I need you to know that I have eradicated almost an entire 40 oz jar of crunchy peanut butter ALL ON MY OWN since Monday. I did this. No one can take this achievement from me. I stand before you, Queen of Emotional Eating, Destroyer of Saturated Fats.
So many good things this week. And Iāve needed every single one of them.
š My kids got these Shasibo shape-shifting magnetic boxes for Christmas and after playing with one for forty-five minutes, I immediately went and bought my own. It gives THE most satisfying sound when a shape locks into place. The perfect thinking toy. Do recommend.
š We have been gifted with another book from Melanie Shankle and I am very excited. We are actually getting two books: On The Bright Side, and a book about her DOGS, Piper and Mabel, so I donāt know what you want out of life.
š¤ This image via (I guess?) @baby_yoda666
ā¾ļø Matthew Pierce attempting to tie Beth Moore to the baseball cheating scandal is one of the funniest things I have ever read. That Sister Beth gives Matthew the time of day thrills me to no end.
šØ Family Meeting: the official trailer for To All The Boys Iāve Loved Before 2Fast 2Furious Tokyo DriftI Still Love You But Thereās Another Guy Here and His Teeth Are Insane has dropped, and as a 36-year-old woman with a mortgage, I am very in my feelings about it.
Weāve all learned that a Noah Centineo does not a Peter Kavinsky make, so Iām a little not-proud of the way my actual heart fell on to the floor when we saw our beloveds again. Guys. I will not be shamed for loving these movies. I will not be shamed for not reading the books. I will watch these movies that I should have grown out of long ago, I will cry, I will be inexplicably attracted to actors playing high school students because real high school students do not look like that and only God can judge me. As a part of my Enneagram 3 (I can talk about Enneagram numbers with you guys because we keep it tight) First Aid Kit (oh I need to actually make that), movies that force me to feel are how I purge emotions because I cannot face my own. Itās fine. Iām fine.
Hereās me with my own thoughts and feelings:
Hereās me when I have a conduit to mine through others:
Anyway. The paper lanterns! Our favorite voice of Walgreenās, John Corbett! This new cutie John Ambrose McClaren (who again, I want to reiterate does not look like any high schooler I know)! Everyoneās teeth! HOLLAND TAYLOR IS IN THIS MOVIE SERVING BIG IRIS APFEL ENERGY! With what Iām gonna assume is a perfectly decorated penthouse in the city, the ideal place for Lara Jean to get away from the pressures of two boys madly in love with her! Peter Kavinsky moodily lit in an aquarium, scar gleaming ever so slightly! Lara Jean makeover scene with Holland Taylor! Lord, we thank you for this movie, carefully constructed to bring us joy in these uncertain times. (H/T to @carlampatton for making sure I knew the official trailer dropped)
As I put the final touches on this Lent guide (that feels like itās trying to kill me), Lil Treasures has been such a bright spot for me. Thank you for the gifts youāve given me in the form of your own treasures and your time. It is a joy to share internet space with you.
Empty those pockets! Tell me what you loved!n Happiest of Fridays to you. ā¤ļø
I canāt wait for your new Lent guide but Iām also curious - have you already talked about this and I missed it, did you discuss why a new Lent guide when last years was so fantastic?
And is this one the same format?
I loved last years!
And believe it or not, your guide last year was what introduced me to Hamilton.
Couple things... letās not forget that I knew Noah as a wee babe and my husband still talks to his dad every couple weeksā just to catch up. I have very few fame adjacent things in my life. Cindy Lauper is my neighbor and I know Noah.
Lent Study- canāt wait to feel dumpster fire feelings. Will there be a small group study guide to go with it?! I know thatās a big ask.
