Mid Year Roundup: 2021 Favorites
We are well into 2021 now and it recently hit me that I haven’t done a proper favorites roundup yet this year. Last year, I did a much better job of keeping track of, and sharing, what I was loving during quarantine - feel free to review the mid and end of year reports here and here respectively. This year is absolutely flying by and I finally had a chance to sit down and assess all the new things I’ve tried so far, so read on if you’re looking for any recommendations --
Beauty: Not much has changed in this arena. I still love most of my tried and true products that I talked about in this article. But a couple updates that I love -
The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA: Lactic acid acts as a chemical exfoliant and for my oily skin, this has been amazing at reducing breakouts and evening out my overall texture. I used to use the Sunday Riley Good Genes and this product is a dupe in my opinion.
The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%: While the lactic acid one is harsh enough for me to only use it at night, this niacinamide and zinc combo helps my skin with dark spots and general tiredness and I will reach for it on mornings where I am looking a little too dull for my taste.
Em Cosmetics Infinite Lip Cloud (Cashmere Creme): A lip product! These are especially rare for me because lip products have to be absolutely flawless for me to even consider using them. This one has an amazing fluffy texture, matte finish without being drying or sticky at all. And when it fades, it fades evenly. I have the cashmere crème color which is a my-lips-but-better color but I’m actually excited to try this one in bolder shades since I’m so in love with the texture.
Briogeo Blossom & Bloom Ginseng + Biotin Hair Volumizing Shampoo: First of all, this stuff smells AMAZING. Second of all, it cleans my hair without stripping it, and it actually does allow my hair to retain a lot of its natural volume. This is my first foray into higher end haircare and so far I am not disappointed.
Biossance Squalane + Zinc Sheer Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30 PA +++: I recently lost my tried and true Shiseido sunscreen and was at Sephora perusing the suncare section when the sales associate convinced me to try this one. I was initially nervous that it would be too thick but so far it has defied any concerns I might have had. It goes on smooth and thin and doesn’t break me out or cause any additional oil at all. Best of all, it comes in a very compact tube, which I LOVE for travel.
Food: I have discovered a few simple breakfast and snack recipes that I have been eating pretty consistently for the past few months. These are ridiculously easy but delicious.
Breakfast
Fresh PB&J: I call this ‘fresh’ because instead of using jam, I just use fresh berries. I toast an English muffin, top it with peanut butter, fresh blueberries and a sprinkle of cinnamon and it’s amazing. I eat a whole muffin as breakfast or half of one if I need a quick snack
Caprese Inspired Toast: This recipe calls for good bread toasted with butter, topped with garlic, fried egg, tomato, basil, and flaky salt. If you get the best ingredients you can find for this one it is incredibly delicious despite its simplicity
Snack
Chunky Monkey Dupe: I love ice cream but I rarely keep it on hand. Something I do regularly keep on hand is Greek yogurt. I came up with this on the fly one day when I was craving Chunky Monkey ice cream. I put some 5% fat plain Greek yogurt in a bowl with a tiny drizzle of honey. Then I top it with sliced banana, salted peanuts, and dark chocolate chips. Sounds a little strange with the peanuts, I know, but it is SO good. I eat this as a dessert or a snack.
Mistobox subscription: I’m lumping this in here even though it’s not a recipe because it’s still consumable! I found this brand when gift shopping for a friend earlier in the year. It is a subscription coffee service that takes into account your coffee preferences and sends you a new bag of coffee on whatever schedule you specify. My favorite part is that the coffee beans are always freshly roasted the day before they ship to you so I’m always getting to try super fresh, interesting new coffees.
Fitness
Workout Socks: This is boring I know, but hadn’t been great about using proper socks to workout, and since I workout so often, this bad habit had caught up with me in the form of weird callouses and blisters on my feet. I finally got these socks and my feet feel so much better with all the running and hiking I’ve been doing lately. Don’t neglect your feet!
Divvy Bike Subscription: I don’t know why it took my so long to try this service but now I’m addicted. Divvy Bikes are Chicago’s city bike service. Basically I just scan the QR code on the bike, it unlocks, and I can ride it pretty much anywhere downtown and then drop it off at another dock when I’m done. I got a yearly subscription because it works out to about 30 rides to make it worth it. I’ve already done way more than that and love having this option in the summer in addition to walking and transit.
