<![CDATA[In Pursuit of Clean Countertops: Threads]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/s/threadshttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!afCF!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F214ecb27-33df-4954-8805-337b59148285_600x600.pngIn Pursuit of Clean Countertops: Threadshttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/s/threadsSubstackWed, 22 Apr 2026 10:53:02 GMT<![CDATA[What Are You Reading?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/what-are-you-reading-6f7https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/what-are-you-reading-6f7Wed, 29 Jan 2025 10:01:23 GMTAs someone who is bravely denouncing the entire concept of January, I have little appetite for anything in the book realm that doesn’t promise sunny beaches, low (or low-ish) stakes, and ideally, rich people behaving badly. Bonus if the book was written prior to 2016!

I just finished Emma Straub’s The Vacationers, and it was absolutely perfect for my purposes. Family drama, a European setting, copious food descriptions, engaging characters you’re immediately invested in. Carried me through the flu and I’m sad I’m no longer reading it!

What about you? Which books are getting you through the month from hell that refuses to end?

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]]><![CDATA[Winter Illness Vent Sesh]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/winter-illness-vent-seshhttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/winter-illness-vent-seshWed, 22 Jan 2025 10:00:53 GMTI’m writing this from my bed. My sheets are faintly damp from a fever-sweaty night (went through 2 shirts!) My humidifier is firing away, my bottle of ibuprofen is sitting sentinel on my bedside table, my husband is in Florida, and all three of my cherubs are suffering in varying degrees from the same plague I have!

I’ve called my house The Infirmary since LAST MONDAY when patient zero went down but truly who’s counting?!

How are you all doing, and what are you all doing to get through the sick season? (LOVED this guide o’ sickness from btw - lots of good recs in the comments)

Why are there playing cards on this nightstand.

So. Who’s had to cancel travel plans because of a positive Covid test? Who’s had multiple viruses in one household AT THE SAME TIME? Whose winter birthday has been coopted by the norovirus? Who has purchased stock in Kleenex? Whose children have morphed into actual screens?

*****If you need good vibes to wash over you, I HIGHLY recommend Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris. Definitely my high point of the last two weeks.

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]]><![CDATA[Is Your New Year's Resolution To Quit Instagram?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/is-your-new-years-resolution-to-quithttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/is-your-new-years-resolution-to-quitWed, 15 Jan 2025 10:01:15 GMTSocial media fasts are nothing new, and ever since it became common knowledge that social media platforms are designed to be as addictive as possible (and to steal as much of our personal data, time, brainpower, and attention span as possible!!!!), there’s been mainstream discourse about how to quit social media. Or at least, how to have a “healthy” relationship with social media.

Mark Zuckerberg Takes Jabs At Elon Musk ...
And then of course, there are THESE FUCKING TWO.

I remain unconvinced that such a healthy balance is possible, and I feel like more and more people are equally unconvinced about the tangible career benefits of participating in social media (one of the central reasons people cite as being impediments to quitting cold turkey). Many people I know have started 2025 with clearer goals about both their screen time and their social media consumption.

So I’d love to know - where are you with Instagram et al? Do you want to quit? Have you quit? What’s working, what’s not?

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]]><![CDATA[What's The First Thing You Cooked For Yourself?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-the-first-thing-you-cookedhttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-the-first-thing-you-cookedWed, 08 Jan 2025 11:53:56 GMTApropos of nothing, I found myself remembering (not very fondly) one of my first “go-to” dishes. It was “chicken teriyaki,” by which I mean my sophomore year college roommate and I would slice up boneless, skinless chicken tenders, slice up a bag of precut vegetables, throw it all into a large frying pan and cook it to death. In the meantime, we’d microwave a bag of white rice until it was nice and gummy, and we’d pour liberal amounts of teriyaki sauce over the whole concoction. I don’t recall ever seasoning the chicken or vegetables as they cooked. I do recall the taste though, which was flat, sweet, and faintly metallic.

Kikkoman Teriyaki Marinade &amp; Sauce, 10 oz

And yet, we continued to cook this depressingly one-note meal and feel like very accomplished adults. I’m unsure which of us conceived of the “dish,” but I do know we found the combo of carb, protein, and vegetable quite efficient and mature.

