January 1, 2024.
Cheers to new beginnings!
What is this?
I always looked for a way to express everything that interests me. I was inspired by a TV show (oops)to start writing again. I always wanted to get into writing because my grandmother used to write for The New Yorker, Women’s Day, Good Housekeeping, etc. The nice thing about this is I don’t have any kind of expectation. It’s completely for self expression.
Spotify Wrapped 2023
In 2023, I deep dove into music and learned to appreciate it in a way I hadn’t before. Music had always been a part of my life between playing piano for over 10 years, orchestra throughout middle school, and my band that I’ll get into another time. But I really wanted to figure out my own music taste this year. I discovered my favorite bands/artists Cage the Elephant, Motherfolk, Noah Kahan and more. I learned that I’m more of a rock girl than a pop girl. This past year, music has become so much more fun to me. Don’t get me wrong, I have always loved music, but now I’m more excited than ever for my music journey to continue!!
My Husband by Maud Ventura
My Husband by Maud Ventura
Being in a fresh relationship, it’s normal to overthink how your partner perceives you. Every little movement has meaning to it. In Maud Ventura’s My Husband, you are inside the mind of a French woman who analyzes every little movement her husband makes. After being together for a total of 15 years, she keeps track of all the good and bad things her husband does, whether or not it was intentional, and punishes him based on how bad his actions were. You reach into the depths of her mind and learn about her obsession in ways that I hadn’t thought of before. As a 23-year-old woman who has had a whirlwind of a dating life, there were times where I felt like I related to how she felt, but then she always managed to take it one step further that would make me think ‘oh ok, that was a l’il too far’. I think it helped me realize that throughout my relationships, of course I think about the little things, but I don’t ever want to get to the narrator’s point, and I know I never will. You follow the couple through one full week, and every day has meaning. Monday is her favorite day because she loves beginnings and his is Saturday because it’s the day of ‘leisure’.
A little fun tidbit I appreciate about the book is that you never learn the husband’s name throughout the whole book. She only refers to him as ‘my husband’ because she is so proud of him being able to claim that title. I think that was a very strategic way to write because it adds to the effect of how obsessed she is with the concept of marriage and that everything needs to be perfect.
There are so many parts of this book that I want to discuss … buuuuut I don’t wanna give any major spoilers. So I will leave it at that for now. Overall, this was a fantastic book that was so well written, it truly felt like I was reading someone's mind and every thought she had, it added so much to her character. I think my only compliant with this book was that there didn’t seem to be a real structure the story like a climax. But I’m not complaining of the writing style which was more following them throughout the week. In the end, I would recommend this book. 7.2/10
Queued Up
‘headlights’ by Motherfolk
‘moved along’ by wilt
‘Real Love Baby’ by Father John Misty
‘Rabbit Hole’ by Ruby Waters
‘All My Love’ by Noah
‘Stronger Than Me’ by Amy Winehouse
Ali Wong & Steven Yeun
There are a ton of celebrity duos who are well known together such as Amy Pohler and Tina Fey, Key and Peele, Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson. But, my favorite celebrity duo happens to be Ali Wong and Steven Yeun. Both are well known comedians but I’m not sure how known some of their projects are. The reason I love this duo so much is because they star in my comfort show Tuca and Bertie along with Tiffany Haddish. This show is a whimsical and quirky animation that covers a range of topics from anxiety/depression, sobriety, dating, sexual assault and feeling lost personally and professionally. While these can be heavy or personal topics, the tone of the show is quite lighthearted and fun!
The reason I’m writing about Wong and Yeun is because I also recently just finished their newer drama together Beef. Before watching this show, I didn’t know anything about it, only that it had great reviews. I didn’t even know they were playing the two main characters until their first interaction, the road rage scene. This scene introduces the whole show and is the cause of the relationship between these two psycho’s.
I find Wong and Yeun impressive not only for how successful in general, but more specifically for their range between these two shows. In Tuca and Bertie, Wong plays Bertie who is a sweet bird who is a baker and Yeun plays Speckle, Berties architect boyfriend. In the first episode, they move in together so you see their relationship grow even more. Whereas in Beef, after the road rage scene, Wong and Yeun’s characters dedicate time and effort into getting back at each other in ways you wouldn’t be able to come up with on your own. They go through some crazy times, but throughout the show you see how they grow because of/ with each other. Though Tuca and Bertie is an animation and Beef is live action, you can just tell by the difference in their voices that they fully immerse themselves into their roles which make it that much more impressive when their roles are on completely different spectrums.
