‘Editor’s Corner’ is a monthly-ish series highlighting what I’m loving, what I’ve been up to, what’s on my mind and more!
1. Well, it was quite the month, weather-wise! I so hope everyone who was affected by the severe winter weather is doing or recovering well. At the beginning of February there was a big snowstorm in New York City. Whenever I hear about a snowstorm in NYC, I can’t help but think of this epic video. For the first half of the month here in Iowa we experienced bone-chilling temps. The lowest it got down to was close to 20 degrees below zero. It wasn’t just Iowans who had to deal with the polar vortex. Many other states, most notably Texas, experienced extreme winter weather that led to rolling power blackouts. There aren’t many upsides to sub-zero temps, but it has made the 40 degrees that we’ve had since feel positively balmy!
2. I pretty much slept on the Super Bowl this year. I didn’t cook or bake anything and I just glanced at the game and the commercials every now and then. I was, however, excited for the The Weeknd’s halftime performance, which I thought was really good. The memes from his performance were on point, too!
3. I started watching American Idol and wow, there is a lot of talent this season! The first round auditions aren’t done airing yet but in my opinion the title is Casey Bishop’s to lose. She is so incredibly talented! And just 15 years old! My other favorites so far are Grace Kinstler, Amanda Mena, Nia Renee and Benson Boone. I have to mention DJ Johnson’s audition, as her story and original song had me sobbing! As it says in the video description: “WARNING: Do not watch this if you’re not ready to cry!”
4. Lake is currently obsessed with this book and picks it for us to read to her at least a couple of times a day.
5. Some local news: There are some big plans in the works to redevelop Valley West Mall and Fong Pizza’s new “Loopy Fruits” breakfast pizza (made with Fruit Loops and cheese) is causing quite the reaction, nationwide!
6. Did you order cookies from your local Girl Scout troop this month? I ordered six boxes online from my friend’s daughter. I ordered Lemonades and Shortbread for T and Thin Mints and Peanut Butter Sandwiches for me. The two other boxes we ordered were S’mores and Caramel Chocolate Chip. I’ve found that pretty much all of the varieties freeze pretty well. Actually, I think the Thin Mints taste much better after freezing. A couple of notables – There’s a new cookie this year called Toast-Yay!, which is French toast-inspired and apparently tastes like Cinnamon Toast Crunch and this is the last year for S’mores.
7. This was the funniest video I watched this month. This TikTok spoofing the video is pretty funny, too.
8. T and I watched the Framing Britney Spears documentary this month. I thought it was interesting but wished we could have heard from more people from her inner circle like her longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, as well as some of her family members. T and I both cringed at the clips of the blatant sexism she faced in the media, especially in some of the interviews shown.
9. I have mixed feelings towards Valentine’s Day. I’ve never liked how couple-centric the holiday seems to be. Of course it’s wonderful to celebrate romantic love, but I think it’s even better to celebrate ALL types of love! So I think it’s really cool when kids exchange valentine’s or a dad gets flowers for his daughter or a mom gives her son a card or a gift or girlfriends do a “Galentine’s Day” celebration…things like that! I had a lot of fun making Valentine’s Day goodies for Lake’s classmates and teachers at her daycare. T and I usually go out for dinner but this year we got take-out from one of our favorite local restaurants, Gastro Grub & Pub.
10. My birthday was this month and it was a great one! T gave me a lovely card, an Everlane gift card and a gorgeous dried arrangement from Wildflower, which is the photo in this post. My best friends Kelsi and Lis, got me extremely thoughtful gifts and I received very generous birthday wishes via cards, texts and social media. Aaand, as an added and surprise birthday bonus, Taylor Swift released the full version of her re-recording of Love Story, which is the first single from Fearless (Taylor’s Version) which comes out April 9. Needless to say, I’m super excited about all of her upcoming album re-releases.
11. And lastly, ONE GOOD QUOTE:
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
-CHINESE PROVERB
I hope you had a great February! I’m getting excited for all things SPRING, including warmer temps, “springing forward” for daylight savings time and Easter!
-Jolene
P.S. – ICYMI this month:
My Current Favorite Lip Balms
Easy Overnight Oats
*Click HERE to read past Editor’s Corner posts.
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