Welcome to another weekly episode of Good Things where I give you a peek into my everyday life during the week, and roundup my good links, ideas, books, and more.
I thought I’d lead with a photo from the archives – I took this photo in 2009 on my way to Tahoe in the summer time, but thought it might be a nice (apologies if too obvious) light at the end of the tunnel metaphor for the challenging times many of us are having these days. If this week was hard for any reason, and you found yourself going through a dark tunnel, my deep belief is that there’s a vista to look forward to on the other side.
That was weird.
A few weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and thought to myself – I have to run the Boston Marathon. This is particularly weird because I don’t usually get transmissions from the universe like this.
It was a very strong feeling that popped up out of nowhere with a sense of specificity.
Not only is this odd, but I was working at Runkeeper during the marathon bombings and several coworkers and many many friends were running that day. It was truly harrowing not knowing where people were and what was going on, and the aftermath in Watertown where we could hear the gunfire from our house still triggers a vigilance response that pops up in unfortunate times.
I’ve explicitly said for years that I’ll never run Boston. (I’ve also spent the past many years saying that I’m definitely not a marathoner, happy with my consistent low mileage daily mile streak! I’m about to finish my sixth year!)
On Saturday, I ran the Firehouse, a 10 mile run, and the first long run of the marathon training cycle at Heartbreak Hill just to test the waters – or more realistically to convince myself better of pursuing this in any way. And then it didn’t suck?
So, I’m not sure what to make of all this – it’s a little late for many of the teams who have closed charity bib registration, including World Central Kitchen, which would have been a meaningful one for me! and the Red Sox Foundation – so I guess we’ll see what unfolds?
👋 If you’ve experienced a clear and resolute whispering that you’ve been happy that you acted on, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
This Week in Good Things:
🎤 Good Listening: last year I decided that I’d like to work on a Youtube Channel, but didn’t get it up and running. I’ve been deeply inspired by watching my friend Aprilynne get to viral success with Youtube in a niche she was no longer interested in, burn it all down, and start from complete scratch to build her following from zero to now over 25k in under a year. (She’s a queen of methodical building.) This inspired me to get going and put up a video from 2016 on the topic of preventing burnout that I was due for a re-watch of my own wisdom! (Almost everything still tracks!)
✍️ The Mediocre Achievement Thread: on Friday I was feeling at a low point, and was craving some cheering up. I’ve been thinking lately of more ways to connect with people over the internet about day-to-day life, and posted a question to one of my more active Facebook groups I’m a part of: ⭐️ MEDIOCRE ACCOMPLISHMENTS THREAD? Hello! can we celebrate each other with high fives today? I started with a few personal ones in the comments, including: 1. I sat for 40 minutes under blankets before I got up while my heat came on doing nothing. I can’t underscore how much seeing the thread grow over a few days as done for me.Instead of celebrating our friends when they hit big achievements, how can we celebrate people for just getting through the hard days of life?
☕️ Connections with people that feed your soul. This week I prioritized connecting with people who truly fill my cup. // One of my women’s groups had an end of season connection where we shared what we’ve learned from others, and it was a really nice way to cap a time period together. // I kicked off taking a mini-course on a topic I’m interested in (newsletters!) from an internet friend I admire Louie Bacaj. // I met with a friend on Zoom for a wild idea session! // I went to my monthly dinner with my friend Kathy (at Bar Vlaha, for you Boston area locals). // Another internet friend in Maine mentioned he had a few extra copies of Paul Millerd’s new book he had purchased and asked if anyone wanted one. I raised my hand, sent my address, and he replied back doing one better – he was coincidently having dinner *around the corner from my house* with friends and would hand deliver me my book! We had a great catch up over a cup of coffee at the shop around the block! // I FaceTimed multiple times with a brand new human! // I stopped by a friends house for Latkes and Donuts! 🥔👋 Recommended Action: I’ve been trying to take note of the interactions I have with people where I leave our time together with increased energy – and do more of that!
Very good bread HORIATIKO PSOMI house baked village style sourdough bread, served with sheep milk butter and sea salt; with TARAMOSALATA (carp roe, lemon, olive oil) and MELITZANOSALATA charred eggplant, peppers, and herbs
KARAVIDES with crayfish, ouzo, tomato, fennel, orzo
PAIDAKIA lamb chops, olive oil, lemon, oregano and HORTA (greens)
Tasting Notes: loved the vibe, loved the meal, drinks were delicious – including my mountain tea, desserts were a pass for me!
