What I'm loving lately

I've been sick with a cold the past two weeks and finally feeling better and ready to actually start writing again. I felt inspired by Caitlyn's newsletter on things they love, and it reminded me to be grateful for the little things in life as it can be easy to overlook the little moments of life. 

So with that said, here's what I've been loving lately (from readings, to words, to moments, etc.) 

-- This newsletter excerpt by The Guest House on how we're losing the element of discovery and serendipity in our everyday life. It feels like we're living life and doing things and going to places based on some app's algorithm or popular article or even map to the point where it dictates a lot of we do. But most importantly, the majority of apps have diluted the meaning of what a "hidden gem" truly is. Nowadays, it feels like hidden gems don't exist anymore because of tiktok, instagram, etc. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't one of those people who gets ideas of places to visit or cafes to try based on social media. But my meaning of a hidden gem is no longer what's popular, but rather the meaning I've attached to a certain place because of a past experience and memory. Hidden gems to me are places that my friends have personally recommended to me, places I've hung out with friends at, or cafes where I've simply enjoyed people watching while silently drinking my coffee while occasionally starting out the window. The hidden gems are the places I visit often because they store my life moments and memories. 

"Just as GPS and digital maps guide our every physical step, new apps constantly cater to our diverse interests-- food, fashion, news, and love -- ensuring we always have some agenda through aesthetically curated lists, vlogs, or schedules. Yet, in embracing these conveniences, we risk losing what it means to take a chance on the unknown and the thrill of discovering something entirely on our own." 

-- My dad's baking -- my dad started frequently baking earlier this year ever since he started seeing a bunch of baking recipes on Instagram Reels. He's always having baking experiments in the kitchen trying something new he saw online. Most recently, I really loved his banana and zucchini with chocolate chunks bread. It's nutritious, delicious, and doubles as the perfect snack and dessert.

 

-- Dolly Alderton's book "Everything I Know About Love". It's been a while since I've read a non-fiction book, but I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this book because I love LOVE! Love is everywhere and exists in the tiniest moments of everyday life, so it's been a comfort to read this book. I will also admit that it's made me a teeny bit emotional because it's made me reflect on my current friendships and relationships. 

-- Cooking with my mom. Everything my mom cooks feels like an experiment. She doesn't follow recipes step by step or precise measurements. She always tells me "this isn't baking Melissa!!! measurements don't exist." At first it was so disorienting to not have the exact recipes for the homey meals she makes, but now I've come to develop a deeper appreciation for it. Rather than being fixated on precise measurements and steps, I lean into the actual physical action of cooking. My mom loves having control over the kitchen and doing everything her way, so the fact that she has let me actually do the cooking myself...we'll we've come a long way. I have this worry that when she gets older she'll lose her memory and how to cook, so I've written down all her recipes in one of my notebooks. It is a jumble of spanish and english words because some steps I remember better in Spanish and others I remember better in English. I don't know how to explain this clearly yet, sorry. But my brain is thinking in both languages while cooking. 

-- Watching horror movies with my mom. My mom's uncle loved watching horror movies. You wouldn't be able to guess he was watching a horror movie because you'd hear him laughing loudly and think it was a comedy. Most recently we saw the original Jaws films and thinking about how the older jaws films are so much more memorable than the newer movies involving sharks. Like Sharknado?? What the heck is that? the sharks look far from real. 

-- Spending days with my dog. She just turned 12 a few days ago so she's an old lady. She's a little more fragile nowadays so she walks very slowly and struggles to hop onto the couch and bed. Nowadays she mostly spends her days sleeping on the hardwood floor in the kitchen where it's cooler.

-- My friends- WHAT would I dooo with my friends? they're truly my backbone pretty much everyday. I love how distance and time hasn't altered my friendships drastically. i love how the love is still there. i love how my friends send me tiktoks/insta reels of activities to do. I love how my friend sends me snaps of her face when she's in class. And I love how a friend that I haven't seen in 6 months finally texted me back after a very long time. 

-- Finally, the corner app. Never did I think I could be so grateful for a little app on my phone but here we are. i love this app not just because it's a way for me to get out of the house and explore and try new things, but because it feels like my little corner of the internet. Whenever I visit a place it's never sufficient enough to mark it as "complete" or "visited". I always find myself writing little descriptions of the place (what I did, who I was with, how it made me feel). If I'm feeling a little extra I'll even write a little blurb of a conversation I overheard. I love that it feels like a journal because I can attach pictures to each place because it attaches more meaning to a place when there's a memory associated with it.