Notes from November

Over the past few weeks I've seen some great movies and shows, read some wonderful books and did all the autumn things.

Watching: Wicker

Based on a short story by Ursula Wills, Wicker was a surprising delight of a film. Funny, sweet and, yes, sexy.

I enjoyed going down a behind-the-scenes trivia rabbit hole afterwards, which included this fun feature on Allure on the craftsmanship behind Skarsgard's incredible prosthetics.

Plus: Also devoured The Diplomat and arrived very late to the Past Lives party.

Reading: American Hagwon

Min Jin Lee's beautiful family saga is the third instalment of a four-part series on the Korean diaspora. I adored Pachinko (recently named one of the New York Times’s top 100 books of the 21st century) so gobbled this up. In awe of her ability to create these gorgeously immersive and intimate worlds and to keep you hooked over its chunky 600+ pages.

A few more page-turners: I loved The Things We Never Say by the ever-brilliant Elizabeth Strout and We Chase Shadows – another fun, funny hit from Richard Osman. Also dipping in and out of Eoin Warner's beautifully rich and vivid Through the Long Grass and working my way through Robert Harris' Dictator before diving into his latest, Agrippa which is top of my TBR right now. Can you tell I'm reading to (try to) avoid doom-scrolling?

Drinking: Spiced cacao

Can't recommend this enough, it's my new favourite thing to drink. Team delicious Nibbed cacao with some sweetness and spice – full 'recipe' here.

Playing: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

I never played the original iconic 1994 Nintendo 64 game that this remake is based on, but I've been loving the reboot all the same. Beautiful graphics, a gorgeous score, fun puzzles – what's not to love?

(Plus, LOL at this viral Zelda's Link and Grand Theft Auto's Jason SNL sketch.)

Wearing: New-to-me Angulus Boots

A truly delightful Vinted score, I've been wearing these boots non-stop.

Working on: The winter edition of Galway Now

We're deep in production with the winter issue of the mag, so the red pen is close to hand. Excited to share who our sparkling cover star is!

Also: thrilled to have been shortlisted for Food Photography award at the Irish Food Writing Awards, enjoyed contributing to Weir & Sons gorgeous autumn/winter edition and recently shot the sweetest couple's hand-fasting (in process coming across beautiful Irish biz Anam Cara Cords).

I'm also trying as much as possible to let November be November, and enjoy the season for what it is.