Currently January 2021
Currently | 1.26.21
Life in the Age of the Queen
[Explaination of the name in April’s Currently.] Not a whole lot has changed in the last month. And everything has changed. January is always busy for me from a work perspective and this past month went by very quickly. The days were a blur.
From time to time, like on January 6th, I would shake my head and say to myself, you are not watching the latest Hollywood blockbuster, this just happened, and what in the hell has our country come to?
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But there were some moments of hope amongst the moments of real-world reality that seemed like we were watching a movie. The memorial the night before the inauguration was long overdue. I didn’t get to see most of the inauguration in real-time, just a few bits and pieces between meetings, but somehow I did get to watch all of Amanda Gorman’s poem and that healed my soul a bit.
My dad got his first vaccine, my mom should be soon (why don’t they let couples get it together?) and Mr. Misadventures and I hope to get ours by summer. We will be in the last wave in North Carolina… I long for the days of exploring! Definitely feeling stir crazy!
This time last year we were packing up the last of our boxes, waiting to close on our house in Phoenix, and planning our route for our drive across the country to Raleigh. We arrive in Raleigh on Feb 1. On February 3, I attended a team meeting not knowing it would be the last time I would see my teammates for more than a year! I would have hugged them good-bye extra hard if I had known!
I would have hugged my parents extra hard too if I had known I would not be seeing them for over a year as well! I am sure a lot of people feel the same way.
Before I leave you to jump into January, I want to leave with one last crumb for the “food-for-thought” category. I absolutely love Seth Godin. If you work in marketing you have likely heard of him. I have read all his books and I immensely enjoy his extremely short blog posts. I was struck by one recently called 2030 and I want to share the text here because I think it brings us some perspective on 2020:
I just installed new smoke detectors in the house (definitely worth the hassle and low expense) and the batteries now last ten years.
There’s a little spot on the side of the detector to write the year you installed it.
I’m wondering what the person (maybe me) who changes the batteries a decade from now will think when they see “2020” written on the side.
Whatever happens over the next ten years, if history is any guide at all, the year we just finished will be mostly a faded memory.
What will matter more than what just happened is what we decide to do with where we are, daily, persistently, generously, for the next 3,650 days.
Here’s to possibility, to justice, and to betting on the future.
Now, onto January and what’s been going on in the Misadventures world!
Watching | Lupin
> We are HUGE fans of Omar Sy, and the films and series based on the classic French character, Arséne Lupin, a “gentlemen” thief. The first series was excellent! It’s available on Netflix in French with English subtitles (although I think I heard there is a dubbed English version as well). Season 2 is booked, yay! We always enjoy naming all the spots in Paris whenever we see a series and I quickly put together a post on the Lupin film locations in Paris (and beyond) after finishing the series.
Then we watched The Bonfire of Destiny (Le Bazar de la Charité) which is a terrible translated title for a truly wonderful mini-series that covers an actual historical event from May 4, 1897. It is so well-acted and has one of my favorite French actresses, Audrey Fleurot who was in Engrenages (Spiral) and A French Village (Un village français).
(Still) Reading | The Address Book
> I got into a writing mood (hence the large list of published posts down below) and spent less time reading so I am still not finished with The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power by Deirdre Mask. If you are interested in world history and are intrigued by street names, you’ll like this book!
Up next…
- The Art of Eating: 50th Anniversary Edition: I have always wanted to read this book by M.F.K. Fisher (from the same era as Julia Child) and picked it up last week for $2.99!
- 41 Reasons I’m Staying In: A Celebration of Introverts by Hallie Heald, being an introvert myself, I am curious!
- The Cheffe: A Cook’s Novel by Marie NDiaye, the (not very easy) life of a female chef in France.
- A Promised Land by Barak Obama
Best Bite | Ginger Cookie
> During the holidays I was craving ginger cookies or muffins. Mr. Misadventures made an attempt at a low-carb ginger/dried apricot muffin, and while it was delicious, it wasn’t quite gingery enough. Turns out, I was seeking the gingerbread flavor profile which comes from a combination of spices, not just ginger. So I followed this low-carb ginger snap recipe from Low Carb Crave with a few alterations and they were amazeballs! We’ve made 4 batches in the last 2 weeks!
