happy April! mind if we talk about March for a little bit?
I am admittedly a bit ashamed at how long it has taken me to sit down and write this month’s edition of little sparkles… but not too ashamed, because I was simply busy living life to the max and releasing all expectations from this newsletter. xx
I told myself that I couldn't let myself get into the double digits of April without writing this because that would be simply insane.
so here we are!
March was honestly a really great month, which it usually is for me, since it revolves around my birthday. the month is basically split up into three portions: the exciting lead-up to my birthday, spending approximately a week celebrating my birthday with different loved ones, and that newfound sparkle for life that comes with my new age and carries me through the remainder of the month.
but my birthday candles were not the only thing that sparkled during March! I packed it to the brim with things that really made me feel lovely, and I think I deserve that!
I’d love to tell you more about it. let’s go! ⭒
sparkly reads
I read a book last month for one of the best reasons to pick up a book: because I thought the cover was really pretty. that book was They’re Going To Love You by Meg Howrey (bonus points for a lovely title), and going in with no expectations was kind of the perfect way to read it. I was absolutely enamored during the entire weekend I spent devouring it. I’ll paste my review from Fable below so you can understand how much I adored this novel:
“I love when a book finds me at the exact right time for me to receive it and appreciate it for what it is rather than what I need it to be. while I don’t relate to this story in really any meaningful way, I was still able to find little pieces of myself within the letters on the page. there is relatability in Carlisle’s expression of what it means to be a daughter, or a girl, or a teenage girl (different), or a woman (again, different), and above all, a human. how thoughtfully, poignantly, painfully Howrey phrases emotions, thoughts, notions, unsaid ideas that we have all conceived before but never eloquated — and suddenly they are said so sharply and accurately that it takes your breath away. I lament that I didn’t have a pencil available to me while I read this book, or else I would have marked up countless phrases of inspiration I’m going to tuck away for my own attempts at writing. a lovely experience.” and that’s all I have to say about that!
because I’m a silly little girl who loves silly little romantic comedies, I also took the time to dive into the sophomore novel of the Heartstrings series by B.K. Borison: And Now, Back To You. I particularly enjoyed the will-they-won’t-they, but also the fact that this was not a slow burn by any sense of the word. we were not refused feet-kicking moments; in fact, they came in abundance. I’m always down to have a new fictional man to pine over for a month straight, and Jackson really fit the bill this time around. thank goodness!
I am a lifelong Hippo Campus fan. they have been one of my favorite bands for about a decade now (that feels incredibly ancient of me to say), and they are continually the best performers I’ve been able to see live. they recently began a Substack where they share old demos and voice notes, songs in their discography and songs that never saw the light of day, and the stories behind them — and I became a paid subscriber within hours of them announcing it. they’re posting songs in chronological order, it seems, and it’s been so nostalgic and bittersweet to learn about the songs I loved since I was 17 and see them in a new light, as this older-and-kinda-wiser version of myself. time is weird, and music is amazing!
this month, I accidentally grew my Substack. not by a lot, but by an amount that makes me feel like I actually have people reading these words that I’m writing. I didn’t really mean to; it was a byproduct of spending a lot of my time on Notes (I wrote a little piece about that here). as a result, I’ve opened my world to so many new writers and publications — and I even get to call some of them my friends! it’s been a magical experience and I’ve gotten to read quite a few pieces that have changed my brain chemistry. here are a few:
first, I’d like to highlight this essay I wrote about how terrified I am to enter my impending chapter of solitude as I look to move into an apartment all by myself. just writing + posting this was a form of exposure therapy in itself, and all of the comments I’ve received have really opened my eyes and heart to the possibilities of this next season. I’m proud of this piece and appreciate anyone who’s taken the time to read it — you are a star in my book!
“learning how to show up for myself” by new mutual & sweet friend Dae: similarly to my article I plugged above and cosmically kind of the answer to the questions I asked in that entry, this piece by Dae has been a major comfort to me. it also coincidentally reminded me so much of the Meg Howrey book I read, so it just feels like I found Dae at the perfect time. x
“To Hinge or not to Hinge” by my new friend Cat: I love her wit and sharpness, and the truth in which she writes. simply loved this piece which is hitting hard as I navigate the treacherous waters of the DC dating pool.
