There’s a gorgeous festive centerpiece on the kitchen island at home. I’ve been taking all my amateur lifestyle photos in front of it lately (always at the darkest hour of the day of course, rendering the photos almost unusable, because that’s how I roll). Non-festive box of chocolates placed by the festive centerpiece? Festive! Non-festive morning cappuccino placed by the festive centerpiece? Festive! Festive nails modeled over the festive centerpiece? Irresistibly festive!
You’d think that as you got older, you’d know more, but I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I feel like I actually know less. If you think about it again, it’s not that crazy a notion; the more you learn, the more you realise there is to learn. Your simplistic preconceptions become tangled in complicated nuance. It would be naive to think you could possibly know everything about anything. But rather than let this be a disheartening challenge to overcome, let this gift be an opportunity to embrace.
I missed a day of Blogmas for the first time. I even prepped one post before flying off for the holidays to give myself a little leeway, but when I arrived home, I was simply too tired, and then I spent the whole next day at a hair salon, away from my laptop. Besides that, the internet situation in China is proving to be more difficult than I anticipated. I always seem to underestimate how slow the internet can truly be. It’s mostly that my house has especially bad connection, but the internet in China overall is still pretty slow. So even though I said that being in China wouldn’t affect the content I produce, it might and it has.
Published by Broadway Books on 16 Oct 2018
Goodreads | Amazon
Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn’t exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there’s a moment of pure magic…and then her bus drives away.
Certain they’re fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn’t find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they “reunite” at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It’s Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.
What follows for Laurie, Sarah, and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming, and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.
I’ve been naughty this year and already opened some Christmas presents… To be fair, my roomie Georgina and I wanted to give each other our gifts before I left for the holidays (tomorrow!), but let’s be real, that was only an excuse. The two of us have been using all the stealth we could muster to hide our presents from each other since Thanksgiving, but we’ve been dying to give them, especially the gag gifts!
ONE // Parisian apartment tour
Back when I thought I was going to move to NYC, I dreamt up my dream interior, and key to it was a Parisian bistro table with two matching bistro chairs placed by a window with floor to ceiling curtains. I loved the quirkiness of using pieces traditionally placed outside inside, and mused about how fun it would be to have a Parisian apartment in NYC. For now, I can continue to dream of Parisian apartments (without the pressure of logistics since I’m not actually moving) inspired by Darya Kopp’s apartment tour on Wit + Delight. I love that Darya loves colour and based her colour palette off two colours, then used other colours as accents. I also thought it was funny how her husband only had opinions on two elements of the interior, so she made sure to incorporate them even though they may have clashed with her original vision.
TWO // Christmas in London 2017
I can’t get enough of all the festive content going around! Carrie x Wish Wish Wish shares a Christmas in London recap every year; 2018 hasn’t gone up yet, but just look at those beautiful photos from 2017! Whilst we wait for Christmas to come around, perhaps you’d like to try this family activity advent. There are tons of bucket lists and advents going around, but I particularly like the simplicity of these; they’re activities that I feel will add to the holiday experience instead of add stress. I’ve also been enjoying reading about other family traditions like how Joanna x Magnolia gifts each member of her family a new ornament every year for their tree and how Ashley x Under the Sycamore‘s family writes notes about what they hope for in the coming year and stuff them in their stockings before they pack them away for the new year. Another sweet moment is this story about the empty Christmas box — it’s a short read and may bring tears to your eyes.
THREE // 10 reminders for anyone who feels lost in life
I really, really, really needed this post this week. There are tons of motivational sayings out there that just feel like empty words, but each one of these reminders got me good. If anyone else needs a little boost, I hope you find as much comfort in these reminders as I did. In this same headspace, I found these articles about the slippery slope between “me time” and isolation and productive things you can do instead of spending money interesting.
FOUR // Baked brie and bread wreath
Who needs a wreath of foliage when you’ve got this glorious wreath of brie and bread? For more baked goodness, check out this cranberry nut bread. Can’t choose between gingerbread or cinnamon rolls? Try these gingerbread cinnamon rolls. If you’re looking for a drink instead, here are recipes for mulled wine and mulled apple cider. Not enough for you? Here are seven holiday cocktails to choose from. Not one for the kitchen? Here are some Trader Joe’s holiday goodies. Not necessarily looking for something festive? Have a hearty chicken and sweet corn soup.
Link a favourite post of yours from the past week (or month) below!
PPS: I’m giving Blogmas a go! Let me know in the comments if there’s anything you’d like to see on the blog (ू•ᴗ•ू❁)