Good Things to Think About
✨ Where have you given yourself the opportunity to PLAY this week? This is here from last week, because I’ve been noodling over it all week! How can we add more play to our lives? Thank you to my mom this week, who sent me a book related puzzle for Hanukkah. I’m looking ahead to filling my calendar in the new year with creative activities and self care, including an arts workshop at The Paper Mouse, a printmaking workshop at Shepherd + Maudsleigh, a reformer class at [solidcore], and a visit to a new-ish Sauna. Have any ideas for me? I’d love suggestions!
⏳ Creating structure for high energy vs. low energy weeks. I do really well when I have a lot of specific structure – when I don’t, I drop off. Overall, I’m spending a lot of time at this time of year exploring my energy levels: trying to figure out how to create repeatable habits that I don’t resent when I’m feeling low energy. This also includes: backup lists (for when I don’t feel like doing what is planned) and updating my support system (who do I call when I need help?), and bare minimums What tasks get dropped when I’m low on spoons?
Acquisitions of Note:
🪴 Flower Share: for the past few years, I’ve gotten myself a season of flower shares from Fivefork Farms: spring flowers, peony, and dahlia shares, which I pick up each week around the corner at Rancatore’s. General registration opens on Monday December 11th at 9am for new members in the Boston area. (It’s like getting T-Swift tickets level of purchasing…) There’s nothing like a fresh weekly bouquet for yourself to lift your spirits.
💵 Preparation in advance: I-Bond rates aren’t nearly as good as last year, but if you are looking to park some savings, consider your yearly allocations from Treasury Direct. (Which despite its appearance IS a real government website.)
📺 Watch: I was tickled by the last episode of Great British Bakeoff, and pleased with the winner! I just love watching the final episodes where everyone’s families gather, and they have these lovely montages with their friends and families. // I’ve started season two of High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America with Stephen Satterfield.
🗞 Ghosts on the Glacier an interactive NYTimes article (🎁 unlocked NYTimes) about a mountaineering double murder cold case and a camera full of film popping out of the glacier 50 years later.
🧠 The power of giving a name to a shared feeling: There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing by Adam Grant(🎁 unlocked NYTimes)
🗞 Bookmark the Wikipedia main page as a source of interesting information for the days you reach the end of the internet.
🥔 Eat: Team Latkewith SOUR CREAM. // I mixed Greens Powder and Electrolyte powder in one go, and it was fine! // I drank some hot flavorless electrolyte salts with lemon which tasted decent until it became cold and I found myself drinking sea water. // If you need to get yourself fancy chocolate: the Burdick’s Winter Collection.
⭐️ Shout out to my incredible friends: one who became a Texas Master Naturalist! Another who was invited to join the Explorers Club! A third who was home with her infant alone for two days for the first time! A fourth who went for her first postpartum run!
This week as I’ve been writing my What to Eat in 2024 (pre-order is up here!) I’ve been thinking about the rhythm of the week, and how to better plan your meals around your energy levels.
One of the reasons I struggle with food sometimes is that my ambition and creativity gets mis-matched with my energy level and ability to actually cook something on any given day. So I’ve been trying to sync my cooking better with how I know I’ll feel on any given day based on what’s on my plate calendar-wise.
On that note, on my quest for higher and more even daily energy, I’ve been on a Quest for Good Decaf: this week I picked up a fancy box of Cometeer Decaf George Howell for the freezer (they actually have a Cometeer freezer at the shop on Walnut!), and on very good recommendation, a bag of Peet’s Decaf Major Dickason’s Blend which so far is winning.
Friday: Butter Chickpeas and tofu with Rancho Gordo Black Garbanzos
Lunches: Leftovers (fondue, a plethora of cheese) TJ’s lamb vindaloo with yogurt, palak paneer with some sardines (or cottage cheese). TJ’ squiggly noodles with peanut butter and edamame.
Treat options: TJ’s Pretzel Breadpudding. Chocolate mousse. TJ’s Iced Gingerbread in the freezer. Peppermint Hold the Cones. Walker’s Shortbread. Pumpkin Sticky Toffee Pudding.
🥑 Good Eats from this past week: I include a weekly meal plan in each week’s Good Things, and things never *actually* go as planned! Some of the standout additions include Trader Joe’s Artichoke Bread Pudding (nice dinner with some salad if you like artichoke?). TJ’s Pretzel Breadpudding (very sweet and salty). Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Samosas. Last week’s Chickpea and Chicken Tagine from Nigella’s How to Eat was a standout. FONDUE BEANS, because of which I reached “Peak Bean”.
