☀️ Sunday Sharies
Like Sunday scaries...but ironic and cute maybe?
Happy weekend. There’s a lot of stuff we’d love to share that just won’t fit in our usual Thursday newsletter. Some of that stuff is here. Read on for a special collection of podcast, book, and miscellaneous other recs from your favorite Double Take duo. ;)
— Jenni Cullen and Jess Spoll
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What (else) we’re watching…
I’ve been completely immersed in the interior design youtube world lately. This House & Garden series with Matilda Goad is particularly excellent and soothing. It’s called “Evolution of a Home” and every episode features a different section of her gorgeous London house. I love how realistically the videos paint the process of redoing a living space — they show all the befores and afters and talk about the things that went wrong and how they pivoted and changed their minds. So so good, and now I want to paint my whole apartment.
Yesterday, I also finally watched the original Top Gun and was so very unimpressed. I couldn’t stop thinking about how creepy Tom Cruise seemed and how much I did not care for the glorification of military prowess. Sorry to everyone who considers it a classic.
-Jenni
Besides getting hooked on a newish comedy that I’ll keep a secret until next week’s Thursday edition, I also binged all 8 episodes of Boo, Bitch on Netflix in a day. It’s about a teen girl (played by Lana Condor) who wakes up after a party as a ghost who has to finish her unfinished business on Earth before she can move on. It’s Mean Girls meets Booksmart with the vibe of a Disney Channel movie. Although painfully eye-roll inducing at times, it was actually a fun watch and had a surprisingly poignant conclusion. (Yes, I cried, but that’s not saying much.)
I also watched the finale of Ms. Marvel, which was entertaining and included a couple of pretty big moments that will tie into future MCU fare. The season didn’t hold up as well as I’d hoped after the first two episodes — there were a few dull episodes in the middle — but if you plan to watch future Marvel movies and you like to be in the loop, you should probably check this series out.
-Jess
What we’re listening to…
On all my runs lately I’ve been listening to the podcast Normal Gossip. I cannot recommend it enough. It’s low stakes, juicy, strange, funny gossip about people you’ll never know (everything is anonymous) and allows me to feel a little like an anthropologist trying to parse out the reasons behind the actions and decisions of strangers.
- Jenni
I’ve been going on pretty long walks, so I’ve been ripping through audiobooks. I’m almost finished with The Counselors by Jessica Goodman, a teen thriller set at a summer camp. It seems to be more of a straightforward mystery than a thriller, but it’s keeping my attention enough. I’m always looking for audiobook recommendations, so send them my way if you have any!
I’ve also had the song Stick Season by Noah Kahan stuck in my head since seeing an excellent TikTok cover of it.
- Jess
What we’re reading…
I just finished the first Crescent City book by Sarah J. Maas. It’s her usual brand of fantasy/scifi with more than a sprinkle of romantic intrigue and I thought it was thoroughly enjoyable. Very good summer vacation book, imo. I also have been rereading The Book of Delights by poet Ross Gay, which is my new favorite way to start the day. I’ve been reading an essay or two with breakfast and feel like I go into the morning a thousand percent less anxious. 10/10 would recommend.
- Jenni
BookTok has convinced me to read many books, some good, some bad. The latest was People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, a lighthearted rom-com which I thought was predictable and fairly bland. And I just started reading The House Across the Lake, a thriller that reminds me so far of The Girl on The Train or The Woman in the Window. Cliched premise aside, I have high hopes since it’s from Riley Sager, one of my favorite thriller authors.
- Jess
What we’re buying…
I bought this cute little bubbler water fountain for my cat, Tato, because he thinks water is too boring, and who can blame him for wanting to be dehydrated? He will not drink from it yet but does enjoy staring at it and ripping out the flower attachment. I’m also in the market for a new hiking backpack because Norway is a callin’ (I’m headed to Bergen in August). Any and all suggestions are welcome.
- Jenni
The KitchenAid mixer was really calling my name (I’ve been really into making cakes lately) but I managed to hold myself back from buying a bunch of stuff that I didn’t really need on Prime Day.
- Jess
What we’re making…
Now that it’s the dead of summer I kind of hate making anything for dinner that requires heat, so I’ve been leaning heavily on homemade spring rolls with peanut sauce and salads. This Garlicky Kale Salad with Crispy Chickpeas is my current favorite.
- Jenni
It was Matt’s birthday this week, so I made the “Strawberry Dream” cake from my favorite cookbook, The Perfect Cake from America’s Test Kitchen. The cake itself was strawberry flavored — I had to smush strawberries to get the juice out and then boil the juice to make a syrup for the cake flavoring. Pretty time consuming! Probably not worth it, but it tasted fine.
- Jess