A little slow week diary 💌

What day or time is it? What have you been up to? Here's what I've been doing...

How was your holiday weekend? Er…week? What day is it even?

Ours was the perfect mix of a busy and bustling Christmas Eve with family rotating in and out of the house and a big giant party at Neal’s aunt’s house. (Neal’s dad is one of nine kids, and he has 27 cousins on that side alone, so Christmas Eve is always a rowdy, fun time!) followed by a slow Christmas Day at our house.

Cutest candid my sister in law snapped late Christmas night while cleaning the kitchen. ♥️

I live for these slow days between Christmas and New Years–the only time of the year where time seems to stretch on forever. The one time of year where very few people need things from me. Where I’m not perpetually behind on something. So I’m making a conscious effort to really soak up the magic in the little moments during this time.

(And also, to take advantage of today being the one day June is in school this week, thus my first opportunity to sit down and write!)

What have you been up to the past couple of days? Here’s what I’ve been up to. (If you’re getting a little restless, there’s some good ideas in here too. 😆)

Consuming way too much coffee but in the best way

…with a bite of leftover fudge or the schnibbel of coffee cake I have leftover from the weekend, of course. And a surplus of coffee always tastes better in a fun mug that was handmade by a really cool local mom, right!? My speckled mug made by fellow auntie, Amanda, is bringing me joy! (You can shop her stuff on Etsy right here–I believe she also takes custom orders–message her to ask!) ♥️

A solo trip to the library

Truly, one of the biggest free luxuries that exists, in my opinion, is a free hour to roam the library alone. Naturally, yesterday, I came home with a cookbook and a crochet book. 😆 But if you want book reccos, keep scrolling!

My work in progress on my bonnet scarf–not finished yet, I want the scarf thicker and need to attach them together and add red edging–but coming along!

Crocheting myself a little bonnet scarf

My beloved neighbor and childhood babysitter, Sara, taught me how to crochet when I was a kid. When I was in our local toy store a few weeks ago, I passed a little “learn to crochet” kit that promised one can learn to crochet a snail with no experience. 😆 I figured, why not pick it back up again? And I DID IT!! (It was not without much trial and error–but it was really fun and I highly recommend these little kits called The Woobles which you can buy from Target here or see if your local toy shop carries them!)

I am now on my second crochet project–a hooded/bonnet scarf–and I am hooked. (No pun intended but LOL).

Note, unlike the Woobles kits, the bonnet pattern doesn’t come with video tutorials so I’m having to do a lot of googling and asking chatGPT “what does THIS mean?” when deciphering the pattern, but I’m figuring out and learning so much!

If you’ve been wanting something to replace your scrolling habit, I highly recommend crochet! (Or knitting–my Granny also taught me how to knit when I was little, but I remember crochet being easier to pick up/slightly less complicated, plus, I really love the chunkier look of crochet, so I decided to go with that first!) It’s the perfect thing to replace mindless scrolling.

Also, I got my first batch of yarn at the cutest local shop, Idea Studio in LaGrange, (Neal also bought me some crochet lessons there for Christmas to support my newfound hobby! ♥️) but I also discovered Michaels (of course, I am now their #1 customer after my gallery wall project) is running the most insane yarn sale ever, so don’t sleep on them to get your project started, either!

My finished crocheted snail. Note that June did not want his antennae sewed on, so he is a bald snail.

Binging new seasons of Emily in Paris and Nobody Wants This

TV is usually pretty far down my priority list. It doesn’t really have the relaxing effect on me that reading or doing something creative with my hands does, so I rarely get around to it. BUT– now that I’ve had some time on my hands, my new favorite thing is having a background show on while crocheting. It’s the perfect balance of cathartic stimulation for my brain! Happy to report that so far, I am thoroughly enjoying the latest season of Emily in Paris and Nobody Wants This. (Although I haven’t finished either so no spoilers please!! 😆)

Frigid walks in the woods

Outdoor walks are musts for my mental health all year round, but there is something special about a winter walk in the crisp air, especially after a snowfall. I think juxtaposition (Neal makes fun of me because I talk about juxtaposition so much)–applied literally to anything–is one of the things that makes life (or style, or a recipe, or anything, really) INTERESTING.

