I know many people loathe the month of November, but I do not. It’s generally a grey/ brown, chilly, windy month, true, but it has its own kind of beauty:
We don’t all have to be flashy to be beautiful.
November is also a good month for me because the first three weeks are the Exciting Lead Up To The Festive Season, followed by Fully Festive Season. We are IN IT.
But it’s not just about festivities around here, some of my favourite things this month have nothing at all to do with the festive season, I am a woman of many layers and facets. Some things I just love because I love them, and who knows, maybe you’ll love them too.
Nicole’s Favourite Things: The November Beauties Edition
Mary Oliver and Rupi Kaur
Bear with me for a moment, as I know that this will sound Incredibly Pretentious. Every day since the pandemic began, I read a poem prior to my yoga practice (I know, I’m sorry) and then as I practice, I contemplate what I’ve read. All through 2020 I read my very favourite poet, Mary Oliver, and then on the advice of a friend, I decided to add the poetry of Rumi into the mix. I obtained a copy of A Year With Rumi, which, as you may guess from the title, has a poem for every day of the year.
People, I am going to say something controversial: A Year With Rumi is just too much Rumi. I feel like I could have happily had A Week With Rumi. Maybe Ten Days With Rumi. I have been reading the daily selection of this collection every single day, every single DAY, PEOPLE, and really only a handful of poems have resonated with me. I know. I’m sorry!
I am the kind of person who Sticks With Something, and the thought of not finishing the book when it’s November, and I’ve been doing this since New Year’s Day, well. But then I saw this poem by Rupi Kaur on Instagram, of all places:
And, oh, my, did that resonate. I then remembered that I have a Rupi Kaur collection, entitled Home Body, that contains THAT EXACT POEM, but I was saving it until after I finished the Rumi collection. This, I thought to myself, is stupid. If I died tomorrow, would I be happy that I spent eleven and a half months reading Rumi poetry on the daily, while NOT reading Rupi Kaur poetry, just because there is a Rumi poem ascribed to each day of the year? Would I? NO, I WOULD NOT. So while I will continue reading my Rumi-poem-a-day (must finish, must finish), I will do it later in the day, and instead will alternate Mary Oliver and Rupi Kaur for my pre-practice poetry. Life is too short to spend reading poetry that I am not enjoying.
It will be interesting, co-reading these two poets: both brilliant women, one young and one who has, like Elvis, left the building. One writes largely about the world within herself, the other writes largely about the world without, the big, beautiful, natural world. I came across this poem from my Mary Oliver collection, Devotions:
It took my breath away, and is also a good reminder that we don’t know what’s going on in other people’s lives, and to live as kindly and open heartedly as possible.
White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn
Now for something completely different! My love for Boom Chicka Pop is well-documented, so imagine my excitement when I saw this at Superstore:
White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn! I immediately grabbed a bag, and my son and I snacked on it during our recent Top Gun viewing. We both agreed that the first bite was weird; the texture is kind of strange and unexpected, but by the second bite we were completely addicted.
Yesterday I was at Superstore and not only did I grab the very last bag of this, but I also picked up a dark chocolate drizzle with sea salt and I shall report back.
This Silly Crop Top
I have had this Flashdance-style cropped sweatshirt for probably ten years, and I love it as a cute layer to wear to the gym. I have never once worn it without something longer underneath, because my midriff-baring ship has sailed, long ago.
There’s a lot of buzz around sustainable clothing lately, and what could be more sustainable than a decade-old top? I was chatting with a friend about this, that I have had flak for buying fairly pricey yoga/ workout clothes from lululemon, but those items have served me so well. I have pants dating back to 2009 that still look great, and numerous tops and tanks that are about to celebrate their tenth birthday, this crop top being among them.
My favourite thing about wearing this sweatshirt is saying to my kids, “Hey guys, look, I’m wearing a crop top! I’m not a regular mom, I’m a cool mom! How do you do, fellow kids?” at which point they give me that polite, yet weary, chuckle of the type you might have when asked if you are working hard or hardly working, or why didn’t you get them all cut, when you mention that you got a haircut.
The Charlie Brown Christmas Sheet Music
I love, love, LOVE the soundtrack to The Charlie Brown Christmas, even though I cannot and will not watch the show anymore. Honestly, that show is really terrible. Everyone is so mean, Charlie Brown is literally bullied and excluded constantly, and the cruelty of children and how it was completely normalized makes me want to set something on fire. I do, however, love Linus’ line “I never thought it was such a bad little tree, it just needs a little love.” Preach, Linus.
But the music, you guys, the music is so wonderful. And also, really difficult to play on the piano. I trained in the Royal Conservatory tradition, and so I consider myself to be a “classical” rather than a “jazzy” pianist. I have been struggling with this songbook for the better part of three years, but one of my yoga students is an actual piano teacher, and she gave me some really great tips on how to play “swing” style. It helped so much and now I feel like I’m actually making music, rather than randomly hitting notes like a chicken pecking at a keyboard.
The key to playing swing-style, according to my student, who is in her sixties, is to behave as if I’ve smoked a big doobie, and just relax, man, and go with it. She also told me to envision the bassline as “one of those guys plucking the strings on a giant bass, wearing a beret and nodding along” and honestly, that kind of visualization was really helpful.
