Another September has come and gone, and I am another year older. I love birthday's, but I often feel like mine is forgotten or overlooked. I usually have expectations, where they stem from I'm not quite sure, but it reminds me of the episode of New Girl where Jess's enthusiasm isn't always reciprocated, specifically on her birthday, and she's left disappointed. So, this year I planned ahead. My brother, his girlfriend, and my sister and I ended up spending the day enjoying each other's company. It was a relaxed day where we didn't necessarily have to be anywhere at a certain time so we kind of let the day lead us. 

I'd be lying if I said I haven't been dealing with my own set of challenges these past few months. I don't want to gloss over that and act like this summer was amazing, because it wasn't. I found joy in little moments, but I will admit I've had more bad days than good. It's the constant cancellation of plans, the uncertainty of where we'll be in the coming months, as well as the halt in my career plans for the unforeseeable future. But, that is another post that I will be sharing soon. Right now I do want to focus on what was good about summer 2020, because it wasn't all doom and gloom. Despite the weight of everything going on with the virus, and the injustices in our world for minorities, I was able to find comfort and small glimpses of hope in the things I enjoy. I'd like to share some of those with you now.

        I know I've been slacking on my favorites posts, but February was pretty uneventful. I am ready to make up for it though. If you follow my Instagram, you'll know at the start of last month I had the flu. It was rough. It came out of nowhere and I was stuck home in bed for at least a week. I had no energy to do anything, even checking my phone or watching TV felt like a task. Thankfully, I recovered in time to make my trip to Colorado, though I was still gaining my strength back. I had a nice trip, but when I returned is when the madness of the Coronavirus was just beginning. Because I was sick and then on vacation, I had missed the worst of it, but the week I came back and the weeks following were long and hard to get through. I was coming home exhausted every day and had little time or energy for anything. Because of this, I don't have much for March, but I figured something is better than nothing. I hope you enjoy my little list, and please let me know if you've been indulging in these as well, or what you've been using to distract yourself from the new normal.

Every year it's the same: January seems to go on forever. It's like the never ending month. I spent most of it preparing for the next step in my career and indulging in all the new releases in music, movies, television and literature as well as a new podcast. Below are a few of my favorites:

    It’s weird thinking about where I was at the start of the last decade. It was 2010 and I was halfway through my junior year of high school. I was still adjusting to my new school environment, after having to transfer when my beloved all-girls catholic high school officially closed its doors. I was starting a new chapter just as the world was transitioning into a new decade. So many milestone moments happened for me this past decade: I graduated from high school, passed my road test (after many attempts), earned my Associates and Bachelor’s degrees, met my biggest inspiration, and started an online magazine, just to name a few. ​

December was a hectic month, especially working retail. I felt like all I did was work. With the semester coming to an end and the approach of the holidays, I was mentally and physically exhausted from Black Friday up until Christmas Eve eve. Between studying for my final and working long hours I felt like I would never catch up on sleep. I did manage to take some time for myself though, and found some peace in new music, TV and movies that dropped before and after Christmas.

It's been a bit since I've updated on book club, but we're still going strong. We've been meeting monthly and I was been able to reach my Goodreads challenge goal for the year! Although not everyone has loved every book, I've liked that we're taking the time to read and then come together and discuss and analyze each book, whether we loved or hated it. I feel like it's getting me back into the groove of looking at literature critically and I missed having the opportunity to do that. So, without further ado, here are the books we read in August, September and October:

In the spirit of being determined to write more on here, I figured I'd share some things I have been loving this past month. From delving into podcasts to my favorite new TV show, here are a few things that made my November exciting: