5 things i love right now

some pick-me-ups in the worst part of winter

1. the speidi renaissance

TikTok · Spencer Pratt

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as a card-carrying elder millennial, i will always and forever love the hills, as stupid and scripted and silly as it is. if i were to make a list of comfort shows as i did with comfort movies in my last post, it would absolutely be up there. and, as i’ve gotten older, my stance on spencer pratt and heidi montag (“speidi” for short) has done a pretty dramatic 180. the two were always painted as the villains, with spencer causing drama and forging rifts between heidi and her friends and heidi blindly following him around. however, i began to see some of spencer’s content on tiktok last year (namely his hummingbird videos), and was like “wait — he seems extremely down to earth, self-deprecating, and hilarious!” and seeing how he supports and treats heidi has convinced me that they were completely playing up the villain angles for the hills and are actually and have always been wonderful together.

sadly, their house recently burned down in the palisades fire, and spencer immediately mobilized via social media to hype up heidi’s 15-year old album, superficial. and he got it to the top of the (or at least some) charts! they’ve also created a speidi latte. i’m so happy people are finally giving them some time in the spotlight again and i’m here for the redemption arc!

2. this band, witch post

i’ve been a casual fan of montana singer-songwriter alaska reid for quite some time (her song “boys from town” was in heavy rotation a few years ago), so when i got wind of a recent collaboration she did with scottish musician dylan fraser, my ears immediately perked up. they’ve only released two singles, “chill out” and “rust,” and i love them both; there’s a good mix of ‘90s college/indie rock and more mellow, melody-driven moments between the two. i can’t wait to see what they do next.

3. this bougainvillea in…massachusetts?!

i think about california quite a bit during the winter anyway, but it’s been on my mind even more than usual lately given the ongoing tragedy of the wildfires — i can’t even comprehend the amount of devastation. weirdly, i had just started an essay about how i have very slowly come to love los angeles over the years despite being quite unimpressed with it upon my first visit that’s taking on more meaning than ever now, but i digress. last weekend, a historic estate i had never been to in a nearby town was holding a plant sale in their greenhouses, and despite the fact that i have approximately 27 plants in my home at last count and certainly don’t have any room for more, i had to pop by. within five minutes of walking in, i was ready to pitch a tent and live there for the rest of the winter. it was warm! it was filled with plants! and most importantly, there was freaking bougainvillea, my favorite thing about california besides the abundant citrus trees! as if i wasn’t already delusional enough to believe i could grow my own lemon tree, i now think there’s a chance i could somehow nurture bougainvillea in my living room. somebody stop me!

4. english muffin pizzas

last week, i was just straight up not having a good time as the kids say, due mostly in part to my super fun and ever-shifting female hormones (why is it getting worse ever year?!) and probably also a little bit due to the fact that everything is cold and dark and bleak this time of year. anyway, i certainly could not be bothered to make anything too complicated for dinner and wasn’t in the mood to once again spend a zillion dollars on uber eats, so i thought about what i had in the house that i could work with. some turkey pepperoni, some shredded cheese i had used for tacos, some multigrain english muffins, and…some marinara sauce! 12 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees and bada bing, bada boom. instant, easy childhood comfort.

5. rewatching younger

   

i cannottttt believe that this show is 10 years old already, but i’m so glad that i’ve already seen some friends discovering it for the first time since netflix just added it to their selection. another one of my comfort shows, it stars sutton foster as a 40 year-old mom who lies about her age to re-enter the working world at a literary agency, befriends her coworker kelsey (hilary duff), lives with her best friend maggie (debi mazar), and has a blossoming romance with local 20-something tattoo artist josh (nico tortorella). the only problem? only her best friend and daughter know the truth. it’s such a light, fun, and actually inspirational watch and if you haven’t seen it, i highly recommend it.