Hello friends, family, and random internet passerby! Happy Thursday. Happy post-Halloween-candy hangover day. As I’m assuming (or, uhhh hoping) is the case with many of you, I joyfully ate candy all month long that was purchased for trick or treaters, but was enjoyed by me mostly. Riiiiiiiding that sugar high, baby. #ReesesPumpkins
Let’s discuss all the thangs. And there are a lot of thangs.
-First of all, it’s November! Whether you’re holding on to October with clenched fists or fully embracing all the Christmas lights Joyce-Byers-style, I respect and encourage you. BUT. Let us not forget to enjoy the best month of the year. (= Gospel according to Kasee Bailey). Let’s have a little November look-ahead, shall we?
First of all, it’s birthday month! I will be *officially* entering my late 20s on the 17th and I fully intend to Donna-and-Tom-it. All. Month. Long.
In other news: Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving. Mostly because hello, I love food. But on a more mature level *cough cough* I love reveling in feelings and expressions of gratitude and celebrating our abundance of blessings. It’s easy to lose that during the year, with everything that goes on. But truly, we are blessed.
Now, bring on the pumpkin pie, y’all.
This month, we’re also taking a trip to Seattle to visit my husband’s family (and ’cause porchetta sandwich and best cookbook shop here I coooome!), and I also get to see Ben Rector play at ACL Live. I CANNOT WAIT. What’s even more, later this month, my family–and other Austin- and San Antonio-ites–get to hear from our beloved Prophet, Russell M. Nelson. Then, there’s NaNoWriMo, which I’d really like to stretch myself to do this year. What a month of physical, emotional, and spiritual feasts it will be.
-Next: NEW TUNES! Have you checked out my monthly playlist series, Jamz? November’s is live! It’s got the best: new Carly Rae, country tunes, and more. Click here to jam. As a bonus, I’m sharing one of my recent musical discoveries: a previously-unreleased gem from Kelsea Ballerini that she debuted this week:
LOVE this song.
-Halloween. So, like I said before, I’m not much of a scary movie/elaborate costume/spooky decor person, but I do love sugar and the enjoyment of seeing the creativity of others.
My costume amounted to a tired, cranky, pregnant lady. So yeah, not a costume. My twins were DIY Mario and Luigi, outfitted with eyeliner mustaches, ridiculously-priced Party City hats they wore for approximately .05 seconds, and not-quite-matching shirts turned inside out. #MomFail
Can’t you just see the pure, unadulterated love of Halloween plastered on their faces?
So, yeah, we didn’t win Halloween this year, but some people sure did. Here are a few of my favorites.
This Coco costume? Un poco loco. But, incredible. (Also, you should really check out all of the costumes from students at my alma mater. Just 100%.)
BSB being epic and throwing it back to their classic music video attire. LOVE.
Noah Schnapp as Eleven. Can you even?
Joey (THE Joey) as grapes, and Lord Farquad. Just the best.
This epic homage to (one of) the best Mary-Kate and Ashley movies. That hair. That outfit. Those boots. Classic.
A mini Ina and Jeffrey! DYING. How do people even think of this stuff?
The Greatest Showman costumes are seriously next level. Lovelovelove.
Lupita Nyong’o’s Dionne costume is perfection.
Blogger Carly’s Parent Trap costume makes me want to eat Oreos with peanut butter.
-In other news of !!!!!!-level excitement, the Veronica Mars reboot is now filming! AHHHH! This is one of my favorite shows, and Veronica has been such an inspiration for the character I’m currently working on in my book. Kristen Bell + detective mysteries + sass. What’s not to love? Cannot wait for the reboot to hit Hulu.
-Also, on the topic great internet content, you have to read this ugly-cry-inducing news story about good people, and read this Twitter thread on the basic manners of karaoke. Five stars. Also, this YouTube suggestion:
Is that about me, or??
-In this week’s edition of #Twinanigans, we have pre-pre-teen angst (the boys shutting my bedoor on me and demanding to be left alone inside), a complete dump of everything in all the kitchen drawers and cabinets (cutting board battles ensued), meal strikes,
-My latest story for the November 2018 print edition of Austin Woman magazine came out today! As a writer, there is nothing more satisfying then holding the tangible evidence of something you worked so hard to produce.
For the article (which you can read here; it’s also linked in the Portfolio section of my site), I got to talk with Lamanda Ballard of Flo Code, an organization that not only works to provide menstrual products to underserved women and girls, but also to share resources relating to women’s health and education. A true inspiration. Writing this story was an honor!
-A little 22-week Twin Bumpdate for y’all: starting to feel like an old granny here with the back pain I’ve been feeling recently. Nesting is already hitting me hard and I’m wanting to buy and organize ALL the things. I’m having major stress dreams (like worrying about missing a shift of a grocery store job I had in high school), if I can sleep at all — last pregnancy’s insomnia has come back with a vengeance. It doesn’t help that I wake up every time I turn over…which I feel like I need a personal crane to do. BUT, despite all of that, I feel so excited to meet these new twins, and to grow our family. They will be here before we know it!
On that note, I’m signing off this week with a little message from Twin A:
We hope all is well! Beijos.
