not necessarily in this order

  This has been a week. Honestly, this has been a year. However, the Mr having a full week business trip the week before Christmas (and the week that all of LM’s activities do their “ let’s do a Yankee Swap ” and “ let’s wear Christmas pajamas ” nights on top of my car battery dying and our first snow was a bit much, haha! On this winter solstice, Lil Momma and I are writing our intentions for the new year and sending them off into the universe the next few weeks. I’m truly excited to end this year at a slower pace (Monday is my last day of work until after school break) and reset my house and habits. And, of course, there’s the baking, haha! As we gear up for Christmas week, here are five things I’m excited to make: One : I’m using Sadie, my sourdough starter that I started at possibly the worst possible time 8 weeks ago, for the first time and risking our traditional Christmas Eve and Christmas Day  cinnamon rolls  on a Sadie-risen recipe.  Two : I’ve started makin...

A handful of helpful things that are keeping me going recently! One : Scoopable salads. Game changers. (I’m so behind the trends haha!) I’ve been trying to eat more veggies and beans lately and discovered all of these wonderful make ahead salads that we’ve been playing since my birthday. Last week, I made one with black beans and roasted corn and feta and lots of chopped veggies. This week, we have pesto and navy beans and chickpeas and mozzarella. Quick and easy lunches for me and a bonus has been Lil Momma asking for “scoops” in her own meals.  Two : the mood brighteners that are holiday lights. Thanksgiving weekend, we put strands of lights up across our windows in the living room (which we’ve never done) and it’s just brought a new level of cozy joy to our late afternoons and evenings - especially with it getting dark so early. A cup of tea, a book, and fun lights? Yea, please! Three : Big dog cuddles. Maysie is the biggest dog I’ve ever had: She’s at about 35 lbs so far and so...

As I mentioned at the beginning of November, I found myself dangerously close to having read 100 books this year with 2 months to go. Now, I love an arbitrary, no stakes goal and have been steadily working my way through my library holds to see if I can make it. I was slowed down by a couple behemoth entries in a series I feel I must complete, so I find myself this December 1 with 15 books to go. With 2 recital weekends being balanced off by a handful of vacation days (and school vacation), it really is going to be a race to the finish! Note, I accidentally posted these in the reverse order that I read them and will rectify that in future Recent Reads !   The Vanishing Box  by Elly Griffiths:  4 /5  ⭐  I really enjoyed this entry to  The Magic Men  series. Set around the holidays, the mystery itself was the right amount of twisty and it was great to see the main characters grow and evolve. I may have rated this a little high based on how I feel like t...