Around here: November 2014

I love the “around here” posts that pop up periodically throughout the blogosphere. It’s always a true pleasure to get a glimpse into others’ everyday lives, and I like looking back at my own (sporadic) posts of this type – they are wonderful snapshots of certain moments in my life.

Life is full and busy and rich (and sometimes stressful) these days, and I want to remember how it feels, in all its particularity. Right now – as of late November 2014 – I am:

• drinking David’s pumpkin chai almost every morning, and breaking out the Yorkshire tea (with milk and sugar) when the temps dip below 30.
• waking up to the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack and the hubs curled up next to me.
• wearing dresses, tights and boots to work, jeans and sweaters on the weekends (with my beloved jade green coat).

• breaking out the handknit hats and fingerless gloves.
• eating lunch with the hubs almost every Friday when he comes to Harvard Square.
• listening to the Wailin’ Jennys, Kate Rusby, a set of jazz compilation CDs I bought in London more than a decade ago, and Sarah MacLachlan’s Wintersong album.
• getting ready to break out the Christmas music.
• plugging away at my NaNoWriMo mystery novel (47K words and counting – so close!).

• reading a wickedly funny publishing whodunit (out in Feb.) and rereading The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets (again).
• looking at photos of my 11-day-old nephew, Harrison, and hoping he and my sister (who have both been fighting infections) get to go home from the hospital soon.
• wishing I could be in Texas to sit with my sister and hug my parents. Living far away is hard sometimes.
• burning a Leaves candle in the evenings.
• starting my dozenth (at least) reread of Watch for the Light as Advent begins.
• preparing for Turkeypalooza, our annual Thanksgiving potluck with friends, which means I am
• buying sweet potatoes, pecans, evaporated milk and frozen rolls.
• continuing my Christmas shopping (I like to start early).
• cooking a lot of solo dinners (soup, pasta, fried eggs) and saving leftovers for the hubs when he gets home from work.
• snapping photos of the autumn leaves and light in Harvard Square.

• missing Oxford and so grateful for the time I had there this fall.

• anticipating our annual Christmas trip to Texas even more eagerly than usual.
• knitting baby sweaters for Harrison and others.
• loving the glimpses of others’ lives I see on Instagram.
• delighting in the weekly email exchanges with the ladies of Great New Books.
• sipping a lot of chai lattes from Darwin’s, and the occasional peppermint hot chocolate from Starbucks, in a red cup.

• snuggling down under the electric blanket and the quilts from our grandmothers in the evenings.
• slathering on the hand lotion as the air gets colder and drier.
• browsing the Harvard Book Store on my lunch breaks.
• savoring apples from the farmers’ market before it closes for the season.

What are you up to right now?

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