Well, I’ve been moving through the stages of grief this week, but out of order, how about you?
Monday: Super depressed. Stood in the shower THREE times in one day, just to feel something.
Tuesday: Bargaining with God, my family, everyone. Bargaining with myself. Trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel. There is no tunnel. Instagram now only promotes sleepwear and lounge bras to me. The algorithm has completely forgotten I’ve ever worn real clothes or needed any kind of meaningful breast support.
Wednesday: Denial of reality. Tried to think of fun things to do when this is over. Plan a trip! Really appreciate dropping my kids off at school! Tableside guac! I’m going to write a fictionalized, epic account of Vashti! A return to a kinder, gentler world where productivity takes a backseat to love and care for humanity! Accidentally read that it may not be over for a really long time, how it’s affecting a disproportionate amount of black and brown people, how America has 5% of the world’s population and 30% of its cases. Bought a lot of ice cream. Laid on various floors in my home.
Thursday: Blind, objective rage. Desiring nothing more than to knock on people’s doors to remind them that being controversial is not a personality. Threw my phone across the room at one point. People/things that enraged me: Jeff Lowe, the publishing industry, oblivious influencers, some shrimp, a lawnmower, me for cutting my hair right before this all started and now I can’t have a good bun, police in Kentucky, Christians, iMessage responses, the ESV translation of the Bible, Plandemic, quarantine memes, Zoom, homeschool for still happening, and homeschool for almost being over.
Friday: And here we are at acceptance. This is happening. This is reality. The highs, the lows, all of it mish-mashed together. This is what we’ve got. Further up and further in.
And that is why I am so grateful to you. Yes. You. Dana and Lindsay and Lindsey and Lily and Lisa and Sarah and Sara and Hannah and Rebecka and Amanda and Megan and Ashlea and Melissa and Mookie and Leah and ALL OF YOU. I mean that, very deeply and sincerely. As silly as we get here sometimes, this has been a space of true community for me, and that is only because you all are kind and generous with yourselves to share here. Thank you for that. I keep thinking I’ll write a proper newsletter again, with real writing and deeper musings, but I stop every time because I love the thread so much. I love what you’ve built here. Socially distant back pats to you all, with my deepest thanks. My heart tries to escape from my chest when I think of you all here.
And on that note, she said, awkwardly sliding away from this outburst of emotion, may I present to you our lil treasures for the week? I’ll go first.
🍤 We’ve started having Travel Thursdays at our house. Everyone votes on a location (this week was Lousiana), Ben builds a playlist, I come up with a meal based on our location, the girls work up a little presentation with their favorite facts on the place, and Cyrus refuses to eat the food. We did this sheet pan Cajun boil from Damn Delicious and it was excellent. I did accidentally use pre-cooked shrimp so that left something to be desired, but when you know better on Trader Joe’s shrimp, you do better. Next week is France, so if you have music or food suggestions, I’d love them!
📺 Should we have a Netflix party for Center Stage? I thought about doing this when the Weirdness started, then flagged on it. But after reading this, my vigor is renewed.
🇪🇹 We did a deep dive into the Ark of the Covenant over on the Bible Binge Patreon feed (you can join us here) and in my research, I found this fascinating article about the Ethiopian Orthodox church that claims to have the actual art in their possession. I particularly liked the part about the virgin monks.
📚Have you pre-ordered my pal Knox’s book, All Things Reconsidered? If you have, the Popcast is doing a virtual live show to celebrate the book’s birthday on June 6 and it’s going to be so fun. All the details are here.
Okay Lil Swipes. I’m ready for all the goodness you bring. Cue The Golden Girls theme song, and know that I’m singing it straight into your face.
Love this newsletter and the stages of grief were very similar. We're doing Theme Nights since we cant travel on a long awaited trip to Portugal and Germany this year... last week was Portugal and this week was France! I made up a free 1 pg pdf if you want ideas for your French night this week. We made it super EASY with 2 ingredients 5-minute mendiant chocolates, my daughter cut up an old red shirt for our scarves and we played "escargot" (a French version of hopscotch) with chalk! 🐌. PDF here: https://familytripguides.com/themenights/
Well, this is the first time I’ve had the guts to post on here but after reading comments here today, I was just so moved by this beautiful community. So I decided to go for it. And then something glitched and I lost my really long post. So, here we go again. Really hope it doesn’t end up showing up.
I too have been experience all the stages of grief. Except acceptance. I can never make it to that one. I have severe anxiety and depression and severe OCD that revolves around a germ phobia and this time has been absolute hell for me. I haven’t left my house is 60 days. I’m anxious all the time. I’m having panic attacks so often. I have an only child and I listen to him talk all day (so many words) but I’m not playing with him. My poor husband always has to clean off lots of stuff for me and help with my OCD fears but it’s so much more right now. I’m in Kansas and people here are starting to talk about doing things again but it doesn’t seem like everyone is taking the social distancing part seriously and many people aren’t wearing masks. I was only half joking when I told my book club on our zoom call tonight that I’ll go back out in the world when there’s a vaccine. I’m so tired of feeling anxious all the time. I just don’t know how to do this anymore. And that doesn’t even touch on the grief we are all feeling from not seeing our loved ones or seeing them from afar. My kiddo is going to turn 8 on Thursday and I can only have my mom and sister come to the yard and sit 10 feet away. (We’ve done this twice and I had panic attacks both times. Also, for those who were talking about it, I lost my dad 2 years ago and I miss him so much and you’re all right, it never goes away, this pain that just attaches to your insides and lives there now.)
Anyway, Erin, you have created such an amazing community here and you are all beautiful land mermaids!!!
As for Treasures:
1. I am an avid reader but haven’t been able to read hardly at all during this time. But I tore through The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. It’s not going to be for everyone and had a few scenes that definitely gave me the heebie jeebies. But so good!
2. And then I know I’m late to the party, but Schitt’s Creek! I’ve watched 3 seasons is just a few weeks and I am all in. I love this show so much!
Thank you all for this beautiful thread where the real treasures are all of you. (Too cheesy? Oh well!)
You guys, HAMILTON!!! We must rejoice for this good fortune! I'm starting a countdown, going through Erins spreadsheet again, memorizing even more lyrics, and considering costumes for the fam! It's all I have to look forward to😁
In other news, my kids officially finished school today and, hallelujer 🙌🏽but also, now what do we do for all the hours of the day?!
The crushing decision making fatigue involved with 'reopening' is a doosy, it was a lot easier when everyone stayed home and we were all (mostly) on the same page. Now my mom wants us to go to the beach and kids want to go INSIDE the walmart and a very important senior is having a tiny graduation party... and I just can't deal with making these calls that seem to have possibly very high risks😭
Erin- I hope the Vashti thing is real! Can't wait for June 6, I hope you'll be on the live show too!
I was delighted when this little joy bringer popped in my inbox and sad I couldn’t look at it until tonight. I love this weekly get together. It brings such light to my life!
We had our first online orientation today and it was interesting! (I work in higher ed). It amazes me what we can now do with technology but I miss face to face!
I left my house for the first tine in 59 days this week for a doctors appointment (I’m high risk) and it was surreal. Then the next day I went into my office to do some things I couldn’t do at home. It was nice to be out. But felt... odd.
My dog however was quiet the unhappy fellow and I have a feeling when things return to normal he will need a counselor.
Marco Polo continues to be my favorite part of this pandemic as I can talk to my friends and my mom and family daily. I miss them so much. My nieces are growing like weeds. I got a photo tonight and I’m pretty sure they look like 15 years older. I’ve been sending them things each week so it was more books this week. I’m so glad they love books. Makes this book nerd happy.
I feel like I’ve reached an odd place where nothing interest me right now. I haven’t read or really watched anything of note this week. It’s like my interest is all eh.
