What I’m Into: November 2021

Let’s take a moment right at the top to appreciate the fall colors:

Events

Thanksgiving was… not one of my better ones. We were hosting both sets of parents and Taylor’s brother’s family of five. I ordered a turkey from Fresh Market, planned to make several sides, and everyone was bringing something. I finished work early and got a lot of prep and cleaning done on Wednesday afternoon. Good thing, because I got food poisoning on Wednesday night. On Thanksgiving morning I was completely miserable and could barely stand up. We ended up having just our parents over for dinner, with a more limited menu but now way too much food, none of which I could eat. They took care of all the cleanup so I could rest. I have now (mostly) recovered and am enjoying leftovers, but the whole experience was depressing. Not what I wanted for C3’s first Thanksgiving. Hoping Christmas is much better.

This month we celebrated a semi-milestone birthday for Taylor with a small family party. I also surprised him with a night out with friends – the first time C3 was watched by a babysitter and not one of his grandparents! We had dinner at Old Venice and then went to a new local ice cream place, Sugar Ghost.

My friend Vada, who did a reading at my wedding, moved away this month. She and her husband are going to Maine! I’ll miss her but am really excited for her in this new chapter.

I successfully renewed my CP license! I had to complete 50 hours of legal education over the 5 years (can’t believe it’s already been that long), which doesn’t sound like that much, but takes some doing. I will happily do it though because I don’t want to take that test again. Ever.

C3 is almost six months old and getting so big. He can now play Super Baby and peek-a-boo, and is starting solids. I gave him his first little hair trim last weekend because he had a bad mullet situation going on. The trim made a surprising difference!

Reading

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume (3 stars) A novel for adults based on a true story of THREE consecutive plane crashes in Elizabeth, New Jersey in the 1950s.

Tell Me More: Stories about the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say by Kelly Corrigan (3 stars) Memoir about saying the important things to the people you love.

Recursion by Blake Crouch (4.25 stars) Total sci-fi mindbender that I couldn’t put down.

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (4.5 stars) I didn’t know until later that this was specifically written as a When Harry Met Sally homage, but I spotted the parallels from the jump. Since WHMS is one of my all-time favorite movies, I absolutely loved it. Emily Henry is becoming one of my must-read authors.

The Art of Ramona Quimby: Sixty-Five Years of Illustrations from Beverly Cleary’s Beloved Books by Anna Katz (4 stars) Lots of nostalgic fun if you grew up loving Ramona.

To Be a Man: Stories by Nicole Krauss (3 stars) A lot of these stories are set in Israel, which is interesting. Otherwise I was meh on most of it.

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker (4 stars) A novel a little too close to reality, about a sleeping sickness that takes over a California college town.

Undeniably Yours by Heather Webber (3.5 stars) The last installment of the Lucy Valentine series.

Listening

Weeping over this song daily, it’s fine.

Watching

American Crime Story: Impeachment – What amazing performances, and what a raw deal Monica got.

The Morning Show season 2, completed – I had a lot of thoughts!!

I have one episode left of Years and Years, a BBC drama on HBO Max. It took me a little bit to figure out what the tone was, but it’s basically This Is Us in an apocalypse. Squarely in the Brenda Crack category.

Travel

The day after Thanksgiving, we dragged ourselves to Alabama for the first birthday party of my youngest niece! She and C3 are almost exactly six months apart. Her party had a rainbow theme. We stayed until Sunday morning and the cousins enjoyed some time together.

Around Town

Big milestone: C3 attended his first Tigers basketball game in November! We took him to an early-evening Saturday game. We left at halftime, but he did great and seemed happy and engaged. He was checking everything out. I realized it was the most people he’d ever seen in his life. Ah, these pandemic kids.

My mom and I were happy to resume our annual tradition of seeing Nut Remix, a Memphis-set dance fusion take on the Nutcracker. I’ve seen it many times, but I think this year’s performance was the best yet!

My MIL was Grizzlies MVP of the Game at a game this month. She got to stand courtside for the starting lineups and be on the jumbotron. Pretty cool.

I went to a private beer tasting at Ghost River with a few good friends. It was SO nice, and refreshing, and weird to be out on my own socially in a public place. Later that week, I also attended a birthday party for one of the same friends. I need more of this in my life!

I decided C3 needed more Dr. Seuss books, so one Sunday afternoon we walked up to the neighborhood bookstore to get a few. It was the first of I hope many visits together!

At Home

I got Taylor this toaster oven/air fryer for his birthday (I was excited about it for myself too). I’ve never had a toaster oven before and am LOVING the ways it elevates everyday foods. Plus, it’s blue!

The Williams-Sonoma outlet near us had a bunch of autumn owl stuff on clearance, and I couldn’t say no to this gorgeous serving/display bowl. I’m going to use it year-round! Owls are for every day!

As I mentioned in my One Day HH post, we had this magnolia tree cut down in November. It was not long for this world. The “after” is too depressing for a picture, as the area looks pretty bad right now, but next year it’ll become a nice yard area for C3 to play. The backyard is already getting a lot more sun too (important since we live under a canopy of old oaks). We also had the oaks trimmed and balanced, something we’ve been needing to do since we moved in.

Beauty

I continue to try new things with my hair routine. The goal is not to have to “do” my hair all over again every morning. I watch a lot of curly hair TikToks for ideas. I impulse-bought the LUS curls combo pack of shampoo, conditioner, and styler (thanks for the code Joelle!), but it hasn’t been long enough to really know what I think. I’ve yet to find the right ratio of the styling product.

Wellness

Our elliptical keeps breaking and I think it’s done. So I spent a lot of time this month trying to think outside the box about fitness. I’ve been waffling on the Expecting and Empowered Postpartum Guide all year. I finally went for it with their Black Friday deal and the guide has already arrived! I have all the equipment I need, so I will be starting… soon. At Week 6. Even though I’m currently at Week 25. It is what it is.

Your Monthly Rufus

Rufus has fully claimed the Boppy Lounger now that C3 has outgrown it. Taylor set it up in the butler pantry and Rufus is happily spending most of his days there!

As usual, he’s also spending a lot of time blocking the TV.

On the Blog

I recapped One Day HH and shared some thoughts about my mom bod.

Good Reads

Per tradition, there won’t be a What I’m Into in December because I’ll be working on a lot of year-end wrap-up posts. So this is it for 2021!