77. The best things I've added to my life lately
From a physical screen time blocker to a drain catcher, because I am a woman of ~versatility.~
Hello my friends!
Tbh, I’m having one of those work phases where there are so many words to be written for work that I am struggling DEEPLY to find something ~meaningful~ writing here.
However, who says things have to be ~meaningful~ to be worth writing? Not me, surely.
Instead, I’m here with a nice little random roundup of things & practices I’m loving right now, inspired by
’s recent list.
The best 8 things I've added to my life lately
Playing Spotify from my TV during the day: I love having my TV on, even if I am not paying a LICK of attention to what’s on the screen. (I’d love to say this has something to do with the colors, but it’s realistically something more to do with my absolute dopamine depletion.)
Recently, it finally clicked to me that I could just have my Spotify play music through the screen all day instead of absorbing old episodes of Criminal Minds into my subconscious. BIIIIG game-changer for my overall anxiety levels.
(I fear that Zach Bryan’s new EP has been getting a lot of screen and play time. An asshole? Maybe. Talented? Oh yeah. Especially loving River Washed Hair.)
Drip coffee & good ole’ chemical-filled creamers: I’ve been deep in my hot coffee era (leave it to me to do this during a literal Texas summer?!), and I’ve been absurdly obsessed with the Chobani S’mores creamer on this journey. It’s a little sweet, but mostly just graham cracker-forward, and I am HOOKED. I only need a tiny little bit, and it’s the best cinnamon-y, SLIGHTLY chocolatey flavor.
My Brick: Unfortunately, I have concluded that I am an #ipadadult. Though I love a whole host of off-screen things, my screen time is absurd. MORE absurd, however, isn’t even the screen time itself — it’s the phone “pickups.” Like, I can pick my phone up HUNDREDS of times a day to check my email or open social media out of habit. It’s almost an unconscious routine, and it’s… not okay.
I’ve known that this was a big no-no, but every time I’ve tried a screen time app or password limit, I’ve broken through it like a literal dog with a bone. Embarassing, but I’ll own it. Then, my friend Jessie introduced me to Brick!
Brick is a PHYSICAL screen time blocker. Once you tap the little Brick (it’s a magnetized square that I keep on my fridge), you’re officially unable to access your chosen bricked apps until the Brick has physically been tapped again. I typically use it when I leave the house to work or go on a walk, and when I tap my phone to it, my Instagram and TikTok apps are completely blocked. I’ve also chosen to Brick my phone at home before, and lemme tell ya…
…there is nothing that will make you feel more like a lazy degenerate than needing to get out from under the covers and tap your phone on a little magnetic box just because you want to watch a TikTok video.
This body wash that is a ‘dupe’ of Baccarat: I LOVE a beautifully-scented body care product, y’all. Like, I love. However, after a long period of buying too-expensive body washes that didn’t hold any scent, I’ve been very committed to Dove soap. (I love it. Thick, moisturizing, smells delicious, I could go on.)
I’ve now decided that if I’m going to spend money on a body care product, it’s going to be a lotion or oil — not a soap. It’s why I was SO DANG EXCITED to find this Cremo body wash, which is supposedly a dupe of Baccarat Rouge and truly smells like a dream. If you love a musky, layered scent with *tiny* floral notes, you will be as obsessed as I am. Trust. Plus, it’s $10. So.
My drain catcher: Okay, this may be the most odd recommendation I’ve ever made on this newsletter, but…. I am so happy with my new drain catcher (?!) that I need to share.
Some background: I live in a duplex that was built in 1930, with a landlord who is perfectly nice but could not give two ****s about this property as a whole. Therefore, I do my DAMNDEST to make sure I don’t bother him with issues… and I really would rather troubleshoot things myself than deal with his ~ local contact ~ (a lady named S**an who is truly horrible). And, unfortunately, in the last few months, my poor little garbage disposal has just been on her way OUT. Like, slow, loud, needs a reset every 2 days… you name it. (And no, there’s nothing in it!)
