Last time we spoke here, I was still lingering in that evasive vacation mode. But today my friends, I am in Career & Busy Mom mode! Honestly, is anyone not busy these days? It seems like post-pandemic schedules are really trying to make up for lost time.

I ended my summer with a trip to Panama City, Panama, where my mother- and sister-in-laws live, with Andres and the girls. This was their 2nd international trip of the summer, and they are officially fancy international travelers.

This trip was very special because my father-in-law also flew in from Venezuela, and it was my very first time meeting him in person! Naturally, it was his first time meeting his only grandchildren too, and Andres and him had a very emotional reunion–it had been 8 years since they had last seen each other.

I still owe y’all a recap Reel on Instagram because we had so much fun and the city–especially downtown Panama City–is beautiful. Downtown reminded me of a mixture of the French Quarter and Havana, Cuba (based on photos and the very realistic portrayal Vivo on Netflix 😉

What I’m Cooking & Watching

Speaking of movies, this is about the time of year I watch You’ve Got Mail to get me in the Fall and Christmas-is-coming Mood. Sex and The City, the first movie, is also a goodie and is particularly suitable if you’re feeling moody and like you want to crawl into a hole and hide until Spring.

It’s also the beginning of a heavy baking season that I enter into each year. Since the girls just started pre-K 2 (oh yeah that happened in August too!), I finally got to bake for the girls’ school activities.

For example, I just made these fun and delicious Monster ​Cookies for their Halloween Party! The eyeball candies for these cookies are a must, and I found these that really popped on them.

I’m on a low-carb diet during the week, but allow myself to eat whatever I’d like on the weekends, so I plot and plan what to bake and make throughout the week…It actually makes baking and cooking even more fun!

We’re all getting hit hard by inflation, so we’ve been seriously cutting back on eating out. That means all hands on deck in the kitchen and it happens to perfectly align with my baking and soup season.

Here’s a running list of things I’ve made that were excellent and also things that are in my lineup:

Suppers:

​Alfredo Stuffed Spaghetti Squash (a delicious low-carb meal!)
​One Pot Marry Me Chicken (amazing over rice or pasta!)
​Crispy Cabbage and Cauliflower Salad (low-carb and forever requested by Andres!)
​Best Chicken Caesar Salad (This is on rotation for lunches and suppers weekly)
​One Pot Asian Baked Chicken & Rice (AIP protocol)

Soups:

​Simple Homemade Tomato Soup​
​Chicken Orzo Tomato Soup​
​My Dad’s Gumbo
​This Simple Chili Recipe​

Cookies:

​Monster Mash Cookies​
​Chewy Maple Pumpkin Cookies​
​Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (forever & always on rotation)

Other Baked Goods:

​Red Velvet Cake​
​Brown Sugar Maple Pumpkin Butter Bars​
​Dutch Apple Pie​
​My Chewy Browned Butter Rice Krispy Treats

Here’s a few other things I’m watching:

House of Dragons – HBO
Derry Girls (DO NOT SLEEP on this show, please.) – Netflix
Great British Baking Show – Netflix
Hacks – HBO
Only Murders In the Building – Hulu
RHOBH (forever & ever, Amen) – Bravo
The Staircase (oh man, what a remake!!) – HBO
The U.S. and the Holocaust (a must watch by every American) – PBS

So join me in popping in your You’ve Got Mail DVD, fire up the oven, tuck yourself into a blanket or bed and let’s get cozy!

Let me know if you made any of these recipes by tagging me in your posts (alongside the author of the recipe;)!

Ok, so let’s get into finance & money things.

If you’ve been paying attention at all to the stock market (I actually don’t recommend it), then you know it’s been a bumpy summer. When I say bumpy, I mean really down.

Let me save you the stress and tell you these two things:​
1) The “Market” is, essentially, a series of highs and lows. Both are necessary for a healthy economy. The low points last shorter than the long ones, and every downturn in the market is, eventually, followed by new highs. What’s happening right now is no different, and we’re telling our clients it’s an opportunity.

2) If you want to get technical, though, my brother/partner and I wrote an article on all the nuances of the economy right now and why we don’t expect this downturn to last long or be much deeper. It’s called What’s *Actually* Happening with the Market Right Now?​

I also fielded a bunch of investing questions earlier this month that centered around how to get started. I summed them up in this blog post:
​October Q&A: Getting Started with Investing

And just this week, I wrote this more light-hearted blog post on how to prepare for financial success through the holidays and into the new year. If getting started with investing feels too daunting right now, go get some simple savings tips that you can easily fold into your life right now:
​Holiday Financial Success Prep for 2023

See also: How to Gracefully Turn Down Plans You Can’t Afford​

I’m excited to say that I finally completed my website a month ago, and it really cleared some headspace for writing and making a big decision on how I disseminate information to y’all.

A quick backstory: my brother and I had a podcast called Wealth by Design from 2017-2020. Then I simultaneously hit my 3rd trimester with twins *and* the pandemic in March of 2020, followed by a devastating hurricane at the end of my maternity leave. Needless to say, we needed a loooong break.

Well that break turned into 2 years, and I’ve been holding onto the idea of return to it, but I decided recently that I. Just. Can’t. It’s just too much work (iykyk.)

But I still wanted to connect with y’all in a conversational/streaming way because there is a lot of content in our industry that is just plain easier to explain with talking vs. writing. Plus, I want to answer your questions!

So instead of a podcast, I’ve decided to do a Facebook Live Q&A every Monday night at 8pmCST. I did my first live this past Monday and it went great! The cool thing about going Live is that it allows you to save it and post the recording, so I am encouraging you to find the posted Live, save it and listen to it like you do podcasts when you have the time.

Lastly, Early Voting is underway and ends on Tuesday. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov 8th. Please make your plan: determine your polling location, print out your sample ballot, do your research and vote like your life depends on it!!

Whew, that was a lot. Glad to be back sharing a little more details here than I do on socials–hope you enjoy my ramblings!

Happy Fall, y’all! Cheers.

Danielle G. Nava

​The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.