Am I the only one that still canāt get over Brad Pitt and Jen Anistonās reunion? It made my week. I donāt want them together but I want them to be amazing friends but him still wanting her and she keeps him in the friend zone. Oh and Angelina is home, fuming. I need this exact thing to happen. Iāve spelled this all out clearly in my diary like a normal.š
I loved PMGās Cut Your Cable Cord. My new yearās resolution was to be more mindful of my streaming services. Itās like leaving a light on in a room youāre not in - if youāre not using it, why leave it on? I felt overwhelmed by allllll the available content so I felt like I never really focused in and watched something efficiently. So I cut Netflix, made a list of all the things I wanted to watch on Prime and Hulu, and when I work through that, then I can come back to Netflix, actually ready to get my moneyās worth out of it. I also made a hard and fast rule that Iāll never do Netflix and HBO concurrently. One or the other, with Hulu as my live TV provider, and Prime is plenty. I binged Catastrophe in a weekend. What a wonderful, funny show!!
I made these Kitchen Sink cookies (https://www.averiecooks.com/santas-kitchen-sink-cookies/) on Sunday with my kiddo with the express purpose of bagging them and taking them to neighbors to introduce ourselves since we moved here 11 months ago... but after I doubled the recipe and didn't really have enough to take to the 12 houses on our street, I remembered that "Being an All-Star Neighbor Who Brings Homemade Baked Goods" was NOT on my Cultivate What Matters PowerSheets goals list, but Spend Time With the Toddler Before Twins Come and Spend Extra Time on Weekends Preparing for Twins to Come ARE on the list so... we ate those suckers, and they were delish.
Also, did I see on Jamie Ivey's insta that our Erin will be on the Happy Hour soon??
I watched Troop Zero this week and it just made me mad and laugh and cryāand realize I need to start incorporating the phrase āsnake from hellā into more conversations. It was a gift to me as I downed the last of a bag of ranch Doritos before bed.
I just saw Knives Out a few days ago and my murder mystery and southern family drama loving heart is so full. I'm also super excited about seeing Ruston Kelly, Noah Gundersen, Penny & Sparrow, and Trevor Hall in concert later this year! :D
I have been really into Kim Possible on Disney+ and I have no shame. It simultaneously holds up AND is a time capsule of my teen years. Multitalented. Like Kim.
Also very into crying over the Frozen 2 soundtrack so keeping it very mature up in here.
How much my 9yo ADORES Hamilton and sings along with words like ābastardā and ādamn foolā and āyou punched the burserā (incl. her </I am incredulous!/> hand gestures) is my very favorite thing right now.
I've been very into cooking out of a good cookbook lately. Internet recipes have been getting on my nerves (I love that you, the author, had a specific journey creating this recipe based off the obscure cheese you found in some tiny town where you met your true love and rekindled your love for Italian cooking, but that is not my journey, please quit holding the recipe hostage). So I've been using Antoni from Queer Eye's cookbook and an instant pot cookbook by Brittany Williams from Instagram. Delicious food, beautiful to look at, no ads whatsoever popping up to ruin the cooking experience.
Okay wait. How did I miss the first of these movies?! Teen drama anything is what I love for right now. ( Okay really I more likely live for my three kids but at the end of day mama needs ridiculous drama that looks nothing like her real life.)
Yāall need to follow @sallylongdog and @norman_basset on Instagram. Theyāre both basset hounds living in New York and itās the best thing on the internets right now (baby Yoda memes aside because those are golden).
A few weeks ago I posted about my roommate who gifted me a month of dance classes and how it made me cry. Well as an update to that I want to share that I went to a "Wickedly Broadway" class last night. Even though I was so freaking awkward (and I think I injured my back by doing some kind of weird pelvic thrust) it was delightful. We learned a dance to "Easy Street" from Annie. I will say that the other folks in the class were so serious the whole time that it was comical. They tried to pretend like they weren't weird Broadway nerds like me but there were two people wearing Broadway themed t-shirts. So if you live in the Dallas area and want to come with me to a Broadway class and make a complete fool out of yourself but have a blast hit me up.
I also want to say that the new Jonas Brothers' single "What A Man Gotta Do" is a bop. If you want a little extra somethin somethin for your Friday I recommend watching the music video. Do not sleep on the scene with Nick Jonas's thighs.
Dear. Lord. I needed this week's positives! That essay by Matthew Pierce made me actually lol, and Beth Moore is the cutest in reply. Also, since I live under a rock, I have zero clue what the "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" movies are about. Must. Know. NOW! To the cloud!
