I would like to first apologize for leaving this on the back burner for the past month. School, work, and extra-curricular activities have been taking over every minute of my life, and by the time I checked everything off of my to-do list, I was either too exhausted to sit down and type up a post, or more things just kept getting added to it. In fact, I’m trying to discretely type this up at work in between tasks, in case you wanted to gauge how immensely busy I’ve been. But now that the quarter is winding down and my schedule is freeing up as winter break approaches, I’d like to make up for lost time by writing a blog post everyday until Christmas (hence the name, Blogmas). Here is the first post, featuring some of my favorite things from the past month!

1. #30DaysofBibleLettering

Last month, I noticed this hashtag going around Instagram, and decided to check out what kind of talent existed between the worlds of hand-lettering and Instagram. At that point, I had only been hand-lettering for a few months, and didn’t think I was anywhere near as talented as those who have been posting in the hashtag. But I figured, what better way to hone in on the skill than by lettering a verse from the Bible everyday. I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to keep up with the challenge, but here I am 30 days later staring at the work I’ve done over the past month – and it feels incredible, not only how much I’ve improved creatively, but also in my spiritual growth. I tried stylizing each post differently everyday, with the hope of putting forth the message that I see God at work no matter where I am – on campus, at a coffee shop, in a garden, during worship, or in the office. There were definitely times where I was running low on creative energy, but figured that someone somewhere would find inspiration in the verse for that day, and not necessarily the aesthetic of the photo. Every “like” and comment was so uplifting and helped me realize just how powerful the Word is, and that we are so fortunate to live in a day and age where you can reach just about anyone anywhere from wherever you are. I certainly hope that there was at least one person who found as much conviction in these posts as I did.

2. Enlightened Snacks

Every weekend when I visit my sister, one of the first things I look for is something to eat. At this point, she has learned to keep her pantry stocked with plenty of Diet Coke and even more snacks that I can eat to my heart’s content. There are those fateful days where she runs out of things to feed me, and I’m left to either scrape whatever I can find, or make a quick trip to the Taco Bell down the street. On one of those days, I saw a bag of Enlightened roasted bean crisps and decided to give it a try – and since that moment, my life has been forever changed. These snacks come in different flavors – Sriracha (my personal favorite), seal salt, and BBQ just to name a few. The thing with these snacks, though, is that the places you can find them are very limited. The best way to find a bag is to just buy them online, but you can also find them at many GNC shops or stuffed in a corner somewhere at a Sprouts supermarket (the exclusiveness, in my opinion, is what makes them all the more exciting).

3. My (Dad’s) Denim Jacket

If you didn’t know already, I pretty much straddle the line between the 1980’s and 1990’s in terms of fashion. One staple that I have is my denim jacket. Since it used to belong to my dad, and I am much taller and have a longer wingspan, the sleeves don’t reach my wrists. When this happens with any of my clothes, a remedy I’ve found is to just roll up the sleeves a quarter of the way up the arm. With the denim jacket, it works amazingly! What I love about the jacket (other than the fact that it used to belong to my dad), is that it goes well with anything – it’s super versatile and can either dress up any outfit, or dress it down. Paired with my current undercut hairstyle, I can’t help but feel like a modern day Brandon Walsh.

4. Old Sugar Mill Winery

I took a wine class last Spring Quarter, where I learned how to taste and critique wine, as well as what foods pair well with which wines. Prior to taking this class, I was cotton to beer more than I was to wine. After taking the class, I was further affirmed that I am much more of a beer person than I am a wine person. But that’s not to say that I don’t have a newfound respect for viniculture and viticulture (see, I learned SOME things from that class). A few weeks ago, my dad took my sister and me to a winery in Yolo County, where there were different tasting rooms where we got to try different wines. My favorite, out of all of them, was one where we got to sample chocolate with a wine. In my own experience, tasting rooms can get a little awkward. For those who have never done one before, here’s how those usually pan out: You arrive and stand behind a counter where one of the sommeliers will hand you a glass and a menu. They usually ask what type of wine you’re interested in (which, if you are me, you stare at them blankly, fighting the urge to blatantly say, “none of them”), and then they pour you an ounce of whatever wine of that kind that they would recommend to you. Usually, they give you a few facts about the wine, pour it, and stare awkwardly at you as you taste it and wait for a reaction (which, again, if you’re me, is usually nothing more than some variation of “oh okay yeah, it was pretty good”). The woman who served us at this particular tasting room, though, made the experience way more fun than I was expecting, and contributed more to the conversation than just, “what do you think?” She was so good, in fact, that she managed to convince my sister to join their wine club. 10/10 would go again.

5. The Gilmore Girls Revival

Last week, the Gilmore Girls revival premiered on Netflix, just in time for Thanksgiving break. I, myself, am not too familiar with the original show, but I do have some general knowledge of the overall premise, the characters, some main key events, and the overall charm of the show – all of the gaps were filled in by my sister, who religiously watched Gilmore Girls during its original run. With all that being said, though, I found myself binging the entire revival (all 6 hours of it) in one evening, laughing and sobbing along with the characters every second of the way. Though I didn’t watch every single episode of the first iteration, I do understand the excitement leading up to the premiere of the revival (especially after watching the entire thing), and the immense respect that people, including myself now, have for the show.

So there are my five favorite things for the month of November! If you have any thoughts on these things, I would love to hear them. Also, if you have any suggestions for topics you want me to talk about for the rest of this series, leave them in the comments. I welcome any input anyone has.

Happy December!