How I’m staying sane 🙃 & the 2025 Grammys

Hello my darlings,

Oh, gosh. How are you?

I know, believe me, I know. It’s been… a time. But hey, at least January is finally over, right? I think the way we are going to get through this administration is by taking it a month at a time, a week at a time, maybe sometimes even a day or an hour at a time.

I know, it’s all so overwhelming. So I’ll keep the action items brief. Here are three quick things you can do RIGHT NOW that don’t involve talking on the phone, because I hate talking on the phone:

• Donate to the ACLU. Personally, I just signed up for monthly donations again after an unemployment-related break. Any org that is suing the shit out of Trump is a good cause to me.

• Email Charlie Baker, head of the NCAA at [email protected] to tell him not to comply with President Trump’s discriminatory executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports. This is the best action I could come up with right now, but I WILL be watching to see how to fight this issue in the future.
  

• In Los Angeles, DSA-LA is having a rally TODAY (the Thursday this goes out) at 5:30pm PT at Children’s Hospital LA, which has canceled appointments providing gender-affirming care to kids because of Trump’s illegal and unenforceable executive order. If you can’t make the rally, you can also sign this letter demanding that Children’s Hospital LA stop withholding healthcare from trans kids. And I hope you do!

Let’s focus on the positive. Let’s be “present.” I’m sitting on the couch in my home office with cozy lighting, a pine candle going, and rain in the forecast, listening to my upstairs neighbor doing vocal scales. That might annoy some people, but I find it kind of charming. When we first moved in, we found out the hard way that our upstairs neighbor was a musician with a home studio right above my husband Ross’s office. After our previous neighbor nightmares, I almost had a panic attack. However, when we knocked on his door, he was super understanding, invited us in and played a track he was working on for us, and we got to meet one of his three cats, which of course endeared us to the whole situation. We exchanged numbers and the one time I had to text him to ask if he could keep it down he actually thanked me for telling him. So, you know. Some people can still be reasonable in this world and communicate like human beings.

I don’t have any advice on how to get through the onslaught of terrible news lately, except to keep going, because someday, these disgusting men will all be dead, and then I will drink pink sparkling wine from a coupe glass in a ball gown. Maybe I’ll throw a party. I’ve thrown parties for lesser reasons, like our cat turning 13. Until then, I’m existing out of spite. The other night, I got so angry reading the news, I had to punch a pillow a dozen times, pretending it was one of the pale, doughy men behind all this. (Truth be told, I am pretty pale and doughy myself, but hopefully I’m not doing anything that makes people want to punch me in the face. Well, maybe the designers at work when I change copy in the deck for the 1000th time and they have to reformat it AGAIN. But I’ll accept that.) I highly recommend pillow-punching as a therapeutic exercise. Pillows are also good for screaming into, or crying into, or taking a nap when you are absolutely drained from the above activities. Pillows are a tool of resistance.

Let me ask you this: what are you doing to cope with the current depressing news cycle? Here’s what I have been doing:

- Shopping. Did you know that Old Navy actually has some decent quality stuff now? Back in the day, Old Navy had some of the worst quality clothing around, with the weirdest sizing ever. Now they’re actually pretty size inclusive (XXS - 4X). I recently bought some leggings ($14.99) and two solid color crew neck sweatshirts ($34.99), one in orange and one in pink. They’re all sooo comfy! The waistband on the leggings doesn’t dig into me, a modern day miracle, and the sweatshirts are warm and cozy, in vibrant colors. 

Speaking of great quality: I also bought my second oversized cardigan from Dressed in Lala ($124), this one in green, with tigers on it. My first one was this pink and red checkerboard knit which is sadly currently sold out. I just love the combination of pink and red. These sweaters are super warm and super oversized. I have mine in L/XL, and I swim in it, deliciously. I only regret that L.A. is so warm that I can only wear these cardigans for a few months out of the year.

- Face masks. I really like the TONYMOLY “I am” sheet masks ($3.75), especially in aloe (moisturizing) and cactus (purifying). I like to pop one of those on, lie down, and listen to a podcast for 20-30 minutes while it works (usually Hollywood Crime Scene or Everyone’s Business But Mine). I just know the stress of this year must be aging my skin like crazy, so it’s nice to do something to counteract that.

