Hi friends!
How are you? I hope youāre doing well in these last few days before the winter holidays. I know that personally, this has felt like the longest week of the whole year for me. Between things getting crunchy at work and trying to get my goddamn holiday cards out before Hanukkah (I got mine this year from alternatehistories on Etsy), Iām pooped. But hang in there, baby! Weāre almost home free!
A big holiday welcome to my new subscribers! Do not be alarmed: this newsletter may appear to be very long, but itās just because there are a lot of year-end lists in it that take up a lot of real estate. The word count isnāt any longer than my other newsletters (which, admittedly, are pretty damn long, too, lol).
I believe that most of you newbies discovered me through The Sample, which will forward you a random Substack newsletter daily, weekly, or 3x/week if you choose. Iāve been really enjoying reading the newsletters that Iāve been forwarded through that service. Itās so interesting to see what other writers are doing with their Substacks. One thing thatās bummed me out a bit is that all the forwards Iāve gotten in the past two weeks are from male writers. It just seems odd to me, because most of the newsletters I subscribe to are written by women. At any rate, if youāre a funny or interesting person who writes, please consider starting your own Substack newsletter! In my opinion, the world is in desperate need of more newsletters that arenāt just āhere are the top five tech/finance news stories of the day.ā No offense to anyone, but snoooooooze to that format.
Meanwhile, I am really looking forward to my upcoming trip to Mexico. If you missed it in my last newsletter, I mentioned that my husband and I will be traveling with a friend to Mexico City and Oaxaca over the holidays. Weāll be in Mexico City for Christmas and New Yearās, and in Oaxaca in between. I canāt wait!!! The other day I was at the liquor store around the corner buying beer to make fish tacos (for the beer batter), and a random man who was also in the store said, āĀæHola, cĆ³mo estĆ”s?ā to me, and I got so excited to practice my very limited Spanish that I almost forgot to use āusted!ā Oh, boy.
I have been reading more about Oaxacan cuisine to prepare myself for the spectacular gastronomy that is ahead of me. One thing that got me a tad apprehensive was learning that some insects are considered a delicacy in southern Mexico, specifically, certain types of grasshoppers and ants. I actually do think itās cool to learn about a culture with a very long, rich history of making do with the natural ingredients available to them. I have a lot of respect for that, and the last thing I want to do is come off as some culturally insensitive dickhead. But also, I have always looked at insects as pests, not food. You may recall that Iāve had my own negative experiences with insects this year, for example, when ants invaded my bathroom. So, Iām not sure what Iāll do if and when someone puts a plate of fried grasshoppers in front of me. Then again, I was telling my husband about this and he reminded me that I actually ate ant larvae as part of a dish on Quintonilās tasting menu when we were in Mexico City in 2017, and I consider that meal the best of my life so far. So, I guess, just tell me that a restaurant is one of the finest in the world and Iāll happily eat anything they put in front of me. š
As you can probably tell, I love food, but I donāt really consider myself a āfoodie,ā i.e. someone who keeps on top of the latest restaurant news and knows all the different players in the industry, so itās been super fun to research restaurants and learn more about the chefs in Mexico. Thereās one place weāre going in Oaxaca that is based out of the chefās childhood home, and thereās no menu, the dishes are just made up of whatever they find in the markets that day. His mom makes the tortillas. Iām a huge mole fan, and this chef became known as the master of mole at Pujol, where itās their signature dish. This might be the best mole in the world, yāall. Iām fucking PUMPED.
Speaking of new discoveries, I learned something about myself in the past two weeks that I never knew. Do you ever go to a new doctor, and they tell you something youāve never heard about yourself before but that makes perfect sense, and youāre like ohhh, I guess Iāve only been to shitty doctors up until now? Let me back up. I went to a new eye doctor, because my old one was in West Hollywood from when I worked there at CollegeHumor, and thatās just way too far to drive from my current apartment, especially if my pupils are dilated. I hadnāt had my eyes checked in about four years, and felt that things were getting blurry and it was probably time for a prescription update. I found a new place with great Yelp reviews that was less than a 10 minute drive from my home.
