Monthly Musings: September 2023
Hello hello hello! Long time no talk, friends! Happy September! How the heckity heck are you? It feels like it’s been years since we last talked and also simultaneously like no time has passed at all! Welcome to our Monthly Musings: September 2023 post. I hope it finds you happy, healthy, and relaxed on this dull & drizzly Saturday afternoon. As some of you may know, I turned the big 3-0 since we last caught up! 30 whole loops around the sun and gosh – so far, so good! I had a super lovely birthday weekend – during which I was spoiled absolutely rotten by my loved ones! – and it was probably one of my favourite birthdays ever? It was just so chilled out, and blissfully calm; exactly the tonic I needed in the lead up to the wedding!
Anyways, let’s get down to business, shall we? I know I’m coming to you a little late into the month with this musings, but the weeks just kept getting away from me! Hopefully I’ll make up for the delay in posting with my outstanding content below đ All the usual suspects – wedding, recipes, books, movies etc. – and some off-piste ramblings listed below. Enjoy, friends!
monthly musings: september 2023
Omg I don’t even know where to begin with updates about the wedding!! So many things are getting ticked off the to-do list that I’ll just give you the bulletin news update. Ordered my ring. Bought a guestbook. Booked a table for dinner & drinks after our registry office wedding. Bought a veil. Got our ‘Story of Us’ poster printed out. Booked wedding-day hair trial. Bought bridal jewelry and hair accessories. FiancĂ©’s stag is next weekend and my sister & bridesmaids are organizing something secret for my hen. It’s all starting to get very real. 54 days! Eeeep!
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I know I touched on my birthday in the above paragraph, but I actually had such a lovely weekend! My sweet manager let me take a half day on the Friday; I had a wedding dress fitting with my mom (it’s coming along so great!), and then I had a prosecco fueled date-night with my best gal-pals. Saturday, my actual birthday(!), was equally as wonderful; FiancĂ© & I walked the seafront, my family fed us a bounty of breakfast foods, we watched Notting Hill, and then we + my fam-bam went out for drinks and dinner in town. Sunday was wonderfully chilled out and gluttonous; featuring adorable boxes of cereal, nachos, an epic meat + cheese platter, and an exceptionally special bottle of Sella & Mosca Marchese di Villamarina from 2015. It was *chef’s kiss*.
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Summer Bucket List update: I’m basically done! FiancĂ© & I hit up Brittas Bay with a cooler full of sandwiches, orangeade, and snacks. We walked along the water’s edge, he braved the cold for a quick plunge, and we collected two perfect shells. It’s one of my most favourite memories from this summer ❤️ Other notable items ticked off my list include: give marriage notice, turn 30, sangria with gal-pals (finally!), getting a haircut, & some light honeymoon planning! I dropped the ball on the weekend movie projects, admittedly, and the Covid booster is sadly still out of reach. Sigh.
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A little off-piste from what we usually talk about – but have you guys heard Hozier’s newest album? It’s called Unreal Unearth and we in this household are big fans! I used to think my favourite song was Francesca, but I’ve since decided I was wrong; it’s too hard to pick a favourite! There’s one particular song – Son of Nyx – that has a real James Bond feel to it! Would recommend!
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Have you watched anything good on TV lately? We’ve seen rather a lot lately! We finished The Summer I Turned Pretty S2, the last ep. of which traumatized me!, and we watched the last ever ep. of Riverdale, which I think I still haven’t registered is actually over forever? Honestly we didn’t think it was great – the show probably should’ve ended a season or two ago? Harsh but true. We also watched S1 of Cruel Summer – which I enjoyed but FiancĂ© didn’t think was great, hence why no watching of S2 – and we’ve started working our way through Only Murders in the Building. It’s surprisingly enjoyable!
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Movie-wise, we’ve been rather terrible again. Aside from Notting Hill, we didn’t really watch much of note last month. FiancĂ© enjoyed TĂR – I was so bored I fell asleep – and The Killing (1956), which he watched alone when I was busy but loved it so much he wants to show it to me soon. We also finally saw Scream VI, the latest in the franchise, which I thought was good fun, but FiancĂ© thinks misses Neve Campbell. Can I tell you an unpopular option? I think the Scream movies are better off without her. Sorry not sorry. It feels good to get that off my chest – phew! What’ve you been watching?
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After watching the season finale of TSITP, above, and being shook at how the season ends, I simply HAD to read the books to find out what happens. Naturally, I started at book one and finished at book three – We’ll Always Have Summer – about a week later. I couldn’t put it down! So cheesy and filled with awkward teen feelings – I loved it!! I’m only a little bit ashamed to tell you that as soon as I finished my initial reading of book three, I flipped it right over and started reading it again. So! Good! Aside from that, I’ve also started my bi-annual rereading of the HP books. I’m currently on The Chamber of Secrets, and honestly, it just never gets old! What are you reading?
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Have you made any great recipes from around the inter-webs recently? Sweet-wise: I’ve baked this “best apple crumble recipe” from BBC Good Food four times recently. Four times! It actually might be the best apple crumble recipe? It’s so simple and comforting that it checks every box! Savoury-wise: we’ve been loving this Zucchini Butter Spaghetti from Smitten Kitchen &, more recently, Ina’s Skillet Roasted Chicken & Potatoes. Both are so comforting and easy to throw together, which is a new-found must in our house. Untested recipes that’ve caught my eye: Brown Butter Potato Salad and Pesto Chicken Avocado Orzo Salad. Yay or nay?
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An oldie but a goodie: Maple & Walnut Banana Bread. I’m actually whipping up a loaf of this later today myself! That slight chill in the air has me in the mood for a big slice of warm banana bread, best enjoyed curled up on the couch with a steaming cup of coffee. Anyone else? The scent of cinnamon that’s bound to be wafting around the house is just an added perk.
And there we have it, friends! Our Monthly Musings: September 2023 post! I hope you found something to take away with you – be it a new favourite recipe or a hankering to read something truly cheese-tastic. Let’s catch up again next month, yeah? I’ll try not to be so late next time!
My love to you,
Vicki xo
related posts:
September 2022 // September 2021 // September 2020 // September 2019