Erin your use of a GG gif will be remembered I go to sleep listening to my OG gals every night. 😂😂
Also I have no kids but am thinking I want to participate in travel Thursday. I love trying new recipes especially!
I also love reading what this community shares! You all spur me on towards gratitude in all the things.
My treasure this week was a 2-hour one-way drive SOLELY to get a #1 with Waffle Fries and a Sweet Tea from Chick-fil-A. While that's commonplace to lots of folks, it was the highlight of the week!
You see, my sister and I currently live/travel full-time in our RV -- and when shelter-in-place started, we happened to be doing our 1-week stint here in Joshua Tree, CA. Now, eight weeks later, we're still in J-Tree because there are very few campgrounds here in the West taking in new campers. The desert temps have started rising as if we're living in an oven 24/7 and those high temps have brought on high amounts of stir crazy. We Southern belles are missing our humidity and sweet tea and CFA ice in a styrofoam cup (it's the little things, right?). Lately, when we get really low, we check our map app again just to make sure the CFA hasn't magically moved closer to us. Then we joke about how CFA would give us the oooomph needed right now to brave the grocery store again and muster through prepping one more meal in our tiny oven while living in the giant oven of a desert. (dramatic much....yes, yes, we are)
One day we just DID IT -- we drove the 2-hours there and back and it. was. glorious. And also ridiculous. Between the two of us, we got 6 meals - one for lunch that day, another for dinner, and one more for the next day. My re-heated nuggets and stale waffle fries dipped in Honey Mustard was the second best thing I've had in a long time. Second only to that CFA sandwich I had while blazing down the interstate on our way back to Joshua Tree.
I read Erin's thread and got teary as she started talking about the community here and listing names I'm starting to recognize. Then I read Mookie and thought "Wait. How does she know my nickname???" Well, kitten, that's because you listed your email address AND name for here as one in the same. So, hi guys. I'm Danielle. @coffeewithdanielle on Insta and Mookie to some college friends. Also, apparently unable to appropriately sign up for online accounts with real name vs. email address. #winning
This group has been such a bright spot for me the last two months. From pen pals to playlists to IG follows, I've had so many moments of joy inspired by you all. It's also been a gift to get to post honestly on weeks that were dumpster fires, and to encourage others when they've done the same. Yes, I'm THAT GAL who will read through every comment and like most of them. I know. I hate myself while I'm doing it, AND YET. Because we need to feel seen, no?
So. My treasures this week:
1. Each weeknight at 9pm my pastor is doing a compline via FB live. It's been so life-giving to have that routine to close out the day. A meditation, quite moment of reflection and closing prayer. At some point each night, he takes a moment to say a verbal hello to each person who has commented they are watching. I've told him there's something healing and almost sacred when he does that during this pandemic requiring separation from one another by a disease that makes folks die alone.
2. I bought Lillian (of L'il Swipes fam) Beil's book from amazon last week and it came this week. Such a sweet reminder for my heart of what is true and important while single.
3. I know Jamie Golden disdains birds and those who watch them, but birds have been a treasure for me. I have this little sunroom in my house (it's where I'm wfh right now), and I've positioned a couple of bird feeders directly in the line of sight of my chair in there. I've taken such joy in seeing all the different birds visiting the feeder - all the colors and sizes.
4. Trader Joe's fresh flowers. In the last two months I've gone to Trader Joe's three times. Each time I have strategically chosen fresh flowers that had a good price point and would last for at least one week. Hydrangeas, lilies and roses will usually last me two. It's made ALL the difference in my mood to have beauty to stare at.
I have resorted to watching only children movies and started the show Grace & Frankie. I was tired of having intense pregnancy dream influenced by dark/dramatic shows and pandemic media. So I am tricking my mind to only dream about pixar movies and living with my best friend in my 70s. As a mental health professional I certify this as an appropriate coping mechanism.
This is my FAVORITE place on the internet right now - real encouragement instead of a finger-pointing sh*t-show...guffawed in my bed this morning when I read about breast support. Thank you Erin. Quick CoronaCoaster story: Tuesday night I had a Zoom staff meeting (insert eye roll), and I told my team, "I think my family is hitting our stride!" Cue me the next two days sobbing, rage cleaning, and falling asleep on the couch at 6pm while my sons treat our house like a trash can. I spoke too soon.
After a non-stride-hitting week, a few of my lil' treasures:
1. The new oral-history of "The Office" book by journalist Andy Greene -- it is EVERYTHING we need right now. I read it slowly, so that I can savor every weird detail about Rainn Wilson's audition as Dwight and how they barely managed to get through "Dinner Party." Highly recommend.
2. Playing "Disney Hits" on Spotify when I am sad as hell -- my kids make fun of me, but it helps a lot with stupid emails or cleaning. Or rage. Also, coloring in the Harry Potter coloring book by Scholastic...I'm 32. Coloring the Hogwarts crest is soothing.
3. Online therapy. Grateful for a therapist who doesn't judge how much crazier I get every week.
4. Finally, you gals are the women who will a) understand this and b) don't know me in real life ;) --
my husband's father is LITERALLY Joe Exotic, expect less murder-y. THE SELFIES HE IS TAKING YOU GUYS!!! I desperately wish I could post the pictures here. Turquoise rings on almost every finger, several chain-like necklaces (at once), SO MUCH CHEST HAIR, sunglasses indoors. He has Joe's voice, same obsessive love for cuddling animals (chihuahuas in his case), same reliance on conspiracy theories and women being evil...my husband and I keep giggling (because we've already lamented through therapy) every time we see another selfie. He posts like 12 a day.
First time Lil Swipe here! When I get to the Depression stage I’ve been rewatching (yes, REwatching) the Great British Baking Show because guess what? You can’t have bad feelings while watching Rahul agonize over making the most delicious food in the world. Can’t be done.
I wish I could feel as much as you did - I just feel numb and walking around. I was just reading a research article on spread and it said "Sobering, right?" and I read "sobbing, right?" - I'll let you guess which one is more correct... things that bring me joy: 1) No longer caring that my grocery run includes more snacks than real food. 2) Eating said snacks like cold pizza for breakfast because i wanna 3) getting said pizza as carry out because I can only eat my cooking so long 4) putting on real clothes just to remember how good soft pants feel 5) treating my skin on Jamie B Golden level becuase what else am I going to do??
I love this thread - such a nice break from controversy and conspiracy theories which have invaded my Instagram space - which was supposed to be for pretty interior spaces and outfits I can’t afford, and inspiration.
This week, I escaped to whidbey island (island north of Seattle) to my parents cabin for a few days this week and it was so nice to be out of my house - even if I was still quarantined, to quarantine somewhere else was 🙌🏽
Also a city‘s twitter account south of Seattle - which is kind of an industrial city not known for much - is getting very spicy and feuding with other local municipal accounts. It’s hilarious.
Also I usually hate sci-fi books but powered through a book about aliens and robots called sleeping giants. Great escape read. I just started book 2 of the trilogy and it’s a lot darker — but I really enjoyed the first book.
Finally - just watched Michelle Obama’s documentary on Netflix and it’s a good feel-good piece.
And finally - I just went on a walk and saw a huge Bard owl in the day time. He was just surveying the woods by our house and getting scolded at by robins. The pandemic has admittedly made me interested in birds... I’m afraid I’m going to be investing in a bird watching book soon.
My contribution: I discovered a British show called The Repair Shop on Netflix. It's like if the peacefulness of Great British Baking Show, the stuff of Antiques Roadshow, and the process work of This Old House somehow had a threesome baby. Nice British people bring their family heirlooms to a thatched workshop on a living history farm in the Cotswolds, and the team of experts restores them with good humor, historic sensitivity, and incredible skill. No one gets mad or offended, nothing ends up worse of than it did when it came in, and everyone has different accents. I'm bingeing it when I can, but I'm watching it all by myself, so it's taking a little while longer than it would if I let the family watch it too.
