Happy 2020!! New month, new year, new decade. One during which I would just LOVE to get this thing off the ground. I thought about these monthly “things” posts and kind of wanted to give up on them–– feeling like no one really would care what recipes I’d tried, or products I’d used and books I’d read. But in my indecisiveness, I went back and read the two others ones I had done and decided that I liked reading about those recipes and products and books and LIFE. It felt like taking a little step back in time to see what I had been up to a year and a half ago, and that is something that makes me feel like maybe this is all worth it. So here we are! Another year, another try.

books read: *you can read all of my full reviews for these books on my goodreads profile *

  • If You Read This Letter: My Journey to Find Purpose Through Hundreds of Letters to Strangers by Hannah Brencher ****
  • More Than Words by Jill Santopolo **
  • Regretting You by Colleen Hoover ****

tv/movies:

  • Uncut Gems–– saw this one in the theater and LOVED it. I’m usually hit or miss when it comes to violent dramas, but this one I thoroughly enjoyed.
  • Sons of Anarchy–– re-watched this after not having seen it since 2015, and I just don’t even know what to say. You guys, show is SO. GOOD. I am a terrible binge-watcher and I literally cannot turn this off. Every night we watch “just one more” and suddenly it’s almost 1am. Just watch it!
  • A Marriage Story –– I really hated this omg. I had decided I wanted to watch the movies that were nominated for Oscars this year, so put this on on a whim, and boyyyy did I regret it! It was two hours of screaming, yelling, crying and sadness. I can totally see why it’s nominated, but this was a drag.
  • Seinfeld –– I spent so many years of my life tormenting my mom for watching this show and thinking that it was funny, but the joke’s on me now, because I’ve been watching this all month, and cracking up at every episode. Sorry mom!
  • Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time Tournament –– my brother had gotten me into Jeopardy last year, and now I can’t help but plop down for a half hour when I see it’s on TV. This tournament was addicting! We looked forward to it every night and were genuinely sad when it ended. People are so amazingly smart. My mouth was hanging open at a few of the categories and how quickly they were able to answer.
  • The Gentlemen –– oy. Saw this in the theaters and honestly, I need to watch it again before I can give my honest opinion because I left the theater having no clue what I had just watched. I also maaaaay have dozed off during it, so that definitely didn’t help matters.
  • Taylor Swift: Miss Americana –– couldn’t have loved this more! As a long time TS fan, I can only hope that everyone watches this documentary.

in the kitchen:

  • this coconut pinkcherry frozen yogurt – this was deeeee-lish! I made it diet friendly with non-fat Greek yogurt, and it got quite hard once it fully froze. But still gets the job done. I love this with a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips.
  • this lemon chicken – no exaggeration, I have thought about making this chicken so many times over the last few years, and for some reason it just never worked out. I was always missing just one ingredient, or trying to eat less carbs or meat, or just plain forgot about it. But I finally made it, and it did not disappoint, definitely adding it into the rotation. Also PSA if you don’t already read Tracy’s blog, you should be.
  • this jacked up banana bread –– with BOURBON, need I say more? Not only was this delicious, but the smell while it was baking was enough for me to tell you to make this immediately.

music:

Sadly there has not been much on the music front this month since I have been working from home – ie; not commuting or sitting at my desk with headphones in. The soundtrack to my life has been FRIENDS or Seinfeld playing softly in the background of my typing, phone calls and steady hum of my hard drive.

beauty products:

  • Rodan & Fields Recharge Regimen – obsessed with this. My skin has never felt or looked better. It sounds crazy, but I actually look forward to washing my face, because the results are instant with this stuff!
  • Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curl Boosting Mousse – I tried mousse for the first time ever this month and loved it! In the curly community, there’s this method called mousse-gel-mousse, and while I liked that, I find the gel-mousse-gel actually worked better for me. Not quite sure that’s actually a thing, but I might be making it one.
  • As I Am Leave In Conditioner – found this from a fellow curly girl and loved it. So lightweight and moisturizing. And the smell is DIVINE.
  • A lip combo I can’t stop wearing – base of clear lip balm, layer of ILIA Color Block High Impact in Amberlight, and a swipe of Glossier Generation G in Zip overtop. *chef’s kiss*

other things:

  • OV CloudKnit Sweatpants –– I know these are painfully and absurdly expensive for sweatpants. BUT! when you consider the fact that you can throw out all of the other pants you have ever owned (and will ever own) because you will never wear them again, they’re a steal. Working from home life has me legitimately living in them, and let me tell you– they are worth every penny.
  • Peppadew peppers –– this is extremely random. But this month I have discovered a borderline unhealthy obsession with these spicy, sweet and vibrantly red little babies. I cannot get enough of the ones from the olive bar at Whole Foods.

the main events: 

  • Dad’s birthday –– celebrated with too much food and too many cocktails at our favorite spot with a few of our favorite people. 
  • Brandon & Lyndsay’s Engagement –– my oldest friend is ENGAGED!! Couldn’t be happier for these two. 
  • Krissy & Eric’s Going Away Party -– two of my favorite people are moving to LONDON! So naturally, we celebrated with too many cocktails. 

And that’s January! It was a long month spent trying to balance healthy eating with major family celebrations every weekend. And I wouldn’t have it any other way! Wishing you all the best for February and 2020.

with love, JAK