5 Things I’m Doing In January

Everything I'm watching, listening to, reading, making and buying this month

Molly Manning Walker’s directorial debut How To Have Sex

OK, when I launched this newsletter last month I promised I’d do a monthly list of recommendations/things I’m up to, so here we are! I wanted to offer up a bit of a smorgasbord (outside of Sweden only journalists use this word so, apols, I won’t do it again) and every month I will drop a list of things I am watching, eating, listening to, buying… you get the picture, I’m sure you’ve all seen a list before. Let’s get started! 

WATCHING

When I was 15, five school friends and I went on our first all-girls summer trip, heading to Benalmádena on Spain’s Costa del Sol for a package holiday at a cheap, garish resort. Being born in September, I was young for my school year so while all my friends were 16, I actually qualified for a child’s place and we all got to split my discount. I mean, I don’t know what my parents were thinking but I’m also pretty sure I didn’t give them much of a choice in the matter. When I texted one of my old school friends about her memories of the trip, she instantly replied, “neon thong foam party heaven!!”.

How To Have Sex, in which three 16-year-olds head to Malia on the island of Crete for a hedonistic, post-GCSEs trip featuring bad hotel rooms, fluorescent goldfish bowl cocktails, and lurid nightclubs brought all those memories flooding back. The excellent film, which won the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes last year, manages to be both riotous and devastating, as the three girls navigate friendship, freedom, their future, as well as being faced with uncomfortable questions about consent. Despite the dark turn the film takes, it was a rip-roaring trip down memory lane; I could practically smell the coconut sun oil and peach schnapps. I didn’t learn how to have sex on my trip to Benalmádena but I did learn how to make out with cute skateboarders from the Basque Country. 

How To Have Sex is available to stream on Mubi in the UK.

LISTENING

For a short while I was basically a music journalist. I frequently interviewed bands and pop stars all over the world for The Independent (I always wanted the artists to like me so I was terrible at it) and reviewed live shows (more often than not I’d take a plus one and get drunk so, yep, also terrible at that). I was invited to vote for prestigious prizes such as The Brit Awards and the BBC Sound Of poll, which anoints the most promising new music talent, and I passionately supported whoever I thought should win. This was in the late noughties/early 2010s and record labels still sent out new music to journalists on CDs in flimsy plastic cases. I had hundreds of them. But if we fast forward to 2024, wow, I know nothing. I remember back in the day wondering if there would ever come a time when I was no longer up to speed on the latest music and I just couldn’t imagine it. But here we are merely a decade later.

Of the BBC Sound Of 2024 shortlist, I hadn’t heard of anyone except for the brilliant Peggy Gou but her inclusion on the list was odd, she’s basically a veteran. Anyway congrats to the BBC Sound Of 2024 winners The Last Dinner Party (me either). All this is to say that I now run a little bit behind the times and this month I’m listening to Willie J Healey, whose wonderful funky soul album Bunny came out all the way back in August. My finger might be a little off the pulse these days but I still have good taste. Promise.

READING

Soldier Sailor by the Irish writer Claire Kilroy was on everyone from The Times’ to Pandora Sykes’ Best Books Of 2023 round-ups but I just wanted to add my voice to the noise and say: it really is that good. As someone whose reading was slightly demolished after having a baby - I think I only read about six books last year - I am flying through this one. This is a book about, funnily enough, early motherhood: the infatuation, the loneliness and, yes, the bitterness. It is raw, angry and very funny, a primal scream of a novel. I have seen a lot of suggestions that new fathers should also read it to get a small glimpse into what their partner is going through but I’m not so sure. I don’t think they’d get it anyway. I like the idea of keeping it among women as our own little secret where we can feel seen and nod and swoon and rage all over again. 

MAKING

Am I still going on about the Le Creuset casserole pot I got for Christmas? You bet I am. If I can’t cook something in my new delectable volcanic vessel then I don’t want to know. When I’m on mainland Europe in the summer I will always order the spaghetti alle vongole and for some reason I thought it was incredibly complicated to make. Perhaps I was just slightly scared of cooking with clams? Anyhow, this month I discovered it’s actually the easiest thing ever. Do you ever nail something in the kitchen so well that it kind of takes the pleasure out of ordering it in a restaurant? That’s how I feel about Angela Hartnett’s spaghetti alle vongole recipe. Just make sure you clean the clams really well to avoid ending up with bits of grit in the final dish. This is a purist’s version, you’ll find no cherry tomatoes or lemon here. I know it’s soup and stew season but, truly, there’s only so much mush I can eat. 

*No picture because I am still getting used to documenting my life for Substack and it didn’t occur to me to take a photo but, damn, you should have seen her*

BUYING

At the risk of being TMI, do you ever look at your underwear drawer and wonder how you let things slide so much? I am in serious need of a decent refresh, I swear some of the items in there date back to when the Labour Party were still in power. I only invest in the odd matching set now, preferring to just buy cute and comfortable pieces instead. & Other Stories has long been a favourite for sets, their underwear is not only affordable but it’s just head and shoulders above their high street competitors. I’m going to add this peach set into the mix. I’m also tempted by some Dora Larsen, they have a really good sale on at the moment. This clover embroidered set is too delightful.

& Other Stories set (bra £29, briefs £23)

Urgh, Skims. Look, I hate further lining Kim K’s pockets but Skims are really good and somehow, despite being very anti-Kardashian, I find myself having a nude strapless bra, black pyjamas and long black nightdress all from Skims. Whoops. I’ll be picking up some of their tanga briefs too, these are 3 for £36. 

Skims tanga briefs

And for a bit of a treat… if your budget will stretch to it (and it’s far from La Perla prices), check out Yasmine Eslami, the Paris-based lingerie brand. Super sexy and comfortable, I also admire any underwear brand that isn’t afraid to show a little bush.

Thanks for reading my first edition of 5 Things I’m Doing… More in Feb!