I already published one recap last week, but it can’t replace this post because it’s my 24th monthly recap without skipping one and I need to keep it up or else you’d forever be wondering what I did this month, right?

Posts on 10 Miles Behind Me in December:

• NJ | Grounds for Grounds for Sculpture

What Else I Wrote This Month:

• Ambiente Apartments – The Perfect Combination of a Hotel & an Apartment
• The Essential Guide to Whiteface Mountain Ski Resort
• The Essential Guide to Hunter Mountain Ski Resort
• The Essential Guide to Okemo Mountain Ski Resort
• The Essential Guide to Bretton Woods Ski Resort

Traveling

Per usual, I made a few trips from AC to NYC in December, which is definitely the worst time of year to do so between the holiday crowds and the weather, but I can’t complain too much. The bus trip gets easier every time, especially thanks to being able to download Netflix shows (Crazy Ex-GF and Fuller House, season 3, this month) and thanks to my ability to nap.

I attended a holiday Travel Massive in mid-December, which was one of the things I was worried about missing out on when I left the city, but I think I’ve made it to all but two events in the last year and a half. My travel friends are my people and it’s so fun to see them all in one place every month or so. I also had the opportunity to spend time with some college friends and their pupster.

I had one of the most amazing meals I’ve had this year at Divya’s Kitchen on 1st and 1st in the city. If I’ve seen you in person since eating there, I’ve definitely already told you all about it, but for those I haven’t seen, I’ll be publishing a post about it later this week. It’s totally weird to admit, but the food almost brought me to tears because it reminded me so much of my time in India, but also because it was exactly what my body needed. As in, the chef took my pulse and recommended what to order based on my digestion type, which influences everything else about your body. In India, I learned the basics of Ayurveda and treatments, but I learned so much from Divya about how I should be eating and have already made some changes.

For my final trip of the year, Brianne and I visited two places on the Jersey Shore I had never been to, Asbury Park and Red Bank. I’ll be publishing a post about that weekend this month, but for now, know that it was super fun, despite the snow on the boardwalk. I was happy to explore more of the shore, since I’m so connected to my own beach at home.

“The Holidays”

For the second year in a row, I attended a friend’s family’s holiday sing-a-long where 25 Christmas carols are sung by a huge bonfire (with my dad for some reason soloing on the German version of “Oh, Christmas Tree”) and then approximately 9,000 cookies are immediately consumed.

I went to another holiday party at the home of our former neighbors with some of our current neighbors and my family. I know how lucky I was to have grown up where I did in our double cul-de-sac. Here, my dad learned how to play flip cup (are you sensing a pattern where he embarrasses me everywhere?).

Of course for Christmas, my family of four celebrated at our home Christmas Eve, exchanging gifts and watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” for the upteenth time. We traveled up to the Trenton area on Christmas Day, first meeting up with my mom’s side of the family and then with my dad’s side of the family.

I made one final trip up to the city to spend New Year’s Eve with some of my favorite travel blogging friends and some of my closest friends from college. I rang in the new year with the Spice Girls music channel, British treats like sausage rolls and sausages wrapped in bacon, an hour-long conversation about the best pizza in the tri-state area, a game of Jenga which I did not lose, and lots of laughter.

Additional Celebrations

My neighborhood family and I celebrated two exciting things this month, the first, a new baby coming oh so soon, with an evening co-ed baby shower with tons of food and wine (which is how all baby showers in my mind should be), from which I took a few days to recover even with the help of a McDonald’s fountain Dr. Pepper, which typically does the trick. The second, a wedding of one of my oldest and dearest friends (who I really consider a sister) at the Southern Mansion in Cape May where we danced the night away (including my dad with a tie tied around his head during Shout – yup).

Reads

In December, I joined Book of the Month Club which I’m only bringing up because it gives me the chance to mention my favorite books I read in 2017, just like Katie did in her recap. In no order, my top 5 this year are:

• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (each chapter following the next generation of one of two sisters, beginning in Ghana during the slave trade and ending in modern day)
• Swing Time by Zadie Smith (a story of a friendship of two young dancers that naturally diverges during adulthood)
• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (a WWII in France story following two sisters who help in their own ways that will make you weep like a baby)
• Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward (a beautifully written and “haunting” account of a road trip to pick up a dad after his prison sentence – which also won the National Book Award for 2017)
• Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck (the author’s memoir of his trip around the country in the ’60s with his poodle)

I’m already starting the year off strong with one book down for 2018, but please give me any and all of your suggestions!

xx