Stuff I Like: Cooling Towels + Marianne's Pick, Listening, Watching.

This cooling towel that makes summer so much better.
I mentioned pretty recently that I'd developed rosacea this summer and the heat and sun was making my flare-ups so much worse. Yay! Things seem to be in remission right now, but I had to be really careful with sun exposure/overheating which is hard when I like to do things like mountain biking and hiking. I remembered that a friend told me about cooling towels so I went on Amazon and bought this one.

It seems like witchcraft but you just get it wet and flick it three times and it's magically COLD. Amazing! And it stays cold for a while! I put the towel in my gym bag or leave it in my car when I do bike rides and then basically wrap it around my head or neck on the way home. It definitely helps bring down my body temperature and I'll be sticking in my pack on the next hike.

This podcast that examines my deepest shame. 
Money is such an uncomfortable thing to talk about and when you're bad with money it feels pretty shameful. I never had a good money role model growing up so it's not really surprising that I'm bad with money, but it's still something that causes Deep Issues. That's why the Bad With Money With Gaby Dunn podcast was such a great find. Gaby Dunn is very upfront about being bad with money and examines this topic from every angle, starting with her lack of role model. It's also a great podcast for learning how to be less bad with money, which it's really the goal, right? Right.

This Netflix show full of terrible people that I really enjoyed. 
I recently watched Friends from College, the new series on Netflix about...a bunch of friends from Harvard who're now in their 40s and, as it turns out, are all kind of terrible people. But, I tend to like shows about terrible people and I legit laughed out loud at some of the stupid, awful things these terrible people said and did. They are AWFUL. But it's pretty damn funny and I was bummed that the first season is only eight episodes long.

From Marianne: 

This website that looks sketchy but it's legit.
Okay, so I notoriously HATE PERFUME SAMPLES. They are never something I want to try and I feel like they aren't the same quality of the actual perfume? I don't know.

ANYWAY, I also want to try ALL THE EXPENSIVE PERFUMES. Allllll of them. But hello, I'm not dropping $150 on a Serge Lutens perfume I've never even seen in real life because the description sounds so amazing. I mean:

 A fire fanned by the wind, a desert in flames.

As if bursting from the earth, Chergui, a desert wind, creates an effect that involves suction more than blowing, carrying plants, insects and twigs along in an inescapable ascent. Its full, persistent gusts crystallize shrubs, bushes and berries, which proceed to scorch, shrivel up and pay a final ransom in saps, resins and juices. Night falls on a still-smoldering memory, making way for the fragrant, ambery and candied aromas by the alchemist that is Chergui. 

YES PLEASE I WANT TO SMELL LIKE A DESERT IN FLAMES.

Enter The Perfumed Court. After doing some googling, I found this verrrry old school looking website that decants really expensive perfumes and lets you buy them in tiny amounts to try. I was suspicious but they are very highly reviewed by people that are intensely into perfumes (that's a weird corner of the internet, I'll tell you what). I ordered 3ml of Serge Lutens Chergui for $20 and it arrived very quickly. Of course now the problem is I love this damn $150 perfume, but that's a Future Marianne problem. Current Marianne has a tiny spray bottle of this very potent perfume that will last me for a little while, and I didn't have to spend a ton to try it. Recommend!