At the start of the month I drove to Illinois for a weekend visit with friends. We lived in Illinois for five years before moving to Michigan in May 2017, and being back felt like I’d never left. Catching up with longtime friends was such a treat.
I stayed with my best friend Ashley and spent lots of time with her and her daughter. They mean so much to me.
Salsa loves to lounge behind my computer. It’s adorable but makes working tricky — he nudges the laptop and leaves me almost no room for the mouse. In another photo I accidentally cracked one of our fiesta ware bowls while trying to carry four plates in one hand. Oops.
I made a pumpkin pie felt banner and shared a DIY post so others can make one too. A few days later I spotted a similar garland at Target, but I still think my version has more charm.
In November I posted another Amazon Try On haul. Photographing and filming everything by myself is a juggling act — my office ended up full of equipment. One tripod was balanced between my desk and a wooden bucket on my chair. I decided it would be easier to have Ryan help me with photos instead of relying on the self-timer. The second photo was taken while he was shooting a pair of shoes I ordered; his choice of angles had me laughing out loud.
That photo of Ryan’s angle made me say, “Oh dear, Ryan!”
Salsa insists on being part of our decor. One morning Ryan surprised me with breakfast in bed — that’s my ideal start to a day.
We spent Thanksgiving with dear friends who invited us, which we appreciated since our family lives out of town. On Black Friday we cooked our own little Thanksgiving dinner just the two of us.
Black Friday also featured our first-ever Household Olympics: a silly series of sock-tossing events with the basket placed in progressively tricky spots. I won, so I proudly posed with my paper trophy.
We finally picked up our first real Christmas tree from a tree farm. Choosing the tree was fun; getting it to stand perfectly in the stand was another story. I also spent a frustrating 45 minutes trying to get my sewing machine to pick up the bobbin thread. After reading the manual and watching videos, Ryan helped and in about 25 minutes we realized we were turning the knob the wrong way. It was an easy fix in the end, but definitely a lesson I won’t forget.
We hung a real wreath on the front door and Salsa is convinced the bow is a bird. One morning he sat by the door so I pulled a chair over for him. During a letter-board shoot involving marshmallows and candy canes, Salsa couldn’t resist batting marshmallows off the table and playing with the hanging candy canes. He’s naughty, but also undeniably cute.
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Here are the letter board posts I shared on Instagram this month:
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See our full Amazon Try On post for cozy picks and longer tunic tops perfect with leggings.
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Check out the rest of our Out of the Kitchen posts to catch up on more everyday moments.