November 2024 Month in Review

Grace G.

1 year ago

November felt like at least three months wrapped into one, probably because I was only home for one weekend. The rest were spent in Fort Collins for my birthday, in Grand Junction visiting a friend, and in Boise for Thanksgiving and a wedding. So much fun packed into a short 30 days! December will be a little slower thankfully—so I can soak in all the holiday festivities—before I head back to Boise for Christmas. I’ve been feeling very burnt out at work lately (like everyone else) so I’m really looking forward to the upcoming break to rest and recharge for the new year.

What’s New?

I turned 25 at the beginning of November! Obviously I’m not old yet, but I do feel like I’ve noticed a couple of changes over the past year or so as I enter my mid-20s. For one, I don’t sleep as well as I used to. Sometimes I can’t make it through the night anymore without having to get up to pee. (I’m too young for this!) Another change is that I have become overly emotional. It’s honestly embarrassing. At Thanksgiving dinner my mom asked what we were all thankful for and I couldn’t even get through my sentence without crying. I hate being sappy so it’s very frustrating to suddenly be overwhelmed by waterworks at the smallest things. I’m hoping it’s just a glitch and will go away soon.
After 25 years, I finally got my ears pierced!!! I’m not really sure why, to be honest. I wanted to do something big for my 25th, and I guess I was just sick of wearing painful clip-on earrings. Winter is also a good time to do it since they need time to heal before being able to swim. It’s fun to be able to look around the earring sections in stores now, something that I always just skipped over in the past. And I’m really excited to wear a couple of pairs that belonged to my grandma. Thankfully the piercings are healing well (I think) and haven’t bothered me at all. It will still be several months until I can change them, though.

Today’s Outfit

This chic winter outfit is my newest look from Clara Sunwoo! I’m absolutely obsessed with the top—as I mentioned in yesterday’s weekly recap, the colors and print remind me of a Monet painting. My boyfriend said it is very “me.” I actually don’t have many non-sweater long sleeve tops, and while this one looks like a sweater, it’s actually the perfect lighter-weight knit to be layered with a jacket (I’m thinking black leather would be very stylish over top).

The pants are a very pretty jewel tone—kind of a forest green, kind of a teal depending on the lighting. I warmed the outfit up a bit with brown booties and a fabulous leather purse that I got as a souvenir from the Esse Purse Museum. The pants are pretty long on me, so I actually only have 2-3 pairs of shoes that are tall enough to wear with them. I have a holiday outfit in mind with the green pants that I can’t wait to style!

Top Performing Blog Posts This Month

Top Performing Social Media Posts

What I Watched

Longlegs—It’s kind of comical how overhyped this movie was. It was terrible! Bad acting, lame dialogue, and the plot sucked. My favorite review on IMDB said, “Best marketing scheme ever.” I kept hearing that this movie was good—“the best psychological thriller since Silence of the Lambs”—but to compare it to SOTL is an insult. Big thumbs down from me.
Twisters—My mom hated this movie because it was “the exact same as the first one.” But what can you expect? While it is objectively not a good movie, I still thought it was a fun watch. A solid 6/10.
Years and Years—Boy is this show disturbing. It’s a British mini-series (only six episodes) made in 2019 that follows one family as Britain slowly becomes a dictatorship. If you are already freaked out by the state of the world and have a tendency to spiral, I would not recommend this show. It’s really good, just deeply unsettling. It reminded me a lot of “Black Mirror” but with a through-line.
Bad Times at the El Royale—I watched this movie when I was home with my parents and I really liked it. It keeps you guessing until the very end!

What I Read

Lessons in Chemistry—I didn’t like this book at first, for reasons I can’t quite articulate, but by the end I really enjoyed it. I’m excited to watch the TV show adaptation with Brie Larson now; I’ve heard it’s pretty good.

November Spotify Playlist

This month’s playlist turned out a little moodier than expected, with songs from the bowling alley karaoke I did during my weekend in Grand Junction and slower tunes from a playlist that we listened to while getting ready in the bridal suite for my friend’s wedding.

What I’ve Been Loving Lately

Sewing! My aunt taught me how to sew back in 2020 during quarantine, on my mom’s old sewing machine (it still runs but is super heavy and the manual is a VHS tape, lol). I only sewed one outfit and then… forgot about sewing, I guess? I couldn’t take it with me to school and I just haven’t really done it since. We have a sewing table at home, but I’ve never had room for it in my apartment—and didn’t think I could sew without it (I was also just intimidated by the idea of trying to cut fabric and store all the materials in my already-too-full apartment).

Butttttt then my sister-in-law bought a sewing machine. So I asked my parents to bring my mom’s sewing machine to Denver when they visited for my birthday. And now my SIL and I have been having sewing nights once a week!! It has been SO fun, and I guess I didn’t realize how much I missed being crafty. Turns out the sewing table is a nice-to-have item but not a necessity, and while I had to do a little rearranging in the apartment, I made room for all the supplies. I’ve been working on a couple of Christmas decorations right now but have a long list of projects for the future (including some thrift flips!).

What I’m Looking Forward to in December

Alllll the holiday activities! My brother and SIL are coming over on Friday to decorate Christmas cookies and watch Love Actually. I already bought eggnog the last time I was at the grocery store so that has been a delicious treat, too.
I’m finally going to be able to attend Tuba Christmas this year. If you aren’t familiar, Tuba Christmas is an event that several cities have where a bunch of local tuba players get together to play Christmas songs. I’ve always been busy or out-of-town in the past, but this year I’ll actually be in Denver when the Denver concert is happening. I’m excited!
And of course, I can’t wait to go back to Boise again to spend Christmas with my whole family. I’ll be there for over a week, and because the governor gave our university a couple of extra days off this year, I won’t even have to work while I’m home! In fact, I’ll have nearly two weeks off of work. (Instead of getting one-off holidays like Veteran’s Day throughout the year, we actually get the week off between Christmas and New Year’s—it’s such a nice tradeoff.)

This Month on Grace Per Wear

What are you looking forward to this month, and what are you most proud of accomplishing in November? I worked with three brands in November—the most I’ve ever collaborated with in a single month—so I feel really proud and excited about that.

Miles of smiles,
Grace

Top: Clara Sunwoo, gifted for collaboration, $135, use code GraceG for 10% off | Pants: Clara Sunwoo, gifted for collaboration, $98, use code GraceG for 10% off | Boots: Express, $23 ($2.09 per wear), last worn here | Purse: Esse Purse Museum, $135 | Sunglasses: Loft, $20 ($0.61 per wear), last worn here