Happy KC Restaurant Week to those who celebrate.
Every year since 2018 my college friends and I pick a theme of the year, and they are as follows:
2018: Our Gordo Year
2019: Our Reba Year - God and my Girlfriends
2020: Our Shania Year - Get in the Action, Feel the Attraction
2021: Our Faith Year - #ouryearofFaith
For whatever reason, picking a theme for this year took a little more time. We talked about Carrie, we talked about Martina, we talked about The Chicks. Dolly came up more than once. But my pickle with Dolly is that Dolly is already having a moment, she does not need us to have a moment for her. But with Maren Morris consistently deleting her Insta photos from the tennis court, I couldn’t make a strong argument for her. Thusly we decided that 2022 should be: Our Dolly Year - Embrace Being Basic.
I hate using the word “basic” one, because what does it even mean? And two, I think calling something basic comes from a place of misogyny and not from a place of celebrating that sometimes people just like stuff.
And so in celebration of Our Dolly Year (and Lilly’s engagement, although there is nothing basic about that), today’s issue is dedicated to basic things I love.
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This tree was inspiring to me this week.
Number One: Black leggings round up
At one point this week it seemed like good content to catalog every single pair of black legging I own. Now I’m not sure that it’s either interesting or funny but here it is:
I bought the Lululemon high-rise Wunder train 25” using the gift card I won in the Emily Matteson Fitness giveaway. I love these pants, but they collect lint and dog hair like they are getting paid to do it. I’m trying to make them last by wearing them to the gym only. Full review forthcoming.
I love my Outdoor Voices Flex 7/8 for any kind of cardio. My favorite thing about these leggings stay tight all the way down my calves. I have giant calves, skinny ankles so I sometimes run into an accidental flair situation on leggings. My second favorite thing is that my phone fits in the waist pocket, but that doesn’t cause the pants to fall. These leggings err on the see-thru side of things, so one must cover their own ass, so to speak.
My absolute favorite leggings are the Athleta Sculptex, which they have tragically discontinued. I have two pairs, and one is two wears away from retirement. A well earned retirement.
I bought the Aerie Offline Crossover Leggings last year when a girl on TikTok told me they made her look “snatched.” Perfect for lounging, don’t really trust them for working out.
I think that these are the Gap leggings that I own. I get compliments on these every time I wear them. Great pocket situation. Hits my calf-ankle situation well. Bought two pairs four years ago and they’ve held up.
Other pairs of black legging I own (all from Athleta) but only reach for on special occasions: two pairs of capri-length leggings that are great for riding bikes, but at that length we loved in 2013 but don’t love as much now. I also have a pair of cold weather running leggings from Athleta that are amazing, but really do the job of keeping me warm, so I only like wearing them outside.
I also still have two pairs of leggings from when we wore leggings as pants, and one pair of Spanx made-to-look-like-leather pants that are kind of fun.
Number Two: Dyson Animal
About once every 18 months I think a vacuum will solve all my problems. This is perhaps what some theologians call “idolatry” or “materialism.”
That said, my robot vac took a tumble down a flight of stairs and never really recovered. And when Honey came into our lives it became abundantly clear that I was going to need a portable, high-powered vacuum. Sweeping every day, and lugging the standard vacuum up from the basement twice a week was just not going to cut it. The Dyson Animal was already on my list for Christmas, but I called my mom to make sure it was at the top.
Besides being cost-prohibitive, this vacuum is in fact a game changer. It it small and light enough that I use it every day while Honey is outside (otherwise she freaks). I love using it in my car, I love using it on the stairs. I love changing out the extension and using on my baseboards. It slides under furniture and around corners easily. It is absolutely disgusting how much short white hair and long black hair it picks up, but it’s also incredible, and easy to dump out.
The battery does not hold charge very well, which just is what it is.
Number Three: Cheer
I’m only half way through but I am LOVING season two of Cheer. There’s a shift of both camera work and storyline for the better.
I think the most confusing thing is that it picks up in Spring 2020 without saying it starts in Spring 2020 (or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention). So pre-COVID times, but I couldn’t quite nail that down until episode 6 which skips ahead to Fall 2020.
Number Four: The Morning Toast
Listening to the podcast The Morning Toast is a little bit like sitting on the bus on the way to a sorority function in front of two medium-involved upperclassmen who don’t hold office. Both girls are talking confidently about things they only have 60% of the needed information to speak on. They keep bringing up the importance of being positive in between complaints. These are the kind of girls that would tell you, “the reason there’s so much grass on Baylor’s campus is that we’re trying to become an Ivy League.” And when you try to interject and say that schools don’t just join the Ivy Leagues, an increased amount of green spaces is a part of the strategic initiative that also includes becoming an R1 Research Institution, it’s no use.
There’s a level of “now I can’t judge people who listen to Barstool sports, this is the same just less blatant sexism.” It’s so much fun and maybe also actively melting my brain. But I love it!
Number Five: Wolves, etc
Wolves aren’t basic, I just had two wolf-adjacent things to share.
I have loved following the Voyageurs Wolf Project on twitter. I’m now a big fan of trail cams? Who would have guessed.
A man in Galveston noticed something weird about a local coyote, and his discovery means the potential for reviving the Red Wolf population.
A basic song I am loving: Obsessed.