Welcome to another weekly episode of Good Things where I give you a peek into my everyday life during the week, and roundup my good links, ideas, books, and more. Quite a few of you are new here, which warms my soul. Welcome!
I kicked off the weekend making holiday cookies with my neighbors – Mary made this sugar cookie dough recipe as the base, which was a strong contender if you need a recipe – with good texture, minimal cracking, and great taste. We frosted with Royal Icing – her recipe, which she texted, was spot on: “Royal icing: 1 lb confectioners sugar, 3 tablespoons meringue power and 5 tablespoons warm water. Mix very slowly for a few minutes.”
I feel *very* thankful to live in a place where my neighbors are part of my social community, and the neighborly text chain is more about invites to food, crafting, and patio sitting than complaints. (That said, we’ve had nearly a full month of daily noise with drilling followed by a comprehensive siding project next door, so there is plenty of good old fashioned commiseration.)
Tonight I’m sitting down to edit with a steaming mug of hot water with a cinnamon stick, after a full day that included a 3.5 mile rainy but joyful group run at Heartbreak Hill with my friend Cara and her RunYoga Crew. I also got to try out the new Nike Lab motion tracking set up which assessed my running, and spat out some fitness recommendations (more core work!)
I also spent the weekend immersed in the second book in Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Series, which I’d generally recommend if you like creative fantasy with interesting magic systems and significant world building.
A Candle Quest
TL:DR; an epic quest (scroll down to the good things if you have no interest in candles!)
A month ago when the time change hit me hard, I broke down and got myself a fancy Voluspa Gilt, Pomander and Hinoki candle, on the good recommendation of one of my favorite creators, Cecilia, who lives in a cabin on #svalbard 🐻❄️ an island close to the North Pole.
Cecilia adores the Polar Night and the fully embraces the long cold and dark season, so I figured if there’s anything I can do short of moving north, buying a full set of Scandinavian bedding, and owning a house with a roaring fireplace and a full of twinkle lights (tempting!) it’s to start with a candle that she recommends.
Unsurprisingly, this candle is delightful. I typically don’t get scented candles, because they can give me a headache, but I’ve been loving this candle. Another candle that has been keeping me happy is one in my office, called “Boss Vibes” by Cayla Gray x Lite Pink, which I got from my friend Rebecca at her gathering of women entrepreneurs this fall. It has notes of Sparkling Rosé, Warm Sugar, and Amber, and is my current afternoon candle, or rather my “It’s 4:37 and what the heck happened to the light?” candle.
My regular candle is Trader Joe’s Unscented Pillar Candle, which I fit in my Weck jars and they burn nicely for weeks.
So delighted with my new candles, I emailed my cousin Keren (fellow enneagram 8) this weekend, who is an arbiter of good taste, to recommend some more fancy ones. She replied back with a gem of a list, which I’m just going to print here in full because it’s the kind of email we all need in our inboxes:
Here are the candles I’ve enjoyed:
https://www.zoetbathlatier.com/candles (Zoet, pronounced zoot, is the Dutch word meaning: sweet, soft, gentle, fresh. This is a maker from PA and I think these are so calming)
https://oldcitycanningco.com/ (LGBT-owned company that supports the queer community in Philly. Such good combos like Lilac & Yuzu or Tomato Leaf)
Bath & Body Works actually has a “higher end” brand called White Barn that makes surisigny good mid range candles: like this or this but their sweet scents are heinous. Lean earthy or citrus.
The history of this fragrance house is fascinating. The candles for the royals and imperial courts of France. Their whole packaging and vibe is so 1640-1780s. They take themselves SO seriously IRL, it’s a whole thing. https://trudon.com/us_en/home-fragrances/scented-candles.html (Sam Note: I had to hold myself back from acquiring their $500 advent calendar.)
Happy smelling!
**If you are looking for custom candles for an event or for client gifts, my friend Kate hand-makes custom candles.
This Week in Good Things:
🎤 Good Listening: I’m on a Huberman Lab kick. I really enjoyed this week’s wide ranging podcast episode with Adam Grant. There’s a section where he talks about spending a week writing to 100 of his acquaintances, to share with them a specific instance of where he thought they were being their best selves (this was transformative for both giver and receiver!) While I don’t think I have the bandwidth to write 100, I plan on writing at least 5, and starting from there.
