monthly recap | january 2017 — wine, books and wanderlust

Jan 31

Jan 31 monthly recap | january 2017

Wow. 2017 has been a doozie so far...in a good way. Feel free to scroll through the monthly recap...or just jump ahead to the "upcoming plans" section. I've got some BIG news.

hpotm (hot post of the month)

Surprisingly enough, there were TWO hot posts this month! The first documented my tips on how to get "into" wine...and every single one of them includes just drinking it. The second was all about my fantastically fun girls' weekend trip to Wimberley in the Texas Hill Country.

travels

Though I went to Wimberley, January was a pretty light month. However, knowing that our trip to Costa Rica would be coming up in February, I couldn't skip out on sharing some tips on making international travel a little smoother. I'm also getting in the vacation spirit with my Costa Rica travel playlist.

food

When you stay at home, you cook a lot. Or maybe that's just me. This month's plan for going vegetarian didn't go quite as well as I had hoped (did anyone else try this and have ZERO energy?!). However, I managed to get through most of the month, though it was more 65/35 instead of the 80/20 I originally intended. The big vegetarian recipe winner of our house was the green rice burrito bowls. Yeah. Green rice. Just try it! A solid runner up was the roasted garlic and potato soup. It's a perfect meal for a chilly winter night.

Not-so-vegetarian is my version of the New Orleans classic, red beans and rice. It's filling, spicy, and reminds me of the soul city. Make you some! This month's sweet tooth was satisfied with homemade biscotti. Those crunchy cookies dipped in hot coffee can't be beat!

books

So far, I'm on pace to keep up with the Book-A-Week Challenge (ummmm, you're participating, right?). Every book I've read (or listened to) so far has been fantastic. Best read of 2017 so far is Queen Of The Tearling. Oh, and I finally read Pride and Prejudice. Seriously.

upcoming plans + BIG news

We are going to Costa Rica in less than two weeks, but that's actually not my big news.

After years and years of trying to get transferred out of the city where we live, the Man Friend's employer finally came through. However, instead of sending us to Houston or the San Antonio area like we expected, we are headed to...

Pittsburgh.

We're excited and anxious and nervous and happy and sad and overwhelmed. Ever feel that way? While it's very excited to be starting a new adventure, it's also a looooong way from both of our families. The thought of completely uprooting from them (not to mention my career path) is pretty daunting. However, it's going to be fun to try new foods, see new places, and experience an actual set of four seasons each year...though this Texas girl is seriously not looking forward to the whole winter part. And I've always dreamed of seeing a New England (mid-Atlantic?) autumn. I also imagine all of the little towns up there are like Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls (please don't kill my dreams).