Let me tell you, this place was THOROUGH. At first we did the little test where you put your eye up to the machine and look at the tiny picture of a barn, and that measuresā¦ something. I was like, okay, itās the usual drill. But then they had me put on a VR headset (!) and essentially play a game to test my peripheral vision, they took photographs of my retinas, and the doctor made me do exercises to practice blinking better (I blink too fast, apparently???). She did that ābetter one, or better two?ā thing where they put different lenses up to your eye that always feels like a pop quiz that Iām somehow going to fail. Then she basically told me that I have a lazy eye! I always knew that my eyes were two different prescriptions, but a drifting eye is not something that I nor anyone in my life has ever noticed before, not even when I was drunk or tired. Fascinating. She asked if I had ever done any eye therapy, like patching, which I know all about because I follow Truffles the kitty on Instagram. (Truffles is a fluffy tuxedo cat who works at an eye doctor and wears glasses to make kids feel better about wearing glasses, and sheās very supportive of patching.) Anyway, I never did any patching as a kid or even knew that I had a need for it, and now itās too late. What fun material for my next therapy session!
While weāre already processing things, letās check in on my New Yearās Resolutions for 2022! I remember feeling that these were all very attainable at the time. Were they attained? Letās find out!
- āGo on walks/be active every other day.ā I WISH I did this! Instead, I just made a lot of excuses. I would definitely like to be more active in 2023, if for my mental health alone. And on the positive side, even though I donāt like my weight, it stayed pretty much the same all year. Thatāsā¦ good, right?
- āEat more fruits & vegetables.ā Hmm. Itās hard to say if I accomplished this, so thatās probably a no. I definitely didnāt eat a lot of fruit, but I may have eaten more veggies? Gonna have to re-up on this one as well.
- āCook more.ā Oh, I definitely did this! I consistently cooked twice a week or more throughout the year. I know that may not sound like a lot, but itās a lot for me, Ms. GrubHub Queen.
- āCook new types of cuisine.ā Here was another big win. I made a lot of recipes for the first time this year, including Thai and Indian cuisine, which Iād never attempted before. Iām pretty proud of my progress as a home cook this year.
- āWrite at least 2x per week.ā I was just talking with my therapist about how I donāt ācountā this newsletter as writing when I am beating myself up for not writing more often, and she said I should count it. So, including LYKW, I think I met this goal. I would like to write more things that are not newsletters next year, though.
- āSave $4000 by end of year.ā BAHAHAHA! Nope, didnāt make this one. My savings have never looked so pitiful. All the traveling I did definitely took a bite out of this one. YOLO, I guessā¦?
- āStop biting my nails.ā Ooh! This is one that I did! I got really into Mooncat nail polish and I havenāt had raggedy nails in months. Score!
- āQuery my YA novel.ā I guess that technically, I accomplished this one, but I only sent it to like seven agents, which is not very many in the grand scheme of querying. Iām going to take the W here and run, though.
- āFinish my screenplay.ā Ughhhhh. I came so close, but I still have to add five more pages for it to meet the industry standard minimum length of 90 pages. Damn that blasted thing.
- āWrite a wacky new pilot.ā Nope! Maybe next year?
- āRead 22 books in 2022 (not just romance and YA).ā Hahaha. Iām looking at my Goodreads right now, and I have to laugh. I read 15 books. Five of them were YA, 13 of them were romance, and I also read one mediocre thriller and Jennette McCurdyās memoir, which was excellent. Sooo technically, I accomplished the second half of this goal? Iām giving myself a half point.
So, where does that leave me? It looks like I accomplished 5.5/11 resolutions. Fifty percent! Honestly, thatās not bad for me. I always get too ambitious about these things.Ā
But please donāt feel sorry for me, because even though I may have failed at my resolutions, I did a lot of living this year. Here are some things I accomplished that werenāt on my list:
- Spent more quality time with my husband
- Spent more time with long-distance friends
- Spent more time with family
- Traveled more
- Sent out a newsletter every two weeks
- Got a new job that I like
- Learned new media skills
- Went to more concerts
- Went to the movie theater more
- Went to see more art
- Went dancing more
- Went to see more drag shows
- Went to the beach more
- Went to see more live comedy
- Did more karaoke
- Watched more movies
- Took more pictures
- Used my carās CD player (thanks, BeyoncĆ©!)
- Tweeted less
- Got back into therapy
- Fixed my medication
- Tried new experiences
I feel pretty good about all that. If youāre a resolution-maker, I highly recommend you make a list of non-resolution accomplishments for your year, too. It feels emotionally healthier than basing your self-worth on a somewhat arbitrary list you made a year ago.
Finally, here are my new resolutions for 2023:
- Be active at least twice a week, every week
- Eat more produce
- Continue to grow as a home cook and try new recipes and cuisines (maybe explore vegan cooking?)
- Go out more oftenāto restaurants, the movies, the beach, shows, etc.
- Travel to three new places
- Do one thing that scares me
- Publish a newsletter every two weeks
- Read 23 books in 2023, including three novels
- Complete a writing project
- Do at least one major decluttering of my home office and my clothes by the end of the year
- Donate at least $500 to various causes over the year
I am so intrigued to see how this year goes. I realize, in looking at this, that I always base my resolutions for the next year on how the previous year went. But you canāt know what you donāt know. You know?