This week what I loved was The More You Know Popcast episode from Monday. I agreed to listen to an audio book a friend likes this week and it has been DRAINING MY SOUL. I am so excited to get back to the voices my heart loves and to laugh again. Lort.
Iām SOOO into the All the Boys I Loved story - binge read the entire series over a weekend one year and, just all the feels. Feb 12 canāt come soon enough!
I started watching You cause of Jamie, and I canāt say I *love* it, but I canāt look away. š³ Iām also slightly terrified.
Also, p.s. the friend crush whose podcast I shouted out last week? Weāve got a date on Saturday. Weāll probably end up arguing theology which will either be super attractive, or will make us hate each other forever and then Iāll have to leave this city. So, yeah. Just living my own Lara Jean drama over here.
This week I am loving your recommendation to follow Prayers from Terry (https://www.instagram.com/prayersfromterry/). His prayers are witty and yet they are still very much grounded in a voice that I want to be comfortable enough to use in my conversations with God.
Just saw A Hidden Life and it actually broke me. Itās beautiful and haunting and the absolute best Lent pre-game with Christ allusions and heaven is the Austrian countryside and St Terrance Malick the film director. I wept the entire film- I am also 28 weeks pregnant and extremely sensitive emotionally.
My husband and I finally watched the last couple of episodes of Fleabag S2, and GAH all the feels. That kind of ending just tortures me, and I love it.
This week, I loved PMG's Cut Your Cable Cord. Perfect timing as my cable company is once again coming for my hard-earned coin through their shady price hikes. You, Knox, and Jamie laid it all out there perfectly for me as I was overwhelmed by ALL.THE.OPTIONS. Heavy T's and P's as I now pry the cable remote from my husband's hand as he is a 90-year-old woman when it comes to any kind of technological change...
Looking forward to To All the Boys 2! Hosting a wine down viewing party at my place (Read: tiny 1BR apt, zero effs) and so so so excited for 2/12!
Put on my adult pants and finally got established at a PCP, so loving myself for that long-put off task! Also super appreciated you sharing @prayersfromterry, what a delight, especially imagined in Terry Crewsā voice
Erin, your gif game is always on point. A gift of gifs, if you will.
I CANāT WAIT for more Peter and Lara Jean (and her hot dad, which Iām now probably closer in age to rather than the main boy characters, which is.....something.) itās been so long since I read the books it feels like new material.
I watched Snowpiercer on Netflix and liked it a lot. A great Bong Joon Ho movie (who directed Parasite) and it has Chris Evans in it and it may be my favorite role for him ever.
I also binged Derry Girls bc Iāve found I now have the attention span of that dog from Up. It was hilarious but use closed caption otherwise half of what they say wonāt make sense. Actually, there was a ton in the show I had no clue about, so it was me googling about Ireland/Northern Ireland/Catholicism/music bands from the ā90s the whole time.
Also: this thread! Itās my favorite Friday thing. So glad you do it every week.
Your Enneagram 3 breakdown helps me feel better about loving these books and movies so much! I felt like I got some of my own inner business taken care of when reading them. But likely because Iām a grown woman 9 with the emotional maturity of Lara Jean in the relationships with boys department šš¤¦š»āāļø.
I'm watching Superstore and it is a DELIGHT. Where is my workplace comedy set in a library?? (Also, I might need to keep having babies every few years if only so I can occasionally catch up on TV. š¬)
1. I discovered a sparkling Adaptogenic water that I love. For someone who despises all things sparkling/seltzer, this is a magical discovery of epic proportions. @crunchyhydration
2. I am counting down the days until our beloved LJ and Peter return. Iām prepared for there to be heartbreak and, as someone who only got noticed by creepy/stalky/weirdo types in high school, I am happy for LJ either way. One of us needs to have a happy high school ending.
1. I finished Remember God by Annie F. Downs, then paired it with the most recent episode of The Next Right Thing with Emily P. Freeman, and, well, talk about and emotion First Aid Kit...
2. Currently SLOWLY reading The Preacher's Wife by Kate Bowler. It is good, but academic in nature, and it has my repressed Enneagram 9 anger in a tizzy.