- Reading dumb romance novels. One thing you may not know about me is that I actually read a lot of hockey romance. I know! I am the least sportsy person ever. I’m not even sure how many periods are in a hockey game. (I think, three? Let me go look this up. 🎵hold music plays🎵 I was right! WOW, I’ve actually absorbed something about hockey from this smut!) And I have no idea what it is about hockey romance in particular that I like. Maybe it’s the brutality of a contact sport, without the arrogance of football players (or the non-existence of lacrosse romance as a genre). Whatever, who cares, it’s all fantasy to me. I really liked Sarina Bowen’s Ivy Years series (especially Understatement of the Year), and I’m currently reading Icebreaker by Hannah Grace, which is absolutely filthy. Apparently it got big on BookTok, so now there is backlash. People really hate it when something is big on TikTok! Grow up, edgelords! Sometimes popular things are enjoyable!

- I actually did a Peloton strength training workout the other day for the first time, and I liked it! Good music, good instructor. I realized I needed to channel my rage into moving my body more, and why not work on getting stronger, so I can punch out Nazis? It was a 20 minute full-body beginner class and was exactly what I needed that day. Their class library is actually super affordable at $12.99 per month (I think I’m still on a two month trial, though).

- Cooking. Two Sundays ago, it finally rained in L.A. (thank God or whatever you believe is up there), so I thought it would be the perfect day to make a pot roast. I made this red wine-braised version in the slow cooker (seven hours on low), then put the meat and vegetables in a roasting tray and crisped them up a bit in the oven for some texture/char. I served it with mashed potatoes, garlic bread, and a Caesar salad. It made the house smell amazing and cozy all day and was actually very hands-off. A friend came over for dinner and brought wine to pair with it. If you are going to cook a huge hunk of meat, I strongly recommend inviting friends over to share it with you, otherwise you will have tons of leftovers (which might be what you’re going for, but I get bored eating the same thing over and over).

Then, last Saturday, I made these spinach-and-cheese-stuffed chicken breasts, a technique that looked kind of fancy but was actually sooo easy! I have never made a stuffed chicken breast before but now I think this will definitely go into my regular rotation. I served them with one of those Near East rice pilafs, parmesan-roasted cauliflower, and a Caesar salad (what else?) that I threw some grape tomatoes into for color and brightness.

Finally, this week, I made this chicken and rice with buttered onions again because Ross and my stomachs were weird all that day, and I wanted something plain but not bland. I also tossed some leftover cauliflower with turmeric and garlic powder and roasted it in the oven. In the winter, I cannot stop roasting vegetables. It’s my second favorite way to eat them, after grilling them, which I can never do, because I don’t own a grill.

- Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, season 14 (Bravo, Peacock). This season, Dorit is really on one. She’s decided that up until now, she has been holding in too many things and letting too many things go, which is an insane thought for someone as talkative and confrontational as her. As any Housewife, really. It’s been hard to watch her marriage crumble on screen, even though I’ve always found PK to be pretty vile. He and Mo are acting way too single for men who are merely separated. It’s like they’re Catholic school boys spending their first semester at a state school. Speaking of Mo, can I just say? I really hate the proliferation of blindingly white veneers in men with a certain level of fame. It’s so distracting.

Kyle is not having a good season. I have never really been a Kyle stan, but have always believed that she is a necessary ingredient in RHOBH. I think these shows just work better when they have at least one legacy member on the cast. What’s happening this season in terms of the tension in Dorit and Kyle’s friendship is interesting because generally speaking, I think Kyle is loyal to a fault. It’s one of her tragic flaws, and why she sucks at drawing boundaries with her sisters and has always defended the morally corrupt Faye Resnick. Get you an Earth sign friend, I’m telling you! The loyalest.

I think the problem here is that Kyle feels she needs to be an equally good friend to both Dorit and PK, and it is very, very hard to do that when two people who used to be a couple decide to separate or more. Unfortunately I am now at an age where I have learned this from experience. Furthermore, it doesn’t always even make sense to try to stay friends with both people in a couple. You might have more history with one person, are closer with one person, or maybe one person was less of a jerk in the breakup (although that is dangerous to try to judge from outside a relationship). Kyle needs to just drop the rope with PK, unless she really needs Boy George tickets that badly.

One last thought on Beverly Hills: I really like Bozoma! She has a super interesting story (and Wikipedia page… I just learned that her sister is “a lawyer and a death doula?” Follow her around with cameras, please!! Phaedra Parks is literally shaking!!!), and while I’m not particularly starstruck by women who climb the corporate ladder (that’s a game I ain’t interested in playin’, hon), she does have an impressive resume. She was high up in marketing at Apple and Uber, and was the CMO of Endeavor and Netflix. She has also changed jobs every 1-2 years for the past eight years, which is interesting. Once upon a time, if you did that, you got called out for “job hopping.” Now, it seems like the only way to get paid what you’re worth.

