Here is a quick roundup of recent things that all seem to have been influenced by podcasts and blogs.
I got my hair cut and dyed and I that is a BIG Rachel thing off my list. I've decided I want to go back to my natural-ish colour and then let my hair go grey naturally. I'm excited! If I hate it I can always dye it again later. I think it was the Girl Next Door podcast which made me think about aging and how it's odd that we talk about "grey haired old ladies" when most women actually go grey in their 30s or 40s. So why is Grey hair only OK in your 60s or 70s? I'm all for hair dying but I am loving the grey haired 30 and 40 year olds that I see and the more I can help normalize what is normal (going grey) the easier it will be for anyone else who doesn't want to dye hair forever or have to make the "big decision" to go grey.
I signed up for the Modern Mrs Darcy Patreon so I could get the Summer Reading Guide. Now I just need to find a colour printer so I can print it off because it looks SO COOL. I flipped through it super quickly (on my phone - total demerit there) and reserved a few of the books at my library hoping to avoid the flood. 25 library hold a month on Libby isn't enough for me so I had to drop a few off my already on hold list. I am not going to read Outlive by Peter Atilla soon. And I have had The Lincoln Highway on there for ages too. Those both went off the holds and onto the TBR list.
I made this chickpea salad from NoraCooks which I think was on Birchie's blog? And Jen? Or elsewhere.. but anyways it's SO GOOD. My husband tried it and he said "this seems like an American approximation of a coronation chicken salad. Which is true - coronation chicken is a super gross (IMHO) British salad made from mayonaise and curry powder and chicken. But somehow switch to yogurt and chickpeas and it is yum. The only problem is the gastrointestinal issues surrounding my consumption of chickpeas and cashews... but the babies don't seem to mind.
I really enjoyed this podcast on Grocery Shopping from About Progress. My grocery bill is HUGE right now and although it's not really a problem I thought there were some interesting ideas in this one. Mostly the idea of shopping every other week, and of doing a two week meal plan. I feel like we are *always* planning meals and maybe doing it for two weeks at a time would make it feel less like we were *always* planning? There are some things (milk and fruit) that we would need more often but how much of my grocery shop is random bits because I am putting an order in? Although saying that... I didn't buy any cookies during last week's delivery and I have regretted it every afternoon. I did buy courgettes with the intention of making courgette brownies, but I still just have two courgettes and no brownies.
And finally, I was influenced by... me! I took a trip down memory lane of this blog and found a post about Gym Day which I wrote in 2012. My gym buddy Geraint and I are still good friends but we have not been gym buddies for a while due to the sheer quantity of children and pregnancies I've had in the last 6 years (4 children, 3 pregnancies). Anyways, I sent him the blog post and we were reminiscing about gym and then I realized I *could* made it work! So on Thursday I went to the gym with him and we did an arms set. It was great. While I have been busy having kids he has been busy getting strong and now he lifts weights so heavy I couldn't even load his rack for him.
And while this isn't influenced at all, I really love taking photos of babies and making it look like they have hair. Is that a tic tok trend? Here is Audrey the baby hair model:
What's your best tip from the internet or podcast sphere recently?
I love the Audrey hair model! So cute! Plus I love your hair color. I think greying is fine and I am not sure why it was(is?) so taboo to be a 30/40 year old with greys. I think it looks just fine and we are all beautiful, gosh darn it!
ReplyDeleteI love this line: and now he lifts weights so heavy I couldn't even load his rack for him. I have not gone to the gym in a dogs years, but I do remember the first time I started lifting weights and I would bench press the bar only. Hey, 45 lbs is a lot! However, I would be right next to dudes with (just like you said) one weight that was more than that, plus they would have like 6 of them or whatever. I felt puny.
That chickpea salad is epic! I need to make it again.
ReplyDeleteI always assumed that I would start dyeing my hair as soon as I went gray, but now I don't think that I will. First of all, I'm a very late bloomer in that department and only have a few grays in my late 40s, second of all, I don't want another "thing" in my life to have to maintain, and third of all - THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH GRAY HAIR. There is also nothing wrong with dyeing your hair. And oh yes your excellent point that it's a decision that can very easily be reversed.
My hair is dark underneath, but the top layer is almost entirely grey. I used to dye it, pre-COVID, but now I just let it be and do a purple shampoo once every couple of weeks and, not to brag, but it's GORGEOUS. I just put a photo up on my blog that my hair stylist used on her Instagram to talk about how grey hair can be wonderful if you take care of it. And, hey, if you don't like it, you can always dye it later.
ReplyDeleteI started listening to the Popcast with Knox and Jamie (NOT the Popcast from the New York Times - that's a different, inferior podcast) because of bloggy friends and now it goes to the top of my must listen list every week.
Your hair is INCREDIBLE! OMG!
Deletethanks for the podcast recomendation too - I will check it out :-)
I used to do meal planning for two weeks during the pandemic and it worked fine but I don't think it really "saved" us a lot of money... I still feel we spent a lot of food (but we also prioritize fresh, from-scratch cooking).
ReplyDeleteOh it's interesting that two weekly meal planning didn't change your spending. Did you only shop once every two weeks as well?
DeleteOur grocery bill is high because we prioritize the same - fresh and from scratch - which is expensive, but it's important to us too.