Florence’s Art
I have been friends with Florence (HI FLORENCE) since 2009, when we were both Kindergarten Moms. I always knew she was artistically gifted – she can sew, and craft, and has a great eye for colour and style – and this year she started painting. She painted this for me and it’s one of my very favourite things:
I love it for so many reasons: she painted it especially for me, for one, but she also based it off of a photograph I had taken on a Sunday morning walk with my husband. I snapped a photo of a train going by, nostalgically thinking of the days that the boys would be excited by trains. To my surprise, Florence copied that photo and gifted it to me, and it hangs on my kitchen wall so I can look at it daily and feel the love.
Florence, along with many other artists, will be at the Under 100 Art Show in December, and I am so excited. I mean, how often do you go to an art show that features your friend? This has never happened for me before, and I can’t wait. Tickets are still available, so if you’re in the YYC area, go and get some! They are very affordable and every piece is priced under $100, so perhaps a good time to go Christmas shopping?
Poetry, art, and music, popcorn and crop tops, I am indeed a multifaceted woman with many different loves and favourites. What are you loving, in this month of November? Tell me everything. xo
What I am loving this month is that Noah’s coming home for Thanksgiving break. He gets in late tomorrow evening. Am I tagging along with Beth to drive to Baltimore after my bedtime to meet his bus? Why, yes, I am.
It’s hard to say what else I am loving, because recently I’ve been struggling not to fall into a funk, but we are still in flashy leaf color season here and it’s quite beautiful. I do like the somber look when the leaves fall, too. You can really see the architecture of the trees.
I am not here to judge your poetry practice. We used to read four poems aloud as a family almost every night from the time Noah was in first grade until he left for college. We stopped then because it was really him and me who loved this tradition, more than North and Beth, though if we’d known how long he’d be home for the pandemic, we might have started again when he came home. I still miss it.
Oh yay, Steph, I’m so happy for you! I would love to know your favourite poets, if you feel like sharing.
I love this. Your ‘look at your cool mom with the crop top’ dialogue made me laugh. I will do something similar, although not while wearing a crop top. I might use some teen lingo and then do a dance around my kitchen while chanting something like OH YEAH. I’M COOL. YOU KNOW IT, etc. I’m always rewarded with eyerolls and then I’m corrected on how I misused ‘their’ terminology.
Oh, that painting. So beautiful AND meaningful because it was painted by a friend. How wonderful.
I blame, no I THANK you for introducing me to Chicka Boom Popcorn. Delish.
I’d say I am loving the fact that Curly dances on Friday this year at Midwest championships instead of Sunday, so I get the rest of the weekend to relax and not fret/prepare for this competition.
Oh, that’s going to be so nice for you not to have to spend your whole weekend preparing!
Oh man – those two poems.
“And somewhere, for someone, life is becoming moment by moment unbearable.” Haunting and reflective and sadly so true.
“i want to leave this place knowing I did something with my body other than trying to make it look perfect.” What a reminder! I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately.
On another note: I actually just quite a year-long habit on day #311/365. It can be done…just saying!
I largely avoid the specialty popcorn because I think it is the most addicting substance known to man. Once I start – I. can’t. stop. This sounds amazing though. Sigh…
I am totally, 100% addicted to Boom Chicka Pop Light Kettle Corn, it’s the perfect combination of sweet and salty and I almost wish I had never tried it because now I cannot do without it. It is amazing.
Congrats on quitting at 311/ 365, I think that is SO hard to do!!
Poetry, popcorn, art and art friends, favorite articles of clothing that have served forever and ever… those are all good loves. I am loving that we have had (mostly) seasonal weather, that there is bioluminescence at the ocean… waves crash in day glow green and blue. I am loving new playlists, with a smattering of Christmas music added in. I am loving being on our bicycle ride, and each time seeing one more house with lights hanging, the warm glow from kitchen windows, the steady rise of holiday anticipation.
Oh, that sounds so lovely in every way!
As soon as you described the white chocolate peppermint popcorn, I thought I would simply die if I could not find it. I went directly to Target’s website, THEY HAD IT (online but not ((yet)) in store), I ordered it, it will soon be on its way. I also bought a bag of MAPLE popcorn?? New quest: the chocolate/salt kind, which Target did not have.
Speaking of white chocolate peppermint, have you tried / are you able to get these??: https://www.target.com/p/snack-factory-white-chocolate-38-peppermint-pretzel-crisps-4oz/-/A-47081511#lnk=sametab Actually, will that link even work if that Target U.S. and you are Canada? Well, anyway, they are white chocolate peppermint pretzel thins. And I do not really like pretzel thins. And I don’t think of myself as particularly liking white chocolate, and would assume I’d want the brown chocolate kind, but the brown chocolate ones are actually quite MEH in my opinion, and I will eat the white chocolate ones until I am blissfully queasy.
I love Florence’s art and also I love the name Florence. I want to see that name on babies SOON.
Ooooh I have never HEARD of such a thing and now I will be on the lookout for the Canadian version. White chocolate is SUCH a good pair with peppermint!
