The hottest topic in my life is a perpetual search for fleeting moments of joy amidst the bleak, trudging, relentless yawn of winter. Below are some things I bought, watched, listened to, ate, and experienced that have made me happy so far in 2024.
Fancy Nancy candy box
One of my favorite people to follow on TikTok is Fancy Nancy, a California mom who spends roughly 60% of her life at Home Goods. She has an iconic candy drawer that is seasonally themed and three daughters who seem endlessly irritated by the gifts she is continuously showering them with. In the past few months, she’s started branching out to candy boxes: acrylic tackle boxes purchased from the container store that she makes for movie nights or brings to the office to delight her employees. This simple but indulgent hobby brings her palpable joy, and I decided to buy my own lesser plastic tackle box from Amazon and fill it with 20 different kinds of sweet snacks, from strawberry shortcake M&Ms to snack packs of Gushers. I keep the box on my coffee table for guests (me) to enjoy (plunder until I pass out into a post-sugar high coma). I never want to know Nancy’s politics, but I am so grateful for her work.
Lord of the Rings extended editions IN THEATRES
In my holiday watch list, I noted that I prefer the theatrical cut of Fellowship of the Ring, and I still maintain that stance after seeing the extended edition at Alamo Drafthouse last week. But the cut scenes enrich the story so much and there was not a single moment where I was bored during the three-hour-plus runtime. Days later I saw The Two Towers extended cut at Alamo, with its almost four-hour runtime, and would happily have gone straight into Return of the King. Lord of the Rings movies are like sex: I’d prefer to get to the climax quicker, but I don’t mind taking a few detours along the way.
Action figures
As mentioned in my gift guide, I am slowly rebuilding my collection of lost childhood toys. Inspired by my trips to the theatre to see LOTR, I did some eBay bidding and won a boxed set of Arwen and Asfaloth (with wounded Frodo) and Galadriel, Lady of Light. I made a TikTok unboxing video when they arrived and you can see the pure delight on my face. Next up is the Witch King so I can make them all fight.
Murder on the Stupid Bitch Express
I suffer from lifelong insomnia which has been treated with a variety of cures and crutches. In an attempt to kick my Ambien habit, I’m experimenting with a holistic solution: listening to the best episode of Nymphowars every night. The dulcet tones of Macy and Theda and Jeffree and James and Gwen and Caitlyn have helped tremendously in lulling me to sleep.
Rare Beauty brow gel
I hate everything Selena Gomez wears on the red carpet and have not historically been impressed with her makeup line. But the Brow Harmony Flexible Lifting and Laminating Gel is an instant win: strong enough to hold my droopy brows all day without getting crusty, drying slowly enough to let you change the shape if you don’t like your first attempt but not so slowly that things start to stick to your eyebrows. I’m really hoping to pare down my makeup collection this year and have one hero product in every category and I am certainly keeping an eye out for Selener after this.
Sushi magnets
During my week-and-a-half-long visit to Florida over the holidays, I was struck by how neat my mother’s house is and the mechanism by which it stays this way: nothing is left out on any surface. Ever. Everything has a place, and it is placed there as soon as she’s done using it. I am attempting to apply this to my own home, and made huge strides over the weekend when I took an edible and reorganized my entire kitchen, leaving my island counter blessedly empty. But I thrive in chaos and am worried that sanitizing my entire kitchen will drive me crazy. I thrive in chaos! So I’m attempting to channel that chaos into one specific place rather than let it abound. To that end, I decorated my refrigerator with tons of silly magnets, my favorite of which is a set of sushi purchased (shamefully) from Amazon. They are currently holding up a Japanese poster for My Best Friend’s Wedding, and I think Julia Roberts would approve.
Hopefully you too can use capitalism as a tool for momentary relief from the crushing loneliness of being alive. See you later this week!
Immediately looks up strawberry shortcake M&Ms
Thank you for bringing Fancy Nancy into my life ❤️