Winter officially begins on Monday, and fall flew by! Between things being especially busy at work and a couple of vacations that Brandon and I took, I blinked and we were already well into the holiday season. Fall is a season that I love, and this year was no exception. Here’s my recap of the past several weeks:
THINGS I ATE
I continued discovering new recipes in the fall, and we especially loved these bacon-wrapped cream cheese stuffed jalapeño peppers and this white wine and chicken pot pie casserole. We also ate so much good food on our two vacations. A highlight for me was visiting the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Vermont. I’ve wanted to go since I was a little kid! Other highlights include trying stuffed squid in Detroit (admittedly not a favorite of mine) and eating Texas barbecue at The Salt Lick. And of course, any day with pizza is a good day in my book.
Sam’s Wood Fired Pizza Co. in VT 
Home Slice Pizza in TX
WHAT I READ
Last weekend, I finished reading “Dream Big” by Bob Goff. (He also wrote my favorite book, “Love Does.”) I loved it, and it made me excited for the possibilities of the new year ahead. I’m sadly not going to hit my goal of reading 10 books before the year is over, but I hope to finish at least one more before January, bringing my total to seven.
WHERE WE TRAVELED
In October, we took a road trip through Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia. I haven’t recapped the vacation in full, but I did share some thoughts about traveling during COVID-19 . Right before Thanksgiving, we vacationed in Austin, Texas, for a few days. When we returned, I wrote about flying during COVID-19.
What I played on repeat
During our road trip in October, we listened to a lot of The Ghost of Paul Revere – and I made Brandon listen to their cover of “Baba O’Riley” a lot. I’ve liked Taylor Swift’s music for years, and while “folklore” wasn’t a slam dunk for me over the summer, I really love some of the tracks on her second surprise album, “evermore.” We’ve also been listening to Christmas music in our house since before Thanksgiving.
WHAT I WATCHED
“The Crown” returned for a fourth season in November, and we watched it so quickly! We also loved the “Watchmen” limited series and “Dream Home Makeover” with Shea and Syd McGee.
On the horizon
It’s going to be a long winter at home, and I hope we see some snow! I don’t make new years resolutions, but I do want to be intentional with goal setting for 2021 — though I’m fully aware that we’re still very much in a phase of “nothing is going to go according to your plan.”
