The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist – Page 38 – The optimistic musings of a pessimist.

This Weary Heart Is Still Rejoicing

I grew up in a home surrounded by music; over the holidays, records, cassette tapes, and festive CDs were constantly being played – if Mom wasn’t sitting at the piano making her own music….

Happy Things Friday: The Friday Before Christmas 2023

It’s almost Christmas. I feel like I’ve been blogging about festive things for months now, but also can’t believe the final stretch of the holiday season is officially upon us. I’m happy and sad…

Christmas, Happy Things Friday, Holidays
Dec, 22, 2023
32 Comments

Would You Rather: The Christmas Edition (Part 2)

As promised, I’m back with a second round of Would You Rather (the Christmas Edition). Is this Festive Central or what?

While I love a range of food at Christmas, if I was forced…

A Festive Brain Dump + My “Christmas Spreadsheet”

I could separate these thoughts into a few different Christmas posts but, instead, I’m going to throw them out there in one chaotic, festive mess and let the wrapping paper words settle where they…

Christmas, Minimalism, Organization, Thrifting
Dec, 20, 2023
30 Comments

Top Five/Bottom Five: Christmas Food Edition

If you thought music and movies tested our friendship, let’s see how we fare after today’s version of the Top Five/Bottom Five game. I’ll warn you, there is a lot of sugar – which…

Christmas, Food, Holidays, Top Five/Bottom Five
Dec, 19, 2023
25 Comments

The One Where I Don’t Post On Monday (And Then Post On Monday)

Last week kicked my butt. Mostly in a good way – you know when you finish an epic workout and you’re proud of what you accomplished? But, also, you feel like you’ve been hit…

Books + Quotes (December 2023)

I am so “behind” on posting about the books I have been reading! So here is a big book/quote dump from the last month or so of my reading life. I’ve been coming to…