Weekly Good Things 2025 Week 6
Some collective wisdom, and the objectively correct way to apply hand cream.
Hello! Hello! Welcome to another weekly episode of Good Things – your guide to living intentionally and more fully one good thing at a time! I give you a peek into my everyday life during the week, and roundup my good links, ideas, books, and more.
Happy weekend to you!
We’ve made it through a very long January, a month which someone described to me aptly last week as “The Monday of the Year”.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself up a few too many late nights doomscrolling through plane crashes, political updates du jour, and harboring a general frustration about media literacy (or the lack of it) these days. Bertram had the indignity last week of having his anal glands expressed at the vet (he wasn’t a fan) and then I had a long wait to see if he might have Cushing’s (bloodwork suggests likely in the clear!)
I always try to think of small ways to cultivate joy even when – gestures broadly – the world is a wild ride. The little things really do matter. Flowers. Stickers! Coffee in a favorite mug. Making small intentional choices so if you need to just do the motions and go on auto-pilot, your auto-pilot has been designed by past-self to be cozy and enjoyable.
Another way I do this is through embracing spontaneity on weeks where things feel already chaotic. Week’s gone to hell? Might as well just do something wild! Make your cherry on top something that will be a great memory. (See below, Collected Wisdom #3.)
👋 If you are new here, welcome! I try to fill these newsletters with a little something for everyone. (If you are just here for the food, it’s at the end! Feel free to scroll, I won’t judge!)
Good Things This Week
💌 Do you know about USPS Informed Delivery? You can get an email daily with mail and packages that are on their way to you, including usually a picture of the mail piece. (This is great if you are prone to piles of mail, because you can mentally deal with the mail before it even arrives.)
🏀 Good Excuses to put away my phone: Last week I said yes to a last minute Celtics game against the Rockets, which turned out to be unexpectedly phenomenal seats where I could actually see the faces of players on the court in front of me. I tend to put away my phone and lock-in on game play and doing mostly nothing during live sports, which is part of why I enjoy it so much. The Rockets also have 7-foot tall Jason Momoa (err…. New Zealander Steven Adams) playing for them, who is captivating to watch.
🧴The Objectively Correct Way to Apply Hand Cream: a few weeks ago, I was at the gym, and an older woman (who I didn’t know) came up to me mildly aggressively to teach me the objectively correct way to apply hand cream. Squeeze onto the backs of your knuckles! Not your palms! Use your knuckles to rub into the back of your hands in a circular motion and then the rest of your hands when everything is mostly absorbed! (I was so caught off guard and weirdly charmed? by her insistence on spreading the gospel of objectively correct hand cream that she’s now a friend. In case you were curious, she’s a food industry veteran, which immediately made sense to me.)
🎤 AgeTech and Longevity: this week I left the house to head downtown for an AgeTech and Longevity event hosted by my friends Justin and Christina. Highlights included Nancy Brigham, a north of 85+ researcher on Aging in Place who is part of the MIT AgeLab’s 85+ lifestyle leaders panel. (Here’s a clip about her talking about her research subjects I filmed.) How do we plan for aging in place? How do we keep people safe in their homes? AgeTech is really for any age. Most people have had an accident or near miss at home alone at some point. Do you have emergency plans for when things go wrong?
✈️ Helped my childhood bff design her first Disney trip (a last minute adventure) for next week. There is a spreadsheet and a few hours of knowledge dumping.
💪 585 pound hip thrusts. It’s my favorite party trick.
Collected Wisdom
You can always change your mind!
It’s not a competition, it’s a festival! (Thank you,
for that one!)A good way to make memories? Lean into a joke and do something for the silliness. Brought to you this week by Charlene Kaye “We started a medieval No Doubt cover band called NO GOUT” and this video by caitoshields. What’s the most ridiculous thing you can come up with? Do that.
Slow Drip Gardening:
It’s snowing today, but my first week of tulip share was a welcome addition. These are Fivefork Farms, and they force winter tulips! (My friend Somchay has also been on a flower arranging quest, and recommended Jason Jin’s floweracademia reels, and this account largely focused on Trader Joe’s flowers.)
