The 📖📺🎧🔪🛍️ List
We have so much to catch up on!
If you’re new here, every Friday I send out the FREE weekly list of what I’ve been reading, watching, listening to, making, and shopping for that week. The last one I deployed was December 12 (!!!), so we have A LOT to catch up on today.
Paid subscribers: Because I’m off Instagram this month (which I can already feel has altered my entire being for the better, but more on that later), you’ll be getting weekly weekend recaps for the next few Mondays as an added bonus of being beyond the paywall, so keep an eye out 👀
All right, let’s get into everything I’ve been consuming the past three weeks!
READING
I started Small World a month ago but was so distracted with the impending holidays that I didn’t pick it up for a while. Now I’m fully back into it and about 75% done. This book is phenomenal. It follows four different families of four different ethnicities (Irish, Native American, Black, and Chinese) jumping from the mid 1850s to present-day, telling each of their generational stories of how they got started in America. The author does a brilliant job of jumping 170 years every other chapter or so, and I’ve reached the climax where all these separate stories are about to intertwine. It’s not your typical fiction, and I highly recommend it! P.S. I’m on Goodreads if you care to follow me there.
WATCHING
We’ve watched so much over the last three weeks, I had to keep a running list in my phone. Here’s a quick breakdown because we don’t have time for full details:
Little Richard: I Am Everything
A very well done documentary about the king of rock and roll (Elvis who?).
An over-the-top Christmas movie that imagines Santa as a 1,000+ year old ancient warrior who’s out for blood after some very naughty thieves try to ruin Christmas. Dumb but entertaining.
Your Christmas Or Mine (1 & 2)
I wish the UK would stop trying to make Asa Butterfield a leading man because he just isn’t. The first was cuter than the second, but both are pretty bad. If you like corny British Christmas movies, though, then by all means.
NEW FAVORITE HOLIDAY MOVIE ALERT. This movie is from 2015, but Zac nor I had ever watched it. It’s hard to find truly funny movies anymore, and this is truly, really fucking hilarious. So entertaining, hysterical, and a fun plot. We’ll be watching it every year!
I had zero expectations for this semi-musical movie starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds and was delighted beyond my wildest dreams. It is SO good? The songs are whatever (except for “Good Afternoon” and “Unredeemable.” Those were both amazing), but the acting and plot (WHAT A TWIST!) and Will and Ryan are perfect. It was such a fun watch and put me in a great mood.
Natasha Lyonne is a character, so you know whatever show she’s starring in is probably going to be pretty good. After all the Christmas movies, we needed a palate cleanser, so we threw on Poker Face, and it’s super entertaining. The premise is a little eh (they don’t really explain or truly showcase her “power” of knowing when people are lying), but every episode is super well done, engaging, and interesting. Also love that every episode is a new story!
LISTENING TO
I’m undecided on if I actually like Whitney Cummings on her own, BUT I do love Jackie Schimmel and had the best time listening to her guest episode on Whitney’s podcast, so maybe you would, too!
I don’t listen to Honestly regularly; only when the subject matter genuinely intrigues me. I personally love Bari Weiss and her hot takes — she’s a classic Liberal, gay, Jewish, and a new mom who isn’t afraid to have conversations with everyone and anyone and find the nuance in just about everything (a skill that is becoming more and more obsolete every day). On her latest episode, it’s a 2024 predictions round-up featuring economists, linguists, doctors, political observers, and the Man Repeller herself, Leandra Medine Cohen. I severely enjoyed this episode and all the predictions for the new year (especially her sister Susie’s takes on celebrity gossip). I recommend!
MAKING
Here are three dishes that were Zac-devoured and Zac-approved over the last three weeks in the comfort of our kitchen:
Skinnytaste’s One Pot Sausage, Orzo, and Corn
Skinnytaste’s Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas
Once Upon a Chef’s Baked Ziti with Sausage
Honorable mention: My sister’s chocolate and butterscotch budino she made for us the day after Christmas. INCREDIBLE.
SHOPPING
Fancy mascara — I saw a MUA talk about YSL’s brown mascara for brown eyes, and I decided to give it a try. I am usually not one to spend $$ on designer mascara, but I have to admit, I love it. I wear it for my casual makeup days and reserve my “blackest black” mascara for date nights and events.
New foundation — I’ve been using Armani’s Luminous Silk for years, and realized over the last three weeks that I don’t exactly love it anymore. The finish is pretty matte, and I wasn’t loving the way it spreads. So, I went to Sephora, talked to a fabulous man about my concerns, and he suggested Dior’s Backstage Face and Body Foundation and I am obsessed. It blends seamlessly with my skin; so much so that my sister came into town, noticed it, tried it, and left Dallas with her own bottle of it. I converted her quickly! FWIW I’m shade 2.5W.
The Ordinary’s Rose Hip Oil — The same fabulous Sephora man suggested this face oil to combat my dry skin, and it has been an easy and lovely addition to my nighttime skin routine. And it’s so affordable?!
The perfect sweatshirt — We made a visit to Ascot and Hart over the holiday season, and I walked away with two of these perfect sweatshirts. They are beyond soft, the cut of the shoulder is amazing (read: NO drop shoulder), and they’re under $45. They remind me of my mom’s vintage sweatshirts I’ve tried to steal 100 times over, and now I have my own!
Cozy pullover — I treated myself to this half-zip pullover from lululemon the other day. I’ve been wanting something cozy and puffy to throw on as winter athleisure, and this fit the bill. I got a M/L in the Riverstone color and am actually wearing it right now as I type!
That’s gonna do it for this year’s first ever FREE Friday letter! I hope you have the exact kind of weekend you want, and we’ll talk next week.
xox,
EGM
Spirited was so dang good! I also need to go to the A&H store here in Richardson!