Libby is here!
The fun thing about Libby is that she’s one of those friends where we only lived in the same place for a brief season, and there’s a couple years between us, but I know I could call her on any day, and our phone conversation would last until one of us HAD to go.
Libby is smart, Libby is kind. Libby ~works on the Hill~ in DC. And I know the world is better because she’s in it. She’s one of those people that, without coming across as hyper-intentional, has a gift of saying exactly what you need to hear.
You should absolutely go subscribe to her newsletter right now.
In 2019 I got lunch with Libby at the height of my “make my friends wave in a video” phase, a great time, if you ask me.
This sentence now has links to the my instagram, and old issues of the newsletter. And now my ABLE referral link. Hey-oh.
As usual, I’ll let Libby introduce herself
Hi friends! My name is Libby Tidwell, and I'm excited to be guest writing Five Things! I'm originally from Nashville, TN, and I know Katherine because, while I was a student at Baylor University, I volunteered with the youth group at the church KC worked at. I now live in Washington, D.C. and work on Capitol Hill. When I'm not working, you can find me avoiding political discussions, running, or trying to rally friends for some kind of group activity :)
Number One: A great fall playlist
Listen, we all sometimes need to feel like the main character of a Nancy Meyers or Nora Ephron movie. Spotify’s Jazz for Autumn playlist will help you achieve that. Turn it on, light a candle, and imagine you’re bopping around your apartment on a chilly, rain-soaked New York City evening. It’s a vibe.
Number Two: Glossier Eye Makeup
I am up there among the laziest makeup-wearers. I’m not good at it, and, if I’m being honest, I don’t like to wear it. My ideal type of hotness is the kind where you’re hot with no effort, and that’s sort of Glossier’s thing. Katherine has long lauded Glossier’s skincare, but I’m here to hype up their eyeshadow. Eyeshadow has always felt like the most intimidating part of doing my makeup, so I just didn’t. But I started using their liquid/cream eyeshadow (my preferred shade is Cub), and it’s so easy. Slather some on your eyelids and get ready for the compliments to roll in. I will also plug their mascara and brow gel - they work wonders on my stick-straight eyelashes and wild-child eyebrows.
Number Three: Go Watch a Nate Bargatze Special
There’s an interesting corner of the young adult population that is very in tune with stand up comedy, but I am not standing in that corner, though some Five Things readers may be! However, I randomly know about Nate Bargatze because his dad is a magician that performed for my school while I was in high school (if you take my recommendation and listen to Nate you will understand his dad more, just trust me) and plugged him and now Nate is kind of a big deal. He’s clean (but not in a cringe, Tim Hawkins or Jeff Foxworthy way) and sharp and just so funny, and this Tim Alberta profile also makes him seem kind of tender. Anywho, if you need a laugh, I highly recommend his newest Netflix special, The Greatest Average American. It’s a treat.
Number Four: Paying No Money for Barre Classes
I live in Washington, DC, the city with the 5th highest cost of living in the country, and work for the federal government, so paying $175 a month for a Pure Barre membership just isn’t in the cards for me. But I’m basic and love a good barre workout, and during the pandemic discovered True40 through a blogger I follow. True40 is a barre studio in Alabama, but during the lockdown, they put out 25 free at-home workouts that I’ve been doing a couple of times a week for the last year. I can definitely tell that I’ve gotten stronger from doing them, and I’m really thankful that they put them out there and haven’t taken them down now that they’ve reopened. So be a grifter like me and stop paying too much money for your barre membership!
Number Five: God’s Pursuit of His People
My church has been going through a series on how God speaks to us through scripture, and a few weeks ago my pastor taught on how God uses his word to woo us to himself, something I just really needed to hear. I’ve been in a season of feeling really aware of how ingrained in me my sinfulness is, and this sermon on a passage out of Hosea affirmed my sinfulness, but also affirmed even more the Lord’s unending pursuit of me that will eventually be complete when he returns. It just is really good news.
Bonus: Katherine WILL tell you to start your own newsletter
Katherine was kind and listened to me panic-talk about my career quarter-life crisis and how I like writing but don’t know what to do with that and encouraged me to start a newsletter of my own. It’s called High-brow|Low-Brow because I wanted license to talk about literally whatever I want, but the premise is that I write about something that I’ve been thinking a lot about that’s a little deeper (high-brow, if you will) and then a couple of more fun things that I’ve been excited about (aka, low-brow). I’ve seen the fun Katherine has had with Five Things, and it suckered me into doing it myself, so if you want to sign up, you can here!