Drifting Among the Tides
Internet round-up for the week of January 1, 2024
Well?? We did it, babes! The first week of 2024 is in the books.
Hope you had a lovely New Year’s Eve & Day! I spent my NYE playing D&D and watching Anderson Cooper giggle, and then dove right back in to working on all my projects on day 1.
I’ve actually kept myself super busy this week. Pitching some new headlines, reading a book, rewriting the first chapter of my novel, and keeping up with the 30 Days of Yoga (from Yoga With Adriene). She actually starts on January 2nd, so I even went for a ride on the Peloton (finally back in my apartment and not thousands of miles away in storage!) on the 1st!
In the interest of transparency, my butt is still very sore from Monday’s ride because I have to get used to that damn bike seat again. Or “Saddle,” I guess, if you’re nasty (read: actually use proper bike terminology).
Last year in my first post of the year, I shared a link to Pinterest’s predictions. I went back in December to see if anything had come true, and it turns out they’d already changed it to 2024’s predictions! Rude. So, I’ve selected a few favorites here that we can check on at the end of the year.
“Be Jelly”
Are you ready for this jelly? From home decor to couture to beauty ideas, a whole mood will bubble up in 2024 inspired by your favorite invertebrate: jellyfish. Gen Z and Millennials are driving this squishy aesthetic.
Jellyfish “mood”, huh? Do we think this means like “man-o-war” stung lips and shiny skin, or being a brainless sac with many parts working together for the good of the whole drifting among the tides for eternity?
"Bow Stacking"
2024 will be the year we take a bow. Millennials and Gen Z will embrace the art of "bow stacking" as they adorn their outfits, shoes, hair and jewelry with this oh-so-delicate detail. Bow large or bow small, next year brings bows for all.
Did this ever go away? I’ve never stopped seeing pictures on Facebook from people I went to high school with of their baby girls dressed in bows the size of their entire head.
“Cute Coins”
Get ready to make a (bank) statement. In 2024, Gen Z and Millennials will take their money and make it a lil’ cuter. Credit cards will get a makeover. Piggy banks will be customized. And oh yeah. Stickers. On. Everything. Big money, bigger personality.
Holding out hope that I actually GET COINS in 2024! 🤞🏻 Secondarily to that, I am not sure I understand how we make money “cute.” Do people still have piggy banks? If you put a sticker on your credit card, won’t it just peel off when you try to use the chip reader?
Or are we going for something more like this?
We’ll see what happens at the end of the year!!
The Resolute Desk
I have a very specific and fun New Year’s Resolution I’d like to discuss, mostly because I’d love any advice on how to accomplish it.
This year, I would like to learn how to use chopsticks. But like, properly.
I’ve never held a pencil right ever since I was a little kid (the teacher would put grips on there to try to help train me and I’d just go around them) so when someone tells me to “hold the chopsticks like a pencil,” I’m absolutely screwed.
Should I watch YouTube videos? Do I need to get those little chopstick holders they make for kids to practice with? Should I just grow up and figure it out on my own? (Don’t answer that one.)
Also, did you make any fun resolutions you’re excited about this year?? Please share!
Nostalgia Corner
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I will be upfront and acknowledge that I am just sliiiiightly older than her and didn’t have things like YouTube to watch, but the sentiment is the same!! Getting home from hanging out with your friends all day at school just to get on AIM and start talking to them again was utter perfection. Add in a splash of burning CDs of music you downloaded that may or may not be accurate to the title you saw and a little Rollercoaster Tycoon (plus a nap, of course), and it’s just *chef’s kiss*.
And — I was shocked to find out this morning that Fruit Stripe Gum was apparently quietly discontinued sometime in the last few months??
Yes, Fruit Stripe Gum — everyone’s favorite tropical, delicious, has-flavor-for-35-seconds gum!
Look, I’m not going to sit here and act like the gum was amazing or something, because as far as gum goes, it kind of sucked. But it still tasted very good and the stripes were so cute, and I’m sad it’s gone! Another childhood treat lost to the ages.
But uh…not sure it’s worth this…
Spend $82.76 for four total minutes of flavor? No thanks. I’d rather buy the Altoid Sours.
Thirsts, Trapped
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Turns out heels make everyone’s ass look great!
I love the quick thinking here. Stepladder isn’t cutting it, so pumps it is. Fortunately in my household, my husband is tall enough to reach all the high up things, because he would probably smash my heels to bits trying to stand in them which would absolutely not be worth it.
Plus, the internet is going extremely wild over Calvin Klein’s new ads this week featuring Jeremy Allen White.
And before you ask if I set up this section of the newsletter solely to post some of the pics from the ad campaign — let me assure you, I didn’t not set this section of the newsletter up solely to post some of the pics from the ad campaign.
*Ahem.*
👀
I am looking very respectfully at these images!
Great advertising, really. Very good, Calvin Klein! I will, uh…buy more of your products now, for my very wonderful husband.
Also — look how dry he is! There’s absolutely no need to pour an entire bucket of water on yourself for a photoshoot (*hint hint*)!!
What I’m reading
Every year, I set a Goodreads challenge of 25 books, and every year, I get super cranked up in January to meet that challenge and then start tapering off in July1.
Since it’s January, I’M BACK AT IT, BABY! I’m working on setting up a storefront through Bookshop.org to share all my reads/recs for the year (if you use my links to buy a book, I will get some coins (which I promise to put in a cute piggy bank!)).
This week for book club, I read Spoilers: Essays That Might Ruin Your Favorite Hollywood Movies by the incomparable
. It was such a fun book!
Carlos is a fantastic satirist, and this book did not disappoint. I feel like it’s a perfect coffee table or bathroom book (THE LATTER IS A COMPLIMENT, CARLOS. I PROMISE.).
My favorite pieces were the Shawshank Redemption and Dead Poets Society related ones (two movies I actually haven’t seen, but the pieces were enough for me to enjoy even without having watched them!).
Anyway — highly recommend picking it up, especially if you love movies! (Also, check out his Substack,
, for more details about the publishing process and more funny satire!)Randomly Selected Animal Cuties
Starting off the year right with not one, but TWO animal cuties this week!
I love this so much. I wish I had a real tree to toss over the fence for them!
Growing up, one of my childhood best friends had an entire herd of goats, and one of my favorite things to do was pull down a tree branch in their yard because they would go ABSOLUTELY APESHIT over it. GOATS LOVE TO EAT TREES, man. They just love ‘em.
And of course, who would I be if I didn’t share the Fiona Fam Cam™ from this week?
I can’t with these three. Look at those sweet little neck rolls! 🥺
(Just getting PSYCHED UP for my inevitable trip there this summer (if I keep saying it, it will happen!)!)
That’s it from me today! Hope you have an excellent weekend. I’ll be watching the LAST REGULAR SEASON FOOTBALL GAMES (how is it over already??) and hoping to win 3rd place in my fantasy league! 😎
K
Not this year! There’s absolutely no way anything like that would happen again!
Good luck with chopsticks! My big resolution for this year is to get better at Scrabble 😂
That TikTok really took me back 😂