Dear millenials, I’m sorry

Your Weekly Breakdown

📺 Watch

Queenmaker is a documentary covering the mid-2000s era of the New York social scene and the pop culture and media that formed out of it. 

If you’re up for it, head to the theatre for Past Lives, a true romantic drama (not!!! romcom!!!) that received rave reviews coming out of Sundance Film Festival. Sitting at a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Also highly recommend putting your eyes on Sydney Sweeney in Reality, who busts out of her smouldering siren persona into a very dramatic and brilliantly portrayed NSA Whistleblower.

🎧 Listen

After getting absolutely ragged on by my gf Jules about the lacklustre music selections, I’ve dug deep this week to offer you a wider and more well-researched list to enjoy. 

Sylvan Esso: Live at Electric Lady: now here’s the first electronic record of 2023 that truly defies expectation. This rich, layered, almost cinematic album is really something. The duo also put out videos as part of the EP, and they are inspiring to watch, as they feature some musical heavyweights on each of the 6 tracks.

Foo Fighters: But Here We Are: this album is a lesson on turning grief into art. Clearly referencing the pain of enduring the loss of their beloved drummer Taylor Hawkins, the album is a heartfelt musical meditation on love and friendship. In addition, my new favourite nepo baby is officially Violet Grohl, Dave’s daughter, who adds her voice to track 7, Show Me How.

Portugal, The Man: Evil Friends: is it from 2013? Yes. Is it still phenomenal? Also yes. It hits all of the flavourful, psych rock notes and my only regret is not seeing them live a decade ago.

Jack Harlow: Jackman. Frankly, I enjoyed dipping back into rap. His voice is really smooth and full and I can see why he’s popular with The Youths, clocking in over 30M listens per month.

📚 Read

In a strange and twisted tale, an author claims to have written a book that is most certainly not hers, while also claiming to be Asian-American. Plot twist: she isn’t! Yellowface by R. F. Kuang deserves your time. 

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin is a story about a transcriptionist who falls for a sex therapist’s client by way of reading the private session transcripts. Um, not cool, sort of kinky, and definitely the makings of a great story about the testing of our moral fibre, mental health, and - of course - love. 

Written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude was published in 1967 in Buenos Aires and has sold over 50 million copies. The novel is a more challenging read than the standard fare I often consume, but it is a beautiful journey through a mythical town, and a true tragedy in the sense that we examine life and death of the very complex characters of the Buendia family.

💫 Indulge

Clockwise from top centre: Cotopaxi, Arc’teryx, Etsy finds 1, 2, 3, and 4, Rains, Northern Ultralight, Carhatt

Deciding what to deep dive on for the indulge section is always a quandary. This week: Waist bags aka fanny packs aka bum bags! That’s right, who needs a Birkin? If I’m going to get pen marks and lip gloss and spill my kids’ sunscreen inside of anything, it’s going to be a very stylish sack that I casually throw over my shoulder. 

My Arc’teryx bag gets the most consistent love and this is the closest model. It’s best for everything from school pick ups to a quick hike in the mountains. I’ve also got (yes, I have 2, fml) the waterproof pack from Rains because…Vancouver.

The Lululemon Everywhere Belt Bag is the most popular around town…and I can see why with the build and price. 

Northern Ultralight makes this petite version which I absolutely love. Cotopaxi is another tiny pack option.

Need something more sturdy? Check out Carhatt. More posh or dressed up, scope these few I found on Etsy. 

🐣 Kiddos

Super proud mom alert! Both of my small humans did an overnight trip with their school. In packing them up to go, I swooned over these very basic and highly practical nap mats. I guess they use them in daycare, but mine were not afforded this simple luxury! Instead, we’ve started using them for sleepovers and camping. 

Somehow in the few nights away, my kids also sprouted up another inch or two, rendering us short on summer duds. Gap is having a great lil’ sale right now, and Zara has a new section on their site called “special prices” which is just….markdowns? Great! Love to see it.

PS I don’t do affiliates or anything, this is just shit that I use and enjoy. 

One parenting book I refer back to often is The Self-Driven Child. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook with your partner or other caregivers, or grab the paperback to tabulate or highlight for future discussion. The book focuses on exploring why children are highly stressed and lack motivation…even in 2018, this struck a cord. This is definitely for parents of toddlers and up, and I’ll be revisiting even when my kiddos hit their teens. I am biased and do agree, in general, with a more independence-focused philosophy around raising kids. Anyhow, come for the thoughtful questions, stay for the actionable advice.