Remember when Joey and I started watching The Crown four months ago and made it through about 5 episodes, then kept watching other stuff instead? Me neither, so let’s move on 🙂 Here is a list of the things consumed by my head, heart, eyes, ears and stomach lately.

Butter Chicken

I’ve wasted too much of my life not eating enough Indian food and it stops now! And as it turns out, Dempsey loves it! Naan, rice, yogurt, saag, masala… he loves it all! So when I saw this recipe for butter chicken on The Kitchen, I knew we had to make it. It was so easy and so good and so extra comforting to eat on a cold winter night. Can’t wait to make it again!

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

Mythological retellings are the new historical fiction. I think Ariadne is the third one I’ve read recently (see also Circe and The Song of Achilles) and I really love this genre! I’ve always had a thing for Greek mythology and both Jennifer Saint and Madeline Miller (who I hear is writing a new book about Persephone and I cannot wait to read that!) are so wonderful at locating the heart and soul of these characters, so that you feel a real connection with them, even though they are not real people. Heart wrenching in the best of ways.

The Rescue

I knew this documentary, about the cave rescue of twelve boys and their coach in Thailand during 2018, was coming but my sis got to it first and told us we HAD to watch. We meant to just watch some of it — fitting in a movie on a weeknight is tough — but then we couldn’t stop and watched the whole thing. I WAS BLOWN AWAY and also SO STRESSED through the whole thing. I knew the bare bones of the story, but I did not know the details — how the divers were all just hobbyists with years of experience, or the issues they ran into during the rescue, and how just so many things could (or did) go wrong and still they were able to rescue all thirteen of them! This doc focused mainly on the divers — I hear Netflix has access to the boys and their families tied up for their own forthcoming documentary — but I really loved that angle. The unlikeliest of heroes ❤ Still don’t know how I didn’t sob my way through the entirety of the film, but somehow, I made it!

Ottolenghi’s Simple

My sis and Wayne got me this cookbook for Christmas and I am loving it! We’ve made a handful of things so far and they have all been good. The highlight has definitely been these beef meatballs with lemon and celery root, which we’ve already made twice and are amazing! Nothing like a new cookbook to re-inspire your cooking game. We are already set to pick something new for next week too.

Dawn FM

Joey wore The Weeknd’s last album out, so when Dawn FM came out a few weeks ago, I thought I’d meet him on his level and give it a listen. Now, I’ve listened to it a million times and he barely has, go figure 😂 But that’s okay, because I’m really loving it. Favorites being “Out of Time,” “Less Than Zero” and that odd poem narrated by… Jim Carrey?? It works!

The Beatles: Get Back

Nothing like watching a series that everyone else watched a full two months ago and then needing someone to talk to about it but they’ve all moved on to The Book of Boba Fett or something. I can’t keep up anymore! Anyway, we finally finally watched this documentary series on The Beatles and even though that first episode is so chaotic and hard to watch and the entire thing is semi-exhaustive, is there a higher high than watching Paul come up with “Get Back”?? Or watching them all goof around during rehearsals? Or seeing those outfits George Harrison wore? Or watching the rooftop concert?? They sounded amazing!!! I loved Billy Preston, I loved Heather, I loved Mal hitting that anvil while they practiced “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.” Hey, I even loved watching Yoko just read a magazine while the greatest band of all time showed off their songwriting genius because WHO DOES THAT. I’ve spent possibly too much time thinking about this series since the moment we finished it. Just amazing stuff!

Please tell me what you’ve read, watched, listened to or eaten that’s been particularly good!

After the busy-ness of the holiday season, I am truly living for these January weekends without any plans. We literally had nothing on the calendar Friday through Sunday and I could not have been happier. We ordered ramen, watched movies, played at the park, ate a wonderful homecooked meal, took naps and, as Joey and I were laying on the living room floor listening to music while Dempsey danced around on Sunday evening, I was overcome with a feeling of true happiness ❤

I was so tired on Friday and it was snowing, so ramen take out was a given. I ordered the kimchi for the first time and not going to lie, I didn’t love it, but you live and you learn. We got steamed buns for our steamed bun lover and they were a hit, along with the pickled ginger that was in his ramen?! He may look like Joey, but this boy is MY son through and through 😋 Put that little love to bed and watched The Amazing Race + some of The Beatles: Get Back which is EXHAUSTIVE but also very fun and interesting to watch. Had no idea George Harrison was the chaos agent of the group but I love him and his amazing fashion sense just so much.

Sleepy little newborns are such a sweet joy, but man are toddlers fun! And except for the teething, I am just really loving this age 🥰 We all got a good night’s sleep, then woke up and had waffles for breakfast. Afterward, Joey bundled Dempsey up and took him outside to “help” shovel the snow and MY HEART COULDN’T HANDLE THE CUTENESS! He seemed to be having the best time touching the snow and wandering around in the front yard. I saw them throwing a snowball later and it was very funny. Later that afternoon, we walked to the park, where Dempsey was having the best time on the swing!

I had started some gnocchi alla romana from the Ottolenghi cookbook earlier in the day, so once we got back home, Joey finished it up and made us some REALLY GOOD meatballs (so tender!) for dinner. Demps and I played while Joey was in the kitchen and it’s just my favorite to watch him play with a toy all by himself! After bedtime, we fired up Last Night in Soho, which I swear was only in the theater for a week😬 I thought it was okay. There was a lot of what should have been fun/interesting/exciting stuff going on and yet I felt like it was always teetering on boring. Joey liked it 🤷‍♀️😂 Hey, we even made it through the first musical performance on SNL. I feel like I didn’t appreciate Will Forte enough when he was actually on the show. Also, when will Måneskin be freed from performing “Beggin”???

Dempsey has always been such a good nighttime sleeper, so this phase he’s in, where he wakes up crying and in pain from teething (we think??) has been rough. I’ve been spoiled, so now I can barely deal with sleep deprivation 😬 He was up at 4 AM on Sunday and would NOT let me put him back down, so he fell back asleep eventually but I did not. This is all to say, I think I made that breakfast in my sleep 😂 We all took naps later in the day and I felt so much better. We also made another trip to another park and Dempsey did a “COVID hug” with another toddler that was the cutest! Joey made us salads for the week and I read for a bit. We haven’t really given Dempsey a lot of screen time, but we’ve been watching Encanto in 20-minute increments with him and he seems to like it. We definitely do! Been singing “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” all weekend 😂 Leftovers for dinner, more Beatles, more reading, bed!

Hope you had a nice weekend!