Cooking as newly independent adults is SO WEIRD when I think back to these years. We’re all just cobbling together stuff we picked up from our parents or home cultures (through osmosis or direct instruction), and sometimes branching out on our own to express our new adult individuality (pasta with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, I’m looking at you)? Or simply stocking our fridge with stuff we never had growing up. I distinctly remember both (plastic containers of) rice pudding and Greek yogurt feeling like legit delicacies.

So what about you? What’s one of the first dishes you cooked for yourself? Do you still?

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]]><![CDATA[What's Your Holiday Break Boundary?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-your-holiday-break-boundaryhttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-your-holiday-break-boundaryWed, 18 Dec 2024 11:41:57 GMTI don’t know about you, but FOR ME, holiday breaks (and April breaks and February breaks and THE SUMMER BREAK) are opportunities for both my best and worst selves to really make a scene. Maybe I’ll cultivate warm moments of intimacy with loved ones. Maybe I’ll feel suffocated by loved ones and yell very loudly. Who’s to say?! It’s a real roll of the dice.

Situations that have plagued me in the past during school breaks include but are not limited to:

  • too much structure

  • too little structure

  • too many plans

  • too little plans

  • too much specialness

  • too little specialness

  • too much togetherness

  • not enough togetherness

  • EXPECTATIONS OF ALL KINDS

A photo of me admiring my pretty little boundary and feeling very smug about it.

A blissful, frictionless holiday break spent with children is not possible. This much I know to be true. But maybe (just maybe?!) if I think about possible impediments to peace ahead of time, I might be able to avoid at least a couple unhinged screaming fits potential pitfalls.

So this holiday break, I’m going to not check my email every single day. That’s it. Something about remaining plugged in during breaks while I’m in the midst of domestic busyness bifurcates my brain (and my ability to be present and not a jerk) in a not great way. So yeah, that’s my big goal for the holidays. To check my email less. I’ll report back!

What about you? Have you erected any holiday boundaries? If so, what are they?

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]]><![CDATA[What's Something New You've Learned Recently?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-something-new-youve-recentlyhttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-something-new-youve-recentlyWed, 11 Dec 2024 10:01:45 GMTI was 43 years old when I learned that there is a market for breastmilk JEWELRY. As someone who prides themselves on my knowledge of all products geared towards moms, this discovery really stopped me in my tracks. I wrote about breastmilk necklaces (and other ridiculous/enraging/depressing gifts) marketed to moms yesterday mostly because once I learned about breastmilk necklaces, I couldn’t stop thinking about them.

Another new (and equally as random) thing I learned recently is how to apply undereye concealer with a brush.

I wear makeup once a week tops, and my regime consists of blush, curled and mascara-ed eyelashes, eyebrow mascara, and undereye concealer because I have the type of dark circles I used to hope were romantic in the vein of Victorian heroines but are actually just mundane signifiers of my eternal state of pallidness.

ANYWAY, I’ve long considered my tap tap tap application of undereye concealer to be, like, fine (certainly better than SMEARING it!) But as I’ve aged, the whole crease factor has really become an issue. Upon seeing my sister apply her concealer with a brush like this, I was blown away and had to try it. Undereye concealer wearing friends - the brush is a GAMECHANGER. So much less creasing, so much less pilling, so superior to the ring finger approach.

So - what’s something new you’ve learned recently that you can’t stop thinking about? Maybe it’s completely frivolous (like my two gems of knowledge), or maybe it’s not? Either way, I wanna know!

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]]><![CDATA[Why Do We Care About Influencers' Politics?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/why-do-we-care-about-influencershttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/why-do-we-care-about-influencersWed, 04 Dec 2024 10:02:34 GMTFor most of us, it is impossible to not care about politics.

We care about who our dads vote for. We care about who our neighbors who seem totally cool but are actually Trumpers vote for. We care about who the PTA president votes for.

But we also care about who influencers vote for.

Recently, both the Smiths (Nara and Lucky Blue) and the Neelemans (Mr. and Mrs. Ballerina Farm) were outed as being alleged Trump voters, which surprised and dismayed some and served to confirm what others had assumed for years.

But either way, many of us CARE. I cared enough to write not one, but TWO essays about the BF/Evie collaboration, which more or less served as proof of the Neelemans’ MAGA political leanings.

NEVER FORGET!