This thread is exactly what I needed today. My mom had major back surgery last Friday and was moved from the hospital to a rehab facility this morning. Unfortunately she has to be quarantined for 2 weeks, so is unable to have visitors. She contracted a bone infection while in the hospital and it has been a major setback to her recovery. If you’re the praying kind, please pray for us. It’s been rough.
To take my mind off of *waves hand at the world* I’ve recently read The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate, a sequel to The One and Only Ivan. Both are fantastic books for late elementary/middle school readers if you need something new. I just started The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison and am looking forward to it. I’ve been binging Brooklyn 99 and watching my feel good movies this week (Popstar Never Stop Never Stopping, What We Do in the Shadows, Thor Ragnarok) and following Astead Wesley on Twitter as he’s hilariously reading HP for the first time.
Also, if you don’t shower until 4 or 5pm should you just go ahead and do your nighttime skincare routine?? 🤔🤣
Thank you, lil swipes for being a great community!!
Oh, Erin, I think a lot of us finally reached a breaking point this week! I had a complete toddler-style meltdown on Sunday that ended with me declaring that my family didn’t appreciate me and I was going to bed (at 8pm). Not my finest moment. This enneagram one is *very* uncomfortable with all the feels I’m feeling these days.
On a much brighter note, I built two beautiful pine Adirondack chairs from a kit all by myself! They are now on my front porch and are a reminder that I do still know how to do things besides eat and cry.
I’ve finally gotten my ability to focus long enough to read back, and have made it through 3 books in the last week.
My husband and I are binging our way through all the seasons of Veep and it may be the funniest show I’ve ever watched. Appropriate? No. But extremely funny!
My best beauty find for the week is the Maybelline SuperStay Ink Crayon lip pencils. Gorgeous colour, non-drying long wear matte finish, and super affordable. Read lipstick and jogging pants is my new uniform.
This thread might be my very favourite thing on the inter webs theses days. I love reading through the comments and seeing how we really are more alike than we’re different. I feel less alone and that’s huge right now.
Took me two entire minutes to figure out that Alf was not, in fact, in that photo. Thank YOU Erin for showing us the messy way through this time - which is always the only way.
I haven’t even read the Vulture article but I know I’m going to love it! I grew up in the town next to Ethan Stiefel’s hometown. As you can imagine as a dancer, we were 1000% committed to one our own small town Wisconsinites making it “big”. Couple that with the fact that I was a personal family’s friend of his choir teacher/voice coach I was basically a mini celebrity! 🤦🏻♀️😂😆
Ok it took me nearly a full pump session to even skim the comments this week! Good job everyone.
In times like this, my brain can only handle YA-level entertainment, so, I present to you:
1. Never Have I Ever on Netflix — Mindy Kaling’s new TV show with a wonderfully diverse cast and storyline with all the delightful YA romcom tropes we need.
2. The Princess Diaries book series — yes, it’s 20 years old and you feel that, but it’s such a delightful revisit for this season. I’ve slammed through 3.5 of the books this week during my nightly pump sessions thanks to the Kindle app on my phone and our library’s ebook collection. If you’ve only seen the movie, it is a little different but still great. #michaelmoscovitzforever
Also unrelated to my YA Treasures, but I just need everyone to know I put on full makeup and earrings for the first time in 2 months today so we could do some family pics with the twins, which I am v excited about.
Also my hair actually decided to cooperate, which was excellent. I’ve been very lazy with it lately, but last night I tried to use all the Curly Girl techniques and it paid off: Blueberry Bliss leave-in, Pantene Curly mousse, and Aussie Instant Freeze gel!
As the resident holder of a BA in French, I would be honored to put together a playlist and suggested menu - MORE TO COME! (Other perks of holding this degree? Constantly misspelling dictionary and address 😐)
Ok I hope I didn’t post this 20 times because I’m having trouble but:
Re: France - not to toot my own horn but I went to Paris last year for vacation. Remember traveling? That was fun. One of my favorite meals was a croque monsieur and a little spring salad. Not fancy at all but I still think about it. Also poutine is FRENCH although it is Canadian so I would say yes to that too. Plus maybe little macarons. For music, of course “La Vie en Rose” and I would also consider Ray Lamontagne. See what Jamie listened to during her journaling. 😉
I just have to say, I never actually made my way to the comments of this thread up until two weeks ago, and I am so happy I did.
Also, I realized last night that my freezer chocolate was all gone and I was very sad. The only sweet thing I had in the house was granola and fresh strawberries, which was good but not as good and, frankly, has way more sugar than the two little squares of extremely dark chocolate I would have eaten to satisfy my sweet tooth. 😂 90% of the time I'm a salty foods girl (give me all the greasy potato chips and fries and chips and salsa), but I needed that chocolate last night. Don't worry, I will be making an essential grocery store stop on my way home from work tonight.
Erin - this community you have lovingly created gives me life! I have teared up multiple times this morning already reading your post and the comments. Everyone sharing their ups and downs brings me a sense of belonging in this weird world. Mother’s Day was surprisingly sad for me, even though the day wasn’t any different than usual. But missing my adult daughters who live about 6 hours away and I’ve seen just once very briefly in 2.5 months, and my own mom who has been gone for 26 years, just really hit hard. Some time to reflect and grieve plus the pan of Trader Joe’s truffle brownies helped immensely!
I try to avoid the dumpster fire of Facebook and only pop in to check my family who post there, but this week I joined a “blessings” group that shares Amazon wish lists and then surprises other members with gifts from their lists. While there are always some grumblers wanting only to receive, I’ve found a lot of great conversation with other women about life and hobbies and pop culture interests. And then the surprise gifts in the mail have been a nice bonus, too. It’s restored some of my faith in humanity after so much grief and angry feelings of late.
Sidenote before my actual comment: I just thought about changing the profile picture on here because 25ish weeks ago it just happened to be the only picture file left on my phone after clearing out some space... But now it's more accurate than ever, so I guess it stays. It's a note from my then 5-yr-old telling me I'm "Not great" with a donkey sticker with lots of drawn on tears. Sigh. Killing it as a parent. 😂
Now onto the actual comment. Last fall we accidentally bought a fixer upper house (very long story short, we thought it just needed a lot of paint, but the previous owner was a "general contractor" who lost his license in 3 states but who *was* great at deliberately hiding some pretty major problems from us and leaving us no possibility of legal recourse). Thus, beside the normal growing pains of getting familiar with a new neighborhood and trying to find new friends, we spent the winter constantly emptying buckets and changing towels under the many roof leaks coming into the house as the snow melted (and it's northern Utah, so there's tons of snow) and morale wasn't great, but we thought, "We'll just hang in there until spring and summer and things will start to feel normal again!" 😂 Bless our hopeful souls. The house is gradually getting better and better, but the making friends thing has really been suffering since the pandemic. BP (before pandemic) there were a few ladies from church that I did book club with that I thought I was becoming friends with, but then this week it was my turn to host book club via zoom and nobody showed and nobody gave me a heads up saying they couldn't make it. 😭 In another phase of life it wouldn't bug me--we're all young moms and things get unexpectedly crazy and you lose track of time etc. and I get it--but the current reality is that they are the only in-person, non-relative friends I have right now and they might not like me all that much? That possibility is killing my enneagram 9 heart. This too shall pass and eventually I'll be able to do park play dates and build relationships with my neighbors, but for now it's lonely and sad.
We had a mouse in our house last week. So if the Rona wasn't enough, now I need to burn my house down or move. We caught one and the traps have been empty since then, but I keep finding evidence that he/she pretty much had the run of the place. If anyone in my house says, "why are there *insert beans, rice, other pantry item* here" one more time I'm going to lose my actual mind. If there's a silver lining, my house has never been cleaner because of ALL of the rage cleaning.
