Monday, December 1, 2014

Music, Books, Miles and Looks of November

I can't wrap my mind around the fact that it's the holiday season.  People are listening to Christmas music and I'm all like - wasn't it just Halloween like yesterday??!?!  Nonetheless, Phil and I decorated my tree yesterday and I've done pretty much all of my Christmas shopping, so I may not feel ready for Christmas but I guess I am ready in other ways.

Music:

 

Blank Space by Taylor Swift - Yep, still loving Taylor Swift's new album.  It's really different than her other albums but I love it.  This song has a catchy beat!

Books:

This was a strong reading month for me.  I read 5 books, bringing my total for the year to 61!  My favorites were Us and The Girls from Corona Del Mar.  Both are heavier books, but heavy in different ways.  I'd recommend Us to fans of his other book, One Day, but I would not widely recommend The Girls from Corona Del Mar as it's different/heavy/a little depressing, but the writing was SO good and I couldn't put it down. 

Us by David Nicholls - 4 stars
Glimpsing Heaven by Judy Bachrach - 3 stars
The Vineyard by Michael C. Hurley - 2 stars
The Pieces We Keep by Kristina McMorris - 3 stars
The Girls from Corona Del Mar by Rufi Thorpe - 4 stars

Miles:

This was not my best month for mileage.  I tweaked something in my foot earlier in the month and then tweaked something in my quad towards the end of the month.  And it got too cold for this winter running wimp.  So I only ran 45 miles.  But I started the Holiday Shred and am happy with how those workouts are going.  And I am planning to do the Runner's World Run Streak Challenge, which means running a mile/day every day in December.  I've never tried to do something like this so it should be interesting/challenging!  

Looks:

This was not a strong month for outfits for me.  It was cold so I wore a lot of sweaters which aren't exactly the most exciting article of clothing to wear.  My favorite outfit was the one I wore to Julia Child Night.  I've had the top for years but the pants are new (from StitchFix) and the boots were purchased this fall from Macy's.


16 comments:

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

Wow, you read a lot! I have been really slacking on the reading front and am still reading Quiet! It's a great book, but is NOT a page turner, or one of those ones you just can't put down. So I have been avoiding it and doing other things instead! I need to finish it because I have a long list of other books to read waiting behind it.

Becky said...

It's all about perspective because you're like "I didn't run that much...only 45 miles" and I'm like WHAT???

I have barely done any reading lately, because I feel like I have little to no attention span, but I did start and finish knitting Lemon’s blanket in November so I’m considering that a huge accomplishment!

Emilie said...

I was just talking to Pete about the RW streak! I think the one I saw was from Thanksgiving - New Years but I didn't see it until Saturday so we missed the first couple days. We are going to try for every day in December instead. It will be tough as it is dark before and after my work day and I'm too much of a baby to run in the dark alone, so I think I'll get to be good friends with the treadmill during the work week.

I can't wait to read Us and I actually want to ready The Girls from Corona Del Mar - I love dark novels. Also loving the Taylor Swift album!!

Marlys said...

61 books! That is amazing! You are a reading machine!
Your outfit looks great and the running and Holiday Shred have had an effect on how good you look in it!
I haven't started shopping so I feel way behind in my preparations but nothing new for me!

Jeanie said...

I adore your stripey sweater! And 61 is fabulous. I was feeling virtuous at nearly 40!

Nora said...

Congrats on the reading! Glad you enjoyed Us. It certainly was heavier but there were some parts I just couldn't take my eyes off of.

Anonymous said...

You're killing it on the reading this year!

Amber said...

We are so on the same wavelength, I also don't feel even remotely ready for Christmas and December feels like it came SO QUICKLY this year!

I am really anxious to read Us! I just have to get through a massive list of library books I have checked out first.

Charis Faith said...

Love your outfit you look so pretty! I should count my books for this year I know I've read a lot more this year than in the past few years. I'm trying to continue working out consistently as we get into the holidays but my schedule is crazy as always!

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

Haha I'm with Becky, if I ran 45 miles, that would be a good month :)
I am adding some books to my list!

Stephany said...

I just wrote something similar on Amber's post because she was saying how she "only" ran 36 miles. You ran 45 miles! Along with other exercise! That's awesome! Especially since you were dealing with other injuries in the midst of it. Good, good job! :)

Elizabeth said...

Happy December! That video kind of cracked me up actually :) Glad you have your tree up and decorated. This year has definitely flown by!

Carolina John said...

tell me about it, November disappeared in the blink of an eye! At least you made it through in style. I'm concerned about the foot though. Any hope of getting cleared for the TC on oct 4?

Leigh said...

I've been seriously slacking on my reading lately. I find that I'm so tired lately that I have no energy to read before bed. I really should though because my free time is about to be cut down drastically!

Abby said...

Cold weather running can be hard on muscles and joints. Last week it was 34 out during our track workout, and our coach changed up the workout at the last minute because it was too cold to sprint too fast.

Which made me kind of giggle. As I thought, "I'm sure Lisa would be giggling at us wimps..."

I am envious that your Crhsitmas shopping is all done!!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

I love that song! Christopher is a bigger Taylor Swift fan than I am, but he doesn't like it. He played me a few other songs that he said it sounded exactly like, singing her song over top ... and he was right. It may not be overly original, but it sure is catchy!

The butter chicken was super easy to make ... only because we cheated and used Costco butter chicken sauce, haha! We've made our own before, it it's not too bad, but we needed a quick meal that night.