1. I can’t believe I forgot to take pictures of our Thanksgiving dinner meal. How lame is that?

2. I also forgot to post for the first day of an Instagram photo challenge yesterday. Good. Grief. I’m blaming the headache that wouldn’t go away for my forgetfulness. To be fair it was selfie day, and I hate taking selfies. At least I posted today, for “something red” (my coffee mug).

3. I’M GETTING A NEW PHONE TODAY AND I’M SO EXCITED. I know, that’s kind of lame that a new phone is the highlight of my week, but allow me to explain. I’ve been using my little flip phone for six years now–no need to fix what ain’t broken, right?–but as it’s finally wearing out, and I found a new phone on sale, I finally made the switch. My friends are teasing me about finally joining the 21st century but I don’t care. My little phone served me well all those years. (Though I admit I’m thrilled to finally have Instagram on my phone!)

4. I got a new rug for our bedroom this weekend to hide our old blue carpet. (The ups and downs of renting–I know, I know, #firstworldproblems.) It’s so cute and makes the whole room feel brighter. Love it.

5. I started playing Words With Friends and now I’m hooked. Look me up if you want a match!

6. One upside to feeling crummy: I’ve read a lot this weekend. Like, a ton.

7. I did get most of my Christmas decorations up this weekend. We’re putting up the tree today.

8. There’s a new bookstore in town! But I can’t remember the name of it…The Literary Moose, maybe? Will have to investigate further.

9. Coconut Bliss ice cream is the best.

10. I’ve got one of my friends hooked on one of my favorite books ever, The Shadow of the Wind. He actually likes it so much, he took it home from work to read instead of playing his PS4.

1. It’s finally cold here–down in the teens–but no snow yet, thank goodness. And at least it’s nice and sunny.

2. The cats are not thrilled about the cold. This little lady in particular is feeling extra-snuggly now.

3. Even though it’s cold I’m still eating ice cream. I’m just sitting under a heated blanket to stay warm.

4. I need to go shopping so we can have Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. I’m just feeling too lazy.

5. One of my friends have me a new tablet as an early Christmas present and I’m pretty sure it’s the Best. Thing. Ever. Now I have Kindle books and Instagram and everything else I was missing. I’m pretty sure I don’t even need a laptop now.

6. I’m feeling a need for gradient glitter nails…

7. I really wish we could replace our tub/shower, but we rent so we can’t. It’s just old and it doesn’t look so hot (like, to the point that I feel a little embarrassed when we have company). I know, #firstworldproblems, but it irritates me. Renting has a lot of perks, but not being able to DIY and fix things whenever you want gets old.

8. How early do you decorate for Christmas? We’re definitely waiting until after Thanksgiving. I know some people start super-early but I would get sick of having all that stuff in my way!

9. I just got a serious whomping head/chest cold for the first time in years. (Quite literally, two or three years.) And it sucked. And now I’m doubling down on vitamins and healthy food!

10. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a copy of The Hunger Games trilogy–it’s open worldwide!

1. I finally had to give up on the trilogy I was reading this week because it was just dragging so badly, and also, the protagonist was really annoying. I hate to DNF a book but it’s always so good to move on to something better!

2. It’s been really rainy here all week, but that’s okay, because it’s a good excuse to snuggle under a blanket with the cats and read and drink tea.

3. I have a whole “bookshelf” now just for books from the library. It’s actually a driftwood bench that my mom made for me several years ago.

If you move the books you can see wood burnings of horses on the back of the seat. How cool is that?

4. I have a giveaway that I’ll be posting soon on the blog. And I’m already thinking about holiday giveaways.

5. I found a vegan pumpkin drink (for lattes) and chocolate peppermint drink at the store today. Yay for seasonal goodies!

6.  I get so impatient waiting for things to come in the mail. I have a new book on the way and I keep counting the days on the calendar until it will get here.

7. I think we need to have some apple pie today. Because it’s cold and autumn, of course.

8. They decided that we can dress up at work on Halloween nights, but OF COURSE I won’t be there that night. So typical.

9. Only a few more days until the Black Keys concert…so excited.

10. I got a pair of over-the-knee cognac-colored boots on vacation that I just love. I need to take outfit pics with them soon!

1. Finally on vacation! Thank god. I know it’s terrible to be this thrilled to be away from work for a while…but I am.

2. I ended up spending almost all of Sunday and Monday just sleeping. I didn’t even make it to the bed, I crashed on the couch.

3. I’ve had such a craving for pitas lately, so I’m making some for dinner tonight.

4. I could also do with tacos…and spring rolls…and pie…just all the yummy hearty stick-to-your-ribs food, basically.

5. Now that it’s chilly the cats are extra cuddly. That’s a good thing!

6. I swear using HTML can be one of the most irritating chores ever. I need to learn more about it.

7. It’s time to break out the colored tights for fall.

8. Looking at style posts on Pinterest just makes me realize how little I fix up anymore. It’s kind of sad.

9. I think I have most of the items in my closet to recreate this look, or something like it. I’m just not sure if it would look cool on me, or silly.

10. I would really love this world map necklace.

1. It’s officially the season of Pumpkin Spice Everything and I could not be happier.

2. With that in mind, here are thirty vegan pumpkin recipes to experiment with over the next couple of months!

3. It’s also officially the season of the electric blanket. Ahhh…

4. Apparently I’m going on a surprise date today at noon? But I have no idea what’s been planned!! Hmm…can’t wait. :)

5. This cracks me up. I hate automatic operations in public restrooms so I think Demetri’s observations are spot-on.

6. If you like that, here’s a longer-stand-up set. (It includes the above clip.)

7. I love used book sales and hate waiting for the packages to arrive. My husband calls it “stalking the mailman”. I call it “observantly monitoring the mailbox”.

8. I successfully badgered the husband into reading Gone Girl. Now I have to talk the rest of my friends into reading it. Hehe.

9. Only one more week until vacation. Counting down.

10. Link up with Alyssa here!