Hello!!
There are a few new people here (welcome!!) so allow me to re-introduce Friday Night Likes: a weekly roundup of good stuff I either watched / heard / liked on TiKTok / ate or (sometimes, rarely) purchased.
I hope they bring you some joy ahead of the weekend.
This week, I liked one very specific aspect of the Love is Blind finale, another episode of Mike Birbiglia’s podcast and more. Happy Friday, friends. I love you!
Clay’s parents on Love is Blind
I do not have the patience for most reality shows. Love is Blind has remained an exception because I am nosy and want to know what everyone else is talking about, and it’s just entertaining and infuriating enough to disassociate from the fact that it’s a show about two people who have to decide that they want to get married in 20 days and are not allowed to decide until they get to the altar.
It is so insane!!
I really believe we are losing the thread on this show and its days are numbered. With every passing season, it’s become more and more clear that people are just coming on the show to get famous (which is fine! but then kind of just makes it inherently a different show)
It’s also become increasingly clear that LOVE IS NOT BLIND.
Anyway, this season finale had its fair share of solid shockers and actually had me feeling, for the first time, endeared to Amy and Johnny, two people who are 27 years old and seemingly do not understand how birth control works (??????)
But the star, without question, of the finale and really of the whole season, is Clay’s mom. Clay has deep-seated trauma from bearing witness to his dad cheating on his mom during his childhood and has become a facsimile of him in his adulthood. Not only does she offer the most sound (and sane) advice I’ve ever seen on the show before the nuptials, she also confronts Clay’s dad about their relationship during the finale in a way that epitomizes the act of detaching with love. Phewph. This Vulture article sums it up better than me, so read it if you watched and are interested. And if you don’t want Love is Blind, I’m sorry you had to read all that.
Chris Distefano on Working it Out
I feel like I include an episode of Working it Out on this list every week but.. I don’t know! They’re just always really fun and good!
I found myself repeatedly laughing out loud during this week’s episode with Chris Distefano. Especially during a story he told about a time he bombed so hard someone pulled a knife on him.
You have to hear the whole story to believe it. 10/10
Removing the paywall on this week’s Resolution Report and, for the first time in a long time, reading my TikTok comments
I have gotten so many kind messages about this week’s Resolution Report. THANK YOU!
I debated whether or not to even share that I’d added to my debt after so many months of paying it down consistently but.. It’s all part of the process and I don’t want to shy away from any of it. So here we are.
I also posted a video about it on TikTok, and while I suspect the mean commenters are somewhere lurking in the digital shadows so far the video has almost 100 comments, all people sharing kind words or saying they feel seen by my non-linear progress.
Sometimes I don’t feel motivated to keep talking about my debt, but when something like that happens I am reminded why I keep doing it in the first place. So thank you for reading and thank you for being here!
Le Petit Marseillais body wash
When I was in Paris over the summer I fell in love with the grocery store brand of soap. I can’t even describe the scent except to say that I loved it so much, I went through an entire bottle in just a few days and had to buy my friend a replacement. I also packed my entire suitcase filled with tons of it and a few other products, too.
Anyway, this week I found a body wash version in my cabinet I had totally forgot about under my sink and started using it. As expected – it’s equally as heavenly. It smells so good and feels so luxurious and I can’t believe I don’t live somewhere where THIS IS THE GROCERY STORE BRAND.
A quick perusal of Amazon showed me that it is possible to find some of these products without flying to Paris. Disappointing in some ways (I want to fly to Paris), but convenient in others.
XOXO,
Jamie AF