Hello bobbins! Let me tell you about my dark magenta lilacs that bloom only once every spring - I wait for them ever so not patiently and I really feel like I’ve cracked a new level in my personal development because this year, I left some blooms on the tree instead of stuffing them all into various vases. It’s actually been really delightful to see them through my kitchen window on the bush, and they’ve been going pretty strong for 3 weeks now.
But of course some had to come inside the house. My mother gave me this amazing coffee pot (it has a lid) many many many years ago - I have NOT THE SLIGHTEST CLUE its origin, but she never used it/displayed it (what), so I was very happy to take it off her hands. Anyway - I love lilacs and I love this pot-vessel thingy and USE YOUR NICEST THINGS is the lesson I’m trying to impart, we know this already, do we not?
Oh my goodness - thank you for reading my How To Be Cozy post. This article has been far and away my most read posting, as of this juncture! Clearly, I have found my people and fellow lovers of all things cozy. Rest assured, I’ll always keep throwing lots of cozy content at you.
And to that end, let’s look at some springy cozy thingamajigs because it is STILL SPRING for another few weeks:
Yes, I’m still talking about cardigans. I’m ALWAYS talking about cardigans. I just ordered this one from Quince, in this navy color, and I Ioooove the buttons and am Very Hopeful Indeed that it’s going to be my go-to cardigan now and all summer long in lieu of a jacket.
I’m a big proponent of 24/7 Cozy Clothes, and I’m also still dealing with an intense desire to keep spoiling myself even though Mother’s Day has come and gone. Which is why I also just bought these pajamas:
I don’t need to justify any such purchase to anyone however, because I’ve been wearing the grossest, oldest, shreddiest t-shirts and random mismatched pajama shorts etc for the past two decades. It’s actually horrifying. The main issue is that I don’t wear jammies like the ones you see here for actual sleeping, I’d roast like a rotisserie chicken. These are just for cozy wearing around the house. I found a pair of ‘cooling’ shorty pajamas on Amazon a few years back and in my infinite wisdom, only ordered ONE PAIR, and somehow never thought to get more?? There’s something wrong with my brain. I’ve just been rotating between those and the ratty old tees and torn sleeping shorts (this conversation reminds me of the time I had to get ridiculously oversized Winnie the Pooh jammie bottoms at a random Walmart during an emergency WHEREIN MY HUSBAND FORGOT TO PUT MY SUITCASE IN THE CAR when we were going on a little trip to the other side of the state. Believe me, he’s still hearing about it, over 10 years later).
Anyway…..I’m on a HUGE Pajama Procurement Parade.
Ma petites, I am a middle-aged lady person who doesn’t understand how TikTok works. I am not on top of the trends, unless one walks up to me and slaps me across the face. So I am just recently hearing about Dubai Chocolate and the viral Starbucks off-the-menu Dubai Chocolate drink recipe you have to ask to have made special, if pistachio syrup is in stock, which I think it is now? Anyway….I’ve signed up on the Lindt website to be notified if this $25 (lol what) candy bar becomes once again available, and I will be marching out asap to see if I can get my hands on this matcha-based drink.
And while we’re on the topic of spring, tea, and matcha —
LOOK at this Hibari Matcha from Bellocq Tea. Ever since I discovered the anti-inflammatory effects of green tea in my twenties (I could really see the redness-reducing effects on my rosacea prone skin), I’ve been a regular green tea appreciator and am generally pretty obsessed with it. A matcha tea latte with oatmilk is my standard order at any tea/coffee selling establishment.
While poking around the Bellocq site, I saw that there’s a recipe section, and this chamomile cream tart looks so lovely for this time of year! I might make the cream just on its own and spoon it in a cup with fruit, because I’m too Exhausted By Life to bother with making tart pastry dough.
Speaking of cozy tea drinks……
LOOK at these tea cups and a mug with built-in tea infuser! Look at the WEE KITTEN on the mug! And aren’t the tea cups beyond charming? I would totally use them with green tea or herbal tea, with a plate of dumplings or small cookies alongside.
Next, there are 3 very cozy & sweet looking books that popped up on my radar that I want to show you:
Somehow I stumbled upon The Farmer’s Daughter blog, and then I discovered that Kelsey Siemens wrote a really darling looking cookbook, arranged seasonally. Seasonally arranged cookbooks are my favorites. ‘The Farmer’s Daughter Bakes’ is going to find its way into my cookbook collection very soon because of recipes like the Gingerbread Loaf with Chai-Spiced Poached Pears and Great-Grandma Enid’s Rhubarb Pistachio Coffee Cake, plus the ENTIRE Harvest chapter.
‘Water Moon’ by Samantha Sotto Yambao looks ENCHANTING. I can’t believe this has eluded me thus far since it came out this past January. “A woman inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets, and then embarks on a magical quest when a charming young physicist wanders into the shop…” - this story has been described as being Studio Ghibli-esque for grownups. SOLD. Also the dust jacket for the hardcover folds into an origami boat? I’m sold some more. A night market in the clouds? I’ve already taken out my ordering pinky. I was particularly intrigued by this review: “Honestly it feels like a love letter to all the stories that have been turned into Miyazaki films - it has elements of magic, fairy tales, and it’s creepy, cozy, romantic, and fantastical all at once.” I JUST ORDERED IT.
Ok. So I enjoyed Sangu Mandanna’s previous book, ‘The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches’ when it came out couple of years ago. It seemed like every bookstagrammer on Instagram had their hands on that book. Of course I got it and I found it charming. But….it didn’t really stay with me and I wasn’t super sold on the romance. I don’t know….it was breezy and sweet but I wasn’t super compelled by it. AND YET, my interest level in this second novel is much higher, and I definitely will be pre-ordering ‘A Witch’s Guide to Magical Inkeeping’ because this lady knows how to title a book in such a way as to make an instant sale with me. I’ll totally read anything that utters the words MAGICAL INNKEEPING. I would LOVE to be a magical witch innkeeper. That would be choice #3 after 1) Quaint Bookshop Owner, and 2) Tea Salon Proprietor.
Also, if you recall from my previous Cozy post, I was talking about comfort reads. And I just came across someone online saying that the novel ‘Possession’ by A.S. Byatt was their ultimate comfort read, and how chagrined they are when someone says they haven’t read it (Me! I HAVE NOT READ IT), and the RESPONSIBILITY they feel in putting people like me on the correct path whenever they hear that someone hasn’t yet read it. So I guess what I’m saying is I now feel deep shame, which is not a cozy feeling at all, and onto my Read ASAP list it goes! I particularly love this edition from Vintage Classics.
And finally, you can’t be truly cozy without some trashtastic telly. Julia and I watched this and thought it was super fun.
stay cozy!
Melissa
Water Moon is already in my TBR list but I have not heard yet of Possession!!! Will add it! Let me know if you like the stories! The tea set with the kitten on it is very tempting but I must resist T_T
Possession is my absolute favorite novel, and it saved my life the first time I read it during 1L finals.