What I Loved This Week (58)
I'm all about an excellent limited series, horses and bread pudding this week
Things that Make me Happy! is a weekly newsletter with recommendations of things that bring me joy. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! I think it helps me with discoverability.
On Tuesday I launched my first Hyperfixation Questionnaire series, with an awesome guest,
. If you haven’t checked it out, please do. I’d love to have you too, if interested, please go here :)📚What I Read and Loved
Oh William This is a new-to-me (but not new in 2024) book recommended by my favorite neighborhood librarian. Lucy Barton returns in this novel (she has appeared in other novels by the author, though I haven't read them) as a writer living in New York, navigating the second half of her life as a recent widow. A surprise encounter leads her to reconnect with William, her first husband.
The book is a tender and beautiful recounting of an intimate moment between two people that care about each other. Think of it as eavesdropping on a complicated relationship, where you learn all the details of how it evolved and why it ended the way it did. If you're between long books and need a quick read, this is an excellent choice.
Lucy Barton is a writer, but her ex-husband, William, remains a hard man to read. William, she confesses, has always been a mystery to me. Another mystery is why the two have remained connected after all these years. They just are.
So Lucy is both surprised and not surprised when William asks her to join him on a trip to investigate a recently uncovered family secret--one of those secrets that rearrange everything we think we know about the people closest to us. On every page of this exquisite novel we learn more about the quiet forces that hold us together--even after we've grown apart.
📺 What I Watched and Loved
The Burning Girls
Genre: Mystery, horror adjacent
Based on the novel by C.J. Tudor, a reverend and her daughter arrive in the village of Chapel Croft seeking a fresh start after a sudden loss. However, the sleepy village may harbor secrets of its own (the mysterious village genre is my JAM) The show, which has six episodes, has a similar vibe to Midnight Mass. (Available on Roku TV for free)
You Hurt my Feelings
Genre: Dramedy
Such a great Sunday movie. A novelist's longstanding marriage is suddenly upended when she overhears her husband giving his honest reaction to her latest book. Julia is brilliant as always, and the story is both funny and touching. (Available on Hoopla for free)
🛍️ What I Bought and Loved
What is this sorcery? I bought some of these back in January from TJ’s, and they were hidden in my terribly designed freezer. I think this beats every bread pudding I’ve eaten in my many decades on earth. It’s a sweet, salty, and crunchy treat—perfect if you enjoy that kind of flavor profile.
Sadly, it’s a seasonal item, but rest assured, I’ll keep my eyes peeled until it returns!
Bonus: Ube season is back at TJ’s!
💕 Micro-Joy
Horseback riding! I miss it so much. When I lived overseas, I owned my own horse and used to ride two or three times per week. It was my happy place. In the USA caring for a horse is costly, specially in a metro area, so that is out of the question. but, I’m looking into options.
✅ To do List
🐰 Rabbit Holes I Went Into
More Tradwife content, because why not via
The type of activewear reviews everyone should read about via
EVERY Kirsten Dunst role, ranked → The Virgin Suicides is my absolute pick followed by Bring it On.
Museum doppelgängers
🧜🏼♀️ Articles and Bits I loved
The demise of Chicken Soup for the Soul
Tired of being a good girl? via
Microdosing retirement sounds great in theory. In retirement funds, not so much
CleanTOK debrief! No more plastic containers please!!
For fun: coffee and donut pairings
The intermediation of experience -And the role these types of stacks have on people’s taste.
😄 Funny or Cute
👋🏼 Classifieds
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This post has so much fun stuff, I'm totally saving it in my email! I've been wanting to try You Hurt My Feelings so just made sure to add it to my list. The TJ's bread pudding looks DELICIOUS...so frustrating that it's seasonal...I'm discovering SO MANY places do this and it always makes me so sad when the delicious treat's season comes to an end. Also I LOVE the Nancy Meyers book list! 😁
Thank you so much for the shoutout!