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Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Monthly Recap: October 2016



WELL, it sure has been a while since I've done one of these! But a lot has changed in the last...i don't even know, few centuries, so I thought it would be fun to update the interwebs.


Um. Did I even read this month?

No seriously. I'm pretty sure I didn't read this month. If I did, I didn't add it to Goodreads, but I'm notoriously awful at updating my Goodreads, so it's always woefully incomplete. Surely I read...something? ARGH.

Life got MADLY HECTIC this month (I MOVED! More details below) and when I'm busy and stressed, reading is always the first thing to go. I hate that so much, because reading is a great way to relax, but I guess it takes too much mental energy for the lump of over-pulled, melted taffy that is my brain on stress.

I've started a whole bunch of things, but haven't managed to finish. BUT I WILL. I WILLLLL. I also did some de-stressifying reread of fave scenes from fave books, which I do whenever life is TOO MUCH


Gilmore Girls
I'm literally always watching Gilmore Girls. LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY YOU GUYSSSS

Vampire Diaries
I binge-rewatched S1 for for Delena angst and because the last season is currently airing live and I have a half-baked plan to catch up (though that's most likely not going to happen)

Hocus Pocus
I absolutely HATE scary movies--I'm the biggest marshmallow, i straight up don't understanding WANTING to be scared on PURPOSE, if you ever jump out from behind something to scare me I will kick you someplace very sensitive don't ever do it--so my brand of Halloween movie is less The Ring and more Bette Midler being faaaabulous






I really wanted to be better at Inktober this year (aka, actually participate), and though the moving process became WAY too draining for me to keep up, I still actually drew a few ink sketches, so YAY! Calling it a win anyway.







MOVED
I MOVED!!! FINALLY! For those of you who haven't managed to keep up with my leeeeengthy housing process, here's a quick summary: I bought a house (!!!) at the very beginning of July after a few months of hunting. I was living in an apartment at the time, and the lease was set to run out on October 30th. Me being me, I decided to plan ahead EVER so nicely and not procrastinate and get everything done so sensibly...and moved all my junk out of the apartment on...you guessed it...October 30th. SO. It was quite the process and super overwhelming and the most adult thing I ahve ever done ever. Houses are complicated beasts. Who knew. I haven't slept in weeks. BUT I have so much more space now, and I get to decorate it, and I'm already in the process of setting up my bookshelves! Look!!!



Here's what it looked like semi vaguely empty (before most of the boxes arrived and then exploded their boxy contents all over my house (MY HOUSE!!!):

NaNoWriMo prep
NaNoWriMo is here!! (AKA National Novel Writing Month for those not in the know, in which deluded writer-type folks try for some ungodly reason to vomit out at least fifty thousand words in one month.) I absolutely love NaNoWriMo. It's my favorite time of year, and I always participate. If you're a similar breed of masochist, let's be buds! Clickety click right here to see my NaNo profile. I'm cheating a bit this year (I usually do) and working on a WIP that's already 40k words in, but it's inspired by the movie Anastasia and it has witches and princesses and bi boys and lots of things I love, so I'm very excited to devote every waking second of my life to it like the obsessive person I am!

VOTED
THAT'S RIGHT. I HAVE VOTED. I did early voting by mail for the local election and I love it sooooo much. It's definitely the way to go for introverts like me who panic a bit at the prospect of polling places, plus with the move and the change of address everything got very COMPLICATED. But I voted for THE FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT EVER AND I'M VERY NERVECITED ABOUT IT BUT MOSTLY TERRIFIED AND I PLAN TO DRINK A LOT ON NOVEMBER 8TH OH GOD OH GOD IT'S A WEEK AWAY AND I'M NOT DRUNK YET *hyperventilates into a paper bag*


Did you know it is REALLY HARD to photograph your own boobs, how does Kim K do it so successfully so often

 This month's blog posts:

Top Ten Literary Names I'd Rename My Dog
When You Fall Out of Love with A Series
Review: This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills


TEA
OKAY. SO. I have finally decided to be a tea person. I'm just as much of a coffeeholic as someone raised on Gilmore Girls should conceivably be, but to be honest it's started to wreak havoc with my sleeping schedule (I'm an insomniac on the best of months, but add the stress of moving and related stress dreams...oof), so I want to try out something a bit gentler, caffeine-wise. (I don't believe in decaf coffee. Don't tell me to drink it.) So i'm trying out tea, which I have historically never liked. BUT THIS TIME I'M DETERMINED, mostly by bombarding myself with fall flavors. So far Apple Spice Chai (I do like chai), Cinnamon, and Peppermint have been winners. Black tea is most likely going to be my bag.

But if you have tea recommendations, PLEASE LEAVE THEM IN THE COMMENTS! I need things to try out until I figure out what I like :)

So that's it for me for October! November is probably going to be another month of tea, NaNo-ing, and setting up bookshelves (plus other house necessities like a TV and my closet and shit but whatever bookshelves), but hopefully it'll include a bit more reading!
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13 comments:

  1. LeahNovember 1, 2016 at 12:38 AM

    Congratulations on the move, and best of luck to you during NaNoWriMo! I'm participating with my WIP as well.

