🌻 Lil Treasures #203: What Mario Lopez Can't Live Without + the Lake Beach

Should we move Thanksgiving + using your mid-life womanhood powers for good

I am officially writing to you from that Cast-Free Life and we have SO MANY TREASURES to catch up on, we need to just jump right on in. It’s a hot one today, friends. I am so glad to be back in your inbox, so thankful to take a shower with no Target bag on my arm, and so happy that my favorite holiday (Thanksgiving but make it not about colonizers!) is on the horizon. I do need to know, for my American readers: are you a “skip Thanksgiving season and go straight into Christmas” type of person, or do you fight for the right for Thanksgiving to have its place in our hearts? Your body, your choice, of course, but I find myself fatigued by Christmas if I don’t give Thanksgiving its proper due. But as always, I would never romp on your ding-dong. I do think this problem could easily be solved if we just moved Thanksgiving to when the Canadians celebrate (early October), but so far no one is asking me. I remain available for consulting on this matters.

Let’s do the treasures!

👦🏻 As Baby Cy disrespectfully grows up, I’m always on the lookout for resources that will help us raise him into a non-entitled dude, keeping that big heart intact in perpetuity. I really love this IG account by Justin Baldoni (and subsequent podcast) called Man Enough, all about positive masculinity. One of my favorite posts recently was this great video about how boys experience a shift at the ages of five and fifteen where they can get disconnected from their authentic selves and how we can encourage them to stay connected. Overall, a really sweet spot. This little post has also sparked a mini-revolution in my mind as to how to get all the children to pay attention to how they can contribute to living as a family. Jury is still out as to if I can implement and if they can get on board.

⛱️ I loved Nate Bargatze on SNL last week, but I thought he really shined in his monologue. Lake Beach also tickled me because I’ve lived in two land-locked places in my life and it’s just extremely accurate, right down to the diaper floating in the shallow water.

📡 It’s been awhile (any other elder millennial sing that phrase in the voice of the lead singer of the band Staind?) since I’ve been able to share what we’ve been up to at Faith Adjacent, and honestly, it’s been a lot! We got to talk to THE Nicholas Thomas Wright, otherwise known as N.T. Wright, otherwise known as Tom Wright, otherwise known as preeminent Pauline scholar and former Bishop of Durham and senior research fellow at Oxford University. (IT’S FINE.) We, of course, needed to know if Paul was hot or not and whether he’d seen the Barbie movie. Very serious stuff I am sure he is frequently asked about. During my dumb wrist-breaking era, I spent an insane amount of time researching the religious history of Israel-Palestine for an episode that came out last week. We talked about how intricate and fraught that particular area’s legacy has almost always been, as well as how weirdly, some American Christians tend to make stuff with Israel about them. The most kind and lovely sensitivity listeners gave me notes and helped me craft the episode, for which I am so grateful. If you need some background on how the Middle East situation got to where it is now (in MASSIVELY condensed form), as well as me ranting about end times theology, this might be the episode for you. And if you’re like, wow, aren’t y’all normally very dumb? Yes, don’t worry, we returned to form with this one.

🎁 Gift-giving is always overwhelming to me because I really want to nail everyone’s perfect gift, but you know, time, money, emotional bandwidth, etc. My absolute favorite website for this is The Strategist. It has great compilation lists (yes, I DO want to know what Mario Lopez can’t live without, how adorable that RL Stine is obsessed with strawberry Mentos) and the most specific best-of lists (The Best Emergency Radios, As Complied by Diaster Preparedness Experts okay yes please). While I don’t necessarily purchase things from the lists (love you, Sofia Coppola, but never buying a $615 button-down), it gives me great ideas. Go ye therefore and begin your holiday shopping!

🌻 Obsessed with The Portal and mid-life womanhood and using all these newfound powers for good. As always, an excellent read from the always-interesting

Anne Helen Petersen

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🔨 This IS Andy Hicks (language warning).

👚 It delights me to inform you that Aerie has again hit the jackpot with another waffle-textured fave: the Wow Waffle Oversized Shirt. Flowy mystery? Check. Fun texture? Check. I am also currently writing this newsletter in the pajama version and more colors magically showed up on my Christmas list. Weird how that works.

🫶 If you find yourself with a little extra cash on hand this weekend and you’re looking for a way to share love with a stranger, may I point you in the direction of my dear friend, Darrell? I think I’ve mentioned this before, but Darrell is one of my actors from camp days with the biggest heart and one of the most gorgeous voices you’ve ever heard. His sweet momma experienced a medical emergency last month that knocked them both down, but not out. You can read their story here, and even if you can’t give, I know he would appreciate all the Lil Swipe love and good energy and prayer just as much.

Meme Dump-a-Thon:

That’s it from me today. Looking forward to reading all your treasures this week!