3. Listening to a lot of Chris Thile/Punch Brothers/Nickel Creek because he is doing a show in my town, and I have decided that if I could only listen to one artist forever and ever amen, it might be him.
QTNA: I read all the "To All The Boys" books, but don't have Netflix. Do I need to go get a free month of Netflix and binge these movies?????
I read the books after watching the first movie. Highly recommend NOT reading them unless you want to get irrationally angry at fictional high school characters making stupid fictional high school choices. I am crossing fingers and praying that the movies donāt go all the way down the books path because that would suck and Noah and Lana (and now Jordan) have places in my adult heart that need to be kept sacred.
High school boys didn't look like that when I was in high school, for certain. Peter is a dream, but if Jordan (John Ambrose) were to start singing, you would find me in a puddle on the floor. For proof:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_RpzGBidCs
I feel like this movie is gonna be stressful to me. If LJ somehow breaks Peter Kavinskyās heart, this 43 year old woman will not be able to handle it
Erin, Iām late to comment.
I canāt wait for your new Lent guide but Iām also curious - have you already talked about this and I missed it, did you discuss why a new Lent guide when last years was so fantastic?
And is this one the same format?
I loved last years!
And believe it or not, your guide last year was what introduced me to Hamilton.
Now Iām obsessed. ā¤ļø
https://youtu.be/asDrUqwtkSI Donāt worry, looks like we wonāt be running out of TATBILB content! And this was just so entertaining! https://youtu.be/LnzNC54qbWY
Couple things... letās not forget that I knew Noah as a wee babe and my husband still talks to his dad every couple weeksā just to catch up. I have very few fame adjacent things in my life. Cindy Lauper is my neighbor and I know Noah.
Lent Study- canāt wait to feel dumpster fire feelings. Will there be a small group study guide to go with it?! I know thatās a big ask.
Am I the only one that still canāt get over Brad Pitt and Jen Anistonās reunion? It made my week. I donāt want them together but I want them to be amazing friends but him still wanting her and she keeps him in the friend zone. Oh and Angelina is home, fuming. I need this exact thing to happen. Iāve spelled this all out clearly in my diary like a normal.š
I loved PMGās Cut Your Cable Cord. My new yearās resolution was to be more mindful of my streaming services. Itās like leaving a light on in a room youāre not in - if youāre not using it, why leave it on? I felt overwhelmed by allllll the available content so I felt like I never really focused in and watched something efficiently. So I cut Netflix, made a list of all the things I wanted to watch on Prime and Hulu, and when I work through that, then I can come back to Netflix, actually ready to get my moneyās worth out of it. I also made a hard and fast rule that Iāll never do Netflix and HBO concurrently. One or the other, with Hulu as my live TV provider, and Prime is plenty. I binged Catastrophe in a weekend. What a wonderful, funny show!!
I made these Kitchen Sink cookies (https://www.averiecooks.com/santas-kitchen-sink-cookies/) on Sunday with my kiddo with the express purpose of bagging them and taking them to neighbors to introduce ourselves since we moved here 11 months ago... but after I doubled the recipe and didn't really have enough to take to the 12 houses on our street, I remembered that "Being an All-Star Neighbor Who Brings Homemade Baked Goods" was NOT on my Cultivate What Matters PowerSheets goals list, but Spend Time With the Toddler Before Twins Come and Spend Extra Time on Weekends Preparing for Twins to Come ARE on the list so... we ate those suckers, and they were delish.
Also, did I see on Jamie Ivey's insta that our Erin will be on the Happy Hour soon??
I watched Troop Zero this week and it just made me mad and laugh and cryāand realize I need to start incorporating the phrase āsnake from hellā into more conversations. It was a gift to me as I downed the last of a bag of ranch Doritos before bed.
I just saw Knives Out a few days ago and my murder mystery and southern family drama loving heart is so full. I'm also super excited about seeing Ruston Kelly, Noah Gundersen, Penny & Sparrow, and Trevor Hall in concert later this year! :D
Welp, I loved this newsletter and it came when I needed a lift. That's all I got for today.
FULL DISCLOSURE: the first time through the Matthew Pierce post, I didn't realize he was joking. MY BAD Y'ALL. THAT ONE IS ON ME.
