Reading: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and Lies We Told by Camilla Way. You can see a full list of what I plan on reading this season here!
Listening To: Avril Lavigne's latest, "Head Above Water," her first single after a 5-year hiatus. It's being described as Christian music because it's about her turning to God during her fight against Lyme disease.
Watching: All of my regular shows are back- hooray! I've added two more to the regular line-up though: I Feel Bad with Dr. Cooper Freedman from Private Practice and Raj Koothrapali's Dad from Big Bang Theory, and the Murphy Brown reboot!
Also, a bunch on Netflix: Iliza Sheslinger: Elder Millennial, Sierra Burgess is a Loser, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, Jenn's Fall Film Challenge (24/25- hoping to watch the last one tonight!)
Wearing: Cardigans. It's that weird time of year where it's in the 70's but with 95% humidity and I have no idea what to wear every day, so layers for the win.
Collecting: Recipes. As with goals (below), I've been slacking on cooking anything new (or old, for that matter) in a while. I finally made a "big" grocery store trip, so now that I'm fully stocked again I need to actually get my butt back in the kitchen and cook some food!
Making: a list of fall goals. Different from the fall bucket list filled with fun things I hope to do/see/experience this season, I haven't actively made a list of goals in quite some time, and I'm feeling like it's time to get back on the wagon.
Taking: a trip to Long Beach, California later this month! It's actually a work conference/training course, but I've scheduled in two days of relaxation afterwards in CA. Last time I had a coworker with me and this time Blue was supposed to join me for a little getaway but it didn't work out, so this will be my first completely solo trip and I'm a little nervous!
Planning: our annual Halloween party! My costume is on the way, the decor has been (mostly) delivered, so now we're working on the menu.
What's Been Going On:
That same weekend was our annual Mets/Phillies baseball game at Citi Field. The weather was pretty shitty so we wound up inside for most of it and left early (and the Mets won-ugh), but I'm still glad we were able to keep this tradition going!
What's Been Going On:
September kicked off with Labor Day weekend. My mom wanted to go on a little getaway to Mystic, CT. We were supposed to stay for 2 nights, but once we got there, she decided she only wanted to stay for one night, and try to go to the beach on Monday since neither of us had been all summer. So we shopped around Olde Mystick Village, got a bite to eat, and headed back to the hotel early. The next day we took a steamboat ride on the Sabino, the oldest wooden, coal-fired steamboat in regular operation in the U.S., and wandered around the Seaport Village at the Mystic Seaport Museum before catching an afternoon Amtrak back home.
On Monday we headed out early to catch a ferry to Rockaway Beach. While the ride was nice, it was ridiculously crowded and waaaay too hot. We made it to the boardwalk (where I took the picture above) before turning around and heading right back on the ferry! But it was an adventure nonetheless!
The following weekend Blue and I headed to the Jersey City Distillery Festival. It was 3 hours of unlimited samples of all spirits- vodka, gin, whiskey, and of course my favorite- bourbon! They didn't have any bottles for sale, but I found out that they sell most of the products at the liquor store close to my job, and I definitely plan on picking up some of Misunderstood Ginger Spiced Whiskey. It's the perfect blend of spices for fall!
A week later we met up with our friend Mark and checked out two new-to-me breweries and one of the most famous burger joints in New Jersey. White Manna is a tiny (like, no more than 20 people can fit), no-nonsense hamburger slider spot that has consistently made America's Top Burger" lists and been featured on multiple TV networks and papers. I didn't know any of this going in, other than being told "the burgers are sooo good." And they. Were. Phenomenal. I love it when places live up to the hype! (Also, apologies if you're now singing "manna manna...do doooo do do do" in your head!) As for the breweries, the beers at Ale-mentary weren't my fave as they had mostly hoppy IPAs, but I liked my flight at Brix City. I'm thinking we might just get a sack of sliders and head over to that one next time since they didn't have anything to eat but ample space to sit and enjoy a few brewskis.
On the first official day of fall we went to see Ed Sheeran play at Metlife Stadium. Our seats were so high we were basically in the sky, but that didn't take away from his performance! He was absolutely amazing. I loved the parts when he was talking to the audience- he just seemed so down to Earth and humble. And the fact that he's able to play without a band, just using that looper thing always impresses me so much. Did I mention his openers were Clean Bandit and Snow Patrol?! We missed seeing some of their sets since we were tailgating, but we could still hear them and they sounded great too!
We also celebrated Blue's youngest niece's birthday with some hibachi at a local BYOB place. She's finally 21- woot woot! I think the best part was when she ran out of the restaurant when her mom wasn't looking to the liquor store next door to grab a second bottle of vino haha!
We closed out the month at a local craft beer and food festival with a few of our favorites. Unlike the one we attended in the summer, this one wasn't so crowded that you had to wait an eternity on lines only to get to the front and be told that they ran out of food! I had empanadas from my favorite food truck, The Empanada Lady, riceballs from The Little Sicilian, and mini s'mores and peanut butter cupdonuts from Glazed and Confused. One of my favorite craft breweries, Funky Buddha, was there too! And it was close enough to take an Uber without spending a fortune so we truly got to enjoy ourselves!
A busy but super fun month!
How was your September?
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