I've compiled a list, a very special list of things that I've been enjoying recently.
I've made these episodes before, but they're very sporadic because I'm a creature of habit.
It takes a while for me to compile a new fresh list of things that I've been enjoying that
exclude the things that I was enjoying a few months ago.
Because for example, when I say, I love the Stanley Cup.
I'm using it every day and it's making me drink so much water and it fits in my cup
holder and it keeps my eyes cold.
I love this cup.
That reigns true for years following.
For the most part, once I figure out something that I really like enough to share with you,
that's taken around for a while.
So it takes me a long time to build a new list of things that I'm enjoying.
Hence why we only get two or three of these a year, but I'm at that point.
My list is long.
And as I'm looking at this list now, I'm sort of skimming over it.
This is possibly my most basic list, basic being sort of derogatory.
This is my most basic list I've ever made.
Like it's very basic bitch.
Okay.
That's the term I feel like the internet would use to describe this list.
It's like, it's literally like I went on Pinterest and just searched up the most popular
things.
And I feel like majority of this would be on the list.
Not all of it.
Not weird outliers, but for the most part, there's a lot of basic stuff on here, stuff that
you've seen a million times.
But the reason why I'm sharing them with you today is because when things are deemed
basic by the internet or by the world, I tend to avoid them.
I don't know what it is about me.
What it is about my psyche.
I don't really understand.
But anytime something is considered basic, I tend to avoid it.
For example, when a new TV show comes out and it's all the rage, everyone's talking about
it, guess who's not going to watch it?
Me.
When there's some sort of trend, you know, whether it's a wellness trend or a beauty trend,
guess who's not going to try it?
Usually me.
Although eventually I come around.
Eventually I watch the TV show that everyone was talking about.
Eventually I try the beauty trend.
Eventually I try the wellness trend.
Whatever the trend is.
Eventually I try it.
Usually.
And that's I think actually a flaw in me.
I don't think that that's good, right?
Like just because things are basic, just because everyone's doing something doesn't mean
it's bad.
Like there's probably a reason why everyone's into it.
So that being said, let's enter into my current list of things that I'm loving right
now.
Okay, let's start out with road trips.
I don't know what has gone into me because I used to honestly despise the road trip.
I really despise the road trip.
And I don't know if I've changed my tune because I've recently developed a fear of flying
in planes, which was never present.
I fly in planes all the time, multiple times a month.
And unfortunately for me, I've developed a fear of flying.
I don't know where it came from.
I mean, I did watch a video about some recent plane mishaps.
And I don't think that that helped me at all, but even before watching that video, I was
starting to develop a fear of flying.
I think the fear is rooted in the fact that even though it's very safe, safer than driving
in a car, when things go wrong, they go really fucking wrong.
Like I think I'm afraid of things going wrong and the period of time when I'm alive, but
I'm not sure for how much longer.
Like I think that's the piece of it that I'm afraid of.
I'm afraid of experiencing that feeling, what that feeling would be like.
Even if I were to survive the event, even if there were to be a massive fuck up and
I were to survive that period of time where I'm unsure, I just don't even ever want to
experience that feeling.
And I'm very afraid of that feeling.
Anyway, so it could have something to do with my recent fear of flying, but it could also
have something to do with just trying road trips again as an adult and realizing now that
my attention span is a bit longer.
It's actually pretty fun.
When I was a kid, road trips were boring.
I was shoved in the back seat with like my leapfrog or something and I was forced to
entertain myself for six hours on said road trip.
I also used to get car sick as a kid.
So road trips are horrible because I'd sometimes throw up.
I just had a bad taste in my mouth going into adulthood about road trips, but I recently
did quite a few.
I drove two and from San Francisco from LA.
I went to and from Utah from music festival.
That was honestly a really long drive.
I mean, that's like 12 hours or something.
Did that?
What else?
Oh, road trip to New Mexico.
Like I've done quite a few road trips in the last few months.
And you know what?
Well, I absolutely love a road trip.
Let me tell you why.
Okay, I will say it's especially fun if you have somebody to do it with.
And all of my recent road trips have not been alone.
I've had someone with me.
I will say that that helps a lot.
However, there's something so delightful about traveling from one place to another.
And being on the ground for the whole thing, like I know that that's obvious, but you
can stop along the way at little gift shops or little farms that have produce or you can
stop at a restaurant that you randomly find on the side of the road, like a diner or
something.
You have this flexibility.
You can go and make the experience full of activity.
You don't have to sit in the car the entire time.
In fact, I think it's actually more fun on a road trip to allow yourself to stop and explore
the things that are on the side of the road.
And I also think it's nice because if you have people in the car with you, you can really
get into some good conversations on a road trip.
And even if you're alone, you can call someone up and get into a really good conversation
on a road trip.
You can't really do that on the plane.
When you're on the plane, it's so loud.
I just feel like you can't really get into any sort of conversation, even if you're sitting
next to your family or your friend or whoever.
I don't know.
You can't really get into it.
And when you have, say, 10 hours to kill, it's like, fuck it.
Let's talk about whatever.
You can listen to podcasts together and then have interesting conversations about whatever
you listen to.
You can play different games.
You could bring a game.
I don't know what game you could really bring.
I mean, some sort of verbal game.
But I don't know.
I'm just really into road trips.
In fact, I have so many places I want to go now because I'm not afraid of a long road
trip.
Like I live in Los Angeles.
Okay.
I used to think it was impossible to drive to Utah that you must get on a plane for
that.
Now, I know it's not that big of a deal.
I can be in Utah in eight hours, nine hours.
Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, maybe even Washington state.
I don't know if that's too far, but maybe there's no such thing as too far because you can
always stop in the middle and sleep over somewhere, right?
I just love it.
I love it.
The opportunities are endless. I think it's a somewhat toxic way.
I love feeling in control of my journey.
You know, I'm driving the car or someone I'm very close to is driving the car and I'm sitting
right there and I can control it all.
Maybe that's why I'm loving it so much, but I just think it's great.
