8 Things I'm Loving Right Now

Or, things that excite me now that I'm 40.

Hi! It’s been a while since I popped up in your inbox, but I started 2025 with an itch to rekindle one of my old favorite pastimes: sharing unsolicited advice and stuff I love on the Internet. Let’s start passing notes again!

puzzle board via amazon & Piecework Poolside Gossip puzzle

1. This giant rotating puzzle board with drawers. I guess I didn’t look at the board dimensions when I ordered the 1000 piece size, because it’s completely taken over our small dining table and only fits under the bed for storage. But! It brings me an inordinate amount of joy to sort all the pieces by color/pattern and stash them away in the drawers.

2. While we’re on the subject, we’re big new fans of Piecework Puzzles; we completed Slim Aarons’ Poolside Gossip over the holiday break and plan to start ‘La Dolce Vita’ next.

3. And one more focus-related hobby, because I recently turned 40 and decided I need to exercise my middle-aged brain more: I snagged an annual subscription to the NYT Games app for $19.99 during the holidays. Everyone thinks Wordle is That Girl, and she is great, but Spelling Bee has me in a chokehold. And I like to tackle the daily crossword in my evening downtime, now that I deleted Instagram from my phone. (More on that later, maybe?)

4. I’m obsessed with these non-slip adhesive sole grips. Like the granny in a Franks Red Hot commercial, I put these sh*ts on everything: slippery sandals, slick-bottomed ballet flats, and every pair of heels that make it out of my closet to see the light of day. Not only do they add extra stability and grip for walking in heels, they also keep me from slip-sliding across the wet floor of my flower studio in my favorite everyday flats. I keep ordering more and sticking them to all my shoes. A+.

5. This $34 scuba knit hooded jacket! She looks expen$ive, and you’ll never guess where I found it. (While you’re there, add this boxy faux leather jacket to your cart, too.)

a matchy-matchy Saturday outfit: my new favorite jeans, an old H&M cotton cardigan and a little Amazon bag from last spring

6. AGOLDE 90’s crop jeans. They’re everything I want in a pair of jeans: a perfect mid-rise waist with a vintage relaxed fit; my ideal 26” ankle-length inseam (I’m 5’4”); and 100% cotton construction that holds its shape and holds you in. I bought a light and dark pair, both new-with-tags on Poshmark for, like, 70% off retail.

7. Todoist! This task management app sat downloaded and dormant on my phone for years — kind of like all the paper planners I buy every year then never open after January? — but I started using it in earnest several months ago. It syncs across my iPhone, iPad and Windows laptop, so my reminders, project notes, and to-do lists are always close at hand. It’s reduced the amount of little things that fall through the cracks by at least 80% - and freed up so much room in my brain now that I’m not relying on my memory to juggle it all.

My first homemade loaf of bread! (She was a little wonky — and flat — but still delicious.)

8. World’s easiest yeast bread recipe. My pal, Erica, sent me this simple, no-knead, 4-ingredient around the holidays. I tried it, and can confirm it really is the world’s easiest. (You’ll need a Dutch oven for this recipe; mine is a cherry red, well-loved workhorse from Cuisinart.) Creating a perfect loaf of bread in your own oven is wonderfully satisfying and makes your house smell incredible. Plus, I’m convinced that a slice of warm, fresh-baked bread slathered in salted butter can fix anything that ails you.

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TTYL! - Keira