Honey No. 30
Feat. a sexy neighborhood spot, a favorite dip recipe, and finding NYT Connections in everyday life
Hi my friends! We’re dog-sitting for the month, so most mornings I wake up with this glamorous neck pillow:
Our little friend is deffffinitely gearing us up/wearing us down on the when-do-we-think-we’ll-get-a-dog front. It’s so fun to have a little friend! It’s so nice to have someone be so excited when we get home! It’s so interesting how he will wake Jesse up by stomping on his chest until he’s out of bed, and then get under the covers to spoon with me once we’re alone! He’s absolutely a little freak and I can’t wait to find out what version of freak we end up with. SOMEDAY!! But for now it’s fun to have one on loan. Anywho! Onto the juice…
Bits and Bobs
We typically keep a container of Little Sesame hummus in the fridge at all times, but last week at Sprouts I was like what if…these $7….were mine? and decided to use what I had in the pantry to make a version of my mom’s white bean dip instead. Let me tell you folks, I don’t think I’m going back!!! This was DELICIOUS and so cheap! Here’s the scoop:
two cans of white beans (this made a hearty amount that lasted us the week, can halve the recipe if you’re feeling modest)
3 cloves of raw garlic
juice of one lemon
two loooong sprigs of fresh rosemary
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes to taste
olive oil
maybe a little water if it’s not blending easily
Pop all those bad boys into the blender and mix until smooth! You can make soooo many modifications to this and I’m sure it would be delicious every time. My mom said she puts spinach in there sometimes? I have some preserved lemons that I might try next time? Basil and red pepper? The world is your oyster and that oyster’s gotta go in the dip!
I loved all the colors and patterns in this beautiful home tour! Right around the corner in Mt. Washington!
Having the garden store Fig Earth nearby is such a gift- they are so knowledgable and have a small but mighty selection of plants that always include seasonal veggies that are ready to be planted whenever you see them at the store. It’s a relief to go in and know that whatever you see is happy in the current season, in our current location! I naturally signed up for their mailing list because I *love* emails, which is how I found out about “beneficial nematodes.” For only $34.99 you can buy these microscopic organisms that “control over 230 soil dwelling and wood boring insects.” They are invisible, so you’re buying a large container and simply BELIEVING, and they do perish when exposed to the sun, so there is a perfect alibi should the nematodes not vanquish your garden foes. I’m sure that Fig Earth would never do me wrong, but also in a general sense it is a perfect scam. Did I mention that each container comes packed with 7 MILLION nematodes? It’s like ChatGPT came up with a scam.
When I first heard the song “Disco Snails” on my Spotify Release Radar I was like…the algorithm’s had about enough of me. But after listening a little longer I have decided I might love it. You got me again Spotify!!
I recently got Prequel’s Universal Skin Solution on a whim and I’m so glad I did because I really think this hypochlorous acid is changing my skin for the better! I use this so so so gentle spray after I wash my face at night, and sometimes in the morning if I’m looking a little tooo rosy, and it just calms everything down. According to the website it “calms and soothes,” “helps with congestion,” “increases hydration,” “alleviates itchiness and irritation.” It just does it all! So simple, soooooo good. I’ve also gotten back into COSRX’s snail mucin (originally discovered via Into The Gloss, iykyk), and the combination is doing wonders!
Have I mentioned Barra Santos before? If you’re in LA, it’s just the sweetest little spot. Jesse and I went again last week for some crudo and vermouth (and everything else) as a hot summer day was cooling down. It’s teeny, so small groups are better, but you can order wine and peruse Golden Poppy right next door while you wait! So sexy, so summertime, so lovely.
I’m in the habit of consuming media a niiiice amount of time after it makes its debut, so I’m just now making my way through the Beckham documentary on Netflix. I don’t know anything about soccer and didn’t know a single thing about David Beckham really, but I’m having such a fun time. He’s my new 90’s crush. Have you guys heard of him? 😈
Emily Nash is a darling friend and a former roommate! We met through a mutual friend and when we sat down for our first one on one date I kicked things off by saying, “we’re looking for a third roommate like TODAY if you know of anyone,” and she literally said, “I do, it’s me.” The perfect connection?! See below for details.
Like any good millennial in dire need of both their daily dopamine kick and any escape from the current news cycle, I’ve been hooked on the New York Times Connections. My dad, sister, and I text each other our results every morning, sending out praise when we collectively nail it (“Clean sweep! Woo!!”) and commiserating across time zones when the purple category is absolutely bonkers (like the other day’s: “What ‘pop’ might mean” …seriously?? Go f*ck yourself, NYT. More on this later). Being three hours behind my dad and sister, I’m always armed with some mental readiness when I go to play, based on how they fared…but of course, no spoilers. If both my dad and sister successfully complete the game without any mistakes, the pressure’s on. And if (when, let’s be honest) I inevitably screw up, I conveniently forget to text them my results that day. Oops! Sorry, these are just the rules of the game for me and my fragile ego.
