no. 28 | the light in me recognizes the light in you
(but it's a threat)
howdy hey and a happy new year!!!
i hope you’re all feeling shiny and bright at the top of the year! i’m feeling pretty shiny and pretty bright, optimism usually rests easy in january. i do feel a little bit unfocused and out of sorts. but i’m just shaking off some feelings after seeing family which seems to rattle me lately. don’t get me wrong, i love seeing my cousins, they’re the best part of any family gathering, but stuff gets stickier outside of that.
first off, it’s been officially one year of this newsletter and i’m so happy to be up and running and writing this still. this newsletter was one of my favorite things i did last year. i return to previous entries now and then to remind myself of all that i’ve done and all the good memories i’ve had. tbh this newsletter hasn’t changed much in shape and style since i started it. it’s become a little journal for me and has, to date, been the best attempt of me documenting my life. so the little crybaby semi-bi-weekly newsletter will march on through 2025. thank you for reading and being my friend :)
secondly, this is where i revisit my year and the goals i set last year. overall i’d say 2024 was pretty good!!! a recurring theme was work being blah and whatever but my life outside of it was very fruitful! i traveled more than i ever have before, crossed a lot of bucket list items and locations off my list, i ate very very very well, i watched more movies than ever before, i spent time playing games and hanging out with friends, picked up new hobbies and developed old ones, made new friends, reached out to old ones, walked new streets, and altogether appreciated my time a lot more.
there were failings and missed opportunities for sure. i did NOT successfully read any classics. but i did read acotar, the green bone saga, and some other books i’ve been meaning to. i did start the iliad and i’ll make some more progress this year. i’m starting this year’s reading with little women though :) i said i wanted to keep running in 2024 and i don’t think i made it out for a jog once lol. but i got the itch to go running recently which is a new and welcome feeling. i didn’t paint nearly as much as i wanted to but i find myself more inspired to do it lately and i have the day off today, so i’ll focus on that. i also said i wanted to start a postcard club in 2024, which i did not do at all. but i’m feeling lucky about 2025. i’m shooting for summer :)
anyhow, my goals for 2025 are to do more of the same. more exploring, more art, more reading and watching, more eating, more dancing, and more doing things that make me happy. simple~
less simple is i’m doing 75 hard, at least my verison of it. i’ll be honest, i don’t think i can do it, but i’ll fuckin try. and i’ll keep starting over and trying until it sticks! pictured below:
(((craft update)))
yeeeeeeeehaw no amsterdam vlog lmao i did not touch it at all. my problem is that i am so used to working with background noise on. and now we’re in the music phase, i can’t have background tv or music on :( so i’ve got to rewire my brain a little bit
i made a big yarn order right before christmas and it came while i was gone so i’ve been diving into a fluffy little scarf. my first time doing fisherman’s rib + using two colors. so it’s got a real nice, spongy texture and a beautiful two-sided look. i love it a lot, i hope i speed through this. a) because i can’t wait to wear it and b) i have a really exciting sweater i want to tackle next
(((media update)))
my gals and guys and thys, i’ve capped off 2024 with 223 movies watched. with 80.7% being movies i’ve never watched before. it was a great, great year for movie watching. i had a load of fun and i’ll probably always aim for 200 a year. anything more will just be icing on the cake!
since we last spoke i’ve watched some real doozies man, some heavy fucking hitters
carry-on: i enjoyed this so very much. funny little caper and i enjoyed every escalation and the very real fucking stakes they introduced. fuckin love that guy taron. good family fun!
maria: oh my god! well first of all, this looks like gold. and it feels like gold. i have my gripes with the screenplay and the…… chop chop of it all. but the feeling beyond the dialogue is perfection and serene and caring. i know nothing of maria callas but i was swept away and i just love seeing angelina jolie act
mulholland drive: ohhhhh my god!! angel and i finally sat down and watched this. and i really can’t find the words for this one. it’s so special, so very special. this is one that begs a rewatch. and chuck bass’s mom is co-lead in this…… she’s fantastic why do i not see her in more things?
saturday night fever: okokok, i’m as reluctant to like john travolta as the next guy, which is why i put this one off for so long. but god, he’s tremendous in this. so very good and is an excellent anchor in this movie. he’s got the perfect demeanor for this and is such a gifted dancer. i was really shocked to look at the letterboxd reviews and seeing them generally pan it. it does have a lot of misogyny, a lot of slurs, and extremely unsavory sexual encounters. i suppose ppl expected just a yippee fun dance flick (same), but when they were met with something a lot more bleak and with something to actually say, they just couldn’t reconcile the two? i really liked this movie. the tone surprised me and i found it all very effective. i dunno why ppl walked away thinking this movie was telling them to live like tony did or treat people the way tony and his friends did. it seemed obvious in its intention? idk i would highly recommend saturday night fever because it was a great movie with also really great dance sequences. a joy to watch and behold and i’m glad i did.
and no one is immune to having expectations and having those expectations be wrong. like i’m not confused about that. i’m confused about why saturday night fever of all movies is one that the vocal majority of letterboxd users can’t process?
gremlins: ok i’ve never seen gremlins before. i thought this would be like home alone with evil furbies and idk maybe they brandish a knife in a moment of tension but the worst they do is maybe set a christmas tree on fire. NO. DUDE NO. THERE’S REAL DEATH AND TRAUMA IN HERE. fucking excellent movie. and i especially love when the love interest drops her insane christmas horror story in the middle of a moment where they really do need to get a move on. fucking great fuckkkkkkking great
i also just watched nosferatu yesterday but i want to let that bake a little longer before writing about it
and i also finished rewatching the harry potter movies!! this has been my first complete rewatch of the hp films in recent memory. i usually just cycle through the first 4. but wow!!!!! the series as a whole is just so satisfying in it’s completion. what fondness we all have for the actors and the sets and the aesthetics. i’m so happy we got all 8 movies before everything fell apart. these days, it feels like such a huge feat for a YA series to finish out completely with as much success as harry potter or twilight did. we’re so very lucky in that way. i love these movies and it’s so sad watching knowing that so many actors have passed. but it’s nice to know that the series is still as comforting as it always was for me. til next time!
