I love any month that ends with -ber. One of the greatest tragedies I live through each year is how fast they seem to go by. I am never wishing for time to slow down more than I am in the last third of the year.
October 2026 was no exception. I was crazy busy with work & I traveled out of state for a little getaway & I really loved every single second. In the rare moments that I found myself not booked & busy, I made sure to fill it doing things that I enjoy which normally meant taking myself out to the bookstore or catching up on tv & movies.
This leads me into everything that stood out to me this month as things I loved in a month that I adored so deeply from start to finish.
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Food & Drink
Caramel Apples
Truffle Fries
Publix Sprinkle Cookies
One of my favorite things about the Fall season is that out of every season - Fall has the best seasonal food selections. I think if I were to create a list of my favorite Fall foods, Caramel Apple would be my top choice. I am not the biggest fan of chocolate, it’s very rare that I consume it but I love a caramel dessert. A fresh caramel apple is something that I try to have at least once every Fall out of respect to the season.
My friend Alex & I have been trying to make an effort within our busy schedules to meet for dinner once a week recently. It obviously has quickly become one of the highlights of my week & one of the restaurants we have gone to has truffle fries as an appetizer. Here’s the thing: I love french fries. They are a top 5 food for me. Simply the best. But, within the realm of french fries there are so many sub categories. My top choice of french fry is a thin crispy truffle fry. Truly, one of my greatest indulgences in this lifetime. This restaurant has exactly that. I actually as I am typing this out am considering ordering them to go. I freaking love them. I should do an entire blog about french fries now that I think about it.
Alright. This is a niche one for my friends in Ohio & my readers that for some reason have found this blog overseas. For some background, I grew up in Florida for some of my most formative years on this planet. The main grocery store there is Publix & growing up the bakery there would hand out a free sprinkle sugar cookie or a chocolate chip cookie. Circling back to the fact I don’t really enjoy chocolate, my choice was always the sprinkle sugar cookie. Now, even at my grown age & all the years in between - I still love these cookies. They are the best. I really don’t know how or why they are so amazing to me. They really are just a simple sprinkle sugar cookie but it’s the most magical thing to me. I am willing to fight over these cookies & I have gotten angry at so many people in my life for eating them when I buy them for myself. Normally, I get a separate pack from everyone else so I don’t have to share. I actually could write an entire romance novel about these cookies.
Television & Movies
Avatar: Seven Havens
Sense & Sensibility
Finding Emily
The Diplomat
Alright, I won’t spend much time boring you with this but Finding Emily & Sense & Sensibility are amazing rom-com/romance movies that I watched this month. I can not recommend either one enough. Vastly different considering one is a period piece based on a Jane Austen novel & the other is a more coming of age type set in modern day Manchester. But I will pose the question for the general public & hopefully someone is able to answer: why are the British so superior at the romance genre?
In the 11th hour of the month, I finally started the Diplomat on Netflix after months of my Dad recommending it to me. I have always loved political drama. In another life I actually put my Political Science degree to use. Until that lifetime, I will continue to live vicariously through these movies and tv shows. I am loving it so far & no spoilers but if anyone wants to join me on this journey please let me know. We can have a book club but for a tv show instead.
GUYS.guys. AVATAR: SEVEN HAVENS. I am about to be very real with you guys & if you haven’t already picked up on it. I can be a massive nerd about certain things. The Avatar Last Airbender universe is one of those things. The newest show within that world came out & I have loved every episode I have watched. I say that because I have yet to watch the last 3 episodes of the season that came out on Friday because my watch buddy decided to go ahead & watch without me & I am still trying to navigate the level of betrayal in that decision. Actually writing about it is making me angry so we shall move on. ANYWAY. There is such amazing world building & deep consideration for the development of character backstories. I actually love this universe so much & I can’t wait to eventually watch the last 3 episodes.
Music
I WANNA LOVE YOU BABE by LAUNDRY DAY
Reason to Stay by Olivia Dean
Lasso the Moon by Ashe
It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown soundtrack
Mary Jane by Good Neighbors
I should write a massive thank you note to Olivia Dean for being the artist of my life. Her music since 2019 when she put out her OK Love You Bye EP, her music has been the soundtrack to which I live my life. She is the one artist that I listen to at least once a day & I am eternally grateful to be alive at the same time as her as she is actively creating. One of the first songs I ever heard of hers all the way back in 2019 was Reason to Stay. It will always be on my Mount Rushmore of Olivia Dean songs & this month for some reason I found myself listening to it a lot. My love for that song & that EP was reignited which was such a special cherry on top to my October.
This month Ashe put out one of my favorite albums of the year. More importantly she put out the anthem of my October which is Lasso the Moon which is track 2 on her The Girl Of Your Dreams album. It is such a fun song & a cheeky way to deliver the message she is trying to convey. If you ever saw me driving in the car this month I was probably putting on an entire VMA worthy performance to this song, endangering both my life & others on the road. But I actually can’t help it when I hear this song.
Spotify just gets it right sometimes. This month on some of the playlists they made me with suggested songs based on what I listen to they gave me the group LAUNDRY DAY. Most importantly they put their song I WANNA LOVE YOU BABE on a heavy rotation this month. Thankfully, I love this song. The lyrics & message are actually so sad if you listen carefully but they deliver it to us with such a juxtaposition of upbeat electronic instrumental. There is nothing I love more than a good bait & switch when it comes to my music. I adore everything about this song - subtly depressing message & all.
Misc.
Date Night
Exploring new hobbies
Theme Parks
You might be seeing date night & be massively confused. No, not date night with a man. Thank god. I simply don’t need that dead weight in my life at the moment. & no boys, do not take this as a sign to ask me out on a date despite what my mother might put in the comments of this post. I take myself out on dates occasionally. I enjoy going & doing things that are usually seen as group activities, by myself. Really test the limits of my antianxiety meds, you know? This month, I took myself to the movies. I wanted to go see Sense & Sensibility in theaters & I found that I had a Saturday evening free so I decided at the last minute to go. It was such a fun time & the community experience in that specific showing was awesome. We were all laughing & had such similar out loud reactions to the movie that just made me so happy. November & December are going to be MAJOR for me & the movie theater. Can’t wait to discuss it in the next monthly recap.
I am a professional procrastinator. I am not sure why but I think I work better under pressure so I create situations where I am under some sort of time crunch. This month’s procrastination method led me to exploring a new hobby which was jam making. I actually made strawberry jam instead of working on an assignment. My future students actually will never hear anything from me when it comes to time management. (TO AN EXTENT YALL I MUST SET A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR THE FUTURE LEADERS OF THE WORLD) But, it was actually so fun to explore that hobby & try something new. I was also so proud of myself because I have never made a jam before & it was a deep sense of accomplishment of knowing in the future I could if I wanted to.
Lastly, I love a theme park. There is a stigma around adults at theme parks & to that I say: who cares. If it brings someone joy & they want to go then who cares. I love going to places like Universal & Disney. Again, growing up in Florida, specifically the Orlando area, we went all the time. I still love going. It makes me happy & in a world that does it best to pump out negativity & causes me so much stress - I love being in a place where the whole point is to have fun & enjoy yourself. So, you will never hear me shame a fellow theme park goer. And if you have an issue with those people - get a grip you weirdo.
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It’s so magical to have the 1st of the month be on a Sunday so I can get you this blog so early in the month. I love reflecting on the month this way & it’s one of my favorite routine blogs I write. If you ever want me to stop - let me know. I probably won’t listen but I’d take it into consideration for .5 seconds.
Have a blissful week & talk soon.
