Escaping The Scroll 📲
~a weekend detox story~ plus, 6 ingredient pistachio freezer fudge & what i'm not buying this spring (+ giveaway winners!)
i recognize that i have an obsessive personality. the type of personality that makes your therapist say “hey, you present with signs of OCD!” i’m just really, really passionate, okay? but really, i’ve lived with obsessive compulsive tendencies for as long as i can remember. i think it got worse when i started my own business. no one prepares you for the multitude of emotions that come with doing your own thing, especially in social media. i am quite literally obsessed with learning more & doing better and while that’s admirable, i sometimes don’t know when to stop.
i am so thankful for my job. i find joy and passion in what i do. i am also fully conscious of social media’s impact on mental health - mine and yours - as we are all consumers. finding the line between work and life can be difficult as a content creator and these past few months i have been personally victimized. even when i take the weekends off of posting, i still i find myself scrolling and feeling... icky. i know it sounds ridiculous for me to write an entire monologue about *TaKiNg TwO wHoLe DaYs* off of instagram, but just roll with me.
i woke up last week seriously considering a Lexapro prescription (no shame!) — i was a MESS. i felt incredibly anxious. couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep. my Oura ring was about to jump out of its gold plated frame and punch me in the face. when i sat down and thought hard about what was bringing up these horrible feelings, i realized it stemmed from… you guessed it: instagram. here i am, a “wellness influencer” doing the very thing i keep telling everyone not to do: scrolling mindlessly (especially on the weekends), seeking external validation from likes/comments/virality and comparing my life and work to everyone else online. that’s when i decided i needed to delete the app for a few days and enjoy my weekend.
here’s the cool thing about having an obsessive personality: it’s a double sided coin. if i set a goal you better believe i’m going to achieve it. so, i did it. i took the entire weekend off of social media and to nobody’s surprise it felt fucking amazing. and you know what else? i missed absolutely nothing. once the initial desire to click on the app subsided (this took a surprisingly long time), i realized the extent of its hold on my attention. our habitual tendency to unconsciously reach for instagram every few seconds illustrates how deeply ingrained its presence has become in our digital routines, almost as if our muscles have been trained to navigate to it without conscious thought. but i did it. and as it turns out i have offline hobbies! and real life friends! i came back on monday a bit hesitant but overall, refreshed & revitalized. i also noticed a shift in my ig/tiktok usage this last week - less scrolling, less over analyzing, and i’m actually being nice to myself again.
people always ask, “how do you unplug when your job requires you to be on social media 24/7?” and my answer to that is that this is a common myth because my job absolutely does not require that. content creators deserve weekends, too, even if the algorithm likes to make us think we don’t. we are punished for finding the hard line between work and life, aka “balance” aka the one thing every person is preaching to you but is likely not practicing (and not for lack of trying). furthermore, i believe that it is my responsibility — as someone who actively contributes to the capitalistic notion that we always have to be doing more and more faster — to take a bit of time off and to tell you about it so you might feel inspired to do the same.
what i’m tired of seeing on my newsfeed is the constant classification of oneself. our society rewards extremes - party girl vs sober girl, chronically online vs habitually offline, etc. i don’t want to identify myself as one thing because i am so much more than that. i like instagram! i also like taking social media breaks. i generally don’t drink alcohol! i still enjoy making a cocktail now and then. two things can be true at the same time and it’s okay to float somewhere in the middle. my hope is that this essay prompts you not to ex-communicate instagram from your life forever, but rather to interrogate your relationship to social media or that one thing you’ve kind of been addicted to/obsessing over.
we exist in a culture of doing more. gaining more likes, more followers, and more engagement; creating more content which leads to more negative self talk, more questioning our real lives and more exhaustion. in my humble opinion, the only answer here is to do more of what makes you feel good, and for me personally, that’s doing a little bit less.
loving lately
my new desk !! i got it on sale here - it’s no longer discounted but maybe will be again soon?