Dare I say I've never seen even one episode of Parks & Rec? I may need to talk my teens into bingeing with me. We all need something to laugh at.
My youngest son started ONLINE driver's ed this week. Heaven help us all. And I'm trying to figure out how to celebrate my middle son's 18th birthday and graduation in a meaningful way. There's a local DJ who outfitted his truck with a sound system and will come and play in the street for an outside dance party. I can't decide if my son will think its awesome or dumb if I hire them and then try to get all his friends to show up.
As always, Lil Treasures is like a deep cleansing breath and a comforting hug in my inbox every week. You are ALL treasures! xo
Am I the only one playing Animal Crossing like it’s my job? I have an actual job that I got in around fishing, chopping wood, and catching butterflies. I don’t know what it is about this game. Maybe because I’m an enneagram 3 sliding into my 9 in stress and avoiding actual work? Maybe it makes me feel like i’m being productive? All I know is that I wake up each day with a checklist of things I need to get done...on Animal Crossing.
Not sure what it says but being full into Married at First Sight and binge watching it with my husband was the highlight of the week. What do I even watch now that it’s over and I’m not invested in the dramatic question asked no less than 3 times an episode “will they stay married or get a divorce??”
Water therapy is real and I LOVE your Travel Thursdays! I might steal that if I can ever get my act together.
A couple of treasures this week: my kids (4 and 6) making friends over the backyard fence with the neighbor kids for the first time (we've only ever said "hi" in passing to each other), then yesterday having a spontaneous water gun fight with them.
A letter my brother sent me that he found in my Granny's storage unit. Granny died a year ago, and this letter is one that she must have never got around to sending my freshman year of college (1997). It really made my day to get this completely ordinary note from the past.
For French music, can’t go wrong with Edith Piaf!! I don’t know why, but she is a stress reliever for me. Also, Julia Child has this flourless chocolate cake with bourbon cream sauce recipe that is REAL good. Found online copy of the recipe here.
I look forward to this all week long as we are LIMPING across the finish line of homeschooling - THANK YOU Erin! (And Ben Moon for your educational dances, which made my day yesterday)
- My husband and I have filled and hidden an entire Home Depot moving box of candy in the closet where the kids can't find it, and we return to it multiple times a day to dig through it like raccoons. Not great physical health wise; mentally it's done wonders.
- Sopapilla cheesecake bars. I would push my grandmother down a flight of stairs for these.
- Middleditch and Scwartz on Netflix is legit hilarious! I was not expecting to develop feelings for Jean Ralphio.
- My sister's friend has six kids who are also over all of this, and one of them told another today, "If we die and go to heaven, I think I would still want to beat you up in heaven." The victim of the heavenly beating replied, "You'll have to catch me first, but you'll still be slow in heaven." HAHAHAHAHA.
I'm crying cause I've been reading through all the comments this morning and I feel like I know you all well (some of y'all I'm loving to see on ig these days too. <3) So, Erin I second/echo that gratefulness for the community of this thread. I wake up on Fridays looking forward to this!
Treasures this week:
-Sally's Beauty being open to fuel my PMS/Quarantine repressed feelings through pink hair dye.
-The Boy for knowing that the Weird "I NEED TO DYE MY HAIR" then "IM CRYING FOR NO REASON" mood was PMS before I did and not saying anything about it till I realized and was like "hey I was weird and here's why." and he was like "yeah I def figured that out. *shrug*"
-The hour and a half long phone call from the Boy of "hey I'm driving home from helping my dad in a medical emergency and I'm sick of being the adult, and Its raining and I don't want to fall asleep so lets talk about whether a grizzly or a state trooper in a SUV would win in a face-off and also remember that time early on when we were first texting when you tried to gentle rebuke me? and also dang I'm cute and I talk about you to my boss and its okay if we're *not* talking for a moment, you're just here on the phone with me."
-just. the Boy.
- THE FACT THAT WE HAVE A DATE ON CHURCH SERVICES RESUMING!
My treasure this week- pickled red onions. I initially made them to go on a chicken street taco recipe and am now putting them on EVERYTHING. New lunch fav- slice of toasted homemade bread, farmers cheese, avocado, fried egg and pickled red onions.
My parents think this is all a big conspiracy to make Trump look bad for November 😭 My mother keeps making comments to my kids about them coming over to play soon, and keeps trying to come hang out with them on my porch, meanwhile my husband has lost a coworker to the virus this week. (I would not be opposed to hanging out with them if I thought they had been taking things seriously, but I know they have not.)
Travel Thursday sounds amazing! I’m going to try really hard to add that to my weekly rotation with Poetry Friday.
Yesterday was our last day of distance learning, and I’m so glad to be done.
Hi friends! We have "survived" another week. High fives! I am feeling all the mixed-up stages of grief right along with you, Erin. Kind of in waves...as in, once you stand up from getting knocked down by one wave of grief, there's another one on it's heels to knock you a$$-over-teakettle all over again. Good times.
Erin, I have been meaning to tell you since the Elizabest episode, my husband drove Dr. Quinn's kids to/from school when we were in college. Once of those crazy college jobs you can get when you go to school in Malibu. Very surreal.
A few things that have been giving my life this week:
I watched this #BossBitchFightChallenge about 17 times. It's a killer line-up of women.
This Jerry Maguire quote perfectly sums up how I feel most days while handling ALL THE THINGS for the sweet but generally oblivious little boners (ahem...thank you Knox) that populate my house:
Confession: I never realized there was such a vibrant comment section on this newsletter. I didn't know that was possible. What is this bold new world we live in? Goodbye, productivity.
I've been asked to start working again in the office next week. I am going through all the stages of grief. Currently going between depression and rage. I've been going for long walks to deal with it, but maybe I really do just need to spend more time hiding in the shower, preferably with a strong drink.
So most Saturday mornings even pre quarantine I do French Cafe which is where I drink my coffee and read the newspaper and put on a playlist like this:
That Law & Order tictok was the laugh I needed this morning. The flute at the end!😂 I actually watched all 21 seasons of SVU last fall, and have thought several times that it would have been great to still be in the middle of that during quarantine.
My IG feed is now all neck gaiters and face wraps - I’ve been searching for a larger size to fit big head and now that’s all I’m seeing
This week has been hard, maybe the hardest, for no particular reason, which adds to the frustration of it all. I hit a wall, several times, and have been all the feelings all week as well. I hate how angry I’ve felt - I’ve been full on furious in zoom meetings, making faces and angry gestures and lots of 🤬, and then repeatedly panic checking that my camera and mic are still turned off....
I’m honestly over feeling bad for my coworkers who are home with kids and feeling like I have to pick up their slack. I’m single and turning 40 in a few weeks, and it feels like it’s not ok for me to say that this is hard for me too.
It was super helpful to wake up to this this morning and be reminded that I’m not the only one who’s emotions are totally all of love the place. And the suggestion of rewatching parks & rec was 👏👏👏
Happy Friday! This has been a WEEK and I am so over all of it. It did, however, have a few bright spots.
1. The rural town that my son’s high school is in had a (reverse) parade this week for the graduates. The students all lined up on the sides of Main Street and the rest of the town drove through honking and waving, with signs and balloons and all manner of celebration. The population of the town is approximately 2,000 people and there were probably around 400 cars in this parade. It took 30 minutes for the last car to even leave the starting point. 💛💛
2. The puppy we got in January continues to delight me and drive me crazy in equal measure. Thank goodness that he needs to walk because it gets me out of my house and in to the sunshine and fresh air. Elmer has definitely been my quarantine buddy!
3. In times of stress, I plan fantasy trips and Maine is one of my favorite places to go for an escape. Alas, I can’t actually go there right now, so thanks to a generous promotion code, I gifted myself a subscription to Maine Magazine.
By the way, Louisiana is my home...and I mean that in the very truest sense of the word. I’m so glad you guys took a virtual trip here. Let me know if you ever come in real life and I’ll show you the best parts!
