seven fun things

I recently ordered this salt spray for my hair.

It’s pretty much the same as other curl products, just in spray form instead of cream, and does a right noble job of keeping the frizzes down and the curl in. To use, I liberally spray it on my wet, freshly-washed hair and then scrunch. To refresh for days 2, 3 and on, I wet my hair, give it a good finger combing, pump on a couple spritzes, and scrunch again. (The photo below is a shot of the hair on day two, post refresh).

I was nervous that the salt spray would make my hair clumpy and sticky, and while it does make my hair feel a smidge more crunchy-sticky than my regular curl cream, it’s not enough to keep me from using it. Bonus: it’s only $8, which is considerably cheaper than other curl products. (My older daughter told me some of her friends just use straight up salt water, but I haven’t tried that . . . yet.)

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Are any of you watching Shrinking (Apple TV)? Last weekend I settled in for a long binge only to discover that new episodes are released weekly. Oh well. Guess I have something to look forward to now!

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After years of hearing people rave about it, I finally bought myself a copy of Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski.

I read the first couple chapters and then ordered three more copies as Valentine’s Day gifts for my three favoritest young women.

I’m only a third of the way through the book but I can already tell it’s gonna be one of those books that sticks with me for life. 

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I think Yewande Komolafe might be my favorite cook on the NYT Cooking YouTube channel. She’s so understated and chill — and wicked skilled. I am itching to make her Kouign-Amann (above), and am as impressed by her smooth pronunciation of the cake’s name (which I still can’t wrap my mouth around) as I am by the ease with with she makes it.

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My mother sent me the link to this Moth radio episode: The Final Word Is Love. I listened to it by myself, and then again with the rest of the family that evening. It’s a good one, friends. LOVE.

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Last month, one of my girlfriends took a solo trip to Fair Isle, the most geographically remote, inhabited island in the United Kingdom, where she rented a studio apartment and lived, shopped, and made art for several weeks. Fortunately for me — for us! — she documented the trip, and I had a blast following along and keeping my family updated on her adventure (and now I know of one young adult who is making plans to follow in her footsteps).

dyeing wool to match the colors of Fair Isle
^{photo credit: Mavis Butterfield}

She’s back home now, but she filed all the Fair Isle posts on a single page on her blog so you can read through them at your leisure — scroll to the bottom of the page and work your way up. (A solo trip has never really appealed to me, but the older I get less firmly unappealing it sounds. In other words . . . maybe? I’m not sure where I’d want to go, though. Do you harbor any secret fantasies of a solo trip to some exotic, farwary land?)

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And finally, here’s a little pick-me-up girl power badassery for your weekend. Dance it out! 

This same time, years previous: draft two, the great courses, the quotidian (2.17.20), collard greens, Thursday thoughts, Jonathan’s jerky, the last ten months, the quotidian (2.17.14), buses, boats, and trucks, ginger lemon tea.