December 2023 in Pictures

“December is the time for remembering the past and reaching toward the future.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Currently • December 2023

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

READING:

• Books:

  • The Wildest Sun by Asha Lemmie — When tragedy sends Delphine Auber, an aspiring writer on the cusp of adulthood, from her home in Paris, she seizes the opportunity to embark on the journey she's long dreamed finding the father she has never known. But her quest is complicated by the fact that she believes her father to be a famed literary icon, Ernest Hemingway, a man just as elusive as he is iconic.

  • Here is a recap of my 2023 Goodreads Challenge — 30/30 books

• Links:

  • National Geographic’s Guide to Saint-Malo — I love to go back one day.

  • Outline of Notre Dame’s Spire Once Again Visible on the Paris Skyline (France 24)

  • How to Apply for Global Entry (Travel + Leisure) — I need to do this.

  • 30 Ways to Romanticize Your Life for Winter (The Every Girl - Healthy Living)

  • Christmas Movie Locations You Can Visit in Real Life (CN Traveler)

WATCHING;

• The final season of The Crown - Part 2 (Netflix)

• My favorite Christmas movies and specials: White Christmas, Love Actually, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown — Vince Guaraldi’s soundtrack always makes me smile while Linus’ recitation of the gospel of St. Luke always brings me to tears. “That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown!” We also watched Prep and Landing, Arthur’s Christmas, and The Holiday.

LISTENING TO:

• My Christmas Playlist — Everything from Band Aid to Bing. Occasionally, I add something new, but this list has been my classic go-to for decades.

• Smooth Jazz Christmas station on Pandora — I can never get enough of Vince Guaraldi and George Winston, especially at Christmastime.

• December Mini-Playlist:

  • Red, Red Wine (UB40)

  • The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (The Nutcracker)

  • O Tannenbaum (The Vince Guiraldi Trio)

  • Mon Beau Sapin (Carmen Campagne)

  • It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Andy Williams)

  • When My Heart Finds Christmas (Harry Connick, Jr.)

  • Joy to the World (Julie Andrews)

  • All I Want for Christmas is You (Mariah Carey)

  • In My Life (The Beatles)

ENJOYING:

• Ten days off — Although we don’t have any special plans for the holidays, I am so fortunate to be able to take a break.

• Decorating our five Christmas trees: Our beautiful silver, white, and glass tree in the living room, a Parisian-inspired tabletop tree in the loft, a nautical tree with ornaments from our childhood in “the boys’ room”, a mini tree with vintage hand-blown glass balls and silver icicles from a flea market up north, and a woodland/Scandi tree on the deck.

• Shopping for gifts and send Christmas cards to friends and family and lovingly wrapping packages just like Mom and Grandma Dodo.

• Hosting friends and family: Nan and Mark came in early December to shop and dine. We saw Michael Pink and the Milwaukee Ballet’s new rendition of The Nutcracker — Drosselmeyer’s Imaginarium and The Commercialists play Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown at Lupi and Iris. Uncle King and the Larsons celebrated an early Christmas with us on December 23rd with lots of lovely appetizer and Champagne, two sleepy teenagers, and 3 adorable beagles.

• Snuggling by the fire with Piper.

PLANNING:

• My 2024 photos challenge, blog posts, and Instapuzzle — This an excellent creative learning experience for me and a labor of love.

• Our spring break trip to Europe — 4 days alone in Paris as a couple (for the first time) before spending a week in Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, and Venice with PHS educators and music students. We leave in ten weeks.

2023 Reading Challenge

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” — Stephen King

GOAL: 30 BOOKS | BOOKS READ: 30 •  9,947 pages

• Borrowed from the Library: 22; Borrowed from Friends: 1; Received as Gifts: 2; Purchased: 2 (1 at Shakespeare and Company in Paris)

• Books Set in Paris/France: 9; Books Set in Wisconsin: 1

• Scandinavian Lifestyle Books: 2

• Biographies/True Stories: 9; Historical Fiction: 7

• Books for Professional Development: 2

• Books by Female Authors: 32

• Average Book Length: 331 pages | Shortest Book: Tiffany’s Table Manners (96 pages) | Longest Book: Surrender (564 pages)

• Favorite Books this Year: Lagom, One True Sentence

For more information about these books, follow me on Goodreads.