- Severance, season two (AppleTV+). This was my most anticipated returning show of 2025 (after that epic first season finale, how could it not be?), and what a gift that we got it in January! The beautiful thing about this season is that they are not holding back or stretching out storylines to save big reveals for the finale, they are just going for it in the first couple episodes! I was afraid they were going to go the Lost route and keep introducing new questions that they had no intention of ever answering, but that does not seem to be the case. No spoilers from me, I will just say I’m glad they are giving Zach Cherry more to do this season, and I was so excited to see Merritt Wever, I’ve loved her since Nurse Jackie (am I the only person who watched that show? It feels like a fever dream now).

- The Grammys. Our friend and neighbor (not the upstairs one) invited us over to watch the Grammys on Sunday night, which we paired with Chinese delivery from Fat Dragon & lots of white wine. I have to say, this year’s show was exponentially better than the last time I watched. Dare I say it actually felt pretty timely and relevant? The whole night, they were raising money to rebuild Los Angeles after the fires, and during the ad breaks, there were commercials they’d produced to promote small local businesses that had burned down, which I think they should do every year! Make every award show a fundraising gala, why not?

Here were some of my favorite performances, in no particular order. They aren’t on YouTube yet, but I’ll link to the music videos where I can in case you want to hear the songs (I’m trying to wean myself off of Spotify):

• Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things.” People seem pretty sick of this song because it got so overused on TikTok, but I still like it! I also liked his little flips and his sparkly jumpsuit, too, although at first I thought he was gay and it was an homage to Freddie Mercury, and then I read his Wikipedia page and found out he’s just Mormon. “Not everyone has to be gay, Liz,” Ross said, which is technically true, I suppose. Sigh.

• Doechii, “Denial Is A River” and “Catfish.” Just incredible!! The dancing, the movement, the storytelling, the flow. What an exciting new artist.
  

  

  This Doechii moment was super impressive

• Sabrina Carpenter, “Espresso” and “Please, Please, Please.” I thought her comedic, slapsticky, old Hollywood performance was really cute and funny! I didn’t know she could be funny! Other than Cowboy Carter and The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, hers was probably the album I listened to the most last year. I still think her makeup is too dark and heavy for her coloring/petite face, though. Someone get this girl a brown mascara!
  

• Chappell Roan, “Pink Pony Club.” We learned during this show that Chappell Roan used to work at the premiere boutique doughnut shop in our neighborhood, Donut Friend! Ain’t L.A. magic? I loved the giant pink pony and all the clowns, although as Ross said, “this is someone’s worst nightmare.” I thought he was talking about Republicans at first, but he meant someone with a fear of clowns. Oh. Right.
  

• Dawes, St. Vincent, Sheryl Crow, Brittany Howard, John Legend, and Brad Paisley, “I Love L.A.” I appreciate the sentiment here, but wow, a line-up like that and only Dawes singing lead? Felt like a lot of wasted talent. How are you going to have Brittany Howard singing backup vocals? St. Vincent on keys and not guitar? I’m not usually a big “everyone should have a solo” person, but everyone should’ve had a solo.

• Lady Gaga, “Abracadabra” sponsored by MasterCard. It’s a really fun song, and I love how the video feels like something out of her “Bad Romance” era, which was one of my faves. But man, I miss when labels used to invest millions into music video production! They’re all shot in one day at one location now. It’s all just a bit underwhelming. When was the last time you saw a music video that really blew you away?

• Teddy Swims, “Lose Control.” We had never heard of this artist before (the first time he flashed on screen, Ross asked, “Is that Jellybean?” He meant Jelly Roll. It was neither), but what a set of pipes!! Imagine CeeLo Green but slightly deeper and raspier, with way more facial tattoos. It’s ironic that the song is called “Lose Control,” because he has total control of his voice!!
  

• Cynthia Erivo and Herbie Hancock, “Fly Me to the Moon.” This performance was the opposite of everything else I was enjoying during the show: no crazy set design, no dancers, no costume changes, just Cynthia singing her heart out. When you are that talented, you don’t need all the production. How lucky are we to exist in the same time period as Cynthia Erivo?
  

• The underwire in Beyoncé’s gown. For as expensive as their dresses are, can’t the good people at Schiaparelli make it so their underwires won’t poke out during acceptance speeches? Jeez!!

Alright folks, that’s it for this week! I hope I was able to make you smile and forget about everything for a minute.

If you have a second, I’d love it if you’d like or comment on this post–just click this link to go to the post page. This post is public, so feel free to share it on social media, or forward it to a friend.

Until next time—do things that make you happy, please!

Love,

Liz

XOXO