Notes on September

A mystery novel about tradwife influencers, the platonic ideal banana bread recipe, and the perfect smudgeproof eyeliner.

This past September has been bananas.

I taught my first virtual live painting workshop since the pandemic – and I loved it so much.

I launched a brand new product – my 2026 illustrated wall calendar!

Client work has picked up at a break neck speed.

And two of my pets have needed extra care leading up to their medical procedures at the end of the month. This last part has been extra stressful for me, my animals are my little family and medical procedures looming are always anxiety-inducing. Extra well wishes and love sent our way appreciated.

There was also fun stuff – lunches with friends, starting a cookbook club, attending a gala to fundraise for an animal sanctuary, trying new restaurants and recipes, discovering new hyperfixations, and surprise concerts. Here are a few notable things I want to remember and share from this month.

📚 READING

• How to Survive A Horror Story by Mallory Arnold. A group of strangers are invited to a haunted house through the will of a recently deceased horror writer. The perfect read to kick off spooky season.

• Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza. Deliciously good, I consumed it in two days. Described as trad wives meets Gone Girl, Everyone is Lying to You is twisty, sharp, and so good.

• My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine. A fun, easy contemporary rom-com that’s a good seasonal transition read.

• Bunny by Mona Awad. Everyone has been hyping this book up so much, and while it resonated (having a Creative Writing degree myself), this just didn’t hit for me.
  

📺 WATCHING

• Great British Baking Show. The new season came in like a balm for the soul.

• Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, season 6. We’re so back. These women are the peak of Bravo right now. Don’t just ask me, watch John Oliver wax poetic about the pure entertainment and drama of this show – or as he says, “the most magnificent monsters on TV.”

Laufey at Crypto Arena, Los Angeles, night 1. I need this dress.

🎧 LISTENING

• Laufey albums: A Matter of Time, Bewitched, Everything I Know About Love, Typical of Me. My sweet husband surprised me with tickets to see Laufey in concert this month, and we had the best time.

• My favorite podcast, Home Cooking, is back! Hosted by Samin Nostrat (chef and of Salt Fat Acid Heat fame) and Hrishikesh Hirway (of Song Exploder), this podcast teaches me so much about food through Samin’s enthusiasm and deep food knowledge. I love their whole sibling-esque banter and appreciation of a good pun. This podcast always gets me out of a cooking / food rut!

🥖 MAKING

• Ina’s profiterole cream puffs. My friend Victoria and I started a cookbook club, and we had our inaugural meeting this month over Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris. It was SO much fun, I only wish we started it sooner!

• These black bean tacos from Rainbow Plant Life, a new plant-based chef and IG that my friend Kelly introduced me to. I’ve been adding more plant-based recipes to our weekly rotation for health reasons, and chef Nisha Vora makes it taste soo good.

• Samin Nostrat’s banana bread – my new favorite go-to recipe for my ideal banana bread. I also just got her new book, Good Things, and I’ve never been so excited to read through a cookbook.
  
  

🛍️ BUYING

• Found my holy grail of smudge proof gel pencil eyeliners - I got it in chocolate brown, which I’ve been loving lately for a softer, warmer cat eye.

• Love this blush in Poppet for the fall.

• Eyelid primer – I used to swear by Urban Decay’s, but in the last year it’s been leaving me a mess. So I found a new one that actually works and keeps everything in place for a long day.
  

🌸 DOING

• Decorating for Halloween because it starts for me the second a leaf falls in the breeze on Labor Day weekend.

• Adding cedar blocks to my closet to combat moths that I’m seeing emerge with the fall.

• Prepping our little family for two of our little furry members to go through medical major procedures this month. I love our animals so much, and caring for them as they get older is so emotionally and mentally challenging. I’ve just been taking the time to be present with them each day, enjoy their company, even if there is more clean up, patience, and time required.

• Playing Stardew Valley again just to decompress at the end of each day – I reward myself for finishing my real life farm chores by doing my virtual farm chores 😂.

Please feel free to share anything that’s made your September good!