Monthly Musings: October 2024
our monthly dose of ramblings!
Hello friends! Welcome to our Monthly Musings: October 2024 post! How the heck are you? Did you have a wonderful September? Apologies for not showing my face around this nook of the internet all last month; the jet lag absolutely knocked us for six on our return from Vietnam, and then it was so late into the month I figured I might as well wait until today to drop into your inboxes, you know? Anyways! I hope your September was wonderful and your October is shaping up similarly. I also hope this post finds you wrapped up well against that blustery autumnal wind - Husband and I almost got blown away on our walk down at the seafront this morning! Now that we’re home for the day, I’m reveling in the coziness of my favourite fluffy socks, warming my soul with coffee and a freshly baked croissant, and plotting a good ‘90s autumnal romcom movie night. Idyllic, no? I just love this time of year!
Our musings for the month ahead are listed below for your perusal. All the usual suspects are in the lineup: a recap of my most recent travels, generalized travel talk, movies, books, recipes, and such good old fashioned rambling. Enjoy!
monthly musings: october 2024
Okay fine, no need to beg, I’ll do a mini Vietnam recap if you insist 😉 Well, it was amazing! A little overwhelming and a teenchy bit difficult at times, but so rewarding! The food, the organized chaos, the friendliness of the locals - everything! Admittedly, the timing of our visit could have gone a little better - we touched down in Hanoi literally hours after Typhoon Yagi hit the country, and oh my lord the weather was atrocious! That said, the timing of our visit could’ve been a lot worse, and we were very lucky that our trip was largely unaffected by the storm, which caused so much devastation 💔
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During the course of our visit to the country, we tourist-ed around Hanoi, Hội An, and Huế. Although we enjoyed our time in each, Hanoi was our undeniable favourite. It was gorgeous! Generally speaking, I don’t know what I was expecting from Vietnam, but gosh, everywhere was beautiful! Crumbling buildings, moped traffic craziness, greenery laced throughout the place so effortlessly, friendly natives, and more delicious food and drink than I ever would’ve thought! We ate and drank like royalty - and for a pittance!! Don’t worry, many a Vietnam guide will be coming your way soonish!
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In related travel news: we’re heading to London next weekend! We’ll be in the city for in and around 48 hours, and we’re so excited! Husband and I absolutely adore London and shockingly, we haven’t been over since 2018! We’re officially going over for a friend’s wedding, but we’re unofficially going over for beer, pastries, pub lunches, and expensive sausage rolls. It’s gonna be great! Read more: Four Days Avoiding the Royal Wedding in Hampstead, London.
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This time last year I was in the absolute throws of wedding planning chaos! I’d just had my hen party, everything was starting to get very real very fast, and allllll of the hundreds of last minute things were happening right before our big day! It’s crazy to think that the wedding was almost a whole year ago, but it’s true! I love reading back over my past MM to see where I was at or what was going on in my life back then. If you’re interested: Monthly Musings, October 2023.
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In the spirit of all the great food and drinks we had in Vietnam, I thought maybe it’d be fun to share some of those kinds of recipes! i am a food blog is my most trusted source for all Asian recipes, so let’s start with the basics: Vietnamese Coffee. We were gifted a phin and a couple bags of Vietnamese coffee at our hotel in Hanoi, so I’m intrigued to try this using the proper ingredients + utensils! Also very intrigued by these Vietnamese Spring Rolls (minus the seafood aspects)! We ate an abundance of delicious spring rolls on our trip - they are so crispy and superior to any we’ve ever had before! Finally, my favourite Vietnamese street food, the humble bánh mì. So addictively light, crunchy, and moreish!
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Regrettably, I didn’t read any books last month. I didn’t bring one to Vietnam with me, and ever since we got home I’ve barely been able to keep my eyes open long enough to turn out the light. But no more! I’m currently rereading The Lovely Bones - which, funnily enough, I have no recollection of reading in the first place - and I have a small stack of books from the library on my bedside table, waiting their turn. Have you been reading anything page-turning-ly great?
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TV-wise: The Perfect Couple had literally the most lacklustre final episode I’ve ever seen in a TV show maybe ever? I was really enjoying the show and the ending let it down so bad! Uyy. We’re still watching Bad Monkey and just recently devoured Emily in Paris S4, both of which we’re loving/loved, respectively. Movie-wise, we haven’t really seen anything great lately. I watched Legally Blonde and Clueless on the flights to/from Vietnam - both obviously fantastic - but there hasn’t been much else. We were both disappointed by Inside Out 2, neither of us loved Dream Scenario, and while we enjoyed the taped-open-eyelid-wheelchair scene of Conspiracy Theory, we wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. As always, if you’d like to follow our viewing in real-time, here’s our Letterboxd.
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Lastly, some baking inspiration from the blog! My Pear Spice Cake with Brown Butter and Dark Chocolate Drip is always the first autumnal recipes that springs to mind, it’s so perfect for this time of year. This Salted Caramel Apple Pie is also a good option if you’re looking for something extra buttery and cozy. Also, not exactly an autumnal bake per se, but I’m much more likely to make bread when it’s colder outside, and these Brötchen Breakfast Rolls are the bomb diggity. Fluffy on the inside and perfectly crisped on the outside. Yum!
And there we have it, our Monthly Musings: October 2024 post! I hope you enjoyed reading it, and I hope you found something to take away with you, be it a new recipe, a hankering to get exploring, or a nutty Mel Gibson movie. Let’s catch up again next month, yeah?
Glasgow guide coming next week!
Hugs,
Vicki xo
PS: photo by Husband! Taken in Hanoi as we perched on tiny plastic stools at the edge of a busy footpath, eating a particularly delicious bánh mì and people watching to our heart’s content. Mmm, bánh mì 🤤
related posts
October 2023 // 2022 // 2021 // 2020 // 2019