Mixed Media:
📖 Reading: I really enjoyed Carissa Broadbent’s Daughter of No Worlds (War of Lost Hearts #1). It’s National Library Lover’s month and I have to confess that I have two overdue speed read cookbooks (Ottolenghi’s Comfort and Hot Sheet) to return. I’m also reading through Jamie Oliver’s new Easy Air Fryer cookbook today, which I ordered with UK measurements.
✍️ An Article: if you want slower news, here’s the Wikipedia news portal to keep up to date in list format.
🎬 A Youtube Video: I got up our first Ompractice Pose Library video up! Two minutes about Cat-Cow!
📺 Watching: A Real Pain: Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin are two odd-fellow cousins who head to Poland on a trip to discover their roots. It’s endearing and meaningful. (I also re-watched Groundhog Day, as one does, on the 2nd. Ah, it was a different time!)
🤣 Memes and randomness of the week: in “things I have spent far too much time thinking about but not purchased so pat me on the back: the Omnilux LED Men’s mask, largely because of this one woman’s deep dive”
The Week Meal Plan:
Why do I do this? I’ll note, my meal plans tend to be more of a directional support for me than what I actually end up eating in my week. (I think a lot of people who do meal planning feel obligated to actually eat the things they come with rather than just using as a placeholder/inspiration. I do not feel so constricted.)
If I get my act together, today is my “Quarterly Kitchen Purge” where I spend a little bit of time getting rid of things I don’t need. I have it on the calendar!
🍒 Good Eats from the Past Week:
Coconut Fish Curry with chickpeas, kale, and skate wings - loosely based on a Meera Sodha Kerala fish curry
Chicken thighs with cassoulet beans and artichoke hearts, caramelized onion and a little marsala and lemon
Turkish Calves’ Liver with pita, a few bites of döner and pilaf, kazandibi (milk pudding) and a (great) fresh Ayran from Boston Döner
Rice bowl with kebab, guacamole, salsa, whipped feta
Lamb cubes with spices in the air fryer
Chicken wontons pierogi-style with cabbage and caramelized onion, sour cream
A bowl of Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup from Lanner, lamb skewer
Grape nuts and blueberries (there’s nothing like a little gravel and milk in a bowl for comfort)
Trader Joe’s Portuguese Donuts (these were good not great!)
This week’s meal plan: cookbooks of the week: Jamie Oliver’s Easy Air Fryer // bean of the week: Rancho Gordo Rebosero
Sunday: Chili! With beef and Rebosero beans, cheese, avocado, and Trader Joe’s cornbread crisps
Tuesday: Pork chop, baked Japanese sweet potato, kale with lemon and garlic
Wednesday: Eric Kim’s Gochugaru Salmon with Crispy Rice (gift link)
Thursday: Andrea Nguyen’s Mapo Tofu (gift link)
Friday: Anything green I haven’t eaten in the fridge, some noodles, peanut sauce.
Lunch Options: Lamb Vindaloo. A bean and cheese burrito. A few cans of Fishwife sardines and tuna. Roasted carrots with honey goat cheese.
Snacks: Yogurt and blueberries. Cheese sticks. Eggs. Turkey Chomps. Steel Cut Oatmeal. Cream of Wheat. Aggressive amounts of fridge-cheese. Cottage Cheese. Stone and Skillet English Muffin.
Treat options (mostly in the freezer): Trader Joe’s Coffee Panna Cotta. BerryLine Frozen Yogurt, Ben and Jerry’s Chance Mint Fudgy Brownie, TJ’s Tiramisu, Trader Joe’s Brownie Coffee Ice Cream Sandwiches. Apple Tartines. Key Lime Pie. Trader Joe’s Chocolate Cheesecake Bites. Chocolate Mousse Parfait from Whole Foods.
What are you eating this week?
Here’s to a very good week!
xo, Sam
Glad to know I already use the objectively correct way to apply hand cream! haha