If you’re totally lost, please allow me to introduce you to your new daily addiction in the New York Times games section. Every day, you get to unlock a screen full of sixteen seemingly disparate words, which you then have to sort into groupings of four connected words. The categories are organized by difficulty: most days, there are some connections that are more obvious than others, and some days, the most difficult connections are tenuous at best (i.e. the NYT expects you to know that “burst”, “dad,” “mainstream”, and “soda” are all obviously synonyms for “pop”, and I’m very much over not getting this purple category, thank you very much). But I digress.
Something my Connections kick has given me as of late, other than a frighteningly wavering sense of my own intelligence (when I nail the puzzle, I’m a genius, and when I lose, I’m an embarrassment to society – see paragraph 1), is an overwhelming desire to connect completely unrelated incidents in my life. It’s a little bit like cosplaying as a diehard Swiftie, but instead of hunting for Easter eggs Taylor has painstakingly hidden for us, I’m hunting for Easter eggs in my own life that I didn’t hide… Anyone else?
Sometimes it’s big life things. Just the other month, I was on a camping trip with my closest friends near Ojai and we stopped for lunch at a cute café before heading to our campsite. I felt in my bones that my boyfriend was gearing up to propose to me in the coming months/weeks/days/seconds/eek! Towards the beginning of our meal, my boyfriend and oldest friend winked at each other from opposite ends of the table, after which a hush fell over the whole group. WHAT? I could barely contain my excitement as I sipped my overpriced/underwhelming latte. The connections in my mind started dancing the hora: That friend is the knower of all things pertaining to my taste in rings, and my boyfriend just very unsubtly winked at her, which means she’s been helping him shop for rings, which means he’s probably already bought a ring, hence the wink, and she’s totally seen it and loved it, and he’s going to propose to me on this very camping trip! I should go to the bathroom and put on some mascara before the food comes!!! …News flash, he didn’t propose on that trip. And honestly, thank goodness he didn’t, because between all my trips to the portable camping toilet (I think I accidentally ate gluten?), and our run-in with an angry rattlesnake on a hike, a romantic proposal might not have really fit the rustic vibe. The wink? Oh, that was just my boyfriend and friend expressing shared frustration that our food was taking too long. Classic.
Sometimes the connections are slightly less selfish. Like when I went to my first Dodgers’ game with a group of friends last weekend, including my best friend who works at an expensive restaurant, and while there were hundreds of empty seats, who sat in the seats immediately in front of us? An adorable couple who my best friend had served just the other night for their anniversary dinner, which I’d heard all about! And not only that, but the couple was reminded by seeing my friend how badly they wanted to set her up with their good friend who’s also cute and single, and they all exchanged information. Will this chance reunion at a Dodgers’ game set in motion a life-changing love affair for my friend? Maybe!!!
Sometimes they’re medium-sized things. Like when I’m convinced the dress I wore when my boyfriend proposed to me (yes, he did it!!!) is endowed with magical powers and endless good luck, so naturally I wear the dress to a callback because it will guarantee a booking! …Not so much. Although the casting director did compliment me on my dress, so thanks, I guess?
Sometimes they’re just undeniably nice things! Like when I’m thinking about a friend I really miss and then she texts me to tell me she’s going into labor! Or when I’m craving sushi and then my Uber Eats offers me a discount at the local sushi spot. Or when I’m driving through town blasting Chappell Roan while having what I deem to be an amazing idea and then Chappell sings the word “pink,” (yup, you know the one), and then I drive right past a pink billboard, and then I realize I’m wearing a pink shirt and matching pink sunglasses, and oh my god, this must mean the universe is conspiring to endorse the brilliant thought I just had to quit all my day jobs and become a recluse! I should turn this car right around-- the babysitting family will surely understand!
Words and ideas with connective tissue are everywhere, and it’s endlessly entertaining to string them together like magnetic poetry. Sometimes it’s fun to treat your life like a little puzzle that can be solved within sixteen little boxes because it feels nice and contained and solvable. But sometimes it’s cool to also realize that your life isn’t a game at all, and there’s no winning or losing, and there’s no one at the end of every day praising you for your “Perfect!” execution and encouraging you to share your day’s results with your closest family and friends.
Sometimes a dress really is just a dress, a song lyric is just a song lyric, and a wink across the table means you’re hungry as hell.
See you next week!
xx Olivia