I also have not explored a lot of America.
Like there are so many states that are right next door to me that I've never been to.
Like I had never been to Utah before.
I've never been to Oregon.
Never been to Washington state.
I had never been to New Mexico.
Like I've never been to these places and they're all within a driving distance from me.
And no matter where you live, if you live in America, it's like you can pop over to other
states and experience a fully new vibe, not maybe fully new, but something very different
just by car.
So I inspire you to road trip.
Even if you don't, listen, I'm speaking to America because this is where I can road
trip, but I think that this applies anywhere.
It's like do research on what's within, I don't know, 15 hour drive from you and start
playing in little trips.
I don't know.
It's kind of a vibe.
Now speaking of road trips, I must discuss glamping.
No, not camping where you pitch a tent in the woods and there's no heater.
And if an animal wants to come attack you, they can because all you have between you
and nature is a very thin, thin, thin tent, talking about glamping.
Okay, it's very different.
Glamping is basically camping, but in a bit of a fancier way.
Okay, I would love to go camping.
I would go camping in a tent.
I would go classic camping.
I'm not saying I wouldn't.
However, as a very anxious person, there's a lot of frightening things about that, such
as not having access to showers, toilets, relying on oneself for food in the sense that
like you have to like make a fire to like make food.
Like no, I mean, there's other ways to do it.
You can bring like one of those little mini stoves.
Listen, camping seems fun.
I'm down to do it and down to try it.
It would cause me some anxiety, but I think it would be healthy for me to get over that
fear.
However, in the meantime, glamping is great enough for me.
Now, I think that there's a few ways to glamp.
Okay.
Number one, you could bring some sort of RV, like you could rent some sort of pre furnished
RV.
I found them online because I got into this phase of watching van life videos.
And yeah, I know I'm literally five years late.
Everyone's been watching those videos for the last five years.
I understand that I'm late, but I just recently got into watching those like watching people
buy these vans or sprinter vans, whatever.
And decking them out with beds and stoves and all of these different things and then,
you know, taking them around, living out of them.
And I have no interest in living in a van.
I just, I think that would be challenging for me.
Like I don't want to dedicate my life to van life as some people have.
However, I'm inspired by some of it.
I'm inspired by the ease of road trip.
I think there's something very cool there.
So I started looking around online to see if there was any way you could sort of rent
one of these vans already pre furnished and stuff like that.
You know, maybe you could rent one for the weekend and drive up to a national park or
something.
I don't know.
I looked into it and I was like, this is really cool.
And it is available.
It does exist.
And I have not done that yet, but I'm thinking about it.
So that's one way you could go glamping is by being in a pre furnished van.
And to be honest, it's the same cost as say renting an Airbnb or renting a house.
And I think there's something adventurous and fun and challenging about not staying in
a place where there's actual plumbing and stuff like that.
You have to get a little bit creative.
So that's one way you could go glamping.
But the way that I tried was by staying at this place called Under Canvas.
And there's probably more of these out.
But it's basically like a hotel, but for tents.
So there's all of these pre set up tents in various locations around America where there's
a bed and there's a bit of plumbing.
You know, like there is a working toilet in your little tent and there is a working shower.
It's not.
The shower is definitely not normal.
Like you have to pull a lever on it and stuff.
Like it's not like normal plumbing, but it's definitely more than enough.
And you know, all of the little lights in the house are battery powered and you're camping.
But you're set up so well by this company.
Like Under Canvas really makes it special.
This is not sponsored by the way.
I fully paid for this.
This was something I got recommended to me and I was like, oh my God, I want to try that.
So then I tried it.
This is fully just from the heart.
Okay.
And it was so delightful.
I loved the adventure of being in a tent.
I loved even more of the fact that it wasn't fully a tent.
You know, it was kind of a fancy tent.
Like it was a nice or tent and it gave me the feeling of safety that I crave from, you
know, a hotel or any sort of place that I'm staying.
But I still felt adventurous in a way, you know.
And the thing that was really cool about this place is that they have this little home
base tent that has a coffee shop in it and a restaurant in it.
So you're not really relying on yourself to bring food and things like that.
Like you can rely on the facilities there to anyway, I really recommend looking up
glamping in your area and just see what companies are already in existence.
And I really recommend it.
I had a great time.
I absolutely loved it.
I can't wait to go do it again.
It was great.
Okay.
Glamping.
We love glamping.
We probably love camping too, but I just am not quite ready for camping yet.
I feel like I need to glamp a few more times before I'll crave the challenge of camping.
And then stemming from that, I've also been loving hiking.
I don't know what like I feel like I'm turning into a very outdoorsy person, which is very
unusual because even though I've always loved the outdoors, I've just never been somebody
who's been obsessed with the outdoors, like obsessed with sleeping in a tent like
structure obsessed with going on hikes.
I've just never been that person, but I'm watching it slowly develop in my body.
This love for the outdoors.
And when I was in Utah, I was in Utah for a music festival in Salt Lake City.
But on the way back from Salt Lake City, I stopped in Zion National Park, stayed in one
of those fancy tents and then did a hike in Zion.
And I fucking love doing this hike.
Okay.
Hiking is exhausting.
We did a six mile hike.
It's not even that long.
But literally I got my ass kicked and I loved every single second of it.
And I not only use it a phenomenal form of exercise, it's also an enjoyable form of exercise.
It's relaxed.
You can chat with the people that you're with while you're on the hike.
There's always beautiful things to see.
I'm just into hiking.
I like it.
I'm going to continue to hike.
I just did a hike in Malibu the other day.
I think hiking is a vibe.
I think it's one of my new favorite forms of exercise.
Now, I don't think I'm going to be hiking on a daily basis because I got to drive a
little ways to get to a hiking spot near me.
At least one that's long and interesting.
I don't want to just do a two mile hike.
When I'm hiking, I want to hike like five, six miles minimum.
I want to really feel like I did something.
But I think it's nice to center vacations around hiking.
I'm starting to understand why people like this.
I don't know where I've been all this time.
