Shopping 🛍️ & flopping

Hi friends!

How are you?? It is officially Libra season, and on the one hand, I’m feeling pretty good! The weather has gotten cooler in L.A. (70s and low 80s), I’m settling more into my new job after a month, and it has been honestly life-changing to not be so stressed about money all the time. My husband Ross and I have been watching a lot of spooky movies together, and I’m already excited thinking about the holidays to come.

I’m also feeling pretty bad about all the people suffering because of Hurricane Helene in the U.S. and suffering because of our war machine abroad. What a mess we’ve made of this world, and that this world makes of us. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do to stop it. I donate and vote and write my representatives and boycott and all that, but I’m just one person, and it never feels like any of it makes a difference. If I choose to buy a different type of hummus, will that really change anything?

I don’t know how I’m supposed to hold it all within myself. I scroll through Instagram and see the best and the worst of this world flashing before my eyes back to back to back. I honestly don’t know which is more insane, compartmentalizing and going about my life, or lying in bed in the fetal position and never getting up. But lying in bed doesn’t help anyone, either, so I guess compartmentalization it is!

Dang, that was depressing. Let me take some action now so I don’t feel so impotent.

Okay, I set up monthly donations to World Central Kitchen and Donors Choose. WCK does an incredible job of distributing meals to people in need around the world, especially those affected by disasters and war. And I love Donors Choose because you can donate to specific classroom projects for teachers at schools local to you. I recently donated to a filmmaking project at an elementary school in my neighborhood! How cool is that?

In other news: we won our court case against our old landlords, who were withholding about half our security deposit, and now they owe us just over $1000! We were hoping to get over $5000 out of them using California Civil Code 1950.5 (L), which states that we have the right to sue them for 3x the amount of our deposit if they don’t return it in full within 21 days, but I guess the judge didn’t go for that. Deep shoutout to the Coalition for Economic Survival’s free Tenants’ Rights Zoom Legal Clinic, which our dear friend and tenant rights king Kyle hooked us up with. They gave us very helpful advice for this whole process, and I highly recommend them if you are having housing issues in Los Angeles.

Our poor cat, Zadie, was plagued by a case of fleas recently, which we weren’t able to diagnose for too long because how the heck does a 100% indoor cat get fleas, anyway?? I think one must have tagged along on a package we received or something. For the longest time, we couldn’t figure out why she was scratching herself so hard around the neck. I got her a Feliway diffuser thinking it was anxiety. I brought out new toys thinking it could be boredom. I even bought her an expensive case of grain-free wet food because I thought she might have developed some kind of allergy. She was probably like, “Thanks for the yummy food, but uhhh, I HAVE FLEAS YOU DUMB MOTHERFUCKERS PLEASE HELP ME.”

I’m sorry to say we thought she was just being especially naughty for like a week. She kept running around screaming at us more than usual and we kept catching her sitting in spots she knows she’s not supposed to sit in, like on the kitchen island. Well, turns out she was probably yelling because she wanted us to help her, and she was sitting in weird spots because she was trying to find a spot where the fleas wouldn’t bite her. Poor sweet girl! I feel so bad that we failed her!!! We love her sooo much!!!

Anyway, after a bunch of flea treatment and cleaning later, she seems to be doing much better, and she is currently snoozing in my lap as I write this, so she doesn’t seem to hold it against me too much.

Let’s get into some things:

- Shopping. Listennnnn… I’m a new money bitch (recently got a new full-time job), so I have been catching up on all the shopping I wanted to do for months but couldn’t afford to. Most of these are actually very practical purchases, if you think about it!

- These super soft crew neck t-shirts from Torrid (sizes M-6X only, sorry smalls!) ($14-35). Let me first say that Torrid always has either a sale or a discount code going on, so you should never, ever pay full price for anything there. I recently started a new WFH job where I am in video meetings for at least 40% of every day with my camera on. I realized pretty quickly that I was in desperate need of some good-quality basic t-shirts that would cover my boobs, since most of my wardrobe lately is either graphic tees, cleavage-y tank tops, or strappy dresses, none of which I could wear to a client meeting.

