READING
I’m currently reading Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter. It takes place in Italy and LA and has a bunch of characters and jumps around in time. It’s been a fun read, although a slow start, but I’m very curious to know how the end plays out.
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EATING
I have been eating a lot of yogurt bowls this year, but I saw this PB&J Overnight Oats recipe from one of my favorite Instagram chefs, @jenneatsgoood and decided to try it. I actually followed the recipe exactly except I used almond butter instead of peanut butter. I don’t know why I have the audacity to not follow recipes when I can’t cook, but I’m glad I did for this, and it turned out delicious!! I made raspberry jam for the first time for this, and it saw extremely easy! I topped it with raspberries and cacao nibs.
A few days later, I made some mango coconut overnight oats. The bottom layer was Trader Joe’s plain non-fat Greek yogurt mixed with coconut cream, and then I mashed up some mangoes and mixed those in. Then I added the oats, almond milk (homemade!), maple syrup, chia seeds, and coconut cream (I had to use it up). Topped it with chopped mango and sesame seeds. It was delicious! I’d definitely use coconut milk and/or coconut yogurt instead of coconut cream to decrease the fat and calories next time, but definitely excited about this one.
I’ve been obsessed with these 16oz overnight oats jars from Amazon, I use them actually every single day for storing all sorts of things from berries to nuts to salad dressing. They’re the perfect size and dishwasher-friendly.
PRIORITIZING
I’ve finally started to wear facial sunscreen daily. Yes, I’m aware I am super late to the game here, but better now than never! I used to wear a moisturizer that had sunscreen in it, so I didn’t have to think about it, but then my skin got drier, and I had to find a different moisturizer. That was a few years ago and I’m rarely in the sun during the middle of the day when the UV is high, but I know it’s still important!
I’m currently using a Korean brand called Mixsoon that I found on Amazon. It truly doesn’t leave a white cast and doesn’t seem to clog my pores. My sister got me this Innisfree one for my birthday, so I’ll be trying that one next. Then for Prime Day, this La Roche-Posay sunscreen was at its lowest price in over a year, so I grabbed that as well. Inside every powerful woman’s bathroom is a backstock of bath & body products!!
OBSESSING OVER
The World Cup! I’m so sad it’s over now :(. I love that LA got so into soccer this summer and I hope the next one in 4 years will have the same fervor, although I know it won’t since we aren’t hosting it.
Places I went to watch games just so I remember:
- The Getty Museum for Japan vs. Netherlands: Got there early and got a good table. It was nice that you could bring your own food. It was randomly so cold because of the wind.
- Phorage for Mexico vs. South Korea: I was looking for a restaurant that had good food and a TV but wasn’t somewhere people were likely going to be watching the game. This small Vietnamese restaurant just had one TV inside and we didn’t have to call ahead or make a reservation.
- Century City Mall for Morocco vs. Netherlands: This is the prettiest indoor/outdoor mall and they were showing most of the games in the outdoor atrium area. My office is a 15-minute walk from here, so after work on a Monday, I picked up my birthday AMC popcorn and soda and brough it down to the game. It was pretty packed when I got there like 10 mins before kickoff so I didn’t get a chair, but I found a spot on the turf ground and a few friends ended up joining me at halftime.
- Juquila for Mexico vs. England: I was looking for somewhere with a fun crowd rooting for Mexico, and boy did we find it at this Mexican restaurant. It’s a pretty small space, and when we got there an hour before kick off, it was already full. We got the last big table, but people kept showing up and they kept letting people in and brought out a folding table and found extra chairs. The mariachi band was so loud, you had to yell your order into the waitress’s ear. I think they must have fit 100 people in this restaurant with 10 tables.
- Tiny’s Hi-Dive for Argentina vs. Switzerland: This is a small dive bar with a ton of TVs, and it was surprisingly not very crowded for this game, maybe because it started at 6pm? It definitely got more crowded later, but still not packed and we could still chat during it.
- The Little Bar for Spain vs. Argentina: Finding a place to watch the World Cup finals was a tough time. We started at Pawn Shop, a new sports bar in Hollywood, but their set up was in the sun with no chairs. Then, we Ubered to Mid-City and waited in line with like 600 other people at All Seasons. The line was taking over 30 minutes, and I didn’t want to miss the game, so a couple of friends and I ditched the line to go across the street to a small bar whose air conditioning was definitely lacking. It was 85 degrees outside and it was probably 95 inside.
- I also watched parts of several games while at my office, including Germany vs. Paraguay penalty kicks.
RECOMMENDING
I’ve been going on walks sans headphones or talking on the phone, and I have been loving it. I usually end up writing a lot of things in my Notes app like grocery lists and to-do lists and catching up on responding to texts. I will also sometimes go on walks before work with one of my friends, and that always sets me in a good mood before I get to the office.
TREATING
Over the past year, I’ve been completing my kitchen appliances, and I think I’ve finally got everything that I need. My mom got me some nontoxic cutting boards and a pot for my birthday, I bought a Nutr to make almond milk from scratch from Facebook Marketplace (brand new from someone whose friend used to work there!), and I’ve gotten the above-mentioned overnight oats jars, a rice cooker (actually life-changing), baking sheets, and aesthetic silicone kitchen utensils from Amazon. My final purchase this month was this Joseph Joseph whisk that twists so it lays flat in the drawer since my old one broke a prong, probably when we were trying to shove the drawer closed.
RECOMMENDED READING
Journaling in July: Week 1
February 2026 R.E.P.O.R.T.
10 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Running
