Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Monthly Medley: May 2024

 


Reading

I finished two books this month: Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult and The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh. Vanishing Acts wasn't my favorite Picoult novel - it just wasn't as gripping as some of her others - but I still enjoyed it. The Love of My Life started strong, tapered off a bit, and then REALLY picked speed with a steady stream of twists and turns - I highly recommend this one!



Watching

Tom and I started Fargo, but because the seasons take place in different eras and locations with only VERY slight overlaps, we actually watched season five first, followed by season one. Both were excellent, and I can't wait to move on to the remaining three seasons. (We're watching on Hulu - I had no idea this show originally aired on FX a decade ago.)


Hallie and I are knee deep in How I Met Your Mother, and when we need something different, we pop over to Glee. When Glee first aired 15 years ago, two-year-old Will LOVED watching the songs and dances with me. (He couldn't have cared less about the rest of show, of course, given that he was a toddler.) I remember hoping that someday I would be able to watch Glee again - but all of it, not just the songs and dances - with Hallie, who was brand new at the time but who I suspected would follow in her mama's footsteps and adore musical production numbers. 😉


Listening To

I took a brief hiatus from my regularly scheduled podcast programming to listen to Believe in Magic, a short series about "Charity, celebrity, illness and control...the extraordinary story of a teenage girl and her charity Believe in Magic, which ends up challenging the very nature of sickness itself." It reminded me of Scamanda, a podcast I listed to a few months ago about an illness-related scam, but came complete with its own unique and disturbing facets.


Following

I regularly add to the list of clubs, organizations, businesses, and influencers I follow, but I very infrequently cull that list. As a result, over time that list gets longer and longer and includes fewer and fewer posts that align with what I'm looking for from social media. So I've now instated a weekly practice - which I believe I learned about first from Mel Robbins on Instagram - called "Unfollow Friday." It's pretty simple: on Fridays, chose (at least) one page/person that doesn't bring you joy, inspiration, entertainment, or verified/educational information and unfollow. Try it - I promise it feels good. 


Trying/Using

About three months ago my curling iron and straightening iron broke within the span of four days. My hair did NOT look good that week. I'd be dragging my feet on trying this L'ange Le Duo curling iron, but I felt like this - along with the fact that a friend was considering one as well and they were offering a discount on two or more - was a sign. My initial hope was that this one product could replace both my curling and straightening irons, but in reality, it didn't exactly replace either. It can create curls/waves like a curling iron, and in a pinch can function as a straightening iron, but because it works differently, it ultimately produces different results. I feel like I still need both a curling iron for tighter ringlets, which Hallie occasionally needs for dance, and a straightening iron for getting the rubber band lines and weird kinks out of my hair. That said, I love the L'ange Le Duo, and consider the price worth it, especially if you can get it on sale.


I've shared about Buff City Soap before, but this is your friendly reminder to jump on the bandwagon if you haven't done so already. I like these soaps enough that when we traveled to Nashville, I brought my own soap with me from home, which I've never done before. 


This bath/shower caddy is my favorite Amazon purchase in quite a while - it's inexpensive yet doesn't look or feel that way, and the color combo is so cute!


Wearing

I have nothing new to share here, but I do have recommendations from both kids!

Will doesn't care a lot about clothing, so when he put these swim trunks on and asked me to purchase him a second pair, I knew they were worth sharing. (The size chart was a little wonky, but Will ended up in his "regular" size for bottoms.)

Hallie recently tried these fake eyelashes (she doesn't wear fake eyelashes every day, but regularly wears them for dance) and has become a fan. The application process is much easier and less messy that regular fake eyelashes, and she can handle it all by herself which is a win in my book!


Eating/Drinking

At the recommendation of an influencer who's almost always spot on with what she shares, I gave Wildgrain a try. We've had three orders delivered thus far, and we've found multiple different products we love (and a couple we didn't love quite as much). I appreciate that there's no commitment or regular schedule you're required to adhere to, they communicate regularly about orders (so you're not surprised with an order you didn't intend to place, which has happened to me with other food subscription entities), and everything goes from freezer to table in 25 minutes or less. I'm not an influencer so I don't have a code for you, but if you're interested in giving it a try, let me know and I'll direct you to someone who has a code. 

I thought this could make my beloved "cold brew with soft top" from Dutch Bros with this cold foam, but - spoiler alert - I couldn't. My kids LOVE topping their coffee with it though, so it's a win with two out of four Ferri. (I actually think it tastes good too - it just didn't replace my favorite Dutch Bros drink.)


Feeling Good About

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Until next month...

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