I started this post at the end of August and I won’t lie that I feel like I say this every year but I am so excited that autumn is here! Cozy sweaters, crisp autumn air, Starbucks’ seasonal / holiday drinks in hand, layering comfy cape scarves / cardigans and pulling out all those stylish moto/cozy coats are just some of my favourite things about the season!
It helps that my birthday is in this season as well but I always feel like the Fall just feels like a countdown clock to the holiday season and end of the year.
By the way, what’s your favourite holiday drinks? I wished the Chestnut Praline latte is available all-year round; it tastes like a hug in a cup!
Buying up lately…
During the last few weeks of August, I took advantage of some sales to refresh my wardrobe (for where? I have no idea yet, but I’m sure at some points, we’ll need to wear jeans / makeup / work clothes again!) and makeup which I shared in an earlier post. One of those shops were Ever New – This Australian shop has been on my radar some time and I love the pieces (especially dresses and coats) that are just on-trend, super chic, and really looks more expensive than they are!
I picked up the Sadie Waterfall Coat in a light pink shade (the page says “Oatmeal” which I took to be beige-y in colour but arrived more light pink-ish) and the April Cropped Coat in a classic burgundy shade, perfect for the Fall season as well as Alex Faux Leather Pencil Skirt because it’s so hard to find leather pieces that looks well-made and can be dressed up or down!
The two coats I picked up will be perfect for the Fall season and the material is ridiculously soft with the kind of detailing / style that takes it up a notch. Taking advantage of the 30% off discount in addition to the sale prices as well as a $100 gift card I had, the Nico Double Breasted Dress and the Helena D-Ring Cape – some of these pieces are just great add-on pieces to my wardrobe!
The Nordstrom Anniversary sale is a great opportunity to pick up a few things as well; I picked up some beauty pieces last year and this time, I got the Monica Vinader Havana Mini Friendship Chain Bracelet as an early birthday present. Between Mejuri and the rise of affordable fine jewelry accessories, I thought I’d pick up something nice for myself!
Binging on lately…
Onto the non-haul stuff; I’ve been binging on a lot of Netflix and catching up on my reading. I’m on my re-read of the Fire and Blood, a tome of Targaryen history before the events that took place in the Game of Thrones series. I started this read in November 2019, and it was my companion during my South African road trip and picked this up again for a second re-read.
I’m currently on my 11th book of the year and hoping to stay in track to finish 12 books this year (mostly non-fiction books) and wrapped up another re-read of Michael Lewis’ The Fifth Risk (which should scare you and truly highlights how little most US citizens know about the functions and work of their own government).
I’m taking advantage of my library curbside pick up to devour more books and I’m currently reading Artemis and Yuval Noah Harrari’s recently published 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. I currently have 10 books in the queue, a combination of fiction and non-fiction. With a cup of hot tea and a candle lit in the evening, it’s my favourite time after wrapping the day.
I was thrilled to see the final season of How to Get Away with Murder finally making its appearance on the Canadian Netflix – I had access to it via my Crave subscription but it didn’t have the all 15 episodes so I had to get caught up via synopsis and articles. I don’t watch a lot but finally got my hand on the Starz White Princess series (based on the Philippa Gregory’s book of the same name – the Tudor Queen/Princess series which were my high school go-to reads) and it was a bit of a disappointing watch. I guess having been really into HBO’s Game of Thrones and Netflix’s the Witcher series and seeing how well done the adaptation of those Medieval series have been, I guess I had a bit of expectation to the series.
I also finished 2 new documentaries over the weekend on Neflix: The Social Dilemma and Capital in the 21st Century. The Social Dilemma is a must-watch if you feel constantly struggling to stay away from social media – interviews with mostly former executives and programmers at various social media companies should be a wakeup call. It’s not the best documentary on social media (there really wasn’t any “resolution” or actionable steps except to delete your social media accounts) but is one of the more provoking, “updated” view of the role social media plays in real-life (i.e. spreading violence / misinformation).
The second documentary, Capital in the 21st Century, is actually based on a book released in 2013. It has been called the most important book in economics of the decade and provides commentaries and actions to tackle the growing inequality in our society (which drives social and political instability). The documentary made me want to read the book in its entirety and I have that as one of the books in my queue to read.
Cooking up lately…
To wrap up this post, I had been craving Har Gao amongst many dim sum dishes I’m desperately wanting (yes I won’t be taking dim sum for granted again!) and was quite pleased with myself when I was able to make it as close as to my favourite dim sum place. Here’s the recipe I used – can’t believe how few ingredients (most of which I already had on hand) are needed and the result is so satisfying!
The wrapper is another story however, it was so hard to make and keep workable enough to put the shrimp mix in; I think I’ll buy it instead of making it myself next time. I ended up just steaming the filling with no wrapper so at least I’m saving the calories there!
What have you been up to lately?
