Connecting the Dots: January

7 books, 3 cozy luxuries, and 1 before and after bedroom refresh

Jan 31, 2025

While you might expect me to drone on about the unending nature of January here, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. In addition to events dominating the news cycle, personally, January has included:

Luke starting a job with a new company and working from home. Don’t worry, I’m sure there will be a full essay to come breaking down this transition.
The winter break that never ended due to false starts.
A terrible, no good, very bad toothache that lasted nearly two weeks before ending in a root canal.1
All of these factors converging and resulting in a constantly messy home.

But it’s been filled with lots of joy, too.

My first Mahjong win
Oyster and martini dates
Hot chocolate
Open gyms
Fun writing momentum
Class parties
Time spent with cousins as adults
Sharing my love of bookstores with my daughter
Celebrating my mom’s birthday at the rodeo

January has contained multitudes and there’s so much goodness I want to share, so let’s hop to it. Due to my December round up post going out early, January having 5 Fridays instead of 4, and recently receiving Christmas gifts I want to talk about, this post is JAM PACKED, so sneak away to a quiet corner and settle in for a long winter’s scroll.

Reading Roundup

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Format: half physical copy/half audiobook
At 400 pages and due to its dense nature, it took me quite awhile to get through TAG.2 While I appreciated the sentiment and agreed with many of Haidt’s points, I found some of them a little too aspirational/unrealistic. It did, however, strengthen my resolve to give my daughter a more play based childhood. It also gave me more understanding into gen z.

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Format: physical copy
I love The Thursday Murder Club series, especially in the winter. They are the epitome of cozy mysteries to me and I highly recommend reading while curled up next to a fire. Or in bed with a light mask. (That will make sense as you read on.)

Every Home a Foundation by Phylicia Masonheimer ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Format: physical copy
I’m a big fan of Phylicia on Instagram and her mission of equipping Christian women to know what they believe and communicate it graciously. When my friend Kelsey told me this book was coming out, I added it to my Christmas list and was excited to make it my first book of 2025. If I had read this earlier in my life, I think I would have liked it more because I probably would have found the concepts she covers more revolutionary. However, having read many books about home culture, this wasn’t my favorite. I think it would make a great gift to a recent college graduate or newlywed, though.

The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

Format: Audiobook
I loved Davis’ The Magnolia Palace, so I was excited to read The Masterpiece because Davis follows the same formula for all of her books: she bases the setting and plot on real life historical places/events and masterfully weaves a “modern day” female protagonist’s story into one from the past until their stories converge. While I appreciated and liked this story, TMP ranks higher for me, but maybe it’s because I read it first and knew what to expect this time around.

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

Format: Audiobook
I was DELIGHTED to find this available with no wait on Libby after hearing nothing but rave reviews for this book the past couple of years. Those reviews were warranted because Maggie Smith somehow did make a divorce memoir beautiful. The only reason I didn’t give this 5 stars is I felt it was a tad too long at the end. I may have felt differently if I was reading a physical copy rather than listening, though. But I actually loved listening to this because Smith narrates and you can experience the way she meant the words to be read.

Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Format: Physical copy
Okay, I feel like I’m in the minority here because everyone RAVES about this book, but I only felt okay about it. Maybe it’s because I’ve never read the original Emma and therefore didn’t appreciate the retelling as much, but I didn’t super connect with any of the characters, found the use of last names clunky3, and mainly just wanted to go watch Clueless the whole time I was reading.4 For romcom die hards with a soft spot for a friends to lovers story, though, this book will probably be right up your alley.

Everybody Always by Bob Goff ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Format: Audiobook
As part of the challenge to read 10 books I already own, I started by picking up Everybody Always. Although I have a physical copy, I found this available on Libby and I’m in a good rhythm of listening to nonfiction audiobooks while reading physical books, so I gave this a listen. Goff narrates and his actual voice accentuates his good humored, laid back style while still driving home Biblical truths. I can’t think of a more needed time for people to absorb this message—to love the difficult people in our lives with abandon. So often, we over complicate love, but this book reminded me how simple it really is.

