Some things I'm incredibly obsessed with right now:
1. Disney's Magic Kingdoms app. I've been checking social media way less often and this has replaced my "first thing I look at in the morning" routine. I love when I wake up and I get to see how much magic my kingdom generated overnight, what characters are ready to level up, what I'll find in my daily chest. It's just pure fun, and it's an adequate replacement for not being able to actually visit the real Magic Kingdom during the pandemic.
2. Seinfeld. I started watching it for the first time earlier this year, and now I'm almost finished with season 6 in my first re-watch. I have no idea why it took me so long to finally give it a try, but it's definitely one of my all time favorite tv shows now. I can completely understand why it's generally considered one of the best sitcoms (if not *the* best) of all time. I also got my brother hooked on it, so my poor parents will always remember our quarantine as a period of non-stop Seinfeld references at the dinner table LOL!
3. Sweatshirts. I'm still trying to get dressed up each day during quarantine, especially when I go out for a daily walk with my dad, but honestly it doesn't take long after I get back in the house for me to change into ASOS legging pajamas and a big comfy sweatshirt. Comfort wise, sweatshirts have always been my favorite thing to wear (obviously aesthetic-wise my favorite is dresses) but I didn't have a huge collection of them. So over the last several months I've been buying some here and there until I reached a point where I needed to empty one of my dresser drawers to make room for more sweatshirts, lol! They're just so comfy!
4. Minnie ears. You'll notice a thread in this post -- Disney. I'm *always* obsessed with Disney, but 2020 has made me wrap myself in a big old comfort blanket of Disney films, nostalgia for the parks, and meticulous planning for my family's post-pandemic trip to the happiest place on earth. I love collecting Minnie ears, and sometimes I just wear them around the house as a little pick-me-up. I've added a few to my collection recently that are just SO cute, including a couple Halloween ears that I'm going to put on my Twiggy mannequin head as a seasonal decoration! I thought it would be fun to have her model my ear collection so one pair can be on display all the time, and I'll switch them out based on holidays/seasons.
5. Bubbie's pickles. My mom was joking that when I'm old and people asked if I hoarded toilet paper during the covid pandemic I can reply "no, but I hoarded pickles!" These pickles are SO good. I've been having a lot of gut health issues the last several months so I wanted to increase the amount of fermented foods in my diet. But I don't like yogurt, kombucha, or sauerkraut so I was... in a bit of a pickle. ;D Then I found Bubbie's - they're fermented pickles, and they are the crunchiest most delectable deli-style pickles I've ever tasted. They've been really hard to find so every time I place an instacart order I try to get them, hence my burgeoning collection of pickles in the refrigerator! My current motto is "a pickle a day keeps the GI doctor away" so as long as I have a healthy supply to get me through this pandemic, I'm good! ;D
6. Five Bedrooms. I got suckered into signing up for Peacock Premium because I watched the first episode of this delightful Australian tv show and that was the only way to watch the rest of the season. I especially like Ainsley (and I'm determined to find a button-down pinafore like the one she wears in most of the episodes!) I know everything is up in the air right now with the world the way it is, but I really hope this gets another season. It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger and I'm dying to see how it pans out!!
7. AllEars.net on youtube. Specifically Molly's videos. I am so obsessed. Molly visits the Disney parks (and Universal, occasionally) almost every day and films videos for the AllEars.net youtube channel. Some of them are challenges, like trying to do every single ride in one park in one day, attempting to get as many fast passes as possible (#fiddlefaddle) or letting instagram decide her whole day. Some are more like ratings - what are the best foods, the best rides, the best things to do outside the parks, the best eats at the resorts, etc. And some are trivia videos like the secrets behind The Haunted Mansion or fun facts about Liberty Square. Every single video is SO MUCH FUN and it feels like you're actually there at the park hanging out with a really cool and funny friend. I'm pretty sure if I ever see her in a park I'm going to fangirl, like horribly embarrassingly fangirl.
8. The new Killers album! Specifically the song "My God." This album has been a shining light in quarantine. Having singles released sporadically throughout the shutdown was such a gift, and then once they announced the release date of August 21st I immediately set up countdown clocks on my computer & phone - it gave me something to look forward to in this endless groundhog's day situation we're living in. The morning the album was released I listened to it nonstop on repeat, and then started repeating "My God" until I realized I knew all the lyrics and could sing along at the top of my lungs.
The last thing that I did before my grandmom got sick and moved in with us was attend a Killers concert in Bethlehem, PA last September. Within a week of the concert my grandmom was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and signed up for hospice care. Since I was her full time caregiver until quarantine started, I hadn't really left the house at all since last October. That concert meant a lot to me then, and it means even more to me now - a symbol of normalcy that is lost forever. I'm closing in on a full year of not really leaving my house, but listening to this album and closing my eyes is a beautiful escape. To quote 'My God' again, "it's like a weight has been lifted."
9. "I Fall to Pieces" by Patsy Cline. I've listened to this song on repeat so many times lately. I'm not sad and I'm not in love, so I can't relate to the lyrics, but the artistry is just so achingly beautiful. A lot of the time I choose music based on a specific mood - happy music for happy days, sadder music for sad days, energetic music when I need some pep in my step, etc. But sometimes you just need to listen to a work of art for arts sake alone. And that's what I Fall to Pieces is to me.
10. Procreate & Bardot Brushes. I made the switch from Adobe Draw to Procreate as my primary app for illustration earlier this year, but I didn't fully get the hang of it until a few months ago when I discovered Bardot Brush. Lisa Bardot makes custom brush sets for Procreate that really mimic physical drawing tools like gouache, pencil, and markers. I get so much more texture and depth and character with her brushes than anything I've ever been able to achieve with digital art before. Plus her Procreate tutorials are AMAZING. I have learned so much about this app that's made it infinitely more easy to use. I had been planning on making a little Procreate tutorial myself once I mastered the app but honestly, if anyone out there wants to know how it works, just look up Lisa's tutorials!
dress - c/o collectif | shoes - amazon
