#16 My Favorite Week of the Year
I hoard PTO for this. Also: do this before getting out of bed, an essay for dark days, and 15 seconds of Gene Kelly magic.
⭕️ The Big Five A quick lymphatic massage routine for the face, from Lymph Love Club.1
⭕️ Winter Solstice A slim meditation by Nina Maclaughlin on the darkest days of the year, that leans into the truths that can be best confronted in that darkness.2
⭕️ Gene Kelly & Friends in the finale of “Do I Love You” in DuBarry Was a Lady. 15 seconds to make you smile.3
⭕️ Sophie Scarf This knitting pattern by Petite Knit is perfect: quick to make, using less than a skein of yarn, substantial enough to keep warm, small enough to tuck into your pocket if you don’t want to wear it indoors.4
I’m Taking the Next Ten Days Off Work
After last week’s travels, getting caught up / prepped to be away from work for the rest of the year, and then getting through a fast but furious stomach bug, I’m so ready to really lean into this holiday break.
Here’s what I’m enjoying:
🌼 Movies that are set during Christmas but aren’t really about Christmas
You get the ambiance and cheer of the season — but usually with a better plotline and performances. 😉 Think: While You Were Sleeping, Metropolitan, Fanny and Alexander, The Apartment, Charade, Falling in Love, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Sleepless in Seattle, and Little Women.
🌼 Christmas Playlists
These are the ones that I’ve been cycling through, based on mood: Weird Christmas (for something peppy and unpredictable), Christmas with the Tallis Scholars (if Smooth Santa isn’t doing it when you’re reading the Sunday papers), A Very Nancy Meyers Christmas (classics, but not the overplayed ones), Christmas Lofi (my work music).
🌼 Slow Baking
The kind that keeps a puttering pace. Between now and Wednesday, it will (hopefully) include: Miso Party Mix, Technicolor Cookies, Rum Balls, Bûche de Noël Cookies, and the Lemon Turmeric Crinkle Cookies that are currently in my freezer, waiting to be baked.
🌼 Elizabeth Perkin’s Wardrobe in A Miracle on 34th Street
It’s good enough to make me consider giving up “easy” and “unexpected” and just lean into “timeless.” The belted coats! The hose! A classic “autumn” color palette. I really struggled to find good film stills, so you may just need to watch to see.
I hope you’re able to take some time to slow down and enjoy small things like these, too.
I started doing this first thing in the morning, before I get out of bed, after I do the Big 6 (which I learned from Jane Graybill), and I think it makes a difference!
To make the world small, I shared an apartment in Brooklyn with Nina’s brother for a few months while I was finishing up my MFA. She built him a beautiful dining table while I was living there.
These happen to be the colors of my planned Technicolor Cookies. 😊 Watch the full number here.
I made one for myself in November and haven’t stopped knitting this pattern since then.
Speaking of knitting: Would you be interested in an occasional sub-Substack from me focused specifically on what I’m knitting and inspired by in the fiber world? I realize that this is a bit of a niche topic that won’t necessarily interest all readers. But if it interests you, go to your account settings for Some Sundays, scroll down to notifications, and toggle on “Some Knitting.”
