The 📖📺🎧🔪🛍️ List

An INCREDIBLE weeknight fish dish, a new podcast about parenting, my new go-to brownie recipe, a fall tote, and more!

Hey IDK if I’ve made this clear or not, but…

I’m really pregnant and really tired.

Third trimester exhaustion has knocked me on my ass, literally. I’m napping twice a day right now, and doing the absolute least takes me out for the entire day. It’s pretty infuriating and annoying, seeing as though we have an entire house to put back together and just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I don’t have work to do. But this level of fatigue isn’t worth fighting. It’s not like "Ugh, I’m so tired.” It’s like “Holy fuck I literally can’t hold my head up and my eyes are closing.” SO FUN!!!

All that to say, I’m writing today’s Weekly List at 9pm on Thursday night because this is the first time all day I’ve had the energy to do pretty much anything.

So, here we go.

WATCHING 📺

I started my annual Gilmore Girls rewatch super early this year, so I’m already at the beginning of the season 5, which means Luke and Lorelai are freshly dating and Rory is freshly an Ivy League homewrecker. I know GG is one of those early 2000s shows that you rewatch and find so much wrong with, and I don’t disagree — but it’s still fun to watch and so bad, it’s good. Also, Emily Gilmore is and always will be queen. Speaking of, she just came out with a memoir and I’m thinking I need to add it to my reading rotation as a lighthearted alternative to 1984 (which I’m still reading).

There’s a new whodunnit show called High Potential starring Kaitlin Olson (AKA Sweet D from Always Sunny) that we watched earlier this week and eh. It’s a bit too corny for our taste. It’s very Monk-coded, and Monk is not everyone’s cup of tea by any means. Basically, Kaitlin is a single mom of three with an IQ of 160 and is really good at solving crimes. I’m not sure we’ll watch the second episode, but never say never. Watch it on Hulu.

LISTENING TO 🎧

We sing this song to the baby almost every day for a plethora of reasons, many of which have to do with his name kinda sorta. It was made famous by Nat King Cole and is also the opening song in one of my favorite movies of all time, Moulin Rouge, AND David Bowie covers it on the soundtrack. What better message is there in life than “…the greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return”?

Man, I got such a hankering earlier this week to sing along to some vintage Sheryl Crow and Paula Cole, and it felt so good. I highly recommend queuing up “Strong Enough,” “If It Makes You Happy,” and “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” if you wanna turn your mood around for a solid 13 minutes.

There’s a new podcast hosted by Emily Oster called Raising Parents. Emily is famous for her groundbreaking pregnancy book “Expecting Better,” in which she uses data to debunk a lot of antiquated, under-studied pregnancy rules. It sounds like this podcast will only be 8 episodes (or maybe that’s just the first season?) which I’m already sad about because I just know it’s going to be extremely interesting and informative. I love a woman who goes against the status quo and challenges both new and old ways of thinking, so I’m excited to listen.

MAKING 🔪

When Zac’s mom was in town this past weekend for my baby shower, I made us this absolutely incredible fish dish by Defined Dish. I hardly ever cook with cod, and now it’s all I want to use when it comes to fish. This Skillet Orzo and Feta Fish dish was so beyond flavorful and such a hit. The flavors all married together so well, and we had hardly any leftover! It was also super easy but tasted complex in the best way.

I had a hankering for brownies this week and decided to try this very simple recipe by Once Upon a Chef. I cut it in half (because I want but don’t need 24 brownies) and used about an ounce of dark chocolate baking bits because I ran out of bittersweet chocolate, and THEY ARE SO GOOD. The texture is perfect, they’re just sweet enough, and the brown sugar adds a wonderful depth of flavor. They will be my go-to from now on!

Last night, I made us Vegetable Minestrone (even though it’s still 100º outside and I wanna die), and it was DELISH. Love & Lemons never disappoints, and this was a simple, veggie-forward meal for a Thursday night.

Sidenote: Y’all, please listen to me and get

Caroline Chambers

’ cookbook. I made her Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs this week, and holy SHIT. It tasted better than any restaurant. This woman has a serious gift for flavor, and this book belongs in every kitchen.

SHOPPING 🛍️

My LL Bean Boat Tote served me so well all summer, but it just feels too, well, summery for the fall and winter. I know my diaper bag will become my new handbag, BUT I ordered this Madewell tote anyway. It’s the exact same size as my LL Bean tote, so I know it’ll hold everything I need, and I love the classic vibe of it. I’ll keep y’all posted. Insiders get 25% off right now, too!

I got this mini handheld vacuum for tiny spills and things and am obsessed. I’m keeping it in our kitchen for now and find myself reaching for it all the time.

I want to update our bedding, so I ordered these 24x24 Euro shams and have high hopes. They won’t be here for a minute, but I’ll follow up when they arrive. We went blue because our bedroom is shades of blue, duh.

My baby is hanging out on the right side of my womb. It’s like he has no idea he has an entire other side he could explore. So, I’m now seeing a perinatal chiropractor from now until he’s here, and she told me to get an exercise ball to sit on while I work to help with all things pelvis. This guy arrives overnight, so I’ll be bouncing on him this weekend.

Lastly, a friend who always has the best recommendations ever swears by these Land’s End sheets, so I barely blinked before adding them to cart and ordering them. They’re on sale, so why not give them a try?! You can always return.

xox,

EGM