The November Edit

media consumption overload

As you read this, my husband and I will soon be on our way to see Kacey Musgraves with Lord Huron and Nickel Creek in concert. I’m not sure what I’m looking forward to more: the music or sleeping in a comfy hotel bed overnight! Our child-free nights are few and far between so sneaking away for a quick trip is a real treat and a great way to kick off what is shaping up to be another full month of events.

If you’re a new reader, the Monthly Edit is a brain dump of everything I consumed (or consumed me) during the month. This newsletter is filled with recommendations that I hope will add value to your life. If you’re reading this in your inbox, make sure to click “view entire message” to read to the end!

I started this month by watching Outer Banks Season 4 and why I continue to watch despite my better judgment is beyond me. It’s so outrageous! But that last episode did have me in tears. Honestly, the acting this season was their best yet and I’m invested in the cast drama with Rudy.

My husband watched Severance which means I saw bits and pieces of it while I was doing other things. The general concept of the show is that employees at Lumon have their memories surgically divided between their work and personal lives. There’s a new season out which is good because it ended on a huge cliffhanger! If you’re an Apple TV+ fan, there’s also a new season of Silo out, which is based on the book series by Hugh Howey. We also started Dune: Prophecy together and have been finding time to watch each week’s release during the week. Bene Gesserit lore is my favorite part of Dune so I’m excited to see how the series develops.

Whether you’re a fan of Martha Stewart or not, the Martha Documentary on Netflix is everything. I have a lot of thoughts on Martha but at the end of the day, I’m just happy to see her coming out on top.

We saw two movies in theaters this month, The Wild Robot, based on the book by Peter Brown, had me in tears the entire time. Did you know it’s inspired by the High Line in NYC?! I think if you’re a mother you’ll relate to so many of the feelings and experiences that the robot goes through in the movie. It was action-packed and the humor kept my kids attention. The second movie we saw was Moana 2 which my daughter in particular has been looking forward to for months. Like the first movie, it focused a lot on Polynesian culture but the action was a bit darker. The story was good and Disney left it open-ended if they decide on a 3rd movie. If you’ve seen the movie, my sister pointed out that there’s an easter egg in the poster for the upcoming live-action Lilo&Stitch movie. I’m curious if they’ll tie together the movies.

This month, I added several shows and movies to my neverending watchlist: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Gladiator II, Paddington in Peru, Wicked, His Dark Materials, Rivals, and Here. (I switched from Letterboxd to IMDB in the middle of the year because I like keeping up with TV shows in addition to movies. I also use my own Notion tracker.)

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a much-watch in my house. It’s one of my favorite Thanksgiving Day traditions to start our morning with a breakfast casserole and the parade. The parade team outdid themselves this year. It was one of the best parades in recent years. I almost cried when Cynthia Erivo gave Hoda a giant bouquet to congratulate her on a full career ahead of her retirement from NBC. T Pain’s performance had me (and every millennial) singing and dancing along. My kids loved seeing the Grannies join the Bluey balloon this year. And of course, Minnie had her shining debut. Between a marching band playing Sabrina Carpenter’s song Espresso, a native dance performance by Indigenous Enterprise, and all the ads we watched in Spanish, this year’s parade felt like a celebration of womanhood and a multicultural America. I’m all in!

This month in reading was pretty lackluster, but I had fun reading Masters of Death by Olivie Blake. Her writing is quirky and the logic can be quite circular but in this novel, the poetic and introspective questioning helped emphasize the plot. If you read the Atlas Six series (or remember some of my qualms about it), you’ll find the characters in Masters of Death to be more discernable.

I kicked off my holiday reading list with Ali Hazelwood’s novella Cruel Winter With You on audio. I feel like she’s on a roll with novellas this year! Romance on audio is always a great palate cleanser for me and they’re easy to listen to at work.

I posted all of my November Reading recap if you’d like more reviews.

My 1st grader is weirdly nostalgic and she loves to ask me and my husband what things we liked as a kid or if we watched a certain TV show or owned particular toys. One of the things I’ve always loved is music. I realized when I was reading Katy’s newsletter Infusing My Life with More Music that I’ve put discovering new music on the back burner in my more recent adult life in favor of listening to audiobooks. I’ve always used music to regulate my nervous system and I’m bringing back our old habit of listening to records out loud on the weekends.

This month was a big one for new music releases. Here are just a few new albums I think are worth checking out:

• Chromakopia by Tyler, The Creator

• Lost in Heaven by Chase Atlantic

• Marietta EP by Medium Build

• Todos Nacen Gritando by St. Vincent (I actually purchased this from our local record shop on Small Business Saturday.)

