favorite things: september 2021

It’s happened. People told me it would someday, but I just couldn’t imagine. And now, it is happening just about every day: I am waking my children up in the morning. As in—interrupting the beautiful, quiet morning by physically nudging their sleeping bodies into a state of disgruntled wakefulness.

Friends, this is unfathomable, and it feels like I’m toeing the line of sin. Motherly intuition screams at me, “No! Stop right there. Do not open that bedroom door. Turn yourself right around and walk back downstairs. Make more coffee. Read more. Write more. Stare out the window for all I care, but don’t you dare wake those sleeping children.”

I’ve spent years praying (literally) for those darlings to sleep. We just spent a year and a half at home with no plans, no schedule, no reason to disrupt the stillness of the morning; yet, there they were, embracing those dark, early morning hours. And now, now that we have buses and school bells and backpacks; now that we have three heads of hair to tame (can’t we just let kids wear hats to school?) and children who take 25 minutes to eat a waffle—now is when those darlings decide to sleep in. Oh Lord, give me grace in abundance.

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If you’ve read anything I’ve written on this blog or social media over the past year, you know that we made the decision to homeschool Charlotte and Andrew. Milo was obviously also at home doing all the blessed things toddlers do, and Stephen was working from home the entire year in a make-shift office that was also part play room. (That sounds even more ridiculous when I type it out.) We also added a foster daughter to our family for part of the year. This meant six people in our very regularly sized house all day, every day. I have no regrets and would not change these choices, but in the weeks leading up to September—the month our children would transfer back to their school building—I was crawling to the finish line, surviving on fumes and praying for September to be a month of refreshment.

And I’m so glad to say it was.

For the first time in nine years of motherhood, all three children have been out of the house—granted Milo’s preschool is only three mornings a week, but you get the idea. I went into September with a simple goal: recover and refresh, and I gave myself full permission to let that look different every day. This means I did clean out closets and move furniture and purge junk that’s been causing my palms to itch. I also went on walks, listened to podcasts, and read some really good books. I tried some new recipes, reflected on the last year, tried some more new recipes, and attempted to get back into some writing. I didn’t have a million items on my to-do list; instead, on those mornings when all three were at school, I just did whatever would help me recover and refresh. And it worked.

Thank you, September.

Reading

I read two 5 Star books this month! The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave: This one is fighting for a spot as my favorite book of the year. 300 pages. 2 days. Up til midnight reading. I love when this happens. I’d been hearing about this book for months, but I am not usually a fan of mystery because I frighten easily. This isn't a mystery of murder and blood, and I was hooked from the beginning.

The Circadian Code by Dr. Satchin Panda: I haven’t read a lot of nonfiction recently because, at the risk of sounding flighty, my brain can only handle so much thinking. When the kids are in bed and I open a book, I want to get lost in a story that requires low level thinking and minimal obligation to better myself. Well dog gone it, this book made me do both. I could talk for hours about this one, and Stephen can attest to the fact that I have. We all know that some of our habits around sleeping and eating aren't the best for our bodies; however, I didn't realize how bad—or to say it with a more positive spin, I didn't realize how beneficial it would be for my body and mind to stop fighting its natural rhymes, and instead, use those rhymes to enhance my health. Dr. Panda made rather complicated science understandable (for the most part), and there were many clear takeaways. I am so glad I read this one.

Eating

It was a good month for food in our home. Spending quality time in the kitchen was a key part of my recovery month, and there were very few disappointments.

This Sweet Potato, Sausage, Apple Bake is a long-standing family favorite, and a go-to for when I bring someone a meal.

This Baked Salmon with Amazing Lemon Sauce (and yes, that is the official name) was a hit. * I used rosemary in the sauce because I don’t care for thyme.

This Bacon Corn Hash is my new favorite. I would say it follows suit with the many other Smitten Kitchen recipes I’ve tried, meaning it is amazing but a bit more hands-on than I prefer for a weeknight.

Some of our favorite vegetarian meals for the month were this minestrone soup with this garlic bread, these coconut curry lentils, these Mediterranean pitas, and the veggie stir-fry I shared last week.

And because it’s fall and are you even American if you’re not putting apples and pumpkin in everything right now?!?!…..I made these apple chips, this pumpkin spice coffee creamer and this pumpkin bread.

And because I have to give credit where credit is due (and I also have to ask you if you follow @bakeitlikebecker), Stephen outdid himself this month with this homemade pasta (which was served with rabbit), this grilled shrimp, and this plum tart.

Listening To

My dear friend Julie (who has forever been way cooler than I can ever dream to be) always sends me the best music. She sent me this album by Taylor Leonhardt, and it has been on repeat most days. The song Poetry is gold.

I’ve been singing God Is Good by Jonathan McReynolds aloud on my morning walks, which I’m sure the neighbors appreciate.

The Coffee + Crumbs podcast is back to public listening, and I really enjoyed this one about showing up for your friends.

Making Me Smile

The same dear friend Julie who sends me great music (see Listening To) is also the co-founder of a company called Two Chicks and A Bar (I told you she was cooler than me). They are an amazing small business doing amazing things in the world, specially Haiti. They started out by making bars of soap and now also make candles. I stocked up on all the fall favorites, and even as I type this, the Warm Apple Pie candles is lighting my table and making me smile.

Milo’s first day of school although it didn’t go as planned.

This mimosa flight which was part of the celebration of my first morning with no darlings.

And this group of people who didn’t even know each other until this night. We bought tickets to see Billy Joel like 20 years ago, and due to this wretched pandemic, it kept being rescheduled. We ended up with lots of extra tickets and invited some couples who didn’t even know each other. Yet, here they are. Eating tacos in the street together, buying each other drinks, and dancing to Uptown Girl like we’ve all known each other for years. I don't go to many concerts (8 pm on Friday night, people. Ouch.), but with this group, I could easily be persuaded to do it all again.