no. 51: november digest

the best things I read, watched, shopped, saved, and ate in november, including my go-to clean out the fridge method, a novel I couldn't put down, and my monthly journal prompts.

The monthly digest is a summary of the best things I have read, watched, listened to, saved, shopped and considered each month. As usual - she’s a bit long, so you might want to check out the browser version or expand in email.

november, in a nutshell

Writing the monthly digest is one of my favorite things to do each month.

By the numbers, they are some of my most “successful” issues; they tend to bring in a lot of new readers, get a lot of engagement, and help the newsletter to grow. This is great, because they are also fun to write, and I have enjoyed their evolution over the last year from basic, bulleted lists to a more conversational style as I’ve gotten more comfortable and had time to play with form. But digging beyond the surface level, I love how they have become such a special reflective practice. As much as I would like to be, I’m not a daily journal-er. While I used to have a very committed yoga and meditation practice, the reality of parenting a toddler (and living in the digital age) means I’m a lot more distracted and a lot less diligent than I used to be.

This month in particular feels like a perfect example – Between multiple houseguests, the election, my son’s second birthday, holiday travel, and an unexpected bout of pneumonia that fully knocked me out for a few weeks, if you had told me it was already February, I probably would have believed you. The first weeks of my planned #fullfactoryreset ended up as more of just a forced, prolonged shutdown. But in slowing down to reflect and document what filled my time and my thoughts in November, it’s a surprisingly poignant time capsule of just how much life was lived in the whirlwind.

There is something meditative and grounding about sitting down and considering all the small details that make up your life each month - what you’re reading and thinking about, what you’re eating and sharing and, perhaps most importantly, how you feel about those things; what you learned from them, how they brought you joy, or a new perspective. The process of pulling these issues together has inspired me to actually start to journal in parallel, in the hope of bringing more retrospection into the issue.

I know we’re all looking forward to the crush of milestones over the next weeks and months, into the holidays and the new year. But I hope you’ll join me to slow down for a little reflection before we wish December away.

A FEW JOURNAL PROMPTS I’M USING THIS MONTH:

• What moments felt joyful, or in alignment this month and why?

• What challenges did you navigate, and how did they help you grow or shift your perspective?

• What recurring themes or patterns showed up in your life this month?

• Who or what brought you peace, and how can you make more space for that energy?

• How did you nurture your relationship with yourself? What habits or routines are working, and which ones aren’t?

• Where did you experience the most flow or ease this month? What felt natural or energizing?

• What is calling to you as you step into a new month?

With love,

ps: I’ve got an upcoming coffee with maggie issue planned, and want to make sure I’ve got your questions and topic requests. throw ‘em here and I’ll make sure to tackle them!

open tabs:

• I’ll read just about anything on the social implications of the technology we use. Still digesting this look at how technology has created a “Recipe for Loneliness" (Brian X. Chen, New York Times), and the considerations about what happens when a sober influencer relapses (Matthew Herskowitz, GQ). A helpful reminder:

  Clara
  ‘s thoughtful essay “we can’t self-care community away”.

• File under: yet *another* gender gap: this time it’s exercise. (Danielle Friedman, New York Times).

• I’m thinking a lot about what and how I want to write in 2025, and came across

  Emily J. Smith
  ’s piece on the importance of writer friends – feels like my next big hurdle (and opportunity!) to step out of my comfort zone rather than just admiring from afar! (related: how to avoid perfectionism in your writing 10/10 advice!)

• Delighted to see that dressing like a brooklyn mom looks a lot like dressing like a seattle mom (although it’s clear I need to up my hat game)

books:

Picking up the pace on books this month trying to get back on pace for my end of year reading goals. While I’m quite a bit behind last year’s ambitious 45 books, we’re heading into December having completed 32 and with significant dents in three more.

I immensely enjoyed WIll of the Many, by James Islington, a novel I can only describe as The Hunger Games meets Fourth Wing meets the (future?) Roman Empire. With complex world building, political intrigue and a compelling mystery, I found the (fairly long) story a complete page turner, and I can’t wait for the sequel. It was a perfect palate cleanser after finishing Liars by Sarah Manguso, a story of what happens when a woman becomes (and is subsumed by becoming) a wife. The story is told entirely from the perspective of the wife and is a blistering look at a marriage burning to the ground. I found it striking, painful and beautiful (so much so that a major section inspired my most recent personal essay). Finally, I read Disclaimer by Renee Knight after watching the new TV series of the same name. Following the same storyline as the TV series, this quick mystery covers a decades old drowning and the attempts of a grieving man to hold someone accountable. I was surprised that the series had cut a fairly significant plot point as part of the ending, and found the ending of the novel much more satisfying.

