I'm excited that Winter break is finally here. We need a good break.
Our dishwasher kaputed and instead of our plans for our 17th anniversary we ended up installing a new one all day! But my fancy anniversary/pandemic mugs just came in so it makes it all worth it! We did get some yummy Thai food from our favorite place and we popped some special bubbly as well. So overall considering everything...it could've been worse!
We tried to spread some Christmas holiday cheer by taking treats to our neighbors...I had wanted to make some peppermint bark but it did not turn out...so Costco to the rescue! We enjoyed some neighborhood lights as well.
We got a bit of snow a couple of days ago and G enjoyed playing outside and building forts with some friends.
I tried to make a chocolate Swiss roll but...I'd never made one before or any sponge actually and it somehow broke in two places before I could even roll it! So it was extremely broken and messy but it tasted really good so I'm not going to complain. My calling in life is not baking and I'm ok with that! But I do have a strong desire to make it again and see if I can do better so I'm hoping for Christmas Eve. Fingers crossed.
I've also been trying out some fun winter cocktails. Last night I made hot buttered rum and today I made a Christmas Coffee cocktail. Yum! I'm definitely making that again for Christmas morning!
Our anniversary mugs came: A wonderful way to remember this infamous year of 2020! They turned out great and glad I got some.
Grateful For:
- Two of my good friends have tested positive for Covid and they're both doing fine and not getting super sick. More and more people I know are getting this and it's scary but grateful all are doing well.
- Winter break for two whole weeks!
- Some fabulous online entertainment for free this week. The Nutcracker by our local ballet company is airing for free online next week. And a documentary on Christmas music is also screening live and for free next week. And let's not forget about the Met Opera. I hear some good ones are airing next week as well.
- Holiday reading. I'm really looking forward to lots more downtime to read over the next couple of weeks!
Reading:
- Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir by Robin Ha--really enjoyed this graphic novel memoir on being an immigrant and learning a new language and culture as a teenager. So good.
- She Votes: How U.S. Women Won Suffrage, and What Happened Next by Bridget Quinn--This is a great little overview with short chapters and some new information. Also the artwork is so fun.
- Blood on the River: James Town, 1607 by Elisa Carbone--I read this one out loud with G and it was a great historically accurate look at James Town from a kid's perspective.
- Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine--This was a different reading experience. I really enjoyed the raw thoughts she shares and the questions she asks even when there are no straight answers.
Niksen: The Dutch Art of Doing Nothing by Annette Lavrijsen--This was a fun and colorful read on Niksen philosophy. She has little exercises you can do to get you closer to Niksen. I don't think our country will ever even get close to this but it sure makes me want to move to Holland and never leave...- Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie--Basically read this in two days and it was just what I needed. I had no clue who it was with all the red herrings. I need to read more of her books.
I'm still making my through A Promised Land by Barack Obama and Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (this one is fantastic!). I just started A Christmas Carol Murder by Heather Redmond, and The Return of the Light: Twelve Tales from Around the World for the Winter Solstice by Caroline McVickar Edwards with G. We're starting to read some holidays stories from around the world.
Classics that I'm reading: Still working on Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I'm enjoying taking my time here. It's been a long time and it's the perfect classic to read as the weather gets chilly and the holidays approach.
Philosophy: At the Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails with Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Others by Sarah Bakewell. Last chapter this week and then we'll be reading The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir!
Listening to:
I just started On Immunity: An Inoculation by Eula Biss. It's pretty interesting so far but I find my audiobook listening has been a lot less this year. I just don't make it out quite as much as I used to and forget to listen! Hopefully I can keep up on this one...
New Books Acquired:
Looking forward to some extra horror holiday reading and some wintery type reads. I've heard The Snow Child is perfect.
Watching:
Movies:
- Prohibition by Ken Burns--so fascinating on how that all came about and what happened after that made it not work and to be reversed!
Lovers Rock on Prime. I had never heard of this music movement or anything about it at all. Loved learning about this piece of music history.- Queen of Katwe--watched this right after I finished of Queen's Gambit!
- A Christmas Horror Story--G wanted to watch a Christmas horror and this one was right up both of our alleys!
- The Prom--Not the greatest told story ever but it was so much fun to watch as a family, even with James Corden getting the heat...
I also watched Happiest Season on Hulu. This was so good. I will be watching it yearly, a new classic for me!
TV:
Let's see...I finished off The Queen's Gambit which was really fun. And we all watched The Derry Girls together! So funny. My formative years were in the 90s (not Norther Ireland) but there was a lot of pop culture and history I could make reference too. Cranberries were my jam back in the day. And it's just so wickedly funny and smart!
DH and I are watching The Mandalorian together. Silly but fun. Baby Yoda is the cutest!
Making:
Swiss roll cakes, sugar cookies on Christmas Eve, and if I can find a good deal I may try to make beef sirloin for Christmas dinner, and of course lots of yummy winter cocktails.
Looking forward to our Winter Solstice celebration on Sunday, our first week of winter break, and Christmas weekend next week! It'll be a quiet affair for our little family but it should be relaxing and fun!
Joining in with Readerbuzz's Sunday Salon
Those mugs are great fun. Shhh!, don't tell, but I ordered 2020 tree ornaments for my family. Hopefully, we will be able to look back on this without tears.
ReplyDeleteAlmost American Girl sounds really good. I'm adding that to my list. I'm a big fan of Little Women, and I think it's ideal for this year.
