Journal

Journal | 10.27.18

What is this? Highs in the 70s, lows in the 50s? Is this what they call “Fall?”

We’re making the most of this petite cold front by spending the day outside at the Mount Dora Craft Fair. Mount Dora is a town located near Orlando and is known for its antique shops, museums, and quirky small-town charm. It’s also our Florida trip for October, and we can’t wait to share about it here once we’re finished with our series of posts on Europe (hello from the future! My Mount Dora post is right here).


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Does it seem like there are a lot of events going on in your area this weekend? We were so torn between things to do this weekend (other contenders: the Tarpon Springs Fall Art and Craft Festival, the Micanopy Fall Festival, and the New Smyrna Beach Sand Art Festival); plus there are a lot of nearby farms offering corn mazes and the like. Are you doing anything to celebrate Autumn?

Other than trying to choose between several equally fun-sounding opportunities, here’s what we’ve been reading and doing this week:


Travel

A unique perspective of Paris gained by walking around the city.

We’re currently checking out potential travel-rewards credit cards, as it’s about time for Michael to open another. I love my Discover card for its cash-back rewards and no foreign transaction fees – but I find that it’s very rarely accepted abroad. Do you have any favorites?

I really just love New York so, so much.

Life & Food

Would you consider getting a microchip with the promise of fewer hassles?

We made these delicious mole enchiladas (enmoladas) this week and it’s safe to say they have earned their place in our kitchen repertoire! We made ones with veggies (sweet potato, spinach, and mushrooms), beans and cheese, and chicken and beans – but it seems the possibilities are endless.

To simplify our weeknights, we’ve also instituted three “themed” nights per week: Soup Tuesday, Pizza Thursday, and Fish Friday. So far we’ve enjoyed creamy tomato soup, Italian sausage and white bean soup, and a curried squash soup. I think next week I will make this vegan tortilla soup (but, shh, don’t tell anyone if we put cheese in there, okay?).

Style

How darling is everything in this nature-inspired Etsy shop?

Ugh, sorry – chances are I’m going to sound like an advertisement, but this is totally not sponsored, I promise: I’m still amazed at how much cash back I am earning from Jewel (now shuttered) just by purchasing the things I planned to. Yesterday I received my first payout of $48 deposited in my Paypal account. Here’s my $5 referral link for a signup bonus, if you’re interested. I definitely anticipate using their site through the holiday season!

Yikes, this Sunday Riley fake review situation is certainly not good.

Things I bought this week

A collage of wool socks, Aesop mouthwash, and a cashmere hoodie
Alpaca Socks* | Mouthwash, Aesop | Italian Cashmere Hoodie* |

I’d give myself a solid B for purchases made this week. I ordered a pair of Alpaca Socks* as a birthday gift for my stepmother (but, ugh, now I want a pair for myself!), and I found this Italian Cashmere Hoodie* at our campus thrift store for $1. It doesn’t particularly suit me well, but I have no intentions of wearing it out of the house. Instead, I’ll likely wear it around the house as the temperature drops, with zero fear of spilling hot cocoa or coffee on it. I’m normally weary of buying knits from thrift stores, as they often feel unclean and have stretched in the shoulders from spending time on hangers. This one seemed very clean (though I still gave it a thorough hand washing with my favorite cashmere detergent), had minimal pilling, and had very minor hanger marks. The reason I downgraded myself to a B is because I ordered some Mouthwash from Aesop. I don’t really need it, as my dentist keeps pushing me to use ACT instead, but the big blue bottle doesn’t fit on our sink very well and is pretty unsightly. I’m a sucker for Aesop’s design, so I ordered their mouthwash to eventually decant my dentist-approved stuff into. Real-talk: how many people do you think actually continually order Aesop’s products, and how many just refill the bottles with other products (*raises hand sheepishly*)?

*this item is no longer available; linked to similar

Are you a refiller like me? Or do you continuously purchase new products? 

Have a great weekend!

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