October Recap

Like any other basic girl out there, I love October. Even though there's not much going on right now thanks to the continuing pandemic, the fall continues to be my favorite time of the year. 

When it comes to hobbies, I haven't done anything super exciting. Reading as always--I finished a play I've been meaning to complete for a while, and I'm a few chapters into Chanel Miller's memoir Know My Name and it is equal parts heart-wrenching and beautifully written. Of course I also bought two more used books, so the massive stacks on my side table aren't getting any smaller, haha. Writing-wise, I've struggled a bit with my latest story, but I worked on it a good bit yesterday. Hopefully I'll have a few more chapters finished before the new year.  

Taking walks in the (finally!!!) cold-ish weather brings me so much joy. Wearing a mask while walking isn't as uncomfortable now that it's not hot. I've usually listen to podcasts or pray while I walk, but lately I've been obsessed with playing The Band Camino's new album over and over (especially "Underneath My Skin", "Know It All", and "Damage"). I don't know why, but their sound just feels perfect for fall to me. It's been a great month for music in general--Little Mix has some bangers out, I'm discovering some new-to-me Kpop jams all the cool people probably already knew about, and bachata music with a Boyz II Men song thrown in every few hours continues to get me through the workday. 

October was a busy work month for my sister/living buddy because it's Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so we tried to fit in a few special activities where we could. One day, we made some collages with my hoard of magazines and another day we attempted to construct + decorate one of those cookie houses. The collages were undoubtably a more successful endeavor, but we had fun doing both.

 Of course, we also spent a lot of time this month watching movies and TV together, as that's one of our favorite activities to do together. We're both "movie talkers", so it's not something we can usually share with someone else, haha. To keep the spirit of October alive, we made sure to indulge in some spooky vibes--including the best Halloween movie of all time, "ParaNorman". One of our new favorites was an absurdist/magical realism type of Korean drama, the "School Nurse Files". It felt like a mix between The X Files and Studio Ghibli, and while completely bizarre, was a huge amount of fun. Our first Singaporean drama, a ghost-hunting romcom called "Mystic Whispers", was also a hit. We had already watched some other enjoyable and creative spooky dramas earlier in the year (Oh My Ghost, Bring It On Ghost, Signal, The Wallflower) so it was nice to add some new ones to the list! We then balanced those picks with cozy vibes perfect for fall--namely, the new season of "Bakeoff" and "When Harry Met Sally". 

Poor Alex has also been subject to my bi-annual obsession with "Dancing With The Stars"--our (I say 'our' but really 'my and begrudgingly her') favorites this season have been Iman & Daniella, Jimmie & Emma, and Melora & Artem (and before they were cut, Kenya & Brandon and Christine & Pasha). I also stand by my statement that Britt & Martin made a huge improvement in episode 2 after their admittedly disastrous Paso in the season opener, but I digress. I'm already salty because the season is half over and we've only had two samba, but nevertheless I persevere. Also here are some of my favorite dances because I'm just that ridiculous and it's my blog so I do what I want:

• Jimmie & Emma's rumba 
• Christina & Pasha's salsa
• Iman & Daniella's UNDERSCORED jive
• Melora & Artem's Mother Gothel-themed jazz
• Iman & Daniella's absolutely WILD contemporary based on "Us"
• Kenya & Brandon's foxtrot
• Jimmie & Emma's salsa
• Suni & Sasha's salsa
• Kenya & Brandon's rumba (with her as Rizzo from Grease)
• Jimmie & Emma's beautiful contemporary based on "A Quiet Place"
• Iman & Daniella's Jafar and Iago themed Argentine tango
• Melora & Artem's cha cha 
• Iman & Daniella's rumba
• Christine & Pasha's tango
• Suni & Sasha's jive

Another thing my sister and I like to do together is eat (lol)--some of our favorites of the season have been Fog Cabins (like a London Fog but with cinnamon syrup), hot tea, and the quail egg puffs from the local Thai place. I also ate an entire bag of those mellowcreme pumpkin candies all by myself in the span of one week but that's neither here nor there... 

All this to say, October has been good. Pretty low-key, but good. I'm looking forward to the cozy vibes and more opportunities to practice goodwill that the holidays will bring, even as the pandemic continue to rage. I hope you all are staying safe and happy out there. <3