Dior Prestige Serum
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Luxury Serum, TV Shows, and more

1. Dior Prestige La Micro-Huile De Rose Advanced Serum [affiliate link]: a couple months ago, I received a bottle of this luxury serum for free via Influenster. This one-ounce (30 ml) bottle retails for $285! The serum contains micro-pearls rich in Rose de Granville sap, which is supposed to help revitalize, plump, strengthen, lift, nourish, and firm skin. So, all the things. I’m close to emptying this bottle, after using it twice daily most days for the past couple of months. While it’s a nice serum, I can’t say it’s been extraordinary for my skin. It smells lovely, absorbs quickly, and plays well with my other skin care. But did it do enough for my skin to make me want to spend $285 on a bottle? Unfortunately, no. However, I’m super grateful for the opportunity to try this serum!

Dior Prestige Serum

2. Ted Lasso: we were late to the game (lame pun, heh) on this Apple TV+ show that everyone has been raving about since season one. I’m not into sports…like, at all. So I wasn’t super interested in TL, but folks kept telling me that, like Friday Night Lights—which I loved—the show is about the people, not soccer football. And they were right. We finished season two this week, and while the story was a little all over the place, it was still really enjoyable. The show does verge on cutesy at times, but the characters are mostly very loveable. Ted Lasso’s relentless enthusiasm would be waaaaay extra (and exhausting) in a real-life person, but it’s nice to absorb some positivity via our TV. And TL‘s Emmy awards for acting (Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, and Brett Goldstein) were very well-deserved.

Ted Lasso poster
Image Credit: Apple TV+

3. Orchid Blooms: winter is orchid blooming season in my backyard greenhouse, and I’m starting to see some gorgeous treats! I’m particularly pumped about the Rhynchostylis gigantea blooms pictured below; this orchid is blooming for the first time since I bought it nearly eleven years ago! You can see a few more blooms in a recent post over on my orchid blog.

Rhynchostylis gigantea orchid

4. Archive 81: I binge-watched this recent Netflix release, which is based on a podcast that I’m unfamiliar with.  This series is creepy, dark, and mysterious, with plenty of twists and turns. As someone who attended high school and college in the 1990s’s, I will say that the show didn’t quite nail the fashion and makeup in the scenes set in that decade. And the premise of a 1990’s character constantly filming with a camcorder begins to strain credulity in certain situations. But these things weren’t dealbreakers for me. Is this an absolute must-watch? Not particularly, but if you like eerie content, this series is a fun escape.

Archive 81
Image Credit: Netflix

5. Yetsom Beyaynetu: we got another Marley Spoon meal kit box this week, and this vegetarian Ethiopian platter was SO GOOD. I love Ethiopian food but have never attempted to make it at home. Obviously this type of food is best when you dine at an Ethiopian restaurant and scoop up the various dishes with the traditional injera bread (MS sent us pita instead of injera). But for my first-ever attempt at this cuisine, it was very flavorful and and rather simple to cook. I would totally make this recipe again.

Vegetarian Ethiopian meal | Marley Spoon
Clockwise from L: pita, tomato salad, braised collards, lentil stew