Currently December 2021

Currently | 12.31.21

Life in the Age of the Queen

December. Huh. What can I say but glad it only comes once a year. I am not big on holidays and generally avoid retail during the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Add the complexity of variants and the Queen (reference here) in general and I avoid them, plus restaurants like, well, the plague.

It was the first holidays since my father passed away and Mr. Misadventures and I spent both Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family instead of partaking in our usual travel. It was the first Thanksgiving or Christmas that I have spent with my sister and my nieces ever. One niece is 25 and one is 20. So you do the math!

Anyway, I am writing this from Lisbon. Leading up to this trip we were extremely cautious and wore an N95 mask while at my sister’s house for Christmas. The weather was gorgeous and we spent a lot of the day outside in the fresh air.

I gave up on exchanging gifts a very long time ago, but my sister did have a special gift made for myself, my mother and my nieces. My dad had a lot of clothing. He could not resist a deal and my parents closet was stuffed to the brim. When my sister, mom, and I cleaned it out after the funeral my sister kept some of his flannel shirts. She had the shirts made into teddy bears for each of us.

So a little piece of my dad now sits on my office couch.

Both my mom and sister love to do puzzles. When my sister and I were back in Phoenix after my father’s services, the two of them worked on a puzzle together. My mom stayed with us a couple of weeks in December and I bought a 750-piece Paris puzzle to do with her. We don’t have a TV in our main room so I thought a puzzle would be perfect for after dinner and before bed.

I didn’t realize just how much I would enjoy it! After being on the computer all day for work and then add blogging time and French classes on Zoom, a puzzle is the perfect non-screen activity! I love to read, but these days that’s a screen too.

The puzzle was a great way to use a different part of the brain and it was a real challenge. I am already thinking about what I want to do for my next one!

Now, onto December and what's been going on in the Misadventures world!

Watching | Don't Look Up

When I first heard about Don't Look Up I wasn’t all that interested. Although I like Leonardo DiCaprio, I am not a huge fan of Meryl Streep. But after watching all the things, we decided to give it a go.

It’s brilliant. Sarcastic.

Replace the comet with COVID, global warming, and a handful of other issues and it’s the same movie. It’s the perfect interpretation of the world today.

We also watched The Last Duel which takes place in France and is very well done. The Matrix Resurrection, which I could not hate enough. Way to ruin a franchise. We watched an awesome SciFi series from South Korea called The Silent Sea (Netflix) which was original and well done.

I waited and waited to watch Emily in Paris. My plan was to watch it on the plane to Portugal, but finally broke down 2 days before we left and watched it. In 1 night. So not like me. I go to bed early every night and stayed up to 1 am to watch it!

There will be controversy and debate, but I enjoyed it. There are not a lot of new film locations but there are a few so I will be updating my Emily in Paris post with Season 2 info plus fresh photos from some spots I visited when we were in Paris in October.

Can't Wait to Watch:

I saved “And Just Like That” the “Sex and the City” revival which came out on December 9 on HBO Max for the plane, but then didn't do anything but sleep and write this post so I am now trying to save it for the plane ride home at the end of January. We will see if I make it.

It is hard to not see spoilers on social media so that is driving me a bit crazy.

Reading | The Postmistress of Paris

I am still reading Foundation, but I hit pause on that one when I saw gal pal Kristin Luna of Camels & Chocolate recommend The Postmistress of Paris. It’s historical fiction set in Paris so no real competition with the reading of my first SciFi book.

Best Bite | Dark Chocolate Caramels from Lily’s

I don’t often get out to the grocery store. But from time to time Mr. Misadventures and I will stop by Whole Foods. While the hubby is off getting the things on our shopping list I poke around at what’s new and interesting. It was on one of those forays that I discovered Lily’s dark chocolate covered sea salt caramels.

Oh. These babies are low-carb!

We buy Lily’s chocolate chips for baking, they are zero carbs and awesome, but I didn’t know they made chocolate bars and other low carb chocolate treats. I snatched a bag and put them on my desk for an afternoon snack. A few days later I opened them and WOW!

I left a few for Mr. Misadventures to try. I put them on the island in our kitchen and a few hours later I ran into the hubby in the hall and mentioned that he should try them. He said, “I did. They’re gone.”

And that was that. Now we go through a few bags a week!

Working On | Blogging Classes

A few months before leaving the Bay Area for our 18-month RV adventure I taught a blogging 101 workshop at the Writing Pad school in San Francisco. This school is mainly focused on screenwriting and has their main school in Los Angeles.

Now with the Queen, everything is virtual and I am going to teach the workshop again. Last time I did it in 1 long day. This time it will be over the course of 4 classes online (in Feb and March). It will be fun to do this again!

Feeling | Grateful

Being able to work remotely is a blessing. We are in Lisbon for the month of January. Thanks to Airbnb’s long term stay specials we got an incredible deal on a beautiful apartment in the Campo de Ourique neighborhood located in the historic center. It is not too touristy, and has lots of food, including the Campo de Ourique market which is the first market to be converted to a food hall and is used by more locals than tourists. We also have a French boulangerie and fromagerie next to and across from us, so we have zero complaints!

Loving | Airbnb Gift Cards

I don’t exchange gifts for the holidays so there are a ton of opportunities for people to buy me things but now that Airbnb has launched their gift card program I am telling everyone this is the thing to buy me!

Plus we have a wonderful employee rewards program at the place I work and I can purchase Airbnb gift cards with my points now HOORAY!

Published in December

• Julia Child’s Paris
• PLEASE support my partner by checking this out and click over to the Chico's site: Dressing for the Holidays with a Capsule Wardrobe from Chico’s
• New Year’s Traditions in France
• Snow Globes: A Very French History
• PLEASE support my partner by checking this out and click over to the Jambu's site: J’adore Jambu: Women’s Shoes for Winter (+ Fall too!)

That’s my month, what’s CURRENTLY going on with you?

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