This is the Friday post, a weekly roundup of recommendations and delightful distractions.

Happy March! Today’s newsletter is free for everyone and a little shorter than usual. We moved this week, so things are a little topsy-turvy. I’ll be back to a normal schedule (and life 🫠🫠🫠) soon…I hope.

Next week, Downtime is featuring a new cookbook that’s perfect for avid home cooks, plus a recipe excerpt from it as a special treat for paid subscribers. Have a great weekend! -Alisha

P.S. If you went to a Downtime book club with other readers and had a good time and/or took a pic, please send it my way, I’d love to see. :)

A few fun things on my radar this week...

1. A new podcast for avid home cooks: I’m adding this just-launched podcast from deb perelman of the recipe site Smitten Kitchen and cookbook author Kenji López-Alt to my queue. The first episode is about mac and cheese.

2. A newish book: After gobbling up Good Material, I’m on the search for a new *fun* book, and Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly seems to fit the bill. The book “follows a brother and sister as they navigate queerness, multiracial identity, and the dramas big and small of their entangled, unconventional family, all while flailing their way to love.” What FUN book are you reading?
   

   Leave a comment

3. A uniform for early spring: I’m seeing short-sleeve knits everywhere and just ordered this perfect cropped version for spring in a joyful color. (I have the long-sleeve version and it’s * chef’s kiss * for pairing with high-waisted anything.)

4. For happier skin: This new portable humidifer launched last week and now I want one for my desk. This is not sponsored! It’s from the same brand that makes our current [larger] humidifier.

5. Is going to the movie theaters back? I’m ready to read the trend piece on this because there are not one but THREE movies I want to see playing in theaters: Lisa Frankenstein, Drive-Away Dolls, and Dune: Part Two. If you’ve seen any of these, please report back.

6. Lastly, I’m not sure how this will land with my newsletter readers (no pun intended) but here we go: Here’s something I never thought I’d say: I cannot get enough of a show about World War II. Masters of the Air (on Apple TV) is about the U.S. Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group (also known as “The Bloody Hundredth”) and their daring missions during World War II. It’s sucked me in completely. The actors have great chemistry. The episodes will have you on the edge of your seat. People say it’s the new Band of Brothers, though I’ve never seen Band of Brothers so this comment is lost on me. If you enjoyed the thrill of Top Gun, and/or you’re intrigued by Austin Butler (btw, can someone please explain him to me), or you’re a fellow Barry Babygirl Keoghan fan, orrrr if you have a WWII dad, you might like it??? Is anyone else weirdly obsessed?

Reads

• The Period Underwear That Couldn’t [The Cut] — This is a deep dive into the “quiet demise” of the company Thinx, which laid off most of its staff of 109 people in January. (I’ve never tried this product but have friends who loved it…)

• Are we walking away from friendships too quickly? [The Guardian]

• The NYT has been covering Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts tour from every possible angle (as it should), but my favorite is this piece on the princess-punk fashion choices of Rodrigo’s young fans. [NYT *gift link]

• Why All The Internet’s Boyfriends Are Irish [Vox]

• Lastly, a little different from the usual - I wrote about my experience with IVF here in response to the recent ruling in Alabama.

Fun Links & Thinks

• This meyer lemon cheesecake with a biscoff crust. 😍

• A great reminder from Nedra Glover Tawwab: Before unloading on friends or family, check to see if they have the capacity to listen.

• Attention all Sally Rooney fans. !

• Can we talk about the Dune: Part Two press tour fashion? I loved this Vogue piece on Zendaya’s collaboration with her stylist, Law Roach.

• Just a beautiful photograph of some beautiful flowers by photographer Jamie Beck

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT — PREVIOUSLY ON DOWNTIME

How to Make Soup From (Almost) Anything: A Genius Guide from Julia Turshen Alisha Ramos · Feb 22 Read full story

Catching Up and 3 Fun Things Alisha Ramos · Feb 18 Read full story

The Books I'm Excited For in 2024 and A Confession About My Reading Habits Alisha Ramos · Jan 23 Read full story

Thanks to everyone who read Good Material by Dolly Alderton with us for book club for last month. You can see our fun subscriber chat about the book here. (I’m realizing now that I should’ve made the chat into a discussion thread and post instead. I’ll do better next time - sorry for anyone who missed the chat in realtime!)

We are skipping March but will be back in April with a spring book club pick, and hopefully more irl meetups. :)

Have a great weekend, all. x

introverts.are.awesome

A post shared by @introverts.are.awesome