One of my 2026 resolutions is to blog more, so I’m going to try to write more of these mixed bag posts where I can just yap about some of the things I’ve been thinking about over the past week.
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MY FAVORITE FOOD ACCOUNTS TO FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM
I feel like there are so many amazing Instagram creators these days, and these are my latest favorites!
@jenn_harris_ – She’s an LA Times food writer and I love to see her weekly round up posts where she shares her favorite things she’s eaten in that week.
@nicktothez – He works at The Infatuation in Los Angeles and posts a lot of food Reels featuring new LA hot spots
@madelainerascan – She shares healthy recipes and workouts, but does so in a kinda crass and comedic way, probably not for everyone but I find her entertaining
@jenneatsgoood – She does weekly Trader Joe’s hauls and then shows you how to meal prep several different recipes using the same ingredients, i.e. using one half of the tomato sauce for soup and the other half for pasta. I got her first cookbook, Don’t Think About Dinner, and I’ve already tried one of her recipes!
@nutritionbykylie – Kylie shares easy recipes, many Asian-inspired. I have her cookbook and there aren’t too many that involve meat, which is nice since I don’t cook that at home.
@faithsfresh – She is a personal chef and posts cooking videos with recipes that feel interesting but don’t look too hard
@thepancakeprincess – She is based in NY will do bake-offs where she makes 9 recipes for the same thing and give her thoughts, i.e. 9 different red velvet cake recipes.
CHECK YOUR NAIL POLISH REMOVER
I didn’t grow up getting manicures or pedicures except for special occasions every few years, and now as an adult, I personally can’t rationalize spending $100 to get my nails professionally painted twice a month. There were several years where I never even painted my nails. Lately, I’ve been doing my sloppy job once every other month, and my nails get chipped within a few days, and that’s fine. However, the most annoying part of doing my own nails was taking the nail polish off because my nail polish remover wasn’t very effective, so I really had to scrub my nails with several cotton balls for a long time. Usually, I’d just try to peel it off myself in the shower to avoid using my nail polish remover.
Over the years, I just accepted that my nail polish remover sucked and thought maybe that’s just how it is. Then I randomly read the expiration date on the bottle. It was from 2018, my junior year in college…and so I bought a new bottle. Problem solved. The paint comes right off! This is probably just a me problem, but sharing just in case anyone else is experiencing this very silly niche situation.
AM I TURNING INTO A GRANDMA?
Ok obviously I am not a literal grandma as I don’t even have children of my own yet, but I am definitely having some elderly tendencies like y’all I wake up at 5am. Not because I mentally want to or I have an alarm set for that time, my body just loves getting me up early for no good reason. I also love eating at 5pm. Maybe because I’ve been waking up so early, but I am plenty hungry by then and I loveee an early dinner reservation and being done by 7pm and being in bed by 9. My pillow? An ergonomic orthopedic neck support pillow. 10/10 would recommend this one from Amazon.
I’m also realizing I am turning into a curmudgeon. Late last year, new neighbors moved into the apartment building next to me. In many places, this wouldn’t matter because there is space between buildings, but I live in Los Angeles, and my building is a mere 15 feet away and the walls are wafer-thin. I can hear people sneeze from a few buildings away. So there’s basically a sidewalk separating me and them. Like the Taylor Swift song, I knew they were trouble from the day they moved in. That night, them and the countless friends they had enlisted to help them move were all gathered in their new living room, talking and laughing loudly well past 10pm. It was a weekday, but I unfortunately think I would’ve minded on a weekend as well. Also, they started to play guitar at night. This year, it seems they’ve switched to 10pm piano. Bah humbug!
Lastly, of course I had to mention that I’m in my embroidery era. My boyfriend says I only have one grandma hobby and that I’ll need to acquire more to call myself a grandma. He also said he may join me for a water aerobics class if I find one, so stay tuned on that front, folks!