It's like this is the most obvious shit I've ever been.
Anyway, I'm liking hiking.
Okay, next.
Let's go in the other direction and talk about red nail polish.
I've been looking for my signature nail color for years.
And I've gone through phases.
Like I've actually had a few go-to colors, but none of them have ever stuck, for example.
The last one I had was this sort of creamy, buttery, light yellow, white color.
And I liked it because it matched everything.
Then I had a phase where I considered all black nails.
But I actually just don't like how that looks.
And I never even ended up pulling the trigger on it.
Like I never even tried it because I just felt like it was too harsh.
And I don't know, even though it matches everything, which I like about it, too harsh.
I had a phase with baby pink, like a really light baby pink, kind of bubble gummy looking,
but a bit more pastel than that.
That was cute and versatile, but it didn't really match everything.
And it was a bit girlier than I think my style is.
It has this sort of feminine delicate feel to it, which is great, but not really my vibe.
You know, like it didn't really match my clothes.
And so I let that one go.
And then I tried nude a few times, just like match my skin color with the polish.
That looks weird.
That like tends to make it look like my fingernails are just like don't exist.
I just don't like it.
It works sometimes.
It's kind of chic.
Sometimes like I'll do that for an event or something when I need to have a really
neutral manicure so that it doesn't clash with the look for the event, like fair enough.
But for day to day, I've finally settled on dark red.
That's what it is.
That is the best nail color.
That is the ultimate choice.
Let me explain to you why.
Number one, red nails truly do match with every outfit.
I have yet to put an outfit on and say, yeah, the red really doesn't look good here.
I've never said that.
Maybe it's because red, I don't know.
I don't know why I don't know why it weirdly acts as a neutral.
But I could be wearing an all black outfit, right?
Like black turtleneck, black slacks, black loafers, whatever.
And still the red nail pops and looks great and doesn't clash.
I can be wearing an outfit filled with a bunch of different colors.
Let's say I'm wearing like a white t-shirt with like a olive green jacket and blue jeans
and I don't know like black converse and a black bag, the red still works.
Red just always works.
Now when it's a darker red, like more of a maroon, I feel like it matches even more.
I think there's something to be said for all shades of red when it comes to the nails.
Like I think almost any shade of red can be great depending on who you are.
But I just think it's the ultimate nail color.
And it's very flattering.
And also according to TikTok, there's something called the red nail theory where you're
more attractive if you have red nails for some reason.
I don't really think that that's true, but hey, why not?
I just think that this is my go-to color.
And it's so nice to have a go-to color because I have somebody that needs to always have
my nails done.
Like it is one of my non-negotiable parts of my routine.
I don't get my eyebrows done anymore.
I'm not a stickler about getting my hair done.
Like I don't get my hair cut very often.
I don't get it colored very often, especially not anymore.
I know that I'm pretty much back to my natural color.
You know, I don't get my teeth whitened.
I just don't have that many treatments that I get done anymore.
The only thing that stuck around is the nails.
I love the feeling of having my nails done.
And I feel like it makes me feel put together even when I'm not.
And I love that.
And I've gone through so many phases with my nails with different go-to colors as I explained
earlier with different lengths and shapes and stuff.
I used to have really long nails.
I loved having really long nails kind of over that.
Now I have sort of short to medium length nails in their square.
That's been my go-to shape.
It's just classic, whatever.
And red.
Now, I will get other colors if I'm in the mood.
Like if I am looking at the color options at this lawn and I see something intriguing,
or if I see a design online that I really like, I'm not going to not do it just because
red is my go-to color.
And I think red is ultimately the best color.
If my heart is leading me in a different direction, I will go in that direction.
It's fine.
Especially if I'm going to an event or something and I want my nails to match my specific look.
Totally.
Okay.
Whatever.
But day-to-day basis, it's so nice to have a go-to color.
Because I used to get so stressed out at the nail salon trying to figure out what color
to get.
And for a long time there, I didn't have a go-to color.
And I would just pick something new every time.
And a lot of times when I would do that, I would end up disappointed because I would try
a new color and it wouldn't work.
It wouldn't match everything.
It wouldn't work with my skin tone.
It just would look like shit.
And I would end up very disappointed for the next three weeks until I could get them
done again.
And from there, that's when I tried to find my go-to color and I went through just about
every color before I finally landed on the most popular color for nails, red.
There's a reason why all of our grandmothers love to have red nail polish.
Maybe that's not all of our grandmothers.
But my grandma always had red nail polish, like maroon nail polish.
And I was always like, why doesn't she switch it up?
Like why doesn't she try anything new?
I got it.
Now I get it.
And I'm sorry, grandma, that I ever doubted you.
You were right.
Okay, moving on to flea markets.
I used to be really into the flea market.
I used to go to the flea market like every week.
And if you're not familiar with the flea market, it's basically where there's a bunch of
sellers who sell vintage and antique stuff.
And there's a bunch of them in LA, a bunch.
And for a long time there, I was going to them every week.
And then a few things happened.
Number one, everyone around me who was going to the flea market with me got bored.
Didn't want to go anymore.
And so I was like, okay, I guess we're not going to the flea market anymore.
You know, I was kind of being a follower in that way.
But then also I had accumulated so much clothes because I was shopping and maybe not the most
tactful way.
And I was like, I just don't need anything else.
I got to need to stop.
But recently I've gotten back into the flea market grind.
And let me tell you, it is one of my favorite weekend activities.
And what I'm trying to do is so that I don't burn myself out and buy too much is be very
picky about what I purchase.
When it comes to buying things nowadays, I'm looking to buy things that I will wear until
they are ripped apart and broke it, like unwarrable.
You know what I'm saying?
I'm not looking for things that are trendy.
I'm looking for things that are undeniably timeless.
And that's what I'm purchasing.
And unless there's something like really weird and unique that it's like, I cannot not have
this.
In fact, it's so unique and so weird and so unusual that it goes beyond trendy.
It's just like something weird that I just want.
That's almost timeless in itself, you know?