To prolong my need to contact my landlord and risk S**an, I decided I was just going to get a drain catcher. In the past, I have thought these things were SO GROSS (wet food? BLECH.) But, in my Amazon quest, I came across this one with weirdly good reviews. People said it was truly easy to clean and caught everything and, um, y’all. They were right. All you have to do is lift it up, barely turn it over in the trashcan, and everything slips right out. No stickiness and no leftover crumbs (ew, I’m gagging at the thought). I am now a drain catcher evangelist, and will be using one forever.
Trading podcasts for audiobooks: Yes, yes, I know this is not new news to those of you who read to the bottom of my newsletters, but I am just really eating up historical audiobooks lately. As someone who loves a good hyperfixation — this year we’ve really been having a moment with World War II* and a variety of shipwrecks — audiobooks have given me the opportunity to dive really deep into a subject AND scratch off a book on my reading goal. I used to devour podcasts about niche topics like this, but books scratch the itch SO much better.
This year’s list (all of which I’d HIGHLY recommend):
The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson: Dives into the history of racism in the South and how it led to the murder of Emmett Till in 1955.
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson: Covers — you guessed it — the last crossing of the Lusitania, a passenger liner sunk by German U-Boats.
The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis by George Stephanopoulos: A deep dive into the history of the White House’s Situation Room and some of the events that have gone on inside its walls.
Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green: A (shockingly INCREDIBLY INTERESTING) exploration of tuberculosis, which quite literally left me with an open mouth multiple times while I listened.
The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World’s Fastest-Growing Sport by Joshua Robinson: About, you guessed it.
The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown: I literally have not stopped talking about this incredible story of American settlers pushing West into California. IYKYK.
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham: This incredible book… GAH I loved it. I learned so much about the Russian news machine that I had no idea about, and the whole situation is pretty damn horrifying.
The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty by Valerie Bauerlein: This book about South Carolina’s Murdaugh family is one of my favorites of all time.
*I am so glad my WWII vet great-grandfather is not alive to read his great-granddaughter seriously write that she has ‘really been having a moment with World War II.’
Peaches and Cream OLIPOP: Give me a citrus flavor that features an ‘and cream’ note, and I am hooked. Give me a PEACH flavor that features an ‘and cream’ note, and I am DOUBLE HOOKED. I’ve been drinking a Peaches and Cream OLIPOP every single night, and am already devastated that it’s a seasonal flavor.
My only salve is the fact that Cranberry Poppi will soon be making its yearly re-appearance.
Getting into volunteering: Something adulthood has taught me is that I am selfish. Like, really selfish. I love to say I’m tired, I’m exhausted, blah blah blah, and then go hang out in my air conditioning or utilize my college degree or hang out with my friends and family. I would consider myself caring, but I haven’t gone out on a limb in quite a while in any real, meaningful way — even though I have the time and the resources to do so. I started really thinking about this earlier this year, and made it a goal of mine to find something to volunteer my time to.
After some research, I decided to apply to/go through training to become a CASA through Dallas CASA. A CASA is a court-appointed special advocate — and their job is to advocate for the interests of children placed in the foster care system. Since these kids are at the mercy of a slow-moving, high-turnover system, CASAs get to build relationships with these kids through the entire duration of their case, and they’re often the only consistent adult in the kid’s lives.
The experience has been HIGHLY eye-opening, even as someone who used to teach and is not naive to the fact that there are a lot of kids in the system. It’s also given me something to think about that has NOTHING to do with me, and that was a perspective shift I desperately needed. I haven’t started much of it yet (I get sworn in Friday!), but I’m already wishing I’d done something like this a lot sooner.
If volunteer work is something you’ve thought about doing, there are a ZILLION opportunities across everything from fostering animals to candy striping to soup kitchens to tutoring — and there is such a need for it.
If CASA is something you’re even kind of interested in, send me a message on here and I’d love to talk with you about the process! There are CASA programs in 49 states, and they need more volunteers (there are 370K+ kids in foster care across the country, and it’s an ongoing crisis). This is especially true right now, as CASA has lost its federal funding.
» Find a CASA program in your state
Great list. I am partial to the Grape Olipop
That Thomas quote is one of my all time favorites. Thanks for the audiobook recs! I’m listening to Project Hail Mary right now. I read the physical version several years ago.