GReads! Interrupted: A Holiday Edition

Sometimes I want to share things with my followers that aren't necessarily a book review, so I thought I'd create a sporadic feature on my blog to do just that.  GReads! Interrupted. is a personal reflection of me -- music I'm listening to, something I recently purchased & want to show off, or even just a random thought that I feel is worthy of sharing.  This is meant to be a fun break from the usual reviews + a chance for my followers to get to know me a bit more.  Hope you enjoy!

Before you peruse the rest of this post, why don't you hit play just below and listen to my Holiday Mix I created on spotify.  I like listening to some Christmas music.  It's great background music to have on while you're decorating the tree, or baking cookies.  But other Christmas music is a little too traditional for me.  Below are a few faves I've recently discovered that aren't your typical tunes you hear playing in the mall while you Christmas shop.  Have a listen & if you like, support the artist by purchasing their music.

 
As I mentioned in this post here, I like to decorate this time of year.  Thanks to my crafty sister, she showed me how to make a Holiday wreath for my front door.  It was super easy & fun to make!  This style of wreath is very popular right now, so if you're wanting to make something similar just look up "deco mesh wreaths" and I'm sure you'll find endless tutorials.

Thanks to Jess, from Gone with the Words, I won this fabulous Holiday book giveaway from Harlequin!  When the package arrived it felt like Christmas came early!!  I've really gotten into reading holiday romances this season (a few I'll be reviewing here on the blog), so this was a great addition to that new little love of mine.

I participated in The Broke and the Bookish's Secret Santa gift exchange again this year.  I always enjoy this event because it's so much fun to receive your person & then go shopping for them.  This year my person is someone I didn't know, so it was nice "meeting" a new face in the book blogging community.

And then I received this lovely package from MY Secret Santa, Jessica at Peace Love Books. For someone who is just a follower of my blog, I felt like she got this present PERFECT!  From the adult contemporary novels, to the cookie cutters, and those adorable sticky note pads -- LOVE!  Oh and that chocolate you see in the pic?  It may already be gone, hehe.  Thank you Jessica!

I reached out to folks on twitter, asking for some cider recommendations.  Found this one in my local grocery store & decided to give it a try. LOVE. It's so delicious!  I'm still a bit new to cider, but so far it's refreshing to my taste buds.  And don't mind the adorable photo bomber, Daisy, hehe.

I have been envious of my friends up north, experiencing a true Fall with all its beautiful foliage.  Then finally, here in Texas, the leaves decided to change and fall to the ground.  I captured this shot in my dad's backyard.  Better late than never, right?

And with those leaves changing & falling has come cold weather!  Give me three straight months of 100+ degrees and I can handle it.  But send 30 degree temps and I don't know how to survive! OK, so maybe I'm exaggerating a bit.. but these near freezing temps are bitingly cold!  I'm not sure how my friends up north handle these conditions for months on end.

Grabbing my current read, snuggling up on the couch with a blanket and a hot cup of cocoa, by the light of the Christmas tree has become a favorite thing to do right now.  There's just something so soothing and magical about it.  It's definitely my happy place at the moment.