While the politics of our neighbors, family members, and other community members have meaningful ramifications for our individual daily lives, influencers’ voting habits really don’t. At least, not in the same way.

This doesn’t mean that influencers’ politics don’t matter though. I’m just struggling to work out WHY. And maybe the why differs according to who you ask.

So what do you think? Do you care about influencers’ politics? Why or why not?

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]]><![CDATA[What's Everyone DOING?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-everyone-doinghttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-everyone-doingWed, 20 Nov 2024 10:01:22 GMTSo many of us are still shuffling about in a haze of rage, despair, and shock following the horrific outcome of the election. But so many are also FIGHTING. Because they always have been. The fight for a just world shouldn’t stagnate in the face of what feels hopeless; it should be energized. In addition to pursing more active volunteer involvement at my local abortion center, I’m still committed to the In Pursuit Giving Circle, which you can read more about (and join!) here ⬇️

I love the States Project because they do incredibly focused work and are so good at targeting ways in which their advocacy can make the biggest difference. Even if the federal government looks . . . like ours currently does, state government reform can go a LONG way towards progressive, equitable change. If you need a break from despondency, read about all the WINS the State Project achieved this election cycle here. And if you want to read more from Melissa Walker, head of Giving Circles, about how and why she keeps on keeping on, watch this.

So I’d love to know, in addition to escaping through books (just finished this one and it held me from beginning to end!), TV (BAD SISTERS IS BACK!), and taking time to grieve, what sort of steps are you all taking to feel a little more empowered and in touch with community? They can be big! They can be small!

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]]><![CDATA[What Sort Of Art Makes You Cry?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/what-sort-of-art-makes-you-cryhttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/what-sort-of-art-makes-you-cryWed, 23 Oct 2024 09:00:36 GMTI have a friend who sobbed at the conclusion of Nobody Wants This. I know, I’ve already bored you with my thoughts about why this could never have been my experience. But in the case of this particular friend, her tears are entirely characteristic. She Cries About Romance. Anything within shooting distances of Bridges Of Madison County will undo her every single time.

This is - not me - lol. After making sure I had gathered all of my soggy tissues and felt solid enough to rise from my recliner movie seat following a viewing of Wild Robot, I reflected that nothing makes me cry harder than children’s movies.

Coco? Sobbing. Inside Out 2? Sobbing. ENCANTO?! Utterly hysterical.

Looking back, my history with violently emoting via kids’ movies began when I saw The Fox And The Hound in the theatres (it came out in 1981, which was the year I was born but it’s one of the first movies I saw in the theatres so it must’ve been a rerelease or something?) and truly was heaving crying when the old lady makes the little fox “go back to the wild.” Hell!!!! Um, and if you find yourself wanting to revisit a movie from your past and end up watching Fly Away Home with your children for family movie night, maybe arm yourself with a Xanax and a kid-friendly speech about the meaning of “happy tears” because holy shit those geese are not playing.

Fly Away Home [DVD]
…….AND THE TEAR DUCTS OVERFLOWING

As a self-described jaded asshole who finds it difficult to express earnest emotions IRL, it makes sense to me that kids’ movies are my particular emotional trigger. They drill into the most essential core of human experiences. And these human experiences aren’t made messy with contextual complications. A motherless child becoming a mama goose to motherless geese is beautiful and heartbreaking full stop. Even the most emotionally constipated among us can tap into FEELING FEELINGS when it comes to well made children’s movies, which is a wonderful thing! For children and their life-hardened grownups.

Anyway, I’d love to know - what kind of art makes you cry? Why?

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]]><![CDATA[It's Cozy Food Season!!!!]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/its-cozy-food-seasonhttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/its-cozy-food-seasonWed, 09 Oct 2024 09:01:10 GMTI LOVE soups, stews, one-pot meals, and anything that is remotely ooey-gooey in any capacity. Which means when the weather gets chilly, I become actually EXCITED TO COOK.

My cousin made this recently and loved it. It’s on my want-to-make list for this week.

What about you? Which steaming bowls of food are you excited about?

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]]><![CDATA[What Sort Of Expert Do You Long For?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/what-sort-of-expert-do-you-long-forhttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/what-sort-of-expert-do-you-long-forWed, 02 Oct 2024 09:00:56 GMTMy hip hurts. And sometimes my wrist hurts. Both of these things, I’m told, would be improved if I had a standing desk. Or a more ergonomic keyboard. Or the correct proportions between desk, chair, and me.