Entertainment Honorable Mentions

After our oyster and martini date, with overnight childcare secured, Luke and I came home and had a movie marathon with The Fall Guy and Fly Me To The Moon. We’re not huge movie people, so this was very uncharacteristic of us, but these movies had been on our radar for some time.

While very different from each other, they both had the same formula of actors/actresses I know and love with plots I did not expect after having watched the trailer. They were both good, but neither was what I thought it would be. They made for fine at home date night entertainment, but be forewarned—you will spend the entirety of Fly Me To The Moon distracted by the chaos that is Scarlett Johansson’s wig choice.5

In contrast to the movies above, Shrinking Season 2 is chef’s kiss, five stars, no notes. The first season was good, but now that we’ve spent time with the characters and know the story arc, this season was even better. Every episode made me laugh and cry in equal measure, which is really the sweet spot of entertainment.

Due to my aforementioned tooth saga, I found myself desperate for a distraction from the pain. I remembered seeing this documentary advertised and pressed play immediately. This was such a fun behind the scenes peek at various aspects of SNL ranging from auditions, to how the show is produced each week from the writer’s perspective, the infamous Cowbell sketch, and the “weird season”. My only complaint is how this is only 4 episodes—it feels like there are so many more stories left to tell.

I’m going to lump all of my Bravo/Peacock thoughts into one section in order to keep some semblance of control around here.

Traitors: Dylan Efron is a national treasure. This group of traitors is painful to watch since none of them can work together. Justice for the women on the cast. They really should rename the show Housewife Hunters and I think it’s because they feel threatened one made it so far last season. Tom Sandoval is weirdly the comic relief we need re: his intense facial expressions and pit stained shirts.
RHOSLC: These women continue to deliver masterful television season after season. Mary and Robert Jr.’s storyline is incredibly moving. Mary and Angie’s friendship seems so sweet and sincere. Bronwyn is an incredible addition to the cast. If Britani ever leaves my screen, I will riot. I love Lisa Barlow, but this mess with Bronwyn is not a good look for her. This may be controversial, but I think Heather tries too hard to play producer and I don’t love it. I could go on, and I do on Marco Polo with my friends, but I’ll leave my thoughts at this.
RHOP: Mia’s mess has gone too far and I feel gross witnessing her put it all on tv. The footage from the night of Karen’s arrest is yiiikkkeesss and I’ll honestly be shocked if she doesn’t receive jail time, mostly to make an example out of her. I have not missed Robyn or Nneka for a single second, but would have loved to have followed Candiace’s pregnancy. I have enjoyed this lighter side of Giselle but she’s still as messy as ever re: the dog charity.
RHOBH: Team Dorit. All the way. That’s all that needs to be said. I’m also going to show my hair dresser pictures of her hair this season because it’s my dream color.

Come On In

Normally this is where I would share what I’ve been cooking, but there are only so many words to describe which cookbooks I’m loving and to be honest, cooking isn’t my favorite. It’s a means to an end and a practice I wish looked differently, but in this season of my life, it’s simply a task I get through.

In terms of domestic life, where my passion truly lies is in decorating and hosting. I constantly have a home project going (IRL or in my head) and on average, I host something at least once a month. I’m a firm believer in making our spaces beautiful no matter the constraints and some of my deepest passions are in entertaining and hospitality.6 So I’m reimagining this section to share snippets of these passions of mine.

To kick off the year, we embarked on quite a few home projects this month.As projects are wont to do, they all turned into a bit of “if you give a mouse a cookie” situation.

For starters, there is a wall in our living room for which I have yet to find the perfect piece. I had these boot prints hanging there for awhile but after taking them down in order to move our credenza to make room for the Christmas tree, I realized I liked them much better in this little spot outside the playroom.

This then brought me back to square one with the big blank wall. I shuffled through various options in my mind before landing on the idea of trying six blue frames containing black and white family photos. I found some frames at Home Goods for $13 and brought them home to try. Unfortunately, I didn’t love the way they looked on the wall. I really loved the frames themselves, but the group of six wasn’t working for me, so I tried alternate configurations in smaller groupings throughout the room. I landed on hanging them next to the credenza (back in its rightful spot) and the placement felt just right. (Does this mean I still have a giant blank wall mocking me every day? Yes it does.)