Last month I wrote about getting on the chia bandwagon. This month we also got on board the overnight oats train as well. We make a “lower” carb version, but it can never truly be low carb when you have oats 😉 Anyway, we use oats, chia, coconut sugar, and almond milk, and yowza, so good! I microwave mine, it is too cold to eat cold oatmeal, but in the summertime, I can see myself eating it right out of the refrigerator!
Working On | Google Web Stories
> The amount of stuff you have to do when you have a blog is endless. The latest? Google Web Stories. I learned how to do it in January and created my first ones. These show up if you use the Google app on your phone and are supposed to drive some traffic.
Feeling | Hope
> I am too afraid to use the word “excited” but I am really hoping to travel this fall.
Planning | Camping
> We are heading out to do some moon shoots of a lighthouse on the Outer Banks. We will camp on the beach where we camped over the Thanksgiving break. The next day we will visit Alligator River in the morning to see bears and then head over to Dismal Swamp for a hike and will camp at their campgrounds. It will be cold, but I think that will keep people away.
Loving | Jambu!
Nearly all the models I have worn over the last 2 years are still available (on Amazon) and you can check out what I have worn in these posts:
Fall 2020 | Spring 2020 | Jambu Fall 2019 | Jambu Spring 2019 | Jambu Fall 2o18
All that to say I just got the Spring 2021 Lookbook and I am super excited to continue my partnership with this fantastic show company!
Published in January
I was prolific!
- How to Make New Year’s Resolutions for 2021
- Paris (and Beyond) Filming Locations for Lupin
- Paris in January: Winter is the best time to visit the City of Light
- Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge
- French Onion Soup: Paris’s Ultimate Hangover Cure and Comfort Food
- J’adore Frenchie Finds January 2021
- I also updated my Sex and the City Paris post to include 2 new spots AND the film locations for Emily in Paris season 1 (people looking for info on this series often compare it to SATC…)
That’s my month, what’s CURRENTLY going on with you?
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Ooo these cookies sound amazing! I’ve always been a fan of ginger. It sounds like you’re having a fun January!
It sounds like you’re making the most of the month and starting the year off right. I miss traveling too and hope to take a trip abroad around Christmas time.
The Address Book sounds like an insanely fascinating book, I have to admit!
OMG, a low carb ginger cookie. Now that sounds something I would love. They must have been good for you to make 4 batches!!!
I’ve always loved ginger cookies. Looking forward to giving this recipe a try.
I happened to be watching CNN on January 6 right before things got so horrific. I was stunned, shocked, and outraged as the events unfolded. I am relieved that Biden’s inauguration went so well, and Amanda Gorman’s poem brought me to tears. I feel like a huge weight was lifted from my soul that day.
Even though I haven’t seen my mom, oldest child, or sisters in almost a year, I feel hopeful that we might see each other this summer. My mom had her first vaccine, and I’m hoping that my husband will be able to get one soon. (He has a compromised immune system.)
Those cookies look delicious!
I’m just about to finish the series I’m watching right now. And when I see the Lupin’s trailer. I was like”Oh,I have to watch this first”. 😜
The ginger cookies sounds really nice. I love baking healthy cookies.
My January flew by, I mean how is it Feb. next week? I am rewatching the Chuck series on Amazon Prime right now. And, currently exploring the Clubhouse app.
Those cookies look delicious! I haven’t ever made my own ginger cookies, and it would be a nice project. I bet they would make great ice cream sandwiches.
Yes, we are already at the end of January already. It was fairly uneventful for me so far. However, things are looking a lot busier getting into February.
Days are passing by so fast and January is about to end! Wow! I love to watch Lupin, too. I heard it’s a great movie. Those Ginger Cookie look sooo delicious!
Same here! Had I known about the pandemic before leaving my hometown, I would have hugged my parents extra hard too! Well, I love ginger cookies as well ❤️
How are the google stories going?? That’s so interesting and I’d never heard of them. Sounds like Google is taking a cue from Instagram, LOL
XOOX
Jodie
@Jodie, still figuring them out but I think I got a good start!
The low carb ginger snap recipe looks and sounds amazing! I’ll give it a try next month for sure