No one really asked for this, but I always love a little year-end recap. So here is a non-comprehensive list of things that made 2020 more sparkly.
This newsletter has grown quite a bit in the last year, and I am so so grateful, I mean it. Sometimes I feel like this is just a silly little thing I send out Sunday nights to my friends, but you all have been so kind to push back, and tell me that this newsletter is more than that. So thank you.
I’ll meet you here on Sunday nights for at least one more year, and if you would like to fill out this reader survey, that would be great!
Would love to know the things that kept you above water this year.
xo
Overall best things
What made me feel most like myself: going on walks and bike rides with friends
Best surprise: how fun it is to have your sister as your roommate // the way rich friendships have flourished in an otherwise weird year
Things I bought
Clothing Purchase: Loft Jeans // REI Shorts
Shoe Purchase: Madewell Tennies // ABLE Boots // birkencrocs
Skincare product: Flower and Bone Facial Oil // Drunk Elephant Retinol
Hair purchase: Dry Bar Clips
Household buy: Mrs. Meyers Lavender Soap
Splurge: Away Suitcase
For your ears
Podcast series: Boom/Bust HQ Trivia // Nice White Parents // Foundering - the WeWork Story
Podcast episodes: Jamie Ivey with Beth Moore “God made it matter” // Reply All discusses who QAnon is
Overall Podcast: Who? Weekly
Music Find: Orville Peck
Food finds
Trader Joe’s Find: Sweet and Spicy Pecans // Everything but the Elote Seasoning
Bread Recipe: Focaccia
Salad recipe: Corn & Chickpea Bowl with Miso-Jalapeno Tahini
Wine: Mt. Beautiful Pinot Gris // King’s Prohibition Shiraz
Things that passed the time
TV Show: Ozark // Money Heist // Sweet Magnolias // Virgin River
Novel: Nothing to See Here // Such a Fun Age
Nonfiction read: Broken and Beloved // Killers of the Flower Moon // Why We Sleep
Memoir: Congratulations! Who are you again?
Puzzle: Who am I?
For your heart
Poem: We Never Went to the Moon // The Orange
Balm for your soul: Singled out for Good
Things I still think about: Mayor Pete’s One Eyed Dog // the Costco Slide Deck // Bill Belichick
Phone practice: making my address a shortcut under “qqq”
Spiritual Practice: going to church in person, reading through the wisdom books at a slow pace
Mental health practice: Buying an alarm clock
File under no real category
Dumb thing I can’t believe I did: for a while I was into betting on political outcomes with PredictIt. I ended up walking away $15 more rich.
Random Impulse Buy: Antibodies Tote
Thing I am so grateful I bought in 2019: my bike
Funny tweets: Matt Rhule German Composers vs. Ludacris
The songs that got me through: Come Over // Is He Worthy // Lips of an Angel
Things I want more of in 2021: laughing with friends, freckles on my nose, bike rides, new foods, dance moves, golden hour tennis matches, weddings coordinated with HuCo Events, and rest in God.
Things I want less of: time spent on TikTok