Happy DECEMBER! That's wild. The year is almost over... but my obsession with Kylie Cosmetics is only just beginning. Read on!

1. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green



I can't even talk about this book right now without stumbling over my words. It's beautiful and upsetting and familiar and absolutely wonderful, and I think it's my new favorite John Green book. I felt so close to the main character, and the way he captures the voices of young adult women and gets right in their heads has always amazed me. It's like listening to the internal dialogue of my 16-year-old brain, and Turtles All the Way Down hit even closer because of those spirals that I've found myself in too.

I can't say enough about this book. (And yes, I cried.) Just read it.

When I think about winter, I often think about peppermint lattes and gloves and scarves. I think about the sight of Central Park covered in snow before they shoveled it, and I think about the fogged up windows of Village tea shops. It sounds romanticized, but those were just a smattering of the moments I experienced living in a place where seasons were real.

I've always had a soft spot for Thanksgiving – and not just because it's a holiday that contains a lot of amazing food (though that doesn't hurt). I love that it's a day for gratitude and to be with family and friends, and I love that the day lands during my favorite season.

Growing up, it was also the first event of a season of opportunities to spend an entire day with my cousins and aunts and uncles. As the youngest, I loved the change to observe everyone around me – how they interacted, what they talked about, and imagining how holidays would be when I was grown up enough to be part of every conversation.

When I went to college, I stopped coming home for Thanksgiving. The timing was too short, I usually had to work, and I knew I'd be home for longer less than a month later when finals were done and Christmas came around. It helped that I had family in LA too, even though I wasn't used to holidays down here. And I'll admit it took me awhile to get comfortable with it: there was less lounging around in a warm home and more eating out at restaurants, and something didn't scream "holidays" to me the way I was used to, though in some ways, it did prepare me for life after college too.

I'm not going to pretend to be any wiser than I was in 2016.

Last year, I wrote a post about the importance of falling in love – with your dreams, with your life, with yourself. It's a reminder that I let slip away from me almost as soon as I wrote the post because it was so much easier to fall back into old habits than to fall in love with all of the possibilities that life could bring.

But isn't it true that the longest relationship you'll have in your life is with yourself? So why is it that that relationship – the one with ourselves – is the hardest to maintain?

Man, October felt like a slow favorites month because my September was filled with new things I loved. It's not that I didn't love things in October, but I traveled more than expected and was a bit out of sorts. Also, it's been 100 degrees in LA and I've still been living like it's summer.

Anyways. Onto the favorites plus my watching/listening recommendations that I've been forgetting to include in my favorites posts:

1. Blue Oversized Denim Jacket from New Look


OK. The 100-degree weather has not been the right time for this. But I've worn it a few times in the evening and also when going from coast-to-coast and it is so cozy. I love the oversized look of it and it's a great travel jacket because it doubles as a nice blanket, and the denim isn't too heavy either. It's just a nice jacket. I can't wait to wear it more once the temperature drops.