Saturday Sweep #1
A new newsletter, this week in short, a magical book series, sales for girl's winter clothes and my favorite underwear
Hello!
It is the weekend! Rich has taken Josephine to her toddler German class, I “have the morning off” and thus time for a little update.
1. Why this, why now
Last weekend, I was looking up one of my own blog recipes - only to realize that my blog (janavar.net) was gone. Normally, I get a notification, but not this time. It made me aware though of how much I love my blog. I mean: it contains my story since 2010. At this point, everything is fixed. But I had this shock moment of: What if it is all gone forever?!
Believe it or not, I actually love my blog dearly. Even though I haven’t posted regularly this year with a toddler and a new full-time job. I miss the creative part of writing and taking photos. But also, there seems so little time these days. So instead I have decided to start again - with this newsletter.
2. This Week
This week was wild. After Josephine had had a terrible toddler cold last week, Rich came down with it. For some unknown reason, I got lucky and only got a bit of a cough. But also, I was scheduled for four in-person work days. Each of them about 10 hours long. Besides, we had our annual homeowner association meeting, a dentist appointment, a flu shot appointment with our pediatrician, and a little friendsgiving dinner party. And have I mentioned that I am now almost 34 weeks pregnant? That has me try to get as many things done as possible, like Christmas gift shopping.
Luckily, one of my work days was canceled. Plus we apparently picked the worst date for our friendsgiving because all our friends are either out of town or already had tickets to concerts etc. So we scrapped that, too. Still, we were super busy this week.
3. What I Am Reading
I recently started reading “The Myrtlewood Mysteries” and am already at book 5. I would describe it as: Gilmore Girls meet magic meet cozy mystery. It all starts when her grandmother dies and Rosemary Thorn inherits everything, despite not having seen her grandmother in years. When Rosemary and her teenage daughter Athena arrive in Myrtlewood, everything seems a little different there. Soon they discover that magic is real, they are actually part of a powerful witch family, and Granny Thorn did not die of a natural cause …
I highly enjoy the novels as they are light and entertaining - with a refreshing amount of snarky commentary.
4. What We Are Watching
We recently discovered the second season of “Good Omens” on Amazon Prime. The first season in 2019 was great, this second season is just as good. It is about the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale, who represent Hell and Heaven on Earth, but over time have also become friends. This time, Archangel Gabriel arrives naked and without any memory at Aziraphale’s bookshop. The two friends try to figure out what happened, while Heaven and Hell are on a quest to find him.
We really love the British humor and the often ridiculous scenes.
5. What I Am Buying
With Black Friday coming up, I am eying a few things.
This week, I already got a few new clothes and shoes for Josephine because, after sorting her wardrobe last weekend, I knew we were a little short of warm pieces:
Since we are huge fans of teddy jackets here, I ordered my own with ears. Josephine loves hers so much and wears it every day. Hers is on discount, too, right now.
My favorite underwear brand, Parade, is already having a massive sale. Use my code janavar_net to get 40% off sidewide. My favorite are the bralettes, of which I have many in different colors - like so so comfy - but I also have my eye on their wide-leg pants:
6. Memories
10 years ago, I had just come back from vacation in Southern Turkey: Turkey Tuesday: Kiriş
in 2015, I got to spend a fall weekend in New York City (I probably saw more of the City than I do now that I live here): Snapshots from last weekend in NYC
in 2016, I had invited friends over for friendsgiving (that was still in Boston): Friendsgiving dinner 2016 (+ recipes)
in 2018, I shared a recipe that I still make every late fall: Pumpkin Caramel Cupcakes with Salty Caramel Cream Cheese Topping
in 2021, I had another amazing recipe for a Sweet Potato Cake with Maple Syrup Buttercream & Pecans: Recipe for the Best Thanksgiving Cake