April R.E.P.O.R.T.

reading, eating, playing, obsessing, recommending, treating

A new month is upon us. 2025 has felt like such an odd year. January dragged on for an eternity, February and March zipped by, and April felt like a slow month at times, but also I blinked and it’s May? I’ve been sharing my monthly reports and a little collage of faves from each month on my Instagram (first @literary.larisa now @eatinggilmore.andmore now that I’m branching out of just Gilmore Girls [which, can we just say, the algorithm has really been hating. I get it, I’m leaving my niche, get over it!]). But I only share one photo for each category, and it’s really hard to pick sometimes because I’m doing so much more. Now that I’m over here, I thought it would be fun to write more detailed monthly recaps because I can!

April is for matching your cocktail to your outfit

Reading:

I’ve felt a reading slump encroaching all year, and April is when it finally hit full force. I read six books this month (which is still a big deal, but it’s the one of the lowest reading months I’ve had since I reconnected with reading 4 years ago). I’m trying to decide what book I want to try to pull me out of my slump, and I’m torn between a re-read (I’ve already done several this year) or something new. I’m worried the something new won’t engage me, and I’ll fall further into the slump, but I’m craving a new favorite book. Here’s what I read in April:

1. Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez- If you didn’t know, Yours Truly is my favorite book. I’ve started collecting different editions, and I have a ‘Be Harmless’ tattoo, so I’m always going to be excited for a new Abby book. Overall, I enjoyed this one, but it falls in my bottom 3 of Abby’s books. I’ll get into this more with another author, but I wish the publishing industry would let authors take a break. The expectation to put out a new book every year is going to tank the quality, and we saw that with this one, unfortunately.

2. Tales from Beyond the Rainbow by Pete Jordi Wood- This is a collection of short stories: queer retellings of folk stories. I tend to struggle with short stories most of the time. As soon as I start connecting with the story, it ends, and I have to start all over again with the next one. This was endearing, and a quick read, but it didn’t necessarily wow me. I would recommend it, however!

3. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry- Oof, I had originally wanted to read this one when it came out, but never got around to it because the hold at the library was always months long. Then when he passed, I didn’t want to read it right after because I knew it would be hard. I started a Friends re-watch toward the end of last year after Joy and I did a Blanket Fort Files episode on it. I wrapped that up this month, and decided it was finally time to read this one. It was incredibly hard because he wanted so badly to live. But I think it was a good read if you are a fan of Friends or want to understand addiction better.

4. Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid- I also put this one off for a while. I remember when it came out, there was some controversy around the book because Taylor is a white author and she sometimes writes main characters of color. I think there should be nuance here, but I ultimately decided to hold off reading the book. With Atmosphere coming out later this year, I decided to read this one in case there were any crossovers (ugh Mick Riva). I’ll be honest, this one was disappointing. Daisy Jones is one of my all-time favorite books, and I also love Evelyn Hugo, but this one didn’t hit in the same way. I don’t think Taylor made the characters as complex or made me want to root for them as much as some of her other books.

5. Kate & Friday by Kim Kay- This is my book club’s pick for May, and it was my favorite book of the month. It’s an epistolary novel set in the 90s about two pen pals who become best friends through correspondence. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one, but it was lovely seeing a true friendship form between strangers. It features some poignant commentary about global events that were going on at the time, and it resonated with me considering the current state of the world. It’s a quick read, and I highly recommend it.

6. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry- More like the Great Big Disappointing Book. I’m sorry, I didn’t like this one * hides behind something big and tall * I’m sorry! I commend Emily for trying something new and navigating away from romance by including more historical and contemporary fiction. However, I wish she would have just abandoned the romance plot because it felt severely underdeveloped and rushed. Like I said with Abby, I feel like Emily Henry also has been under pressure to deliver books that aren’t as strong as her other books. But that’s just me, what do you think?

