Welcome, new readers. I’d love to know where you’re coming from! Here’s an assortment of recommendations I collected this week:
To watch/read: Steven Soderberg’s list of things he watched, read, and saw in 2022. Literally the most prolific consumer of things I’ve ever seen. I’ve never watched more than two movies in a day and am both in awe of, and disbelief that grown adults can / opt to do this.
To drink: When I had COVID in December I lost my taste/smell for about two weeks. One day when I was on the mend, I walked into Boisson, this posh low ABV store in Cobble Hill en route to Trader Joe’s and they were sampling this For Bitter or Worse mocktail. Even though I had like 30% taste capability, I could tell it had negroni-ish vibes and I was so happy to taste anything I bought a pack immediately. Now that I can taste normally again, I can attest to the fact these are delicious, whether or not you’re on a break from alcohol. (I’m not, but always happy to mix it up).
Best toothbrush: Just going to shout out Quip electronic toothbrushes again. Low profile for an electronic toothbrush and my dentist actually told me I have excellent oral hygiene last week despite not having been there in like 18 months. Thanks, toothbrush.
To watch: I’m 3 years late to the Emily in Paris critique discourse, but just going to say it was a breath of fresh air. Loved binging every moment of it, loved how literal every conversation was, the utter lack of character depth, the ridiculous outfits, how far it was from real life, how everyone is a model, how distorted and idealistic the usage of social media. Sometimes you just need a break from life in the form of an addictive algorithmically generated show for millennial women where you’re not actually caught up in whether it’s good or not, and this show is fully it.
To eat: The breakfast tacos at Los Tacos are perfect. How do you make a tortilla so stretchy?
To play: Ada was ready to level up from the 100-200 piece puzzle but I was finding the options were scarce! Enter: the Mudpuppy 500-piece search and find puzzles, which is just the right kind of complexity (i.e. every piece is unique — no endless sky), and involves lots of cute characters. We just finished this Chocolate Shop one.
To make: This delicious soup with toasted farro and greens, but I subbed fennel for the celery and tons of shiitakes and cremini mushrooms for the chicken. 100% delicious. Serve with a good hunk of bread and stir a little sour cream into the soup.
Everything Everywhere: I had mixed feelings about the film, Everything Everywhere All at Once, but I’ve loved hearing the stories of the making-of and people behind the film. It seems even-more-unlikely that the film became the hit it did when you hear of the very specific confluence of factors that needed to come together. Sam Fragoso’s conversation with Ke Huy Quan on Talk Easy made me cry multiple times and Anna Sale’s conversation with “The Daniels,” Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, on Death Sex & Money is a very earnest and honest dialogue about struggling with your own process of making things.
Getting organized: I had to clean out my office to have some pipes in the wall repaired last week and re-discovered this Task Pad, which is a very satisfying heavyweight notebook set-up as a to-do list. But because I also live a pretty digital life, I’m trying to move myself out of putting everything in the Notes app and trying out Notions, and though I still need to invest more in my set-up, it’s very impressive thus far. I also started using Expensify for expense reporting last year which is essential as a consultant/freelancer. Highly recommend.
To cook: Jacob invested in a wok + array of ingredients as informed by Kenji Lopez Alt’s the book, The Wok. This was a Christmas gift for me but as the person who does less of the cooking in the house, the real gift is the meals he’s been cooking for me, including all types of sautéed spicy, smoky greens, mapo tofu, stir fried chili chicken, and so on. Really nice to get flavors we usually only eat in restaurants at home.
Classroom Valentines: One of my children hates societally mandated crafting, so pretty sure I’m going to just order 30x whatever card my child wants for Valentine’s Day from Minted this year. Leaning towards this Lego theme or this maze theme and honestly cheaper than buying craft supplies.
To Read: The Means by Amy Fusselman is a funny and observant and critical read. It’s about a couple who buys a plot of land in the Hamptons but can’t really afford to actually build a house on it, so has to make constant compromises with their vision of an aspirational beach house. It’s about self-narrative around parenthood, work, success, and how the language of real estate has come to supplant a lot of language of desire. Shoutout to my friend Melanie who recommended it.
See you next week! Send me recs for shows I can binge now that I’m done with Emily in Paris, please!
We made the Springfield style cashew chicken the other night from Kenji’s book and omg! It was so good.
If you haven’t already watched it, I am loving Sex Lives of College Girls!