of hanging tree lights. Turning on the lights every night fills me with such joy!
• Chatbooks ($46) – I ordered two more Chatbooks of the girls this month! I love having their Instagram photos in a pretty, bound book. It’s a little more difficult to put these Chatbooks together now since the girls have their own Instagram (@eloiseandlila) which is linked under my Instagram (@stephanywrites). For some reason, Chatbooks doesn’t have the functionality to pull photos from a linked Instagram account. (Or if it does, I couldn’t figure it out!) The whole genius behind Chatbooks is the ability for them to just plop your Instagram photos into a photo book, but now I have to do it manually. Anyway, I got a bit behind on ordering photobooks because I had to figure out how to do the manual process and then go back through months of cat photos to organize the photobooks. I ordered two books this month and was so excited to get them in the mail!
• Christmas face masks ($25) – I found two adorable cat-themed Christmas face masks on Etsy that I’m excited to wear this month while out and about. Who knew Christmas face masks would be a thing to be excited about this holiday season? 1 and 2 (I got style B)

HIGHLIGHTS

> Being a poll worker for the 2020 general election. I’ve already talked about my experience being a poll worker, which you can read about here. I’m so glad I pushed myself to do this and that I had such a fun experience. I’m not sure if it’s something I would do again (just because it’s SUCH a long day!) but it’s one thing I can check off my list.

> A post-election lady date. I took the day after the election off work, knowing I would need a day to sleep in and recover. Thankfully, my friend who also worked her first election did the same and we met up on Wednesday afternoon to chat about our experiences. We sipped delicious frose and snacked on bar food. We both had supremely positive experiences, so it was a lot of fun to talk about being poll workers! Plus, it was a gorgeous day outside!

> Biden winning the election! THE BEST PART OF NOVEMBER! I think I’ll always remember where I was when the race was called for Biden, just like I’ll always remember where I was when Trump was announced as president-elect in 2016. (Two very different emotions there.)

> Hurricane Eta. It’s unusual for Florida to be dealing with hurricanes this late in hurricane season (which ends on November 30th), but we had a bit of a scare as Tropical Storm Eta became Hurricane Eta, gathering strength in the Gulf. Thankfully, the storm weakened and shifted north, so I didn’t have to evacuate or anything. Instead, I got a nice cozy day of rainy weather! I am very grateful for that.

> Friday night dinners. Last month, my uncle was staying with my mom for a few weeks and we got into this fun routine of going out to dinner on Friday nights. It was a nice little kickoff to the weekend and I enjoyed spending time with them! Eating at restaurants these days is definitely a weird experience, but it’s something I feel comfortable doing right now. That may change, of course, but it was a nice way to catch up.

> A lady date and birthday surprise. This lady date was one of my bookish moments of November, so I won’t go into the details of the shopping date and birthday surprise again. But this lady date was such a great one because after spending time in the bookstore, a few of us headed over to my favorite pizza place, Cappy’s, for dinner. We sat outside, ran into an old book club friend, and just enjoyed catching up with each other. It was one of the bright spots of my month, that’s for sure!

> Thanksgiving 2020. I had such a lovely Thanksgiving with my family. I felt grateful that some of us could gather together, even though there were definitely people missing from our dinner table. It was a festive day, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed my big plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and mac and cheese. Mmm! And was happy to take home half a loaf of pumpkin bread to enjoy for breakfast over the next few days. Mostly, though, I fell in love with my cousin’s incredibly fat cat, Muffins, who is 18 lbs of pure sass and adorableness. She strutted her way into the room like she owned the place, and if I could have taken her home with me, I would have. 🙂

> Celebrating 33. I turned 33 at the end of November and had a lovely day celebrating. I started my day with a massage and then a pedicure with my mom. After that, my mom and I visited a local Christmas store to buy some goodies and I helped her and my stepdad pick out a Christmas tree. (My mom wanted a real tree for her first Christmas in her new home.) I met up with my mom, stepdad, and brother for dinner where I capped off my night with a warm cookie. It was such a wonderful way to welcome in a brand-new age!