October: Hits & Misses

I’m always sad to see October come to an end because it’s my favorite month of the year! This October I celebrated 23 years of marriage, turned 45, hosted a Lowcountry boil, staycationed in downtown Charleston, and saw the Taylor Swift movie twice. All in all, it was a really good month! There were definitely more hits than misses.

Hits:

1. October was busy, but I still got in quite a few slow nights at home thanks to my beautiful, new slow cooker (which is currently on sale!). I mean, is there anything better than a bowl of soup and Gilmore Girls this time of year?!

If you’re looking for a crowd-pleasing, simple-to-make soup recipe, try this one! I’m a big fan of yummy meals that don’t require a ton of ingredients.

2. Thanks to my self-imposed #onesmallthingforyourhome weekly challenge, I finally touched up the paint on the trash pull-out cabinet in my kitchen island. And these paint touch-up pens made it ridiculously easy!

See how these pens work here.

3. This Merit Foundation and Concealer Stick is everything it’s been cracked up to be and more! It glides on smooth and covers well, yet it is buildable while also being totally blendable. It reminds me a lot of the Jones Road Face Pencils I love so much, but the whole no-sharpener-needed thing makes these a little better, in my opinion. I’m a fan!

4. Beautycounter launched a fragrance set this month as part of their holiday gift set collection, and I’m obsessed! They’re Eau De Parfum roll-ons, so they’re super easy to travel with, and both scents smell absolutely divine. One is light, fresh, and clean; and one is soft and sweet with a hint of spice. The best part is every ingredient used to create each of these fragrances has been tested for safety and is transparently listed, so you can feel confident in knowing exactly what you’re putting on your body.

5. Have you seen Beckham on Netflix? I’m not even a sports person, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Posh was my favorite Spice Girl, so that may have swayed me just a bit. ? Plus, her eyeliners are my favorite! But seriously, if you’re looking for something to watch, I highly recommend it!

6. And if you’re looking for your next great read, I saved the best for last! Fourth Wing is SO GOOD! Have you read it?! I immediately preordered the next book as soon as I was finished. Is it November 7th yet?! I’ll likely need to schedule a “sick day”, so I can stay home and read. ? It’s sort of like The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter with a bit of a Game of Thrones vibe, and it basically had me in a chokehold. Seriously, I haven’t been this excited about a book release in a really long time!

Misses:

1. Remind me next year that I have no business whatsoever buying mums. All of these mums died about a week or so after I took this photo, and I ended up replacing them all. This happens to me every year! So, I’m counting on you all to help me stop this vicious cycle next year. ?

2. I really hate giving negative reviews online. But I also hate to see people waste their money. And I feel like a good girlfriend tells you the whole truth, the good, the bad, and the ugly. And well, if I’m being honest, I have to tell you that this Saie mascara is just not good. I found the formula to be clumpy and the wand hard to use. I’d heard such great things about this mascara, but I was just not impressed. It’s a total miss for me. I feel like $26 is a lot of money to waste on bad mascara, so I’ll be going back to Tower 28.

3. I’m late to the party on City of Girls. With all the buzz around this book when it was released in 2019, I was really excited to finally dive in because it’s been on my to-read list for such a long time. Since I was just in NYC last month I thought it would be the perfect time to revisit the city through the eyes of a young woman just beginning to find herself in the 1940’s. However, after reading it, I just don’t get the hype. And I hate to say it, but it’s a miss for me. And I so wanted to love this book! I give it 3 stars out of 5 because I loved the setting, the energy, and all of the characters except for the main character. I feel like Vivian, the narrator, was propped up as some kind of feminist hero, but that’s just not how I saw her. This glamorous, sexy novel fell flat for me. Have you read it? What did you think?