But I just love going to the flea market and I'm back into it.
And I also love finding flea markets while I'm traveling too.
Like I remember, I think it was maybe last summer or two summers ago.
I was in the South of France.
I was in Cannes.
And I found this flea market on Sundays, I believe, in sort of the center of the town,
like where the farmer's market normally is every day, where they sell produce.
On Sundays, I think there was this flea market with all these antiques and it was so fun.
Like I didn't even really buy anything because I kind of couldn't because I didn't have
space in my suitcase.
But it was just fun to look around.
I love the flea market.
We all need to be going to the flea market.
It's such a vibe.
And also, I'm somebody who, you know, I really do love shopping and it's very hard for me
to not shop on a consistent basis.
Like I just, I love it.
I don't even necessarily need to buy anything but I just like shopping around.
And I'm really trying to buy majority stuff that's been used, whether it's furniture or
home decor or clothes or whatever.
I'm really trying to stick to things that have been used.
And I think going to the flea market prevents me from like, I don't know, going to stores
where I'd be buying new pieces and stuff.
I think it's much better for everyone to be buying vintage stuff.
So there's that, the flea market.
Okay.
Next.
Reading while I eat.
Okay.
I discovered this on accident.
So I go through phases with reading where I'm like reading a lot and I keep finding books
that I really like and I am just on a roll and it's great and I'm happier and my brain
feels better and my anxiety goes down and I feel like my grammar is improving and life
is just beautiful when I'm reading a lot of books.
And then I'll hit sort of a standstill where I just can't read anymore.
I'm just bored of books and I just can't find a book that grips me and I just lose my
streak.
Well, I've been reading the same book on and off for almost a year now.
Okay.
And I've dabbled in some other books in between, but this has been sort of like the book
that I've been trying to finish for over a year now.
And it's not that I haven't been able to finish it because I don't like it.
It's because I don't know.
I just, I've been really struggling with my discipline.
I think when it comes to reading, so even though the book is very interesting and I'm
very intrigued, I've just been more tempted by watching YouTube videos or watching documentaries
on the TV.
Like I've just been more intrigued by that.
So anyway, but I've made the decision recently to start reading again.
And I've been very harsh with myself about reading again.
And I've been trying to read throughout the day instead of saving it all for nighttime
because I feel like when I do that, I ended up just getting too tired and I'm like,
I just want to fall asleep with a documentary on the TV.
You know, I don't want to read a book right now.
So one afternoon, I decided I would read while eating my lunch and I am alone 80% of the
time because I work alone for the most part.
And yeah, I just do a lot of things alone.
So I tend to like watch a YouTube video or something while I'm eating.
But on one day, I decided, no, I'm going to read.
And this was one of the best discoveries of my life.
Okay.
Because I've already explained to you one issue, which is that I don't read enough.
And I'm trying to read more.
And I consume a bit too much internet, which I think we all do.
But another issue I have is that I eat too fast.
I eat so fast.
It's completely destructive for my digestive system.
Like I eat so fast.
And I've always been like that.
And it just sucks.
It causes stomach pain.
I don't enjoy my food as much.
But reading while you eat solves all of that.
Okay, because you slow down by necessity.
Like you can't just shove all the food in your mouth when you have to turn the page of
the book.
You see what I'm saying?
Like you have to take a bite.
And then while you're chewing, read a section and then go in and get another bite and
then read another section while you're chewing that.
You just end up chewing your food properly and taking your time.
And you end up enjoying your food more.
And you got to read a little bit of a book.
I really recommend it.
It's a little bit frustrating at first because you're like trying to manage the book as
you manage your food.
But you figure it out and then you're happy you did because it makes you slow down while
you're eating.
And it replaces the maybe YouTube video that you'd normally watch, which don't get me wrong.
Like I think watching a YouTube video during lunch sometimes is great.
But see I have an addiction to watching YouTube.
Like I go through phases where I'll wake up in the morning and immediately put on a YouTube
video and then carry my phone around with me while I do my morning chores.
Do you see what I'm saying?
It's it's extreme.
So reading while I eat is helping me not drown in YouTube in the middle of the day.
And instead, well, I guess it could be at any point of the day.
I'm trying not to consume like YouTube or TV or anything like that before I'm done
with my work for the day because I find that when I do that, it fucks with my productivity.
So reading in the middle of the day doesn't fuck up my productivity at all.
In fact, it makes me inspired to get back to work.
So it's very good.
Next, running outside.
Again, it's kind of similar to hiking.
I don't know what's gotten into me.
I'm like an outdoorsy.
I'm becoming an outdoorsy freak all of a sudden.
But I recently was on a trip back home to Northern California.
And I decided to spend a few days by the ocean in this cute little bed and breakfast
sort of hotel.
And directly next to this bed and breakfast, there's this long trail that's nice and flat,
easy to run on.
And I was like, oh, well, you know, I don't really have access to a gym or any workout classes
by the beach here.
It's very isolated.
So I'm going to exercise by running on this trail.
And I really just fell in love with running outdoors, which I didn't really like for
a while there.
Like, I've gone through phases throughout my life where I've liked it and then didn't
like it.
And I've been this neighborhood that was very, I don't know, like residential.
Like there was a lot of sidewalk and a lot of house.
And so it was very easy to jog on, you know, because there were all these sidewalks.
And so I used to jog out there during COVID, specifically I would jog on the street a lot
because the gyms weren't open and stuff like that.
And I didn't love that.
Like it was fine.
And it did the trick.
But I didn't love running outside at that time.
I think it was because I was running in such a residential area that it was like just,
I don't know, I wanted to be more connected to nature and I wasn't, but I really did not
live in an area that was near nature.
So it wasn't really an option.
But I don't know.
Recently, I've just been into the idea of going for runs outside, whether it's, you know,
on a trail nearby or maybe it is in the neighborhood.
I haven't really run around my neighborhood.
I think I'd rather go and drive to somewhere where there's a trail.
And that's what I've been doing and said, but I love it.