And listen, I’ve GOOGLED. I’ve bought a few keyboards but quickly said fuck it when my typing speed was hampered. I bought a weird cushion thing for driving after the hip aches got worse in the car specifically. I bought a wrist brace thing. But what I REALLY want is not google. It’s a person who is like a physical therapist/chiropractor/orthopedist/desk aficionado??? to come into my house, assess me, assess my ailments, and tell me exactly what sort of working environment would be the best for my specific needs.

IDEAL IT IS NOT.

Some experts are relatively easy to find. Dog trainers come to mind. But for most problems, I think, we all need/want help from someone who understands us, our lifestyle, external factors, and specific contextual details. YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING.

So I’d love to know - what sort of fairy godmother are you searching for, and what are you hoping she’d fix? Who knows - maybe our collective longing will yield something more helpful than google?

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]]><![CDATA[What Are You Sick Of Hearing Yourself Say?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/what-are-you-sick-of-hearing-yourselfhttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/what-are-you-sick-of-hearing-yourselfWed, 25 Sep 2024 09:00:41 GMTIn the past couple weeks, I’ve begun to feel a visceral dread of the word “dinner” coming out of my mouth. The phonics of the word, as it emerges from my lips, is pure hell. It sounds thudding and muddy and like it’s in slow motion. And worst of all, it MEANS NOTHING. It’s a combination of sounds that bops around the room and makes zero impact on the lives of the three children it’s being directed at.

group of person eating indoors
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash // NOT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I USE THE WORD DINNER.

“Please eat your dinner before whatever the fuck it is you’re trying to do right now.”

“Sit down for dinner.”

“Dinner’s ready.”

“Finish your dinner so we can head up for showers.”

“Your dinner’s getting cold.”

“You haven’t eaten your dinner.”

“I thought you were hungry for dinner.”

“Did you eat enough dinner?”

“It’s time for dinner not cartwheeling.”

I WANT THE BURN THE WORD DINNER.

As parents, there are so many reminders to give, so many WORDS we must use. And I want to know, which one sends the most shivers up your spine? Which one do you wield at least 137 times a day even if it’s actually only heard once or twice IF AT ALL?

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]]><![CDATA[What's Annoyingly Good For You?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-annoyingly-good-for-youhttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-annoyingly-good-for-youWed, 18 Sep 2024 09:30:53 GMTThe internet LOVES telling me what will “change my life in under five minutes,” or “the one morning routine that I’ll never skip again,” or” “5 easy hacks to go from blah to BLISS,” and listen, I love this shit.

As a fundamentally lazy person, I will not stop believing in quick and dirty ways to improve my life (with little to no effort on my part). And I can’t fathom a world in which I have to get through every day not choosing to believe in the delusion of hot water and lemon to make me the BEST me.

Thanks to a dear friend who KNOWS me, I own this tshirt (Poog Hags, I see you!)

But I also like to rebel in the face of other people’s best practices.

Sorry I don’t care if sunshine first thing is better than playing my little word games. Connections MUST be played. I don’t care if dressing in non-sweats somehow alters my self-perception or productivity or whateverrrrrr for the better. I don’t care if the cool down is the most important part of the workout!

And for most of my life, I’ve said a hearty fuck off to the “always make your bed in the morning” people.

AND YET.

I did THIS the other day and friends, I regret to tell you that it had an impossible-to-deny positive effect on my overall wellbeing. Not only did I create a clean base for the afternoon’s eventual laundry piles, I felt internally like less of a mess. I got to enjoy the aesthetic impact of objects I had very deliberately chosen. And every time I walked by the made bed I felt smug little bursts of happy chemicals coursing through my veins. It was the worst.

Now, to be clear, I have not repeated this practice since last week. BUT STILL. The proof of the made bed (for me!) was undeniable.

So I want to know. What (annoyingly, regrettably, obnoxiously) makes your life better?

