Monthly Musings: March 2023

Hello friends, happy March! I hope this post finds you cozy and warm, wrapped up tight against the cold weather! I’m wearing my absolute most fluffiest socks, there’s a hot water bottle on my lap, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand – and I’m still frozen. But I digress. I’m not here to talk weather, but instead to share our Monthly Musings: March 2023 post! Did you have a good February? Ours was really busy, but really great! Every weekend was filled to the brim with friends and families; friends over for dinner, a wonderful night away with my parents & sister, an epic cocktail + fondue evening, and a 30th birthday bash for my eldest bestie. It was all so lovely! A particular highlight was learning how much melted cheese enables one to stay up drinking cocktails until 3:30am. Spoiler alert: it’s a lot.

Let’s get down to it, shall we? Our thoughts for the month ahead are below – I hope you’re able to find some inspiration within my ramblings. All the usual suspects are littered about lightly: travel talk, recipe inspiration, movie opinions, etc. Naturally, there’s some off-piste topics, but that’s half the fun! Enjoy, friends!

Fair warning: there’s more than a little bit of wedding talk below. Proceed at your own peril.

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monthly musings: march 2023

Covid-19 update: it feels like Covid isn’t really a thing anymore? I mean, it is! But no one talks about it, it’s rare to see people wearing masks, and everyone just seems to have moved on. The fact that my family had Covid not even two months ago is very much proof that it’s still out there, but no one acts like that. We still wear masks when we’re in the supermarket, but we’re very much in the dwindling minority. I don’t know. It feels almost dreamlike to think that just three years ago we weren’t allowed to go further than 2.5km from our homes. So insane.

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My mom is getting a new knee! She is an absolute superstar and had been holding off on applying for the surgery because she wanted to be with me while I was in the wedding-planning trenches – isn’t she the best?! Once I got all of the below nailed down, she reluctantly put the feelers out there with her knee doctor, and it all snowballed from there! A lucky cancellation consultation rolled around within a few days &, just like that, the knee op is going ahead in two & a half short weeks! She’s terrified, but she was so strong and brave last time around, I’m positive she’s going to rock it this time ’round, too!

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Okay okay, time for a lil’ wedding update! So much happened over the course of the last month!! I secured our florist! Think: dried, wild, and whimsical – eeep! I also secured both a makeup artist and a hair stylist! These were major hurdles for me because I know little to nothing about getting either done professionally, so I’m glad they’re nailed down! I also summoned my inner artist from within and created a ‘Story of Us’ poster for our drinks reception! It’s inspired by this Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood poster, and, if I may say so myself, it’s the most adorable thing ever!! I’m so proud of the finished piece! I can’t wait for people to see it!

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The following information is too important to lump in with the above: I BOUGHT MY WEDDING DRESS! I’m both in shock & thrilled that the search is over. The dress – which I obvs can’t talk about – was the 20th one I tried on, in the third store we visited. Honestly, it’s nothing like what I’d imagined, but as soon as I put it on, all three of us – Mom, Sophie, and me – knew it was the one. The sense of relief that came over me on the way home is indescribable; I basically cried the whole journey, and then some more when I reunited with Fiancé. I was so mentally drained and emotionally numb that it took the pilot episode of Gilmore Girls to bring me back to life – ha! Next up: bridesmaid dresses.

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Fiancé & I are just back from a most glorious night away in Kilkenny City. We were very generously gifted a hotel voucher by my lovely aunt and had such a great night away! We stayed at Butler House, had coffee at Cakeface, enjoyed a drink at Langton’s Bar, and devoured a knock-out dinner at Butcher Restaurant. It was the perfect overnight trip! Thank you again, Mandy, we loved it! If you’re interested, I already have a guide to the city here on the blog: A Weekend in Kilkenny, Ireland.

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Related: my Pisa travel guide dropped last month! Two Unexpected Yet Wonderful Days in Pisa, Italy is a love letter to the city filled with so many recommendations! Since then, I’ve been putting the finishing touches on my Nice & Villefranche-sur-Mer travel posts! You can hopefully catch them hitting the blog in the near future and gosh I just can’t wait for you to check them out! Yes, they’re filled with all the usual recommendations and the like, but it’s the photos I’m most excited for you to see! They’re so bright & summery & just deliciously warm looking! If only it were warm looking outside right now. Sigh.

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About the aforementioned cocktail evening above, it was amazing! Our friend is going through a major cocktail kick and we got to sample so many delicious concoctions! Don’t quote me on this, but I believe there was: whiskey sours, margaritas, scofflaws, Manhattans, Mai tais, and sidecars! They were all fantastic and I regret nothing – even though I was exhausted the next day. Added bonus: we were sent home that night with a bottle of both homemade grenadine & orgeat. It’s like we won the cocktail lottery! Since then, we’ve discovered our new favourite cocktail: Ward 8. Grenadine, orange + lemon juice, whiskey, and ice. It’s so tasty! I have hopes of convincing Fiancé we should do a blood orange version for the blog! Watch this space 😉

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Have you stumbled across any good conversational pieces around the interwebs lately? This piece by Joanna Goddard on Cup of Jo about the ending of her marriage has stuck with me since the moment I read it. It’s awful and sad, yet hopeful and life-affirming at the same time. If you haven’t read it, it’s wonderful. While I was on CoJ, I stumbled across this piece by Abby Mallet about her first time falling for someone. The writing and story is just so beautiful! And an oldie that I rediscovered recently: this piece about Anthony Bourdain by David Simon. Nearly five years on, Bourdain’s death still makes me incredibly sad to think of.

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On a lighter note, have you been watching anything good lately? TV-wise, we’re still watching Shrinking, and we’ve started Alaska Daily, which we both enjoy but don’t love. We also delved into Light & Magic on Disney+ and l-o-v-e-d it! Such a cool peek behind the scenes! Movie-wise, I’m almost ashamed to admit this, but we fell down the After series rabbit hole. Listen, we’re fully aware that they’re terrible, but we’re two movies deep & I foresee the final two in our weekend plans. #sorrynotsorry. In more serious movie news, we’ve also been trying to watch as many Oscar contenders as possible; Aftersun and Causeway were surprisingly moving, Guillermo’s Pinocchio was an artistic masterpiece, and The Quiet Girl was good but definitely overhyped. We also watched two nominated shorts, The Martha Mitchell Effect + The Elephant Whisperers, and while both were great, I hope the latter wins.

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The one lone recipe I’ve added to my to-make list this month is Joy’s One-Pot French Onion Pasta. It’s an oldie, but I believe the warming power of slow-cooked onions mixed with buttery pasta & parmesan never gets old. When we had friends over last month, we remade Deb’s Lasagna Bolognese and, I’m sorry Mom & Mom-in-law-to-be, but it’s truly the tastiest ever; everyone raved about it. If you haven’t made it, you’re missing out. Also, pro tip! Double the batch of Deb’s bechamel & freeze it for future mac & cheese ease! It’s wonderfully garlicky and perfect!

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An oldie but a goodie from the archives: Buttermilk Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting. Simple, delicious, and laden with swoops of chocolate frosting. A firm favourite in our house, I myself will be whipping up this bad boy for guests this evening!

And there we have it, our Monthly Musings: March 2023 post! Let’s catch up again next month, okay? Be well and stay safe!

Hugs,

Vicki xo

related posts:

March 2022 // 2021 // 2020 // 2019

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