Faffing Friday Edition #30

Wealth Obsession, Resisting Urges, The Thing is MY Thing, Playing Nice, Flakey Trend, Elixir of Youth Weirdness & Much, Much More In This Jam Packed Issue

My Faffing Friday ‘Stacks are basically a curation of my week - what I’ve been doing, reading, watching, scrolling, eating, buying.

As I’ve had a flurry of new readers this week - thankyou btw - and I know some are completely new to the whole Substack thing so I thought I’d share some ‘Stacks/People whose writing I’ve enjoyed this week.

Eat (like) the rich: from Walmart Birkins to Meghan - the wealth obsession. I wish I could write like

Victoria Moss

.

Entering my slow year: why it’s ok to not set any new year goals by

Jasmine Wicks-Stephens

. Totally resonates with me. I’m hunkering down of a sorts not rushing with abandon headlong into January. The grief aspect also resonates but despite this I feel quite positive.

'Have you ever seen a ghost at Hampton Court Palace?' - so happy to see

Lucy Worsley

joined Substack and I just know I will love everything she has to share with us.

My friend,

Lisa Barrett

has shared an update documenting how menopause symptoms return to bite you on the bum. Don’t they just?

SHOPPING 🛍️ I’m going to try very hard to be more mindful about my shopping habits in 2025. There’s so much stuff I don’t need but capitalism, consumerism, call it whatever really has us by the short and curlies, doesn’t it? Add into that an ADHD brain that is constantly hunting for dopamine … what can I say?

bestbeforeenddate

A post shared by @bestbeforeenddate

On that note, my new Crocs arrived 🙈 What can I say? I am a work in sustainable progress.

I bought them with some Christmas money. Don’t come at me for being a Crocs lover. I always have been and probably always will be but they can’t be boring straightforward Crocs. These are indoors called ‘The Thing’. I am that person who adds alllll the Jibbitz Charms, too. I need to dig out some photos for you.

They are so comfy and snuggly 💗

I can feel you judging me 🤣

I also bought some boots this week. These were a repeat purchase but in a different colourway. I first came across Heavenly Feet as a brand sold via Next. I bought the black/ecru version this time last year. I always get asked about them for their look but it’s the comfort I rave about, too. They are light as a feather like little clouds encasing your feet. They have to be to get me out of my Crocs, ha!

I walked for 4 days around London not long after I’d bought my first pair and they were THE best thing ever.

So now, I’ve bought the black patent version. I wouldn’t call them patent, though. They just have a normal finish, not shiny at all. With a discount code I found I got them for just under £20 including UK delivery. I am an expert Faffer, aren’t I?

STREAMING 🍿 I’m hooked on the new season of The Traitors on BBC iPlayer. Are you? I do feel as if I am a teeny, tiny bit less invested than before. Time will tell.

I’d love to try my hand at being a Traitor and play dumb 😈

We’ve watched Playing Nice on ITVX this week. It’s been slated in reviews. It is one of those where you talk to the TV screen and say ‘no way’ ‘that wouldn’t happen’ but we enjoyed it. Well, as much as you can enjoy a baby swap thriller and a psychopath. I think it was more the idea of horrendous a thing to happen to any parents this would be. The Cornwall seascape is epic. 3 stars from me - you like what you like, don’t you?

If dark comedy is your thing like mine then you’ll enjoy No Good Deed on Netflix. It stopped me in my tracks when I was watching a trailer as Ray Romano stars in it from Everybody Loves Raymond. It was his distinctive voice I recognised first. Did you ever watch it? My two boys and I used to love watching this before school when I think they were probably tweenagers, No idea why it was on at 8am in the morning but it was our thing. Although whenever I mention it now as kidults they say ‘ we were just humouring you mum, because you enjoyed it so much’. Kids!!

No Good Deed has a decent cast including Lisa Kudrow. Eight episodes.

Basically, the premise is they are trying to sell their LA home but they have a secret. Eight episodes. 3.5 stars from me.

SCROLLING 🔍 If you’ve got this far it’s a good idea to come back over the weekend as there’s always a ton of great content to digest in the recs/links ⤵

People feel they don’t owe anyone anything’: the rise in ‘flaking’ out of social plans - if you are ADHD you might recognise this as a trait.

Is Hollywood finally ready to recognise complex female characters over 40? - a bit more of what I talked about in my own insights post earlier this week - Catch Up Everyone .. Of Course Middle Age Women Are Sexy.

This past Monday was what is known in the legal industry calendar as Divorce Day - the first Monday in January when divorces are filed - Top divorce lawyer Sandra Davis: ‘My advice? Don’t get divorced’

L’Oréal Group bets on longevity with new skin age calculator - apparently 2025 is the year the world will become even more obsessed with looking younger - for longer.

And on that note I’ll leave you to think about this if you’ve got a spare 2 million quid a year to search for the Elixir of Youth - ‘Are we the first generation that won’t die?

That’s it for this week. I’m still pleasantly surprised that I’ve managed to write THIRTY Faffing Friday. Please let me know in the comments what you love/hate about them.

AND … If you enjoyed reading do click the ‘Like” button even if you don’t add a comment. It really helps my work get added to the Substack algorithm 💗

Have a great weekend wherever in the world you are.

Lots of Love,