The Weekly Digress | 2.12.26
A book that made me cry, a popular book I'm struggling to get into, my new foundation, perfect mashed potatoes, and MORE.
G’day, my lovelies. This is going to be my last Weekly Digress for a few weeks because A LOT IS GOING ON, and I don’t imagine I’ll have the time to collect content and sit down to share it with you in a thoughtful way for a minute. This time next week, we’ll be closing on the sale of our house and the buying of our new house followed immediately by moving out then in, and there’s roughly 372 things to do before then. You can get full details about our buying/selling journey by upgrading to a paid subscription here on Substack, which means more now than it ever has because I’m embarking on some professional change-ups and you monetarily supporting my writing means the world and a half to me.
All that said, I’m taking a few minutes this fine Thursday morning to sit here with my coffee and go over what I’ve been consuming with my five senses these past few weeks!
READING
I started and finished The Correspondent in less than 2 weeks, which is FAST for me as I literally only read at night in bed. Granted, it’s a shorter book but still. This book was phenomenal. The storytelling through letters and e-mails was unique and perfect, and the author’s way of being able to weave it all together through personal correspondence was fantastic. I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a big fan of hefty narrative and minimal dialogue, so a book written entirely in letters is so up my alley. It’s a beautiful story about an older woman coming to grips with who she is and how her life has shaped her, and I loved every page of it. 10/10 recommend!
I then very quickly started Project Hail Mary. I’ve been wanting to read this for years and the teaser trailer during the Super Bowl for the movie adaptation starring Ryan Gosling reminded me of that. This book is beloved by many and has incredibly high reviews across the interwebs, but I have to say, I’m about 85 pages in and I’m not sure how I feel about the format. To be fair, this book and The Correspondent are light years apart (pun intended), so it’s given me a bit of whiplash with the genre switching. But I’m just not totally digging the writing or storytelling. Also, the fact that the main character is all “Fudge! Gosh darnit! Dang!” deeply irritates my sailor’s mouth. I also typically don’t enjoy the Sci-Fi genre in general, BUT I know a lot of people say the message of Project Hail Mary goes deeper than that, so… I’m gonna keep going but I’m wondering if anyone else here didn’t enjoy it?
WATCHING
If you share a love of comedy with me, you HAVE TO watch Free Bert on Netflix. I knew of Bert Kreischer but have never watched his standup. However, THIS SHOW? It’s incredible. Seriously one of the funniest shows I’ve watched in a minute. The writing is absolutely brilliant, and his two daughters steal the entire show as far as I’m concerned. Supposedly, his real daughters are exactly like his show daughters, which makes me jealous I won’t ever raise a daughter, but I digress. It’s just so fucking funny, and I think we could all use some brevity.
Zac and I never got into Yellowstone, but someone wrote me on Instagram the other week and said if I loved Lonesome Dove, I have to watch the Yellowstone prequel, 1883. It’s basically Taylor Sheridan’s homage to LD. So we started and HOLY FUCK, WHERE HAVE I BEEN? This show is phenomenal. First of all, I had no idea Tim McGraw and Faith Hill could act and act well. Second, the daughter played by Isabel May is just so stunning and mesmerizing to watch and listen to. Thirdly, I love Sam Elliott. Fourthly, Faith Hill should always be brunette. The production level of 1883 is mind-blowing, and it’s all just so good. There’s only 10 episodes, so we’re taking our time and loving every minute of it.
Lastly, we’ve been watching the new GOT spin-off, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. As any GOT fan knows, this genre is typically extremely dramatic, violent, and heavy, so I was taken aback that Knight was almost comical? Like funny. Jokes on jokes. It kind of threw me, but there’s a pretty big plot twist in episode three that shifts the entire vibe of the show into GOT mode, and now it’s gotten REALLY GOOD, so we’re going to keep on keeping on.
MAKING
This extremely simple mashed potatoes recipe is perfect. It’s so easy, comes together quickly, and you can doctor them however you want. I will say, I added A TON of salt to ours to get it to where I needed it to be, but Ziggy housed them. And, again, it’s just such a simple, fast recipe.
Cailee Fischer’s Scallion Chicken is SO GOOD and satisfies takeout cravings in a cleaner, more delicious way. I made it for us the other week and we ate the entire thing between the two of us?
It’s official: Caroline Chambers’ Vodka Sauce and Pasta Al Limone are Zac and I’s go-to comfort pasta dishes, no contest. I’ve already written about the Vodka Sauce, but I made the new Limone recipe this week and holy mother. Literally feel like I should get down on my hands and knees and thank Caro, God of Food. It’s also a no-mess recipe because you do it all in one pot. It’s honestly genius. MAKE IT.
SHOPPING
Hopefully, you caught my foundation debacle via IG stories the other week. LSS: I was unknowingly wearing a shade that was much much much too orange for my skin, and it was not cute. I went into Sephora and fixed it with NARS Light Reflecting Foundation, and I’M IN LOVE. This foundation is buildable, gorgeous, and offers the perfect luminous finish without being shiny or too dewy. Not only that, but it’s literally my skin tone in a bottle? I just love it and think I’ll be using it for a LOOOONG time. FWIW, my shade is M1 (AKA “Punjab,” AKA a city in India. I feel like the name may be inappropriate, but makeup companies name their products some crazy shit).
East Fork sent me this popcorn bowl and absolutely perfect 9x9 cutting board, and my new life goal is to replace every bowl and dish in our home with East Fork bowls and dishes. They’re just so beautiful, and I love that it’s a small shop out of Asheville, NC.
I never thought I’d see the day, but we have completely moved on from pajama onesies and are only outfitting Ziggy in two-piece sets for bed. I am OBSESSED with Little Sleepies. The bamboo fabric is so soft and amazing, and I know Ziggy is super comfortable sleeping in them every night. I’ve gotten him four different sets recently, all of which are on sale. I only shop their sale items!
I’ve gone full Ms. Rachel in terms of these knotted headbands. I don’t care if they’re not trendy or cute to wear anymore; my frizzy ass hair NEEDS them, especially on days when nothing else will tame the frizz. These ones I found on Amazon are thick and comfortable — my two requirements for any headband — and I’ve been wearing the shit out of them.
I also decided to treat myself to an updated day/night pill organizer, if you even care.
In terms of moving, a follower suggested I order these heavy duty moving bags for clothes and whatnot, so I listened and I’m so glad I did. They have already come in handy and will continue to. ANDDDDDD… I ordered our first new items for the new house!!! Kinda boring, BUT the boys will each need a dresser (THE BOYS 🥹) so Zac and I settled on two of these. Simple, straightforward, and enough of a blank canvas that we can paint them and change the knobs whenever we see fit. Ziggy’s room has built-ins so we haven’t had to worry about a dresser, but now we do!
All right, y’all. That’s gonna do it for today’s Weekly Digress. Even though I won’t be sending another one out for a few weeks, I’ll be taking diligent notes in my phone to ensure the next one is worth the wait.
Also, another little nudge to consider upgrading to a paid subscription not only to support my writing/sharing, but also to get an exclusive first look at the new house next weekend! I’ll be doing a walk-through video and sharing lots of photos, too.
xox,
EGM
Good luck with the move!
LINK FIX! headband is here: https://amzn.to/463bH0M