The Brightside Vol 13

April 9th, 2020

ON REPEAT:

Turn the Light, Karen O & Danger Mouse

I found this through a virtual yoga playlist and I'm obsessed.

WELCOME TO THE BRIGHTSIDE

Happy FRIDAY everyone! Grab a nice hot cup of coffee, light a candle, and let's do some #brightsiding.

With more downtime on my hands than I know what to do with, I've been dreaming up some updates to The Brightside. If you're able to spare 2 minutes, I'd really appreciate you filling out this survey to help me with some ideas!

I'll be randomly selecting one person to receive Milk Bar cookies a thank you! (I've been in a sales role long enough to know that no one fills out a survey without a little incentive).

How's Your Mind Today?

I started the week by telling myself: Ok Bogs, just do things that make you feel mentally and physically well this week. It's not about feeling productive, it's about feeling good in your body. (Last week I felt pretty anxious about productivity, so I was trying to avoid that.)

The little pep talk was pretty helpful. I found myself taking a few seconds before tasks, snacks, or exercise just checking in with myself about how it would make me feel after. I saved myself from a few things I definitely didn't need in my day and added some things I'm proud of.

How are you doing?

Highs:

One, finding this cover of Lana Del Rey's Young & Beautiful by Glass Animals lead singer Dave Bayley. Chills! (Song starts ~5:20)

And two, learning that Google has increased our annual charity match amount, meaning any donations to local food banks, charities, what have you will be matched 100%. I sent a donation to CT Food Bank, but I'm looking for more frontline organizations to support. If you have any causes or charities that are near and dear to your heart, let me know!

Lows:

I felt a real wave of homesickness for New York this week. It breaks my heart knowing how much the city's hurting right now, but ultimately so thankful to be safe and sound in Florida.

AirPods Pro Review

I left my original AirPods in Vermont this winter, and I've been scraping by without them for a few months. But when we got down to Florida, I found that I really needed wireless headphones. So I splurged on a pair of AirPods Pro and I'm in love with them.

I didn't think they'd be that different from the originals, but the sound quality is unreal. They're already making a huge difference with my ability to feel connected to yoga (thank you noise cancelling!!) and I'm glad to have them for day-to-day things that I don't want my bulky over-the-ear headphones for (like talking on the phone and running).

Random Facts

I'm reading this book called Aesthetic Intelligence which it is FULL of case studies / facts that I'm finding very fascinating. Here are some random facts from the book I learned this week:

• In 2015, Disney sued Deadmau5 for the use of his Mouse-shaped mask at concerts, saying it was "antithetical" to Disney's values. The case was settled and Deadmau5 still uses the helmet (I agree with this outcome, I think the lawsuit was a bit of a stretch!)

• When Clinique was a new brand, they never used models in their ads. Photographer Irving Penn used only product shots that spoke for themselves, and I fell into a total Google-hole about this! The ads are gorgeous and timeless, and I think they'd make great prints in a bathroom.

• And lastly, somewhere between 41-48% of our food preferences are genetic. So fascinating!

Normal People  

Earlier this week I stumbled upon an article called Normal People. Thinking it would be about the book by Sally Rooney (it wasn't), I clicked the link and found myself spellbound by the article and glad for the message. It's a bit of a long read, but I really enjoyed it. I hope you do, too!

And to end on a light note: my favorite part of The Brightside ... torturing myself with something I'm not letting myself purchase.

Today it's this cleanser that I sampled once. It smells sooo heavenly, but I'm waiting to finish my current cleanser before buying anything new.

happy brightsiding,

(and final plug for this 2 minute reader survey - Milk bar cookies could be YOURS!)

Always here for an email pen-palship, even if (especially if!) we haven't caught up in a while. <3

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