
My roommates and I hiked at least ten trails last year, and I can't for the life of me list out even 3 of them when I’m asked for trail recs. I've been using both the AllTrails site and app to find trails, reviews, and to keep track all of my hikes. The map in the app includes trail lines to follow using your phone's GPS or you can even make your own trail. If you hike often, I highly recommend upgrading to AllTrails PRO to support the homies for $2.50 a month for offline maps for when you lose signal.
I think I saw this album on someone’s IG story and decided to give them a listen because their name was cool. As it turns out, it hits the mark for “energetic spacey hip hop” that I find I keep going back to in albums like Nudy’s Sli’merre. It’s a short but sweet EP, worth checking out.
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Recently I bought a little pack of palm-sized notebooks in an effort to be more “analog” with my notes and thoughts (pretentious, I know). With a world of increasing options, I’ve found I am all over the place with my notes. I have some in Apple Notes, some in Notion, a few in other random apps I’ve accumulated over the years, and I’m sure others in places I forget. For the past month I’ve used these handwritten notebooks and it’s like something finally clicked for me. Just a quick jot away, I’ve got a pad filled and another started, with drawings/diagrams of ideas for projects and little notes I want to be able to look back on. Just make sure if you do this you pair those notebooks with some muji pens or your preferred writing tool for the ultimate experience.
If there’s one thing Blue Bottle has done right, it’s their New Orleans Cold Brew. Ever since leaving the world of in person work, I’ve been struggling with the loss of my daily blue bottle cold brew, a home brewed alternative is good but nothing hit the spot like the New Orleans. Thankfully, I found that Blue Bottle has the NO brew pack on their site, and a toddy brewing system for the best one-to-one results. Ive just finished my first jug of home brewed NO, and it’s shockingly similar to the BB one. If you, like me, have been singing the woes of home brewed cold brew options, it’s time to improve your options!
In a previous post, I've rec'd the book The Miracle of Mindfulness that kicked off my meditation journey. Recently, the meditation app Headspace put out two video series on Netflix, Guide to Sleep and Guide to Meditation. I’ve given both series a shot and they've been effective and are really well made. Other than the really sick graphics, I really liked how real studies were incorporated to debunk sleep and meditation myths that I hadn't known about. If you're looking to keep your mind at peace by dealing with troubling stress or sleep, highly recommended!
A majority of the times when my friends see my small collection of candles, I'm always asked why I have a set of tools next to them. This was when I realized that not everyone knows, the best way to put out your candles is to dip the wick inside the hot wax. Covering or blowing out candles after you're done with them will replace your beautifully scented candle with the smell of smoke, so why bother even getting a scented candle?! Another thing that most people don't know is that you should keep your wicks trimmed so that the flame doesn't get too big. This will lead to black flames which will stain the side of the glass. My candle purchases are mostly because of the scent, but the other reason for me is the jar that it comes in. So taking care of my candle means that I'll have a cleaner, re-usable jar once I'm done with it :)
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After a long year of mindlessly drinking pre-ground french press or instant (shame me) coffee, it felt like a tiring morning task to get me through the day. Recently my friend convinced me to put more love into making my morning cup of coffee. That means hand grinding and measuring my beans to make sure that I can make a consistently tasty cup every single time. It all started with this JavaPresse hand grinder for the beans, and an Aeropress coffee maker brewed using the inverted method for consistency. The difference in smell and taste is remarkable, and I don't think I'll ever settle for less. Sure it takes more time and effort, but it has become a healthy and refreshing self care routine to kick the day.
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There aren’t too many comparable escapes that scratch that itch cleaning and rearranging does. Throw on some nice tunes, take a step back and picture what you want your room (or in my case office) to look like. Throw out all the accumulated junk, move around some stuff you’re just not happy with, and boom, you got yourself a beautiful new room. Don’t buy that new office trinket you don’t need, rearrange and it’ll feel fresh and new — free of charge.
I can’t be the only person who wants to read a million articles and posts, but can’t find the time to fit it all in the day. Why can’t audiobooks exist for non-books! Voice Dream is an app that allows you to import files (PDFs, txt files and way more) and it’ll read them to you like an audiobook! Sure, it’s that robot voice, but is highly customizable, with options to buy more voices (the paid voice “Peter” is possibly the most natural E-VOICE I’ve ever heard), and ways to customize the speed it reads and even add customized pronunciations of words to a dictionary. I find myself using this app nearly every day and have moved it to the forefront of my phone’s Home Screen.
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Over the past few months, I’ve been really digging into vintage furniture, decor, books, and the likes. Through these painstaking hours of scrolling the endless results on eBay and Etsy I think I found a hack to the ultimate cool vintage gear: search for that French good good! Who knew there were such beautiful stools, strainers, and iron garden pots.
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