It’s September, and I can finally admit to myself that I’m on a Speculative Fiction time travel kick. After I read and loved This is How You Lose the Time War, I realized I wasn’t quite done with the genre and picked up The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley to continue the theme. Part thriller, part romance, MOT follows a first generation civil servant navigating a new role helping “expats” from history adjust to their new life in 2020’s Britain. The story and characters are page-turningly compelling, and Bradley’s turns of phrase and ability to weave big questions into mundane musings remind me a lot of my fave author Lauren Groff.
I spent an unanticipated 18 hours in San Francisco for a “there and back” work trip last week, and killed a few hours in a Blue Bottle working in between meetings and events. I have and always will be a New Orleans-Style Cold Brew fan, and Blue Bottle’s sweet and creamy take is reliably one of my faves. Was delighted to pick up a pack of their new Craft Instant NOLA packets (and have already ordered a restock, whoops).
I am slowly but surely collecting the cookbooks of all my internet faves, and was delighted to receive an advanced reader's copy for Pass the Plate, by Carolina Gelen. The book itself is gorgeous (photos for every recipe, as! It! Should! be!) with extremely helpful notes on prep time / cook time / total time and a side by side ingredient and measurement list + instructions that works for my brain, personally. I made the sesame-crusted breakfast quesadilla this weekend for the fam and it was a 10/10. (side note: if anyone knows how to get on the PR list for actual books, I’m dying of envy on all the Intermezzo ARCs, naturally).
Hello good morning and welcome back to another edition of coffee with maggie!
If you’re semi-new here: I’ve been a creator on Instagram and TikTok for years, but as of last fall migrated the majority of my creative energy into this newsletter to give myself space for more long-form thinking, and a place where we can talk a little more directly, and a little more casually.
editor’s note: still figuring out my technical limitations as a podcast producer so give a shout if something is off
As always, I’m hoping that this type of post feels a lot more like us sitting down to dish the dirt over coffee than some of my other posts (which occasionally feel like reading someone’s academic dissertation!)
Today we’re covering some of your most frequently asked questions, including
how I balance a full time job, motherhood and content creation,
how I develop and maintain strong friendships,
what my screentime currently looks like (and how I cut it down by 50% in the last year)
and a whole bunch more.
I’m also hoping it’s an opportunity to hear more directly from you, either in comments or in the chat - there are so many topics we cover in today’s issue where I absolutely don’t have everything figured out, and I’d be so interested to hear how y’all are thinking about and approaching these bigger life challenges. I was so excited to get all your questions, and am so looking forward to connecting with you more about this issue!
I cannot wait to share all this with y’all, so grab your coffee of choice, head out for a walk, do the dishes, or settle down in your comfiest chair, and go ahead and press play!
Xo,
*show notes and relevant links *
the TLDR summary and things I reference in the episode!
Girl, it’s been forever. [00:00]
A Dream Weekend Back in LA [01:40]
A non-exhaustive but fairly comprehensive google map with a lot of my faves in LA!
Tips for Hosting and Cooking (when you aren’t confident in the kitchen) [03:45]
Cookbooks I always lean on when cooking for others: Alison Roman’s Nothing Fancy, Jess Damuck’s Salad Freak
Things I recommend if you’re trying to learn to be a better cook: Molly Baz’s Cook this Book, Bon Appetit’s Basically, Restaurant Dropout
Parenting Insights: [07:43]
Doulas, Nannies, and Daycare
Fun things to do out of the house with little ones
Balance & Creativity: [13:23]
Writing, Motherhood, and a Day Job
How I navigate my full time job with my online presence
Advice for starting your own creative pursuit
Health & Wellness
Re-reviewing the app I use to cut down my screen time 50% in the last year [20:20]
*The* strength training app I’m currently obsessed with [23:35]
Fastest Mile Journey [26:24 ]
Postpartum Recovery & Struggles [28:38]
How I build and maintain solid friendships (even when I’m anxious about it) [35:14]
The earlybird issue where I talked to my oldest friend about what our friendship has taught us about how to be good friends.
Thoughts & feelings [42:24]
thoughts, feelings, reactions?
would love to hear from you, especially as I gear up to figure out how to do more of them!
Obsessed with the Troye Sivan + CDK Company campaign for Gap (and the on-site integration is iconic). I’m spending a lot of time thinking about mental health and technology recently (for work and personal reasons) but reading that more Gen Z and Millennials say they feel most like themselves ‘online’ was deeply jarring. (relatedly: Gen Z has regrets). Anecdotal evidence would suggest the job market is shitty, (see: ghost listings) – so how did you get your job? Perhaps it’s time to start gentle parenting your coworkers? Interesting insights on wellness: the more pressure we feel to “be well”, the less well we feel (which might explain the wellness to rightwing pipeline?) Unexpected but awesome: the zit sticker people are taking on harm reduction, and we love to see it. Today’s niche internet community petty drama: ultrarunners are getting weird in the Wikipedia pages. Apparently Gen-Z men are substantially more religious than Gen-Z women, who are leaving christian churches in droves (I’m going to hold your hand when I say this…). Strega Nona Fall? Absolute perfection, no notes. Finally - Just trust me.
🎧 coffee with maggie: this and a yap