It's time another edition of filter the fluff!

Every now and then, I come across really well-written pieces on the interwebs and get the urge to share. My only criteria is that each article is thought-provoking in some way.

The last quarter of the year was kinda iffy in terms of can't-stop-reading content, but here are a few posts that literally made me want to grab a cup of tea before reading.



"I used all the best stuff for a week and it nearly broke me"


"I am 26 years old, and I live in Brooklyn, New York. Every morning, I wake up on a Casper mattress covered with Brooklinen bedding. I brush my teeth with a Quip toothbrush, then floss with Cocofloss. I do exactly 45 minutes on the elliptical at the gym downstairs in a matching set from Outdoor Voices. 
In the shower, I use a shampoo and conditioner perfectly customized to my hair type by Function of Beauty; my morning vitamin by Care/of, too, is designed specifically for me. I dry off in a robe from Parachute, then dress in minimalist basics from Everlane. I apply Glossier Cloud Paint followed by Boy Brow, and before I leave the apartment, I slip on a pair of Allbirds."

Rebecca Jennings lives like the cliché-est of millennials for a week and documents her journey, via Vox, using all the brands that claim to make our lives better.



"True Life: I'm a Millennial Who Uses a Travel Agent"


"So I started Googling variations of “travel agency for young people,” eventually stumbling across an article that assured me that no, I’m not the only twentysomething to seek the expertise of a travel professional. (Since then, even more think-pieces have been published exploring this trend.) Newly confident that I could work with an agency to build a trip that didn’t feel like a 90th birthday celebration, more poking around online led me to a travel agency network called Virtuoso, where I came across Jessica Hart of Travel by Hart."

Brinton Parker's blog post on using a travel agency sent me down a rabbit hole of discovery. The service is definitely making a comeback - thank God. The older I get, the less I feel like the hassle of planning all my vacations. I'd much rather pay an expert to arrange the little details and spend the rest of my time enjoying the trip. Her experience was an insightful read.



"From almost dying to giving birth. (Literally).


"I really like (+ need) medical professionals to tell it like it is. I don’t like being babied or sugarcoated – I just want the blunt truth of a situation, so that I can process accordingly. TOTALLY a personal preference on my end. So it wasn’t sitting too well with me when everyone kept sympathetically saying, “You’re going to be on Magnesium Sulfate…” as if I was about to go on a date with Darth Vadar. 
But I guess they did that because it was more like going on a date with the entire Sith crew."
Birth stories are kinda my jam (I used to love A Baby Story and Maternity Ward on TLC when I was a kid.. maybe that's subliminally why I'm waiting so long to actually have my own), and Erica's retelling of how her baby girl came into this world was a thoroughly enjoyable read. She was able to inject a bit of humor into an otherwise stressful and scary situation, while still tugging at your heart strings.



Credits:
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