tuesday things I howsweeteats.com

1. We went to a Polar Express party this past weekend and it was SO much fun. I want to make it a tradition of having one every year. I also want to take the kids on a Polar Express train, but we don’t have one super close to us.

2. While I’m obsessed with the New Year and setting goals and all that jazz, I don’t want to be planning on January 1st or 2nd (because, hello, it’s now the new year!) and I also don’t want to spend the last two weeks of the year doing it. So I always keep a running list of goals and ideas in my phone and earlier this month I opened a google doc and just did a huuuuge brain dump. I loosely organized the goals and just made bullet points of random thoughts under each, some with approximate dates and others with notes of what has to be done to start the idea. As unorganized as the google doc was, I opened it twice more and went over my ideas. Basically editing my goal list to what I want to do and what is manageable. This has been the most effective thing I’ve done in… probably four years! It allows me to fully enjoy the rest of the year then come on strong the first week of January.

3. I’m dying over Adrianna’s cozy gingerbread house! How freaking cute is that?

4. OMG, I was flipping out over a Million Little Things. It was so good. I can’t get over how much I love this show. It’s kind of like what I wish This Is Us was? It makes This Is Us seem even more depressed and mopey and sad. I am also super freaked out watching Dirty John. I thought this week’s episode was boring and kind of a filler episode, but it never fails that I always feel uneasy after watching it on Sunday night. Maybe it’s because I already have the Sunday blues?! And I watched Escape from Dannemora

5. I’m still knee deep in Christmas movies on Netflix and Hallmark. I am such a cliche.

6. Love this! Secrets of people who don’t feel stressed during the holidays. So good.

7. This year I approached the holiday season with a few recipes made ahead of time so we aren’t eating out constantly/eating only cookies next week. I froze a batch of make-ahead freezer turkey meatballs (the recipe is in Seriously Delish!), some chicken chili and have everything on hand to throw together this spicy sausage, kale and whole wheat pasta soup.

8. This made me laugh so hard. Probably because I’ve been guilty of it. Here’s what you do with those stupid whiskey stones