Alright gang - everyone ok this week? Huge update - we’re looking at a potentially fortnightly faves newsletter so I can chit chat with you all and share all my silly findings. That suit?
What have you been doing this month? Tell me all your January news!! I have mainly been moving house (I may have mentioned it forty five million times because I am needy and sensitive and easily overwhelmed) and it turns out they’re not wrong when they say it’s stressful BUT hopefully we’re nearly there.
Also if anyone knows of any cool jobs / people / places / things in the Lake District, please let me know.
600 My Little Ponies on The Antiques Roadshow
I’ve been staying with my parents a lot recently for aforementioned house moving reasons and The Antiques Roadshow is an absolute Sunday night staple. Usually it’s stuff like art and vases and furniture (snore), but this week was an absolute win for plastic tat lovers like me; a woman and her daughter were on with some of their 600 strong My Little Pony collection. My favourite is obviously the rollerskating queen at the front, but the wide hipped, body positive girlie on the right hand side needs a shout out as a fellow plus-size beauty. I can’t wait until tamagotchis and general 90s nonsense starts gracing the Roadshow on a weekly basis.
Grilled Spicy Prawns with Feta and Ouzo
It’s my mum’s birthday this week and I’m cooking her dinner. I’ve decided to make Georgina Hayden’s Grilled Spicy Prawns recipe from her book Taverna. I’m including it in here because I haven’t eaten it for ages and if you need a quick, easy tea and you’re as obsessed with feta cheese as I am, then it’s a winner. Granted, the locality and seasonality of prawns is worth bearing in mind at this time of year, sorry about that.
This record sleeve that I found in Oxfam
Presented without comment.
These Hello Kitty Crocs
Talking of plastic tat, Instagram has really got my number because I’m being served adverts for Hello Kitty Crocs and honestly it’s taking all my willpower not to buy these despite the fact that I can’t think of a single situation in which I would wear them. They are horrendous but also simultaneously I adore them.
Spotify Discover Weekly
Spotify’s Discover Weekly feature is nothing new, but I am constantly overjoyed with the person that their AI thinks I am. A fan of Cilla Black? Well, I am now! Broadway Does Punk?! Absolutely. Dancing in the Moonlight but make it Muppets Haunted Mansion??! Sign me up.
This Pastrami Sandwich
On our travels around the Lake District, an early fave is Levens Hall with their kitchen, shop, walks and, most importantly, bakery. I had one of their pastrami sandwiches at the weekend, and that focaccia has been living in my head rent free ever since.
The Insta Girlies’ Love of Stanley Tumblers
I have become obsessed with the Stanley craze. Not with the cups themselves, but how the brand has gone from being popular with camping dads in the wilderness to causing stampedes in Target for their limited releases. Also, the size of those cups is quite triggering to me, a person with a tiny bladder, so I am in awe of anyone who has the dedication to carry one around with them all day.
Stanley cups took the world by storm. Then the backlash began https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/jan/12/stanley-cups-tumblers-water-bottle-trend
How to Fail with Dan Levy
How to Fail is back for season 20 and the first episode features Schitts Creek creator and star Dan Levy. Did you know the show was turned down by every single TV network in the US?! Including Netflix!! It’s such a good episode, particularly if you’re a person who creates things. It can often feel like you’re banging your head against a brick wall, or you really have to fight for what you believe in, but listening to this episodes just reminds you that if you really do believe in it and you enjoy it, then make it anyway. It will find the people it needs to.
Martina Martian
Last one for this week, but in 2023 I started to let the zine making and collaging side of my personality see some daylight. I’ve been making the odd thing, and am hoping to ramp up the creating side of things once we’ve finished unpacking boxes, but I have been following other creators on the ‘gram and discovered Martina Calvi who creates incredible crafty pieces of art.
I’m the kind of person that keeps ticket stubs and bookmarks and pieces of paper I pick up on holiday, so I am super inspired to actually do something with them instead of having them sat in a box for the rest of my life!
That’s everything this week besties! Let me know anything that’s caught your eye, and make sure you do something creative for yourself this week. Love ya xx