Hello, hello, everyone! Last week, almost everyone in my house was dealing with some sort of yucky respiratory viral thing (not COVID!) and I’m relieved to say that we’re all finally feeling better. We watched a lot of movies, had early bedtimes, and I made sure to pump myself and the girls with Vitamin C and Zinc. It feels great to be able to all sleep through the night again and back to our routines.
Today I spent some time in our garden, which is, at this point, pretty overrun with weeds - I picked the last tomatoes, peppers and herbs and was excited to find a lot of random Tulsi growing, too (we didn’t plant any this year; must be popping up from last year). If you’re not familiar with Tulsi - aka Holy Basil - it’s an adaptogenic, medicinal herb that is prominent in Ayurvedic medicine. It’s great for anxiety, stress, blood sugar, oral health, cholesterol and is anti-inflammatory. I picked and washed a huge bunch of it, dried it, and hung it upside down - in a few weeks, it’ll be completely dry, at which point I’ll crush it up for tea to enjoy all winter (I like a pinch of it in my green tea in the morning).
Here’s what else I’m getting jazzed about right now:
I first picked up Kris Carr’s book Crazy Sexy Diet many years ago at a Penn Station bookstore; I flipped through it, thought it sounded too extreme for me (I was not, at this point, remotely ready to go fully vegan) and put it back on the shelf. A few years later, I re-discovered her work, ended up working for her (which I still do, to this day!) and she has profoundly changed my life, both personally and professionally. All this to say - she has a new book out now, I’m Not a Mourning Person, which I pre-ordered and received last week. Following the loss of her beloved Dad to pancreatic cancer, Kris wrote this book about how to navigate our messy emotions after big life “ruptures” (serious illness, death of a loved one, divorce, etc). It’s beautiful, heartbreaking, thought provoking and hopeful.
I’m a big fan of Ella Mills of Deliciously Ella, and have recently started listening to her podcast, Wellness with Ella. This (older) episode, Happiness As a Choice, was really profound; I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.
I love anything Gordon Ramsay puts on TV (Masterchef is a perennial fav), so I was DELIGHTED to find out that Kitchen Nightmares is returning after a 10 year hiatus. We watched the first episode last night and it still holds up.
While we’re on the topic of TV, Season 3 of The Morning Show is really good. It doesn’t hurt that this season features Jon Hamm (le sigh!) - having him onscreen alongside my long-term girl crush, Jennifer Aniston, is nothing short of miraculous.
I just re-made this Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Banana Bread that I published last year and it’s so yummy. I’ve been enjoying it with tea and packing it in my girls’ lunchbox for their school snack.
Trying my hand at Bullet Journaling in an effort to consolidate the 1378 planners and notebooks that I scribble in daily. I got this journal and am watching YouTube videos galore. I’m admittedly overwhelmed but excited to get started.
If I could spend a rainy Saturday doing anything I wanted, it would almost certainly involve a depressingly large chunk of the day laying in bed and watching YouTube videos. This is my newest favorite channel that I’ve been binging (see also: why I have productivity issues); Emma’s style/aesthetic is so good!
For all my fellow elder emo millennials out there, Blink 182 announced a new album this fall, and I’m pret-ty excited about it. Their late 90’s/early aughts albums were on constant repeat in my headphones - I just love these guys so much. One More Time, their new single, is really good and their most personal yet.
Hope you’re all staying happy and well!
*Such* a great list. I, too, adore lying in bed and bingeing YouTube - will subscribe to Emma. Also loving The Morning Show this season.