Gals: who here has watched “Dead to Me” season 2 already? I think I need a side thread to process it.
Love this newsletter and the stages of grief were very similar. We're doing Theme Nights since we cant travel on a long awaited trip to Portugal and Germany this year... last week was Portugal and this week was France! I made up a free 1 pg pdf if you want ideas for your French night this week. We made it super EASY with 2 ingredients 5-minute mendiant chocolates, my daughter cut up an old red shirt for our scarves and we played "escargot" (a French version of hopscotch) with chalk! 🐌. PDF here: https://familytripguides.com/themenights/
Had to share Rebecca Reynold's thought on our Patron Saint, Mr. Rogers
http://www.thistleandtoad.com/wwwthistleandtoadcom/writings/2020/5/16/271nvy7clfdydc5iizbebpgw5qh070?fbclid=IwAR26nbg6QQhiO3ZFMz6BGGo3nAq_TV5njIvBA4VpI_kTgV3JSSN9Oa7o7p8
Well, this is the first time I’ve had the guts to post on here but after reading comments here today, I was just so moved by this beautiful community. So I decided to go for it. And then something glitched and I lost my really long post. So, here we go again. Really hope it doesn’t end up showing up.
I too have been experience all the stages of grief. Except acceptance. I can never make it to that one. I have severe anxiety and depression and severe OCD that revolves around a germ phobia and this time has been absolute hell for me. I haven’t left my house is 60 days. I’m anxious all the time. I’m having panic attacks so often. I have an only child and I listen to him talk all day (so many words) but I’m not playing with him. My poor husband always has to clean off lots of stuff for me and help with my OCD fears but it’s so much more right now. I’m in Kansas and people here are starting to talk about doing things again but it doesn’t seem like everyone is taking the social distancing part seriously and many people aren’t wearing masks. I was only half joking when I told my book club on our zoom call tonight that I’ll go back out in the world when there’s a vaccine. I’m so tired of feeling anxious all the time. I just don’t know how to do this anymore. And that doesn’t even touch on the grief we are all feeling from not seeing our loved ones or seeing them from afar. My kiddo is going to turn 8 on Thursday and I can only have my mom and sister come to the yard and sit 10 feet away. (We’ve done this twice and I had panic attacks both times. Also, for those who were talking about it, I lost my dad 2 years ago and I miss him so much and you’re all right, it never goes away, this pain that just attaches to your insides and lives there now.)
Anyway, Erin, you have created such an amazing community here and you are all beautiful land mermaids!!!
As for Treasures:
1. I am an avid reader but haven’t been able to read hardly at all during this time. But I tore through The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. It’s not going to be for everyone and had a few scenes that definitely gave me the heebie jeebies. But so good!
2. And then I know I’m late to the party, but Schitt’s Creek! I’ve watched 3 seasons is just a few weeks and I am all in. I love this show so much!
Thank you all for this beautiful thread where the real treasures are all of you. (Too cheesy? Oh well!)
You guys, HAMILTON!!! We must rejoice for this good fortune! I'm starting a countdown, going through Erins spreadsheet again, memorizing even more lyrics, and considering costumes for the fam! It's all I have to look forward to😁
In other news, my kids officially finished school today and, hallelujer 🙌🏽but also, now what do we do for all the hours of the day?!
The crushing decision making fatigue involved with 'reopening' is a doosy, it was a lot easier when everyone stayed home and we were all (mostly) on the same page. Now my mom wants us to go to the beach and kids want to go INSIDE the walmart and a very important senior is having a tiny graduation party... and I just can't deal with making these calls that seem to have possibly very high risks😭
Erin- I hope the Vashti thing is real! Can't wait for June 6, I hope you'll be on the live show too!
The grief days are relatable!
Tonight's thing is listening to Beautiful: The Carole King Musical instead of whining on Twitter about how unfathomably stupid some people are.
I was delighted when this little joy bringer popped in my inbox and sad I couldn’t look at it until tonight. I love this weekly get together. It brings such light to my life!
We had our first online orientation today and it was interesting! (I work in higher ed). It amazes me what we can now do with technology but I miss face to face!
I left my house for the first tine in 59 days this week for a doctors appointment (I’m high risk) and it was surreal. Then the next day I went into my office to do some things I couldn’t do at home. It was nice to be out. But felt... odd.
My dog however was quiet the unhappy fellow and I have a feeling when things return to normal he will need a counselor.
Marco Polo continues to be my favorite part of this pandemic as I can talk to my friends and my mom and family daily. I miss them so much. My nieces are growing like weeds. I got a photo tonight and I’m pretty sure they look like 15 years older. I’ve been sending them things each week so it was more books this week. I’m so glad they love books. Makes this book nerd happy.
I feel like I’ve reached an odd place where nothing interest me right now. I haven’t read or really watched anything of note this week. It’s like my interest is all eh.
Erin your use of a GG gif will be remembered I go to sleep listening to my OG gals every night. 😂😂
Also I have no kids but am thinking I want to participate in travel Thursday. I love trying new recipes especially!
You all bring joy and brightness to my week!
..... giggles to self..... For Erin's trip to France
All I can think of is the scene in Better Off Dead
Frauuuunnch bread
Fraauuuunch dressing
Frauuunncch fries
And then poor Ricky's mom.
I also love reading what this community shares! You all spur me on towards gratitude in all the things.
My treasure this week was a 2-hour one-way drive SOLELY to get a #1 with Waffle Fries and a Sweet Tea from Chick-fil-A. While that's commonplace to lots of folks, it was the highlight of the week!
You see, my sister and I currently live/travel full-time in our RV -- and when shelter-in-place started, we happened to be doing our 1-week stint here in Joshua Tree, CA. Now, eight weeks later, we're still in J-Tree because there are very few campgrounds here in the West taking in new campers. The desert temps have started rising as if we're living in an oven 24/7 and those high temps have brought on high amounts of stir crazy. We Southern belles are missing our humidity and sweet tea and CFA ice in a styrofoam cup (it's the little things, right?). Lately, when we get really low, we check our map app again just to make sure the CFA hasn't magically moved closer to us. Then we joke about how CFA would give us the oooomph needed right now to brave the grocery store again and muster through prepping one more meal in our tiny oven while living in the giant oven of a desert. (dramatic much....yes, yes, we are)
One day we just DID IT -- we drove the 2-hours there and back and it. was. glorious. And also ridiculous. Between the two of us, we got 6 meals - one for lunch that day, another for dinner, and one more for the next day. My re-heated nuggets and stale waffle fries dipped in Honey Mustard was the second best thing I've had in a long time. Second only to that CFA sandwich I had while blazing down the interstate on our way back to Joshua Tree.
YES TO THE CENTER STAGE WATCH PARTY. The end.
Well now.
I read Erin's thread and got teary as she started talking about the community here and listing names I'm starting to recognize. Then I read Mookie and thought "Wait. How does she know my nickname???" Well, kitten, that's because you listed your email address AND name for here as one in the same. So, hi guys. I'm Danielle. @coffeewithdanielle on Insta and Mookie to some college friends. Also, apparently unable to appropriately sign up for online accounts with real name vs. email address. #winning
This group has been such a bright spot for me the last two months. From pen pals to playlists to IG follows, I've had so many moments of joy inspired by you all. It's also been a gift to get to post honestly on weeks that were dumpster fires, and to encourage others when they've done the same. Yes, I'm THAT GAL who will read through every comment and like most of them. I know. I hate myself while I'm doing it, AND YET. Because we need to feel seen, no?
So. My treasures this week:
1. Each weeknight at 9pm my pastor is doing a compline via FB live. It's been so life-giving to have that routine to close out the day. A meditation, quite moment of reflection and closing prayer. At some point each night, he takes a moment to say a verbal hello to each person who has commented they are watching. I've told him there's something healing and almost sacred when he does that during this pandemic requiring separation from one another by a disease that makes folks die alone.
