November "Friday Favorites"

Hi sweet friends! I’m really diving back into blogging and excited to share a lot of new content as we are officially entering my favorite time of the year!! I love November and December. Not only because of the holidays, but because of cozy fall clothes and accessories, delicious food, extra time with family and friends, music that just makes you feel good, shopping, a chance for snow, crafting and decorating and entertaining!

One of the ideas I want to include going forward is a monthly post about some of my current favorites! This could be anything from an ingredient for recipes, music, bloggers I enjoy following, or businesses I like to support! These posts will go out on the first Friday of each month and just serve as another way to hopefully connect with you!

  1. The Everygirl Desktop Backgrounds - This might sound a little odd but stick with me. Since the first Friday Favorites post happens to fall on the first day of the month, I thought it would be fitting to share where I like to get my desktop (and sometimes phone screen) backgrounds! The Everygirl is a lovely editorial space for all sorts of interesting posts for the working young professional lady. The beautiful, clean aesthetic is calming and inviting from their Instagram and Pinterest to the interface of their website. I love their desktop backgrounds because they release a new collection each month and allow you to switch up your display regularly with classy images, calendars or inspirational phrases! It’s so easy and convenient. I look forward to the first of each month just to see what pretties they’ve released! Check it out!

  2. Bossa Nova - Darrell and I love to cook together (if you didn’t already know that, now you know) and we love to listen to music while we cook. We mix it up from time to time as far as what we ask Alexa to DJ for us. Our latest go-to has been Bossa Nova music. It makes you feel like you’re in a restaurant. Cooking can be such a relaxing activity and as a lover of all sorts of music, finding a good playlist is a big part of a chill evening in. Here’s a great playlist on Spotify.

  3. Kelly in the City - This is a blogger family I have just ADORED for years! I love reading about what they’re up to in the Windy City and picking up so much fashion inspiration! Their blog is actually where I got the idea last year to paint my plastic pumpkins in a cute navy gingham print! And I painted a couple more this year to grow my collection! Oh and did I mention they have two precious little girls?? They’re seriously #goals! So basically you should go check out this blog right now. Or maybe after you finish reading this post! ;)

  4. Libby App - I LOVE this app. If you’re a reader or enjoy audio books, you need to download the Libby app! Right. Now. Enjoy the public library right from your phone! This has just revolutionized my reading habits. I learned about this app in early 2019 and simultaneously downloaded the Goodreads app (okay so here’s a bonus… 4.A. would be: download the Goodreads app). So I set a goal on Goodreads to read 12 books in 2019. I thought, ‘Okay, that’s essentially 1 book a month’ and I’m proud to say that to date, I have read THIRTEEN books in 2019! Woot woot! Which might not sound like a lot but is way more than I read in 2018 or maybe the last couple years combined! Not only is it a nice alternative to wasting away your free time scrolling on social media, but I’ve learned so much! I’ve read some fiction, non-fiction, listened to some audiobooks, read some paperback, some e-books. It’s been such a nice hobby to rediscover and the Libby app makes it sooo affordable! If you’re not familiar with Goodreads, it is another app related to reading where you can connect with friends to see what others are reading, read reviews of books, write your own reviews, track your reading goals, and build your “bookshelf” of what you’ve read or want to read! Look for both in the app store!

  5. Daisy Jones & The Six - Continuing the reading / audio book trend: This book is so interesting! So I listened to this book as an audio book on the Libby app and it’s been so popular I had to wait a while to read it but it’s been fantastic. I heard about this book all over social media for a while and specifically read and heard lots of praise for it from Reese Witherspoon’s book club. When you start reading or listening to the book, you’ll likely do like I did and google Daisy Jones & The Six, attempt to find them on Spotify, then search whether this is fiction or non-fiction. It’s written really well and it’s hard to tell, seriously! For the record, the book in fiction! This story portrays the untold story / documentary of a fictional band from the 1970’s and what caused their demise. I highly recommend checking out this book as an audio book because it’s production is phenomenal. With a cast of voices for the different characters, you' submerge yourself in this story and will fly through it! I’ll advise that where this is a book about a 1970’s rock band, it does cover some adult content and there’s some language to also be aware of. Look for the book on Libby, at your library or on Amazon.

I’d love to hear in the comments if you like any of these “favorites” or plan to look into them!

P.S. Did you peep that sneak peek from our engagement photos? I cannot wait to share the rest with you!! Anddd the blog post I’ve been promising for literally almost 3 months… the story of how Darrell proposed… will be on the blog Sunday! Stay tuned :)

xo Sarah