Friday Favorites: Baking + Only Murders in the Building
Good morning! It’s time for another round of Friday Favorites, where I share a few things I’ve been loving lately. This week is a fun mix: a hobby I’m getting back into, a show I fell hard for the second time around, and a little self-care tool that’s become part of my routine. Let’s get into it.
Baking
I’ve always enjoyed baking, ever since high school. Whether it was cookies or cakes, I had fun making delicious desserts. I hadn’t done much baking over the last year or so, but recently I’ve picked it back up.
A couple weeks ago I made some blueberry muffins. Granted, they were from a mix, but they were still delicious. Then this past weekend I made some peanut butter cookies. I used a different recipe rather than my favorite one. Needless to say, it wasn’t great. My first batch of cookies came out of the oven nearly burnt on the edges. They also needed extra flour because they were overly wet. Lesson learned: next time I’ll be going back to my usual peanut butter cookie recipe that I know creates delicious cookies!
Only Murders in the Building
I remember watching at least part of the first season with my boyfriend when it first came out. I liked it, but then we never watched any more of it after that for some reason.
Fast forward to last week and I decided to watch it again. Since it had been years, I decided to start over from the first episode of season one. Maybe I just don’t remember liking it this much, but I’m enjoying it even more this time around than I did the first time I watched it.
Three neighbors (Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez) in a building in New York City decide to start a podcast about a murder in their building. The first season follows them trying to solve the murder and ruling out the other people living in the building as suspects.
Episodes are shorter (30 to 35 minutes), which I appreciate. I usually have a hard time sitting still for movies if I’m watching them at home alone. I hardly ever make it through a movie in one sitting by myself. So having shorter episodes of Only Murders in the Building is perfect for me.
Massage Stick
A few days ago I bought a massage stick. I’d been considering getting one for a week, and I finally added it to my cart and clicked buy. I’m so glad I did because I’m already loving it!
I’ve seen other people use them on blogs and social media, but until lately I never really felt the need to use one. I don’t know if it’s because of getting older or what, but I get stiff more often lately. And the stiffness isn’t even caused by workouts. It’s sitting in the car for too long, or not moving enough throughout the day on a rest day.
I’ve always had tight calves, and lately they’ve been extra tight. I have no idea why. Coincidentally, tight calves are related to plantar fasciitis. I’ve dealt with that for years, though thankfully not lately. I figured a couple minutes with a massage stick on my calves would help, and it definitely has.
It’s super easy to use. Not only have I been using it on my calves, but also my quads and hamstrings. My legs feel amazing every single time I’ve used it so far.
It’s still a bit of a weird thing, taking care of my body like this. In the middle of my eating disorder, I would have blamed my body for being stiff, and figured the way to make it better would be to work out more or eat less. Caring for my body still feels a little foreign sometimes. But in this situation, it’s so clear to me that instead of punishing my body for feeling stiff, the right decision is to take care of it.
That’s it for this week’s favorites! Between rediscovering my love of baking, getting sucked back into a great show, and finding a new way to take care of my body, it’s been a good reminder that the small things really do add up. What have you been loving this week? I’d love to hear in the comments.