Things Iām looking forward to next year include: going to two weddings on Memorial Day weekend, my birthday falling on Friday the 13th, and maybe going to Japan??
Now, letās get into my personal favorites/bests of the year. These are not necessarily things that are new this year (although most of them are!), but things that I tried for the first time this year and loved. Iāve probably recommended most of these to you before, but maybe you are new here. At any rate, here they are, neatly compiled for your clicking pleasure:
*Like You Know Whatever Presents: The Very Best of 2022*
Best Makeup Brush: A tie between Trixieās Extra Large Flat Shader brush (SO good for packing on eyeshadow!) and this super soft all-over powder brush I use to set my foundation
Best Eyeshadow Palette: Natasha Denonaās Bronze palette
Best Red Blush: Persona DreamStick in āKissā
Best Pink Blush: KimChiChic Beauty in āPink Era" (from KimChiās collab with Trixie)
Best Warm/Coral Blush: about-face Cheek Freak in āChampagne Roomā
Best Nail Polish: Mooncatās "A Midsummerās Dream"
Best Recipes: See my last newsletter!
Best Snack: Snacklins
Best Noodle: Bucatini
Best Book: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (Iām only halfway through it, but itās better than anything else Iāve read this year)
Best Song: āChaise Longueā by Wet Leg
Best Album: Renaissance by BeyoncƩ
Best App: BeReal
Worst App: Twitter
Best New-to-Me L.A. Restaurant I Tried: Cabra
Best New-to-Me Non-L.A. Restaurant I Tried: The Jolly Oyster Shuck Shack in Ventura, CA
Best Meal: I believe itās still ahead of me, in Oaxaca. Okay, fine. So far? Artichoke Pizza in Brooklyn at one in the morning (recapped here).
Best Cocktail: The signature martini at Fatherās Office in Culver City
Drunkest Night: Going to see Belle & Sebastian at The Greek (recapped here)
Best Trip (So Far): This is REALLY hard. Iād have to say going to New York in July. I got to see family and friends and had so much fun running around the city in the warm weather.
Best Boat Ride: Taking the ferry to Catalina Island
Best Art Exhibit: āDEATH TO THE LIVING, Long Live Trashā (Duke Riley at the Brooklyn Museumāstill there!)
Best Karaoke Night: Baby Ketten Klub in Portland, OR. I sang Weezerās āSay It Aināt Soā and gave it everything Iāve got.
Best Dancing Night: Blind Barber in L.A. for my friendās birthday. After I had about 30 Dirty Shirleys, La Rouxās āBulletproofā came on, and me and the other millennials went wild.
Best Live Show: Trixie & Katya Live! at the YouTube Theater in L.A.
Best Live Comedy: Iliza Shlesinger at The Comedy Store in L.A.
Best Movie: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Worst Movie: My Christmas FiancƩ
Scariest Movie: Barbarian
Most Fun Movie: A tie between Bodies Bodies Bodies & The Lost City
Best TV Show: Severance, Season 1 (AppleTV+)
Worst TV Show: Russian Doll, Season 2 (Netflix)
Best Comedy: The Rehearsal, Season 1 (HBO)
Best Competition Reality: Drag Race All Stars: All Winners, Season 7 (Paramount+)
Best Housewives Reality: Ultimate Girls Trip, Season 2 (Peacock)
Best Dating Reality: The Ultimatum, Season 1 (Netflix)
Favorite Outfit: Dress the Population Stevie jumpsuit
Favorite Shoes: My custom leopard-print Chuck Taylors
Biggest Regret: Getting Covid
Biggest Splurge: Going skiing in Lake Tahoe. Woof!
Best Money Spent: Therapy
Best New Baby: Just kidding. Can you imagine??
Okay folks, thatās it for now! I do not expect to be able to write to you again until the new year, when Iām back from Mexico and back to the grind, ugh. I hope you have a most excellent holiday season and that the new year brings only good things to you & your family, however you define it.
Donāt forget to like, comment, and share this newsletter if youād likeāyou can use the buttons at the bottom or the top.
Until next timeāĀ”Feliz Navidad! Prospero aƱo y felicidad. ā¤ļø
Love,
Liz
XOXO
Happy New Year! Enjoy Mexico!! (I've never been). I'm going on a family trip to Hawaii (my first time there) at the end of January-glad I get to start off the new year with a big, new experience:) I should put "visit a state you've never been to" on my NY Resolutions list ;)