Am I a Sports Girlie Now?? (Issue #55)
This week’s theme is traditions – the little routines, celebrations, and memories that make life a little extra special.
Hi friends!
In the last year, I’ve been leaning hard into traditions. It started with Christmas, which slowly escalated from playing the John Legend Christmas album in December to buying matching Christmas pajamas for Andrew and me to wear all month. And who can blame me? I love fanfare, ceremonies, celebrations – all of it. There’s something about tradition that spices up the most mundane moments. And hell, winter is a whoooole lot more enjoyable when you have set landmarks you can count on looking forward to
Of course, growing up, my family and I had our own traditions — which are some of my fondest childhood memories! Ever since I was a kid, my mom has hosted “Fear Factor Easter”— her take on the legendary Joe Rogan gameshow of the aughts (yes, Joe Rogan was the host, in case you forgot 😂). We still celebrate it, and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve loved bringing new friends into the chaos.
But there’s also something really special about having the opportunity to create my own traditions as an adult, and integrating some new annual celebrations is something I’ve been doing a lot of recently! I’ve found myself borrowing from pre-existing American celebrations, like the Super Bowl (lol). I’ve never cared about football, but I love the excitement people feel every year. An excuse to eat good food and throw a party is never something I’m going to pass up. So this year, Andrew and I had our own little party and pretended we knew the rules of the game.
Another tradition I quickly immersed myself into was March Madness. I have a friend who has slowly helped me become a basketball fan, and now I’m hooked!! What started with a casual night watching a Timberwolves game at her house, escalated into creating my own bracket and visiting local sports bars on big game days. I’ll have you know my bracket did pretty damn well (second place isn’t bad for a newb!), and when the Timberwolves started making a deep run in the playoffs, I knew I’d become a fangirl right on time.
This week, I’m focusing on traditions (big and small) to help bring a sense of celebration and joy into daily life. Enjoy!
A round-up of things to watch, read, and listen to as you head into the weekend.
USA Today: Women's NCAA Tournament blew up in 2021 over inequality. It was a blessing in disguise by Dan Wolken, Lindsay Schnell, and Steve Berkowitz
Andrew and I have gotten into basketball this past year and closely followed the women’s NCAA Tournament. This article was a great look at the past few years and the meaningful changes that have taken root in women’s college basketball since 2021. Whether you’re a basketball fan or not, highly recommend you give this a read!
Substack: The Death of the Party in
by“I was never cool enough to do cocaine.” is probably one of the best opening lines I’ve read in a while.
continues the piece by tracking her journey to sobriety, examining the nights before she quit. I loved her writing style, which paints such a vivid and compassionate narrative of her complicated journey. There are tons of great quotes throughout, but I wanted to pull out this one:
“A few days ago, an old friend randomly messaged me with a picture from that era. He had no clue I had been remembering those years, but there I was — thin as a rail, wearing an orange silk camisole with beaded trim, those James jeans, an ivory bedazzled cardigan. I’m talking with my hands, half perched on a kitchen stool next to a friend. The picture is blurry, but I’m clearly drunk. Empty cans of Steel Reserve and Sparks line the counter, a few bottles of High Life and one champagne bottle beside them. A New Year’s party? Someone’s birthday? The details are lost to time.
And that’s all left now of those days, when we had fun like we never will, never can again. Blurry memories. A few photos. Scar tissue from all the bloody knees.”
Vanity Fair: Inside The New York Times’ Big Bet on Games by Charlotte Klein
I first subscribed to NYT games on a whim, and these little activities have since become a big part of my daily routine. This article is a great behind-the-scenes look at The New York Times’ game department and walks through how new games are developed and acquired. Before this article, Andrew and I noticed that Connections always lists the same person as the author—Wyna Liu. This article profiles Liu, which helped answer all sorts of questions we had about the person and process behind our daily puzzles.
Add some adventure to your week and check off as many as you can!
Create a weekly bucket list! Choose one day a week to sit down (alone or with a partner/friend/etc.) and create a list of things to check off through the week. Try to add things you wouldn’t normally do and things that shock you out of normal routines.
Think of a cultural tradition or event you don’t normally care about (award shows and sporting events are great for this). Now, make a plan to celebrate this event in the coming year! Go all out by inviting tons of friends, making custom snacks and drinks, and maybe even dressing up in whatever way suits the theme!
Visit the Random Word Generator and set the number of words to “1” and the word type to “nouns.” Hit generate, and whatever word you get is the theme of your new tradition! Once a year, host an event celebrating this thing! Lean into it with a dress code, and get your friends as excited about this obscure new tradition as possible!
Things to try + share in the group chat.
Andrew and I have a summer tradition of making lemon zucchini bread and delivering extra loaves to our friends and family! This blueberry lemon bread looks like a fun twist on our normal recipe, and I’m excited to try it out!
Valentine’s Day is far behind us for the year, but I’m still thinking about this video of a mom reading the cards her daughter made to give to her classmates:
As I dig my summer clothes out of the back of my closet, this is the time of year when I love doing a little closet clean-out. This year, I’m considering trying Trashie, which works to reuse and recycle clothing in a number of really innovative and cool ways (you can read all about it here). All you do is order a “takeback bag,” fill it with your items, and send it to Trashie. In return, you’ll earn credit that can be redeemed for discounts on a ton of different brands.
This past Monday, I shared a really emotional update — I’m going to be a homeowner! Read here about my path to buying a house (including my reflections on the current market, the decision to rent vs. buy, and more).
Have a great weekend!
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Thanks for the kind words! This made my day!