Best of 2024
The Best Moments of 2024
A year of bucket list concerts, a new favorite beach destination and our European honey, 2024 has been a pretty great year. A comprehensive list of all the best things of 2024!
Best Song: Oil and Water
Best Album: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
I’ve been a fan of PVRIS since 2015. I’ve listened to every album I don’t even know how many times, Lynn Gunn is one of my favorite singers and I love how their music has evolved over the last ten years. And then there’s Chappell’s Roan album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess - I LOVE this album! Not a 2024 release but an album I have listened to over and over.
The Best Makeup & Skincare of 2024
2024 was the year where I tried many new skincare/makeup brands. Here’s a list of some of my favorite products One instore recommendation and two new brands I tried this year that I absolutely love include:
Lipgloss - Saie
Green Tea Face Cream - Innisfree
Eyeshadow Palette - Charlotte Tilbury
The Best Project of 2024
Slowly finding furniture pieces, artwork, and vintage/thrift finds that fit my Nancy Meyers meets Ralph Lauren with New England/California Coastal vibes, and also revamping our bar area!
The Best TV Shows of 2024
Early to Mid-2000s television shows. As a 00s teen and mid 00s young adult, I’m currently watching a handful of shows I started but never finished from the mid 2000s. Shows like Desperate Housewives, Royal Pains, Revenge, Alias, Samantha Who and a few rewatchables, like Gilmore Girls (obviously) and Grey’s Anatomy (but only seasons 1-3). Let me tell you, it’s been an excellent Fall TV line-up this year. After dinner and post shower/skincare routine, getting tucked into bed with a few magazines and playing with my cats, it’s my favorite part of the day.
The Best Shops of 2023
In an effort to reduce my online shopping and supporting bigger retail stores, I am trying to be more mindful and buy from locally owned business, visit the Sunday farmer’s market more often, check out the hundreds of thrift stores in the Palm Springs area and follow smaller online shops. A few of my favorite local shops for gifting (and treating myself to) these are my favorite places to shop in the desert.
Sunny Dunes Antique Mall in Palm Springs, CA
Blonde in Palm Desert, CA
Plants 4 U - Rancho Mirage
Joshua Tree Trading Post - Joshua Tree, CA
Rocks and Records - Indio, CA
The Best Fashion Choices of 2024
As a librarian/archivist being a minimalist is kind of hard. I love collecting things - everything from books, records, things from my travels, fashion, 80s and 90s nostalgic knick knacks like Polly Pockets and stickers, it can be overwhelming and just hard to maintain. As I’ve aged, I’ve become more of a minimalist. One its better for the environment and two, you don’t need all the things. Over the last few years, I’ve gotten rid of a lot of crap. Many of my ‘collections’ have become quite a bit smaller and instead I focus on buying more quality made furniture, clothing, etc. And now, it feels so good to not have all the stuff. I’ve spent the last two - three years getting rid of old and cheap clothes and have instead spent more time looking for more quality made clothing. Here are a few my favorite fashion items in my closet right now.
Best Tees: Mock Turtle Neck Shirts
The Best Books of 2024
A dedicated audiophile I read sixty books last year. Narrowing down my top five was really hard, I read a lot of really interesting books this past year. Nonetheless, here are my top eight.
Disappearing Earth - Julia Philips
A haunting but beautifully told story about missing sisters in Kamchatka, an isolated peninsula in Siberia. Each chapter in this book follows a different person whose life intersects with that of the missing girls. The book is less about the girls and more about the individuals and community in and around Kamchatka. The ending killed me, it’s infuriating. It is also one of the best books I have ever read. Highly, highly recommend.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami
I’m not a runner but I loved this memoir. Meditative, relaxing, inspiring and a book I’ll read every year now. .
The End of Everything - Megan Abbott
I had such a book hangover after reading this. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read but it is so disturbing. A book that leaves you wondering and with lots of questions. It is a slow read, So I see why people don’t like it but it’s done intentionally so you can feel every emotion between the two main girls. Set in the 80s, this is a story about a teen girl who has gone missing and how the friend of the missing girl is dealing with the trauma of it all. Just read it tell me all your thoughts.
A fun summery, mystery romance. I love all the characters in this book, the charm and small town setting and the second chance at love. I was so invested in the mystery of the decoy duck so I started actually online shopping for one.
Briefly Perfectly Human - Alua Arthur
This book is so beautiful, the amount of notes I jotted down, the countless morning I’ve cried listening to this on my way to work, just please go read it!
The Ex Talk - Rachel Lynn Solomon
The Ex Talk is such a fun, steamy and cute romance that has had me in a book hangover for weeks. Now we need a book to screen adaptation and I vote Charles Melton as Dominic Yun.
A plane full of teen beauty pageant contestants crash on a deserted jungle island and must work together to survive. Each teen has a hidden talent that comes in handy when they discover that they are not alone. This book is hilarious (and also discusses current teen issues) and is filled with satire and pop culture references. I especially love the product placement and sponsors in the footnotes. If you like Drop Dead Gorgeous, you’ll love this. A must summer read.
As a horror movie fan I love the premise of this poetry collection. The poems are brutal - you’ll read about final girls in slasher movies and those not lucky enough to be final girls. The last poem is just a list of names of women, famous and not, whose lives were touched by violence and it gave me all the chills. Note to self, but all of Gotlieb’s poetry.
The Best Place to Eat and Drink of 2024
Shorebird - Palm Desert, CA
Traditional seafood and steakhouse.
Koffi - Rancho Mirage, CA
The best green teas, matcha lattes, bagel sandwiches and berry muffins.
Townie Bagels - La Quinta, CA
The best bagels and breakfast sandwiches in the desert
Bakery Cat City - Cathedral City
Mexican cafe/bakeshop that offers breakfast combo plates and traditional pastries.
La Paloma- Indio, CA
A new workday lunch spot that is quickly becoming a favorite.
The Best Movies of 2024
The Substance
A body horror movie starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. The story follows a fading celebrity, Elizabeth Sparkle who after being fired by her disgusting producer due to her age, uses a black market drug that creates a much younger version of herself with unexpected side effects. A film about the societal pressures on women’s bodies and aging , this movie is twisted, beyond weird but such an excellent move. Demi Moore better win an Oscar for her performance in this movie.
The Best Events of 2024
Madonna in Concert
The Celebration Tour - That’s all that needs to be said, I was able to see Madonna in concert and her set was incredible. Bucket List performance - check!
Janet Jackson in Concert
Together Again Tour - Checked off another bucket list concert!
Sara Bareilles in Concert
For my birthday David surprised me with tickets to Sara Bareilles performing with the LA Philharmonic live at the Hollywood Bowl. Like what! Sara has been my favorite singer since 2007. Have never been to the Hollywood Bowl, but I loved every second of this concert!
Memorable Beach Trip
I love exploring new beaches and this year we ended the summer taking a trip to Orange County and set up for the day at Corona Del Mar State beach. Maybe my favorite Southern California beach. .
Ireland & Scotland
Two years later but we finally went on our honeymoon! Ireland and Scotland were absolutely amazing and I will be posting several posts about our trip in 2025.
