8 miscellaneous little things

Fun fact about me: I have wanted to be a writer since I was quite literally 3 years old. The fact that I get to DO this for a job, every single day — and have for almost 10 years now — is, truly, not lost on me. (And I hope it never is.)

But sometimes…

…I don’t have any more coherent words left to write. 😂

And on days like those (y’all should see the amount of copy I have written in the last week) all I want to do is share a miscellaneous little assortment of things, just because that’s A) my capacity but also B) still ~ very ~ fun for me.

(Also, I love reading things like this.)

So, here are today’s 8 miscellaneous little things. Because sometimes, that’s the way it goes.

I have a love-hate relationship with books that are all over the internet as “must-reads,” because I am always SO disappointed when I don’t like them. It’s why I kept putting off The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, because I simply did not think it would be as good as everyone said.

Luckily, I was wrong. I am listening to this on audio — which is rare for me with fiction — and I am just so incredibly bought into and connected to this story. The narration of this book is truly, truly incredible, and the characters are even better.

The Calamity Club, which takes place in 1933, right around the Great Depression, is written from two POVs: Meg, an 11-year-old girl who has ended up in an Oxford, Mississippi orphanage and Birdie, a twenty-something woman who comes to Oxford to borrow some money from her sister, who has recently married a well-off banker and moved to his estate. Times are hard — for everyone — and… that’s all I can say. Really.

A, because I am not done. B, because I don’t want to give away literally anything that has happened in the book so far.

Like, it is that good. Trust me. I have a hardback copy of it (I am who I am), but I can’t recommend the Audible version enough. Don’t be scared of how long it is. Listen to it with me!

I’m pretty brand-agnostic when it comes to my kitchen. I have a whole assortment of tools & appliances that I love, from MadeIn to Target to Ninja. But there is one brand that I’ve loved ever since I was about 15 — and that’s Staub.

My Grammy gave me my first piece (a gorgeous green baking dish) before I could even drive, and I’ve used my black Staub dutch oven so many times over the years that it probably has a memory of its own. I was recently gifted* a NEW addition to my Staub collection — this oval Dutch oven in the most STUNNING Grenadine color — and I can’t even express how much joy it brings me to look at and cook in.

If you’re someone who loves to cook and doesn’t have a Dutch oven, look no further. Truly. (They do everything! Sourdough! Roast chicken! Soup! Short ribs! Roast! Pasta!) Everything Staub creates is beautifully made, lasts forever — my baking dish is 16 years old and looks good as new — and just feels so high-quality and incredible.

If rhode pocket blush has no fans, I’m… dead. I just picked up my 4th (?! maybe 5th?!) one — I have run them through to the very bottom every time — in this absolutely STUNNING Teacup shade, and it is my favorite one yet. Such a good balance between dusty/mauvey and brighter pink, and very much the best of both worlds. (My runner-up favorite/OG = Sleepy Girl. I also have Juice Box but I have to tread lightly with her, because she is BRIGHT.)

Drunk dads? At a BBQ? You don’t have to tell me twice.

I don’t enjoy the thought of my loved ones dying. (Does anybody?!)

But, really. My mom tried to talk to us about beneficiaries a few years ago, and I told her to hush because it felt like a jinx.

However, if there’s one thing adulthood really has shown me, time and time again, it’s that people’s loved ones do die. And while it may be nice to pretend they don’t, and they won’t, that’s unrealistic and it’s irresponsible.

I know this feels like it took a dark turn, but sit with me here.

In just the last year or so, I’ve seen my mom & aunt deal with a whole host of frustrating, demoralizing, and unorganized issues stemming from my grandparents not really having their sh!t together when it came to things like financial documents, house deeds, wills, you name it.

In the last two months, I’ve seen my friend’s families deal with the same. One of my friends parents are dealing with the same thing my mom has — death of a parent has created a LOT of friction and mess when it comes to what money is supposed to go where and what things are supposed to go where and who is responsible for what.

In the last few weeks, I’ve seen one of my friends lose her mother (very unexpectedly) which has involved a ton of tracking down paperwork, and trying to find up-to-date wills, and feeling overly consumed by all of the admin details.

And here’s what I’ve realized: NOT having things in order gets in the way of grief, and it creates resentment, and it’s unfair to the people who are left behind. We don’t want to talk about it, or think about it, or mess with it, so… we don’t.

But then, when something horrible happens, families get left with massive funeral bills, or uncertainty about who is supposed to get what, or a lack of clarity about what debt someone had, or a realization that no one knows what the hell to do about the house.

It’s a nightmare for everyone.

But surely it doesn’t have to be. Over the last year, my mom and I have actually spoken quite a bit about this, and she’s been trying to make sure SHE has everything in order. God willing, none of it will need to be used FOR A LONG TIME, but if it did, my sister and I would know what to do.

One of my friends has also been working through this with her parents, too - getting everything from bank logins and lawyer info to safe codes, investment details, you name it.

And, no, it’s not fun. But it causes peace of mind. My friend Meagan | Whealth with Meag of the the millennial money group chat has a (free!) resource called the “When We Die Packet” that is so valuable and something that I just genuinely think we ALL should work through with our loved ones + ourselves.

I know it’s not FUN, but it IS important.

I highly doubt it’s a surprise to, um, literally anyone that we’re in a literacy crisis. 54% of Americans read below a 6th grade level. Approximately 45 million U.S. adults are functionally illiterate, reading below a fifth-grade level. 44% of American adults do not read a book in a year.

This is, in about a zillion ways, alarming. For about a zillion reasons, too. This new piece from The Atlantic offers a LOT of fantastic insight. It’s long, but worth the read:

“But the threat of apathy remains. What we’re losing is the ability and inclination to read those texts. An astonishing wealth of information and wisdom has been bequeathed to us. What we’ll do with this inheritance is up to us.”

I love a fancy lotion (Salt & Stone, ilysm), but I simply refuse to put on a fancy lotion every time I get out of the shower… because I have no desire to pay $40 for a new tub of it every damn month. It’s why I’m PUMPED about my newest find, this Athena Club lotion in Love Letter, which smells truly insane, makes my skin so soft, and does not feel like a big deal to purchase. I took one sniff at the store, immediately put it in my cart, and never looked back.

10/10.

(Also, I didn’t realize they had an entire scent collection of Love Letter. And now I need… all of it?!)

I think that I have some kind of illness in which, once a year, my brain is overtaken by the need for some good ole’ ROMANCE with a nice little bit of smut.

(The way that this follows a note about a literacy crisis is actually purposeful, k?! Because I think any book is a good book and you’ll really never convince me otherwise. Don’t gatekeep or elitist-ify reading, it’s weird and sexist.)

Last year, this meant that I spent an entire month reading every single book in Elsie Silver’s Chestnut Springs and Rose Hill series. I read about bull riders, and farmers, and firefighters, and hot dads, and it was fking glorious.

And this year, that meant that I spent an entire weekend reading every single Lyla Sage book from the Rebel Blue Ranch series. And I loved every FREAKING SECOND OF THEM. These books had so much heart, so many strong women, and so many hot AF men. Like, what the hell is better than that?! If you need something that feels light + happy but still thoughtful, look no further. Truly. I loved these so much!!!

Susannah Hutcheson is a copywriter & writer based in Dallas, TX. Have questions, collaboration opportunities, or just want to say hi? Contact Sus by email at susie@susiebco.com, shop some of her favorites here & here, and follow along on Instagram.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase through them, I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. 🫶🏻

*This post contains a gifted product from Staub, a brand I’ve loved FOREVER. I received no additional financial compensation for this, I’m just excited to chat about it. #zwillingus #zwillinguspartner