Random Things: October

We are in full fall mode over here with pumpkins on the stoop and soup in the slow cooker at all times. If you haven’t made the sweet potato soup I posted last week, I highly recommend you get right on that!

I can’t believe I’m currently typing out these words, but I also started to get the ball rolling on my 2024 holiday gift guide which is always a giant undertaking but one of my favorite projects of the year. I’m hoping to have it up in the first or second week of November so keep your eyes peeled. It’s already shaping up to be a great one!

In the meantime, here is everything I’m reading, watching, and loving lately.

Pictured above: Blazer (under $100!) / Jeans / BeltBooties / Necklace

WHAT I’M READING & WATCHING

Reading/Read –

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris WhitakerI was absolutely obsessed with this incredible story set in the 1970s of a small town in Missouri where girls start to go missing. For the first quarter of the book, you think it’s about one missing person, a one-eyed teenage boy nick-named Patch, and then it starts to unfold into a more terrifying story about finding a serial killer while also focusing deeply on each character and their relationships. If The Women was my favorite book this year, All the Colors of the Dark was for sure my second fave! Generally thrillers for me are quick, easy reads, but this one had so much more depth than others I’ve read lately and the writing is excellent.

God of the Woods by Liz Moore: I’m almost finished with this book, also set in the 1970s, about a teen who disappears from her cabin at summer camp in the Adirondacks.  It is an absolutely chilling read but beautifully written, similar to All the Colors of the Dark. I had seen both of these on must-read lists for 2024 and I get why!

Listen For the Lie by Amy TinteraI pretty much always have one book to physically read and one book that I listen to on Audible. For my listening books, I usually go for either memoirs or easy-read thrillers. Listen For the Lie falls into the second category but it was the perfect easy-listen for car-rides and folding laundry. A 20-something woman, Lucy, is accused of murdering her best friend, Savvy, in their small Texan hometown the night of a wedding 5 years ago. There isn’t enough evidence to convict her. In the present time, a podcaster, Ben, visits the town and starts drudging up old information and details about that night.

Watching –

Nobody Wants This (Netflix): I know everyone you know is telling you to watch this adorable rom-com and they’re not wrong. Adam Brody and Kristen Bell are so cute and relatable and hilarious and the love story makes you believe in love again. Gahh I just couldn’t get enough of this show and screamed out loud when I saw it was renewed for season two.

Tell Me Lies, Season 2 (Hulu): It’s just as dark and sexy and scandalous as season one. I was, yet again shocked, at how amazingly spot on their depiction of early 2000s college culture is.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (Netflix): As a true-crime junkie, I’ve read a lot about and watched many a docu-series about this case. It never gets easier to hear what happened to the two brothers who ended up shooting their parents dead. I know this Ryan Murphy series has been highly controversial in how the brothers come across, but I thought it was really well done and while it was a gruesome crime, you feel a lot of sympathy for them and what they endured at the hands of their own parents for so many years.

THINGS I’M LOVING

1. Amazon Gua Sha Cryo SticksThere are a million gadgets to lift and “snatch” your face that can cost hundreds of dollars. When I tell you that these cryo sticks from Amazon for $24 are better than all of them, I kid you not! I bought them last year after my nose job but kind of forgot about them until I recently cleaned out my freezer and now I’m an addict. They are SO cold and stay super cold for a long time. The shape of them is perfect for puffy under-eyes and for cheek and jaw bones. I’ve been using them every morning and they’re just such a delight.

2. Able Softest Denim Jacket… EverAnd it’s 25% off right now! When I went into the city with Flagship last week, I finally met the lovely sisters from My Sister Made Me Buy It. One of them, Sarah, was wearing the softest, cutest, denim jacket I have ever seen or felt and she couldn’t believe I didn’t know about Able’s sustainably made cult-favorite jean jacket. My bad! I bought one on the spot. It’s truly incredible.

3. My Next-To-The-Stove Set UpMy sister had a cute little set up like this next to her stove for salt, olive oil, vinegar, butter, etc. and it made me want to step up my game. I found everything on Crate & Barrel and it makes me so happy to have such a cute little situation for cooking.

4. Lunya Organic Coton Wide-Leg PJ PantsI’ve talked about these before but I just bought a second pair because I find that these pants are the only pants I ever wear after 7pm in my house. Half because they’re super soft and comfy and flowy and amazing and half because they actually look cute enough that my 7 year old daughter tells me I look cool in them. I now have them in black and pink.

5. Dorsey White Sapphire NecklaceDorsey was super generous and sent me this necklace which I’ve been wearing ever since. My friends have literally dropped their jaws asking when and where I got a new diamond necklace. But it’s actually white sapphires and under $300 but looks $$$$$!!!