A post in whence I briefly recap the latest goings-on in my life.
Did:
We went to Phoenix, where we’re both from and where our families live, for Christmas. It was so nice to see family, hit our old favorite restaurants (working on a favorite Phoenix restaurants post!), and spend some time relaxing in a slower-paced city. The drive both ways was super easy and we didn’t have to stop for lunch at the lackluster options on the way to AZ because we grabbed an Uncle Paulie’s sandwich in the morning, which was so good. We made it back home and the kitties were very glad to see us. We had to use a new cat sitter for this trip since our regular one was out of town and Moomin was hissing at her and was not very happy unfortunately, so I was relieved to get back to them. I wish we could take them on these trips and we may try in the future but they really hate the car ride and it’s hard to find an Airbnb that allows cats.
We spent New Year’s Eve at a hotel in Westlake Village, as we live in a firework-loving neighborhood and generally choose to spend New Year’s and the Fourth of July elsewhere so we can actually get to sleep. It was so peaceful and we got to spend a lot of time in the hot tub, one of my favorite activities. We had dinner at a new restaurant in Calabasas called Mulholland and really enjoyed the tempura mushrooms and lemon curd shortbread dessert. Now, we are back home for a while, as classes start next week (my final semester, hard as it is to believe!)
Made:
- Axel and I like to do homemade gifts for Christmas and for the past couple years we have been making cookie boxes for our families. This year, we made gingerbread with chocolate liqueur glaze, strawberry matcha neapolitan, cranberry orange shortbread, and pistachio chocolate thumbprint cookies, as well as Swedish cardamom buns and homemade vanilla bean syrup. I really enjoy making these and I think all the cookies were pretty good this year, especially the strawberry matcha.
Bought:
Reformation was having a sample sale in downtown LA in December and I bought the Frankie silk dress in Garden Soiree ($110) and the Vintage Oversized Crew in Black ($30). I am really glad that I bought these both at such discounted prices because I was not super impressed by the quality. The dress, while gorgeous and perfect for weddings or other formal occasions, is very thin and unlined. I will definitely have to have it hemmed and give it a good steaming before wearing also, as it’s pretty wrinkly. I loved the fit of the crewneck initially and it was perfectly oversized but it shrunk to like half the length after I washed it, sadly even though I followed the tag instructions. It is still a nice thick material and looks fine, but I couldn’t believe it when I put it on again after washing and found a normal-to-slightly cropped sweatshirt rather than the cozily oversized one I had bought.
Watched:
Axel and I have been watching Pretty Little Liars and have gotten really into it (especially Axel!) I remember when this show first came out and I think I watched the first few episodes then but never really watched it again after that. I have always been a fan of the books though and have read every one multiple times (I won’t say that they’re the finest example of mystery writing but they’re fun enough for some light reading). We’re now on Season 2 and have started noticing some inconsistencies (hello New Jason) but I’m hoping this isn’t another Riverdale…
Read:
I achieved my reading goal of 50 (new) books in 2023! Including re-reads, I actually read 106 books but I don’t count that towards my reading challenge. The books I rated 5 stars on Goodreads are: The Mountains Sing by Ngueyễn Phan Quế Mai, Because We Are Bad: OCD and a Girl Lost in Thought by Lily Bailey, Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish, Take Your Time: The Wisdom of Slowing Down by Eknath Easwaran (a birthday gift from my aunt), and Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. That’s a bit of a random mix of fiction, a cookbook, a memoir, and a book on meditation, but all books I really enjoyed reading and felt like I learned something from. I set my reading goal at 55 books for 2024 which may seem like a lot but will barely make a dent in the 1597 books on my “to-read” list lol.
That’s it for now, I feel like December was a whirlwind so I’m looking forward to getting back into my routines with classes, work, meal-planning, organizing, etc.
