November Mishmash

So dull and dark are the November days.

Hi! Once again I am here to tell you that this month went by very quickly! It’s also very cold outside, it gets dark way too early, and I am already dreaming of a tropical vacation and it’s not even winter yet. All I want to do is snuggle under a blanket, reading a book or watching tv, from now until May! Is that so much to ask?! I did like quite a few things this month, so let’s go!

Food!

• Matthew has been helping me with meal planning and cooking dinners this month, thanks to Hungry Root (if you sign up with that link both you and us will get $50 off)! We tried this service a while back and we like it because the recipes are SO simple, and they have a lot of vegetarian options. There seems to be more variety and customizability in the recipes this time around, and I am very appreciative of Matthew taking the lead on this for a bit because it does feel like a lot sometimes to plan, shop, and cook for us.

• Thanksgiving!!! Our oven decided that THE DAY I went grocery shopping for Thanksgiving, it was time to stop heating up fully, it won’t get hotter than 300 degrees! This was inconvenient, but after a mild freak out, we made a plan and survived the ordeal. Since I don’t make turkey, just sides, it wasn’t really that tragic, I just had to scrap a couple items that I wanted to make, but it was not the end of the world. We were able to use the oven to keep items warm while other things got finished on the stove. We stayed home and I made only a few things:

  • Smitten Kitchen's Green Bean Casserole (but I use French’s crispy onions instead of frying my own) was the star of the show.

  • I also made mashed potatoes in the instant pot, and made stuffing from a package, which I haven’t done in a very long time, but it did satisfy the craving! And of course, Gravy (from Chrissy Teigen).

Books

You can shop all my recent reads here: https://bookshop.org/shop/michelleflook (Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.)

• Non-fiction:

  • The Woman in Me by Britney Spears, audiobook read by Michelle Williams. I am not going to say this was the best book of the year or anything, but I did appreciate Britney being able to finally tell her story, in her own words, after decades of being controlled and silenced. It’s a sad story, but with a hopeful ending.

  • The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullaly and Nick Offerman, audiobook read by the authors. This is a fun audiobook, sort of feels like a podcast with Megan and Nick talking playfully, and discussing specific topics. I like them and I liked this audiobook.

  • Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward is a memoirI had been meaning to read for a long time, since I loved her book Sing, Unburied, Sing a few years back. I listened to the audiobook and it was a great memoir. The main theme in this book is grief. Grief in many forms, that seems to never end, as Jesmyn experienced losing so many young men throughout her young life. A good book, but sad.

• Fiction:

  • I re-read Daisy Jones and The Six via Audiobook! It was a really great audiobook and I still love this book! If you haven’t read this one yet, I urge you to grab it, either the printed version OR the audiobook, you won’t be disappointed!!!

  • I am not quite finished reading Our Share of Night by by Mariana Enriquez, and I don’t normally share until I finish, but I really like this book! I grabbed the ebook from the from the library, I think in October, when it was featured for “Everybody Reads. I hadn’t heard of it, it came out in 2019, but I think it was just recently translated into English. This book is longer than I expected (almost 600 pages) so it’s just taking me a while to get through it, since I really only read a little before I fall asleep each night. It’s very unlike anything I have read before, and I am having a hard time thinking of how to describe it. Here is a blurb from the book cover: “Our Share of Night is a novel like no other: a family story, a ghost story, a story of the occult and the supernatural, a book about the complexities of love and longing with queer subplots and themes.” At times it is quite dark, filled with vividly grotesque and horrifying imagery. At other times, it reads like a regular story with a bit of mystery. The story is told over many years, with a different narrator for each chunk of the book. Each narrator has a unique viewpoint and voice, and each has been really interesting in its own way. Every character feels very alive and I really like them all. I can’t wait to see how this book ends!!

TV/Movies

• Squaring The Circle is a documentary on Netflix about the design duo/group behind a lot of iconic record album covers, Pink Floyd most notably. It was pretty fun and interesting and some interesting characters.

• Meet Me in the Bathroom is a documentary on Showtime that we watched, about the music scene in New York in the early 2000s which gave us The Strokes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, etc. This was a trip down nostalgia lane for me, since I danced my ass off to these bands every Tuesday for years at Lipstick in Sacramento!!

• Escaping Twin Flames is a documentary on Netflix that we watched about a very weird and creepy cult. It definitely takes a turn that I didn’t expect, and I don’t want to spoil it for you. If you like cult-related things, watch it!!!

• Love Has Won is another culty documentary that really shook us up. I thought Twin Flames was crazy, but this one is really unhinged and sad.

• Love, Death & Robots is a wonderful collection of animated short films (NSFW/MADE FOR ADULTS) that we really enjoy. It’s really wild what can be done with animation these days, and this series showcases a wide variety of storytelling, animation styles, and creativity that is inspiring to see!

• No Hard Feelings is a fun romcom that we watched this month, starring Jennifer Lawrence, who I feel like I haven’t watched in anything in a very long time!

• Genie! We aren't big on holiday movies generally, but couldn't resist this one with Jenny McCarthy as a genie granting wishes. It's not extremely Christmassy, but is set around the holidays, focused on one family. Kind of has an Elf vibe, fish out of water situation. It's cute and funny and we liked it!

• Squid Game: The Challenge is an actual reality show based on Squid Game! It’s almost exactly the same just without all the death and blood. There are a few games that weren’t in the tv show, and it’s just a fascinating strategy reality game that Matthew and I are really enjoying!

Projects!

• I made a really cute baby quilt for a coworker, and love how it turned out. I worked on this for a solid 10-12 hours (including planning, cutting fabric, piecing, quilting, binding) and it’s one of the simpler quilt patterns I’ve done! A lot of time and love goes into making these things, but I really love making useful items that people will enjoy for many years, and this little quilt is no exception.

  

• I’ve been doing a lot of sewing which is why I have finished so many audiobooks lately, but some things I can’t share yet! Stay tuned for many sewing project updates in December! Here is one little sneak peek of a project I am very excited about!:

  

• I added some new items to my RedBubble shop and there’s a sale going on over there on most product types through December 2nd, so scoop up some Christmas gifts! Coffee mugs, notebooks, baby clothes, hoodies, t-shirts, hats, pet bandanas, tote bags, stickers, aprons, and more!!

Miscellaneous!

• We went to see Depeche Mode!! They played so many songs we loved and it was a really fun night out.

• I haven’t set up our Christmas tree yet, maybe this upcoming weekend. I am tempted to make some strinsel…
  

Remi!

Little weirdo went nuts for this giant pile of leaves, throwing herself down and rolling around for a good five minutes or more! She probably would have stayed there all day if I let her. Peak Fall vibes :)

Goodbye, until next month!

xoM