I just think it's so nice, especially when you work inside a lot, like I work inside
a lot.
And for a while there, I was going to workout classes that were also indoors.
So I would spend like so much time indoors.
It's really nice to break it up with an outdoor run, maybe a few times a week.
And speaking of outdoor running, something I've always hated about running outdoors is
managing the phone.
Like what do you do with your phone while you're running outdoors?
And I've tried the little sleeve thing, like the little sleeve that you put around your
arm.
I've tried just holding it.
No, you know what the best is?
A vest, a running vest, okay?
I don't know what it is about this, but it's just the most comfortable way to carry your
phone on a run.
And I love it.
Basically, imagine a pouch right around your breast area.
Imagine a pouch there.
Imagine little straps going around the back and around the side to secure it, okay?
That is the running vest that I have.
And it's so great, okay?
I use it all the time.
I would even use it on a hike.
It's so comfortable that you don't even really know it's there.
And yeah, you don't feel it while you're running.
It doesn't slip down.
It doesn't move.
It's like the ideal way to carry your phone and any other things that you need when you're
on a hike on a run on any of these things.
I would very much recommend that.
I found it online in three seconds.
You can find them anywhere.
They're very easy to find, but it's changed my life.
Okay, next.
This is going to be really one of my most, I don't know, just like maybe embarrassing things
that I've been into, but I just, I can't help it.
I have to be honest and I have to tell you what I've been into.
If you're on the internet, you may have heard of the Clean Girl Bun.
Now if you're not super on the internet, then this just makes no sense to you.
Like what is the Clean Girl Bun?
Well, explain it as though you don't understand it.
The Clean Girl, there's been this trend online about the Clean Girl aesthetic, which I ultimately
dislike.
I don't know.
I don't like the way that it's framed.
The Clean Girl aesthetic consists of a girl who has clear skin with natural makeup,
do we make up on top?
You know, a slick back bun with not one hair out of place.
They go to Pilates, they wear chic minimalist jewelry and simple outfits, probably from
Maurizia, like just Clean Girl, like chic, clean, whatever.
What I don't like about it is that it's like, I don't know.
It's sort of like the old money aesthetic or like quiet luxury or whatever.
I actually enjoy certain things about it, but because it's been turned into this aesthetic,
there's just something about it that feels toxic to me.
Like for example, with old money slash quiet luxury aesthetic, which is basically wearing
designer clothes that aren't covered with logos and stuff, it's basically like wearing expensive
clothes that you can't really tell are expensive unless you know.
It's like if you know you know vibe.
And I don't like that because you can accomplish that aesthetic at the thrift store very easily.
You can go to the thrift store and buy a fucking four dollar polo shirt and like a ten
dollar pair of slacks and like a little pair of vintage loafers.
And now you have the exact same aesthetic.
So it's like, it feels exclusionary in a way to be like, well, the only way to accomplish
this look is to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on designer pieces that don't really
look designer.
It's like, I get it.
I get that vibe.
That is something that exists.
It's like it becoming a trend under the name quiet luxury to me is annoying because I'm
like, no, this is just like timeless minimalism to me.
It's like very minimal.
It's very timeless.
It's like if we describe it as that, I'm like, I think this is great.
We'll never regret this.
You know, you'll never regret having these pieces in your closet.
You can get them from thrift stores.
They're very widely available.
It just seems to have like a closed-minded mindset to me.
And it's the same thing with the clean girl.
It's like the fact that in order to fit into this aesthetic, you need to have perfectly
clear skin and you need to have, you know, cute little minimal jewelry and you need to
have the perfect slick back bun that looks a certain way.
And you need to be wearing the, you know, chic, simple sort of outfit.
And it's like, I don't know.
There's something about it where it's like, you almost can't enjoy what this aesthetic
has to offer because you feel like you need to have all or nothing.
That makes sense, like if you're wearing the clean girl bun, but you're not wearing
dewy, perfect skin makeup, well, it's not really the clean girl stuff.
It's like, I don't like that vibe.
It just feels toxic.
It feels immature.
I don't like it.
Okay.
There's something about it.
I don't like.
However, I do enjoy the clean girl bun.
Okay.
I will admit it.
I do enjoy it.
However, this hairstyle because I don't like to wash my hair every day.
It just sort of makes my hair more brittle.
And my hair is very fragile because I used to bleach it.
And yeah, I'm trying to regrow my hair basically and make it healthy again.
And so washing it every day is not conducive to that goal.
So I'm trying to figure out ways to style my hair in between washes that can cover up
the natural oils that my scalp is producing.
Okay.
I've tried like slick back buns before and I was just going off instinct trying to do
it the way that I don't know.
I thought everyone would do it, which is basically putting my hair into a slick back ponytail
and then doing a little bun.
Okay.
Like nothing crazy.
But I found that was always very unflattering.
Like I didn't like the way that that bun made my head look.
So I saw a girl out one day with a clean girl bun, if you will, which is this very specific
way to do a bun.
And I was like, wow, that looks so good.
And I recognized it as the clean girl bun because I've seen little tutorials online over
the past few years of people doing this bun.
Okay.
And I was like, you know what?
Maybe I'll try it.
Like my hair is long enough now.
I'm going to give it a try because I had a bob for a long time.
So we're finally back.
We can do these things.
Basically what the clean girl bun is, you separate a chunk of hair from the front.
Okay.
Okay.
Imagine when you were to do a half up, half down when you were younger, you ever were
going to do that.
Imagine separating that chunk of hair like in the front of your head, right?
But imagine doing a little bit less.
Okay.
So it's a little bit less than doing a half up, half down.
And you separate that piece out in the front.
And then with the back chunk of your hair, you put that into a slick ponytail.
Okay.
Now you have these weird front pieces just hanging out.
Okay.
What you do with that is that you part them with a middle part.
And then you take a dense brush and some tiny little elastics and you smooth the left
piece, kind of swoop it down a little bit, connect it to the ponytail.
And then you do the same thing with the right side.
And then you put your hair into a little bun.
Okay.
