Michelle's Melange: Edition 13
CleanToks to make you feel better about the state of your own home, over-the-top eclectic English cottage decor, celebrity plastic surgery deception.
What’s up with you? Since we last met, Jake and I got stuck in the UK with COVID for an extra week and I’m currently in travel insurance claim purgatory (never buy flights with Chase points FYI friends) which may or may not result in a refund of some ticket $$. Our aforementioned cutie cat Minga had a pancreatitis “flare up” that sent us into stressed helicopter parent mode for about 2 wks. I’ve learned that she’s a fighter girl who would rather scratch up her caretakers than dare swallow a pill the size of a rice grain to help her not barf. The whole time I wondered how Paris Hilton deals with one of her 20 animals getting sick, and I came to the conclusion that she probably has a vet on staff or hires a vet tech part time to administer meds. Which was a thought that inspired more envy than it should’ve!! Just...an expensive few months, you know what I mean??? Themes included: poor communication, feeling financially taken advantage of, & needing to advocate for myself/cat 👍👍👍 We’re doing okay!
What I’m Watching
More importantly, my first TikTok account was somehow demoted to a supervised kids account where I couldn’t watch vids I was being sent and lost all the calculated machinations that led to my unique-to-me “For You” page, aka the tracking data that TikTok employees in China access just for funsies. Really tragic, but in my new account I’ve been served a lot of SAHM (stay-at-home mom) and “depression room cleaning” TikToks. I’d say that these niches intersect at “CleanTok.”
I’d recommend a watch of autrikaariina’s cleaning content, where she deep cleans horribly dirty places in Finland for free. The content also has the positive side effect of making me want to get up and clean my own place, one which fortunately doesn’t have 91 beer cans stacked on a gaming chair or 64 empty bags of cat food covering the stove. I’m convinced that shows like Dirty Rotten Cleaners (on Hulu, can’t wait to watch) exist purely to make people feel better about their living situations, ones that can’t be escaped anyway due to the high cost of living paired with salaries that aren’t adjusted for inflation. So…
Decor I’m Into
I’m simply obsessed with the fearless style and color in this Cotswolds home— I love the idea of taking bold colors onto the ceiling, which feels contrary to conventional paint rules. The color combos/contrasts with the fabrics & art on the walls are also so good. The fateful COVID trip involved spending nearly 2 wks in England and the eclectic English style totally left a mark on me! I’m digging the mix of traditional elements (like angular wood chairs, dressers, tables) mixed with both classic (stripes, plaid, floral print) and funky textiles. I guess it could be described as “cozy maximalist”— my takeaway was that more is more to make things feel comfy and home-y: haphazard stacks of books, small table lamps, handmade vases, framed photos, walls filled with art of all different sizes and types. Is my new thing maximalist English country style? Yessss.
And, I think it’s the kind of style that feels more realistic to how most people live, with personal effects that are meaningful to them but that aren’t necessarily “aesthetic.” Interestingly, the trend of minimalism always made me feel kind of bad because my life didn’t look like that. Now, my feeling is that people are moving away from the sterility of minimalism and away from cool-toned colors (so many gray toned floors & corporate-feeling blue and gray furniture) because they want their homes to be more playful and comfortable. I think the art of the English country maximalism is really in that fine line between lived-in and cluttered, though. It’s not for everyone!
Patterns of the Moment
Something definitely in line with English cottage style that I’ve been really attracted to lately are Indian block prints. They are 100% not new, what’s new is my awareness of them— apparently woodblock printing started in China 4,000 years ago, and India took on the art form. Of course, it can be pretty cutesy and feminine, which is often up my alley. I’m sure I’ve mentioned wallpaper somewhere in the past, which is still a fantasy for me. Block prints seem like both a classic & whimsical choice for wallpaper.
Accounts to Check Out
A great distraction of late for me has been celebrity analysis content (well, it’s always been something I’ve been into). Check out Lorry Hill, who does deep dives into what plastic surgeries celebrities have potentially undergone. Quick note that Lorry is a true YouTuber in that she’s '“not a doctor, but has ‘an extremely well-informed opinion garnered from [her] own plastic surgeries.’” Haha! So take her analyses with a grain of salt, and, yes, the topic seems gross on its surface to even care about, but I actually find it SO interesting to learn the level of deception that celebrities will go to to make you think that they’re “one of us.”
For instance, Zoe Kravitz is someone we see as naturally stunning with some insane cheekbones. However, in that linked video, Lorry reads out 10+ surgeries Zoe appears to have had over the years, including removal of the fat beneath her cheekbones so that they pop out (aka buccal fat removal) and the removal of excess skin from her eyelids (aka blepharoplasty, see how I’m learning too much). I think it’s important to see how subtly these changes can be done over time.
I don’t think I’m someone who feels overly insecure looks-wise compared to celebrities who obviously have all the money to get vampire facials (where some of your own blood is applied to your face, as one does) or buy snail slime cream, but still...it helps to know that your gorgeous celebrity of choice really is spending 200k+ & going in and out of surgery rooms for subtle elective procedures!!!! The Blake Lively one is also fascinating & a good example of gradual changes that amount to a pretty different-looking person.
In line with that content, I’ve been into the Insta account Kardashian Kolloquium. The writer MJ Corey behind this account basically analyzes the relationships, TV episodes, and social media posts of the Kardashians “through the lens of academic media theory.” I’m not a Kardashian watcher and hate to even give them another internet mention but I’ll say that this account tempts me to watch their newest show purely to study how intensely and intentionally they control their own image for our consumption— the family is way more self aware than we even realize.
I could continue, but I’m gonna cut myself off here! Let me know if you’re feeling the cottage maximalism, if you’re a fellow SAHM follower as a childless person, or if you’ve been heartbroken to learn that your favorite celebrity got 5 different nose jobs over 12 years.
Thank you for reading, as always!
💗Michelle