When we rounded up our staff’s Weekly Upgrades last Saturday, our editors were embracing classic cookbooks, backing up data, and clearing out clutter more efficiently.
This week, we’re preening with new beauty products, finding creative ways to clean up messes at home, cutting back on booze with an easy beverage swap, and using apps to keep us from checking Twitter in our free time.
What upgrades did you make this week? Let us know in the comments.
Stop Resisting Cult Beauty Products
I hate to be “that bitch”, but I bought Glossier’s lip gloss and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make my lips look like the best version of themselves. Compliments abound. Someone asked me if my lips had been “plumped”. It reminds me of the gloss I wore as a tween but not as sticky and not flavoured. I thought I needed lip injections. Turns out I just needed the right gloss.
Claire Lower, Food & Beverage Editor
Your Drill is A Pretty Good Brush
I recently gave my 13-year-old animal companion a bit of peanut butter to enjoy during his scheduled bath to keep him content while I vigorously scrubbed his tiny, furry form. Unfortunately, that peanut butter ended up on the carpet, with my dog seated a good distance away from his aromatic accident. I knew this would happen sooner or later, so I was prepared. A few days prior, I ordered a soft-bristle circular brush attachment for my cordless drill. After cleaning up the bulk of the mess and treating the area, I proceeded to scrub away the remainder of the stain a few hundred revolutions at a time. Turns out power tools have more than enough power to make accidents almost fun to clean up. Almost.
Patrick Austin, Staff Writer
Survive a Frigid Office With a Snuggie
After dealing with frigid office temps for weeks, I unearthed the (leopard print) Snuggie I got for Chanukkah in 2008 and brought it to work. It’s definitely sleeker than wearing my winter coat at my desk, and the arms make it better than a normal blanket. I’m either the office’s biggest doofus or a huge genius.
Emily Lipstein, Social Media Editor
Swap Booze With Bitters
I’ve been drinking less, using tips from Lifehacker‘s podcast and from Tom Scocca’s piece /”Have Two Drinks at a Party”. I try to pace myself between “real” drinks, but I don’t like soft drink, and plain water feels awkward and boring. So this Wednesday, instead of a second beer, I tried seltzer and bitters, a trick Alice gave on the podcast last year. Tasted great, felt as “real” as booze, and I stayed nice and sober.
Nick Douglas, Staff Writer
Repurpose Productivity Apps to Help You Unwind
The Forest app is best known as a timer to help you focus on work, but I’ve been using it to facilitate goofing off. If you use any app other than Forest while a tree is “growing”, the tree dies. So I plant two-hour trees all weekend long, and every night before bedtime. I end up spending a lot less time on Twitter and a lot more time drawing and reading and playing with my kids.
Beth Skwarecki, Health Editor
Free Yourself From Watching Everything on Your Laptop
This week’s upgrade falls firmly into the category of “spending money on stuff”, but it’s a big change for me, and I’m excited: For the first time in my adult life, I have a TV! I bit the bullet and finally picked up a TV, Roku, and basic antenna so I can pick up local channels. I plan to spend the weekend watching the Olympics, and basking in the adult luxury of not watching everything on my tiny laptop screen.
Virginia K. Smith, Managing Editor
Experiment With Bagel Flavour Mixing
I got my favourite type of bagel in the office on Monday: A poppy seed bagel that was next to a salt bagel. Perfect amount of texture, flavour and seasoning.
Joel Kahn, Senior Video Producer
Clean Your Damn Dishwasher
I cleaned my dishwasher. Yes, I was under the impression that a machine that cleans other things should know how to clean itself, but that is not the case. And things build up! You need to wash the dishwasher, friends. I removed the filter and the propeller and the shattered-glass collector (these are probably not the correct terms for dishwasher components) and soaked everybody. I scrubbed weird food residue off the inside. Is my dishwasher running better? I am not sure. But I feel better knowing I don’t have what is basically a cabinet with old food scraps sticking to it in my kitchen any more.
Melissa Kirsch, Editor-In-Chief
Expand Your Wi-Fi’s Reach
I bought a Wi-Fi range extender since our router is in the worst place ever. It’s been helping me not lose Overwatch games.
Patrick Allan, Staff Writer
Comments
One response to “Stop Pretending You’re Too Good To Own A TV”
I deliberately got rid of my TV before the Sydney olympics. I also don’t listen to the radio.
Two glorious weeks without the inane stupidity surrounding a worthless event.
I didn’t miss it at all, and it was a few years later before I bought a new one.