I’m officially in a sis-mance with you now.
You had me at “we don’t all have to be flashy to be beautiful.”
I love how you read poetry before doing yoga. Don’t ever apologize for it.
I’m also a huge fan of Mary Oliver and Rupi Kaur.
THEN, you mention the poet Rumi, and I literally have Rumi on my list of topics to discuss in December.
So we are either channeling the same spirit guides or something truly Universal is going on.
And yes, life IS too short to spend reading anything you aren’t enjoying. I learned that during lockdown.
I 100000% agree with you about Peanuts shows. Lucy is HORRIBLE. But I also love the soundtrack.
That painting is beautiful.
YOU HAD ME AT SIS-MANCE!!
It’s funny, as soon as I posted this, I read the Rumi poem for the day and it was totally wonderful; isn’t that always the way? I think we ARE channeling the same spirit guides! I love that you love Oliver and Kaur! Such talents. xo
I love that you realized you were unhappy with Too Much Rumi and fixed it. I have started to give myself permission to stop reading books whenever they stop making me want to read, even if I’m more than halfway through! It’s really changed my life and made me feel (oddly) more empowered about my reading choices.
It is VERY empowering and I wish I did it more often; usually I just keep reading and honestly, what a waste of time and effort!
So many things here. First off, I’ll forgive you for reading poems and doing yoga (ha ha) because those two poems are incredible. I didn’t know either of those poets, but now I want to read more. I actually feel a blog post coming on, about the Rupi Kaur poem! I love it. But that makes it sounds like I don’t love the Mary Oliver poem, and I love that one too. So true.
Exciting Lead Up to the Festive Season- yes!!! Christmas doesn’t officially start until after Thanksgiving, as in I don’t get out my decorations, mugs, or clothing, but I love seeing Christmas-y things everywhere. I’ve also been secretly listening to the radio station that’s already playing Christmas music 24/7 in my car.
Oh, that Peanuts Christmas special. Do you know that Charles Schultz thought it was terrible initially, and was astonished that people loved it so much? I grew up watching it every year, so for me it’s a throwback to my childhood. And yes, the music is incredible!
It’s a big throwback to my childhood too, I used to watch it as well. I watched it a few years back and thought, god, this is AWFUL. I don’t blame Charles Schultz for thinking it was terrible because it is!
I love November because it is usually when our weather starts to cool off a bit. Also, Thanksgiving, my most favorite holiday!
I love your crop top and yes, you are a cool mom, with cool mom jokes.
Both of those poems resonated with me today.
We must know how you felt about the next bag of popcorn!
Oh honey, I bet that poem really did resonate. I am so sorry for your friend’s loss and for your loss. xo
I like November, too. It’s the mellow before the forced frivolity. You said: “Life is too short to spend reading poetry that I am not enjoying.” I agree and will use that line for why most poetry doesn’t call to me. I don’t enjoy more that a few lines of verse here or there. Are crop tops back in fashion? I am not a cool mom– well technically I’m not a mom, but you get my point.
Ally, crop tops are VERY fashionable and the girls are wearing them with really high waisted baggy jeans, and it reminds me SO MUCH of my youth!
Florence’s painting is GORGEOUS.
Also gorgeous, that photo of the November landscape. A dear relative used to say, of my hometown in winter, “I never knew until I visited here that there were so many different shades of brown.” It’s very possible that she meant it in a passive aggressive way, but I always took it as a compliment. Grey and brown can be beautiful, and so can stark, barren landscape.
I laughed literally out loud when I read this: “A Year With Rumi is just too much Rumi.”
It’s true, it is a different kind of beauty! Lush landscapes aren’t the only beautiful things around, right?
Omg, that painting is unbelievable. I don’t mind the November landscape and the cold November light at all, but my mood takes a dive in November despite my forebrain’s efforts to the contrary. My sister-in-law read two Mary Oliver poems at my mother-in-law’s memorial and they broke me wide open, could not have been more devastatingly appropriate.
There might be people who I would have to slag for reading a poem before their early-early-early-morning yoga practice, but you are not one of them. You have enough salt mixed in with the sweet – and speaking of such, I am generally a popcorn purist, but that white chocolate peppermint popcorn is absolutely my boyfriend. Thank goodness it’s not around all year.
Awwww, I love you, that is all.
You know, I used to pride myself in not being a “quitter”, but I think it’s totally ok to stop doing something if you don’t enjoy it. I see that now. Life’s too short for this nonsense.
Having grown up in the land of kettle corn (my first encounter with American salted popcorn was unpleasant, to say the least), I can imagine that this white chocolate peppermint popcorn is quite divine.
Oh, it is so good!
I’m DEFINITELY going to need that white chocolate peppermint popcorn. Definitely, definitely.
You may have just convinced me to start reading poetry! I’ve been wanting to read Mary Oliver but I wasn’t sure how to fit it into my reading life. I like the idea of starting off my day with one poem! What a delightful way to greet a new day. <3
Yes! Just one poem to start the day, it’s not too overwhelming or much of a time commitment. I love Oliver’s “Devotions” – it is a really great collection.