2023: A Year of Favorites
We did it, y'all.
Another! Year! Is! Done!
I’m currently tidying up the house and getting ready for 2024, and I think I really am a New Year Person, as mortifying as that feels to admit. There’s just something nice about opening a new planner and starting fresh, new hobbies, etc. There’s also something nice about reading all of the year-end lists every publication seems to make (If year-end lists have a million fans, then I'm one of them. If year-end lists have one fan, then I'm THAT ONE. If year-end lists have no fans, that means I'm dead, etc). I hope you and yours had a great holiday and that you are equally looking forward to 2024. Here are some year-end favorites I wanted to throw at you before January.
ATE
Zebra-Striped Shortbread Cookies: Bon Appetit
I finally had the motivation to make cookie boxes again this year after taking two years off, and the zebra shortbread remained the hit of the bunch. Impossibly delicious, surprisingly chocolatey, do not skip the sugar or sprinkles on the outside!
Cajun Honey Butter Salmon: Scheck Eats
While I have long abandoned Tiktok for a multitude of reasons, this recipe (which I first saw there) has endured. One of our absolute favorite recipes, spectacular leftovers, also great on a sandwich.
LISTENED
‘68 Comeback Special: Elvis
I suppose this is just as much of a watch as a listen, but I fell back in love with the ‘68 Comeback Special this year. Appreciating the broader context of the special helps, but I firmly believe just about anyone could plop down to watch it and love it. The opening (Trouble into Guitar Man, come ON!!!) is legendary, and one of my favorite performances ever is in it (Trying to Get to You). I can and do ramble endlessly about my love for Elvis and other stuff dismissed as Johnny Rockets-ass music, but god, it’s good.
River: Brandi Carlile covering Joni Mitchell
Brandi Carlile is the rock/folk Kelly Clarkson in terms of how damn good she is at covers that add to and/or elevate the original. While River doesn’t need elevation, she still delivers a performance I listened to on repeat.
Dusty Trails: Lucius
This was the year I got multiple people in Lucius, which makes it a good year. If YouTube was factored into my Spotify Wrapped, this would have taken the top spot. The live performance in the Minnesota State Capitol rotunda (I know) is breathtaking. Life-affirming!!!
More Favorite Listens
Red Dirt Girl: First Aid Kit covering Emmylou Harris (Rambled about here)
Joni Mitchell at Newport Folk Festival (Rambled about here)
Travelin’ Soldier: Dixie Chicks
Tiny Desk Concert: Sam Smith (finally a version of Lay Me Down without John Legend!)
One Sweet Day Live at Madison Square Garden: Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men
Babe I’m Gonna Leave You (Danmarks Radio Live Performance): Led Zeppelin
Dust in a Baggie Live at the Opry: Billy Strings
In Dreams (Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre): Sierra Ferrell
Search Engine (podcast)
Heavyweight (podcast)
WATCHED
Boardwalk Empire
I abandoned Boardwalk Empire sometime before the fourth season began. I decided to restart it and watch the entire thing and oh boy, what a show. I have long felt overly defensive of it since I think it suffered from being the chaser to The Sopranos and airing at the same time as Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and other Peak Prestige TV shows. After I finished my rewatch, my husband decided he wanted to watch it, so I immediately watched the entire series again with him. While this sounds absurd, it was maybe the most fun I’ve had watching a show. I’m embarking on my next rewatch now as proof that I will order the same thing at a restaurant for my entire life if it’s good and I’m sick of pretending I’m not that person.
Taskmaster
Friends, I love you all, and I try the things you recommend, and they are not always good, but I still love you. Taskmaster is the ultimate proof that friend recommendations can be solid gold. Henderly (the hilarious and amazing goblinparties) has been a tireless advocate for Taskmaster, and I finally took the plunge this year. It is hysterical and such a joy, and the entire thing is on YouTube for free. I suggest starting with Series 4 (as Henderly did). My favorite season so far is the most recent (16), which brought me to tears almost every episode.
Way Too Many Marilyn Monroe Movies
We got a Criterion subscription this year (I know, I know) for their Marilyn Monroe collection. It’s been a while since I sat down and watched more of her catalog than my favorite two (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire) and she is so indescribably incandescent. It’s cliche to say that you can’t take your eyes off of someone, but it is truly impossible to take your eyes off of her as she performs. If you ever get me intoxicated enough I can’t shut up (won’t take much!) I will ramble about how nobody in history could do it like Marilyn did.
More Favorite Watches
Oppenheimer
The Last Matinee (Great cat-and-mouse slasher inside of a movie theatre)
Talk to Me
Barbie
The Vanishing (1988)
Four in a Bed (Rambled about here)
READ
I had lofty goals of a 3-book-a-week pace this year, but I ended up hitting 123. This is still absolutely amazing, and I realize that sounds like a made-up number of books for the vast majority of people. I’m really proud of how I worked to make reading for fun a part of my daily life again in 2022, and I’m even prouder that I kept it up in 2023. Here’s to a 3-book-a-week pace in 2024 :)
VISITED
The Carnegie Museums
We really got our money out of our membership to the Carnegie Museums this year. I’ve never gotten to visit the same museums so many times in quick succession (even living near the Smithsonian Museums my whole life until now), and it’s a treat having a favorite dinosaur or noticing when a picture gets swapped out in a gallery.
LOVED
I feel like I would be remiss to not include Flapjack somewhere in this newsletter. Our parakeet, the funniest and silliest bird ever, left us in January. We loved her so much, and I’ll miss her forever. To avoid making this newsletter a bummer I am including my favorite photo of her edited into The Godfather.
MADE
See y’all in 2024!