Homemaker Happenings #10 (10.10.25 – 10.16.25)
Welcome to Homemaker Happenings! I am so happy you’re here.
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Hello, friends! I hope you are enjoying October as much as I am. October this year has felt extra special, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. Maybe it’s that my husband is gone, and I’m trying to soak up every moment I can while he’s away. Not to say that I don’t miss him every second, but I know this time period is just so short, and I want to enjoy it in every way that I can. This week, I have a LOT going on. My mom and I are headed up to New England after I arrive in Pennsylvania on Sunday, and it’s going to be a blast. Join me for lots of fun and fall vibes.
In Case You Missed It
The Best Activities to Add to Your Fall Bucket List
15 Ways to Slow Down This Fall
Weekly Menu
While most of my meals this upcoming week will be eaten in hotels and restaurants, I’m still providing you with plenty of cozy and comforting fall-inspired dishes. I hope you enjoy them!
Breakfast:
- This butternut squash frittata with bacon, kale and goat cheese sounds delicious and healthy.
- Fall breakfast potato bake sounds so cozy to make during the fall.
- These caramel apple sheet pan pancakes sound so unique and easy to make!
- Sally’s pumpkin French toast casserole is an indulgent breakfast to make at least once this season.
Lunch & Dinner:
- Korean beef bulgogi is hearty and SO yummy. I like to serve it with homemade lo mein or fried rice.
- One-pot autumn beef stew has me begging for chilly nights!
- This chicken and biscuit bake is so comforting during the fall season.
- Maple mustard glazed chicken sounds both easy and delicious.
- I think this pumpkin butter chicken is a unique way to capture the flavors of fall.
Sweet Treat:
This toffee apple pie with vanilla custard recipe has been in my fall Pinterest board for ages, but I have yet to make it. Regular apple pie is so delightful, but this recipe takes it to a new level. I love that the creator was inspired by The Legend of Sleepy Hollow when creating it.
My Weekly Agenda
The Weekend
Well, I am on the road again! That’s right. I am heading back East this weekend. You may not know this about me, but I do not enjoy flying. It’s a necessary evil since I have family all over the country. However, my husband figured out it costs about the same to drive home as it does to fly. So, why wouldn’t I drive?? To get home, it’s two 12-hour days, but I’ll put on an audiobook, call loved ones, and have myself a mini road trip.
The Week
I arrive home on Sunday, October 12, and the following day, my mom and I will wake up bright and early and begin our New England road trip!! I am beyond excited. Currently, the weather is looking a little tumultuous, as it usually is in the Northeast this time of year. But, even if it does rain, I know we are going to have a great time. Monday, we head up to Connecticut, followed by Rhode Island on Tuesday, Massachusetts on Wednesday, New Hampshire on Thursday, Vermont on Friday, and New York on Saturday. It’s going to be a full and packed week, and I can’t wait to share my adventures with you once I return!
Books of the Week
Fiction Recommendation: The Silk House by Kayte Nunn
This book was SO good. I enjoy dual timelines when they are written well, and this certainly was. The writing is beautiful and the plot is so interesting. There are some supernatural elements, giving it a creepy, somewhat spooky vibe. It’s a mystery that you can curl up on the couch with on a rainy Sunday.
Synopsis: An enchanting mystery kept hidden for hundreds of years…
1700s
Rowan Caswell leaves her village to work at the home of an English silk merchant. Very soon, she finds herself thrust into a dangerous world, where her talent for herbs and healing starts to attract unwanted attention.
Mary-Louise Stephenson dreams of becoming a silk designer, a path that has remained largely forbidden to women. A length of fabric she weaves with a pattern of deadly flowers will have shocking consequences for all who dwell at the Silk House.
Present Day
Thea Rust arrives at an exclusive boarding school in the British countryside to look after the first intake of girls in its history. She is to stay with them in the Silk House, a converted silk factory from the 18th century, where the shadows hide secrets waiting to be discovered…
Nonfiction Recommendation: Blink by Malcom Gladwell
I have yet to read a book by Malcolm Gladwell, but I think this may be the first. I have heard from multiple friends about the unique subjects he writes on, and as a very introspective and deep thinker, I believe this would be a great one to try.
Synopsis: Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant-in the blink of an eye-that actually aren’t as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work-in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others?
In Blink we meet the psychologist who has learned to predict whether a marriage will last, based on a few minutes of observing a couple; the tennis coach who knows when a player will double-fault before the racket even makes contact with the ball; the antiquities experts who recognize a fake at a glance. Here, too, are great failures of “blink”: the election of Warren Harding; “New Coke”; and the shooting of Amadou Diallo by police.
Blink reveals that great decision makers aren’t those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of “thin-slicing”-filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.
On the Hunt
This week, I am on the hunt for some travel items. From boots and cardigans to sound machines and reading lights, these are all great travel item ideas I’m looking at for my fall New England road trip.
Health Tip of the Week
This week, I started working towards intentional weight loss, and I’m doing it without counting or tracking calories or macros. Yes, it actually can be done! How? Begin to learn your hunger and fullness cues. This is the fastest way to lose weight without counting numbers of any sort. To learn more about how to identify the various levels of hunger and fullness, check out this podcast episode of Losing 100 Pounds with Corinne Crabtree.
