
After spending my entire Saturday in Claremont and San Gabriel Valley (where we went to this incredible noodle restaurant for lunch), I spent Sunday at my second ‘Cave Day.’ The idea of Cave Day, as I wrote about here, is to spend time on a special project in 45-minute sprints, without a phone or distractions. I worked on a fiction assignment for my weekly writing group, but love the idea of creating my own cave day to tackle my inbox and little online errands I don’t get to during the week. Even though yesterday felt like a work day, I left the co-working space at 5 PM feeling productive, refreshed, and excited for the week, knowing I’d accomplished something major before it even started! Here’s what else I’m loving this week:

Canadian artist Sanro Perri’s 24 minute synthy pop song, “In Another Life” isn’t for everyone. It’s slow, goes on forever, and is repetitive… but pleasingly so? I’ll be honest: I thought I wouldn’t like it, but I’ve found it to be completely meditative, and have been playing it on repeat the past week when I want to focus on work or a book. Let me know what you think!
P.S., I learned about this song from Margot Boyer-Dry’s brilliant newsletter, Lorem Ipsum, which is always packed strange but great songs, and other smart observations and recommendations. Subscribe here.

I asked about ten friends last week if they’d made Alison Roman’s Coconut Chickpea Stew, and every single one of them responded, “You haven’t?” I’m sorry if this is already old news to you—but this stew is fantastic, for reasons that go beyond how delicious it is:
1. Its base is made primarily of shelf-stable ingredients (chickpeas, coconut milk, turmeric, are good to go, and even even onions can last about a month in a pantry), so you can stock up, then make it again and again—without heading to a grocery store.
2. It takes just forty minutes or so to make, with only a few minutes of active time (it simmers on its own for most of the ‘cook time’)
3. It’s extremely affordable. Chickpeas are 99 cents a can, coconut milk is about $2 per can—by my math, it comes out to about $3 a serving, even less if you stretch it out with rice.
4. It’s easy to personalize. While I followed the recipe by the book the first time, I put my own spin on it, adding in spinach instead of kale one day (it’s what was in my fridge), replacing mint with coconut aminos, and adding rotisserie chicken for extra protein.

I realized shortly after subscribing to New Yorker magazine last year that, despite my best intentions, I didn’t actually have time to read it. Enter: Audm. This app adapts long-form journalism into narrated stories—so you can listen to them on your commute. I highly recommend this story on a young woman who literally forgot herself and the fiction piece Cat Person (trigger warning).

I don’t think I’ve ever read an author with as vivid an imagination as Charlie Jane Anders, which makes her the perfect short story-teller. In her collection, Six Months, Three Days, Five Others, an alien couple are inconvenienced when humans survive an apocalypse (they’d hoped to mine Earth it for its resources), a woman brings a genie into her panic room, and a family has an unconventional reunion. The stories are fantastical, and often funny enough I woke up my boyfriend, Jonah, reading them. You can purchase the collection here, or read the title story, Six Months, Three Days, here. P.S., I also loved her novel, All The Birds in the Sky (wrote about that here!).

I was about to donate / recycle two pairs of Lululemon leggings this weekend, when I checked their site and learned about an incredible policy: They accept all damaged leggings, and will refund you a gift certificate for their full, original worth to buy new ones. Despite the fact my pairs were ten-plus years old, torn, and entirely pilled, I received a card for just under $200. If you call their customer service, they’ll walk you through the process. Just wanted to share, in case you’ve been making do with pilled leggings!
Update: Based on the comments below, this policy is working for some women, but not for others! It sounds like they accept them on a case-by-case basis! (I had no problem when I told them my leggings had gotten really pilled, but some readers are having different experiences.)
P.S., If you live in L.A…. I’m heading to the Moth Grand Slam downtown tonight—there are still a few tickets left via this ticket exchange service! And on Wednesday, I’m going to Pop-Up Magazine at the Ace Hotel, which is essentially a “live” magazine, with speakers talking about news/opinions in front of multi-media displays. I’ve gone three times, and have loved each more than the last. Buy tickets here—it’s going to New York and Oakland next. Plus, a conversation on food and culture is going on next week at the masonic lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, that looks interesting. And my friend just suggested we go to this ‘Night of Ideas‘ at the Natural History Museum—how cool!
Also—if you live in New York, this new company allows you to pay for gym time by the minute… have you checked it out? It’s an interesting idea.
Hero and promo images via Lululemon.