“what women don’t understand about men” by gor: this essay knocked me on my butt. this was the first piece I read by gor, and unsurprisingly, his most engaged-with, which caused me to subscribe immediately. it turns out I don’t really know a lot about men, considering everything I think I know about them is really because of media I consume that’s been created by women. so, it was an enlightening read! I also particularly love this shorter piece he wrote.
sparkly watches
the theme of March was Harry Styles. not only did he release his new album (more to come on that), but he also performed the entire thing front-to-back for a large group of extremely lucky people who live in Manchester, which sadly does not include me. thankfully for me, though, he shared the live-ish concert on Netflix two days later so American Girls (heh) like myself could enjoy it, too. not only did he perform the whole album, but he also played a bunch of random songs during the encore, including “From The Dining Table” which is top 10 Harry songs of all time. I can’t believe we live in such fortunate times!
I woke up one day last month and decided to change my life for the better. what did I decide to do? finally watch Hamnet. ohhhh boy. there aren’t words in the English language for how deeply significant this movie is to me. when I was studying English lit in college, there was one class that I wanted to take semester after semester but was never able to get into, until finally a spot opened up in my last year. that class was Shakespeare Studies. the course was everything I dreamed it to be, plus more. it was a word nerd’s dream come true. add to this lore the fact that I would put Paul Mescal in my top 5 unattainable crushes of all time (like, did you see him in Normal People?), and you can begin to perceive how important Hamnet was to me. the last 10 minutes of the film earned the most raw, human tears that I have ever cried in my life. the longer I sit with it, the more sure I am that this is one of the best films ever made. if I had a Letterboxd, I think it might make my top 4. you honestly just have to see it to believe it. thank you to the arts for being such a wonderfully meaningful thing. creativity is a gift. we are so lucky.
I finally went on my kick of watching Oscar-nominated movies so I could properly ooh and aah when the awards were handed out. “kick” may be hyperbole, because I only managed to watch two: the aforementioned Hamnet, and the equally-impressive Sinners. it’s no surprise that both are decorated films, winning Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively. after watching, there is no shred of mystery remaining: Michael B. Jordan absolutely slayed his role(s). watching Sinners was kind of a crazy ride, and I watched it with my two friends, which made it infinitely more fun and exciting. another sort of movie that increases in impact the longer you sit on it and think about it.
my roomie and I are slowly-but-surely making our way through Game of Thrones, marking my first time watching the show (so no spoilers, plz!). it’s taken us a few months but we’re finally making good progress, averaging an episode every other night. we’re just a few eps away from finishing season four, and stuff is starting to happen. the last two seasons have truly been a generational run. I am actively stressed every single time we watch, and I have to cover my eyes for a lot of the scenes, but it is still a very fun nighttime activity.
sparkly listens
the most important thing that happened in the music world this past month is Harry Styles dropping his fourth album, which has personally changed my life. I wrote about this briefly in my birthday post, but this album dropped the day before my birthday and so I will always associate it with turning 26 / reaching this pivotal point in my life. I feel like all my favorite artists know exactly what I need in each season of my life and meet me right there when they drop their albums, and KISSCO is no exception to that. this album has become the soundtrack of entering my late 20s, finding my own place in this world, and learning to love life again. while different songs have struck me on different days and my ranking has changed, the few that I simply can’t get enough of are as follows:
“Taste Back”: this is genuinely one of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard from a sonic standpoint. something about the intro is just giving SPARKLY. it could raise me from the dead. I know it may be too soon to say, but I really do think this will end up being my number one played song on Spotify this year. I could never get enough of it!
“American Girls”: another song that could rouse me from the afterlife. I think this is one of the most Harry-esque songs on the album and rightfully deserves its spot as the second single. as a bonus, the music video was equal parts beautiful and chaotic (as is the norm for a Harry video). I have nothing bad to say about this song, pure perfection!
