2nd Annual Malentine's Day - R.E.P.O.R.T.
a brainwaves + soul junk lovey dovey dispatch
I’m writing to you from Philadelphia on Superbowl Eve. The anxiety and excitement are tangible. It would be reasonable to assume everyone in their head-to-toe Eagles gear is looking forward to The Big Game tomorrow. Still, I can’t help but wonder… is some of the electricity emanating from every corner of this city… about Malentine’s Day??? Can you feel what I feel?
Regardless, GO BIRDS.
At the intersection of diary entry, listicle, wishlist, and acrostic poem lies the ~ R.E.P.O.R.T. ~
R - reading
I’ve been slow going on my 2025 reading goals. I know I’ll get in a groove soon and bang out a couple of books a week for a month or so, then stop reading again for weeks; such is the natural ebb and flow of my reading motivation. I’m slowly making my way through Brom's Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery. It’s very Robert Egger’s VVitch-y, a tale of Colonial New England witchcraft. Gerald Brom, professionally known by his mononym Brom, is a multidisciplinary artist. The experience of reading this novel, interspersed with his gothic illustrations, is deeply nostalgic. It feels like reading a fantasy chapter book as a little girl. But with more devilish gore.
E - eating
I missed the sourdough starter train everyone else boarded during the surreal quarantine days of 2020. Here I stand in 2025, on the shoulders of glutinous giants, following in the footsteps of other home(bound) bakers. Everyone’s flat loaf fails from 2020 have informed and bettered my process. So thanks, y’all! I’ve been winging the creation of my own starter, equipped with the power of abandoned sourdough blogs and my DIY kitchen knowledge. It’s going great tbh. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Trigger Warning: Corny
My biggest takeaway from reading Pamela Anderson’s I Love You from cover to cover is that making something with love goes a long way in creating a holistically nourishing meal. Similarly, my holistic nutrition courses touched briefly on “Vitamin L” as an essential ingredient in healing your relationship with/building community through food. I’ll give you one guess what that L stands for…
My contribution to tomorrow’s Superbowl party (GO BIRDS) will be my first time baking with my fed starter! I’ll report back. Until now, I’ve been using the daily starter discard to make pancakes and crackers with much success. I even gifted my mom with a little piece of my starter to grow on her own. They grow up so fast 🥲
P - playing
I’ve been all about Bricks and Balls Crusher lately, a random game I found when I was upset this past week and googled “games where you don’t have to think.” I’m on level 93 AND feeling much better. It can’t be a coincidence.
O - obsessing
In the obsessing section of last year’s Malentine’s R.E.P.O.R.T. I wrote about how I couldn’t stop listening to the would-be Cowboy Carter tracks Beyoncé surprise dropped during the 2024 Superbowl. A year later, she’s officially a BEST COUNTRY ALBUM and ALBUM OF THE YEAR winner, AND the Eagles are in the Superbowl— GO BIRDS.
This year’s Grammy Awards were, dare I say, good? It was a night of true Small Person Supremacy between Kendrick, Sabrina Carpenter, Cynthia Erivo, Janelle Monae, Lady Gaga, and Bruno Mars.
We haven’t had an award show stacked with this many true pop culture moments in a VERY long time. 2024 was an incredible year for pop music, so it stood to reason that the nominations would be stacked. Doechii’s conveyor-belt-choreo performance will go down as an all time great. She also gave an acceptance speech I will return to as a well of creative inspiration for years to come. Chappell Roan read her Best New Artist acceptance speech from her moleskin notebook while wearing a princess hat. Fellow 5ft Bucks County baddie Sabrina Carpenter took home two statues for “Short n’ Sweet” and looked great doing it. Trevor Noah flopped comedically, solicited donations for wildfire relief, and looked great doing it. Cynthia Erivo once again proved herself THE vocalist of our generation during her Quincy Jones tribute. Cynthia Erivo also confused me by sharing a table with Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Margaret Qualley? Ari was snubbed, but I can’t hate because she’s admittedly distancing herself from the Ariana Grande pop persona to pursue her love of acting. Gaga loudly and proudly acknowledged the existence and humanity of trans people. A self-proclaimed wildfire “shero” handed Beyoncé her first Album OTY award for COWBOY CARTER!!!
As I often do, I’ll point you to Hunter Harris’ Hung Up for a more thorough recap.
R - recommending
In another callback to last year’s Malentine’s R.E.P.O.R.T., I recommended starting your own business if you’re chronically unfulfilled at work. I believe I said something to the effect of, “Stop working for other people’s dreams and start working for your own.” I was speaking directly to myself, and luckily, I listened to me. A year later, I’ve pivoted to full-time freelance. It’s fucking HARD, but I never want to do anything else. My boyfriend is my biggest cheerleader and will stop at nothing to help me see myself as capable and worthy of living my artist dreams. Waking up every day to his support is the kind of love I didn’t know was possible from a partner. I love being an artist and I love my boyfriend! I’m allowed to be like this because of Malentine’s Day.
ICYMI - I’M DOING A POP UP IN NYC ON VALENTINE’S DAY! I RECOMMEND YOU COME ON OUT! AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS! IT WOULD MEAN A LOT TO ME!
❤️ $40 15min portrait session + digital gallery
❤️ $60 15min portrait session + digital gallery + keepsake print
❤️ Book your time slot HERE
Cya there 🫶
T - treating
I’m struggling to pick just one treat to spotlight. What a charmed life I must be living! With Severance top of my mind right now, I’m thinking about what a treat it was to see Severance Director Ben Stiller as SZA in her video for Drive.
True Mallyheads, and even casual Mallyheads, will know that SZA is on my musician Mount Rushmore. I love her lyin ass SO much.
Then, this week, Clairo releases her video for Terrapin, and suddenly, a trend is emerging. Directed by America’s Sweetheart Ayo Edebri, the video stars Weird Al Yankovic as… Clairo.
We know everything happens in threes, and now that two girlies have released music videos featuring middle-aged male comedians earnestly lip-syncing, it begs the question, ”Who’s next?”
Remi Wolf + Richard Kind?
Chappell Roan + Eugene Levy?
MUNA + Nick Offerman?
Maggie Rodgers + Ray Romano?
Addison Rae + Kevin James?
ME + JASON SCHWARTZMAN???? 😏 😏
Happy Early Malentine’s Day, talk soon and GO BIRDS 🦅
xo Mal