5 things i love right now

1. this song by habibi, "siin"



have you ever heard a song from years ago that you somehow missed back then, and you feel extremely upset and cheated that you lived without it for so long? a perfect example is this track, which i heard for the first time a few weeks ago on (where else?) WMBR's breakfast of champions. the lyrics are cheeky, but also pretty real and kinda dark and it just hits the spot for me, pun totally intended.

2. this new show, modern love 

it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that i've read at least 100 new york times "modern love" essays. mostly because i love the column, and the rest because i was doing research on the tone and themes in preparation write my own a few years ago. the result was "standing at shows with boys," which was kindly rejected by daniel jones, the editor who still reads every single submission. it ended up finding a home at the bigger picture and the response i received was wonderful though, so it's all good...and i'm getting the itch to try again!

anyway, i also religiously listen to the podcast, so i'm just a big fan all around. for some reason, i was a little wary about watching the show because i wasn't sure how these beautiful essays would translate. but two minutes into the first episode and i was absolutely hooked. i'm the type of person who, for better or worse, knows if i like something (or someone) immediately—clothes, dates, houses, music, movies, and TV shows—and between the filming style and script, this show makes me feel so warm and fuzzy and happy. i'm three episodes in and i never want it to end! i've also cried at all of 'em.

as the NYT themselves put it, "modern love, when it works, provides the kind of soothing comfort supplied by an inviting armchair, a warm fire, or a mug of hot tea on a chilly night. it’s the TV equivalent of a hand-knit cardigan or an instagrammable latte; a mood of transitory wistfulness appears to be the goal, not some chest-thumping artistic statement about Life." my favorite type of art!

3. these combat boots i bought a couple weeks ago

i am not nor have i ever really been a shoe person. but, speaking of knowing immediately what i like, i literally fucking raaaaan at full speed to these across DSW upon spotting them and i've been wearing them pretty much every day since. i swear i've been waiting for them my entire life.

4. this insane house i walked by yesterday in portsmouth, NH that's for sale

i have absolutely no clue what's going on in here and i love it. only a cool $2.9 mil!



5.  this podcast, heavyweight

if you're a fan of reply all/this american life/mystery show-type podcasts, check this one out. half human interest, half mystery, host jonathan goldstein seeks to reconnect people with others from their past to find out what happened. my recent favorite was "becky and jo," about two sisters whose childhood babysitter suddenly disappeared one day and left them confused and worried.

5 things i love right now

1. this nutso purple and blue house in my neighborhood

 like...WHO LIVES HERE?!


2. this song by teddy, "i was in a cult"



i can't be the only one to remember the shaggy-haired, blue-eyed heartthrob teddy geiger, can i? his earnest acoustic tune, "for you i will (confidence)" was kind of a sleeper hit back in the mid-2000s, and he starred on the short-lived, ill-conceived, but mostly enjoyable show love monkey with tom cavanagh from ed.

fast forward 13 years, and he is now a she, who has apparently co-written mega-hit songs for the likes of shawn mendes, one direction, and 5 seconds of summer. one of her own recent tunes, released under the moniker teddy (i can't add the heart because blogger thinks it's HTML code), popped up on spotify and it is a certified BOP. it has an undeniably catchy melody, there are shades of fuzzy garage/psych pop, and how about that little piano riff?! just makes me want to strut down the street.

3. this vintage garfield sweatshirt 

 

can you imagine if i wore this to work?! hahaha. 

4. this article about being a hanson fan for 20 years

so, you guys know that i'm a fanson fo' lyfe and that last night, i had the pleasure of seeing my OG favorite brother band (sorry, greta van fleet, our relationship is still too new to call it) for the ninth time. this show was different than all the others, though; they were backed by a symphony orchestra. it was likely for this reason—and the fact that i was really feeling the two glasses of wine i imbibed—that halfway through the first song, the tears just flooded my eyes without warning. something about the dramatic strings, and that i was in the same venue a few feet away from where i first saw them live 18 years ago, and that i've loved their music so deeply for the majority of my life all converged and i just couldn't help it.

 it was also that the day before, a woman that i met at one of their shows a decade ago posted the above article and tagged all of the ladies she's met at hanson shows, including me. as she said, i don't think i've ever read a more perfect description of how it's felt to be a fan for all of these years. "...part of loving hanson is loving the memory of who i was when i became their fan: an outsider who found kindred spirits in a band that wasn’t quite mainstream." last night, singing along to songs that still hold up wonderfully after more than two decades with all of those other "outsiders," i felt not only comforted, but incredibly proud that my 11-year-old self was so right about them all along. relatedly, this song from the new album, "siren call," is also insanely good so i'mma just leave this here:



5. this chilean sandwich, a chacarero

i know, it's hard to imagine a sandwich with green beans on it being good, but these little guys are ADDICTIVE. always on the hunt for lunch places near my office, i popped into this restaurant (which shares a name with the sandwich) with a coworker a month or so ago, and ordered a small original chicken chacarero. it was the beginning of something beautiful. the bread is soft and homemade, and the chicken is dressed up with muenster cheese, tomatoes, green beans, avocado spread and hot sauce for a little kick. it's everything i never knew i needed in a sandwich and i now find myself craving it at least once a week. 

5 things i love right now

1. this townhouse in harvard square

the exposed beams! the skylights! the loft! the private deck! not the price tag! 


2. this hip-hop dance routine



one of the few things that make me happier than actually dancing is watching people dance who are better than i am. i completely geek out on youtube choreography videos and discovered this one, set to usher's sexy "no limit," after i got sucked into yet another vortex the other day. as with most of my favorites, this one was shot at millennium dance complex in L.A., which makes sense because ... L.A. that chick in the front of the second group?! i yelled "get it, girl!" out loud in my apartment. which reminds me that i also absolutely love that the other dancers hoot and holler the entire time. now if you'll excuse me, i'm off to teach myself this choreography. i'll, uh, see y'all next year i guess.

3. this village voice article about bob dylan 

a bit of a long read, but so, so cool. basically midnight in paris in article form, and set in 1970s new york instead. can you imagine hanging out at a diner with bob dylan and patti smith and joan baez and joni mitchell? and hearing dylan create blood on the tracks because you were his upstairs neighbor? well, the author did. oh, and partied with norman mailer, too.


4.  this gilmore girls-inspired coffee club

i mostly just wish i had thought of this idea. indeed, this is a legit coffee and tea subscription service inspired by gilmore girls, with roast names like "luke's no-nonsense special," "stars hollow autumn festival," and "taylor doose's town meeting." i'm almost certain it's just like, green mountain coffee that's been relabeled, but these geniuses know their market and that we'll eat this shit up with a spoon from emily gilmore's expensive flatware collection. sigh. full disclosure that i haven't subscribed ... yet.

5. this cat flask

much like hooters restaurants, this flask is delightfully tacky yet unrefined. purrfect for covert winter boozin'.