You know what’s a week from today? Thanksgiving. It’s so early this year I feel like it’s kind of sneaking up on us but still, it’s next week and there’s no changing it. I love the holidays and I feel like Thanksgiving is truly the kick off to a truly special time – a season of gatherings with family and friends, coworkers and community leaders, fellow travelers on our path through life. And guess what? Those gatherings require conversations and right now I feel like there can be a lot of . . . incivility . . . when it comes to making conversation. So, today, I’m here to suggest some tips to get you to be a truly great conversationalist.

1. Ask interesting questions. Sure, the standard might be to ask about work but not everyone works. Instead how about asking about something other than work. Try, “what have you been doing lately that’s making you happy” or “what are you most excited about right now” to get the ball rolling. These are open ended questions and should be a great way to break the ice if you’re standing around awkwardly trying to make small talk.
2. Listen more than you talk. This is a hard one for a lot of people but if you really want to engage with someone and get to know them you need to have them do the talking. Follow up questions (how did that make you feel?) are important but so is body language and other non-verbal clues like looking a person in the eye when they are talking and leaning in to the conversation. As my grandfather used to say, you have two ears and one mouth for a reason . . . try to listen twice as much as you talk.
3. Avoid uncomfortable topics. These days I completely avoid politics. For one, I don’t know if someone will agree with me and if they don’t I’m likely to be upset and judge-y. For another, even when someone agrees with me, politics are so upsetting to me right now that I don’t even enjoy those conversations! Other topics to avoid? Religion, medical conditions, and socioeconomic status. This doesn’t mean you have to have banal conversation, though. Try talking about a really great book you’ve read or movie you’ve seen. Compliment someone on their outfit. Ask about what kind of music they like. Be interested in them and you will in turn be interesting.

So those are my main tips. I’d also suggest don’t brag, don’t gossip and don’t get defensive. When all else fails talk about my favorite topic: food!

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I’ve written before about my love for the Instant Pot. It’s just a really fabulous tool and I still use it at least two or three times a week – and I’ve had it now for almost 3 years. I’ve made a couple of really good things with it yesterday and I’m going to share links to those recipes today.

1. Chicken Piccata. I mostly followed this recipe but I used flour (even though she says not to) and I used onions (because I don’t generally have shallots hanging around.) I cooked some penne on the stove and tossed it with a bit of garlic and then poured the sauce and chicken over the whole thing. Delicious and easy and really really flavorful.
2. Spaghetti. This was terrific and so fast and easy. Brown the meat (I used venison), layer the uncooked spaghetti over the top, pour over some tomatoes and a jar of Ragu and wait. I do want to say, and this seems like a good time to say it, that while this is set to cook for 8 minutes, it actually takes longer than that because the 8 minute count down doesn’t start until the Instant Pot comes up to pressure. I think it was more like 30 minutes from start to finish. So. It’s not always faster but it’s still (to me anyway) super convenient because it’s one pot – no colander, no boiling water – just one pot and you don’t have to watch it, you can walk away and check your email or set the table or pour a big ole glass of wine. Come back when the time goes off, stir and stir and stir, and you’ve got a spaghetti dinner that (according to Dale) tastes like it’s been simmering on the stove all day long.
3. Bean Soup. I love soup for lunch and I’ve been consistently making big batches of soup and freezing it to bring to work with me. This is a great one – loads of beans so it’s full of fiber and fills me up and no soaking required, the whole thing takes less than an hour from start to finish. I did add some andouille sausage because I like the kick but it would be just as good without it.

This isn’t a sponsored post and I hope it doesn’t feel like a commercial. I just think this is a great tool and an excellent addition to any kitchen. It’s terrific for poaching chicken, hardboiling eggs, making steel cut oats, and so much more. It’s often featured on Black Friday on Amazon, too, so you may want to keep an eye out for that special because (gulp) it’s right around the corner!

If you wrote a post for today I hope you’ll include a link below so that everyone can find it!

Now that my birthday is over (thank you all so much for the well wishes, by the way) I feel like fall is officially here and that means it’s time to decorate my house for the season. Part of me dreads this because it’s work and also because it’s a slippery slope to Christmas once the fall stuff is up but mostly I love the fall stuff I have. It makes the house look cozy and inviting and that’s my favorite way to have my house look. Today I’m going to share with you 3 tips on readying your house for the fall season.

1. Add lighting. While I abhor an overhead light I just love warm table lamps and candles and strings of twinkle lights – everywhere! Sadly enough, the days are getting shorter and to me there’s nothing cozier than twinkle lights and burning candles. They drive out the darkness and shed a soft glow over everything. Bonus points if your candles are autumn scents like Macintosh and pumpkin.
2. Change your curtains. In the summer I have sheers with valances in the living room but when fall arrives I take down those valances and I put up red and white buffalo check drapes. They make the room darker but they make it warmer and super cozy. The red is great for fall right through Christmas and even on to Valentine’s Day. I also swap out throw pillows and table runners at this point, replacing summery blue ones with warm red ones. And then I put soft throws and patchwork quilts everywhere.
3. Use seasonal decor. My mantle is loaded up with pumpkins. My kitchen window and dining room chandelier are draped with silk leaves. I have special autumn wine glasses in the dining room cabinet. I’ve got Halloween signs up now and those will be taken down and replaced with Thanksgiving ones when November hits. It’s warm and inviting and charming, perfect for entertaining friends for football games, eating chili and stews, and baking something delicious.

That’s how I get my house ready for fall. Are there special things you do? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.

And please add a link if you wrote a post for this Thursday. Thanks!

Dale had to sing with his band last Saturday and it was a wedding so he was gone for a long time. Often when he’s gone like that I will make plans with friends to have dinner or shop or something but this week I chose to stay home and enjoy some time to myself. I wanted to work on True Colors (I’m sort of worried that I’m going to run out of yarn so I’m knitting really fast right now to end the suspense) and it was chilly and cloudy out so that meant . . . knitting and television. It’s been quite a while since I had an extended amount of time to watch whatever I wanted and this is what I chose (it’s Thursday. there are three) :

The Glass Castle. I know the book is always better and in this case that’s especially true. The movie was good and the casting is great but they really glossed over just how horrid and impoverished Jeannette Walls’ childhood actually was. In the movie her parents came off as quirky and artsy, drunk and homeless but in a slightly charming and not really threatening way. In the book Walls describes eating lunch scraps that other kids had thrown away, the deplorable condition of the places they lived and really paints a picture of dysfunction and neglect. In the movie whole thing comes off more as nostalgia and I found that disappointing.

Me Before You. See above. Okay, not really, and I did actually like this movie quite a bit. Emilia Clarke does a bang up job of Louisa (and I couldn’t for the life of me make her be Daenerys!) and the rest of the cast is equally good. Of course the story is condensed somewhat but the friendship that develops between Louisa and Will feels genuine and the whole thing stays pretty true to the book.

Nashville. I’ve been meaning to watch this ever since our trip to Nashville last April and now that I’ve started I must admit I’m hooked. It sort of reminds me of Dallas back in the day except instead of a ranch and oil rigs it’s music. I love seeing the places in Nashville that we visited and the music is pretty good and, while it’s definitely an evening soap opera, it’s also pretty entertaining. It’s junk but it’s good, you know?

Have you watched anything good lately? I know a lot of you like to listen to books and knit but to me it’s television and knitting that go hand in hand so I’m always open to suggestions for good movies and shows.

If you wrote a post for today be sure and include a link below and thanks for playing along!