Currently Reading: Bear by Julia Phillips and Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin, and hoping to finish Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors on an upcoming flight!

kids books:

It’s been an excellent month for kids books: we discovered a new-to-us local library that has an absolutely phenomenal selection of children’s books, and we’ve been returning for storytime every few weeks to stock back up on as many as we can fit in our designated boat n toat. A few standouts:

Pulled Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey from an award winners stand, and have loved sharing such a Boston-centric story with Little Bear (and digging out photos from the Public Garden with the duck statues). We have loved My Olive Tree, by Hazar Elbayya, an author and illustrator from Gaza, that tells the story of a young Palestinian girl and her community learning about how the olive trees are an enduring symbol of their community and shared hope for a better future (and loved this read aloud!) . Angela’s Glacier by Jordan Scott and Diana Sudyka is a beautifully illustrated story about growing up and the peace and reflection that can be found in the natural world, even and especially when things get hectic. (Little Bear likes how much hiking is in it!). Finally, I picked up a copy of the classic Paddington by Michael Bond, from the bargain bin at our local kids secondhand shop in preparation for an upcoming trip to London. Our guy is infatuated with the adventurous little bear and has requested we read it no less than 100,000 times over Thanksgiving alone.

Extremely light month on the TV and movies front, so I’ll give you the lightning round here! Cruel Intentions (available on Prime) was frothy, frivolous and walked the line of silly and making your skin crawl (so obviously I loved it, although I still can’t get over THAT ending). Say Nothing is a fantastic historical show focused on the Irish Republican Army’s fight for an independent republic in Ireland and end of British Rule (and Catholic subjugation) in Northern Ireland. The show is based on a 2019 book, and both are excellent. Full reviews of both here!

I also saw and really enjoyed Wicked - as an early fan of the original musical (and victim of the post-show gifting of the extremely NSFW novel it’s based on) I thought it was a movie packed with nods to fans of the stage play and the 1939 Wizard of Oz, which is endearing. As I’ve digested the first watch, I am curious how I’ll feel after a re-watch (and ingestion of the inevitable discourse surrounding). Full initial review here!

As implied above: I have been quite stuck on the Wicked soundtrack and it has been on repeat (Little Bear has enjoyed listening to the “funny songs”, which I think means my work here is done).

I’ve also worked hard to aggressively skew my spotify wrapped in the last few weeks, diving back into cozy season with several (dozen) relistens of Wasteland, Baby!, my favorite Hozier album.

The cold and dark season in Seattle really ramped up to 1000000000 the minute daylight savings hit, and I have been craving ALL of the cozy comfort food. A few standouts:

With all the chaos of visitors and being down for the count with pneumonia for a few weeks, I skipped my normal meal prep approach and pulled from an old go to: one afternoon each week I would do a clean out cook: basically take everything perishable out of the fridge and pantry and go to town to turn it into easy, accessible “prepped” food that we could mix and match for the week. For the week before thanksgiving this looked like:

• Set the over to 400- 450

• Potatoes: Pick off all the eyes from the bottom of the bin spuds. Boil them in heavily salted water for 20 minutes, then wedge cut, toss in olive oil, garlic salt, lemon juice and several heaps of grated parmesan. Throw in a sheet tray and roast for ~35-40 minutes (until crispy)

• Sweet potatoes: small dice (don’t bother peeling, but give them a wash!), toss in olive oil, sea salt, cinnamon and rosemary. Throw in a sheet tray and roast for ~35-40 minutes.

• Beets: brush with oil and a few pinches of salt, wrap in tinfoil and bake for around 30 minutes. Once they can be easily piecered with a knife, let them cool, then peel off the skins, small dice, and add to a resealable container with ~2-3 TBSP vinegar, a glug of good olive oil and a big pinch of salt.

• Apples: We got overzealous with apples at the store, and had a bunch that were soft and bruised but still generally edible. I love to rough chop, then throw them in a saucepan with a cup of water, a bunch of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, some lemon zest and a pinch of salt. Simmer for as long as it takes for your house to smell amazing and the apples to soften to your desired consistency for amazing, easy homemade apple sauce.

• Literally anything else: Peppers, broccoli, squash, etc: dice, heavily season and roast.

This whole activity took about 2 hours on a Sunday, but made putting together well rounded dinners for the whole week super easy with a big tub of mixed greens and a batch of my go-to lemon garlic tahini dressing. Between this and a few Costco freezer staples, we made it through the month with minimal weeknight cooking, minimal stress, and minimal waste – win, win, win.

Early in the month I did manage to make a few batches of tahini stuffed dates from Jess Damuck’s Health Nut cookbook (a fave!), and they have been perfect to keep in the freezer. Unexpected win: after making my second batch, I had a lot of melted dark chocolate left over, and decided to make dark chocolate pomegranate bark. Just poured the remaining chocolate over fresh pomegranate seeds in a sheet tray, popped it into the freezer to set and then broke it apart into chunks. Juicy, fresh and so so delicious!

File under “will be making immediately”: Red wine hot chocolate & Salt & Vinegar Martinis. If you’re in the mood for a little treat: grabbed Issei Mochi Gummies from our local co-op and the mango flavor is phenomenal.

I absolutely adore when directors reference art and literature in their films, and this post was a fun round up:

saint

A post shared by @saint

Lots to say in November! specific gift guides for the “impossible to shop for” people in your lives, an essay on my first two years of motherhood, some thoughts & feelings on the election (and what we do now), plus how I’m shopping my closet to make fall fashion more sustainable.

no. 50: extremely specific gift guides, vol. 2

sunday edition | five cozy things

no. 49: becoming the sun

no. 48: october digest

sunday edition: the big dark

no.47: tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

no. 46: fall style sessions