Things I Loved Last Week 12.4.17

What better way to start off Monday than with a reflection of the stuff you loved over the last seven days?  Each week, check in for a list of weird and wonderful things that I watched/read/did/ate. Have a suggestion for how I should spend my time? A weird show to check out, a book to peep at, or a product to try?  Leave it in the comments below. :)

The Scene:  The vibes last week were very Me, Myself, & I.  I’ve needed a lot lot time to get set up in the new algorithms of my life, and as such, have been keeping largely to myself. Also, there were a lot of Thanksgiving leftovers, and a bit more work than normal, but altogether a good showing for the end of November/beginning of December.  You'll notice that the title of this post has changed just slightly.  This is because I realized I value all days of the week. I do cool stuff all of the time.  As such, I want to show equal love to the other five days.

1. The Magic of Mushrooms:  I was divinely led to this BBC documentary on Netflix by forces unknown to me (it probably has something to do with my already-eclectic viewing tendencies), and this 50-minute gem did not disappoint. Before I go any further, this mushroom documentary was not about magic mushrooms (though if it were, I probably still would have watched it).  It was about the birth, life, and death of fungi.  Now, before you say, “Allie, that sounds like a snooze fest playing at the local loserville cineplex,” I want to grace you with the following fact:  the fastest accelerating living organism on earth is a….wait for it….a MUSHROOM, y’all! Also, I found out that cordyceps (like the kind used in four sigmatic coffee), are mushrooms that implant themselves in living organisms and then burst the heck out!  Wtf, right?  Go watch it.  It’s really cool.  Now I’m obsessed and going down the ‘shroom hole.

2. Conversations With God:  I finally get it.  So many people list this book (along with Eckhart Tolle’s book The Power of Now) as the most profound, influential thing they’ve ever read. I finally freaking get it.  I’ve been listening to this book on my commutes (in this case, I highly recommend the audiobook—it’s read by Neale and who I presume are some voice actors standing in for God).  I am very honest with the fact that I’ve struggled with religion and spirituality most of my life, until the last year or so.  I struggled with the idea of God up until the last six months or so.  But now? Oh now.  I’m all in, yo’.

3. LB Steakhouse: On Friday night, Rand man and I skipped his holiday party to have a holiday party of two.  We went over to Menlo Park and grabbed some bomb ass steaks instead.  Filet+popovers+mashed potatoes+truffle fries+roasted cauliflower+cookies and cream gelato=best night ever.  Plus, I was in my dinosaur jim jam’s before 9pm, which is ideal.

4. Coordinated Wrapping Paper+Ribbons (Holiday Gift Aesthetic, because it’s a thing):  Some years I’ve got it, some years I don’t.  Two years ago, I did the craft paper thing, where you write people’s names on the brown butcher paper and finish the gift with a simple red ribbon.  I had IT.  Last year? Pretty sure we had a hodge podge of gift bags and assorted paper and anything else I found on sale, nary a color scheme to be named.  This year, we have the Rand man and Michael’s black Friday to thank for the gift wrapping theme of 2017.  I bought old-school shiny red and green wrapping paper (side bar: Don’t do it.  It’s very slippery, tape doesn’t like sticking to it, and it irreparably wrinkles at the drop of a cat) and coordinating red and green ribbon on black Friday, because it ended up being, like $15.00 total for five rolls of paper and seven rolls of ribbon.  My intent was to do red paper/green ribbon and green paper/red ribbon.  Randy was all like, “Why don’t you match them?”  DUH.  Monochromatic! So chic!  I’m obsessed.  I highly recommend the monochrome look (with any colors…oooooh WHITE! That would be beautiful. White glitter paper with satin ribbon? Hello, next year). Thanks, Randy, for being so details-oriented.  Thanks also to all of you who read this dissertation about my wrapping paper habits.

5. Nest Indigo: It came! My Sephora VIB gift to myself finally came!  Nest MF-ing Indigo.  Best smell on the planet.  I swear, I could wear a paper bag and two meat loaf pans for an outfit, and then I could spritz Indigo on and be like, “Oh no, you must be mistaken.  I’m a sexy, grown, sultry goddess.” It’s the best ever.  I wore it to the dentist today and had to help the administrative assistant get her first bottle.  Not sponsored, but very open to it, Nest. I love you with my whole heart (manifestation-I’d love to be the face of Nest fragrances, and a scent ambassador.  It’s a job title I just made up).

6. Aquolina Pink Sugar:  Buying Christmas cards at TJ Maxx today, I stumbled across my old standby fragrance amidst the 10,000 bottles of Viva La Juicy.  $16.99—a steal!  Now, this is no Indigo, mind you, but it’s one note sweetness is beloved by me, and strangely enough, every man in my immediate family.  Something about the simplicity really seems to resonate.  I recommend this guy as a stocking stuffer, then Indigo as the main event!

7. Bath and Body Works Winter Candle: Everyone has their seasonal favorites.  Winter is mine.  I don’t know, guys.  I think it’s too strong, too spicy, and too in-your-face, which is probably why #extraAllie is obsessed.  I bought another one when I went for my haircut last week (side note: another thing I LOVED last week.  My hair has shape, and shine, thanks to a gloss treatment).

8. Brazilian Bum Bum Cream: First, I like to say it. Bum Bum Cream. So funny. I finally got to try the original scent, because Sephora sent samples with my Indigo.  DAMN.  I get it now, every beauty YouTube reviewer.  I get it.  The smell is up there with Indigo for me, and it is really hydrating.  All I want for Christmas is tubs of Bum Bum Cream.

9. Powered-Down Sundays:  Seeing as Sunday was full moon in Gemini and Mercury in Retrograde, I took the liberty of not doing any communicating outside of my house.  It was so very relaxing.  No IG, no texts, no emails—just lots of time to read, to think, and to release some weird shit I was holding onto the past few months.  I had a very powerful moment, which I may go into more detail about some day, but suffice it to say, I woke up a refreshed lady today, who felt as though she had hit a turning point.

-xoxo,

Allie