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Currently #35

Hello everyone! It’s the last day of November. I don’t know about you, but I’m already in the Christmas spirit. I’ve already started to decorate and I have my holiday bucket list ready to go, I’ll be sharing that next week.

I’ve really enjoyed November. It’s been a mix of a flurry of activities and slow days at home. With that being said, I’m looking forward to the next month of holiday fun! Let me give you a recap in this month’s currently. 

What I’ve Been Up To: The month started with lots of time outdoors, from walks, to collecting leaves and time indoors with lots of baking. I enjoyed baking brie, peanut butter cookies, banana bread and soup. I can’t wait to start baking Christmas cookies. The month ended with celebrating Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas.

Hello fall walks!
This month was filled with lots of baking.
Thanksgiving with my Family.

What I’m Wearing: Nothing too exciting on the clothing front, it’s been colder and we have seen snow, so I have been wearing more long sleeves and layers. I scored a great deal on some jeans at Old Navy. I have been hunting for a pair of straight jeans and found them at Old Navy. If you are looking for a variety of styles and cuts, consider looking at Old Navy.

Layers have been my go-to. Also a look at my new jeans from Old Navy.

What I’m Reading: I’ve been on a roll with good books. I’ve read some mysteries, some thrillers and a handful of love stories. Here are a few of my favorites.

The Last Mrs. Parrish– The Last Mrs. Parrish is a suspenseful book with a touch of mystery and intrigue. It follows the story of a young woman who wants to befriend a wealthy woman to get close to her husband. The first half of the book is told from one point of view until it switches to another character’s perspective, and you see the story through an entirely different lens. This book will make you angry at some of the characters, but you won’t want to put it down at the same time. 

The Younger Wife– The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth follows the story of a heart surgeon who decides to remarry even though his wife is still alive and has dementia. His grown daughters aren’t on board at first, but come around to the idea, that is, until they uncover some secrets about their parents. From the father and mother, to the young bride to be, and the grown daughters, it turns out, everyone is keeping secrets. 

One True Loves– This is another Taylor Jenkins Reid book. It follows the story of a young woman who loves her husband when his flight goes missing, it takes her a while, but she moves on and meets someone else, she’s happy and engaged until her husband is found and returns home. It’s up to her to figure out who her one true love is. This story is about love, loss, growth and finding yourself. I breezed through this book in four days. In fact, I finished the last hundred pages in one sitting. A cute, love story with a twist.

My goal is to just read Christmas books for the next month, I’ll let you know how it goes.

What I’m Watching: I finished watching season 5 of the Crown and LOVED It. I already can’t wait for the final season, but I don’t want it to end. I also have been watching Gilmore Girls in my free time, but I know I’ll be watching lots of Christmas movies soon. 

What I’m Loving: I’ve been loving everything that gets me in the Christmas spirit. Stores are already decked out with holiday displays, Christmas music is playing, snow is falling, these are just a few things that have me excited for next month. 

Fresh snow doesn’t hurt either.
Getting into the holiday spirit.

What Inspires Me: I’ve really been enjoying the quiet time before the busy season. I’ve read a lot of good books, I’ve enjoyed time with friends and lots of cooking and baking.  Leaning into some of my hobbies has centered me when things get busy or hectic.

The beautiful sunset as I was running errands last week.
I’ve also been enjoying lots of baking…here’s some pre Pumpkin pie mixture.

What I Accomplished: Despite the cold weather, I still managed to get in some outdoors walks when I could. I know I will have to rely on my indoor activities like yoga or more time at the gym, since I won’t be able to get out as much in colder temperatures.

My sweet pup after a morning walk.

Goals from Last Month: I really enjoyed slowing down and celebrating Thanksgiving with my family and some traditions. I also made my list of who I need to buy for Christmas, which makes me feel ahead of the game.

Enjoying some snacks with family.

Goals for this Month: I can’t wait to enjoy all things holiday and Christmas. My brothers will be home from college and I can’t wait to spend some family time with everyone. I also want to get a lot of my buying done early, so I’m not rushing around at the end when Christmas is here.

Hello holiday cheer!

That’s a look into life recently.  A mixture of work, hobbies, family time, traditions, and holiday cheer! I can’t wait to see what December brings.

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Let's Get Cooking

Summer Pasta Salads and Appetizers

Hello all! Happy Wednesday! I hope you are all having a great week! I hate to say it but I have been slipping on making a new meal once a week. It’s definitely been harder to make it happen in the summer with more family time and a more relaxed family schedule. We sometimes eat later or go out more. I’m looking forward to getting back to cooking in the fall. 

I have still made a few recipes this summer, some of which are staples in my home.

We will start out with my Italian Pasta Salad. I think we got this recipe on a box years ago. We tried it and loved it and haven’t looked back.

My favorite summer pasta salad.

Here’s what you need and how to make it.

What you Need:

Rotini Pasta (or your favorite kind of pasta)

Italian Dressing

Cherry Tomatoes

Mozzarella Cheese Balls

Sliced Cucumber

Steps:

  1. In a pot, boil water to cook pasta. (I change the amount of pasta I use depending on who I’m cooking for and how many servings I need.)
  2. Drain water and then put pasta in large serving bowl.
  3. Slice cucumber and then add cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella, to pasta.
  4. Stir in all the ingredients and drizzle Italian dressing.
  5. Put in fridge to chill until ready to serve.

*If you plan on saving and serving again, make sure to add more Italian dressing

If pasta isn’t you choice, maybe you like to snack on chips and salsa.

When we went on vacation, we had a great shrimp cocktail sauce salsa. It was full of so much flavor. 

Appetizer night

Here’s an idea of how I’ve made this tasty dish.

What you Need:

Cocktail sauce

Salsa (I like a peach salsa or a medium hot salsa)

Baby Shrimp (can be frozen or in a can)

Steps:

  1. In a bowl mix half of the cocktail shrimp sauce and half of the salsa in a bowl
  2. Mix in the baby shrimp and then chill until you are ready to serve.
  3. Serve with tortilla chips or pita chips.

*If you aren’t a big fan of mixing half of each sauce you can change your parts to ¼ of one and ¾ of another. 

Also pictured is brie cheese with raspberry sauce. I like to cook the cheese and add the sauce at the end, it’s full of flavor and filling too.

I like to enjoy it with bread or crackers.

All of these recipes are super easy for entertaining in the summer and are easy to throw together. 

What are some of your favorite snacks to serve and share.

Drop them below!!