Time to turn back the clocks
Figuratively, but almost literally
Hello mixers!
I know I said last week’s post was a shorter “non-essay,” but it really turned out to be more like an essay than not didn’t it… Regardless, I’m glad y’all enjoyed it (I loved getting people’s comments on the side!) and I hope you shared it with at least a few people who might get a kick out of my Charli XCX/car on fire pairing.
Anyways, today I promise you this post is short and sweet and totally more of a quick musing than anything. Let’s dive in!
Now that we’re firmly into the fall season, I realized that for me, fall is all about nostalgia. This year, for example, I inexplicably found myself craving a rewatch/relisten of:
The Hunger Games movies
Twin Peaks TV series
The Lord of The Rings movies
The Harry Potter audiobooks (Jim Dale version)
Fall is peak cozy season. It’s when we can finally bundle up in our favorite sweaters, but before we start to resent the bitter cold and long for warmth again. Fall is characterized by comfort: warm mugs of tasty drinks, snuggling under blankets, curling up with a good book or movie. Watching or doing the things I loved in my childhood is one of the most comforting things to me. I get to suspend reality for however long the experience lasts and be a cozy kid again.
One night a couple of weeks ago, Derek randomly put on the 1996 TV movie Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and while I had initially been doing something else on my phone, I pretty quickly put that down to give the movie my full attention. At some point, overwhelmed, I cried, “I wanted to be a witch so badly!!!!!” Derek could not stop laughing, but I was serious! When I was a girl, I had wanted to be a witch SO badly. Not the Hermione kind of witch, but like Sabrina, or The Craft girls. I was determined to learn spells and make potions. I wanted this even into my early twenties (if we’re being honest I still want this), all the witchy stores and books calling to me wherever I went. But by then, I knew I couldn’t sink all my money into buying all these books and candles and herbs for it to potentially not work. Watching Sabrina was a reminder, a rekindling, of that deep longing.
Whether or not my own nostalgic rewatches above resonate with you, here are a few more cozy recommendations:
“Over the Garden Wall” (2014, available on Hulu)
Kiki’s Delivery Service with subtitles not dubbed (1989, available on Max)
Practical Magic (1998, available on Hulu)
“The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends” (1992-1998, available on VHS at my parents’ house)
“The Great British Bake Off” with Mary Berry (2010-2016, available on the Roku Channel)
Drop what makes you feel nostalgic and/or cozy below in the comments!
Other things that I’ve been loving lately:
“Only Murders in the Building” season 4 on Hulu (although I’m only on ep 5!): It’s always such an intriguing romp with Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez (she should change her name to… Short Steve?).
“How to Die Alone” on Hulu: Natasha Rothwell does both comedic and heartfelt scenes so well, I find myself rooting for her character, Mel, despite her problematic choices throughout. It’s really worth a watch.
Over the Influence: A Memoir audiobook by Joanna "JoJo" Levesque on Spotify: I loooooved JoJo growing up and over the years have lamented her lack of a third album and consistent output. Now I know why! Poor girl was stuck in so many systems that didn’t care for her, and it’s amazing to see how she’s fought her way back to being herself.
“Scream Queens” season 1 on Hulu: Binged this in just a couple of days while Derek was out of town and cackled A LOT. It’s purely fun, silly satire with a bit of gore, which makes for an excellent Halloween season watch. Will be queuing up season 2 ASAP!