i started writing down my top 20 movies of this year. but i think i have to put a lot more thought into this one. there’s just way, way, way too many movies to consider. but top of my head, some of my very favorite movies this year have been la chimera, the taste of things, the red shoes, challengers, the beast, chungking express, kneecap, tie me up! tie me down!, wicked, anatomy of a fall, trap, and moulin rouge!. definitely not a complete or decisive list but watch any of these for a good time!!!!
i finished my last book of the year! the secret history by donna tartt. i liked it!!! what i’ve found has been an issue with me over the years is having really high expectations for things and disappointing myself in the process. this happened with the secret history, this happened with conclave, this happened with anora, this happened with the northman. and loads of other things too. but i often fall victim to hearing a ton of hype, engaging with the media while thinking ‘ok don’t let yourself get too swept away by the hype’, not letting myself freely enjoy it, and then walking home feeling like there should’ve been more. and this isn’t to say that i didn’t enjoy it at all, i enjoyed all of these things while i was reading/watching but i usually finish them with a feeling of wanting more or wanting to feel more. BUT what has inevitably happened with anora and conclave and the northman is that i sit with it and think about it over days, weeks, months, and grow to love it a lot. to date, i think that the northman is favorite robert eggers film (tho i did just watch nosferatu, so this is subject to change). so i’m sure with the secret history, as i turn it over more in my head, i’ll come to fully love it. i do also think that this warrants a re-read, somewhat in the near future. it deserves revisiting many, many times and i can see myself returning to it for years.
this has also happened for things like the ballad of songbirds and snakes and juror #2 but i have not had my come to jesus moments with those. idk i don’t know if i’ll ever come around on those :/
oh yes and angel and i have finished squid game season 2. yeah! really loved seeing some of my favorite actors and kpop stars play around this season. i’ve been a fan of kang ha-neul since ‘to the beautiful you’ and since i don’t really keep up with k-dramas anymore, it’s been really nice to see him on screen again. idk maybe this is the year i watch more k-dramas hm hm hm
(((things to look forward to)))
let’s see!!! angel and i have a dinner res with friends at hyun tomorrow. excited to completely clog up my veins with the juiciest sexiest wagyu ever
angel and i are going to sarasota to visit his mom in a couple of weeks! could not be more pumped for some time with his mom (my mother-in-law?) and some beach time and ice cream
philly/secret santa/ratties trip!!! i’m pondering a lot of options with my secret santa gift…….. there’s many ways this could go and i’m nervous about all of them. i am super excited for the ratties and exploring philadelphia though! i’ve never been so this will be fun :)
and 2025 trip planning! angel and i are looking to go to japan later this year and i might churn out a little solo trip somewhere. we’ll see where it all goes!
(((end of year recs)))
glossier you reve perfume: ok i’m no fragrance connoisseur or anything. i would not say i have a refined nose. but i have run low on my go-to fragrances and came across a fb marketplace listing a basically new glossier you reve for super cheap. massive steal bc i fucking love this perfume. it smells like the warmer, cozier, more mature version of the original glossier you perfume. i loved my old glossier you and it’s sweet, peppery scent but i feel it’s good to leave that in my 24-25 year old ages. this reve perfume is slightly deeper and sooooo sexy. it’s still got a sweet, almondy smell but just feels a little bit elevated, i love her so much
20 years of ‘places to go’: the nyt dropped this cutie article revisiting the past 20 years of their ‘places to go’ list. a cutie capsule of how traveling has shifted over the years and how their digital reporting has also evolved. a fun scroll and a nice way to kick off travel planning for the year.
ebay: i’ve been on ebay a lot lately. i got angel’s christmas presents there, i frequently buy cameras off of ebay, i’m trolling for blu rays, for backpacks, etc. i fucking love ebay, highly recommend the ebay grind. i feel like a hunter
pickle: i’ve been renting clothes from pickle this year. stellar app!! generally rent things for like $8-$30 for weeklong periods and it’s so great. i’ve avoided actually buying things for one-off occasions and just enjoyed having something fun and fresh for one night. i’ve gotten stuff for new years, shows, holidays, whatever! it’s also helped expose me to diff brands i’ve never heard of/considered so i can be more purposeful with my real purchases. the girls i rent from have always been so nice and flexible. it’s kind of nice renting other people’s pieces and thinking that you’re helping them pay off their purchase and making their clothes more worth it to them :) sweet :)
junk journaling: i started a junk journal last year, just throwing random scraps and tickets and things into a book. it’s been a fun, tactile way of keeping little bits together. and i love flipping through it. i have a habit of keeping plane tickets and stickers and random receipts and they started to pile up so i threw them all in here. i don’t try to make it really cute and aesthetic, i just slap whatever fits in wherever. i have a huge backlog of scraps from europe that i need to get around to adding in so that habit has stalled a bit. but if you’re a packrat like me, the junk journal has saved me a lot of space and mess!
allllllllrighty! that’s all for now! happy 2025, happy new year! i hope we get a lot of snow on monday. i’d love to be able to say my internet went out and i’m unable to work on monday. willing THAT into existence. much love and kisses and wishing you many filling meals and adventures this year~
<3 sarah