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  2. April (BooksandWine)November 1, 2016 at 8:17 AM

    I'm drinking Peppermint Tea as I read this. :-)
    Congrats on homeownership. It's a pretty awesome step to take with your life. Your reading nook is FABULOUS!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kait SykesNovember 1, 2016 at 11:25 AM

    Fun! I would love to be voyeuristic and peek into your house once you're finished unpacking. :) Peppermint tea is my favourite, but to be honest I don't drink coffee at all and don't drink much tea either.

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    Replies
    1. Kait SykesNovember 1, 2016 at 11:27 AM

      Alsoooo I am doing NaNoWriMo for the first time and am very scared but also VERY excited!!!

      Delete
  4. RR GilmoreNovember 1, 2016 at 12:55 PM

    Go get yourself some Lady Grey tea!

    ReplyDelete
  5. BekkaNovember 1, 2016 at 5:02 PM

    Right now I'm drinking Mighty Leaf's green tea tropical. It's a FAVE.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Whitley BirksNovember 1, 2016 at 5:08 PM

    I'm a big fan of loose leaf tea, and I buy bulk 8 oz bags of my favorite flavors from Boston Tea Company. I can change how strong each cup is because I'm measuring out the tea myself. But they have this bad habit of discontinuing my favorite flavor (Peach, Apricot, and Ginger) and then randomly bringing it back, and then discontinuing it again. :/

    I also like Zhena's Tea, though it's more expensive. But they have sampler options, you can get 4 flavors of black tea (or 4 of herbal, or 4 of something else) so you can try out a variety.

    Ooh, a holiday sampler stack! https://www.zhenas.com/holiday-stackable-tea-bags.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. EmmahNovember 1, 2016 at 6:54 PM

    -Honey Vanilla Chamomile (Celestial Seasonings)
    -Twinings: English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, Earl Grey, and Honeybush Mandarin & Orange! If you order from Twinings online, they also usually send sample bags and sometimes a shortbread cookie!
    -Stash: Chai Spice black tea
    -Lipton: Apple Cinnamon

    ReplyDelete
  8. TaraNovember 1, 2016 at 9:50 PM

    Your new home looks adorable. Pukka- Peppermint and Licorice. Which sounds disgusting but isn't. The box is also pretty!

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  9. Kate CopeseeleyNovember 2, 2016 at 2:15 PM

    I love Stash Tea so much(and you can find them easily)! The three that I'm keen on right now are their Chai Spice Black Tea, Spice Dragon Red Chai (it's herbal, so no caffeine) and their Jasmine Blossom Green tea. If you are a loose leaf person, you can get all of those loose leaf, too, if you don't mind going online or taking a trip to Oregon to visit their store. hahaha
    I love them because they are committed to clean tea (pesticide and chemical free) and very careful about where they buy their tea. And it just tastes freaking good. :)
    Loved the post!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Alexa S.November 3, 2016 at 11:02 PM

    YAY MOVING TO A NEW HOME! I also have been loving the photos of your reading nook, because it is the stuff of dreams <3 Also, your Inktober illustrations were so cute!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Morgan @ The Bookish BeagleNovember 8, 2016 at 2:05 AM

    I'm the same way, when I get stressed or tired I don't read very much, which is a bummer :( DELENA. Yeah my plan to catch up and watch isn't working at all hahah but I think I'll get around to it eventually. And you can never go wrong with Hocus Pocus! BoooooOOOOOOoooook! I don't think you understand how much I love your sketches. All of them. Honestly. If you had a museum with all of your art in it I'd buy a membership and all the art pieces in the gift shop too because I LOVE IT ALL. Yayayay new house!! So exhausting and exciting all at once! I hope Ginger is adjusting :) And books always come first, I like your priorities. I'm... maybe not doing so great at NaNo at all but I will still cheer you on!!!! Omfg witches, princesses, bi boys, and Anastasia, I need it. YAY VOTING, LESLIE KNOPE WOULD BE PROUD OF YOU. We've talked about tea a bit but I'll tell you again anyway :) I mostly stick to black tea with milk and sugar, it's delish! My favorite "regular" blends are PG Tips (VERY BRITISH) and Twinings English Breakfast. And my favorite special tea that's sort of earl grey with vanilla is Harney & Sons Tower of London blend. It comes in the prettiest tin too! Also Tazo Chai Tea Concentrate is awesome; you can basically make your own chai latte at home. That Apple Spice Chai sounds pretty good! Can't wait for our tea partyyyyy ;D Happy November!

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  12. Wendy @ Book ScentsNovember 10, 2016 at 6:57 PM

    YAY congrats on moving to your new HOUSE! Bookshelves and decorating are the best parts of moving but oh gosh I know moving is so super stressful. Hope you are getting settled in! I keep telling myself I'm going to catch up with TVD one day and perhaps I will because man, did I love those early seasons! GILMORE GIRLS. I've been rewatching intermittently but *cough* am still on S1 of my rewatch so if I watch 9 eps a day until Thanksgiving, I'll finish my rewatch by the time the revival airs. HAH. but seriously, I am so excited for the revival. I am 100% a coffee addict but I do also like tea. I'm a pretty "boring"/"traditional" tea drinker, so I like the black teas, earl grey (twinings has great earl grey and lady earl grey teas). Ohh also Zhena tea has a peach ginger black tea that is REALLY good. YAY for voting but also ugh bc what the hell america, and I am still emotionally drained from this week -- first election where I have cried.

    ReplyDelete

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