Recently Enjoyed Things | January 31, 2025

Keeping it real.

Nobody is interested in your negativity, I often say to myself, usually while deleting entire paragraphs of word vomit. January is dark enough. You need to flip on the lights, not snuff out the candles.

So I try to keep things light here. Here’s what I’m doing! Here’s what I’m excited about! Here’s the book I read and liked! But in reality, the last couple of weeks have been a slow descent into bad feelings that have me googling things like “why am I sad for no reason?” and “what does depression feel like?”

I don’t want to be dramatic. It’s probably weather related, and just needing some sunshine and vitamin D. Maybe it’s also work related and carrying stress home with me every night. I don’t know, but last week, I optimistically took a day off to reset, and could hardly get out of bed. At 4:30pm, I started crying because I wasted a precious PTO day for nothing, I was still sad for no reason.

In my opinion, Substack is quickly becoming the new Instagram, where the popular people get more popular and they’re the only voices the platform supports or amplifies (anyone else read that email last week that promised a “creator fund” to people who already have a huge following? That’s cool.), so it feels like all I see is a highlight reel of their charmed lives. It feels like everyone else is happy and sometimes when I shut my computer, I wonder what the fuck is wrong with me?

I guess, I’m just here to add a small, quiet voice that if winter is hard for you too, and it’s not all cozy candles and string lights in an aesthetic living room + the most perfect $150 matching cashmere sweater set, please come sit with me. I need your company and I bet we could commiserate. Winter is fucking hard.

How are you guys doing?

I won’t deny though - it is kind of pretty.

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But first, some housekeeping: there’s some affiliate links in here. But aren't they everywhere? Anyway, if you click on something and buy it, I might earn a commission at no cost to you.

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Recently Enjoyed

Reading

I’m passionate about reading and sharing books that are readily available at your library and don’t feature a waitlist 47 people long. So these are rarely new, hot releases, but if you’re intrigued, there’s a good chance for instant gratification at your library.

• What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci // A bright spot. It’s every bit as wonderful as I imagined and I’ve been looking forward to getting in bed to read a few pages every night. I’m inspired by his ability to make every meal a production, even if it’s simple. There’s no protein bars for breakfast! We are roasting chickens and making homemade stock. We’re searing scallops on a weekday evening. But there are also disappointing restaurant meals and accidentally burning the omelets. I’m feeling encouraged to romanticize every meal, but I also appreciate how candid he is that his young children prefer the standard childhood stock. Noodles with butter? Coming right up!

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Shopping

• ⭐ Emergency Amazon Order // this week I literally contemplated selling my house, getting divorced, and quitting my job - because blowing up my entire life felt like the only viable solution. But first, I decided to try a couple slightly less combustive actions:

  • Light Therapy Lamp // I’m skeptical, but this is a cheapy and I’m willing to try anything. Seen in the photo above, in action and tbh, if all else fails, it’s great ambient light for all those zoom meetings.

  • Lash Serum // A true impulse purchase, but could longer lashes fix me? Please. I beg.

  • Cortisol Manager // See what I mean about literally willing to try anything? The internet likes these and I hope I will too. Will report back!

• Speaking of reporting back // I received this balaclava this week and while I accidentally purchased white (thought it was a light gray -whoops!) I am happy with my purchase. It’s fuzzy and warm and I’ve worn it daily. This squalane oil also arrived and it’s a very small bottle, but the reviews suggest that a little goes a long way and in fact, the small bottle lasts quite a long time. I slather it on morning and night and I do think it’s helping to lock in some moisture.

• Last weekend, I did an at-home highlighting kit to much fanfare on instagram. Or more accurately, wide-eyed gasps of horror. You should have seen my DMs! People were concerned, but I was not. I’m not precious about my hair for a handful of reasons, but mostly because I perform the at-home kit 2-3 times a year and have it down to a science. I prefer this kit, and swear by a good wash with the Kristin Ess purple shampoo afterward. No harm, no foul!

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Recent Saves

vincentrose_art

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⭐FASCINATING:

dirtyhistorian

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recentlyenjoyedthings

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Sending You on Your Way

(Interesting things I found on the internet this week)

• ⭐ Really enjoyed this piece from

  Layla Shaikley
  about building (and protecting!) momentum.

• After listening to interviews with Jesse Eisenberg on Armchair Expert and Fresh Air, I finally watched A Real Pain (on Hulu!) last weekend. It’s excellent and Kieran Caulkin deserves that Oscar nomination. The premise is that two cousins who are like brothers, visit Poland after the passing of their grandmother to see where she lived. They understand each other fully, and not at all.

• Ooh! I love a gimmick and tricking myself with punch cards is right up my alley!

• This has my attention. Currently writing my list of side quests.

• Warms the heart.

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Last Week - In case you missed it:

On obligatory weekend fun, a great Pamela Anderson interview, and lol, millennial complaints.

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PS -

I’d love to see you over on Instagram. You can find me at recentlyenjoyedthings.

I’m also talking books, beauty, and style over at recentlyenjoyedthings.com

Here’s a few things I wrote about recently:

• Last weekend’s musings.

• She likes to take pictures.

• Everything I liked and recommended, all in one place.

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