Kate's Five Things #71
What's catching my attention lately
Catching Up
When I was in third grade, our school Halloween party included a mystery grab bag. Kids were blindfolded and asked to reach in — peeled grapes posing as eyeballs, cooked spaghetti noodles meant to be brains or intestines or some other thing a third-grader's mind could conjure. The point was to touch something before you knew what it was. A trust fall for people too young to have health insurance.
I remember the girl in front of me screaming. Not a playful scream. A real one. Like she'd touched death itself. It was a grape.
2026 feels like reaching into that bag. Personally and collectively. I've stopped trying to declare what's good and what's bad in real time. Time will tell. And then the next thing happens, and the next, and all we're left with is right now. Whatever today means for the future, we'll find out when it arrives. Except the future never actually arrives, does it? It just looms. And isn't that a weird sort of relief?
One: Alysa F*ckin’ Liu
The burnt-out teenage dancer in me needed to see that comeback in a way I didn’t realize until tears were streaming down my face. Somewhere along the way, joy without apology has felt dangerous. Maybe that’s you, too. I taped this picture of her up on my office wall.
Two: Planning your outfits months in advance.
For spring and summer! I’m excited about these gauzy tanks and shorts, a statement skirt made from terrycloth, a black dress that feels like wearing pjs, and cracking open a fresh tube of sunscreen. Caring about what you wear is just another way of caring about how you want to feel.
Three: Purple
When I brought up using purple in a bathroom (like this masterfully curated one by Tom Morris) the person on the other end had mentioned it had come up with her functional doctor, specifically as it pertained to the broader vibe of The Year of the Fire Horse. I thought that was coincidence enough to embrace the hue in my upcoming home projects.
Four: Salmon, cooked slowly.
My sisters and mother-in-law reminded me that this is the only way to cook salmon: slowly. It doesn’t taste anything like overcooked salmon. I take a few pieces out of the freezer and make it over lunch throughout the week. It’s tender, almost buttery. Delectable. Recipe here.
Five: Writing down all my dreams.
Even the weird, short, fragmented ones. This week, I wielded an oversized knitting needle at an adversary. It’s been a comical way to start the morning.
Bonus Question: What does it feel like to say the raw, messy thing? Even if it is just to yourself?
My answer: Like stopping mid-sentence while giving a speech. After the terror? Freedom.
Note to self: Do not negotiate away your own experience.
And in case you missed it…
Catch up on last week’s House Call post, “What I’m Teaching My Daughter About Being Seen.”
kate
Please tell me where to get the wonderful bird wallpaper.
I love the wisdom that caring what you wear is another way of caring how you feel. It invites us to give in to the joy of it.