   

Eating:

It was a big eating month for me in that I officially wrapped up Eating Gilmore (more on that later), and it’s been nice to take a break from creating dishes for content. I’ll be honest, I’ve been struggling to find motivation to cook lately. Grocery prices are a big part of it, but it’s also just finding the energy too. I started a new job at the tail end of last year, and it’s given me so much of my energy back, but even still, when I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is stand in the kitchen for 45 minutes or more cooking and cleaning up. I’ve been about quick and easy meals, and my hyperfixation lunch has been Taylor Farm chopped salads. Here are some eating highlights from this month:

1. Cookbook club- if you didn’t know, I started hosting a cookbook club every month this year. For April, we cooked from a brunch cookbook, and I think it was the best one so far! We had salted caramel banana waffles, ricotta pancakes with a lemon and blueberry sauce, roasted potatoes with mushrooms and pancetta, poached pears with Greek yogurt, honey, and pistachios, and cheesy grits with shrimp. It was to die for! I also put together a strawberry sangria and grabbed a bouquet of pink roses for the table. Perfectly spring!

2. Tinned Fish Spread- while this was technically for my ‘be brave and try the tinned fish’ Substack, it had been 6 months since we did a spread, and it was long overdue!

3. Steak Salad Saturday- right around the TikTok “ban” in January, I discovered Steak Salad Sunday girl, and immediately knew I wanted to have a little steak salad night. My sister and I do two unique activities every month. One is done outside of our home and the other is done inside our home (We also got the idea for this off TikTok, but it was for couples to date more, but who says sisters and friends can’t do fun date activities?). Our inside activity for April was a steak salad night. We decided to do Caesar salad (with homemade dressing, and yes, it included anchovies [be brave!]), and of course, we had to pair that with fries. If you haven’t had the elite combination of Caesar salad and fries, I’m urging you to try it!

4. A (somewhat) old-fashioned Wendy’s- if you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll know I’ve been experiencing an ache for nostalgia, and I wrote an ode to a Wendy’s Solarium. Well, I found a Wendy’s that doesn’t have a solarium, but the inside decor still felt like the 90s. It was about 45 minutes away, but we found an antique mall nearby to make the trip worth it. It helped with the nostalgia a little, but can we please just bring back the sunrooms, PLEASE!

   

   Steak Salad Saturday

Playing:

Sometimes I do playing music for this category and other times I do playing games, but here on Substack, I can do both! Here are some playing highlights for April:

1. Monthly Mood Playlist- every month, I change out my phone lock screen to a new collage I made using shuffle. Then I make a mood playlist to match the collage. April was vintage spring!

2. LemonTea- ambience videos- I’m obsessed! Look through her selection, and see if you can guess my favorite (answer is later in this post).

3. American Girl Magazine Summer Playlist- you already know!

4. Main Character Energy Playlist- Joy and I talked about this on a recent episode, and it inspired me to make a playlist for when you need to feel like the main character

5. Weather Channel Vaporwave- shoutout to my friend, Kaeleen, for this one. It’s like I’m a kid and getting ready for school listening to this one.

6. 90s Mall Vaporwave- this one really hits with the nostalgia

7. Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the Seven Keys- I’m not vibing with this one just yet. The animation is honestly kind of creepy, and I had to Google about the patch with the latte art game because it wasn’t working on my computer. I’m planning on jumping back into it this weekend to see if I will like it more!

   

Obsessing:

We’re going to run this one in a quick list because one thing about me, I’m always obsessing. Let’s start with the obvious one first:

American Girl magazines, Parks and Rec (rewatch), Wicked Part 1 (yes, I finally watched it, leave me alone, okay!), moving my walking pad into the study and actually using it, the new Gilmore Girls x Hallmark items (only tweaking out slightly that they put out kitchen items after I finished cooking my way through Gilmore Girls), the casting for Sunrise on the Reaping (and Hunger Games edits in general), Albanese gummy bears (the only kind I’ll eat), It’s Locked Podcast (Nancy Drew games recap pod), Paddywax baguette candle, my thrift finds (two glasses to add to my colorful glassware collection, and a piece of framed art), book bedazzling (adding another Yours Truly to the collection), eating lunch outside (weather permitting) Frankie Print Co Silly Goose throw (they gifted this to me, so sweet!! And if you want to save, you can use Larisa10 for a discount, I think it’s still active), Substack (I’m really starting to like it here!).

the notes of thyme and rosemary, obsessed!