Full Swing is making me change my mind about golf?
this chrome shelf - inexpensive & elevates your space!
the only chunky gold hoops i wear are from Sezane.
currently reading this book. its themes hit home for me!!
the key to a vibey home? Philips Hue Lights
what i’m not buying this spring
but maybe you should? i’ve built a capsule closet so that i don’t feel the need to spend a ton of money on clothes each season and i’ve been renting clothes to give me that same excitement without the permanent consumption, but here’s a few pieces i’ve had my eye on that i think would be great for spring! some of the pieces are pricey, but i find that money spent on staple pieces for a capsule collection is worth it.
if ur interested in renting, i partner with Rent the Runway and love their stuff. ‘RTROLIVIAN’ will give you 30% off !
linen dress/jacket combo, chunky mules, oversized leather jacket, blue mini dress, linen bedcover, linen vest, curved pink jeans, light taupe sweater, adidas sambas
WINNERS OF THE GIVEAWAY:
*all subscriber emails were entered into a random generator & 3 winners were picked at random.*
if you see your email, congrats!! please reply to this email with your full name, address & phone number. if i don’t hear from you after 10 days, i’ll contact someone new!
rosieobrien11@gmail.com
jacquelinemorales1999@gmail.com
noor.aly93@gmail.com
i plan to host at least 2-3 more giveaways before the year is over, so keep an eye out!
WHAT I MADE THIS WEEK
6 Ingredient Pistachio Sesame Freezer Fudge
this goes out to all my hoes who can’t go to bed without dessert. it’s reminiscent of Halva and is legit DELICIOUS. buttery texture, a little bit crunchy & not too sweet.
ingredients//
1 cup shelled pistachios, unsalted
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted & cooled
1/4c honey
1 tbsp almond butter
3 heaping tbsp tahini
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 chocolate bar + 1tbsp coconut oil
sesame seeds & crushed pistachos, for garnish (optional)
method//
in a food processor, pulse the shelled pistachios until finely chopped. you can leave some larger pieces for added texture if desired. set aside a small handful of chopped pistachios for topping. add the melted coconut oil, tahini, almond butter, honey and salt. continue to process until the mixture forms a thick, sticky dough. line a loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the sides for easy removal. transfer the pistachio mixture into the prepared baking dish and press it down firmly and evenly using a spatula or your hands.
melt your chocolate by adding 1/2 bar + 1tbsp coconut oil to a saucepan over medium low heat. stir until melted and glossy. you can also do this in the microwave by adding chocolate + coconut oil to a bowl and heating in 30 second intervals, mixing in between. once melted, pour chocolate on top, spreading it evenly over the ‘fudge’. optionally, sprinkle sesame seeds and pistachio bits over the top. place the baking dish in the freezer and chill for around 3-5 hours, or until the fudge is firm and set.
once the fudge is firm, remove it from the freezer and lift it out of the baking dish using the parchment paper overhang. place the fudge on a cutting board and cut it into small squares or bars using a sharp knife. serve the freezer fudge immediately for a softer texture, or store it in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer for a firmer consistency.
Recipe Roundup
this non-alcoholic orange basil margarita is an ode to having a good time, even if you’re choosing not to drink alcohol.
so grateful to work with brands i adore. sezane!? c’mon!! a dream partnership & this non-alcoholic limoncello really tastes like the real thing.
i just wrote a monologue about taking the weekend off of ig, but it’s national cocktail day and i had the opportunity to work on a campaign to create a delicious Low ABV cocktail for those of you who want to celebrate! recipe is on ig!
What’s Next:
Copenhagen travel guide next week (!!!) for paid subscribers
interview series coming in May—who do you want to hear from?!
Incase You Missed It:
cdmx travel guide - where i ate, what i saw, where we stayed, etc. etc.
my chewy lemon pistachio cookie recipe & a look at the last year in film photos.
if anything in this piece resonated with you, comments on this post &/or replies to emails are always welcome and encouraged. sending lots of love and happy sunday! x Liv
A little late to this post, but I always love looking at your recipes- they're sometimes combos I would never have thought of, but sound SO good. Adding this pistachio fudge to the list!
I've been thinking about the stories we/I tell myself about life and how I "should" live. I kinda hate getting on IG period and never have anything to post or say so I stay off unless I'm checking out what's going on with this slime company I watch every week, our local NA bar, or the creep on tattoo artists for future bookings haha.
Currently curating what "home" looks like for me, and where! Online and in life.