✍️ Absurdly delightful food writing: a friend posted some food writing thinking it was AI, but I immediately recognized it for where it was from: Nigella Lawson’s truly STAND OUT 2002 book ‘How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food‘. There are gem quotes like “The freezer can easily become a culinary graveyard. A place where good food goes to die.” and “I call this a pudding cake because its texture is simply a mixture between pudding and cake, though lighter by far than that could ever imply. Think, rather, of a mousse without fluffiness; this is dense but delicate. And it’s heavenly tepid, when the cakiness of the chocolate sits warmly around the sour-sweet juicy raspberries embedded within, like glinting, mud-covered garnets.” TEPID! If you are looking for a new cookbook, this ENTIRE book is full of gems. Don’t sleep on it.
🏴☠️ Party-Watching the new season of Our Flag Means Death. I can’t describe this show in a way to give it any justice. Monty Python-esque? Absurd? A tale of deep and complicated friendships? Someone best described it to me this week as “historical fan fiction” though and that’s about right.
📖 When I grow up, I want to be the Watertown Library Newsletter. It’s full of excellent events, workshops, and more. I loved this gem: “Read to a DogWednesday, 12/20 | 6:30 PM |Registration Begins 12/6 | Cozy up and read with our furry friends from Pets and People. For independent readers.” On that note, libraries are my favorite.
Dog Walks with Friends. We came across our friend Leda, the Samoyed for a walk and talk. Leda’s human is going for a golf vacation this week, and his other human is working hard on her contribution to Newton’s Gingerbread House Exhibit and Contest. We also rolled up to see our friend Meg at AnkFit (if you need great personal training in the Boston area, strongly recommend!) where she was wearing a matching sweater, and we practiced focused sitting for treats. We also went for an abbreviated walk with our friend Sawyer (and her human, Summer).
Acquisitions of Note:
🔕 After several weeks of suffering through noise, I invested in a few pairs of fancy earplugs: the Loop. Are they life changing? I’m not sure, but they do work quite well, and have a variety of sizes included.
🪴 I re-upped my Pro-Hort Horticulture class for 2024 so I can continue to have an excuse to talk all things gardening and plants on a weekly zoom. If you have an interest in the topic, it’s a spectacular program from UMN.
🧂 In my continued descent into “bro-science”, I broke down and purchased some LMNT Electrolytes based on the recommendation of my cousin, Dan. If anything, this is a good excuse to drink an extra few cups of water a day with some light flavor.
🏃🏻♀️I registered for my annual New Year’s 5k race, and next weekend Firehouse 10 milerat Heartbreak. I’m not training for anything in particular, just life.
✍️ For those of you who like food magazines, I was heartened to see that Saveur is bringing print back this spring in a new way. (Disclosure, the Editor-in-Chief/CEO Kat, who purchased the magazine back from the big corporation is a fellow Wellesley Alum!)
Good Things to Think About
✨ Where have you given yourself the opportunity to PLAY this week? As adults, it’s all too easy to forget to have fun. I try to give myself plenty of time to dangle on things (I’m always game to try new torture devices at the gym), craft, dress up in costume, experiment with something silly in the kitchen, adventure quest, laugh whenever I can. This week I also spent a little too much time playing with “idler” games which can be meditative and soothing. Here were a few: quick draw, the zen zone (thanks to my friend Marie) – I like “break”, and Cats + Soup, which comes free with a Netflix subscription.
💌 “Life is going to life. It’s how we life with life that makes the difference. Attitude is the best navigator there is.” Wise words from my friend Sean this week. I want to note too that I worked with Sean for a few years on a client account, and we hadn’t connected in a while. He’s one of those amazing humans who asks how things are going and truly means it – he also said the kindest things to me many, many months after my dad died – usually around the time that people forget that you’ve lost a loved one (but the grief starts actually hitting you.) I won’t ever forget that.
⏳ I’m always fascinated by the passing of time, and how differently we think of time over a lifetime (and in between cultures). This week I read an essay in the new Noma in Kyoto magazine about the seasons – in the traditional Japanese calendar, there are 24 divisions, and 72 micro-seasons that make up the year. I love the idea of extra time squeezed in past our 52 individual weeks.
Other Good Things
📺 Watch: I’m saving my GBBO finale for tonight, but not sure if I’m going to be thrilled or disappointed. // This John Oliver episode about dollar stores.
🍫 Even if there are no small children in your midst, I highly recommend getting yourself mini marshmallows and hot cocoa for seasonal evenings. I’ve been following this woman’s hot chocolate quest.
