Hi everyone and welcome back to the monthly report. I’ve been in cleaning and organizing mode around my house and my mom and I have had friends and family coming over to help us. We’ve overhauled my room, my mom’s room, our kitchen and computer room and are working on the living room and basement next.
We also completed the garage and organized that earlier so our house is starting to feel brand new. Our next steps for the living room are to have my niece come over and help design it and pick colors and furniture out. We want to paint and get new couches, as well as mount our television. My niece was recently accepted into an Interior Design program for Fall 2025, so she can use what she does in our house for her portfolio.
We are making our basement into a rec room for my daughter for when she has friends over, as well. My mom also wants to get a pull-out couch for down there for when we have people stay over in town or my daughter has sleepovers.
Reading - I recently finished The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey and can’t wait for the next book to come out. They teased Sig and Chloe’s relationship in this one and I just know it’s gonna be spicy. I’m also reading The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore, which I placed on hold awhile ago in my Libby app. It just recently came available to me because the waitlist was almost 100 people ahead of me. I know it’s a BookTok sensation but so far it’s dragging a bit for me. I’m almost 100 pages in and that’s not a good sign. Hopefully it picks up soon. Please someone give me hope.
Eating - My family and I always do Garlic Pork, a traditional Guyanese dish, on Christmas Eve and we always make extra jars when we prepare it (it marinates in cold storage for 7 days). We recently made up a batch and froze half so we can take it out and heat up. I always make a crockpot meal for my daughter on Tuesdays when I work my afternoon shift until 8pm. Last week I made Salt & Lavender’s Crockpot Ranch Chicken Tacos and my daughter and I loved them! We made chicken taco bowls for lunch with the leftovers and they were delicious.
Playing - I’ve been spinning Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors on vinyl a lot lately because every song is so good. I’ve also queued it up in my car for my commute to work and back because it’s relaxing, as well. 70’s music has to be the best music to listen to for commuting.
Obsessing - My daughter got Mario & Luigi’s Brothership for her Nintendo Switch and we’ve been playing that a lot. It’s a very cute game. Just Dance 2025 has also been played a lot by us recently.
Recommending - Winter hikes! My mom and I have been discovering new places to take walks together since I renewed her conservation pass in our city for Christmas. It’s the gift that keeps on giving and my mom does nature photography as a hobby, so it’s been nice spending time with her and getting out to enjoy nature.
Treating - I’ve been a big fan of The Roottrees Are Dead, an indie game where you have to work to create a family tree to solve a mystery of who is the heir of The Roottrees’ fortune using photos, a Library catalogue and more. The creators just released a deluxe updated edition on Steam and I’m eyeing that for my next purchase. If you want to play the original, you can play it for free here. I’m also eyeing some pieces in American Eagles’ Valentine’s Collection. These matching pajamas look so cute and so I’m thinking of getting them for myself and my daughter, Lyla. I also love a good loungewear piece so this pink romper looks right up my alley. This crewneck sweater looks soft and cozy and something I can wear to work on casual Fridays with some jeans. Please note none of these are affiliate links.
Hope to see you here again,
Kirsten