Week Whatever of Quarantine, Vol. 12: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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4 years ago

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Anyone else’s brain dead this week? It literally took me three days to make this post. Not because this post style is hard to put together, but because I was moving SO SLOW at everything I was doing. If anyone has tips for turning my brain back on, I would love them now.

J.Crew Pullover / Everlane Leggings c/o

Weird Purchases

Cozy Jeans

I’ve always wanted to try out lined jeans, but the only ones I’ve ever seen were the kind of baggy ones from L.L. Bean. Now, I’m sure those are super warm and comfortable, but I also feel like they would look kind of silly on me. They also probably wouldn’t look good for everyday where. So it was exciting to see that Old Navy decided to do their own version of a lined jeans.

The Old Navy jeans are very similar to fleece lined leggings. They’re definitely warmer than regular jeans, but you’re still going to get cold if you’re out for a while in 25 degree weather. However, they’ve been perfect for bringing my dog to the dog park when it’s chilly outside! I got them in a dark and light wash and I’ve loved using them.

SO Many Girl Scout Cookies

Uh, did you know that you can order Girl Scout cookies on Grub Hub now? It’s pretty handy if you don’t know a Girl Scout and if your local Girl Scouts aren’t outside grocery stores this year because of covid. Well, thanks to a Grub Hub gift card, I went a little crazy with ordering cookies this year. But it’s going to pay off for all of you, because a major Girl Scout Cookie post is coming your way soon.

Our Place Always Pan

I totally gave into the hype and bought the pan while it was on sale over the holidays. My pan just arrived a week or two ago and I haven’t made a meal with it yet, but I’m planning on doing it tonight. Do you want a review of what I think of the pan? I’m hoping it’s not a total bust!

Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier, Strawberry

I’m obsessed with Liquid I.V. I use it whenever I get migraines so I can get rehydrated fast. I’ve always stuck to the lemon lime flavor, but when I was at Costco the other week, I came across the strawberry flavor. Never one to say no to strawberry flavored things, I decided to try it out. Oh my gosh, it was so good! I might actually like it more than the lemon lime (but I’m not sure yet). It’s also made me want to try out the other flavors now.

Also, pro-tip, if you’re visiting any places where you might have issues with altitude sickness, mix one stick of Liquid I.V. with a few drops of liquid chlorophyll in your water bottle. I did this when I was I was in Denver for work and I was the only person from my office who didn’t ave any altitude sickness problems.

KN95 Mask

This isn’t really a weird purchase, but more of a quick PSA. It’s time to start double masking! These are the KN95 masks you should use as your first layer and then put the cute mask on top. What’s wrong with a little extra safety?

J.Crew Mockneck Sweater / Old Navy Warm Jeans / L.L. Bean Socks

What I’m Reading and Watching

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Taylor Jenkins Reid seemed to have adopted a new style of writing when she wrote The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and I’m completely here for it. Here novels have become more sweeping, more epic, a deeper looking at characters’ lives. You feel like you really know her main characters to the core of who they are and you finish her books fully satisfied, but somehow wanting more at the same time.

Malibu Rising encompasses everything I just mentioned and shows how Jenkins Reid has only scratched the surface of her talent.

Malibu Rising introduces us to the Riva Family: Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit, the famous off spring of Mick Riva. These famous siblings are people that everyone want to know about and be around, especially if it’s at their annual party. But they don’t know the problems that have come with growing up as a Riva and the damage that it’s left on each of the siblings.

While Malibu Rising doesn’t come out until June 1st, pre-order it now. I can’t say enough good things about Malibu Rising and you’ll want to read it as soon as it arrives.

Upcoming reads I’m excited about

A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee
The Women In Black by Madeleine St. John
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour
The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson

Everlane Pullover c/o / J.Crew Top / J.Crew Jeans / Everlane Slippers c/o

Watching: Movies and TV

Has anyone else felt like their brain just turned off this month? For me, it meant that my TV watching turned to a lot of reality TV. Aka a lot of Bravo (which there was already) and Love Island came back into my life.

Love Island UK

The Bravo website has stopped working on my computer. I’ve tried just about everything, but it’s out of my hands at this point. So I’ve turned to watching Love Island UK again. I’ve forgotten how wonderfully ridiculous this show is. They would shove like 12 people into a house and the people would have to pair up and try to make love connections. People would also be constantly added or voted out of the house. Even better, when it was on live, would run like every day for like six weeks. So it was essentially showing in real time. Something would happen in the house and you would see it a day or two later. People who were watching the show would then come into the house and tell the house what they looked like to the world or what the public saw that they didn’t know about. It’s so addicting and there are so many episodes in each season.

Summer House

And then there’s Summer House, which I feel like I’ve been waiting for, for months. Two of the people on Summer House, Hannah and Paige, were hosting live chats on Instagram every night all summer…until they went to the house. So everyone who was watching knew a lot about their lives and then it was like communication shut down. And then they popped out and it was like, breaks up, new boyfriends, life changes, etc.! So I’ve been waiting to see what happened during those six weeks for a while. I’ve heard some things from podcasts, but I’m excited to actually watch it.

And now I officially sound like a crazy person.

But for people who are super confused: pre-pandemic, Summer House was a show that center around NYC professionals who would work like crazy during the week and then go out to the Hamptons to live in a house together and party on the weekend. They obviously couldn’t do that this year, so they decided to instead have them quarantine in a house together in the Hamptons for six weeks. Very Real World.

Nancy Drew (CW)

I always thought about watching the CW’s Nancy Drew when it first came out, but I never got around to it. When they announced that all of the new episodes were on HBO Max, I decided to finally give in. Little did I know that I would get sucked into it instantly. Is it the best show? No. Do I love the paranormal part of it? No. Nor do I understand why that needs to be a thing with the CW. But I love the actors on it and it’s been fun to watch.

Everlane Sweater c/o / Everlane Jeans / Everlane Slippers c/o

Cooking and Baking

We’ve been doing a lot of recipe repeating around here, but I’ve also been throwing some new ones in to shake things up. Also, while my boyfriend could eat the same thing every single night, I need different dinners.

Here are new recipes I’ve tried recently (and liked):

Sheet Pan Steak and Veggies (my boyfriend would be fine if I made this every night)
Simple Chicken Pot Pie Recipe (so easy and so good)
Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs (I was super lazy and skipped the onions and garlic part and it was still super delicious)
French Dip Sandwiches (You can also do this in an Instant Pot – just set the pot to saute, put oil in, sear each side of the meat for 2 to 3 minutes. Then add the water and mix. For 2 lbs of meat, you’ll put about 3 and 1/3 cups of water. Then set the pressure cooker on high for 44 minutes–that’s 12 minutes for each pound. Once it’s finished, hit the cancel button and let it do a slow/natural release, which will take 15 to 20 minutes. Then you can head back to the original directions!)

I think you’ll notice the trend here that all of these were super easy to do. It was the month of lazy, but delicious dinners!