2. I bought Lillian (of L'il Swipes fam) Beil's book from amazon last week and it came this week. Such a sweet reminder for my heart of what is true and important while single.
https://www.amazon.com/Are-You-My-Person-Single/dp/B08762VNBD/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=are+you+my+person&qid=1589588044&sr=8-4
3. I know Jamie Golden disdains birds and those who watch them, but birds have been a treasure for me. I have this little sunroom in my house (it's where I'm wfh right now), and I've positioned a couple of bird feeders directly in the line of sight of my chair in there. I've taken such joy in seeing all the different birds visiting the feeder - all the colors and sizes.
4. Trader Joe's fresh flowers. In the last two months I've gone to Trader Joe's three times. Each time I have strategically chosen fresh flowers that had a good price point and would last for at least one week. Hydrangeas, lilies and roses will usually last me two. It's made ALL the difference in my mood to have beauty to stare at.
I have resorted to watching only children movies and started the show Grace & Frankie. I was tired of having intense pregnancy dream influenced by dark/dramatic shows and pandemic media. So I am tricking my mind to only dream about pixar movies and living with my best friend in my 70s. As a mental health professional I certify this as an appropriate coping mechanism.
This is my FAVORITE place on the internet right now - real encouragement instead of a finger-pointing sh*t-show...guffawed in my bed this morning when I read about breast support. Thank you Erin. Quick CoronaCoaster story: Tuesday night I had a Zoom staff meeting (insert eye roll), and I told my team, "I think my family is hitting our stride!" Cue me the next two days sobbing, rage cleaning, and falling asleep on the couch at 6pm while my sons treat our house like a trash can. I spoke too soon.
After a non-stride-hitting week, a few of my lil' treasures:
1. The new oral-history of "The Office" book by journalist Andy Greene -- it is EVERYTHING we need right now. I read it slowly, so that I can savor every weird detail about Rainn Wilson's audition as Dwight and how they barely managed to get through "Dinner Party." Highly recommend.
2. Playing "Disney Hits" on Spotify when I am sad as hell -- my kids make fun of me, but it helps a lot with stupid emails or cleaning. Or rage. Also, coloring in the Harry Potter coloring book by Scholastic...I'm 32. Coloring the Hogwarts crest is soothing.
3. Online therapy. Grateful for a therapist who doesn't judge how much crazier I get every week.
4. Finally, you gals are the women who will a) understand this and b) don't know me in real life ;) --
my husband's father is LITERALLY Joe Exotic, expect less murder-y. THE SELFIES HE IS TAKING YOU GUYS!!! I desperately wish I could post the pictures here. Turquoise rings on almost every finger, several chain-like necklaces (at once), SO MUCH CHEST HAIR, sunglasses indoors. He has Joe's voice, same obsessive love for cuddling animals (chihuahuas in his case), same reliance on conspiracy theories and women being evil...my husband and I keep giggling (because we've already lamented through therapy) every time we see another selfie. He posts like 12 a day.
First time Lil Swipe here! When I get to the Depression stage I’ve been rewatching (yes, REwatching) the Great British Baking Show because guess what? You can’t have bad feelings while watching Rahul agonize over making the most delicious food in the world. Can’t be done.
I wish I could feel as much as you did - I just feel numb and walking around. I was just reading a research article on spread and it said "Sobering, right?" and I read "sobbing, right?" - I'll let you guess which one is more correct... things that bring me joy: 1) No longer caring that my grocery run includes more snacks than real food. 2) Eating said snacks like cold pizza for breakfast because i wanna 3) getting said pizza as carry out because I can only eat my cooking so long 4) putting on real clothes just to remember how good soft pants feel 5) treating my skin on Jamie B Golden level becuase what else am I going to do??
I love this thread - such a nice break from controversy and conspiracy theories which have invaded my Instagram space - which was supposed to be for pretty interior spaces and outfits I can’t afford, and inspiration.
This week, I escaped to whidbey island (island north of Seattle) to my parents cabin for a few days this week and it was so nice to be out of my house - even if I was still quarantined, to quarantine somewhere else was 🙌🏽
Also a city‘s twitter account south of Seattle - which is kind of an industrial city not known for much - is getting very spicy and feuding with other local municipal accounts. It’s hilarious.
https://mobile.twitter.com/cityofkent/status/1261173508861616129
Also I usually hate sci-fi books but powered through a book about aliens and robots called sleeping giants. Great escape read. I just started book 2 of the trilogy and it’s a lot darker — but I really enjoyed the first book.
Finally - just watched Michelle Obama’s documentary on Netflix and it’s a good feel-good piece.
And finally - I just went on a walk and saw a huge Bard owl in the day time. He was just surveying the woods by our house and getting scolded at by robins. The pandemic has admittedly made me interested in birds... I’m afraid I’m going to be investing in a bird watching book soon.
I have a “French Cafe Vibes” playlist may do the trick for Travel Thursdays. You’ll find yourself transported beneath the glow of the Eiffel Tower with a croissant in one hand and a cigarette in the other 🥖☕️✨ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6IaM5FsGqNMRmSWaDwud2n?si=gqOL2ybESMe7J8O5lN4PuQ
My contribution: I discovered a British show called The Repair Shop on Netflix. It's like if the peacefulness of Great British Baking Show, the stuff of Antiques Roadshow, and the process work of This Old House somehow had a threesome baby. Nice British people bring their family heirlooms to a thatched workshop on a living history farm in the Cotswolds, and the team of experts restores them with good humor, historic sensitivity, and incredible skill. No one gets mad or offended, nothing ends up worse of than it did when it came in, and everyone has different accents. I'm bingeing it when I can, but I'm watching it all by myself, so it's taking a little while longer than it would if I let the family watch it too.
For those of who are moms with libraries open in whatever way they and need an easy book list for younger kids. I love Janssen's lists.
https://everyday-reading.com/2020-best-childrens-picture-books/
This thread is exactly what I needed today. My mom had major back surgery last Friday and was moved from the hospital to a rehab facility this morning. Unfortunately she has to be quarantined for 2 weeks, so is unable to have visitors. She contracted a bone infection while in the hospital and it has been a major setback to her recovery. If you’re the praying kind, please pray for us. It’s been rough.
To take my mind off of *waves hand at the world* I’ve recently read The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate, a sequel to The One and Only Ivan. Both are fantastic books for late elementary/middle school readers if you need something new. I just started The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison and am looking forward to it. I’ve been binging Brooklyn 99 and watching my feel good movies this week (Popstar Never Stop Never Stopping, What We Do in the Shadows, Thor Ragnarok) and following Astead Wesley on Twitter as he’s hilariously reading HP for the first time.
Also, if you don’t shower until 4 or 5pm should you just go ahead and do your nighttime skincare routine?? 🤔🤣
Thank you, lil swipes for being a great community!!
Oh, Erin, I think a lot of us finally reached a breaking point this week! I had a complete toddler-style meltdown on Sunday that ended with me declaring that my family didn’t appreciate me and I was going to bed (at 8pm). Not my finest moment. This enneagram one is *very* uncomfortable with all the feels I’m feeling these days.
On a much brighter note, I built two beautiful pine Adirondack chairs from a kit all by myself! They are now on my front porch and are a reminder that I do still know how to do things besides eat and cry.
I’ve finally gotten my ability to focus long enough to read back, and have made it through 3 books in the last week.
My husband and I are binging our way through all the seasons of Veep and it may be the funniest show I’ve ever watched. Appropriate? No. But extremely funny!
My best beauty find for the week is the Maybelline SuperStay Ink Crayon lip pencils. Gorgeous colour, non-drying long wear matte finish, and super affordable. Read lipstick and jogging pants is my new uniform.