Apple Watch: Ok this one is obviously a bit pricey but I finally bit the bullet and hopped on the apple watch train. This has by no means changed my life but I do appreciate many things about this little gadget. As a data fiend, I obviously love how much more data I can access about my fitness, sleep, and heart rate. But I also love that I can go for a run now without taking my phone and still get any urgent work notifications as well as listen to music. It’s the little things.
Yoga Mat: I’ve actually had this mat for awhile now but I did make it a goal this year to be more regular about stretching. I’ve noticed that all this sitting, and staying at home, in addition to my workouts had been making me stiff and ruining my posture. Even incorporating a few minutes of stretching each day is enormously helpful for me. I love this mat in particular because it has almost a suede-like texture that prevents me from slipping even in my sweatiest moments...and I get really sweaty.
Nalgene waterbottle : Another super simple one. I had been using my S’well bottle for years and recently switched to this one simply because it holds more water and it’s see through. I noticed that I’m more likely to drink water when I can see the water level - probably gives me a tiny sense of accomplishment - so converting to a clear water bottle has allowed me to up my regular water intake without even trying.
Random
AmandaRachLee Doodle Planner: Last year I did all of my bullet journaling completely myself. While that produced a nice little handmade journal, it was a lot of work. This year I decided to treat myself to one of Amanda’s creations (she’s a planning/bullet journaling guru). I love her planners because they still give me the satisfaction of coloring and laying out my bullet journal but I don’t have to worry about designing each theme myself. She has has premade all these beautiful illustrations and this way, I still get to end up with a beautiful product with about half the effort.
Media
Shows
Lupin (Netflix): This show is in french and details a man’s quest to avenge his father. However, this quest involves oceans eleven level heists and all the cleverness of Sherlock Holmes and is great fun to watch. I’m excited for season two!
AOT (Hulu/CrunchyRoll): One of my friends finally convinced me to watch Attack on Titan and I loved it! The story follows these kids who grow up in a world where humanity is constantly under threat of these human-eating titans. I was completely sucked in by the mystery of the titans and many of the characters. I especially love the first three seasons and am curious to see how the story ends when the last season comes out next year.
Inuyasha (Netflix/Hulu)
Movies
Promising Young Woman (Amazon Prime) - I already wrote a great piece on this film here. But the story follows a young woman seeking revenge for the sexual assault of her best friend. It’s an extremely interesting dissection of systemic sexual assault, and the visuals are stunning.
Weight of Gold (HBO) - this is a documentary funded in part by Michael Phelps which is what piqued my interest initially. The film details the lives of Olympians and how much of a mental toll competing at that level can take on a person. For example, when Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals in the Beijing Olympics, he was just barely 23 years old. Where do you go from there? It was super interesting insight into a world that deserves much more attention.
Demon Slayer Mugen Train (Theater) - My FAVORITE movie I’ve seen so far this year and also the only movie I made sure to see in theatres. It picks up where the anime leaves off and follows Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke as they meet the Hashira Rengoku and deal with some demons on Mugen Train. It is a visual FEAST. Everything is beautiful and the storyline made me cry twice. Amazing film.
Books: I have read almost twenty books so far this year already but here are some of the ones that stuck out.
Never Split the Difference - Chris Voss: This one is a little old but Chris Voss is a former FBI hostage negotiator and this book details all his tips to run a successful negotiation in any situation! I’ve even used some of his advice and it’s amazing how simple but useful this little book has been already for me.
Rule of Wolves - Leigh Bardugo: The final book in the King of Scars Duology and Bardugo does not disappoint. If you followed my book list last year, you’ll know that I devoured everything this woman has ever written and I had been waiting with bated breath to finish this series.
Salvation of a Saint - Keigo Higashino: Another author I discovered last year (The Devotion of Suspect X). This book is another in his Detective Galileo series and follows the case of a murdered husband. Everyone thinks his wife killed him but no one can prove how. I love his mysteries and this one had such a satisfying conclusion for me.
Eat a Peach - David Chang: I discovered David Chang through his show ‘Ugly Delicious’, but didn’t know much else about him. In this memoir, we get a deep, imperfect dive into his life from his perspective. I really loved how he doesn’t shy away from his mental health struggles, or the negative aspects of his career path. It’s a super interesting look at what it truly means to become a hyper successful chef, or even hyper successful in any area of life. (This book goes surprisingly well with the documentary I mentioned earlier - Weight of Gold).
That sums up my favorites for the year so far! I can’t believe we are already almost halfway through. If any of you have any amazing things you’ve discovered already this year, please message me or comment! I love discovering new things - especially books and movies.
We’re already so far in the year my wardrobe has transitioned to crop tops…