Still Mourning StumbleUpon (Issue #38)

This week’s theme is randomness – consider me your shuffle button for the internet!

Hi friends!

Do you remember StumbleUpon? For me, it’s a website that transports me back to the days when the computer was a place, confined to a designated room. My friends and I would gather around at sleepovers to peruse music on iTunes, make my Sims “WooHoo”, and play games on MiniClip.com. 

StumbleUpon was a browser extension that worked like a shuffle button for the internet. With each click, it would take you to a brand new webpage you’d never seen before. Me and my friends were obsessed. Our sleepovers were consumed with clicking the StumbleUpon button over and over again. It was through this random generation that I first watched this now-iconic relic of early YouTube media. The ability to randomly stumble upon things that felt totally disconnected from me and my life made the internet so much more fun! It’s a magic that feels sort of similar to our modern Tiktok scroll, but waaay less curated, and far more serendipitous. True surprise isn’t easily recreated in today’s Internet age, and it’s something I miss.

So this week, I wanted to bring the shuffle button back into our lives, by curating a random collection of recommendations just for you. Enjoy!

A round-up of things to watch, read, and listen to as you head into the weekend.

• Racket: We Spent 38 Consecutive Hours Inside the Mall of America by Natalia Mendez and Joel Swenson.

  • My husband Andrew and I are die-hard defenders of the infamous Mall of America. Especially in the winter when being outside means freezing, we love walking through the mall and popping from store to store. In this article, the authors spent 38 HOURS in the mall, bouncing their way through more activities than I even knew were available! It was a really fun read and also gave me ideas of things I want to check out during my next MOA winter walk-through. 

• Patch: Toys 'R' Us Is Opening A Store In The Mall Of America.

  • When Toys 'R' Us stores closed nationwide, a small piece of my childhood closed with them. But now, they are trying again in the Mall of America. Cue an onslaught of nostalgia!

• Podcast: One Year: 1990.

  • I’ve recommended the One Year podcast in the past, and they just finished their season about the year 1990, paired with an announcement that it may be their last season ever!! Just like previous seasons, each episode covers a different true story that occurred within the span of that season’s chosen year. Highlights of the season include the introduction of Pizza Hut to the Soviet Union and a complicated and heartbreaking story about a woman who contracted HIV at her dentist's office. Check it out!

• Movie: Radical

  • Based on a true story, this 2023 film has  94% on Rotten Tomatoes and looks incredible! Here’s the description: “Sixth-grade students at Jose Urbina Lopez Elementary are among the worst performing students in Mexico, with their world one of violence and hardship, not possibility. It might seem like a dead end, but it's the perfect place for new teacher Sergio Juarez to try something different.”

Playlists to add to your music library.

A collection of random songs recently on repeat.

Things to try + share in the group chat.

Note: Links preceded by an asterisk (*) are affiliate links that allow me to collect a small commission when you purchase something I’ve recommended. That said, I can promise I’ll only ever share items I love. Buying through these links is one way to support me and my small biz. ❤️

• *These bodysuits were one of my favorite clothing purchases of 2023. I bought the Black Coffee Beige pack to add to my collection of basics, but there are 26 total color combos to choose from!

• I’ve been inundated with ads for these hands-free, slip-on shoes, and that promise paired with their cute designs almost seemed too good to be true. That is until I started hearing real-life reviews that these shoes are great quality, and work exactly as advertised. I’ve also heard that they’re perfect for lots of walking and travel! They have tons of designs for men, women, and kids, but I have my sights set on these.

• This Roasted Garlic Lemon Butter Pasta looks sooooo good!!!! Cheesey, warm, and yummy are my top three requirements for the perfect pasta, and this recipe has all three. :) 

Looking for something to listen to over the weekend? Make sure to check out this past Monday’s bonus issue where I share five true crime podcasts with a nuanced take on the genre. See all my recs here!

Until Monday!

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