First Friday Five of 2024!
1. Mean Girls: on opening weekend, went to see this movie based on the musical based on the movie. And I loved it! The original Mean Girls is an iconic favorite for a reason. I saw it in the theater and own the DVD. Plus, I’m a sucker for musicals. So of course I wanted to see the new version in the theater! The cast is fantastic—I particularly loved Auli’i Cravalho as Janis and Jaquel Spivey as Damian. The new cast and script are much more inclusive, as the original was super white and had some problematic elements. The music is a lot of fun, and I ended up buying the soundtrack the day after seeing the movie. If you’re an OG Mean Girls fan, I recommend going to see this new version!
2. Indoor Rock Climbing: A couple months ago while watching an IG Story of someone climbing in a gym, I was struck with the thought of “maybe that’s something I would like.” I think the combo of that plus our short via ferrata adventure in the French Alps is what gave me the notion. I looked into climbing gyms and found one for John and I to try. Last weekend, we took an intro to rock climbing class and returned to the gym the next day to practice top rope climbing and belaying. It was intimidating and scary, but we both really enjoyed ourselves. I felt so proud that I even tried it in the first place! I’m looking forward to going back, and we might sign up for a monthly membership. You just never know what might spark your interest in something new.
3. New Tarot Decks: before seeing Mean Girls, we wandered around the mall. We went into Spencer’s, which I haven’t set foot in in one million years. They had a display of tarot decks that included Horror Tarot and Occult Tarot, both of which looked right up my alley. I didn’t end up buying them there, but later ordered them from Bookshop.org (which supports independent booksellers). These will both be fun to play around with!
4. New Shelf: I’ve been wanting a new shelf for this spot in our bedroom for FOREVER. We had a small Ikea bookshelf there for a long time that was overflowing with books and DVDs. Surprisingly, I found the perfect shelf on Home Depot’s website. This reasonably priced shelf was just the right size and style. This gold-and-glass shelf arrived last week and was easy for me to assemble on my own. Here’s the complete shelf after I styled it:
5. Free Mirror: recently, some neighbors left a couple mirrors out in the alley for sanitation to pick up. We took a look at them and thought this gold rectangular mirror was the perfect size and shape to hang over the sideboard in our dining area. Turns out the mirror was in good shape with no damage. So, we decided to rescue the mirror, clean it up, and hang it on the wall. It’s perfect for this space and really opens up our small dining area!