I don't know what makes this bun so flattering compared to just pulling all of your
hair back straight into a bun.
But it is so much more flattering and I do this bun all the time now.
I hate the stigma around it.
Like, listen, I, I, okay.
However, this bun is phenomenal.
It has changed my life because now when my hair gets to a point where it's too oily, dry
shampoo, can't fix it, I just have a day with the clean girl bun.
And then I wash my hair the next day.
It's amazing.
Now, let me tell you the products that I use for this hairstyle.
Okay.
I use classic elastic hair ties, but I have a few specific things that I use.
Okay.
Number one, the R plus CEO, hair wax.
I don't know how to say the brand.
It might be RCO or it's R plus CEO, whatever.
R plus CEO, hair wax, I think it's called a pomade stick online.
This wax smells so good and you just run it over the areas that you're going to smooth
down and it just smooths everything down so beautifully.
And it's like soft and movable.
So it's not like your hair is super stiff.
Like you get that slick back look without it being super stiff.
And then on top of that, I'll spray the wow, the brand wow hair spray.
It's in a silver bottle.
The brand is wow.
And it really is wow.
I love the hair spray.
It's flexible.
It doesn't, I don't know, make my hair too hard and rigid.
And I just fucking love doing this bun.
I, I, sorry, I love it.
I can't believe that I'm admitting this, but I really just love it.
Speaking of the brand wow, I also recently tried this product from them called the Dream
Code.
It's basically the stuff that you spray on your hair before you blow dry it and it helps
with frizz and it just makes your hair really soft and not as frizzy.
And I'm fucking loving it.
I've been using it once a week minimum, spray it all over my hair.
And then I actually use the Dyson straightener blow dryer.
Okay.
I'm giving you my whole hair care routine apparently, but I just never took care of my hair before
this.
Like I used to have the worst hair at all times because I didn't know what to do with
it.
And now I'm doing research and trying to get better at doing hair because I don't know
like my makeup can be really good.
My outfit can be really good and then my hair always looks like shit and I'm just done
with it.
So anyway, I'll spray the Dream Code and then I'll take this Dyson straightener.
It's like a blow dryer straightener and then I will basically straighten blow dry the
wet hair.
And there is a setting on the Dyson straightener blow dryer thing that allows you to do
a straightened blow dry with wet hair.
So don't be frightened.
I'm not destroying my hair even more.
It's a feature on that.
I actually don't have an air wrap or maybe I did not.
I don't think I have the air wrap.
I can't keep up with all the Dyson products.
I've never really used the Dyson air wrap.
I think I have it, but I think I've used just the brush function where you just can like
brush your hair out with it and blow dry it that way.
But I've never used like the actual air wrap feature to like create soft waves.
I'm not good at hair like that yet.
But that's why I love the Dyson straightener because I can just blow dry straight in my
hair and it just is straight and easy to manage and that's it.
Okay.
Next, board games.
Okay, specifically the game ticket to ride.
It's not a super popular game like it is popular like you can find it anywhere you can
find board games, but it's not like monopoly.
It's not like sorry.
It's not like chess.
It's not one of those games that's fully a household name.
I think it's somewhat of a newer game, but I've been actually playing ticket to ride
since I was, I don't know, probably 13, 12 or 13.
I used to play with my dad.
I haven't played it with him in a while.
Although next time he comes to visit, we're playing that shit again because let me tell
you, for my birthday this year, somebody gave me ticket to ride as a gift so that I could
have it at my house.
They had heard me talk about how this was the best board game of all time.
And they were like, okay, well, you don't even own it at your own house.
Like you need to own it.
So they got it for me for my birthday.
And now I'm obsessed with this game again.
It is one of the best games, if not the best game I've ever played.
Okay, I can't even explain to you the instructions because it's a little bit complicated, but I just
want you to take my word for it.
This game, I'm not kidding.
I feel my brain expanding from playing this game because it's so challenging and there's
so much strategy.
And it's a game where you really get to choose your own strategy, if that makes sense.
Like, and I love that piece of it.
It's not like there's an obvious strategy.
You have to really be focused to play this game and you really have to be analytical and
like, and fuck, you just have to be so locked in.
And that's what I love about it because I'm really, really trying to do more things like
read and play board games and do puzzles and things like this because I think that the
amount that I use the internet is really bad for my anxiety.
And I'm a very, very, very, very, very, very, very anxious person and I'm really trying
to work on my anxiety levels.
And so I think things like board games really, really help ground me.
So for the love of God, for the love of gosh, okay, please do me a favor and listen,
I don't own fucking equity and ticket to ride, okay?
I have nothing to gain from you playing ticket to ride other than you just being happier
because you having a board game that you can play with your friends and family that
is riveting and all consuming in the best ways.
I just think that this is the best game.
I also did order monopoly because I haven't played that since I was like 12, 13, 14.
I ordered monopoly and I also ordered clue because I think that those games are really
fun too.
I haven't played them though and so long that I might end up hating them.
So we'll see.
But I'm in my board game era, I guess.
I don't really know what came over me, but these classic games are just so much fun and
it's such a great way to hang out like fuck it.
Okay, if you and your significant other are living together and you're just like, we've
just been watching TV every night for the last four years, like whatever, it's just getting
stale board game puzzle.
All of these things are great.
I have a puzzle on my dining room table right now that I've been waiting to start, but
I've been too consumed by ticket to ride to start the puzzle.
Like anytime I would start the puzzle, I'm like finding somebody to play ticket to ride
with, you know, who's around.
So please get this fucking game and you'll be happy you did.
Okay, this next one's very weird and like I just never thought that I would enjoy this
specific thing, but here I am bird watching.
I have loved birds for a while now and I've enjoyed watching them for a while now.
Like I think it started for me a few years ago when I was in Europe and I don't know,
Europe just has really beautiful birds that I'm not used to seeing in America.
Like they have these beautiful doves, pretty much pigeons, but just, you know, in different
colors, not like the city pigeon that you are used to seeing in New York or whatever,
the sort of gray pigeon and, you know, other sort of sea birds and stuff like that.