Yes pleaseeeee to the 3 first aid kit!
I have been really into Kim Possible on Disney+ and I have no shame. It simultaneously holds up AND is a time capsule of my teen years. Multitalented. Like Kim.
Also very into crying over the Frozen 2 soundtrack so keeping it very mature up in here.
I never regret procrastinating the stuff on my to do list to read your little swipes. Thank you once again for delighting me! :) Love it!!
How much my 9yo ADORES Hamilton and sings along with words like ābastardā and ādamn foolā and āyou punched the burserā (incl. her </I am incredulous!/> hand gestures) is my very favorite thing right now.
I've been very into cooking out of a good cookbook lately. Internet recipes have been getting on my nerves (I love that you, the author, had a specific journey creating this recipe based off the obscure cheese you found in some tiny town where you met your true love and rekindled your love for Italian cooking, but that is not my journey, please quit holding the recipe hostage). So I've been using Antoni from Queer Eye's cookbook and an instant pot cookbook by Brittany Williams from Instagram. Delicious food, beautiful to look at, no ads whatsoever popping up to ruin the cooking experience.
Okay wait. How did I miss the first of these movies?! Teen drama anything is what I love for right now. ( Okay really I more likely live for my three kids but at the end of day mama needs ridiculous drama that looks nothing like her real life.)
Also, CHEER on the Netflix! Iām one episode in and was trying to figure out how I could āwork from homeā today so I could binge the rest!
Yāall need to follow @sallylongdog and @norman_basset on Instagram. Theyāre both basset hounds living in New York and itās the best thing on the internets right now (baby Yoda memes aside because those are golden).
A few weeks ago I posted about my roommate who gifted me a month of dance classes and how it made me cry. Well as an update to that I want to share that I went to a "Wickedly Broadway" class last night. Even though I was so freaking awkward (and I think I injured my back by doing some kind of weird pelvic thrust) it was delightful. We learned a dance to "Easy Street" from Annie. I will say that the other folks in the class were so serious the whole time that it was comical. They tried to pretend like they weren't weird Broadway nerds like me but there were two people wearing Broadway themed t-shirts. So if you live in the Dallas area and want to come with me to a Broadway class and make a complete fool out of yourself but have a blast hit me up.
I also want to say that the new Jonas Brothers' single "What A Man Gotta Do" is a bop. If you want a little extra somethin somethin for your Friday I recommend watching the music video. Do not sleep on the scene with Nick Jonas's thighs.
Dear. Lord. I needed this week's positives! That essay by Matthew Pierce made me actually lol, and Beth Moore is the cutest in reply. Also, since I live under a rock, I have zero clue what the "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" movies are about. Must. Know. NOW! To the cloud!
This week what I loved was The More You Know Popcast episode from Monday. I agreed to listen to an audio book a friend likes this week and it has been DRAINING MY SOUL. I am so excited to get back to the voices my heart loves and to laugh again. Lort.
As a West Virginian...love love love the Baby Yoda meme! Iāve been obsessed with The Crown this week.
Iām SOOO into the All the Boys I Loved story - binge read the entire series over a weekend one year and, just all the feels. Feb 12 canāt come soon enough!
I started watching You cause of Jamie, and I canāt say I *love* it, but I canāt look away. š³ Iām also slightly terrified.
Also, p.s. the friend crush whose podcast I shouted out last week? Weāve got a date on Saturday. Weāll probably end up arguing theology which will either be super attractive, or will make us hate each other forever and then Iāll have to leave this city. So, yeah. Just living my own Lara Jean drama over here.
This week I am loving your recommendation to follow Prayers from Terry (https://www.instagram.com/prayersfromterry/). His prayers are witty and yet they are still very much grounded in a voice that I want to be comfortable enough to use in my conversations with God.
That Matthew Pierce article is the best
Just saw A Hidden Life and it actually broke me. Itās beautiful and haunting and the absolute best Lent pre-game with Christ allusions and heaven is the Austrian countryside and St Terrance Malick the film director. I wept the entire film- I am also 28 weeks pregnant and extremely sensitive emotionally.
My husband and I finally watched the last couple of episodes of Fleabag S2, and GAH all the feels. That kind of ending just tortures me, and I love it.
