Lovin' Lately no. 20
nostalgic movies, a new top book of 2024, and we definitely stayed in a haunted house in Maine. 👻
Imagine we’re catching up over coffee and I’m gushing over what I’ve been Lovin’ Lately…
hiiii! How’s September treating you?! Here’s a little list of takeaways from the past few weeks, let me know one of yours in the comments.
This past weekend we ventured out to Maine for a family wedding and I cannot believe it was our first time making it over there since moving to Vermont in the fall of 2020. I wish we’d had more time to spend there but the fact that coastal Maine is a quick 4 hours away means we’ll definitely be back again soon. Some quick highlights were seeing family, Cheese Lousie food truck that catered the wedding (all of us gobbled down The No Porkin’ Way with vegan cheese and I am committed to recreating this masterpiece at home), OTTO for pizza (which my 6yo by the same name selected), Maine Beer Company, mother-daughter owned Vickie’s Veggie Kitchen (best tempeh BLT ever!), Briar & Bone where our kids picked out some very on-brand souvenirs and Elements Books Coffee Beer which had a delightfully unique selection of used and mass-produced books to browse (I picked out these). We also enthusiastically enjoyed some beach frolicking and oh yeah, the old farmhouse airbnb we stayed in was hAuNtEd. Thankfully the ghosts were playful and harmless but yes we’re talking 100% doors closing, lights turning on, questionable architecture, and creepy closets HAUNTED. Also yes, I added “stay in a haunted house” to my fall bucket list and then promptly checked it off in the same stroke.
I stumbled upon this delicious, plant-based, chocolate brand and now I think I need to check out this combo next. I am nothing if not a chocoholic.
Our first (of many) fall apple-picking adventures happened a few weekends ago for honeycrisps and ginger golds (my favorite!) and I get so excited for all the seasonal things but I already feel like I want time to slow down— this article helped me think through how I could actually do that!
I devoured Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe last week and can’t stop talking about it. It was heartwarming, interesting, and thought-provoking. This book deserves all the hype and praise it’s been receiving, its firmly planted in my list of favorite books from 2024 so far. And there is an adaptation in the works! Now I’m consumed with Cultish by Amanda Montell.
Despite having spent a couple of years in my early 20s competing in pageants 😬 I’m pretty minimal regarding accessories these days. One of my favorite things to wear when I want to put on something extra is this ear cuff that I’ve had since 2019. It doesn’t feel overwhelming yet it manages to add a touch of pizzaz.
We canceled our streaming television service and I continue to feel a pull toward simpler entertainment times. Last week I shared a little about the overwhelm I feel when I sit down to watch something on a weekend evening and have since been combating that with my fall watch list, starting with my first time watching Mystic Pizza. How had I never seen this movie about three women coming of age while working at a pizza joint in Mystic, CT?! Fall is an ideal time to watch it if you haven’t yet. I’m so excited to keep working through my watch list with Legally Blonde next (one of my very favorite movies of all time!).
And just like that, it’s clogs season again. I’m ready to slip into my comfy Rothy’s which I lived in all last year. And while I don’t need any new shoes right now, these are pretty darn cute too.
Next week is my birthday, and in conjunction with it I’m thrilled to roll out a brand-new, bite-size series with a big impact…
Introducing—A Simple Thing!
A Simple Thing will be a short and sweet newsletter featuring small yet intentional actions to make day-to-day life a little brighter. Each week, you'll find a simple, doable action that aligns with the concepts I share here on Brittany’s Notebook—maybe a quick home hack, a perspective-shifting thought, a reminder to revisit something you already do, or a self-care tip. My hope is that by embracing these small, meaningful actions and intentions at the start of each new week, we’ll see positive shifts in our daily lives. As James Clear wisely says:
It's so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis.
It’s those small things that lead to meaningful change and lasting results.
Keep an eye out for the first edition of this new series hitting your inbox on Monday, complete with a cute little logo and my hand-drawn flowers. Think of it as the virtual version of stopping to smell the flowers or the never-gets-old joy of a fresh blooms. Skip the doomscrolling and let’s kick-off our weeks with something more rewarding and uplifting.
🍀 Is Jennifer Garner not the most adorable human on the planet?! Her home tour is a perfect pick-me-up. And now I’m off to plant clover all over my lawn.
🍔 This is mesmerizing, all of it.
🍁 Fellow fall foliage fanatics this fall foliage tracking website is for us! I’ll be headed to Stowe, VT next weekend for my birthday and stalking this page religiously leading up to it. 😂
📱 I banned all our phones for a week. Did my family survive?
🚿 As the cool weather creeps in I’m revisiting the benefits of ending my shower with a few minutes under the cold water.
🍕 This is a brilliant hack for slicing pizza— I’ve never been on board with a rolling slicer. My go-to sesame crusted Friday night pizza is too thick for this hack so I just use a knife, but still, good to know.
🥪 I want to eat all of these sandwiches!!
🎃 What if We Underconsumed this Autumn Season? The Seasonalist is one of my favorite Substacks to keep up with and I loved this piece featuring 3 easy ways we can enjoy the season with what we have while also acknowledging that everything comes with grace.
🏫 I have no idea where I stumbled upon this but I have bookmarked this subreddit re: The Secret History for when I finally read it this fall.
🍎 How to Eat for a Long and Healthy Life
🥣 On today’s morning activity list— I’m using coconut sugar in place of brown sugar.
📖 While in Maine last week (in the haunted house I will never forget!) I had to rely on my Kindle for bedtime reading since we were sharing our bedroom with our 16-month-old (and apparently a few ghosts) and I’m so glad to be pulled back into my Kindle, it really is such a handy way to enjoy a book. Here’s a little insight as to why Kindles are great and a very fun list of Kindle accessories to personalize your e-reader with (which came to me via
).✨ In my fall reset I touched on decluttering and resetting our spaces and this video of habits for owning less stuff is a great source of motivation and inspiration for keeping at it.
📚 A solid list of 40 fall book recommendations… in case you don’t have enough! I love to watch videos like this and rediscover books already on my shelf. :)
😂 This was the chuckle inducing post-presidential debate comedy I needed.
🔪 For my spooky szn readers— I read Over 45 Thrillers This Year— These Are the Ones I Gave Five Stars (another shout out to
for this one).ICYMI—
fall reset— ready for fall in mind, body and home
fall read, watch, listen— books, movie lists and moody music for the season
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I hope you’re finding some time to bask in the September warmth,
Jen’s home tour was perfection!! She is just the cutest human ever and her home was 🤩🤩🤩
Looking forward to all the Simple Things!!