And I don't know, I just started to love birds and I particularly loved pigeons.
I think because they were just around and there's so many of them and every time I saw
them, I just enjoyed seeing them and they're very integrated in city life.
So, you know, they're just around, right?
Like I think that that's why I grew such a love for them.
And then in general, I just grew this love for birds.
I don't know why it just I find them to be calming and they're very sweet and nice and
I just like them.
I love ducks.
I love swans.
I love like whatever.
It doesn't matter.
But I sort of started randomly bird watching without even realizing it.
I think it was last summer or two summers ago.
No, do you know what?
It really started last summer.
Like my my love for birds started like two years ago out of nowhere, just from realizing
that they're actually quite pleasant.
Then last summer, I was going through a very hard time, I'm to be honest, and I was in
Europe for a while.
I was in the South of France, I think, for a bit and then I was in Switzerland for a bit.
And I was there with my dad and I was really going through it.
Like I was having a rough time.
And I remember without even really setting out to do so, I spent quite a few afternoons
alone watching birds.
Okay.
Like it tended to happen because I would go on a little jog or something or a little walk
to get my exercise in.
And then once I was finished, I would sit on a bench or wherever and watch birds because
they're just birds everywhere.
And I remember one day I watched these swans that were in this big lake in Switzerland
and that was so beautiful and pleasant.
And then another day I just sat and watched, you know, doves and pigeons.
Like I just I don't know, I just got into it.
And ever since then, I've just really enjoyed watching birds.
And I don't have the binoculars.
Like I'm not taking it seriously, but it's really nice to go and do things alone.
And to leave the phone in your bag, maybe even to leave the book in your bag and to just
sort of watch birds.
I don't know.
It's so nice.
Like on my birthdays here, for example, I was also having a rough time on my birthday this
year.
And I don't really know why.
I think it's because there's something about birthdays that is always kind of tough for
me.
And I think it's because I've had a few birthdays of disappointment in the past.
Like, you know, growing up at school, we would all decorate each other's lockers for our
birthdays.
And I remember two or three times throughout my middle school, high school experience, my
locker didn't get decorated because I didn't have like a strong enough friend group to
have anyone to decorate my locker.
It just felt like shit, you know.
And stuff like that.
And I remember my 16th birthday, like I was really depressed, like I was going through
a really depressive episode during that time in my life.
And so just coincidentally on my birthday, I was depressed.
I don't know.
I just don't like my birthday.
I just haven't had great ones.
And so I tend to now, by default, just get into a sad mood on my birthday.
So I spent my birthday alone this year.
And I went to the beach by myself.
And I was like, I'm just going to walk on the beach for like two hours.
And just this will be my activity for the day.
So I did that.
And then there were lots of birds out that day.
And you want to know what I did?
I fucking sat on the beach for an hour after my walk.
And I just watched birds for like an hour.
And it was great.
I didn't have a phone out.
I didn't have a book out.
I had nothing out.
I just was watching the birds.
And it was really nice.
And I can imagine myself being, you know, the retired person who sits in the park and
feeds the birds.
That might end up being me.
I wouldn't put it past me.
I don't think you need to watch birds as though it's a sport.
Like there's definitely people who watch birds for sport almost.
But I just don't know.
I think it's something nice to tap into.
And it's something nice to seek out as well.
Like, oh, you know, I'm going to go sit at this cafe and watch the birds today.
Like that's what I'm going to do.
It's just a really great thing for people who have a very active mind like myself who
want to just settle down.
And birds are interesting.
They do interesting stuff.
They're looking for food.
They walk kind of weird.
Like they're fun to watch.
Okay.
Next I have a few food items.
Number one, we have Buffalo cauliflower.
Listen, I think that this is the perfect appetizer.
Okay.
Every single time I see Buffalo cauliflower on a menu, I order it.
And it's almost always good.
It's the perfect appetizer.
It's spicy.
It's vegetarian.
Anyone can, you know, not, I mean, if you're vegan, you might not be able to eat it.
But it's like great for the whole table.
Almost everyone can eat it because it's vegetarian.
And it's fucking delicious.
It's like it's delicious.
It's crunchy.
It's a little fried.
But, you know, there's a little bit of fiber in there.
Okay.
Because of the cauliflower and it's spicy.
It's just fucking great.
It's just a great food.
It's a perfect food all around.
And I discovered this food from AirWon because at AirWon, the LA grocery store that everyone
loves, including myself, they serve Buffalo cauliflower in the hot bar.
And I get Buffalo cauliflower all the time and have for years now.
But then I started to see it pop up on different menus.
And I was like, yeah, this is something that I'm never going to go without ordering.
It's similar to like devil eggs for me.
A lot of people don't like devil eggs.
But anytime I'm at a restaurant and I see devil eggs as an appetizer, I'm like, yeah,
I'm going to get that.
To me, it's just a great appetizer.
And I don't know.
I just, I think it's a really fun, perfect food.
So keep that in mind.
And next time you see Buffalo cauliflower on a menu, maybe give it an order.
And let me know what you think.
Next we have this green tahini sauce that I discovered the recipe for a few years ago.
Actually, I think I've even made this sauce in a video, like in a YouTube video.
But the recipe is pretty simple.
It's a cup of tahini, a cup of water, a habanero pepper.
I put a whole one in there because I can handle spicy food.
But if you don't like spicy, you could put anywhere from like a quarter of a habanero
to like a whole one.
Or maybe if you really like spicy, maybe put two in there, I don't know.
But I put one.
And then a third cup of herbs, specifically basil and mint, and then I think a quarter
cup of lime juice.
And then I think that that's, and then some salt, like a teaspoon of salt.
I'm pretty sure.
I found this recipe.
I must credit this recipe, of course, because I did not come up with it.
I got it from, it's by the chef, Rick Martinez, who you might recognize from Bon Appetite
Test Kitchen, because that's where I found him.
Rick Martinez has a video on food 52s YouTube channel called twice baked sweet potatoes
and veggies with spicy tahini.