I love the juxtaposition of the fluffy bright snow against the stripped down, bare, dark forest. The contrast of being bundled and so toasty to the point of sweating inside your coat while simultaneously feeling the icy air on your face. Of being short of breath from walking at a clip, but not too exerted at the same time.

I’ve also shared this before, but, at the end of our time living in the city, coinciding with the period of time right after my dad passed, I started to feel suffocated.

It so happened that our forest preserve, Thatcher Woods, the one that is now down the street from our house was the closest woods I could get to from the city.

Sometimes I would pull June out of school and drive out here to spend the afternoon in the woods. It’s what made me determined to move here!

I try to never take this for granted–that we now live walking distance to that special place that provided an escape–and do my best to get there as often as I can.

Everything is made better by a walk in the woods.

Re-reading (and listening!) to two favorite books:

One of my favorite things I did last year at this time was go on long walks while listening to Ina’s memoir–Be Ready When the Luck Happens. (Get a discount on any Penguin Random House book on their website with code JESS20 🙌🏼 Also, despite also talking about Ina in last week’s post, I swear this isn’t an Ina Garten fan Substack–or maybe it is!? 😆)

She narrates it herself, so the audio is a must, in my opinion. I thought, why not listen to it again!? Turns out, I love it just as much the second time. It’s both calming and inspiring all at once–but not like, “hustle your ass off, New Year, New Me” inspiring. I don’t want any of that right now. 😆

Another book I’m re-reading: Winter Solstice by Rosamund Pilcher. One of my absolute favorites and it’s become a tradition to re-read it over the holidays. If you want a cozy, comforting book with a cast of lovable characters that whisks you off for a winter in the Scottish countryside, I can’t recommend this enough.

I also can’t wait to start the prompts in The Book of Alchemy and I recently finished TJR’s new book, Atmosphere, which I highly HIGHLY recommend!

Continuously cleaning a perpetually cluttered house

It just so happens that when you are home all day every day with every member of your family, including your tornado of a four year old, your house will be cluttered no matter what. Although I can’t really blame my cluttered countertops on her, can I!? Oh well. We will miss this time when it’s gone. ♥️

Last years app–Ina’s onion dip with homemade chips. SO SIMPLE. SO GOOD. Champagne pairing also encouraged.

Planning for our NYE sleepover party with friends

New Years Eve can be a stereotypically overrated holiday, especially after many years of “wristband deals” and club parties. But have you ever done a NYE ADULT SLEEPOVER? So much fun. It’s become a tradition with our friends Liz and Joe (who have two kids–one being June’s age and they are little buddies).

They pack up their fam and come over and stay the night so nobody is on a shot clock with bedtimes or babysitters. We put on an early “countdown” for the kids (thanks, YouTube) with sparkling cider, feed them their own dinner, put them to bed, and cook a fancy late night adult dinner together, drink lots of champagne to ring in the new year, and then cook a big breakfast and watch football while the kids entertain each other the next day. It’s perfection.

Last year for the occasion, we made Ina’s pan fried onion dip and homemade potato chips for a starter, followed by a beet salad and steak frites for dinner. (I don’t have a recipe to share, but there are lots of good ones out there. I am just mostly incapable of following recipes. 😆)

This year we are trying our hand at schnitzel. (Our friend Lucas makes the most incredible schnitzel and gave us his tips, so I don’t have a recipe to share, but I’m going to make a riff on this schnitzel and salad recipe to go with it!) Wish us luck!

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Alright, I’m off for my daily walk and to hopefully work on my scarf for a while before preschool pickup! I hope you have a magical slow week, and thank you for being here. ✨

Love,

Jess