obsessions as of late
I am no better from the next guy when it comes to having the occasional seasonal obsession or two, or ten... Whether it’s my monthly, hyper fixation on a certain meal, a uniform of an everyday outfit, or that certain beauty product that I swear changes my entire look, the list changes more frequently than I care to admit.
With the coming of the New York City Fall(ish) season, the list of obsessions grows. Here’s a solid few I can easily say consume my brain lately:
Soup (lol)
This is such a strange obsession, I know. Liking soup in fall, how original. But honestly, I can’t stress how much soup I’ve consumed in the last few weeks. Chicken noodle, my health soup that contains more ginger and garlic than it should — let’s just say anything I can put into a broth base and throw in a pot, I’m loving it. If I could carry a thermos of chicken noodle soup with me everywhere, I would. And because of such, my Pinterest board “SOUPS” continues to grow exponentially each and every day.
Early 2000’s television
I’ve found recently that my attention span has reached an all time low. A low that even Tik Tok minute-long videos are “too much.” And it’s perfectly ok to not be stimulated 24/7, constantly racking your brain just to escape the dreaded feeling of boredom is simply not viable. But just the other day, as I was listening to “Smartless” (the greatest podcast of all time btw), Jason Bateman (i.e. one of the main hosts of the podcast and one of the funniest people alive) shared with the listeners how he’s been aiming to remind his children of this beautiful thing we call “boredom.” It’s a good thing to be bored, sometimes. In his words, “it’s a time to reintroduce yourself to yourself.” Something about that kind of stuck with me. Early 2000’s television reminds me of coming home from middle school, after 8 long hours of “being bored,” plopping my school bag down, and setting myself up on the couch to watch about 3 hours straight of uninterrupted Nickelodeon and Disney Channel hits. So, as a plea to try to get back to that simpler time, watching early 2000’s television while I’m going throughout my daily agenda feels almost soothing (even though the most basic dramatic plot lines are screaming in the background).
A dainty ballet flat and jeans
I was an A1 sneaker head in high school. If there was a drop of any shoe, men’s or women’s, I knew about it, my brother knew about it, and especially my dad knew about it. I curse my dad for my shoe addiction, but it’s addiction I will gladly bear. However, over the past few years, I’ve traded in the new balances, Nike dunks, and classic Adidas bunch for dainty flats and wedged kitten heels. There is something so flattering about the juxtaposition of a heel with a flared jean. If I’m feeling like my outfit is brinking on “basic” territory (a word I honestly hate to describe style, but it gets the message across), I simply add a little heel or flat to spice things up in a pretty non-spicy way!
Natural and neutral nails
For those who had never known this fun detail about me, I grew up a chronic nail biter. The stress of middle school must have really gotten to me! Jokes aside, once I reached Junior year of high school, I dropped the nasty habit and suddenly was met with a set of decently nice nails. Then came a new obsession, constantly changing my nail color. I was making up for lost time, okay! Each week, a new nail color was chosen, and never once did I let it last longer than 1.5 weeks before stripping it off and changing it once more. As Fall comes into season, I tend to opt in for the reds and oranges and even dark greens, but while I’ve rocked the red for the last few weeks, I find myself going back to the neutrals every time. From light pinks to beiges and greys, I find the neutral nail colors last just that much longer and look just that much more clean on my nails. I will always be a die-hard red nail girl, but for the time being, neutrals have won my heart.
Lip stains
To be completely transparent with you, my love of lip stains as of late derives from true laziness on my end. Put a layer on a lip stain on right when you wake up, and forget about it! I am the type of person who changes their everyday bag like it’s a competition to see how many I can wear in a day, so my lip products inevitably get left behind in the process. My absolute go-to is the Clarin’s stain, but I’ve never heard a singular bad comment about the iconic Benetint…
Taking pointless walks
With school, work, life, everything, my screen-time has reached a new level of scary. I can get so caught up in what’s right on my phone screen that I forget I live just 10 minutes away from anything and everything I could think of to fill my day. Even when I am back home on various school breaks, I try to at least once a day, take a silly, little, utterly pointless walk to clear my head. In New York City, your feet equals your car, so rarely do I walk with no destination in mind. Sometimes a girl just needs to sit in a park and ponder — so I found that even when there’s no clear destination in sight, I somehow always end up in one form of green space or another. Lately, though, I’ve tried to slap the screen shut, and walk aimlessly for at least an hour to let that pent up steam and stress breathe a bit.
Wearing glasses with no purpose
When I was a kid, I had this fixation on reading glasses. I was oddly enamored by the idea of wearing glasses as a form of accessory, so I would consume as many clear lens reading glasses as I could to pretend that I, too, wore glasses. The point, well, there really wasn’t one. I simply thought people who wore glasses were just the coolest, and through wearing glasses myself, I could somehow morph my identity to fit this mold I created in my head. This phase ended a good chunk of time ago, however, I have struck a new phase — fashionable blue-light glasses. While I’m not convinced that my screen-exposure headaches will rapidly and magically disappear because of this small piece of yellow-ish tinted glass that now lies between me and the screen, I am content with just knowing that the glasses themselves are nothing short of adorable! I recently purchased a pair from Le Specs, and already am eyeing Akila shapes as my next big glasses move. Stay tuned!
Posting to post
I have been referred to as a “chronic over-poster” more than once… This should be an insult, but honestly, I take it like a badge on honor. My philosophy on this concept may be non-universal, but I stand with the idea of posting to post, posting when you feel, or straight up not having the urge to post whatsoever. Not everything in life is as curated as we hope and wish it to be, so I have a hard time at making my feed seem like I have it all together, because honestly, I really don’t! I long for the days of when we all first made Instagram accounts and had zero social cues of what, when, and who to post! Feeds seemed more real and reflected exactly what one would think of a person in the real, physical space. Recently, if I see something that makes me smile or seems goofy or even downright pointless, I try not to overthink too much about whether or not I should post it simply to match my “aesthetic.” This, of course, relates to my personal, social media pages, and by no means am I wishing for major brands and public figures to start randomly posting to post. I treat my social media pages like they are some form of digital scrapbook, a way to keep memories at the forefront of my mind. Again, this may be a completely hot take, but the beauty of social media is that you can always “unfollow.”
Cozy Nights in with Friends
Though I’m in my early-20s, I certainly don’t act like it. While I am always intrigued by a spontaneous night on the town, my true favorite thing recently is to start a collective series with my roommates. It’s truly the best thing coming home to; knowing that after a long day, you and your closest friends can come together to watch the most random assortment of television known to man. If you are in an entertainment rut, I highly recommend starting a television series, or even weekly movie nights, with your friends as a source of instant commentary and downright hilarious live debriefs. For those who just finished Tell Me Lies…my thoughts and prayers go out to you!
Here’s to the Fall season upon us, and to more seasonal fixations!