This thread might be my very favourite thing on the inter webs theses days. I love reading through the comments and seeing how we really are more alike than we’re different. I feel less alone and that’s huge right now.
Took me two entire minutes to figure out that Alf was not, in fact, in that photo. Thank YOU Erin for showing us the messy way through this time - which is always the only way.
I haven’t even read the Vulture article but I know I’m going to love it! I grew up in the town next to Ethan Stiefel’s hometown. As you can imagine as a dancer, we were 1000% committed to one our own small town Wisconsinites making it “big”. Couple that with the fact that I was a personal family’s friend of his choir teacher/voice coach I was basically a mini celebrity! 🤦🏻♀️😂😆
Ok it took me nearly a full pump session to even skim the comments this week! Good job everyone.
In times like this, my brain can only handle YA-level entertainment, so, I present to you:
1. Never Have I Ever on Netflix — Mindy Kaling’s new TV show with a wonderfully diverse cast and storyline with all the delightful YA romcom tropes we need.
2. The Princess Diaries book series — yes, it’s 20 years old and you feel that, but it’s such a delightful revisit for this season. I’ve slammed through 3.5 of the books this week during my nightly pump sessions thanks to the Kindle app on my phone and our library’s ebook collection. If you’ve only seen the movie, it is a little different but still great. #michaelmoscovitzforever
Also unrelated to my YA Treasures, but I just need everyone to know I put on full makeup and earrings for the first time in 2 months today so we could do some family pics with the twins, which I am v excited about.
Also my hair actually decided to cooperate, which was excellent. I’ve been very lazy with it lately, but last night I tried to use all the Curly Girl techniques and it paid off: Blueberry Bliss leave-in, Pantene Curly mousse, and Aussie Instant Freeze gel!
The lodge my dad referenced. He just texted me. He wants to reserve Beartooth Bunkhouse
https://www.yellowstonevalleylodge.com/rooms
As the resident holder of a BA in French, I would be honored to put together a playlist and suggested menu - MORE TO COME! (Other perks of holding this degree? Constantly misspelling dictionary and address 😐)
Ok I hope I didn’t post this 20 times because I’m having trouble but:
Re: France - not to toot my own horn but I went to Paris last year for vacation. Remember traveling? That was fun. One of my favorite meals was a croque monsieur and a little spring salad. Not fancy at all but I still think about it. Also poutine is FRENCH although it is Canadian so I would say yes to that too. Plus maybe little macarons. For music, of course “La Vie en Rose” and I would also consider Ray Lamontagne. See what Jamie listened to during her journaling. 😉
Re: Center Stage - YES!
I just have to say, I never actually made my way to the comments of this thread up until two weeks ago, and I am so happy I did.
Also, I realized last night that my freezer chocolate was all gone and I was very sad. The only sweet thing I had in the house was granola and fresh strawberries, which was good but not as good and, frankly, has way more sugar than the two little squares of extremely dark chocolate I would have eaten to satisfy my sweet tooth. 😂 90% of the time I'm a salty foods girl (give me all the greasy potato chips and fries and chips and salsa), but I needed that chocolate last night. Don't worry, I will be making an essential grocery store stop on my way home from work tonight.
https://m.facebook.com/Negrowskyococ/videos/10158546389168856/
Erin - this community you have lovingly created gives me life! I have teared up multiple times this morning already reading your post and the comments. Everyone sharing their ups and downs brings me a sense of belonging in this weird world. Mother’s Day was surprisingly sad for me, even though the day wasn’t any different than usual. But missing my adult daughters who live about 6 hours away and I’ve seen just once very briefly in 2.5 months, and my own mom who has been gone for 26 years, just really hit hard. Some time to reflect and grieve plus the pan of Trader Joe’s truffle brownies helped immensely!
Yes, please, to a fictional account of Vashti!
I try to avoid the dumpster fire of Facebook and only pop in to check my family who post there, but this week I joined a “blessings” group that shares Amazon wish lists and then surprises other members with gifts from their lists. While there are always some grumblers wanting only to receive, I’ve found a lot of great conversation with other women about life and hobbies and pop culture interests. And then the surprise gifts in the mail have been a nice bonus, too. It’s restored some of my faith in humanity after so much grief and angry feelings of late.
Sidenote before my actual comment: I just thought about changing the profile picture on here because 25ish weeks ago it just happened to be the only picture file left on my phone after clearing out some space... But now it's more accurate than ever, so I guess it stays. It's a note from my then 5-yr-old telling me I'm "Not great" with a donkey sticker with lots of drawn on tears. Sigh. Killing it as a parent. 😂
Now onto the actual comment. Last fall we accidentally bought a fixer upper house (very long story short, we thought it just needed a lot of paint, but the previous owner was a "general contractor" who lost his license in 3 states but who *was* great at deliberately hiding some pretty major problems from us and leaving us no possibility of legal recourse). Thus, beside the normal growing pains of getting familiar with a new neighborhood and trying to find new friends, we spent the winter constantly emptying buckets and changing towels under the many roof leaks coming into the house as the snow melted (and it's northern Utah, so there's tons of snow) and morale wasn't great, but we thought, "We'll just hang in there until spring and summer and things will start to feel normal again!" 😂 Bless our hopeful souls. The house is gradually getting better and better, but the making friends thing has really been suffering since the pandemic. BP (before pandemic) there were a few ladies from church that I did book club with that I thought I was becoming friends with, but then this week it was my turn to host book club via zoom and nobody showed and nobody gave me a heads up saying they couldn't make it. 😭 In another phase of life it wouldn't bug me--we're all young moms and things get unexpectedly crazy and you lose track of time etc. and I get it--but the current reality is that they are the only in-person, non-relative friends I have right now and they might not like me all that much? That possibility is killing my enneagram 9 heart. This too shall pass and eventually I'll be able to do park play dates and build relationships with my neighbors, but for now it's lonely and sad.
We had a mouse in our house last week. So if the Rona wasn't enough, now I need to burn my house down or move. We caught one and the traps have been empty since then, but I keep finding evidence that he/she pretty much had the run of the place. If anyone in my house says, "why are there *insert beans, rice, other pantry item* here" one more time I'm going to lose my actual mind. If there's a silver lining, my house has never been cleaner because of ALL of the rage cleaning.
Dare I say I've never seen even one episode of Parks & Rec? I may need to talk my teens into bingeing with me. We all need something to laugh at.
My youngest son started ONLINE driver's ed this week. Heaven help us all. And I'm trying to figure out how to celebrate my middle son's 18th birthday and graduation in a meaningful way. There's a local DJ who outfitted his truck with a sound system and will come and play in the street for an outside dance party. I can't decide if my son will think its awesome or dumb if I hire them and then try to get all his friends to show up.
As always, Lil Treasures is like a deep cleansing breath and a comforting hug in my inbox every week. You are ALL treasures! xo
Am I the only one playing Animal Crossing like it’s my job? I have an actual job that I got in around fishing, chopping wood, and catching butterflies. I don’t know what it is about this game. Maybe because I’m an enneagram 3 sliding into my 9 in stress and avoiding actual work? Maybe it makes me feel like i’m being productive? All I know is that I wake up each day with a checklist of things I need to get done...on Animal Crossing.
Not sure what it says but being full into Married at First Sight and binge watching it with my husband was the highlight of the week. What do I even watch now that it’s over and I’m not invested in the dramatic question asked no less than 3 times an episode “will they stay married or get a divorce??”
Water therapy is real and I LOVE your Travel Thursdays! I might steal that if I can ever get my act together.
A couple of treasures this week: my kids (4 and 6) making friends over the backyard fence with the neighbor kids for the first time (we've only ever said "hi" in passing to each other), then yesterday having a spontaneous water gun fight with them.
A letter my brother sent me that he found in my Granny's storage unit. Granny died a year ago, and this letter is one that she must have never got around to sending my freshman year of college (1997). It really made my day to get this completely ordinary note from the past.
