Stop Pretending That You Are Too Good to Have a TV.
When we collected our staff’s weekly updates last Friday, our editors experienced the joy of paper cookbooks, donated more often, and dealt with old 401 (k) s.
This week, we’re smacking up new beauty products, finding creative ways to clean up the clutter of our home, cutting back on alcohol with a simple drink change, and using apps that prevent us from checking Twitter in our spare time.
What updates have you made this week? Let us know in the comments.
Stop resisting iconic beauty products
I hate being “that bitch” but I bought Glossier lip gloss and be damned if my lips don’t look like the best version of myself. Compliments abound. Someone asked me if my lips were “plump”. It reminds me of the gloss I wore as a teenager, but not as sticky or scent. I thought I needed lip injections. Turns out I just needed the right gloss.
Claire Lowe, Food and Beverage Editor
Your drill is a pretty good brush
I recently gave my 13-year-old companion animal some peanut butter to enjoy during his scheduled bath to keep him happy while I vigorously wiped his tiny fluffy figure away. Unfortunately, this peanut butter ended up on the carpet, and my dog was sitting a decent distance from where his aroma accident occurred. I knew that sooner or later it would happen, so I was ready. A few days earlier, I ordered a soft bristled round brush attachment for my cordless drill. After I cleared out most of the clutter and worked up the area, I began to peel off the remaining stain, doing a few hundred revolutions at a time. It turns out that power tools have more than enough power to clean up accidents almost fun. Nearly.
Patrick Austin, staff writer
Survive the Cold Office with Snuggie
After working with cold office temperatures for a few weeks, I discovered the (leopard print) Snuggie that I bought on Hanukkah in 2008 and applied it to work. It’s definitely sleeker than wearing a winter coat at the table, and the hands make it look better than a regular blanket. I’m either the biggest doof in the office or a huge genius.
Emily Lipstein, social media editor
Swap booze for bitters
I drank less, following advice from the Lifehacker podcast and Tom Skokka’s “Have two drinks at a party.” I try to sort out “real” drinks, but I don’t like soda, and plain water is embarrassing and boring for me. So this Wednesday, instead of my second beer, I tried seltzer and bitter – a trick Alice showed on a podcast last year . It tasted great, felt as “real” as the booze, and I stayed sweet and sober.
Nick Douglas, staff writer
Reorient productivity apps to help you relax
The Forest app is best known as a timer to help you focus on work, but I used it to make it easier to laze around. If you use any application other than Forest while the tree is “growing”, it dies. So I plant trees in two hours all weekend and every night before bed. As a result, I spend much less time on Twitter and much more time drawing, reading and playing with my kids.
Beth Squarecki, health editor
Free yourself from viewing everything on your laptop
This week’s update clearly falls into the category of “spending money on things,” but for me it’s a big change and I’m thrilled to have a TV for the first time in my adult life! I bit the bullet and finally got my TV, Roku and base antenna to receive local channels. I plan on spending the weekend watching the Olympics and enjoying the adult luxury of not watching everything on my tiny laptop screen.
Virginia K. Smith, Editor-in-Chief
Experiment with mixing bagel flavor
At the office on Monday, I got my favorite kind of bagel: a poppy seed bagel, which was next to a salted bagel. The perfect amount of texture, aroma and flavor.
Joel Kahn, Senior Video Producer
Clean your damn dishwasher
I washed the dishwasher. Yes, I was under the impression that a machine that cleans other things should know how to clean itself, but that is not the case. And everything accumulates! You need to wash the dishwasher friends. I removed the filter, propeller and glass shards collector (these are probably not the correct terms for dishwasher components) and soaked them all. I wiped away the strange food remnants from the inside. Does my dishwasher perform better? I’m not sure. But I feel better knowing that I no longer have a cupboard with old leftovers in my kitchen.
melissa kirsch, editor-in-chief
Extend your Wi-Fi coverage
I bought a Wi-Fi repeater because our router is in the worst place in the world. This helped me not to lose the Overwatch games.
Patrick Allan, staff writer