November 2023 in Pictures

“Colour is everything, black and white is more.” – Dominic Rouse, photographer

Currently • November 2023

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest form of appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." — JFK

READING:

• Tiny Little Things by Beatriz Williams — “In the summer of 1966, Christina Hardcastle—“Tiny” to her illustrious family—stands on the brink of a breathtaking future. Of the three Schuyler sisters, she’s the one raised to marry a man destined for leadership, and with her elegance and impeccable style, she presents a perfect camera-ready image in the dawning age of television politics. Together she and her husband, Frank, make the ultimate power couple: intelligent, rich, and impossibly attractive. It seems nothing can stop Frank from rising to national office, and he’s got his sights set on a senate seat in November. But as the season gets underway at the family estate on Cape Cod, three unwelcome visitors appear in Tiny’s perfect life: her volatile sister Pepper, an envelope containing incriminating photograph, and the intimidating figure of Frank’s cousin Vietnam-war hero Caspian, who knows more about Tiny’s rich inner life than anyone else. As she struggles to maintain the glossy façade on which the Hardcastle family’s ambitions are built, Tiny begins to suspect that Frank is hiding a reckless entanglement of his own…one that may unravel both her own ordered life and her husband’s promising career” (Goodreads)

• The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle Gable — “Based on a real story - in 1950, a young, beautiful Polish refugee arrives in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts to work as a maid for one of the wealthiest families in America. Alicia is at once dazzled by the large and charismatic family, in particular the oldest son, a rising politician named Jack” (Goodreads).

WATCHING:

• All the Light We Cannot See (Netflix) — The story of Marie-Laure, a blind French teenager, and Werner, a German soldier, whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. I read this book in 2016 and remember being especially intrigued by the model of Saint Malo, a beautiful city that I visited in 2005.

• Suits (Netflix) — “On the run from a drug deal gone bad, brilliant college dropout Mike Ross finds himself working with Harvey Specter, one of New York City's best lawyers.” We held out for a long time, but since colleagues and family are talking about it, it was time.

• The final season of The Crown - Part 1 (Netflix) — I remember the events surrounding the death of Princess Diana like it was yesterday.

• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (Apple TV+) — 50 years later, it still makes me smile. I love Peanuts.

LISTENING TO:

• I’m still in cool jazz mode and will likely keep listening to Vince Guaraldi radio on Pandora throughout the holidays. A November favorite is always George Winston’s Autumn.

• My November Instapuzzle Mini-Playlist:

  • Pictures of You (The Cure)

  • Twinkles & Shimmers (Familiar Stranger)

  • Macarons (Charlēne)

  • Autumn in Paris (Jan Baars)

  • Thanksgiving Theme (Vince Guaraldi)

  • Tour Eiffel (Cavendish Music)

  • French Café Kisses (Global Genius)

  • Back in Black (AC/DC)

  • Black and White (Three Dog Night)

ENJOYING:

• Slowly decorating for the holidays — I was home sick for two days (bronchitis) and beautifully falling snow inspired me to slowly start bringing out the holiday decorations. Usually, I am insistent about celebrating one holiday at at time; therefore, no Christmas decorations come out until after Thanksgiving. Yet, this year, I started with “winter” decorations — my little white village, snowflakes, etc. Over Thanksgiving break, I trimmed my five trees: Icy white in the living room, Scandi/outdoorsy on the deck, French in the loft, antique glass ornaments and silver icicles in the guest room, and nautical in “the boys’ room”.

• Early snow — It snowed all day the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Our home already feels so festive and cozy and Mother Nature upped the ante.

October 2023 in Pictures

"The October sun filled the world with mellow warmth...The maple tree in front of the doorstep burned like a gigantic red torch. The oaks along the roadway glowed yellow and bronze. The fields stretched like a carpet of jewels, emerald and topaz and garnet. Everywhere she walked the color shouted and sang around her." — Elizabeth George Speare, The Witch of Blackbird Pond