FROM: STELLA
TO: LAURA
- My husband and I celebrated Saint Patrick’s day with a traditional meal with his parents and a virtual beer tasting hosted by his job and LA Beer Hop. It was fun to actually celebrate a holiday and we learned a lot about the local LA beer world.
2. I am very much missing the world of live events and side hustling through the weeknight evenings. Living vicariously through these Instagram accounts (Town and Country Event Rentals, Rafanelli Events, and The Knot) and looking forward to being back in person sometime.
3. I’ve been talking to several friends about getting into investing and how to begin thinking about where to put extra money. It’s been fun to share my excitement for retirement with friends and I’ve liked visiting old favorites as I recommend them like The Simple Path to Wealth and older episodes of the ChooseFI podcast.
4. My 16-month old son has discovered an obsession with bouncy balls and we are all having a blast exploring the new activity. It’s finally getting to be nicer weather here in Maine (we’ve had a few days above 50 degrees!) so we’ve been spending more time outside and it’s really fun to get out of the house more.
5. This week I read, Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight, and thought it was fantastic. I also enjoyed reading the follow-up news articles about what was “missing” from the memoir and I look forward to reading more about Nike and one day watching the movie. It also inspired me to download a few episodes of an old favorite podcast, How I Built This, to hear other stories from the world’s best-known companies.
FROM: LAURA
TO: STELLA
1. I’ve been paying particular attention to this Unhoused LA Amazon wishlist and trying to purchase a few things per month to help those in need in our area. I subscribe to the We The Unhoused podcast and it’s simultaneously heartbreaking and action-inducing whenever I hear a new episode.
2. This week’s TFD podcast (video, audio) delved deep into money-relevant conversations about MLMs and internet influencers, so obviously I listened hard and fast. I find those areas of the internet endlessly fascinating, hence my previous dedication to The Dream season one, the current Under the Influence reporting, and why top of my to-read list is ‘People Like Her.’ Anyone that has additional books/podcasts/documentaries/content to recommend in this vein, I’m all ears!
3. I finished ‘Homegoing‘ by Yaa Gyasi this week and added it to my “cried while reading” list. Not many books make that list for me (last to do it was ‘Once More We Saw Stars‘ in 2019, soon after I had had my kid, and I think a decent amount of postpartum hormones were running rampant). I devoured her writing and can’t wait for her most recent book, ‘Transcendent Kingdom,’ to get off my library holds list!
4. I’m starting a new job in a few weeks and decently nervous about how it’s about to upend our routine. I started our Sunbasket subscription back up in the hopes that dinner time will not be the stressor that I’m anticipating it to be.
5. I made these 2-ingredient banana oatmeal cookies last week (I added a squirt of honey, raisins, and chocolate chips to give a little more sweet and a bit of texture) and have been having one pretty much every day as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up snack. It’s the perfect amount of sweet while not making me feel too guilty about too much sugar consumption.