February 2020:

Dear Friends, new & old: You know the month, I tried to avoid the theme but it persisted (sort of). A lot of articles & clips here, but I will have some original interviews, content and news for you next month so please stay tuned! Hope your Feb was a good one, you no doubt have big things coming this year and I can’t wait to learn about them! In the meantime, feel free to connect with me on Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, Medium, my Podcast or Blog.

What’s the good news

• February is Black History Month: Read up on historical stories and visit the phenomenal National Museum of African American History and Culture in DC if you get the opportunity

• House votes to establish Smithsonian women's history museum on National Mall

• Penn Museum hires refugees as guides for exhibits about their homelands

• Ex-Foster kid makes it his mission to adopt unwanted elder shelter dogs

• Astronaut Christina Koch returns to Earth after spending 328 days aboard the International Space Station, setting a record

• Upworthy: Woman plays violin during surgery to save her skills

• Gabrielle Union & Dwyane Wade are fantastic & supportive parents

Let’s Travel

• It’s Mardi Gras & Carnival month y’all! Let’s review NOLA tips and get everyone to New Orleans, or Brazil, but maybe not Venice after all

• Is this the nicest flight attendant in the world? Probably.

• New Yorker: An interview with Samin Nosrat (of ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’)

• Travel + Leisure Editors’ Picks of the Best New Hotels in the World

• NYT: How to Be an Expatriate in 2020

• CNT: Global Entry has started to reject New Yorkers

• NYT: What does Independence look like? Reflections on 1960, A Year In Africa

• Economist: Is Ireland Unification Coming?

• Brush up on Brexit with Jon Oliver’s genius ‘Last Week Tonight’ 3 part series

• Vanity Fair: The ‘teach you global slang’ video series is always entertaining

• *Tip: Trusted Housesitters is a fantastic service for longer trips if you are up for exchanging a free stay for pet/home sitting services. I do it & love it!

• *Tip: I met some new friends with full time jobs that also work a regular limited shift on the side with Delta Airlines as “ready reserve” workers, of which they have slots around the country for either baggage workers or ticket agents. The benefit? Unlimited standby flights! So comb their jobs, it may be worth it.

Culture Club

• Rom Com time! For the month of love, debate your favorites here (Though “Moonstruck, “When Harry Met Sally” and “The Philadelphia Story” get my vote)

• NYT: Unmarried, Happily Ever After (+ stop asking single people about dating)

• Best books of 2019 from NYT, New Yorker, Atlantic, Paris Review, Good Reads

• Theatre: Alanis Morissette’s ‘Jagged Little Pill’ is open on Broadway (yay!), Hamilton original cast to reunite for the big screen 2021 + Lin Manuel Miranda’s other Tony winning musical ‘In the Heights’ coming out soon too

• Wes Anderson has made a movie inspired by The New Yorker

• NYT Opinion: Brit Marling, I don’t want to be a “female lead”

• NYT: Who really killed Malcom X? 55 years later, the case may be reopened

• So you loved Oscar-winning film “Parasite” and want to explore more Korean Cinema? Read this great Twitter thread for suggestions

• Face it, the Independent Spirit Awards are way more fun than the Oscars! Excellent winner speeches this year from Lulu Wang (Director ‘The Farewell’), Adam Sandler (Actor ‘Uncut Gems’), and this epic tribute to actress Laura Dern

• I honestly could watch RuPaul “reading” kids books on SNL all day long

• Pods: The hilarious Celeste Barber on Katie Couric’s Next Question Podcast, Jane Fonda on R29’s Unstyled Podcast and Ronan Farrow on Marc Maron’s WTF

• Lastly, are you forever dreaming of real estate & fixer uppers too? Start following Circa Houses and Cheap Old Houses on instagram and enjoy the rabbit hole! (And follow our Wild West Home project while you’re at it!)

Fight The Good Fight

I don’t have much to add at this frustrating time between our deranged president, election interference, pardoned criminals, messy caucus’, and endless debates, but…keep going. We need everybody and we have a lot to do in 2020, so here are some helpful tips & interviews for insight. Plus one alarming read from the Financial Times: the richest 1 percent of Americans now account for more than half of all share ownership. The bottom 90 percent own only 12 percent of the total. Ugh. Something’s gotta give.

For some comic relief, please enjoy this classic clip from one of my favorite funny guys John Mulaney (from his hilarious “Kid Gorgeous” standup special on Netflix), which perfectly sums up our current political situation.

Thank you for reading! Carrie xo (Carrieamitchell.com)

P.S. Here is your monthly cocktail recipe: Love Potion Cocktail