One thing about plus-size clothing is that a lot of it is really, really UGLY. If I never saw another cheap-looking long-sleeved blouse in a fuddy-duddy floral print again, it would be too soon. For graphic tees, your options are either A) Nightmare Before Christmas girlie or B) Disney Adult. And thank god the cold shoulder trend seems to be receding back to the evil sea cave from which it crawled out!!

But I digress. These aforementioned crew neck t-shirts from Torrid are just terrific basics. They’re sooo soft and comfy, yet they also feel substantial enough in quality that I don’t feel like an idiot for paying $20 for one. They also come in nice colors (although of course there are also a few ugly floral prints available, if you want them).

- adidas x FARM Rio backpack ($48). Once again, I must note that I got this for $29 because it was on sale. Wait for a sale!!! If you can’t wait, you can also get 15% off right now if you sign up for their emails. But anyway. Did you know that Adidas has a collab with Farm Rio? I think both of those brands are pretty fucking cool, so I was very excited to pick up their loud-as-hell collab backpack. It’s also practical, because my purple Fjallraven Kånken has been to hell and back over the past few years. This Adidas backpack is roomy yet lightweight, with a pocket for my laptop. I can totally see taking this to a coffee shop to write.

- EyeBuyDirect! How has it taken me this long to find out about the glory of affordable eyeglasses? The last time I bought glasses was in 2016, and they were Warby Parkers, because at $100 a pop, those were the most affordable brand I could find. No longer, baby! I hit up EyeBuyDirect recently and bought two new pairs for less than the cost of one pair of Warby Parkers! I got one pair of their mermaid-y Cassis glasses ($49) and one pair of their Attitude frames ($52) in coral, which was on sale for $26 and unfortunately is out of stock now. I also got 25% off the total cost with a coupon code–NEVER! PAY! FULL! PRICE!

- Cooking. At work, they’re having a cooking contest, so I knew I had to make one of the most delicious and epic recipes I know, Ina Garten’s baked rigatoni with red wine ragu. As a reminder, it was my #1 favorite recipe of the year that I made in 2022. The combination of fennel and red wine and meat and tomatoes… I’m telling ya, the smells are to die for! Ina uses ground lamb in that recipe, and I’ve made it that way before and it was delicious, but this time, I decided to sub lean ground beef and see how that went, since a lot of people don’t like lamb. It was just as good!! I served it with garlic bread and a simple chopped salad with balsamic vinaigrette from a bag, which cut through some of the richness.

Just one warning before you dive in: from the start of prep to plating, that recipe took me three hours to make. About half of that time is fairly passive cooking, either sauce simmering or casserole baking or resting, but be forewarned, it is not weeknight-friendly. It’s the kind of recipe you make for a special occasion, like Christmas or New Year’s Eve, or even an impressive dinner party, since you can assemble the whole thing the day before and then just pop it in the oven 40 minutes before you need it. Or maybe you, like I, simply find it relaxing and rewarding to spend a cozy weekend afternoon-into-evening working on a long cooking project (with a true crime podcast in your ears and a glass of wine nearby, of course).

- Blink Twice (in theaters/rent or buy on Prime Video or AppleTV+). I love watching beautiful imaginary rich people party in slightly eerie surroundings, so I knew this movie, Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, would be right up my alley. What I didn’t realize was that it is also a deeply feminist story. My closest guy friends and I also have a slightly unhealthy adoration of Channing Tatum, and he was terrific in this! A very different role for him. In some ways, it reminded me of Promising Young Woman, especially in the somewhat cynical, mixed reviews it’s been receiving. I’m not saying it’s a perfect movie, there are certainly a few plot mechanics that work a little too easily, but it’s a big swing, and I like imperfect big swing-type movies, especially from women. There is a trigger warning at the beginning of the movie that it contains scenes of sexual assault, so be forewarned.

- The Circle, season seven (Netflix). I can’t believe we’re on the seventh season of this show! Are you all still watching? Because I am. One thing I love about The Circle is how the producers are always introducing new twists and challenges that change the dynamic of the game and keep it from being stale. That, and how every contestant seems to think that $100,000 is enough money to buy their parents a house, take their whole family on vacation to Italy, AND never have to work again. Never stop dreaming, babes!