• Mahashmashana by Father John Misty

• Small Changes by Michael Kiwanuka

One of the picture books we checked out from the library this month was Pete the Cat: Three Bite Rule by Kimberly and James Dean. My toddler is in a picky stage of eating so I shared this book with him in the hopes that he’ll feel encouraged to try more foods, even if he doesn’t like them. My mom calls this the “no thank you bite” but I like the Pete the Cat version too. There’s a corresponding episode on Prime Video, Season 102, Episode 2 if you’d like to watch along.

Keeping up with meal planning by scheduling our meals on my Google calendar is an easy way to track what meals were “two thumbs up” meals from my kids and reference them for later. I’ve tried to incorporate more meals they love in our regular rotation like taco bakes, beef stroganoff, spaghetti, and soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. It has taken me a long time to let go of my love for more complex flavors and embrace simple, budget, and kid-friendly cooking so I have to remind myself this is just a season (without seasoning).

While I’m settling into my kids’ flavor profiles, I still place a lot of value in introducing them to different global cuisines. We’ve had Thai food several times and both of my kids ate several pieces of chicken satay. My oldest tried tom kha kai (coconut chicken soup) and enjoyed it. I was proud of her for trying something new.

Most of our Friday afternoons have been dedicated to our Girl Scout troop. My daughter is a new Daisy this year and we’ve been on several outings since September. This month we participated in the presentation of colors for a Veterans Day service and gave back to the community by volunteering at our local Ronald McDonald House. The girls helped prepare meals for the families staying there. If you are unfamiliar with their mission, Ronald McDonald houses are a home away from home that provides comfort, support, and resources to families who travel far from home for the medical care their child needs. Ours is located near a children’s hospital that provides specialized pediatric care for complex medical conditions.

My friend opened a new Montessori-inspired indoor play cafe this month just a stone’s throw from our house so I spent a couple of hours there with my 3-year-old while I was off for Veterans Day. I’ve been looking for a “third place” and I’m thrilled to have this option in our community. I can see myself drinking a mug of tea and reading a book (or working on this newsletter) while my kids play during drop-in hours on the weekend.

Our library is finally bringing back Lego club and while a lot of the dates don’t work for us, I’m still hopeful that my 1st grader will be able to build and connect with kids when we can attend. It’s the one activity she seems to really be able to focus on for extended periods of time.

I mostly kept up with my 5-Minute Gratitude Journal this month but I’ll admit there were a few days I had to double-up on or go back and fill in. Some of the prompts were difficult for me to get through. I’ve been in a pretty dark place and sometimes letting that light shine through is a little more difficult which makes me even more proud that I challenged myself to make mindfulness and thankfulness a habit in the lead-up to Thanksgiving.

This was a really full month and I’m so grateful for my camera roll to help me keep track of everything we did. It’s one of my favorite practices because it reminds me of how much I have to be thankful for throughout the month. The small moments are worth celebrating. Mostly for me, here’s a quick recap:

• Girl Scouts Investiture Ceremony

• Election Day Thai dinner out

• Packed shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child

• Veteran’s Day programs at school and church for Girl Scouts

• celebrated my mom’s birthday (a milestone year)

• watched Charlie and met my friend’s Dalmatian

• plugged a tire and then bought a new set

• lots of play dates with our neighbors

• Dave Matthew’s Band cover band concert at the river

• had my first couple of Starbucks peppermint mochas

• played at our local play cafe

• packed snack bags for the Ronald McDonald House

• went to the library

• saw The Wild Robot and Moana 2 in theaters

• celebrated Hispanic Heritage Night at school a little late

• Mommy and me dates while my MIL was in Miami for her birthday

• Thanksgiving dinner x2

• Small Business Saturday where we supported SEVEN local businesses

• decorated for Christmas on a smaller scale

I’ve been thinking a lot about traditional gender roles and the outcome of the presidential election. Sarah does an excellent job succinctly summarizing the girlification of the Internet, the Gen Z trend toward conservatism, and why everything on TikTok is framed as ironic or aesthetic in her article i'm ready to take a sledgehammer to tiktok HQ on the People’s Princess.

NPR’s CodeSwitch published a guide on how to approach the holidays with people you deeply disagree with. It’s a short article with some surface-level tips if you’re avoiding particularly heated conversations around the dinner table.

If you’re a reader (which I’m assuming you are if you subscribe to OBM), one of the most radical things you can do to fight capitalism is utilize your local library. Vox discusses why libraries need librarians.

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Hope you find some time to relax in the busyness of the holiday season!

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