Currently Obsessed With is a once-a-month feature (sometimes more) where I talk about my favorite things and what’s been going on the last month.

I can’t believe November is over already!  It was definitely eventful, with both NaNoWriMo going on, and with a sprained ankle that happened early in November.  Seriously, I fell down and hurt myself, but it’s a lot better.  I’m finally walking without an ankle brace (well, mostly) and I wrote 50,000 words this month.

Nails/Beauty:

I decided to skip the November Maven box.  I wasn’t super into the colors, and the ones I was kind of interested in were way too similar to other colors I already have.  I did get a glitter-y top coat from Sephora, which I did over black.  It has this really cool paint-splattered effect, and it looked really pretty on top of the black, but it was super-hard to remove.  Glitter polish always is, but this is seriously the hardest removal ever. It took me a good hour of soaking my nails in nail polish remover for it to even sort of start coming off, so if I wear it again, I’ll probably do it as an accent nail.

I also got another Urban Decay eye shadow, this time in Bordello.  I like that with Urban Decay, you can create your own eye shadow palattes and switch out the colors.  I have no idea if you can do this with other brands, but it’s nice to be able to create your own, with colors I know I’ll wear, instead of one where I use 1 or 2 and ignore the other ones.

Crochet:

I’ve been working on a couple of scarves for Christmas presents- one for a Secret Santa, and the other is from someone at work who wanted a scarf for his wife for a Christmas present.  I found this awesome chevron scarf pattern that I really like, and I totally want to make another one already.  And I’m also using this super-simple infinity scarf pattern.  I’m also working on a super-secret Christmas present that I’ll share next month.  Oh, I’m also crocheting a Viking helmet that is currently on hold, because of the other stuff I’m crocheting. It’ll be awesome, because 1, it’s a Viking helmet, and 2- it’s bright green.  You can’t go wrong with that combination!

I also got a huge bag full of yarn!  Someone at work found some yarn that belonged to her grandma, and she was nice enough to give it to me.  I think I might have a project or two in mind…it’s time to pick up amigurumi!

Books:

I only got School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins.  It’s a Hex Hall spin-off that I’ve been wanting to read for a while. Although…it’s been a while since I’ve listened to an audio book, so it may be time to start getting back into them.

TV:

I’ve finished season 4 of Blue Bloods, but I am also too lazy to hunt down season 5.  I also started watching The 100 (finally!) and I really like it.  I’ve also been watching Pretty Little Liars, which I actually like a lot better than the books (at least, the first 10, because I really didn’t care after the 10th one to keep going).  It’s so addictive, and I wish the books had that quality- if only the books didn’t feel so repetitive.

Around The Internet:

So many things!

• Like this Ode to Harry Potter.  Story of my life.
• These food and life hacks are absolutely hysterical.
• As much as I love books and reading, old book smell doesn’t do it for me.
• The Atlantic has an article about why you should finish books.  I can’t sum up my feelings in a sentence or two about not finishing books.  Also, this post on finishing books and this one on not finishing books.  Just rock whatever works for you.
• Something about this article this post over at the New York Times doesn’t sit right with me.  I mean, I get where she’s coming from, but the library is awesome because there are so many different resources there.
• This post about writing in books is interesting.  I only do it with non-fiction, because I feel like I learn more and more sticks with me when I do.  I especially like writing in cookbooks and crochet books.
• Yes to #4, 31, 32, 33 and a MAJOR yes to #21.  This list of 33 thoughts on reading is a big win.
• I want to make this cranberry cider punch.
• Dear Author is pretty awesome.  I love this post about gauging other romance readers, this post about an afternoon at Harlequin was super-interesting, and this post about “safe” books was also really interesting.
• Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is also awesome, and this review of The Billionaire Dinosaur Forced Me Gay was really amusing. I am so not a fan of the title, and this doesn’t seem like my kind of book…and yet there is a part of me that really wants to read it, for some bizarre reason.
• One woman set up a living room in a library to write her NaNo novel.  It’s cool she did this, but I disagree that there’s something wring with writing alone.  I love write-ins and bouncing ideas off of other people, but if there are people who want to write alone, that’s cool.  So is writing publicly like she is.

Music:

I am sharing the playlist I created for NaNo this year!  Except for Blank Space by Taylor Swift, because her music is no longer on Spotify.  And a few other songs I couldn’t find on Spotify.  Enjoy!