I’m going to go through the current cast members, so SPOILERS ahead!

• Savannah: I loved her little Pomeranian, Samson. That’s about all I have to say about her, sorry!
  
  

• Andy (a/k/a Heather): I about croaked when KFern started referring to Andy, whose age was 34 on his profile, as “Grandpa Andy.” Was I ever so young??
  
  

• Darian: He seemed like a real sweetheart (who doesn’t love a teacher?), but was not a very proactive player. I will never understand why he chose Kevin over Jadejha to vouch for him when he was the Disruptor. (Producer intervention?) I kind of hope he and Jadejha get married?? Have two people in The Circle ever kissed before when they met up post-blocking? Iconic.
  
  

• Garret: He was perhaps the smartest player we’ve seen this season–his ability to come into The Circle late and be able to read everyone so well was truly impressive. I think he’s actually very sensitive and a big softy inside, so I felt bad that he seemed to take it personally when he got blocked, when he was unfortunately just collateral damage.

• Rachel (a/k/a/ Deb): Oh, lord. I go back and forth so much on Rachel. I don’t think she’s very good at the game, and while at times that has been charming and funny, it’s been pretty cringe to watch her decide to be “that bitch.” I think she made the most progress when she and Madelyn had to swap profiles, and she’s been stumbling forward somehow ever since.
  
  

• Tierra (a/k/a Antonio): I have a theory that Tierra’s sassiness/”attitude” would have been way better received if she had come in as Antonio instead. But also, he’s an insurance adjuster, which my husband who works in insurance says is “the scum of the Earth,” so there’s that.
  
  

• Jadejha: First of all, I think her name is beautiful (it’s pronounced like JUH-d’Asia). I don’t think she’s proactive enough as a player. This is going to sound horrible, but hear me out: while I think her story of being homeless and living in a group home as a child is very moving, I do think she sometimes uses that information strategically to connect with people. Look, that kind of thing has been a part of The Circle (and reality shows in general) for a long time, I’m not knocking it. What stood out for me was that the one time Tierra tried to open up to her in the same way, about her experience growing up in foster homes, Jadejha kind of side-eyed her and didn’t trust that she was being genuine. To me, that was an example of Jadejha seeing her own moves in Tierra’s actions. Idk, what do you all think?
  
  

• Madelyn: Look, she’s clearly only on the show to get more subscribers to her OnlyFans, so I guess she doesn’t care about coming off as a villain. After all, a lot of people in this world still want to see what a villain looks like naked. I don’t think lying is a great strategy, but since one of the main people she lied to was Kevin, the #1 himbo on this show, it seems to be working for her. On some level, I almost admire someone who doesn’t care how they come across on TV. Couldn’t be me!!
  

• Kevin/KFern: On the one hand, Kevin frustrates me because he is such a bad player, yet somehow keeps failing upward into the Influencer spot (and referring to himself as “The Comeback Kid,” which is annoying, as is any self-appointed nickname). On the other hand, the way this man takes everything said to him 100% at face value is hilarious. I think he is very lucky he was in the first group of people on the show, because if he came in late, he wouldn’t have lasted a day. I’m not even mad at him for breaking all his alliances–I’m mad at everyone else for letting him get away with it.
  
  

• Gianna (a/k/a/ Nicky and JoJo): Oh my god, I just love these boys so much. I know that since they’re from Staten Island, there is a statistical likelihood they’re Trump voters, if they vote at all. But I just love their thick accents and how weird they are!! They’re also surprisingly good at playing a woman, since not one person has caught on to the fact that they’re a catfish. I think my favorite line from them was during the wedding party, when one of them (I can’t tell them apart) said, “I love weddings. Weddings are for getting blackout drunk.” Ross almost spit his drink across the room! My #1 problematic faves!! I hope they take it all the way!

Alright, that’s about it from me for this newsletter!

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—never pay full price!

Love,

Liz

XOXO