My hair caught on fire

Pardon the interruption for this breaking news

It’s been a weird week. One that culminated in me accidentally setting my hair on fire. Yes, my ACTUAL hair ON FIRE. I wish I was joking but sadly this is not a metaphor (although it is somewhat fitting). My hair is fine, let me back up.

via Giphy

I’ve been feeling a bit anxious the past few days. Maybe more than a bit. I broached a new topic with my therapist last week and based on the aftermath I think it’s going to take some time to process. There are some emotions lurking that I have most certainly been avoiding (one of my special skills). On the one hand it felt good to talk about something other than my existential crisis and post-corporate identity. On the other hand, it was scary to step into new territory and realize, “Oh shit, here’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.”

Because of that I sat down on Tuesday to write this newsletter and well, nothing really came out. It just wasn’t flowing. I fiddled around for a bit and then said, “Fuck it,” got up and immersed myself in house chores instead. I put on a podcast (highly recommend Rebel Wilson on Armchair Expert, great episode) and proceeded to spend a couple hours repainting trim. It helped a little.

So instead of a traditional newsletter this week I thought I would share a couple life updates and a roundup of my recent favorites instead. Short & sweet.

So, what’s new?

The house is coming along nicely. We had our first leak during all the rain in Southern California over Easter weekend, which we managed to solve pretty quickly via a few internet articles and two trips to Home Depot. The dishwasher is being installed (finally!!) and we’ve started to meet with contractors about updating the garage to be a more useable space before summer. My dad is coming to visit in a couple weeks which is a real kick in the butt to tackle our never-ending to-do list. Nothing like the critical eye of a parent to have you on your hands and knees re-grouting tile.

Even though it’s been a stressful week, it’s also a short one. We’re leaving on a redeye tonight, headed to Antigua, Guatemala for a friend’s wedding. We’ll be there four days and I haven’t done too much research, so recs are welcome! Planning to explore the city, eat and drink lots, and maybe get a little hike in before the wedding festivities.

What else? Here are a few of my current favorites.

Reading

I started The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store but was having a hard time getting into it. I’m still in “beach read” mode so swapped over to Come & Get it by Kiley Reid (author of Such a Fun Age) instead and am liking it so far.

After how much I loved The Guest List (I know, I know, late to the party) I also decided maybe thrillers are my new thing? So I picked up The Silent Patient, another popular one I missed out on previously.

Watching

My husband and I saw Dune 2 in theaters two weeks ago and I honestly can’t stop talking about it. I described it as “one of the most epic movie-going experiences of my life.” Yes it’s long. It’s worth it. The visuals are stunning and even without having read the book (and without subtitles which is one major bummer of seeing movies in the theater) I didn’t think the narrative was as hard to follow as all the memes make it out to be. 11/10.

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At home I’m watching the new Apple TV show Palm Royale starring Kristin Wiig as a 1960s socialite trying to break into an exclusive club in Florida. It’s entertaining and worth watching for the costumes alone (big shout out to the costume designer Alix Friedberg who also did Big Little Lies. I thought it was fascinating to learn more about her process in this article).

Last night I also started Dance Life on Amazon Prime and wowwwww I’m hooked already. As a former competitive dancer it’s really bringing back all the feels. I stopped dancing competitively when I got to college but recently discovered that you can watch the UDA College Nationals performances on YouTube and the University of Minnesota team’s routine to “Dream On” is bone-chillingly good. The technique!!! The precision!!! They were ROBBED in my opinion, coming in second place behind Ohio State but please, decide for yourself.

Along the same lines, I am obsessed with this performance of American figure skater Ilia Malini, aka the “quad god” who just won the men’s World Figure Skating Championships with a routine set to the Succession theme song. So good.

Listening To

I am not a country girl at all (I’ve always described my taste in music as “anything but country") but between the new Kasey Musgraves’ album Deeper Well and Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, well, consider me converted. If this is country music, I’m here for it. I’m not sure I can commit to boots or a hat yet but it’s early days…

Also have the new Hozier song “Too Sweet” on repeat, although I do not like my whiskey neat nor my coffee black. I am down with my bed at three, however.

Can’t stop thinking about

This photo of Nick Nelson, King George and Troye Sivan front row at Loewe. I mean.

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That’s pretty much it! I did also manage to squeeze in a Yin Yoga class and a long outdoor walk with a friend this week so those were both highlights.

My little mental health walk

What am I missing? Oh yes, my hair catching on fire. That happened today as we were packing for this trip. My husband was doing some work in the office and I snuck in to grab my laptop (to finish this newsletter). Trying not to disturb him I leaned over to extricate my laptop, failing to notice that the ends of my hair dipped into a lit candle as I did so. I saw actual flames out of the corner of my eye and flight/fight/freeze kicked in with my body definitively choosing freeze, but luckily my husband sprang into action, dampening the flames and leading me to the sink. The damage isn’t noticeable but our house does smell like burnt hair now so that’s lovely.

Hair on fire? Yep, that pretty much sums it up. How’s your week going? 😂

Hoping to be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming.

Until then, thank you for being here.