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]]><![CDATA[What's Your New Normal?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-your-new-normalhttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-your-new-normalWed, 11 Sep 2024 09:30:12 GMTThis is my first year as a mother not shuttling a single kid to a single center of learning and/or childcare, and it is FREEING. I feel visceral love for the school bus, despite it being, you know, a bus.

school bus near green trees under cloudy sky during daytime
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

My youngest started kindergarten this year, and while I guess I had a couple pangs of “my baby is big,” by and large, I felt so happy. For him. For me. For everyone. But I know some September milestones are tricky and complicated (I have plenty of friends who met the first day of kindergarten with tears rather than internal cartwheels, to say nothing of middle school, high school, college, ET AL).

So how are we all doing?

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]]><![CDATA[Can We Talk About Perimenopause?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/can-we-talk-about-perimenopausehttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/can-we-talk-about-perimenopauseWed, 14 Aug 2024 09:00:43 GMTAs in, are you experiencing it? What are your symptoms? What’s helping? I feel like peri chat (a term, no?) can be very much a combo of good and bad news. For example, a friend of mine recently found huge relief from a specialist. Great news! The bad news: the specialist charges out of pocket because why on earth would insurance pay for women to feel less shitty?

My tortured sheets waiting to make their way to the dryer.

So how’s your perimenopause? Mine continues to be SWEATY and sort of psychedelic.

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]]><![CDATA[How Are You Feeling About Summer?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/how-are-you-feeling-about-summerhttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/how-are-you-feeling-about-summerWed, 07 Aug 2024 09:01:17 GMTSummer as a parent is so weird. Sometimes I love the lack of structure, sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I love the warm weather activities with kids, sometimes I hate them. I feel both that summer feels more frenetic than the school year AND that I want it to last longer? And maybe it’s a holdover from my own childhood, but regret, nostalgia, and dread always set in once August hits.

Harry wants summer to last forever.

So I’d love to know - how has your summer been? Do you miss it already or are you counting down the days until school starts?

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]]><![CDATA[Who's Your Niche Momfluencer Obsession?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whos-your-niche-momfluencer-obsessionhttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whos-your-niche-momfluencer-obsessionWed, 31 Jul 2024 09:00:59 GMTKelly Havens Stickle is not exactly a household name in the mamasphere, but her account tends to inspire a sort of obsessive following. So today I want to know - who are your niche momfluencers of choice? What is it about them that keeps you compulsively clicking?

Photo of and by ANOTHER niche obsession of mine: Gretchen Greer.

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]]><![CDATA[What are you watching?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/what-are-you-watching-ea1https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/what-are-you-watching-ea1Wed, 24 Jul 2024 09:01:32 GMTFor various reasons that involve me being exhausted and emotionally drained, I’ve found it hard to get excited about any tv that doesn’t involve fraught (and often incestuous) family dynasties and dragons. The fantastical escapism of said dragon show is uniquely soothing and weirdly restful for me right now. But there’s gotta be television life outside of huge reptiles, right?

What are you watching? Which entertainment itch is it scratching?

]]><![CDATA[What's your favorite summer recipe?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-your-favorite-summer-recipehttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-your-favorite-summer-recipeWed, 17 Jul 2024 09:00:59 GMTI’m in such a food rut mostly because I’ve realized I’m more of a winter cook. I can crush a stew, a soup, a casserole. Anything that can be doused with melted cheese is my go-to. Last night I made pasta with a ground turkey red sauce in fucking 900 degree humidity and I can’t say it was IDEAL ha. I get a little blah about summer stuff because it always seems to involve more chopping, more grilling, more pan searing, more LABOR.

grilled corns
Photo by Christina Branco on Unsplash

So I’d love to know - what’s your favorite summer meal that feels easy?

]]><![CDATA[What's your absolute fave beach read?]]>https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-your-absolute-fave-beach-readhttps://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/whats-your-absolute-fave-beach-readWed, 10 Jul 2024 09:00:26 GMTOn Friday, I’ll be sharing an essay about about 5 books that would be perfectly lovely to read at the beach, even if they’re not TECHNICALLY beach reads. But today, I want white sand. I want steamy love affairs. I want family sagas. I want seafood dripping in butter. I want ESCAPE. For me, both Elin Hilderbrand and Jasmine Guillory typically scratch my vacation book itch, but I know there’s a whole world of authors I need to dive (🌊) into.

INFINITELY BEACHABLE!

So hit me up with your most delicious summer reads! And let’s try and put titles in all caps for ease of thread combing!

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