10 Things That Happened in November

Well, friends, here we are. The end of another month. We’re so close to the end of 2024, and I’m feeling a little whiplashed. I feel like it was just yesterday that we were celebrating the beginning of January. And now, we’re rapidly approaching the Christmas season and the beginning of 2025. How did that happen?!

November was a really lovely month around here. I knocked out a couple of projects, we basked in the glow of our Christmas tree, and we ate so much good food. Basically, the perfect month!

We’re heading into the absolute best month of the entire year, so things are feeling good. But first, let’s take a second and look back at November.

10 Things That Happened in November

• We decorated for Christmas! This one is probably obvious, but it’s worth celebrating, if you ask me. I look forward to decorating for Christmas like a little kid waiting for Santa to come. There’s nothing I love more than reading a book next to the sparkling Christmas tree, and I’m just so dang excited to embrace every single second of this season. Stay tuned next week for a little Christmas house tour!
• We leaned into gratitude. November is always a time when I try to slow down and just appreciate the beauty around us. We kept up with our thankful tree as best as we could every night, and I found myself pausing to just bask in the little moments in our day. I can admit that I’m the type that struggles to be in the moment most of the time, but this is the time of year where I put in a little extra effort. Something that made a really big difference for me this year was reading this book. It helped me ground myself, slow down, and be a little more realistic (and kind) with my expectations for myself.
• I painted the patio!!! I’ve been marinating on this project for a couple of years now and I’m just so glad I finally got it done. It was a huge project, but so worth it. I’m hoping that by the end of the year I can wrap up the rest of the patio makeover so it’ll be ready to go once spring rolls around. Keep an eye on my Instagram stories to watch it all come together!
• We celebrated 5 years in our home. Five years! I can barely believe it. It’s one of those things where it feels like we just moved in, but it also feels like we’ve been here a lifetime. We celebrated with our usual house birthday party (we each get to pick out dinner from any takeout place we want, and we watch the first Christmas movie of the season). It’s always such a special little celebration! See our five year house tour right here.
• The boys had their play. My boys have really gotten into theater in the last couple of years, and this semester they’ve been working hard on a local production of Alice in Wonderland. They had their performance earlier this month and it was so sweet. Jackson was the Dodo Bird and Grant was the Ace of Spades. I love getting to watch them do something they love, and we all had such a blast with the sweet performance. Next semester, Jackson’s going to be in a production of Winnie the Pooh (his favorite!), and Grant is taking a break to give basketball a shot.

• We celebrated Friendsgiving. My best friend, Parisa, and I have been putting together a Friendsgiving for the last four years, and it’s always something I look forward to for months. We all bring some food and pile into my house, we chat and eat too much and enjoy some cocktails and just catch up with some of our favorite people. It’s such a sweet night – if you want some tips on throwing your own, click here for more details!
• There was lots of baking. I love to bake year-round, but it seems like I really amp it up this time of year. I baked a pie for Corey, I made some homemade sandwich bread, and Jackson took a stab at making some chocolate chip cookies by himself for the first time ever. It felt like a good precursor to December, which is the month of all the baking around here. Cannot wait!
• We leaned into the season of tradition. I’m big on traditions year-round, but once the last few months of the year roll around I really kick it into hyperdrive. I started prepping for our Christmas scavenger hunt and our activity advent calendar. We had our traditional Thanksgiving lunch at Luby’s with my parents (a tradition I look forward to with great anticipation every year). There are even more traditions to embrace next month and I cannot wait.
• I finished reading 100 books (!!!). At the beginning of the year I set a goal for myself to read 100 books. It seemed absolutely ridiculous and outrageous – I’ve never even gotten close to that. But, I’ve been reading more and more in the last few years and it felt like a fun challenge. Well, towards the end of the month I officially read my 100th book! I’m still reading, so we’ll see how far we make it before 2024 is over. If you want to see all 100 books, click here!
• I did (almost) all of my Christmas shopping! I love (LOVE) getting my Christmas shopping done as early as possible, and I’m right on schedule this year. I still need to grab one or two things for the kids, along with some stocking stuffers, but other than that I am DONE. I even managed to get started on wrapping this week. It feels good and I love heading into December knowing I can just sit back and enjoy it. I leaned heavily on my gift guides while shopping, so if you need some help, check those out!

10 Favorite Things from November

1. I kept seeing people talk about the “Rory Gilmore Sweater” and, of course, I had to have it. You can see it in the top left picture above. I’m obsessed. It’s cozy and perfectly oversized and feels like the 90’s in the best possible way.
2. I’m obsessed with my Christmas slippers. I wear them every single day, and I particularly love that they have rubber soles, so there’s really good support!
3. Ordered this lidded charcuterie board specifically for Thanksgiving, and it was so great. It’s not too often that I need to take a board with me somewhere, but when I do I always wish I had something a little easier to transport!
4. I’ve been dealing with more and more back pain lately (oh the joys of getting older!), and I was looking for some solutions I stumbled upon this acupuncture mat. It has been really helpful in releasing tension and I’m a huge fan!
5. I wanted some really realistic pine branches to use on our dining room table this Christmas, and I found these. They are so incredibly gorgeous and shockingly realistic! It came with enough branches to fill two big vases and I can tell we’re going to use these for years and years to come.
6. A couple of my favorite things I got for the kids so far? This DIY gumball machine (Grant is going to have so much fun with it!), and these light boards (I got one for each kid and I know they’re going to use them a ton).
7. I mentioned this basic long sleeve tee last month in my top 10, but I’m mentioning it again because I ordered two more colors and am wearing it constantly. It’s the perfect layering tee, looks great with my favorite pants, and is so flattering and comfy.
8. This cute Christmas sweatshirt is one I know I’ll be wearing all season long. It’s so cute and comes in lots of colors. I know it’s cheesy, but the older I get the more I love a good seasonal sweater!
9. I have loved having a dining table outside on our patio. The weather hasn’t been super conducive to actually eating out there yet, but it’s a great spot to work for a little bit in the afternoons, and I know come spring we’ll be using it nonstop!
10. I snagged these cute Christmas molds and this Christmas cookie sheet and I cannot wait to bake all of the Christmas-shaped things!!!

Alright, December. Let’s do this!