Things on my radar
a round up to round out the year
I am SO excited to be out of 2023. Something about last year felt like a carnival fun house, and I don’t particularly like fun houses. Or carnivals for that matter. A lot of good happened last year, and I’m super grateful for every minute of it, but I am very ready for a fresh set of linens on my bed. December was a quiet yet simultaneously wild month. I continued my residency as an introvert (lots of reading, many cozy hot cocoas, movie nights, etc) and spent a lot of time with my elbows deep in crafts. I also got engaged (!), which is a rollercoaster of emotions—even more than I expected it would be. Getting engaged feels incredibly out-of-body while simultaneously very grounding, amidst a bunch of other things.
We also managed a quick overnight to Brooklyn, finally staying at The Ace Hotel, and I had the best rugelach I’ve tasted on this side of the Atlantic.
Before I completely put last year to bed, here’s what landed on my radar at the end of 2023:
I hadn’t watched cable television in a while, but while I was visiting my parents’ house over Thanksgiving, this Etsy campaign was all over the place and I think it is brilliant.
I cannot wait to try my hand at a gratitude board:
Cardigans. I’m loving wearing them as tops, and I am deeply craving a chunky one like this:
Silver!!!! Silver is everywhere and I’m not mad about it. I’m a gold girl for sure, but I have to say that I’ve been inclined to mix metals and play with more silver. I found my old Tiffany bracelet in the basement of my family’s home and actually considered wearing it in real life. (It gets me every time how recycled trends seem to sneakily re-emerge back into our lives.)
I was reading Konfekt Magazine and in an article the term “tyrolean” was mentioned, which was a word new to me. Tyrolean, for those of you who are wondering, is the term used to describe traditional Austrian wear, and this rapidly launched me down a rabbit hole of the-hills-are-alive-with-the-sound-of-music-vintage-sweater-searching. I am ruined and I’m in love.
We watched two really spectacular albeit emotional movies: Nyad, a story about the woman who swam non-stop from Florida to Cuba and Minari, a cinematic piece about a Korean family who live in the Ozarks and start a farm. Both are tragically beautiful. I generally don’t have the capacity to watch anything contemplative anymore, but these two were really worth it. Fun fact: the school Diana Nyad attends as a kid is the same school I attended for elementary school! (Luckily I didn’t do swim team.)
Mint chocolate everything. I go through this thing every couple of years where I suddenly crave mint chocolate. Generally, I am repulsed by the idea of these ingredients going together, but then, out of nowhere, I can’t get enough of it. I crave it. I seek it out. Hence, I’ve been enjoying lots of mint chocolate chip ice cream, these chocolate bars from Moka, peppermint hot cocoa, and the peppermint mocha flavored Nut Pod in my coffee.
Bows are 1000% a fad, but my IG is serving me a lot of them and I have to say, I love it.
This is one of those times I wish I lived on the West Coast for the Bo-rek-as shop. I say a prayer every night that they will decide to open an East Coast version sooner than later.
And speaking of wishing to teleport to the West Coast for food experiences, I would very much like a seat at this table:
I was scrolling on IG when a post from Erewhon for their newest, wildly expensive smoothie caught my attention. The comment section was blowing up over the fact that the recipe featured oat milk. Commenters were infuriated that Erewhon would support the use of oat milk. (How dare they!?) This caught me a bit off guard since oat milk has had such a popular ride over the past handful of years. This led me to look at my own inclinations. I had been on a raw milk kick when I lived in CT back in 2015. I was friends with a farmer who I knew took great care of his cows, and frankly, I felt great with raw milk incorporated into my diet. Since then have toggled between grass-fed cow milk and plant-based alternatives. I do wonder if whole, raw milk is better for us than the gum-and-stabilizer-filled plant milks we’ve been hooked on, but this trend toward cow’s milk does make me suspicious of the dairy industry’s role in campaigning us to return to milk. I read a few articles, and this passage stood out to me in particular: “In 2021, New York Magazine dug into why so many people were ordering cow’s milk at fancy coffee shops again, noting that some of the people interviewed were ordering it in a rebellion of sorts from the oat-milk-obsessed monoculture. As criticisms about oat milk became louder on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, many consumers likely realized that there is no morally right or virtuous choice when it comes to drinking milk, that every single option is going to have some sort of bogeyman that the diet industrial complex can exploit. At the same time, many people also want to feel freedom from an obligation to make the right choice — for the climate, for the planet, for their health — when they’re doing something as simple as deciding what to mix with their coffee. Why shouldn’t they drink milk that just tastes good?”
And as we enter 2024, this is how I’d like to live my life, because how we have been approaching work (re: wasting away from 9-5) is NOT it.
This caption and depicted activity is also how I hope to challenge myself to transform this year:
I have a feeling 2024 will bring about a lot of home-reno and refresh vibes.
& finally, this reminder:
Phew, I really gathered a lot last month. I hope you enjoyed that ride through my brains. Happy New Year <3
Love this journey for you, Maya! 2024 is our year! 🫶🏽