Happy first Guest Writer of 2022 to those who celebrate!
I don’t know about you, but last week aged me. The last seven days lasted at least 2 years.
Anyway you slice it though, I am so grateful to have my friend Emily guest writing the newsletter. I really enjoy friendship with Emily. When an influencer is doing something a little scammy on Instagram, she’s the first person I text.
I’ve Five-Thingsed her personal training account in the past, and I will do it again. If you want shame-free, science-led fitness and nutrition advice (or reminders to sharpen your knives!) give her a follow.
Like most of my friends, sometimes Emily gets very long audio messages from me. I just sent her two minutes saying that I really grateful that I can confidently plug her Instagram even though I know there are people who read this newsletter who have disordered eating and body image as a part of their story. Obviously, everyone is on their own journey, and if it’s not for you, it’s not for you. But for me, someone can very quickly feel a ton of shame, or like I’m not doing anything right, @emilymattesonfitness is a place of peace and inspiration and gentle reminders to keep my shoulders back.
Plus Emily shared Five Things last week and now some of her friends are here, and I’m also grateful for that.
If you are new here, I write regular issues of Five Things every other week. On the off weeks there’s either a guest writer, or I send an issue to the paying subscribers. The content of those issues varies, but I think is always heartfelt.
This sentence now has links to the my instagram, and old issues of the newsletter. I hope today is beautiful for you.
Welcome, Emily!
Hey Five Things subscribers!
My name is Emily Matteson and I'm your ~guest writer~ for this week's edition.
I live in the KC area with my husband, Josh, and our golden retriever, Barley. We did not name her Barley because we love beer, but we do enjoy a nice boulevard here and there. We are expecting our first baby in June, and we are simultaneously excited and terrified about that. Should be a good time.
I work for myself as a personal trainer and nutritionist. My mom likes to joke that I finally found a job for me, a job where I get to boss myself around and no one else tells me what to do. She is right. It is nice and I can always leave work early Friday without reprimand.
Number One: Atomic Habits by James Clear
I dislike self-help books. I really do. I don't love the "just do it" mentality when trying to convince someone to start something they have never done before. it just doesn't really work despite Shia LeBeouf’s efforts to motivate us. But this one is actually really, really good. He breaks stuff down into ideas like "just get 1% better every day”. We can all do that! You don't have to get 100% better, just 1%! The biggest takeaway is that he changes the way you view success and progress and I think if you enjoying succeeding, you'll like this book because it will free you from a lot of that perfectionist mentality.
Number Two: Double knotting or single knotting your tennis shoes
This is less a five favorite thing but more of a question I've been pondering. I went to visit my friend Kelli in NYC a few weeks ago and while we were letting her dog run around at the dog park I had many, MANY New Yorkers question the fact I only knotted my shoes once. Not a double knot kinda girl I guess. Not sure what that says about me, but maybe it means I'm too trusting? I like to live life on the edge? We don't know. Curious what you do with your laces though.
Number Three: Pasta E Fagioli.
This is a recipe I love. Especially this time of year. I don't want to brag but once I made it for 10 people in Colorado after a day of skiing and every person liked it. They could have just been nice about it but either way I am going to share it with you. It's hearty, it's healthy, and perfect for a cold January day. Recipe here!
Number Four: Permanent jewelry
This is a new craze and I am about it. It is the perfect type of commitment if you are not ready for something actually permanent (like a tattoo). It doesn't come off, but it can be cut off in an emergency situation. I have a permanent bracelet and I love it because I forget about it until someone says, "is that a permanent bracelet? "So, if you're in the stage where you're considering a tattoo, but panic a little at the permanency, may I interest you in a permanent bracelet? They even have anklets and necklaces so you could go wild, but not so wild that your mom is going to be disappointed that you got a butt tattoo in Thailand (another story for another day).
Number Five: BallerinaFarm
If you need some calming, wholesome content about farming and bread making, I highly recommend Ballerina Farm on Instagram. She is a classically trained ballerina from NYC turned pageant queen who moved to Utah to start a pig farm with her husband. If that doesn't already intrigue you, I don't know what will. She makes a lot of sourdough bread in her old farmhouse with her six children (7th on the way). She shows videos of snow falling down on her acres of land, and how to build fences, and how to make butter from her dairy cows. All information that is most likely unnecessary to me but she is zero percent influencer and 100% soothing. I actually find it calming to watch her stories of her chopping vegetables from her garden. On occasion it makes me want to sell all my things and start a pig farm in Utah… Emphasis on occasion.