This week, I loved PMG's Cut Your Cable Cord. Perfect timing as my cable company is once again coming for my hard-earned coin through their shady price hikes. You, Knox, and Jamie laid it all out there perfectly for me as I was overwhelmed by ALL.THE.OPTIONS. Heavy T's and P's as I now pry the cable remote from my husband's hand as he is a 90-year-old woman when it comes to any kind of technological change...
@maggiesmithpoet on twitter (or instagram) is saving my life right now.
Looking forward to To All the Boys 2! Hosting a wine down viewing party at my place (Read: tiny 1BR apt, zero effs) and so so so excited for 2/12!
Put on my adult pants and finally got established at a PCP, so loving myself for that long-put off task! Also super appreciated you sharing @prayersfromterry, what a delight, especially imagined in Terry Crewsā voice
Erin, your gif game is always on point. A gift of gifs, if you will.
I CANāT WAIT for more Peter and Lara Jean (and her hot dad, which Iām now probably closer in age to rather than the main boy characters, which is.....something.) itās been so long since I read the books it feels like new material.
I watched Snowpiercer on Netflix and liked it a lot. A great Bong Joon Ho movie (who directed Parasite) and it has Chris Evans in it and it may be my favorite role for him ever.
I also binged Derry Girls bc Iāve found I now have the attention span of that dog from Up. It was hilarious but use closed caption otherwise half of what they say wonāt make sense. Actually, there was a ton in the show I had no clue about, so it was me googling about Ireland/Northern Ireland/Catholicism/music bands from the ā90s the whole time.
Also: this thread! Itās my favorite Friday thing. So glad you do it every week.
Your Enneagram 3 breakdown helps me feel better about loving these books and movies so much! I felt like I got some of my own inner business taken care of when reading them. But likely because Iām a grown woman 9 with the emotional maturity of Lara Jean in the relationships with boys department šš¤¦š»āāļø.
I'm watching Superstore and it is a DELIGHT. Where is my workplace comedy set in a library?? (Also, I might need to keep having babies every few years if only so I can occasionally catch up on TV. š¬)
This is not new but I am so here for this and need it now.
āI am Usnavy and you probly never heard my name...ā
https://youtu.be/U0CL-ZSuCrQ
1. I discovered a sparkling Adaptogenic water that I love. For someone who despises all things sparkling/seltzer, this is a magical discovery of epic proportions. @crunchyhydration
2. I am counting down the days until our beloved LJ and Peter return. Iām prepared for there to be heartbreak and, as someone who only got noticed by creepy/stalky/weirdo types in high school, I am happy for LJ either way. One of us needs to have a happy high school ending.
1. I finished Remember God by Annie F. Downs, then paired it with the most recent episode of The Next Right Thing with Emily P. Freeman, and, well, talk about and emotion First Aid Kit...
2. Currently SLOWLY reading The Preacher's Wife by Kate Bowler. It is good, but academic in nature, and it has my repressed Enneagram 9 anger in a tizzy.
3. Listening to a lot of Chris Thile/Punch Brothers/Nickel Creek because he is doing a show in my town, and I have decided that if I could only listen to one artist forever and ever amen, it might be him.
QTNA: I read all the "To All The Boys" books, but don't have Netflix. Do I need to go get a free month of Netflix and binge these movies?????
I read the books after watching the first movie. Highly recommend NOT reading them unless you want to get irrationally angry at fictional high school characters making stupid fictional high school choices. I am crossing fingers and praying that the movies donāt go all the way down the books path because that would suck and Noah and Lana (and now Jordan) have places in my adult heart that need to be kept sacred.
High school boys didn't look like that when I was in high school, for certain. Peter is a dream, but if Jordan (John Ambrose) were to start singing, you would find me in a puddle on the floor. For proof:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_RpzGBidCs
Matthew Pierce is the new delight of my life šš¼
I feel like this movie is gonna be stressful to me. If LJ somehow breaks Peter Kavinskyās heart, this 43 year old woman will not be able to handle it
Excuse me while I go make a paper chain to countdown the days until Peter K & Lara Jean return.