Add in a framed Valentine’s puzzle and I’m in love.

Well, almost.

What you can’t see in this picture are the light switches just to the right of the picture frames. These light switches are inexplicably black while the face plate is beige. Nowhere else in our house are the switches like this, only in the living room. Everywhere else boasts the outdated beige outlet covers and face plates, which I also don’t love, but these stick out like a sore thumb. Couple this with the fact that the outlet near Luke’s nightstand in our bedroom would barely keep his cords plugged in and our hunch that our bed would look better against the windows, and you have projects three and four of the month.

Last weekend Luke swapped out every outlet cover and light switch, hung curtains, hung our tv, and rearranged our bedroom.7 In the words of my three year old, I “supervised.” While we still have some dry wall to patch from where our tv used to hang and need to add decorations back to the walls, I’m SO pleased with how everything turned out.

Whereas before we had an awkward amount of room surrounding our bed, we now have consolidated space at the foot of our bed which is much more aesthetically pleasing and functional. And where we once had beige/black light switches, we now have bright white ones that bring us into the 21st century. We also scored a new full length mirror in order to ditch the one I’ve had since college. Praise be!

The next order of business is swapping our sides of the bathroom because my side of the bed is now directly next to his side of the bathroom, but that sounds like a February project. Stay tuned.

Gadgets and Gizmos Aplenty

This picture pretty much sums up how I’ve spent every night since Christmas. This red light mask and this robe were some of the best Christmas presents I received. I’ve wanted a light for awhile but couldn’t justify their steep price tag, but I found one on Amazon that was reasonably priced and I truly can tell it’s making a difference in my skin. My only complaint is how tight the eye area was, but I added rubber bands to the face straps for some extra wiggle room, and now it fits like a charm.

As for the robe, I’m a robe enthusiast. Every morning before I get dressed and every night after taking a shower, you will find me wearing one. So when my previous robe started falling apart, I knew I immediately needed a new one. I asked for this Barefoot Dreams robe as a Christmas gift and I’m here to say, it lives up to the hype. Paired with my Barefoot Dreams socks and blanket, I legitimately started sweating the night we lost power due to the snow. If that isn’t a glowing review, I don’t know what is.

To round out my comfy trifecta, I’ve also been using this Hummingbird Farms lavender lotion on my hands. I’ve heard The Big Boo Cast talk about this lotion for years, so when my mother-in-law gifted me some, I was excited to try it out. The scent contains just the right amount of lavender to not be overpowering and the lotion strikes the perfect balance between hydrating but not too heavy. It’s been a luxurious winter addition to my nightstand.

Snow day fun, NYE party, an impressively clear picture taken by my daughter at the rodeo

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about my Camp Snap Camera. I don’t know if anyone else has been spammed with these ads on their Instagram feed8, but I definitely was after searching for a toddler friendly camera. In my quest, all the cameras I found were loaded with games and extra features I didn’t want, but the Camp Snap was simply a camera with no extra features. I asked my husband for one as a joint Christmas gift for me and my daughter and we have had the best time using it! While it looks like an old fashioned disposable camera, and photographs like one too, it’s actually a digital camera you plug into your computer to retrieve photos from and is rechargeable.

In my never ending attempt to control my own screen time, reaching for this camera over my phone has been a helpful tool. It’s also fun to plug it in and remember all the pictures I forgot I took. And bonus, it’s easy enough for my daughter to use and unlike a Polaroid, I don’t sweat it if she takes a million pictures of my arm or the floor. Having this has been so fun for parties, around the house, out on walks, and I’m sure I’ll love it for upcoming travel. In this instance, the Instagram ads worked!

I normally end these posts with life giving practices I’ve implemented throughout the month, but at nearly 3,000 words, I think I’ve said enough for this week. Plus, I’m saving them for a fun post next week. If you could use some ideas for ways to brighten up the winter doldrums, make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss that post next Friday! Until then, I hope you survive, dare I say thrive, these last few hours before January blessedly ends and February offers us new hope.