🧠 Wisdom:What I Know at 60, Elissa Altman. My favorite kind of list.
💍 Fun Celebrations: I couldn’t help flip through Alison Roman’s 42 picture spread of her Wedding in Vogue. I subscribe to a newsletter by Alison Roman and bookmarked this weeks lamb with white wine and potatoes.
☕️ Do this: when was the last time you stared at your face in the bubbles of your coffee cup? (There are hundreds of you!)
🤣 Another way to describe it: I straight up chortled at this description of American Breakfast in this (generally excellent) Cantonese Home Cooking piece “Of course, before jumping to judgement, in my opinion this fare still compares reasonably favorably to that workaday American breakfast of “plain milk soup and highly processed anti-masturbation* flakes – with or without the extra sugar”.”
🐚 Good Deeds. Shout out to my friend Lizzy this week, who filled up 2 40-pound trashbags with trash at the beach this week.
This week I spent some time kicking off my What to Eat in 2024 project. I’ll likely make this into a sharable PDF. I’m busy making lists of meals I want to eat on a regular basis, seasonal good eats, projects to try, cookbooks to read, things to eat when I don’t want to cook (or eat) the things I have planned, and a list of favorites from Trader Joe’s to start. Bean of the week: still working my way through the Rancho Gordo large white limas.
Sunday: Butter beans, chicken sausage, tomato bake (with a little miso)
Monday: Chicken and chickpea tagine (from Nigella’s ‘How to Eat’)
Tuesday: A big green salad with salmon, crispy pancetta, and jammy eggs
Wednesday: Liver, onions, mashed potato, broccoli with blue cheese
Thursday: Pork tenderloin, endive + mustard salad
Friday: out! Bar Vlaha.
Lunches: Leftovers (including baked beans and quite a bit of cheese), TJ’s lamb vindaloo with yogurt, palak paneer with some sardines. TJ’ squiggly noodles with peanut butter and edamame.
Treat options: Chocolate mousse. TJ’s Iced Gingerbread in the freezer. Peppermint Hold the Cones. Walker’s Shortbread. Pumpkin Sticky Toffee Pudding.
🥑 Good Eats from this past week: beyond my dinners, some of the highlights of the week included Tteokboki with chicken and cauliflower, beef and butter bean bowl with tomato and avocado, Trader Joe’s Bulgogi (new in the freezer aisle) over rice with avocado; Trader Joe’s Butternut Squash Mac + Cheese with chicken sausage; evenings with home made decaf chain in bed; and a slice of ricotta pie.
We’ve had a bout of stunning fall afternoon light. (Ignore my weird smirk and just look at the light hitting the top of these trees!)
I hope you’ve had a generally good long Thanksgiving Weekend! My holiday was blissfully low-key – my family brought food to my house, and we all sat around and enjoyed ourselves.
Blast from the past: This weekend my cousin Dan and his (awesome) wife Jasmine were visiting from Seattle with their kiddos, and it was nice getting to spend some time with them. I got to be auntie – which includes things like being a human jungle gym – which is delightful. We went through a box of old photos and here I am with my cousins Dan (right) and Mike (left) wearing one of my favorite ever party dresses.
December Intentions
Still feeling like I need to recuperate from the shift in daylight hours, I’ve been working on adding intentional Joyful Activities, Self Care, and Good Things into my day to day. I’m hit or miss when it comes to working on my monthly intentions, but this week I actually sat down to do them in advance.
I don’t think of these as “to-do lists” more like “options”. Here’s my first stab.
Out and About
Movie Theater (with Popcorn) on $7 Tuesday • SOWA Winter Market • The Holiday Market at Snowport • Burdick’s Hot Chocolate and a winter chocolate box • High Tea (at BPL?) • Quick trip to NYC to see a friend visiting from Luxembourg • M+J’s yearly holiday party • Dog Walks with friends • Movie Night at Home with Popcorn • Winter at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum • Sargent exhibit at the MFA
Self-Care List • Massage • Charcoal Face Mask • Eye Masks • Stick on Nails until you can get a manicure again • Find a new TCM/Acupuncture/Acupressure person • LMNT order
Move!