I saw Unthinkable and Snow Child on sale at Kindle, too, and I'm still thinking about Unthinkable. Snow Child is a rich tale, I think.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you too, Deb. I hope you have a wonderful week and Christmas.
DeleteMy friend sent me a 2020 ornament with a dumpster fire and three charms of a mask, toilet paper, and I think social distancing. I need to take a pic and share this week! I'd love to see the ones you ordered!
I'm looking forward to Snow Child. It sounds like just what I need this winter.
Hi Heather! It sounds like you are having a fabulous time. Yea!!! That's what holidays are all about.
ReplyDeleteNiksen, the Dutch art of doing nothing sounds like fun. South Africans tend to also be very good with that. Procrastination is a real thing here.
I'm starting with my holiday baking this week. Wish me luck!!
You have some great new books. I hope you enjoy The Snow Child. I loved that book. Keep me posted!
If we don't talk again this week, have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!
Lots of Love,
Elza Reads
We are definitely trying to have fun this holiday season! Glad you are too.
DeleteGood luck with your holiday baking! I'm trying that yule log roll again this week and I hope I can nail that sponge...
I'm looking forward to Snow Child. Looks like what I need this winter!
Enjoy your Christmas and stay safe!
Happy Anniversary! I'm sorry about the dishwasher, but it still sounds like you had a lovely celebration. The winter cocktails sound yummy. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThank you! We made do and you just have to roll with whatever right now, right? So crazy. I mulled up some wine over the weekend and it was truly lovely. Looking forward to some Christmas ones this weekend. I hope you enjoy your holidays too!
DeleteHappy anniversary, the mugs are a cute way to commemorate!
ReplyDeleteI’ve added Unthinkable to WTR list, it sounds fascinating
I hope your next attempt at a Swiss roll is more successful :)
Wishing you a great reading week, and a merry Christmas
Thank you! Yeah, I'm hoping my Swiss roll Yule log looks a bit more appetizing this week! lol.
DeleteWishing you a fabulous holiday and reading week as well!
Happy anniversary! It's great how you found the silver lining among what could have been a frustrating day. You've read such good nonfiction, I'm taking notes. Little Women was one of my favorite books growing up.
ReplyDeleteThe Queen of Katwe was a great movie. I really enjoyed it too. I hope you have a wonderful and restful winter break!
Thank you! Gotta roll with the punches, I say. lol.
DeleteI have read a few really good ones recently. I'm really enjoying my reread of Little Women. I think I'll buckle down and try and finish it before the end of the year.
It was fun watching The Queen of Katwe right after Queen's Gambit. Love me some female chess movies!
I hope you have a lovely and restful break too!
The Snow Child and Motherless Brooklyn are good reads! It's good you are on Winter Break! I wish you & your family a very Merry Christmas ... have you had any snow there? We are getting a big storm today with much snow, wow! Have you started the Small Axe films yet? I'm a bit curious about seeing those .... though not sure where ? Enjoy your new books!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to pick them up this winter. I hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas as well!
DeleteWe just got a ton of snow last Wednesday and a few wisps today...I don't know if we'll much more before the year's done. I hope you all stay safe in your winter storm!
I have only watched Lovers Rock. But I plan on watching the rest soon. I think they are on Amazon Prime right now.
Enjoy your week and I hope you have some great nights reading too!
Hi Heather, I'd like to read Niksen - The Dutch Art of Doing Nothing, too. I'll have to see where I can get it. The cat on the cover is too adorable. It's sometimes hard to find anything good on Netflix, but my husband and I recently enjoyed The Queen's Gambit, and we watched The Derry Girls a couple of years ago (it was hilarious). Happy holidays.
ReplyDeleteI found my copy at my library on a whim! It's really cute. I hope you can find a copy.
DeleteThanks for stopping by and Happy holidays to you too!
Happy anniversary! Sorry it wasn't a great one.
ReplyDeleteWe discovered hot buttered rum for the first time this month. Yum!
I enjoyed Motherless Brooklyn when I read it.
I'm on the waitlist at the library for Almost American Girl and The Snow Child. We'll see when I finally get my hands on them.
The Mandalorian! We finished the season Sunday night.
Happy holidays!
The Derry Girls were on an episode of The Great British Bake-Off: Holidays that we watched recently. We haven't watched their show so we didn't know who they were but it was a fun Bake-Off show!
We make do right? I hope you enjoy Almost American Girl and I'm hoping I enjoy the Snow Child as well. I'm going to start that in 2021! I'm hoping to finish up the Mandalorian this week with the hubster. I hope you had a great Christmas and have a great New Year's!
DeleteYESSSS! Enjoy the Kevin J Kennedy book!! I had SO much fun reading that!!
ReplyDeleteI think it'll be a great one to read this weekend even though Christmas has technically passed.
DeleteMerry Christmas! It was a small, quietish affair here. but nice. I hope your friends who caught Covid are better. In the last few months I've know quite a few people who have gotten it. One died and he was older, almost 80, but it good health :(
ReplyDeleteAdding some of these books to my list for 2021 reading.
Oh good! Glad you are taking it easy this week.
DeleteI'm so sorry about your friend. More and more people we know are getting it and some are not making it or are left with severe ill-effects after recovering. I hope you all stay safe and healthy and enjoy a great New YEar's.