Sunday (Wednesday) Summary - 12.14.22
Things have been crazy (in the best way) this holiday season, which is why I’ve been quiet for the last few weeks and why you’re getting the Sunday Summary on a Wednesday. We’ll be out of town this weekend, so I wanted to get this one out the door before I let another week go by — enjoy :)
The other day I stumbled upon some gorgeous West Elm curtains. They were the perfect shade of dark green, a thick velvet material, and would create the warm and cozy look our bedroom needed. BUT, they also cost almost $300 for two panels (!!!). I searched high and low for an alternative, and was really impressed with the quality and color of these. You can hang them three ways (rod pocket, rod tab, or with curtain rings), they’re lined and weighty, and they pair well with the botanical prints above our bed. I think we may need a darker pillow to compliment the curtains now…
Reading and Watching
Trading Christmas by Debbie Macomber
I just finished The Holiday Swap and the last few chapters of Kids These Days — two books that truly couldn’t be more opposite. Because the last few chapters of Kids These Days were so depressing, I had to pick up another fluffy Christmas read to get back into a good mental headspace. I bought this book for a dollar at our local library’s annual book sale in October, and it was cute! It was turned into a Hallmark movie back in 2011, and I (very surprisingly) have never seen it. If you want to skip the book, you can watch the movie with a free trial of Hallmark Movies Now via Amazon.
Stutz: A Netflix Documentary
This was an eye-opening and practical documentary that had me nodding my head and wishing I would have taken notes the whole time.
This documentary was so impactful to me because Jonah Hill expressly states that he had similar experiences in therapy that I did before he met Phil Stutz. He would wade through sessions feeling bad and waiting weeks before he was provided with any action steps, and once he started seeing Stutz, his view of and relationship with therapy changed.
Hill set out to create this documentary to bring practical therapy tools to everyone - those who can't afford it, those who have been avoiding it, those who have had negative experiences with it - all while celebrating the work and life of his trusted friend and therapist. Wow, right?
My biggest takeaways from the documentary were 1) therapy isn’t one-size-fits-all, 2) all therapists are not the same, and 3) if your relationship with therapy is complicated, that's valid. Maybe this documentary will give you renewed hope that there could be a therapist or method out there that works better for you! Therapy involves a lot of work and re-learning, and if there are 4 widely accepted ways to learn in a traditional classroom, why shouldn't there be multiple ways to learn in this setting, too?
TV Show: Fixer Upper: The Castle — If you have HBO Max, you can watch this 6 episode series where Chip and Jo renovate an abandoned castle in Waco. (I bet it’s also on Discovery+ with the rest of the Magnolia Network shows.) I loved that Jo stayed true to the castle’s original design, and the show did a great job showcasing both her design process and Chip’s unique renovations on such an old home. We loved the most recent season of Fixer Upper for similar reasons. Jo is REALLY showing her range latey — gone are the all white, shiplap laden homes. She’s using so much more color, wallpaper, and interesting design features that me excited to work some more color and interesting details into our own home.
Cooking
I feature a LOT of Half Baked Harvest recipes in these newsletters, I know. Every time I try to branch out and try a different blogger’s recipes, I end up unexcited to cook the planned meals. Since there are still hundreds of recipes I’ve never tried from HBH, I’m taking it as a sign to keep on keeping on if it keeps us excited at meal times.
ALSO - In really exciting news (for Frugal Frans, at least), our grocery bill has been below $100 the last two weeks. If you’re sick of spending a million dollars at the grocery store, take stock of what you already have and search for meals that require your leftover herbs and pantry staples. Maybe even consider cooking a vegetarian meal or two to save some $$$!
Recipes
Greek Chicken Chopped Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing — We had this for lunch recently, because it’s super easy to prep before work (and cook at lunch time, if you still work from home like we do.) I chopped the lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers and marinated the chicken before work. Around lunch time, all I had to do was cook the chicken and throw everything else in a bowl. (P.S. It’s been unseasonably warm so we wanted something on the lighter side in these warmer temps.)
Saucy Coconut Curry with Rice Noodles and Garden Vegetables - This is more of a summer produce meal, too, but since it’s been hot out we’re pretending! We bought a bulk pack of rice noodles at Costco not too long ago, and they were delicious in this dish.
Quick + Simple Pasta “Risotto” with Herbed Roasted Chickpeas - We used orzo instead of the ditalini and broccoli instead of cauliflower — we loved the subs!
Crispy Rice Bowl with Browned Butter Sweet Potatoes and Herby Green Tahini - One of our all time favorite HBH recipes that we hadn’t had in far too long. This is a great, cozy winter meal that doesn’t sit heavy well after you’ve finished!
Weekly Favorites
We’re all staring a lot of family time in the face with the upcoming holidays, and sometimes it’s nice to bring an easy game along to shake up the holiday small talk and enjoy some laughs together. This game is simple to learn but surprisingly hysterical (and kind of painful!) It’s less than $10, has almost 40,000 5-star reviews, and there’s a Christmas version if you’re feeling extra festive!
I featured the Laneige lip sleeping mask a few summaries ago, and I still stand by that one and think it’s crazy effective for both Bryan and me. BUT I heard great things about his one from Target and wanted to give it a shot. I’m happy to report this one is fantastic, too! Here’s how it stacks up to the Laneige:
Texture: Slightly less sticky and looks a bit more matte on the lips rather than glossy.
Scent: Neutral vanilla scent vs. fruity
Price: $18 vs. $22 for the Laneige, which is a little cheaper but still kind of pricey for Target.
This is bizarre, I know, but I’ve used these an odd amount over the last few days because I recently looked too far to the right and strained something in my neck/upper back (I am officially old, it seems.) I originally bought these when I had my knee surgery back in 2020, but they’ve been SO handy for lots of injuries, cramps, and more since then. You can put the ice pack in the strap to hold it in place hands free, AND you have the option to microwave them and turn them into heat packs. They’re 50% off on Amazon right now, so I had to give them a little shout out.
Given my recent (embarrassing) injury, this thing has also been a life saver. It’s shockingly weighty, but because it’s on the smaller side, it’s really easy to handle. It comes with 4 different heads, and we use the foam sphere most often — I’m kind of afraid of the deep tissue attachment, if we’re being totally honest. This is great for routine sore muscles and for loosening tightness from injuries or funky sleeping positions. We love this one! It would also make for a great last minute Christmas gift, if you’re still in the market.