Lift (Weekly Lifting 3x) • CRAW • Run the Firehouse! (10 miles from Heartbreak Hill Run Club) • Yoga (weekly Ompractice) • Pilates (Reformer?) • I’ve already signed up for the Needham New Year’s 5k
Update Lists
Inputs List (Podcasts, Reading, Watching) • Recipes to Cook • Cooking Projects 2024 • Bean of the Month • Hobonichi Prep for 2024
Create
2024 Calendar • Sketch in Sketchbook • Winter Good Things Guide
Home
List 5 things to giveaway on Buy Nothing • Figure out what you would outsource 3 hours of at-home support (Cleaning blankets? Dog beds? Body Doubling?) • Research options for said support • Updated addresses for New Year Cards • Ask Keren for her recommendations for Fancy Candles (now that you’ve broken the seal with the Voluspa Gilt + Pomander candle
This Week in Good Things:
Good Listening: this week the most interesting podcast episode I listened to was Huberman’s on ‘A Science-Supported Journaling Protocol to Improve Mental & Physical Health’. The concept is around journaling specifically about past difficult experiences in a particular protocol format in order to provide therapeutic relief. I found the notes about the science to be fascinating, and I’ll be trying this method myself.
Healing Touch: this week I had my once (quarterly-ish?) massage. There was a time in my life where I was going regularly to acupressure, but stopped. Getting body work done has a clear positive impact on my day to day mobility and my ability to do sports, so one goal I have in the new year is being more intentional about figuring out advance scheduling (but not too frequently!)
Nailed it. I’ve learned over the years that I need to keep my hands manicured regularly or I will destroy my nails. The past few weeks have been tough on my hands, so today I slapped on some Kiss IMPRESS press-on nails, and the first person who saw me in the wild complimented me on my manicure.
Who do you outsource decisions to? I’m trying to update my Movie list, and asked a few cinephiles to add their contributions to my list. This got me about 50 new films to add that I haven’t seen before. (I also use Letterboxd, which is like GoodReads, but for movies.)
Coffee with Friends: a thing I’d like to do more of in the new year. I’ve been trying to figure out which coffee shop is my favorite in the neighborhood for a casual beverage. (The answer is that they are all packed – so the best option is to take a coffee to go and go for a walk and talk with a warm drink in hand.)
Party-Watching the Loki finale. I’m a big fan of watching shows with friends. (Even though Disney got rid of the party-watch feature) and now we have to go ‘3, 2, 1, PLAY’ and pausing for bathroom breaks is more of a challenge.
Dog Walks with Friends. Last week I traipsed around the neighborhood with Bertram and his Corgi friend Sawyer (and her human, Summer). This week we met up with Guinnevere and her Frenchie, Sylvie.
Acquisitions of Note:
I try to keep spending to a minimum on Black Friday, but my local shoe store (The Barn Family Shoe Store) did have a fire sale on my regular shoe (the Brooks Glycerin 20), beyond the 25% off that Brooks had on their own website, so I picked up three pairs. In normal season, I pick up pairs at Heartbreak Hill with my Heartbreakers discount!
Tis’ the season to buy yourself a waxed Amaryllis bulb. (It’s worth it!) Seven dollars at Trader Joe’s and it provides day by day excitement and you don’t need to water it.
I upgraded two substack memberships to paid: Austin Kleon and The Handwriting Club (I’m a long time fan of her blog Shutterbean!)
Good Things to Think About
🌨 How do I make my personal templates/checklists more accessible for the weeks that I have low energy? One conversation I had this week was about how to design for different energy levels. One of my systems that works the best each week is my “Friday Reset” which is a checklist that lives on the whiteboard on my fridge. It’s really simple: laundry, trash, dishes, shower, boxes, restock stuff, meal plan. Ordered roughly in the order I’d like to get things done. There’s a space for one or two other things (like “blanket/sheets”) I’ve been trying to think about how to re-create this for other aspects of my life – like workday needs.
👋 I’m thinking about Connection: meaningful ways to stay connecting with friends and family members (without necessarily spending more in-person time together). Things like nice notes, little things in the mail, meme trading, notes around meaningful dates, party watching, Zoom dinners, reading the same book with or without a book club. What do you do to stay connected? (Soliciting ideas!)
Other Good Things
📺 Watch: was sad about this week’s Bake Off contestant leaving! Also, here’s a ridiculous recreation of the Great British Bake Off tent… with snails.
👅 Good Tastes: I had Noma Pickled Chanterelles on a rice bowl this week, and the world is sleeping on pickled mushrooms.
📖 EatYourBooks (the website I use to organize my cookbooks) has a list of upcoming cookbooks to look forward to for 2024.
The many names for Sneks. You think dog show people are intense, have you seen cat show people?
I absolutely loved this clip with Tig Notaro on Colbert about her kid heckling her at her standup show.
