November

November has come and left. To be honest, when I sat down trying to think about what I got up to this month, I couldn’t really remember. It’s not to say that it was a bad month. In fact, I think it’s a sign of my overall comfort and subtle easing into normalcy here.

I would say that I had two major events in November that I want to reflect on. The first thing was my quick weekend in Alicante. I was visiting a former student from the States who is studying abroad. Funny story, this is one of my #straggler babies who I guided to Costa Rica after getting illegally bumped by American Airlines. Since it’s only an hour away, I wanted to go and see a friendly face. I have to say, Alicante has always just been an airport to me. I didn’t really have any high expectations of the city itself. Surprisingly, I was a fan!

To start, I stayed at a really nice Hostel called the Market Hostel. It was industrial and clean and quiet and I absolutely would stay there again. The location was a quick 10 minute walk from the train station and it was (no surprise) right next to the central market as well as the Market tram station. Very sadly they don’t have a website that you can book directly but they are on all the major hostel booking sites.

I would say that, while Alicante is pretty touristy and therefore really commercial, there’s a lot of local interest. From that castle on the hill to the miles and miles of beachfront to the shockingly diverse food scene – it’s got a lot of things that I really enjoyed. So much so that I’ll be going back for Christmas with my sister for a nice chill holiday.

It’s of note that I still enjoyed the city despite the fact that I was almost incapacitated with a hangover on the day that I was wandering around the city. Shout out to my lovely former student, Molly for taking me to a bar where you can get a 2 LITRE MOJITO for only 5 Euros. Also for helping me tie my shoe when I was not 100% able to stand with any level of balance. Plus we had a really nice day of shopping the next day. It was honestly a really nice weekend.

The other awesome memory from November was my first Friends-giving abroad. This was awesome for many reasons. I have friends here now that I wanted to spend time with and cook for. I was able to assemble a fantastic lineup of traditional Thanksgiving foods. Also, I hosted the shit out of my party, including making decorations and creating ambience lighting.

All joking aside, it was really lovely to have four of my good lady friends come and spend time with me. I really love being a host and it was nice to feel comfortable doing that with my buds.

 

My favorites:

Lady Bunny – This is the name I’ve given the street cat that I’m obsessed with. I visit here a couple of times a week at the stoop of the restaurant she hangs out with. They give her water and food so she just chills there after the lunch rush. She’s gorgeous and also so affectionate, especially for a cat living on the streets. I think she would make a good house cat and I want to adopt her more than anything. She’s looking better now than she did at the beginning of the month – her coat is shinier and she’s gained a little bit of weight. I’ve been considering options for how I can make Lady Bunny my forever friend but for right now, she’s safe, healthy and happy. It also doesn’t get tremendously cold here and there’s a pretty fantastic cat society that takes care of all of our kitty girls.

Makeup – November I went a little bit hog wild with makeup purchases. And by that I mean I bought one very large eye palette and one modest but expensive face palette. While I don’t necessarily use the eye palette every day, it is already a favorite of mine. While in general, I’m not someone who feeds into makeup hype – something snapped inside of me when I saw this palette. I just knew this was something I wanted especially since I’m dipping my toes more and more into colorful looks. I think it’s sold out currently but this James Charles for Morphe palette is pretty dope. Also it is more day to day friendly than it seems since at least 60% of the palette is neutral.

My other makeup purchase was an Hourglass face Palette in Unlocked. I’ve had an Hourglass face palette in the past and if I’m totally honest, I didn’t love it. However, I had heard nothing but great reviews on this palette. I knew I wanted to go back into a pressed setting powder and I also have been looking for a new bronzer. So I decided that I would give this buddy a try and I’m a huge fan. Since I got it, I’ve worn it every day and have loved the overall look.

Music – This month I went ahead and made a throwback playlist which I’ve been listening to on my way to work. I always say that I used to have better taste in music than I do now and putting together this playlist definitely confirmed it. I have songs from lots of my favorites: Robbers on High Street, Rogue Wave, Orba Squara, Mates of State, Imogen Heap and more. I am going to keep expanding because honestly, it’s been really nice to relive my music glory days.

Youtube – UNHhhh is a series with two of the best queens that RuPaul’s Drag Race has ever had. Trixie Mattel and Katya talk about whatever they want since it’s their show. Each show has a theme – there are like 80 of them – and seriously I laugh my ass off at least once an episode. The editing. The themes. The one liners. The special guests. It’s literally brilliant. They have a cable show as well but I’m still working my way through the free content.

Planner Updates:

I’m starting to get so excited about the fact that in only one month I get to start my two new planners. I’m just really excited about my new bullet journal set up (which I’ll make a blog post about soon).

To be honest, November wasn’t my greatest month for my planners. I didn’t love it any of the spreads in my Erin Condren as an absolutely favorite although I did like the use of my monthly layout more than usual.

In terms of my bullet journal, I was a big fan of the jewel toned color scheme that I went towards but I didn’t end up living for the actual doodles. I found them sort of irritating. I spent a significantly larger amount of time working on my 2019 bullet journal than my November spreads.

What’s Next?

December is sure to be a fun month overall – finally I’ll be able to see my sister for Christmas. She’s going to meet me in Alicante and then visit my new hometown in Cartagena. I finally am hoping to get my documentation in order. This will be my first Christmas in Spain so I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s like overall. Although it may not be the same without some snow, it will be fun to have some sun for once.