Seven Things on a Sunday

How was your Thanksgiving? We spent it in Hilton Head, S.C., with my extended family. My aunt and uncle own a vacation rental home there that we have been fortunate to use for the holiday each year. It's always nice to spend time with them... and just as nice to get home and usher in the winter holiday season.

This post is a riff on "Three Things Thursday," a series that Stephany does sometimes, where she picks 10 categories and shares three things that fit into each of them for her right now. It's a fun way to share recommendations, random thoughts, and some life tidbits, though I've instead chosen seven categories because, well, I like alliteration. 

Here goes.

Three podcasts I'm listening to 

1. For Heaven's Sake: Israel at War is a podcast from the Shalom Hartman Institute, hosted by its president, Rabbi Donniel Hartman, with Yossi Klein HaLevi, author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor. In this difficult, emotional, traumatic time, this podcast is one of the things that's keeping me grounded and helping me figure out my feelings. 
2. Who? Weekly is a long-beloved celebrity gossip podcast that I somehow didn't start listening to until recently. Wanting to do things right, I started from the very first episode... in 2016. That means I'm still working my way through years-old D-list celebrity gossip; I just hit 2020. 
3. The Unsub Is a White Man is an episode-by-episode recap of the TV show Criminal Minds, hosted by two friends and coworkers who just... you know, recap the show. And make fun of it. And try to decide whether it was ever really any good. 

Three things I’m looking forward to 

1. I've got a few holiday parties to go to this year, all in a row, including my work gathering, Mike's work dinner, and one for alumni of the Rekindle Black/Jewish Fellowship here in Cleveland. I'm also going to go to the Hanukkah menorah lighting on the West Side. 
2. We're headed to Pittsburgh for a weekend, sort of a belated anniversary gift to ourselves and to visit our friends Nick and Susan, who I haven't since since before the pandemic. And we're going to a Home Alone-themed pop-up bar!
3. Mike's family is going to Nashville for Christmas, and though he and I aren't staying for the holiday itself, we decided to go for a few days beforehand. His sister has lived there since 2019, and I've never been to visit, so I'm really looking forward to it. 

Three apps I'm using a lot

1. I've been using Fetch for a few months now to rake in rewards by uploading receipts. You get actual gift cards in return. (Use code 4E9W73 to join and get 500 points free.) 
2. I use the NYT Games app every day to play Wordle, then Connections, then Spelling Bee; every once in a while, I'll go in and play weeks' worth of Crosswords, too. 
3. I still don't feel like Threads has replaced Twitter in any satisfying or lasting way, but I'm also accepting that Twitter is dead. So I guess Threads is helping numb the pain? 

Three books I'm reading 

1. The Night In Question by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson is the second in a short series of YA mysteries about two unlikely friends who team up to get to the bottom of their classmates' mysterious deaths.
2. How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion by David McRaney is one of the most interesting books I've ever read. It's not an exaggeration to say that it's changing my life. 
3. Radically Content: Being Satisfied in an Endlessly Dissatisfied World by Jamie Varon is half memoir and half self-help book, not the type I would typically read. But I used to know(ish) the author, whose book is being made into a Netflix series, so I wanted to check show some love. 

Three recent purchases 

1. Nike Air Force 1 Wilds were my big Black Friday gift to myself, even though there was no coupon for them. I did get 12% back from using Rakuten to purchase them! 
2. I've been wanting to try faux leather pants, so I grabbed the PU Leather Wideband Waist Leggings from Bloomchic for just $23. I'm always surprised by the quality of their clothes. 
3. Have you ever heard of a Rocketbook? I like taking notes by hand but of course never want to translate them into tye afterward, so I bought myself one of these reusable notebooks, which does it for me.

Three items on my to-do list

1. The trees in our yard are finally almost bare, but I need to rake the flowerbeds before it snows... which is supposed to happen tomorrow night! Woof, home ownership. 
2. I've been cleaning up and trying to get rid of things (a neverending task), and I've got three bags of stuff ready and waiting to be taken to Savers. The sooner I can get rid of it, the better.
3. I  rearranged my office and moved the daybed that had been in here. We're going to move the Peloton in here to make way for a crib in the future nursery and inspire me to start riding again.

Three things I'm proud of

1. Before the holiday, Mike finished the last of our adoption agency applications (for now, anyway), which means we're officially in the thick of the waiting process and hopefully better positioned to become parents soon. 
2. Last week, I was named to the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, which is effectively the board of the organization where I used to work. I'm so honored and can't wait to dive into the work. 
3. I've been doing a lot of freelance writing lately, and I can't wait to see some of my bylines in print! I have three stories in the January issue of Cleveland Magazine, an upcoming piece for Oberlin College and two upcoming food stories for TheInfatuation.com. 

What have you been up to lately? Got any good podcasts to recommend? Or brag on something cool you've done as of late? I wanna hear it!