I wanted to write about this because I believe these two fantastic actors deserve recognition for their impressive work together.
Food Review : FanBoy
You know a restaurant is hip when you can’t really read the menu due to the lighting and the only reservations available for the next two weeks are at the most inconvenient times. Richmond’s new FanBoy located in The Fan is low-key, vibey and delicious! I first noticed this place when I was picking up takeout from Sabai and saw it packed inside even without a sign on the outside. My best friend, Madison, and I quickly got a reservation a week or two ahead of time.
Walking in, all you can really see is red light emerging from the windows. We were debriefed on all the drinks, although you already know I looked at the menu ahead of time (I always decide what I want before I arrive). I got a lovely prosecco and Madison got the OnlyFans Martini which was fabulous! To split, we got the truffle fries which had the perfect balance of truffle and garlic with the black garlic aioli. Madison got a cheeseburger which she said was good but it felt like the cheese was a little overpowering. I got the lobster tail corn dogs which came with three! These corn dogs were fried in a cornmeal tempura batter that was thicker than I expected but not in a bad way. I wouldn’t say that the tails were a good size, but they weren’t bad either.The lemon tarragon aioli was my favorite out of the two and was a great pairing for the corndogs. For me, all three corn dogs plus the fries filled me up to the perfect level.
Overall, I enjoyed FanBoy! I appreciated how lowkey it was and the atmosphere was very chill. The food was yummy and there are a few more things I want to try on the menu, so I’ll definitely be back!
My Favorite 2023 Trend
If there’s one thing I love, it’s feeling like a woman, in an ‘I’m expressing my femininity through my clothes and accessories’ way. Putting together a new outfit I’m excited about and figuring out a hairstyle and makeup to match. But there’s something about bows that changes everything.
I think the reason I like this trend so much is because it makes women feel like girls.There is something that is so innocently feminine about bows. I remembered loving my variety of bow clips that I put in my hair as a little girl. I grew out of that accessory, but now as a 23-year-old woman, I love a sweet little bow as an accessory whether it’s in the hair or on clothes.
A term has been paired with this trend to define the feminine innocence a bow makes women feel. That term is ‘coquette’ which is defined by three Gen Z influencers as ‘a style that emphasizes a playful and flirtatious attitude, often characterized by dainty and delicate elements such as ruffles, bows, and pastel colors’ to Sierra Mayhew. I believe this is a great way to illustrate the aesthetic that the bow encapsulates.
I hope this trend carries over into 2024 because it’s nice to feel sweet and feminine.
Music Spotlight
Motherfolk
As I discussed earlier in ‘Spotify Wrapped’, I really dove deep into my music taste this past year. While I knew the bands/artists that I liked, I would typically only know a handful of songs from them. But what I did differently this year was to listen to bands/artists ‘This is (name)’ playlist made by Spotify. My favorite band that came out of doing this is Motherfolk.
“Kill the Sun” is Motherfolk’s most popular song (because it’s a banger) and how I discovered them. When I was playing golf with some friends when I was at school, it came on when I had aux, and they loved it. Eventually, one of them listened to Family Ghost all the way through and gave me his favorite songs from the album: ‘Family Ghost’, ‘More Than You Know’, ‘Red Eye’, ‘You And Me’, and ‘Fine With It’. As I got more into these songs, a couple months later, I listened to ‘This Is Motherfolk’ and I liked every song that came on.
I have introduced Motherfolk, beyond ‘Kill the Sun’, to a few people because they have such a unique tone and sound. There seems to be an underlying theme of death between the song title and lyrics: ‘kill ‘em all’, ‘Die a Little Bit More’, ‘Family Ghost’, ‘Pretend i’m dead’, etc. When you’re listening to these songs though, you don’t feel as though there is that underlying theme because their music is very upbeat and lighthearted.
If you aren’t considering listening to them after reading this … your loss. They’re fantastic!
Song recommendations:
headlights
Family Ghost
King of Acting Normal
black eye/bad night
pretend i’m dead
More Than You know
kill ‘em all
All That’s Left
no room left
all I need
You And Me
Die a Little More
head above water
Salt Lake City