TGIF, I have returned

Look.

As badly as I want to be a “weekly newsletter” bitch - I simply am not. So, forgive me (once again) for my absence (I don’t think you actually care that much), but hello, I’m here.

Not to be all “busy as a personality trait,” but I have actually been really busy. Aside from my 1.5-year-old (how??????) bringing home the dreaded “hand, foot, and mouth” disease this past week (God spared me from catching it this time, amen), I have been writing and working up a storm. There are a lot of things brewing in my little witch cauldron over here, and I’m just going to keep alluding to them for a while until it’s time to finally share what they are.

One thing that is not at all a secret because I keep talking about it is “Go Away” is still having its moment on an island in the sun (sorry), which is completely mind-blowing to me. In fact, the song reached #1 on the alternative radio charts this past week, making it my first #1 song I’ve ever been part of. It continues to confuse me how a 16-year-old song can become a hit, but I am so stupidly grateful for the journey this song is taking me on!!!

There’s a lot more to say, but I need to keep being elusive and cryptic about those things, so instead I will give you a little TGIF sanity list, because I’m sure we could all use a little sanity at the moment. Here ya go.

• LISTENING: Bethany’s Version: I might be turning 40 in November, but in my heart, I will always be a 16-year-old girl, and much like all the other 16-year-olds out there - I am absolutely smitten over the new Olivia Rodrigo album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love (she’s so cool she made it all lower case, ok?). I think I’ve listened to the track “u + me = <3” approximately 3,000 times in the one week it’s been out. It literally makes me feel like I’m a teenage girl again, and I did indeed cry on my couch the first time I listened to it because I was thinking about being a teenage girl and hearing it for the first time. It’s the type of song I would have played on repeat in my car when I first got my driver’s license while daydreaming about my own floppy-haired crush (iykyk). Olivia has such a way of tapping into the experience of a young girl, and she is so fucking cool and not afraid to be political or vulnerable, and I worship her.

• Luna’s Version: Unfortunately for me, my daughter discovered the music of Blippi, and while I am not going to shit all over Blippi, because he seems nice and fine and obviously brings the kiddos joy, I would have been perfectly happy to remain a Blippi-free household. Right now she cannot get enough of “Blippi Wiggle,” and honestly? Fine. This song is catchy as hell, and she does the silliest little dance when she hears it, so for that, I can tolerate it. For those of you who are childfree and therefore Blippi-free (lucky), he’s a grown man in orange suspenders who enthusiastically sings about garbage trucks, construction sites, and other various forms of heavy machinery that toddlers are seemingly biologically wired to adore.

• WATCHING: If you need a show to binge, Widow’s Bay on Apple TV is 10/10 perfect. Set in a creepy fictional New England island town, it’s part mystery, part horror, part comedy - and maybe even a period piece?? It kind of has a little bit of everything, and I loved it so much. The acting from the entire cast is incredible, especially Matthew Rhys and Kate O’Flynn. Give them all the awards and maybe even invent some more for them!!! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll cover your eyes when you’re scared, and then someone will break the tension with a perfectly timed joke. Thank God it was renewed for a second season, because I am not ready to leave this foggy little island any time soon.

  

• DOING: One thing about me is I am kind of a jock. I played softball for many years and honestly was very good, but I quit when I realized I couldn’t be a punk and also a softball player. Obviously that is not true, but when you are 14 and growing up in the suburbs, you have to pick a side, and the side I picked was the punk one. Now that I am older and understand that multiple truths can exist at once, I am happily tapping into my jock side at my local Orange Theory Fitness. Orange Theory is a gym that combines full-body strength training with cardio. I’ve been doing Orange Theory (OTF for the real heads) for around 8 years on and off and took a break when I got pregnant and was newly postpartum. I recently went back for my first class since having a baby, and wow, wow, wow, the endorphins were pumping, babe!! I forgot how good it feels to sweat your ass off in a room with awful orange lighting and horrible EDM covers of Blink-182 songs blasting so loud it literally hurts your ears (they do offer earplugs at my studio). See, you CAN enjoy (pop) punk and also jock-related exercise!

  

USING: In my recent stretch of being busy, I’ve been lucky enough to have my hair professionally done a handful of times for performances with my other band, Weezer. My hairstylist Sylvia recently used SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Frizz-Free Curl Mousse in my hair, which is literally $12.49 at your local CVS. It is so good; I’ve never loved my hair more! My relationship with my hair is very back-and-forth. I often joke that I have “hair dysmorphia” just as much as I have body dysmorphia: one day I love it, and the next I want to shave the whole thing off and wear a wig for life. This product has really helped me lean into my natural texture, and if the word “mousse” scares you (it scared me!), I promise it doesn’t make your hair crunchy or give it a “wet look” at all. My hair has never been bouncier or more full of life, and it air-dries so much better with this product in it, which is great, because lord knows I don’t have time to be diffusing my hair every time I get it wet! Thank me later, my fellow curlies.

What are you currently listening to/watching/doing/using to help you stay sane?

Until next time, xoxo.