Hugs to you all!
For French music, can’t go wrong with Edith Piaf!! I don’t know why, but she is a stress reliever for me. Also, Julia Child has this flourless chocolate cake with bourbon cream sauce recipe that is REAL good. Found online copy of the recipe here.
https://www.thespicedlife.com/boca-negra-cake-cookforjulia/
Side note: So thankful for the early release of Hamilton. Lin knew we needed something to look forward to. 🙌🏼
I was also super in the dark about this newsletter comment thread community, but here I am, I’m a lil Swipe now and there’s no going back.
One of my greatest lil treasures is Snoop Dogg going to sit in his car just to listen to Let it Go: https://twitter.com/arb/status/1260613289769222144?s=21
We all just need to let it go, man.
Also I love Terry Stokes and that latest tweet is my new favorite thing and gave me so much life, Erin.
I look forward to this all week long as we are LIMPING across the finish line of homeschooling - THANK YOU Erin! (And Ben Moon for your educational dances, which made my day yesterday)
- My husband and I have filled and hidden an entire Home Depot moving box of candy in the closet where the kids can't find it, and we return to it multiple times a day to dig through it like raccoons. Not great physical health wise; mentally it's done wonders.
- Sopapilla cheesecake bars. I would push my grandmother down a flight of stairs for these.
https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/sopapilla-cheesecake-bars/65ec128f-2acc-417b-8745-06c182d3134a
- Middleditch and Scwartz on Netflix is legit hilarious! I was not expecting to develop feelings for Jean Ralphio.
- My sister's friend has six kids who are also over all of this, and one of them told another today, "If we die and go to heaven, I think I would still want to beat you up in heaven." The victim of the heavenly beating replied, "You'll have to catch me first, but you'll still be slow in heaven." HAHAHAHAHA.
I'm crying cause I've been reading through all the comments this morning and I feel like I know you all well (some of y'all I'm loving to see on ig these days too. <3) So, Erin I second/echo that gratefulness for the community of this thread. I wake up on Fridays looking forward to this!
Treasures this week:
-Sally's Beauty being open to fuel my PMS/Quarantine repressed feelings through pink hair dye.
-The Boy for knowing that the Weird "I NEED TO DYE MY HAIR" then "IM CRYING FOR NO REASON" mood was PMS before I did and not saying anything about it till I realized and was like "hey I was weird and here's why." and he was like "yeah I def figured that out. *shrug*"
-The hour and a half long phone call from the Boy of "hey I'm driving home from helping my dad in a medical emergency and I'm sick of being the adult, and Its raining and I don't want to fall asleep so lets talk about whether a grizzly or a state trooper in a SUV would win in a face-off and also remember that time early on when we were first texting when you tried to gentle rebuke me? and also dang I'm cute and I talk about you to my boss and its okay if we're *not* talking for a moment, you're just here on the phone with me."
-just. the Boy.
- THE FACT THAT WE HAVE A DATE ON CHURCH SERVICES RESUMING!
My treasure this week- pickled red onions. I initially made them to go on a chicken street taco recipe and am now putting them on EVERYTHING. New lunch fav- slice of toasted homemade bread, farmers cheese, avocado, fried egg and pickled red onions.
My parents think this is all a big conspiracy to make Trump look bad for November 😭 My mother keeps making comments to my kids about them coming over to play soon, and keeps trying to come hang out with them on my porch, meanwhile my husband has lost a coworker to the virus this week. (I would not be opposed to hanging out with them if I thought they had been taking things seriously, but I know they have not.)
Travel Thursday sounds amazing! I’m going to try really hard to add that to my weekly rotation with Poetry Friday.
Yesterday was our last day of distance learning, and I’m so glad to be done.
Hi friends! We have "survived" another week. High fives! I am feeling all the mixed-up stages of grief right along with you, Erin. Kind of in waves...as in, once you stand up from getting knocked down by one wave of grief, there's another one on it's heels to knock you a$$-over-teakettle all over again. Good times.
Erin, I have been meaning to tell you since the Elizabest episode, my husband drove Dr. Quinn's kids to/from school when we were in college. Once of those crazy college jobs you can get when you go to school in Malibu. Very surreal.
A few things that have been giving my life this week:
I watched this #BossBitchFightChallenge about 17 times. It's a killer line-up of women.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_qAPQaDIrf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
My kids and I laughed way too hard at this way too many times:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAJ9plJgJyJhJl36jS_yRTt6RprygQmQ6U4GMM0/?hl=en
This Jerry Maguire quote perfectly sums up how I feel most days while handling ALL THE THINGS for the sweet but generally oblivious little boners (ahem...thank you Knox) that populate my house:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6TiA4_7Rto
Watched 4 back episodes of Some Good News with national treasure John Krasinski. Cried at every single one of them.
Also, Hamilton. July 3. Disney+. Nothing else to say.
Trader Joe’s has chocolate and almond croissants in the freezer which are delicious and require very little effort. Croque Monsieurs seem easy.
Confession: I never realized there was such a vibrant comment section on this newsletter. I didn't know that was possible. What is this bold new world we live in? Goodbye, productivity.
I've been asked to start working again in the office next week. I am going through all the stages of grief. Currently going between depression and rage. I've been going for long walks to deal with it, but maybe I really do just need to spend more time hiding in the shower, preferably with a strong drink.
So most Saturday mornings even pre quarantine I do French Cafe which is where I drink my coffee and read the newspaper and put on a playlist like this:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/25atjz7lAshIUhABK3FlkL?si=JaQcsykLQdyzTV6Ej9jlXw
HIGHLY recommend
That Law & Order tictok was the laugh I needed this morning. The flute at the end!😂 I actually watched all 21 seasons of SVU last fall, and have thought several times that it would have been great to still be in the middle of that during quarantine.
My IG feed is now all neck gaiters and face wraps - I’ve been searching for a larger size to fit big head and now that’s all I’m seeing
This week has been hard, maybe the hardest, for no particular reason, which adds to the frustration of it all. I hit a wall, several times, and have been all the feelings all week as well. I hate how angry I’ve felt - I’ve been full on furious in zoom meetings, making faces and angry gestures and lots of 🤬, and then repeatedly panic checking that my camera and mic are still turned off....
I’m honestly over feeling bad for my coworkers who are home with kids and feeling like I have to pick up their slack. I’m single and turning 40 in a few weeks, and it feels like it’s not ok for me to say that this is hard for me too.
It was super helpful to wake up to this this morning and be reminded that I’m not the only one who’s emotions are totally all of love the place. And the suggestion of rewatching parks & rec was 👏👏👏
My best friend is an excellent chef and made me this once: https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/one-pot-45-minute-coq-au-vin-brown-butter-sage-mashed-potatoes/
It was <chef's kiss>! I made it once after her and it's super easy.
Happy Friday! This has been a WEEK and I am so over all of it. It did, however, have a few bright spots.
1. The rural town that my son’s high school is in had a (reverse) parade this week for the graduates. The students all lined up on the sides of Main Street and the rest of the town drove through honking and waving, with signs and balloons and all manner of celebration. The population of the town is approximately 2,000 people and there were probably around 400 cars in this parade. It took 30 minutes for the last car to even leave the starting point. 💛💛
2. The puppy we got in January continues to delight me and drive me crazy in equal measure. Thank goodness that he needs to walk because it gets me out of my house and in to the sunshine and fresh air. Elmer has definitely been my quarantine buddy!
3. In times of stress, I plan fantasy trips and Maine is one of my favorite places to go for an escape. Alas, I can’t actually go there right now, so thanks to a generous promotion code, I gifted myself a subscription to Maine Magazine.
By the way, Louisiana is my home...and I mean that in the very truest sense of the word. I’m so glad you guys took a virtual trip here. Let me know if you ever come in real life and I’ll show you the best parts!