The 📖📺🎧🔪🛍️ List

Terrible movies, amazing books, delicious recipes, and some summer essentials

Well, hello! It’s been a few weeks, first because I was on vacation then because we were all sort of on vacation post-July 4. Therefore, today’s list of things I’ve watched and read and listened to and made and shopped is going to be a little longer than usual, but I’m not complaining and neither should you.

Our summer renovation is officially underway and, like I mentioned on Instagram over the weekend, I’ll be sharing bits and pieces with little context on IG, but the brunt of renovation news and updates will be for paid Substack subscribers so I can feel free to bitch, moan, and get gritty with it. I’ll be sending out the first sort of State of the Reno (SOTR) this week, so now’s the time to upgrade!

Okay, let’s get into what I’ve been consuming.

READING 📖

I finished James in a week and a half, which is unheard of for me. It was such an engrossing, brilliant read with an Inglorious Basterds-esque ending that made me want to stand up and cheer. Supposedly, Taika Waititi has been attempting to obtain the rights to make it into a film, and that is very exciting.

I promptly downloaded The Women by Kristin Hannah and am already a quarter of the way through. This is a very popular book right now with a lot of pressure on being absolutely obsessed with it according to all the IG bookworms, so I’m trying to manage my expectations and just try to enjoy it and go at my own pace. It takes place during the Vietnam War, which has naturally piqued my interest in all that especially considering I’ve never really understood the “why” behind it all (spoiler alert: no one really understands the “why” behind it because it was completely senseless).

WATCHING 📺

The only two things we’ve been consistently watching are soccer and Top Chef. Zac was a star soccer player back in his day (in fact, one of my biggest letdowns in life is not meeting him before he blew his ACL out at the ripe age of 35 while playing on an adult league. I often daydream about how I’d be that girlfriend who would’ve shown up with Capri Suns and orange slices for post-game snacks), and it’s one of his original loves. Therefore, the fact that both the Euro Cup and Copa America are happening simultaneously right now is his dream. I’m not complaining because he’s gotten into Top Chef, so we take turns watching whatever soccer game is on then switching to Top Chef and everyone is happy!

However, when we were in Mexico, our options were extremely limited and we ended up catching the end of two terrible movies: Sex and the City 2 and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Sometimes I think movies aren’t what they used to be, but then I see crap like these two, and I’m like… maybe that’s good? Listen, I was never into SATC. I watched the series via my friends’ DVDs in college because why not, but I was never obsessed so I didn’t see the first movie nor the second. From what I saw of it in Mexico, though, what the FUCK? The dialogue, the privilege, the outfits… it was all so horrific and ridiculous. It has a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, FFS!

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past was equally as atrocious. I think I just hate corny-ass romcoms? I don’t know. It was wild to see Emma Stone in such a small, ancillary role, I’ll say that much. But the movie itself was just so dumb and predictable and the way they phoned in the ending… oye. I miss movies like Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Not this crap.

Anyway! For any HOTD fans reading this, their BTS mini series called “The House That Dragons Built” is super well done and makes you appreciate the magnificence of the entire production 100x more. I recommend!

LISTENING TO 🎧

I don’t listen to Not Skinny But Not Fat religiously because so many of her guests are reality TV stars, and we all know how I feel about all that. However, she shared her second child’s birth story on a recent episode, and that was fun to listen to. It just made even happier that we hired a doula, because Amanda mentioned how none of the nurses or doctors were very comforting or communicating very well with her, and that’s exactly what the doula is there for — to advocate for me and also explain WTF is going on at every turn.

Because of my newfound interest in understanding the Vietnam War, I googled good history podcasts to listen to, which led me to The Rest is History. It started in 2020, so there are SO MANY episodes to sift through but I’ve found a few ‘Nam-focused ones and I really enjoy the hosts, so I may be listening to all kinds of subjects!

MAKING 🔪

I love cilantro lime rice, especially when it’s literally the color green. I used this recipe for the first time two weeks ago, it was SO good. So much flavor and gorgeous color. Perfect side dish for taco night!

This easy steak salad from Brocc Your Body is delicious. So fresh, so flavorful, comes together super fast. The steak marinade alone is brilliant, and we’ll be using it all the time going forward.

Another winner from Brocc is this one pot turkey rigatoni. I used heavy cream instead of half and half (it’s what we had), and it was sssssssooooooo good. SO good. Great, easy weeknight dinner!

Lastly, this tomatillo soup was AMAZING. Like, it tasted exactly how I hoped it would — spicy, fresh, and so full of depth. I added some cooked rice to bulk it up a bit, and we ate it all in two days!

SHOPPING 🛍️

• I got this bikini from Abercrombie last year, and it’s literally the perfect bikini. I’m so sad I can’t fit into it this year, especially because they came out with so many more colors! The “curve love” version of it fit me best, FYI. Do me a favor and get one for yourself since I can’t wear mine this summer.

• Speaking of swimming, some women at our resort in Mexico had these pool chair floaties, we made friends with them, Zac sat in one, and was like “this is the perfect pool floatie.” So, I got a 2-pack to leave at my parents house when I visit them and use their pool!

• I don’t use sunscreen daily (I know, I know), but I definitely do when I’m going to be by the pool or on the beach. I got this Cetaphil sunscreen for your face and love it. It’s simple, cheap, effective, and great for sensitive skin — what’s not to love?

• Speaking of my face, I also got this tinted moisturizer by fucking Wet n Wild if you can believe it? I hate wearing full foundation during the summer with how sweaty I get, but didn’t want to spend $$ on a “nice” TM, so I did a little Googling and found that this stuff gets rave reviews. I am obsessed. It’s barely $5, a little goes a long way, and it hasn’t broken my face out at all? The finish is gorgeous, too. I highly recommend it if you’re interested. FWIW, I’m the tan medium deep. Also, it’s Target Circle Week, so now’s the time because everything has a deal!

• Now for some renovation buys:

  • With all of us (Z, me, Bowie, and Cece) sharing our makeshift studio apartment, we want the dogs to be able to hang on the bed with us during the day since we have no couch to lounge on anymore. Our bed sits a little too high for Cece to clear (she has MAD ups, though), so I got these dog stairs for her and she’s been utilizing them well. Bowie is special and has no idea how to use them even though we’ve walked him through it a few times, but we’re working on it.

  • While we have our desks to eat meals on, I thought it’d be fun to get bed trays for when we want to dine in-bed while watching TV. These trays ended up being perfect.

    

  • I don’t know how often we’ll use a hot plate in here, but I figured I should get one just in case. I love the simplicity of this design and think it’ll work perfectly.

❤️ If you liked or loved this letter, hit that little heart at the bottom to show some love. A little love goes a looooong way around here ❤️

We are officially all caught up! I’ll just be in our makeshift studio apartment in the back of our house chilling if anyone needs me. And don’t forget renovation letters are coming soon!

Until then,

EGM