Holy fuck, this sauce is so fucking good.
I don't just, I put it on vegetables, actually, and sweet potatoes as well.
But I also put it on eggs and it's phenomenal.
You can dip crackers into it and it's phenomenal.
This is my go-to sauce.
And I do think it's not for everyone.
Like, I've had some of my loved ones try it, and it's kind of hit or miss, like some
people love it, some people don't.
I think it's fucking delectable, and I put it on everything, specifically my eggs.
Like, I'm always looking for something good to put on eggs, because I don't just like
them plain.
And I used to put ketchup on my eggs, but like I'd make scrambled eggs and put ketchup
on them, which is kind of gross in retrospect.
But I've grown out of that, and I've been looking for something new.
And this sauce, just like a drizzle of it on top of eggs, is so good.
Oh my God, it's so good.
So yeah, just keep that in mind.
Next thing in the food category is a Tahine Rim.
Okay, I know I'm not reinventing the wheel here by presenting to you a Tahine Rim.
Okay, this is something that we all know and love.
But what I think we tend to forget is that we can get a Tahine Rim on just about anything.
Okay.
My order of choice is a tequila soda with lime juice, not just a squeeze of lime.
Now I like them to take the bottle of lime juice that they have at the bar and squeeze
a decent amount of lime juice in there.
And I'm always clear about that when I order a drink.
I'm like tequila soda with lime juice, like juice, not from just a fresh lime, but like
actual lime juice.
And they're like, you got it.
It's kind of a complicated order, but it's worth the complexity because I love sour
and I love tequila.
And it's just the perfect drink to me.
But what I've been doing recently is when I'm feeling really complicated and like I
really want to complicate the bartender's life, I'll say, can I also have that with the
Tahine Rim?
Because most of these bars have Tahine for margaritas and various other tequila drinks.
And it's just fucking amazing.
It adds the most amazing chili tart flavor.
And it's great on every drink and it doesn't come on every drink.
So if you have your own special drink that you like to order, just add it to Tahine Rim.
It doesn't work with all flavor profiles.
So you have to be smart, but like holy shit, it's so good.
Okay, start adding a Tahine Rim.
I think it's the best with tequila.
So with all the tequila drinks that you order moving forward, be like, hey, can you just
add a little Tahine Rim?
Come on.
Don't be shy.
Okay.
Next.
Re-listening to music I grew up listening to.
I grew up listening to a lot of, I don't know, like the Beatles and the Beach Boys and things
like that because that's what my dad was playing in the house.
And I grew sick of a lot of that music because I listened to it so much.
Like growing up when I would be driving to school, my dad would be playing usually the
Beatles in the car and he had a lot of the CDs.
So we would just replay those CDs over and over again.
We probably had like five Beatles albums and we would just circulate through those five.
And I did sort of grow sick of them.
Like I listened to them so much that I was like, you know what?
I think that my journey has come to an end with those.
Like I'm not going to really add those to a playlist or seek out listening to them.
Whenever I hear them, it's pleasant.
But like I think I'm good on hearing them on a consistent basis.
But I recently had the desire to like go back and re-list into these old albums that
I grew up listening to.
And I found that in a way I was rediscovering this music.
Like for example, I just recently listened to Magical Mystery Tour Beatles album and I
found new favorites on that album that I think I didn't appreciate as much as a kid because
I was too young.
So all this to say, I really recommend going back and listening to music that you grew
up listening to, whatever your family used to play.
And seeing how you feel about it as an adult because I think you'll be delighted to find
that it's a different experience now that you're an adult.
Last but not least, we have two things that I recommend on television.
I think I already recommended one of them and I'm going to recommend it again.
So number one, we have the show How To With John Wilson.
It's on Max.
I still call it HBO Max, but it's Max now.
And to me, this is like the office.
You know how so many people watch the office and it's like their comfort show or they watch
Parks and Rec or they watch Modern Family?
Like everyone has their go-to comfort show that they put on when they're trying to fall
asleep or something.
For me, this is How To With John Wilson.
This is one of the best shows it's ever been created.
I don't even know how to describe it.
You're just going to have to go watch it.
But oh my God, this show is amazing and it's so smart and it's so entertaining, but it's
also relaxing and it's just the perfect show.
Please go watch it if you have a max subscription.
You will not regret it.
And the other thing I watched, which was also on Max, is a documentary called Love Has
One, The Cult of Mother God.
This is one of the most interesting documentaries I've ever watched.
It was recommended to me by a friend and I don't know, it's so great to get recommendations
but I rarely like follow it.
I don't know, I get so many great recommendations from people but I don't always get around to
watching them.
This one I did and I'm so glad I did because it's one of the most fascinating cult documentaries
I've ever watched and it's very recent.
It happened very recently and even the opening scene of it is just unbelievable and it's
dark.
Don't get me wrong.
You might want to watch this with a loved one because it is kind of dark and upsetting
but it's just so fascinating and I really would recommend it.
Those are all my recommendations I have right now.
I feel like recently I've been discovering a lot of new things so maybe I'll do another
one of these in a few months sooner than we think but that's everything I've been loving
right now.
Maybe this will inspire you to try some of these things and maybe these things will bring
you joy as they bring me joy.
That is what I hope from today's episode.
I just appreciate you listening and hanging out.
If you enjoyed it and you want to tune in for more new episodes every Thursday and Sunday
you can stream anywhere you get podcasts although video interviews are exclusively on Spotify.
The interviews are available everywhere but the video version is exclusive to Spotify
and you can follow anything goes on all platforms at anything goes.
You can follow me on all platforms at Emma Chamberlain.
You can check out my coffee company Chamberlain Coffee.
We are probably in a store near you if you live in America.
So go on the store locator and see if we're in a store near you.
And if not then just order online ChamberlainCoffee.com.
That's all I have to say.
Thank you all for listening.
I appreciate you all.
You're all awesome and I will talk to you so so soon in a few days.
Okay.
Bye.
Love you.
