Stuff I Like: Post-Holiday Edition.

Ugh, you guys. I had nearly two weeks off and now I'm back at work on the MOST Monday of Thursdays and I cannot handle it. Everything is terrible. To try and buck myself up, I am going to post about some of the dumb stuff I've been into lately:

These Sweatpants I Could Live In. 
Listen, I know our resolution last year was to stop buying fast fashion and I did quite well with this challenge (more on that soon.) My exception: Pile-lined sweatpants from Uniqlo. You guys. These are the FREAKING BEST SWEATPANTS. So cozy and soft and they have nice deep pockets for your chapstick or snacks or whatever! I am legit sad when they are in the laundry and I have to wear my second-tier sweatpants. That's how good they are. I might have also ordered the pile-lined hoodie because it's on sale and I am not made of stone. (It hasn't arrived yet but I'll report back.)

This Fancy Knock-Off Mirror.
I've been using a small countertop magnifying mirror for pore inspection and eye makeup application and it's just not that great. Also not great - the lighting in my bathroom. I recently made googly eyes at the SimpleHuman mirror on display at Nordstrom but no way am I spending $300 on a fancy mirror. Like, I'm sure it's really nice but nope. I did some research and found a similar model that gets good reviews and y'all, it's so great! Bigger than I was expecting and the lighting is quite good. The regular mirror allows me to see into my soul and the smaller one shows me my pores on a molecular level. (This sounds scary and it is! But it's also kind of fun.)

This Book About Being On The Wrong Side of History
Growing up in the south brings with it a lot of uncomfortable contradictions and I really like to read books that explore this theme. I'm currently about halfway through Charles Frazier's book Varina, a novel about the wife of Jefferson Davis. The book takes place years after The Civil War, but jumps back in time and explores the complicated life of a very smart and conflicted woman. So far I love it (I generally do love Charles Frazier, who wrote Cold Mountain) but we'll see how it plays out. I think this sums it up nicely: "Ultimately, the book is a portrait of a woman who comes to realize that complicity carries consequences."

From Marianne:

The Movie I Saw Twice in One Week:
LITTLE WOMEN. Okay fam, you should know that Little Women is one of my favorite books of all time. I quoted it in my Senior Yearbook (nerd), and I have seen every adaptation. I liked the 90’s version because Christian Bale was super hot, but Winona Ryder was never Jo to me. Don’t yell! ANYWAY, this Greta Gerwig adaptation is AMAZING. The casting is divine (y’all know I love Timothée Chalamet beyond reason), and Saoirse Ronan IS JO. I didn’t even care about the creative liberties and tweaks to the story because it just made it better. I saw it twice and I already know I will buy it the second I can. Weirdly, one of my favorite characters was Amy, who is THE WORST, but Florence Pugh made her so funny and human. Oh my gosh, you guys, go see this in the theatre. It’s so beautiful. Let’s all wear full skirts and scarves and grow our hair to our waist, okay?