This week we're talking all about burnout and letting go of things that just aren't working for us anymore personally, professionally, and especially creatively. We're sipping on Erica's festive punch recipe from her Halloween party while recapping the highlights of the party.

Spiced Cider Punch (adapted from SAVEUR)

Serves 15-20

• 8 C apple cider
• 1 750 mL bottle sparkling cider (you could use hard sparkling cider)
• 3 12 oz bottles of ginger beer (Erica used and highy recommends The Ginger People brand)
• Juice of one orange
• cinnamon sticks and orange slices floating in punch bowl for garnish
• 1 1/2 oz Bourbon added to a glass of punch (Fireball Whiskey, Spiced Rum, or vodka would all be good as well)

For individual cocktails, I just used a shot of liquor of choice over ice, and then equal parts sparkling cider, apple cider, and ginger beer. Garnish with orange slice.

Burnout is technically defined as long-term exhaustion and diminished interest in work. We share our perspectives on our own signs of burnout, our experiences with feeling burned out, and what to do when something that's burning you out is a huge part of your identity.

We talk about how we recognize burnout and pull back before it happens, the freedom in letting go of things that just aren't working for us anymore both professionally and personally. Most importantly, we discuss how we decide what to make more room for creatively, and how we re-energize after experiencing burnout.

In current obsessions, Kelsey is pounding Wintergreen Tums like candy these days and is also pretty proud of her own 3-ingredient salad dressing lately. Fancy. Erica is obsessed with leopard print accessories these days(scarf, flats, heels, belt) and feeling inspired by the How They Blog Podcast.

In neighborhood news we recount the Halloween Sneeze of Death, celebrate the cooler weather (finally), and Erica had a seriously unsettling chat with a police officer about another fellow neighbor.

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