The Weekly Meal Plan:
One of my more enjoyable (for me) end of the year retrospective activities is going through my list of meals over the past year. I think the past year has been a little thin on creativity, so for 2024 I’m going to pay a little more attention to a list of a dozen or so dishes I can eat on repeat that are outside of my current usuals. Bean of the week: Rancho Gordo large white limas.
Saturday: Takeout from Grandma’s Kitchen, a truly delightful Taiwanese restaurant around the block from my house.
Sunday: Leftover’s Shepherd’s Pie with ground beef, gravy, mashed potatoes
Monday: Tteokbokki with chicken thighs
Tuesday: Butter beans with parmesan (or possibly with miso and tomato)
Wednesday: Fish night, rice bowl, nori, cucumbers, pickled ginger (this was the most eaten meal of my year)
Thursday: Soba noodles with tofu, tahini lemon dressing
Friday: Pizza night (either Cape Cod or Tenderoni’s)
Lunches: Leftovers (including baked beans and quite a bit of cheese), TJ’s lamb vindaloo with yogurt, assorted TJ’s bean burritos, TJ’s breakfast burrito.
Buds. This week saw several pup-walks with our friend Sawyer the Corgi, and our friend Sylvie the Frenchie.
👀 This week I started my End of the year Retrospective Process. It’s something I really enjoy doing in downtime over the last few weeks of the year. I’ve written about this before in some detail here.
Usually, I’ll go through my calendar, my photos – 12k this year so far, my emails, my writing, journals and notebooks, and anything else that can help me to get a better picture of my life in the past year.
It’s quite a fun process – I get great satisfaction in looking back and re-living things!
And then over the next few weeks I’ll update some of my regular life-binder lists: my movies/shows to watch, creative adventures, purchases I’d like to make, creative inputs (podcasts, etc.), Goodreads, etc. I’ll review my financial plans and finish up my taxes early.
At the end of the month, I’ll update my intentions for the new year, and pick a new word of the year, so I can set off with fresh ideas and inspiration.
I’ve been loving the light hitting the tops of the trees this week on our late afternoon walks before it gets dark.
This Week in Good Things:
Food Memories: I boiled a chicken. And then when it was almost done cooking, I some farfalle noodles to the stock, and served myself a soup with chicken, pasta, and a lot of lemon, just like my dad would when I wasn’t feeling good.
Sometimes Self Care is.. doing nothing? I had my quarterly-ish facial with Lily. Upon observing my skin, she mentioned that whatever I was doing with my skincare I should do more of. I didn’t tell her that actually, I went down a rabbit hole of finding the best products over several months, acquiring them, and then never using them. My skin just likes being ignored, almost criminally.
Change of Scenery. My neighbors are re-siding their house, which is noisy. So I picked up and went to work at the coffee shop a few times this week during the mid-day. It reminded me that I still haven’t gotten my pre-pandemic coffee shop routine back, and might want to figure out how to do that again.
First Snow (that wasn’t.) Well, it was supposed to snow, but ended up being a bit of a dud. That said, I decided to celebrate with chocolate mousse. I pulled in my dahlias (the tubers need to be split and saved this week.) The following several days we had un-seasonally warm-ish weather.
World Adventures: Our Battle Ducks team made it to region 11 of CRAW, the circumpolar race around the world. We’ve been going for several years now! This region is from the top of Alaska down through Canada to the Border of Montana. Early days I used to write a weekly re-cap of where we are in the world – I think I’d like to bring that back!
Good Snacks: Light Rye Wasa Crackers, Trader Joe’s Pavé Cheese, Kalles, and Topaz Apples.
I acquired one of the most unique cookbooks in my entire collection from one of our neighborhood little libraries: Sharing the Table With Your Bird: Recipes for people and parrots!
I had a great time watching The Marvels. Is it the best Marvel? No, but it has one of the most purely enjoyable Marvel fight scenes that I’ve seen period. The magic systems are interesting. And the new world locations that we visit are delightful. Also, I got myself popcorn, which I never do. (I also learned that Majestic has brought back $7 Tuesdays, and you can still reserve your seat on Atom. So I think I’ll be doing that again.)
Good Things Elsewhere and on the Internet:
I’ve been trying not to go down too many rabbit holes this week. (Although Sam Altman being outsted from AI has definitely been one of them.)
Age is a number. Statistics-wise, Lebron James is having the best season of his career. This is his 21st year in the league, and he’s about to turn 39. He’s also the oldest player right now in the NBA.
