1. The Handmaid’s Tale: Hulu’s TV adaptation of the Margaret Atwood novel is simply stunning, disturbing…and terrifyingly relevant, given the current tenor of our world. The cinematography, direction, music, and above all, the acting, are top notch. The cast is jam-packed with incredible women: Elisabeth Moss, Ann Dowd, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, and Alexis Bledel, to name just a few. I’m only three episodes in, but I’m hooked. Somehow I haven’t read the book yet, but it’s en route to my house and I’ll be diving in as soon as it arrives.

2. The Leftovers: speaking of TV, the third and final season of HBO’s series is shaping up to be another entry in your standard “best TV shows of all time” discussions. I cannot sing Carrie Coon’s praises enough; any episode in which she features heavily automatically counts as a personal favorite. The rest of the cast also continues to be strong, though Ann Dowd’s regular presence is missed. I will say that the religious stuff in the show is mostly lost on me, seeing as how I wasn’t raised within a Bible-based religion. However, I still completely enjoy the show and am so very curious to see where the narrative takes these interestingly damaged characters.

3. Peonies Galore: I’ve taken some walks around the Capitol Hill neighborhood this week, and the flowers are out in full force! I’ve been especially taken with peonies lately. They’re all over the place around here, and they are so lovely that I always have to stop and snap pics of them.

4. Andalou Naturals Single Use Face Masks: I’ve posted about these before, but I picked up a couple new-to-me masks this week at Whole Foods (they always have them on offer for two for $5). This time around I bought the Instant Brightening Pumpkin & Honey Face Mask and the Instant Clarity Argan Oil & Blue Clay Face Mask. I’ve had a mini breakout this week so I tried the clarity mask. The actual formula is not bright blue like it appears in the package—it’s more of a very pale gray-blue. The mask felt a little tingly because it contains peppermint oil, and my skin absorbed a lot of it as it sat on my face. It didn’t instantly clear up my small pimples, but I didn’t expect it to…I mean, come on. But they were a bit reduced in size the next day, so maybe it did actually help. I’m looking forward to trying the brightening mask too!

5. Urban Pie Pizza Co: one of the things I was most excited about when we first moved to DC was having a “real” grocery store a block away from our apartment. NYC grocery stores are a lot smaller and have a much more limited stock. When I  first browsed the frozen pizza section of my nearest supermarket in DC it was like a god damn wonderland with angels singing. The place carries brands I literally never saw in my local NYC grocery stores (seriously, all I saw there were DiGiorno, Elio’s, Celeste, and sometimes Tombstone and Amy’s Organic). Urban Pie was a brand I had never heard of and it looked interesting, so I got a Little Italy Pizza and tried it out this week. This thin crust pie is topped with pesto, fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, basil, romano, and parmesan cheese. As you can see in the below photo, the toppings were very poorly distributed on the pizza, but it tasted great! I will definitely try more of these.  #frozenpizzamonster