“Carla’s Song”: this is the best song Harry has ever created. and I will never step off of that hill. musically, lyrically, emotionally, and meaningfully — it’s a perfect song. “it’s all waiting there for you” will be the anthem of my 26th year. it makes me cry 50% of the time and I hope that never ever changes.
every year, I make a playlist full of songs that represent the beginning of spring and Daylight Savings Time beginning and the sun shining brighter. this year, my playlist is called “we’re getting better OKAY”, which is a very descriptive title for the moment in time that I created this playlist. this will be my soundtrack for the next few weeks as I collect songs that I love and pop them on the tracklist. thanks to this playlist, we have, in fact, started to get better, okay!
while reading Meg Howrey’s novel, which happens to be about a ballerina (timely, don’t you think?), I wanted to really plant myself right in the pages of the novel — so I found a playlist of the best ballet songs of all time and listening to nothing else for 72 hours straight. will this skew my stats for Spotify wrapped? likely. was it worth it? certainly!
other sparkly things
for my birthday, my friends so delightfully surprised me (kinda) with a private mahjong lesson in our apartment! we decorated and decked out the apartment in cute pink sparkly decorations and invited all my favorite people over to learn how to play. it was properly confusing at first, and then, as we gradually shed our fear, it became soooo fun! I almost didn’t want to do anything for my birthday, but I’m so glad that everyone encouraged me to do something so fun and sparkly to ring in my 26th year. now I have an analog hobby, and that makes me better than everyone else!
another huge highlight from last month: my previous client-turned-friend Meghan happened to visit my city with her husband on a work trip. I promptly abandoned two days of work to meet her at a coffee shop for the first time and galavant across the entire city, seeing monuments, tourist spots, museums, and of course, the cherry blossoms (they were in full bloom the day we saw them! how fortunate!!). I’m not the biggest plan-maker or social butterfly, but it was such a joy to spend so much time with Meghan and officially cross the boundary from professional to personal. my job is amazing for that very reason!
I got a haircut last month after, like, six months of going without a trim. I officially feel (and look) amazing. let this be a sign that you’re probably not ugly, you just need to go get a haircut! I went to the cutest salon in the city for the first time and loved my whole experience. something about having a “hair girl” in the city is very Rachel Green of me. I feel very 26 this month.
perhaps this doesn’t belong in this category since it technically falls under the umbrella of a show, but I think it’s imperative that we talk about the Summer House scandal that’s unfolding before our very eyes. there are two versions of me: the version of me that existed before last Tuesday around 1pm EST, and the version that has since lived to tell the tale of the Amanda and West joint-statement-slash-confession admitting their budding romance and therefore betrayal of fellow housemate Ciara Miller. if you need a deeper deep dive into why this is the craziest thing that’s happened since Scandoval dropped in ‘23, feel free to hit my line. this sort of pop culture news is precisely what I live for, and I could wax poetic on this series of events all day long. I’ll spare you for now, but know that my comment section is open for anyone and everyone who wants to spill or consume major tea on this subject.
sparkly inspo
this month’s roundup of sparkly pins!
been loving pink (as always), Harry Styles in one of his sparkliest eras I can imagine, a newfound appreciation for ballet against Timothee Chalamet’s wishes, capiz shells in funky little applications, quotes to make me feel optimistic as the spring is settling in, and plenty more home-spo as I get ready to nest for my own little apartment. ⭒˚.
we might already be a few days into April, but I have a good feeling about this one.
it’s the first full month of spring! green is back on the trees! flowers are in bloom! patio wine is an option again! we can take trips to the beach and restore our vitamin D levels! we all get to enjoy our universally-experienced lust for life again!
I’ll report back later this month when we get to do our April recap (and I promise I’ll be on time for that one… maybe), but something tells me this is gonna be a sparkly one.
it’s up to us to make it so! ⭒
omg another carlas song stan!! i loved reading about your march sparkles and hope you had a gorgeous birthday
alexia alexia alexia!!! I can not describe how touched I am to be mentioned it here I actually feel a bit emosh!!! <3 <3 also it was so gorgeous reading about your March and I am so glad you had such a gorgeous and sparkly month!!