Happy Sunday friends! Is it just me, or did this year have year long weeks, and the year collectively felt one week long? Like it rolled up to the party, scoped out who was there and decided to leave 15 minutes later. As the days get shorter, it’s hard not to get introspective about the year, and daydream about the new year. Tell me, do you write resolutions, or things you’re looking forward to in the new year? If I have one goal this next year it’s to get a better paying job. I deserve it and 100% need it.
A new year does not equal a new you, but there is something refreshing about turning over a figuratively new page in life. Candidly, I think I speak for most people when we say “good riddance” to 2024. This might sound weird, but the even years tend to stretch and grow me and the odd years tend to be calm.
Here’s to finishing out the year, end of sentence. I don’t want to finish it strong, I just want to finish it. I wish you dinner parties, warm blankets, long talks with friends, dark bars with fireplaces, and peace. So much peace. At the very least we deserve that.
This Sunday, take any, take all, but mostly, take care of you.
• If you’re hosting a dinner party, first of all good for you, secondly, I have a guide for you! (Joy the Baker)
• For the Wordle-rs, can I please make a case for Spelling Bee? Don’t get me wrong, Wordle is great and Strands seems to be the new hotness, but as a Scrabble lover Spelling Bee satisfies me so much. (NYTimes Games)
• I’m a long time blog reader and user – I had a LiveJournal and a Xanga in the early aughts (yikessss). By far, my favorite part of blogs are posts like these, link round-ups, and gift guides. They really do suggest the coolest things, like Oprah’s favorite things before it was Oprah’s. Previous villain blogger, Kim, makes a strong case for the gift guide/end of the year round-ups. (Substack)
• The question that always seems to linger nowadays is, “How do you make friends as an adult?” The trouble with friends is how do you KEEP friends as an adult? cuz my goodness it’s hard. Shout out to the voice note and the group chat, but sometimes it makes me forget that I haven’t actually seen my friends in months and sometimes years. (New Yorker)
• Are you doing a cookie tin this year? I know Joy is, because she’s basically running a bakery out of her Texas home. Let’s call a spade a spade! I’m doing a favoritism cookie tin for my building. Basically the folks that haven’t been totally awful for no reason are getting cookies, and the singular apartment that doesn’t get it, gets coal. Kidding, kinda. I’m thinking of incorporating these ginger cheesecake cookies in it – they look incredible (recipe here!). (Joy the Baker, NYTimes Gift)
• To me, this is the ultimate winter fragrance. Woodsy, slightly smokey, milky, and… marshmallows?! Oh, so basically I’m edible. Love that for me. Real talk, I cannot afford the full size, so I used Scentbird! They’re great when you want to be bougie on a budget. (Commodity, Scentbird)
• Joy is fighting hard for eggnog this holiday season and I am on her side – I LOVE eggnog. It seems to be a polarizing drink, either you love it or hate it with no room in between. What say ye? If you don’t enjoy it, maybe put it on top of your cookies! (Instagram, Joy the Baker)
• It can be hard to sum up my story in a sentence: raised in a cult-like church, went to a Christian college, figured out my sexuality way later in life, now living with my girlfriend and 3 cats, my family is passive on a good day about it. If you ever feel like having the longest conversation ever, I’d love to talk to you about it. This Modern Love anniversary article feels familiar to my story – going from dating the church to dating a woman. (NYT Gift)
• Money is *tight* and buying gifts for everyone isn’t in the cards. But! This little guide for gifting among your friends is genius. Also getting all your gifts from TJ Maxx is really the move – they have everything! (Apartment Therapy)
• For when you need a playlist for when the sun streams in through the window or when your knee aches when it rains sometimes, let Sam Irby recommend you a handful of extremely specific playlist offerings. (Substack)
• If you don’t need specific playlist offerings, let Sufjan Stevens sing to you about Christmastime in only a way he can. At this point his holiday album is a classic. (Spotify)
• Swifties, the Eras Tour has come to a close after 152 shows – incredible. How we doing? Do you have support groups? Are the group chats in shambles?? Her bass player reflects on the closing show – one degree of separation from the legendary artist. (Rolling Stone)
• Also, 38 Eras Tour shows, one line repeated, I can. not. look. away. (Someone did the calculations and that is roughly 140k this one fan spent. My goodness!) (Twitter)
• Finally, I think cold weather calls for warm lipsticks, don’t you agree? (Fenty Beauty)
P.S. A reader sent me the most encouraging note after my last Sunday post, and I just wanted to say I received it. Thank you so much for your kind words!
