Weekend Dispatch

Happy Tuesday! I hope you enjoyed a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving and you are easing back into your regular routine. I love Thanksgiving and am always sad to see the weekend end. It's always such an easy and refreshing weekend spent with family and friends. But now it's back to biz as usual. It's a busy time of the year for bloggers who, generally, are overwhelmed with putting together gift guides this time of year. But I am managing to squeeze in plenty of "me" time to help me take a step back from all my work obligations that come this time of year.

Here are some recommendations for your week and what I'll be up to as well:

On Monday's episode of "The Daily" podcast, the topic was on-demand delivery and how accustomed we have become to getting deliveries within days and sometimes even hours if you live in large metropolitan area. The focus was on the warehouse employees who are responsible for order fulfillment and meeting the often high demand of orders, especially during the holiday season. I have to say, this was an enlightening listen albeit a disturbing one. To learn about the grueling work conditions, long hours, and overall dissatisfaction of the employees was a realm I had never considered before. This holiday season when I order online, I'll definitely keep this podcast episode in mind. Listen to it here.

While we were in Captiva earlier this month, I read The Girls by Emma Cline. It was a fascinating read about a teenage girl who gets pulled into a cult in northern California in the late 1960s. Lonely and vulnerable Evie is mesmerized by a girl, Suzanne, she sees at a park and later meets. Suzanne is a few years older, more worldly, and beautiful. Evie wants to be Suzanne, be just like Suzanne. I still can't stop thinking about this book and how, although this story isn't true, these types of cults existed in the '60s and '70s, and the actions that occur in the book were completely commonplace for these types of groups.

In a previous Weekend Dispatch, I had mentioned that I was on a quest to watch as many award-winning or nominated films as I could. This past weekend, Harper and I decided to watch The Greatest Showman on Netflix. Did I like it? Well, I've watched it 6 times in total since Saturday night. So what does that tell you? I haven't stopped listening to the soundtrack on Spotify either. It was so good. The singing, dancing, and acting were top-notch, and I loved the chemistry between Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron.

Every holiday season as I prepare my gift guides for the blog, I research all sorts of sites and products that I think you might like. Some of the products I feature are ones I love and use daily. Others are items I've been gifted by brands, and others are items I think you'd love to give or get. I came across GlobeIn over the weekend and thought it was such a wonderful subscription box concept. GlobeIn offers subscription boxes that are filled with handmade goods produced by artisans from all over the world. GlobeIn searches the world for exceptional craftwork created by artists in small collectives where their techniques are rapidly vanishing and delivers them to consumers all over the world. If you're not interested in a subscription box, you can also order individual items from the online shop.

'Tis the season for sweet treats. But move over cookies because there's a new Christmas sweet treat in town, Christmas s'mores! I featured these on the blog a few years ago, and they are still a family favorite. They are an easy (and fun!) dessert to serve at a party (if you have a gas stove, you can use it to roast the marshmallows or an open fire in the fireplace).

So, tell me. What do you have planned this weekend?