Heyyyy guys :-) I would apologize for the lack of favorites lists from July, August, and September but we all know the only person I hurt by not posting was myself…I’ve been in a particularly good but unhinged mood lately which is actually good for my creativity!
In July I could not even begin to tell you what I was doing except maybe hanging out with my mom (shoutout to her) and wishing I was at the beach 24/7 as I usually do every summer. We did get to use a relatives’ beach house for a weekend and I finally almost beat her at mini golf, all while resisting the urge to associate hanging out with your mom as something “losers” do. It’s easy to break the association because my mom is fun and awesome but pop culture media really wants you to think you have a shitty life if your best friend is your mother. That’s an essay for another day.
Then I spent most of August “bedridden,” a term I like to use when I wasn’t actually on bedrest but when I did mostly lay in bed or on the couch. “Bedridden” sounds so dramatic and like the next step in the Victorian diagnosis is to spend time by the sea to which I would reply “finally!!” I’m basically dying for a doctor to tell me to spend more time near the sea :/ anyway I digress, but isn’t that the fun of it all?? This is my October Favorites/Summer Catch-Up and I can do anything I want!! Because doing anything is better than doing nothing at all.
September was centered around a very picturesque 12-day-trip to Italy culminating in the a beautifully rainy wedding day
I’ve decided to add a very groundbreaking new category called “Monthly Obsession(s),” which is different from the overarching concept of “favorites” because it will highlight the one or two things that completely took over my brain functions and worldview for the proceeding 30 days.
To catch you up on my recent phases:
July: Stranger Things
August: making necklaces
September: One Hundred Years of Solitude
And now, drumroll please.
My October obsession was
What We Do in the Shadows!
Looking Good:
As soon as the leaves start to show any sign of browning, I go full Vampire Slayer. In other words, dark colors, gothic motifs, and anything that looks straight out of the wardrobes of Buffy and/or the Owens sisters from Practical Magic. Gilmore Girls is a close 3rd place for fall style inspo.
Long skirts with tall boots
Cross necklaces (but not in a religious way)
Charm bracelets
Dark nail polish
Sporty 00s crossbody bags
Feeling Gorgeous:
Joining a gym
Shimmer eyeshadow as a base for everyday smokey eyes. Favorites include Glossier Lidstar in Herb (olive green) and Fawn (gray-toned purple) and the NYX Jumbo Eye Shadow Stick in Iced Mocha (the ultimate 2010s Youtube throwback)
Media Sommelier:
Once upon a time, an ancient network called “abc Family” launched “31 Nights of Halloween,”
Now they go by the name of “freeform” and air the same 3 movies on a loop–feel old yet? Nevertheless, every October I am determined to recreate the tradition. Does it make me go a little mad and a little sedentary to try to cram in so many movies? Perhaps…but with many days working from home (or not working at all thanks to my office being closed for Jewish holidays) I have had the opportunity to watch about 40 Halloween movies. Thank you, thank you. I couldn’t have done it without my obsessive personality, all of the old monster movies now streaming on Peacock, or my work schedule.
Also,
Midnights, 3am Version
The Twilight and New Moon soundtracks
My 12 hr “My Spooky Autumn” playlist
Eat to Live, Live to Eat:
Sauerkraut with everything
Pickled beets
Slice-and-bake cookies
Trader Joe’s pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookie mix
Apple cider
Apple pie oatmeal (add cut-up oatmeal, pumpkin pie spice, and real maple syrup to stove-top oats)
Vibe Check:
October is always one of my favorite months, if not my all-time favorite, which of course usually means spending a good portion of it stressing out that I’m not making the most of it. It’s such a short burst of perfection with crisp but sunny weather, costumes to assemble and pumpkins to carve, tons of activities and dare I say vibes to procure!! To maximize my joy (a dangerous phrase) this October, I made a list of everything I wanted to do. And then I did them. The more magical thing was that I wasn’t stressed about the ones I couldn’t complete. Being present and comfortable with a slower pace is something I’ve been working on for years and recently it’s become slightly easier. Maybe it’s living alone and therapy and books and mediation and maybe it’s a Tiktok of a Sylvia Path (extremely problematic fav, I know) quote about the fear you’ll never do everything you want to in your life. Forced to confront the stuff of my melodramatic high school tumblr years, I sort of broke the spell. The fullest feeling is one of stillness.
In Celtic pagan tradition, Samhain (pronounced like “Sa-win”) marks the end of the year’s cycle, when the sun “dies” to be reborn again in the spring. The veil between the physical world and the spirit world is the thinnest, calling us to connect to the universe’s mysteries. The theme of death is represented in the natural world: leaves turning brown and crunchy, leaving trees bare; a sometimes-bone-chilling wind ushering us indoors. I’ve been more welcoming to this natural order of things. I can’t watch every scary movie, read every Gothic novel, dress up in every costume, find all versions of the Pilsbury cookies I love. I might never feel how I felt as a kid when festivities are so alive. But I can embrace the comfort of tradition, knowing the leaves will fall, crumble, sprout, and fall again while the endless unknown stretches out in front of me.