Recommending:

I thought for recommending, I’d do 5 things each month that I’d recommend!

1. Unique art museum experiences- We found out that an art museum near us does afternoon tea on Sundays for $35 for two people (this was our outside date for April). It was a fun experience, and a nice spread. Plus, it was a unique way to experience a museum we’ve been to before. Even if you don’t have an art museum near you or they don’t offer unique experiences, I recommend trying to find something unique in your area that you’ve never done before!

2. Indie bookstores- Indie Bookstore Day was April 26th, and I hit up three near me. You should always try to support your local indie bookstores when you can. The book bedazzling was actually at one of my local indie bookstores, so also check to see if they have a unique experience you can try. If you’re an audiobook reader like me, I recommend Libro.fm over Audible. You can choose an indie bookstore to support, and a portion of your audiobook purchases will go to that bookstore!

3. Blanket Fort Files podcast- Yes, I’m recommending my own podcast! We just reached our first year of the podcast, and it’s been a fun journey! We’re a cozy podcast, and every week, we each report on a cozy case file — something that brings us comfort or nostalgia — that fits that week’s theme. It’s in the style of a true crime podcast, but cozy vibes only!

4. Eating outside- If the weather is currently nice where you live, try to have a meal outside. It’s been so refreshing when I can get out of my office and enjoy some fresh air. We are quickly approaching the time of year where it’s going to be too hot to do this, so I’m trying to enjoy it while I can.

5. LemonTea- (see above for more) My favorite ambience video is (no surprise) a cozy kitchen in the French countryside, what lovely vibes, and so good for background music while you work!

   

   afternoon tea at the Kimbell Art Museum

Treating:

I finished my Eating Gilmore project this month, so naturally, that had to come with a banger treat of a final dish. When I announced my encore, I asked friends to request a dish to make for my encore. John Cabrera (who plays Brian Fuller on the show) asked that I make a dessert using Brian’s tea selection from 4.21 “lapsang oolong, orange pekoe, sleepytime.” The problem is there’s actually no such thing as lapsang oolong. There is lapsang souchong tea and there is oolong tea, so I just combined the two along with orange pekoe to make a tea flavored cake with sleepytime tea-flavored frosting! Even though there’s no orange in orange pekoe, I thought fresh orange slices would make for a cute garnish! It’s truly surreal to be done with this project, and I haven’t quite fully wrapped my head around it.

my final Eating Gilmore dish

Bonus: My spring movie list!

Last year, my sister and I started crafting seasonal movie watch lists that we wanted to try to work through. Some of the movies completely fit the vibe of the season, but some we put on there simply because we want to watch them. I really am trying to watch new-to-me movies (my goal is 20 for the year, which may not seem like that many, but it is for me!). We have 30 movies for each season (technically 29 for spring because we put re-watching Daisy Jones and the Six on there). Other than DJATS, we finished our spring movie list as of last night! We had to make a few changes based on availability. In no particular order, here they are:

1. Emma (2020) (new-to-me)

2. Crazy Stupid Love (2011)

3. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)

4. We Live in Time (2024) (new-to-me)

5. Wicked Part 1 (2024) (new-to-me)

6. Brave (2012)

7. Love Rosie (2014)

8. The Sound of Music (1965)

9. Uptown Girls (2003)

10. Inside Out 2 (2024) (new-to-me)

11. Leap Year (2010)

12. Steel Magnolias (1989)

13. Finding Neverland (2004) (new-to-me)

14. About Time (2013)

15. Something’s Gotta Give (2003) (new-to-me)

16. Sense and Sensibility (1995)

17. Marie Antoinette (2006)

18. Hope Floats (1998) (new-to-me)

19. Booksmart (2019)

20. P.S. I Love You (2007)

21. Book of Love (2022)

22. Swan Princess (1994)

23. Lady Bird (2017)

24. Victor/Victoria (1982)

25. Harriet the Spy (1996)

26. Juno (2007)

27. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

28. Pride and Prejudice (2005)

29. 13 Going on 30 (2004)

What were you up to in April?

More cheers, less fears,
Larisa

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