Animal Crossing New Horizons

Inspired by Italy

Gulliver finally sent me the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and I decided to do a full tribute to Italy on the rocky north shore of my beach:

Buona giornata!

Out with the Old, In with the New

Already it’s the second day of 2022! Here’s a look back at our New Year celebrations.

I found some hot cocoa rolls with marshmallow frosting for breakfast on New Year’s Eve…I thought it was the perfect way to start a day that features a hot chocolate bar!

We had pizza for dinner…I don’t know that we ever have the same thing two years in a row on New Year’s Eve!

After our annual viewing of Apollo 13, I set up our hot chocolate bar. Things were a little different this year due to various shortages…I couldn’t find speciality hot chocolate or peppermint candy canes (which I hear became very difficult to find this year), but we did have several other flavors (mint chocolate, raspberry, and wintergreen), and three kinds of whipped cream (regular, chocolate, and peppermint).

I did manage to stay up until midnight, but only so I could ring in the New Year on my island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

We had what is a fairly common dinner for us on New Year’s Day, starring pork tenderloin.

Chickadee helped me make dessert, featuring two different recipes from the My Little Pony Baking Book she received for Christmas:

I think we got the New Year off to a good start!

Sartorial Saturday–The Top Five Favorite Fashion Purchases of 2021

Time for one last “Top Five” list for 2021!

2021 was a year where I explored new options for my wardrobe, found some new favorite retailers, and really discovered what I like and I want I don’t in my clothing and accessories. I added some special pieces to my collection, starting with this Erstwilder brooch inspired by Animal Crossing:

Speaking of Animal Crossing, I have never been as excited about a makeup collection as I was about the ColourPopxAnimal Crossing collaboration!

Miss Candyfloss quickly became my favorite vintage-inspired clothing brand in 2021, and I think the Myrtle-Sun dress was my favorite out of the ones I purchased (although, everything I have in my closet from their brand is simply amazing!):

I explored my heritage in a sartorial way this year by adding two dirndls from Rare Dirndl to my wardrobe. They’re both beautiful, but I’m sharing “Die Heimat” because the other was a gift, so not technically something I purchased myself.

And finally, a look at a few pieces from Splendette’s Christmas line…this is my favorite Christmas collection they’ve offered to date!

I’m looking forward to discovering what new things all of my favorite brands offer in 2022!

Christmas Island

Welcome to Christmas Island!

I have had so much fun decorating my island and taking pictures with my neighbors this month. I have both Christmas and ice displays all year long, but I added more merriment throughout my island…and I think I’m going to leave those items up all year, too!

It looks especially pretty at night:

Between the lights on the cedar trees, the snow, and the jingle bells in the music, this is my favorite time of year to play Animal Crossing!

Thanksgiving 2021

Time for a look at our annual three-day-long Thanksgiving celebration, beginning with a beautiful sunrise on Wednesday morning, which gave me encouragement to bake nine pies, prep two different kinds of stuffing, and make the cranberry sauce.

On Thanksgiving Day, we had fun watching the Macy’s Parade and playing Thanksgiving Day Parade Bingo, picking our favorite dogs at the National Dog Show, and playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Of course, there was dinner to attend to, as well. I thought the table looked extra pretty this year…maybe that’s because we had guests to set it for!

The menu was a mix of old and new. I made our traditional stuffing to go with the turkey, but also a new recipe for everything bagel stuffing. I also tried a new roasted winter vegetable dish to go alongside our usual green beans with almonds. Of course we also had mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, and cranberry sauce:

It made a very pretty plate!

For dessert, all of the pies. Sadly, the pie I was most looking forward to trying, cranberry custard, didn’t set right, so even though it looked pretty, it didn’t come out right at all. I guess that’s the risk you run when you try a new recipe on a holiday!

This morning started with one of our favorite traditions of pie for breakfast.

I was very happy to get to go see Moose march in our town’s Santa Parade for the first time since 2019, and for the first time with the high school marching band! We honestly weren’t planning on staying for the whole thing since his group was near the beginning, but it was fun as well as short, so we ended up seeing it all!

I enjoyed having a place to wear one of my new Erstwilder Christmas brooches:

Turkey sandwiches for lunch are another great thing about the day after Thanksgiving!

And more pie:

We built the annual addition to our Lego winter village:

And had turkey soup for dinner:

After dinner, some of us went back downtown for the tree lighting and community sing:

And more pie for dessert when we got back home:

There you have it. It was a mostly normal holiday, and it was good to do things that felt familiar again!

Animal Crossing New Horizons: The Update

It’s been a few weeks now, so I thought I’d take a look at my favorite things from the recent update to Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

The highlight was the arrival of Brewster…I’m so happy to be able to visit The Roost again…he really understands how I like my coffee!

Your neighbors can now visit your home…they can either ask if they can come over, as Roald did today, or they can just barge in on you when you’re at home, which I love!

They’ve added some new home decor options, including the addition of accent walls and hanging fixtures:

Kapp’n and his boat have returned (not to mention his sea shanties!), and the islands he can take you to have the added benefit of allowing you to occasionally pick up seasonal items that might not be currently available back home!

They also added a ton of new furniture with the update, including the Plaza series, which I absolutely love, and used to make a permanent Oktoberfest installation:

Group stretching on the plaza is lots of fun!

There are also new recipes, new hairstyles, and a whole new addition to Harv’s island, where you can shop with some of the special merchants who occasionally visit your island, as well as have Cyrus customize furniture, which is especially great if you want to collect items in colors not native to your island. And I haven’t even mentioned the DLC, which is basically a way to marry a whole new game to your existing one…stay tuned for a look at that once I get it figured out!