Taylor has her Disney Prince (with a good voice, too!) Swifties then proceeded to help him get to number one on the charts.
Are the 90s a lie? I’ve not been able to look away from the TikTok’s of Enrique Iglesias singing poorly at live shows. (Sadly, I feel like there’s something that has happened to his voice. Also, in contrast, Nepo babies crushing it: check out Emily Estefan on Instagram.
Local History: For those of you who know anything about Massachusetts Geography, I live right around the corner from the Star Market over the Mass Pike. Enjoyed this article about it’s history.
Maybe you need some Squid Facts. The nice thing about this is that it asks you to prompt it any time you’d like a fact, and doesn’t send them aggressively.
The Weekly Meal Plan:
This week I’ve been going through my meals in 2023. Every year I make a big recap list, and it’s always fascinating to see what kinds of foods I’ll eat for weeks at a time, and then… forget entirely.
Sunday: Meatloaf, mashed potato, steamed broccoli with blue cheese and balsamic
Monday: Chipotle Pulled Pork Chili, leftover mashed potato, green salad
Cross-Posted from my Substack. (Please subscribe if you’d like this in your weekly inbox!)
I pulled out the good camera. As much as the best camera you have is the one that you have on you, the DSLR in fact does produce better images than my nice iPhone.
This Week in Good Things:
This week felt like an “I made it through the week!” week. If it felt that way for you, solidarity! I felt a sudden strong onset of seasonal affective disorder, spent the first several days of the week absolutely a mess, and have been working to turn this frown upside down.
Bertram got nose butter and didn’t complain about it. This stuff works magically. Also, in the cold weather he becomes a morning snuggler.
I voted. While I’m proud that Massachusetts makes it easy to vote by mail, I still roll up to my polling place. The best part about voting in person is that you get a sticker.
I got an icing cookie with little ball sprinkles from Arthur’s Montreal. (Thank you, John!). And a Walker’s Shortbread Advent calendar. (Yes, I’m Jewish, but everyone needs a box of seasonal treats in the winter.)
In, things that went comically badly but I turned around: I was supposed to go to one of my favorite 2x a year Wellesley club of Boston events: Authors on Stage. It’s an excellent event with three authors, each sharing not specifically about their book, but more of the behind the scenes of writing the book. This one was with Carl Safina, Novuyo Rosa Tshuma, and Virginia Pye. On the morning of, the temperature had dropped, and when I went to turn on my car, my battery was dead. Instead of hopping in an Uber, I went upstairs, poured myself another coffee, and cried. (Thankfully AAA does battery replacement. So now we have a fresh one. If you don’t have AAA, it’s always worth it.)
I succumbed to “bro-science” and ordered a box of AG1 (athletic greens powder). When it arrived, the box was weirdly damaged internally. I dropped a note to support and literally before they responded they sent out a replacement.
Working on the porch in the afternoon before it becomes too cold.
I got to hang out in a semi-empty Museum of Fine Arts after hours for an event. I won’t lie, getting to wander through galleries without stepping around people, pretending that I’m spending a night at the museum is probably my favorite way to experience art.
Pumpkin waffle with crunchy Biscoff Spread.
We’re over 100 people registered for the Ompractice Slow Down! (First live class is Tuesday.)
I got to take home two more free bouquets of flowers from events (making my current household total six fancy bouquets.)
All hard weeks are solved by purchasing paper products and planners you will use approximately 30% of. I snuck over to the Paper Mouse to grab myself a Hobonichi Techo!
Tackled nagging tasks: finished cleaning out the car. Went to the Container Store for a drawer organizer for jewelry and other little things, and some baskets to keep my daily fitness clothing a little bit more organized.
I finally broke the seal and started my first Brandon Sanderson: Mistborn while patiently waiting for Iron Flame to come out.
I giggled watching Joy Ride. The Marvels is out, with a new box office weekend low for the MCU, but I think honestly it’s because I saw ZERO marketing. I will be going to watch it.
I ordered a Lisa Congdon “Live Your Values Card Deck” (affiliate link) in anticipation of my yearly Retro and Goal Setting. I keep my personal values on an Apple Note called “2023 Habits” which I read every day.
Mostly (NSFW – not safe for work), I can’t stop listening to Troye Sivan’s One of Your Girls. (Where can I find Marabou in the US?)
The Second Lunch is a (mostly) food blog by Sam Tackeff about recipes, food writing, ingredient hunting, travel, healthy living, fitness, and everything in between.
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