Notes 02.

A reading retreat for the books, picking out my 2025 journal, and remembering how to dress for the frigid winter temps

Welcome to Notes, my biweekly round-up of the books on my nightstand, the outfits I’m styling, musings from my journal, and snippets of my adventures around the city.

Holiday romance season is still dominating my reading at the moment- I’ve read four back to back! Most recently I finished KISS ME AT CHRISTMAS by Jenny Bayliss, which I read for my book club, Literary League (if you’re in the NYC area and you’re looking to join a book club, we’d love to have you!).

It’s become a December tradition for us to read a Jenny Bayliss book (this is her fifth one!). She’s a UK author whose books are always so cozy and British, and this one was no exception. I switched from the physical book to the audiobook and I have to say that the audiobook really added to the reading experience. Hearing all of the British accents from the narrator really brought the characters to life.

After finishing that, it felt like it was time to take a little break from the holiday romances and switch it up for my next read. I was influenced by Iyana to pick up ONLY FOR THE WEEK by Natasha Bishop, which I’d heard about before on TikTok. It was previously indie published, and was recently rereleased by Zando Publishing with a new cover, so I’m very curious to see what the hype is about!

Winter is here (unfortunately! I’m 100% a summer baby). I feel like every time the cold weather comes around, it takes me a minute to remember how to dress for below-freezing temperatures.

I want to give a shoutout to my camel coat on the left. It’s old Abercrombie & Fitch and I realized recently that I’ve had it for over five years. I feel like it’s one of those coats that goes with everything and it’s been such a wardrobe workhorse from me. I got it dry cleaned a few months ago and that was truly such a game changer. It had been looking a little worse for wear and came back looking nearly new.

I picked up a couple cute little cardigans during the Black Friday sales, including this red cardigan from Old Navy. I don’t often do this, but I opened up the package, tried it on, and wore it out that same day. I love the fit and it’s actually nice and thick and warm. Don’t sleep on Old Navy, y’all! I feel like this year especially they’ve had lots of cute stuff and the prices are so good whenever they’re having one of their sales.

I also wanted to report back on that Gap CashSoft set I’d ordered a few weeks ago (top and pants). So far it’s a winner! I wore it while I was upstate and the set is so comfortable while also still looking put together. The true test will come later this week as I’m planning to wear it on our travel day when we fly home to California.

I can’t believe the year is really coming to a close! I’m not even ready to truly contemplate that yet, but I am thinking about it a little because it’s time to pick out a new notebook for next year. I’ve been a Leuchtturm 1917 girlie for several years now and I typically just pick out a new color each year.

My go-to has been the A5 size hardcover with the square grid layout, but I might be considering a bigger size for next year?! I don’t know, I am a creature of habit and don’t always like change! But I’m reminding myself that it doesn’t hurt to try new things and I can always revert to what’s familiar if I don’t like it.

I very much haven’t made up my mind yet. I saw that the B5 size doesn’t come in fun colors for the square grid (only black), so that might be the dealbreaker. Watch this space to see what my final decision is!

I went to my first reading retreat earlier this month and it was an absolute dream come true! It was called Booked In at Scribner’s and it was the most magical weekend dreamed up by my friend Gabi. There were lots of fun activities that you could opt in or out of, as well as downtime for reading. I’d never been to Scribner’s before and it was such a beautiful property, especially all covered in snow.

I had the best time and the weekend went by far too quickly- I’m really hoping they do it again next year! I did a chatty recap video here, but let me know if you all would be interested in seeing a whole post about what we got up to that weekend!

I’m off to CA later this week to spend Christmas with my family, so this will be my final post of 2024! I can’t wait for chill time and holiday traditions at home. I’d love to know about any holiday traditions you might have- let me know in the comments!

I know I’m still very new to my Substack journey and I wanted to thank all of you who are already here reading along and supporting. I really appreciate it! I hope you have a wonderful and restful holiday season and I’ll see you back here in 2025! 💖