What Brought Me Joy in October – Love & Renovations

Ohhhh, October. There’s something truly special about this month. It’s the month right before my absolute favorite time of year, and the anticipation and excitement just brings me so much joy. In just a few short days it will be socially acceptable for me to decorate for Christmas, and I’ll spend the next two months belting out Mariah Carey, wearing cheesy Christmas sweaters, and refusing to drink out of any cup or eat off a dish that isn’t Christmas-themed.

But, we still haven’t actually had Halloween yet, so I guess that has to wait a bit.

October was magical, as always. We watched a ton of spooky movies, I read (almost) exclusively spooky books, and we embraced every second of spooky season.

Moments + Memories

We threw our first ever Halloween party, and it was a total blast! My best friend and I made some cute Halloween-themed food for some neighborhood friends, we decorated haunted gingerbread houses, and we had the best time. I love a super casual, low-key party and this was exactly that!
We checked all of the Halloween fun off of our bucket list. Pumpkin carving and cookie decorating and aaaaall the Halloween movies! Basically, we slept, ate, and breathed Halloween for the last month. No regrets!
I tried to be better about snapping day-to-day photos this month – I’ve been so bad about it lately! I think in November I’d like to challenge myself to a daily photo of something that makes me smile. Having quick little snapshots of sweet moments with the family makes me so happy, and I’ve not been keeping up with it enough lately! But, I did better this month and I’m so glad I have those photos to look back on.
We took a day trip to Waco to celebrate my mom’s birthday (it was in September, but we usually take her out a few weeks later once the weather cools off). We went to the zoo, went out to lunch, and grabbed ice cream with my best friend from college (who my parents love dearly). My mom was in a catastrophic, life-threatening accident in 2021 on her birthday, so it’s become incredibly important to me to really celebrate her every year. I don’t take a single moment with her for granted anymore!
This month we also watched the eclipse, had some play dates, snuggled up for movie nights, enjoyed the cooler weather, and just generally embraced every minute of fall that we could!

Books + Media

Here’s everything I read in October:

Fairy Tale by Stephen King – I had to kick off October with some Stephen King, and I had two books of his waiting for me on my bookshelf. This one was really fun and unique. It wasn’t scary at all, just a really exciting story about a boy who finds himself living inside a fairy tale. I love when Stephen King writes just a really good story that doesn’t try to be horror, and this was exactly that.
Holly by Stephen King – I love love loved this one! Holly is a character I adored from the Bill Hodges trilogy (a must read!), but you don’t have to have read that trilogy to follow along. This story was super suspenseful and I flew through it in just a few days. Again – not something I’d consider scary, just incredible storytelling.
Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben – I’ll admit, I was disappointed in this one. I grabbed it on a whim because it had great reviews and the other Stephen King books I wanted weren’t available from my library. Also, it’s supposedly going to be a Netflix show and I love reading the book first. The writing was often clunky and I didn’t really feel connected to the main character at all. I kept reading because I wanted to know what happened, and the storyline itself was good, but I never felt fully drawn into this one.
Everything Happens for a Reason by Kate Bowler – I read this entire book in a single day (it’s short) and oooooh the feelings it made me feel. It’s a beautifully-written memoir about Kate Bowler’s experience with being diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. It’ll make you think – hard – about a lot of things. I’m definitely going to be reading some of her other books!
Happy Place by Emily Henry – After aaaaall of the intense books (see above) and movies (see below) I was consuming, I desperately needed something light, so I headed to this list of top books from the year that my Instagram friends suggested. This one was available at my library and I like Emily Henry, so I grabbed it. It was exactly what I needed. Light, feel-good, fluffy, and easy to read. I highly recommend it!
Lying Next to Me by Gregg Olsen – I wanted to like this book more than I did. It was good, and twisty, and fun to read, but I saw a lot of the twists coming from a mile away. Definitely an enjoyable book if you like mysteries and thrillers, but it wasn’t nearly as shocking as I’d hoped it would be.

Corey and I spent most of this month watching classic horror movies. We binged Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween AND Scream. We watched Castle Rock on Hulu (how had we never watched it before?!). In my own time, I kept watching American Horror Story (loving this season!), and I fell in love with Fall of the House of Usher (one of the best shows I’ve watched in a long time).

Games + Fun

Corey and I have largely abandoned game nights lately in favor of building LEGO sets together. We have a bit of a backlog of sets to build, and we’ve been having the best time putting them together. Here’s a rundown of some of the ways we had fun this month.

We built the Winnie the Pooh LEGO set and Diagon Alley (whew, that was an undertaking!). Corey buys himself a LEGO set after each closing – he’s a realtor – and we’ve been building them slower than he’s been having closings over the last few months!
Jack and I played a bit of Super Mario 3D World together, and we’re really excited for Super Mario RPG next month.
The boys are still playing Mouse Trap like it’s going out of style, and Jackson and I had a couple of UNO tournaments in the evenings before bedtime.

Products

I did some sweater shopping this month because the weather is finally dropping! I found three that were instant favorites – this half zip (the royal blue color is stunning!), this super comfy oversized sweater (I got it in brown), and this striped sweater that made me gasp when I first put it on.
I got tired of my necklaces always getting tangled in my little jewelry dish so I ordered a stand for my countertop. It’s super cheap, it looks pretty on the counter, and it holds all of my necklaces and keeps them tangle-free. Doesn’t get much better than that!
I was inspired by the Magnolia holiday magazine to try a tablecloth for my dining table this fall, and I grabbed this one. It’s absolutely gorgeous and I can’t wait to set the table for Friendsgiving in a couple of weks!
I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect leggings. I needed something that’s 7/8 length, has pockets, and isn’t too thick. After ordering 10+ pairs, these are the winners!
After eyeing these jeans for months I finally bit the bullet and ordered them. They’re my instant new favorites! They feel trendy (they’re not skinny!) but still flattering. They’re not boot cut (I REFUSE) and they’re loose without being too loose.
This silly little gadget felt like overkill when I ordered it. But, it became an instant family favorite. I honestly don’t know how we lived without it. Everyone needs one!
I needed a good carafe to keep in my bathroom for pill taking. This one fit the bill perfectly. It’s simple, it’s pretty, and I don’t mind leaving it out on the counter.
And finally, if a new vacuum doesn’t bring you a ton of joy, are you even 35?!

Next time we chat, it’ll be NOVEMBER. Can you believe it?!