My Favs and Flops from May 2023

May was a busy month for me in terms of newness. From movies to music to shopping here are my favs and flops from this month:

• Saint X (hulu) – I’m a big crime junkie/true crime fan, it’s one of my favorite things, and after seeing the trailer for this show, I had a feeling I’d like it. I originally heard about the show from Deuxmoi’s Insta stories and it was getting a ton of praise there. The show and the story, which is fictional, reminded me a bit of Natalie Holloway and her disappearance. Saint X is about a woman who is trying to find out what happened to her sister the night she died while the family was on vacation in the Caribbean. The story toggles between the family on vacation leading up to the death and present day with the sister making some questionable choices to uncover the truth. My husband and I both enjoyed this show and all the twists and turns throughout.

• Love & Death (Max formerly HBO Max) – Another crime series, but this one is a retelling of a crime that actually happened. Love & Death is about Candy Montgomery and how she came to kill her friend, Betty, with an axe. This is the second show to cover this true story, the other one being Candy (hulu), starring Jessica Biel, which came out last year. I didn’t see that show but now I’m going to; I’d love to see how it compares. Love & Death stars Elizabeth Olsen (yes, Mary-Kate and Ashley’s younger sister) as Candy and she does a fantastic job playing this role. I enjoyed the mini series and I’ll give an update for how it compares to the hulu show.

• The Little Mermaid – I think I’m in the minority here when I say that I enjoy Disney’s live action remakes. Obviously the cartoons are the best and can’t be beat and I think it’s that mindset that helps me to enjoy the films. Their live action movies usually release the same week of my birthday so it always feels like a little present from Disney. My parents happened to be visiting the weekend it came out so I took them with me. I’d been waiting for this movie since 2019 and it did not disappoint. Halle Bailey was perfect as Ariel, she really killed it.

• Murder Mystery 2 (Netflix) – If you liked the first Murder Mystery, you will like the second one. I truly relate to Jennifer Anniston’s character in this series… obviously. Honestly I think anything Jen and Adam Sandler do together is good, I like their on screen chemistry.

• Ed Sheeran – This month Ed released a docuseries on Disney+, The Sum of It All, and his long awaited Subtract album. I also had the chance to score tickets to one of his small venue shows. I highly recommend the docuseries if you’re a fan. It’s only 4 episodes with each episode about 30 minutes long. He discusses Subtract and really gets into the process of how it came together. Subtract, itself, is a wonderful album and is very similar to Multiply, in my opinion. At his small venue shows he plays the entire album and goes into detail about each song and the meaning behind it. It made me appreciate the album that much more. I was also like 20ft. from him and it was AWESOME.

• Eclipse de luna – This year for my birthday I requested a dinner at my favorite tapas restaurant, Eclipse de luna. A new location recently opened up near us at the Halcyon in Alpharetta, Ga and I’d been dying to go. The environment was A+, I especially loved the swing and neon sign that was perfect for my instagram birthday pic. We had a large group so there were lots of tapas and drinks ordered. Eclipse de luna has my favorite sangria, the white pea sangria, and it was just as good at this location. The group consensus was thumbs up. The food, drinks, service, and environment were great and we will definitely be going again.

• DIY Ladder Golf – My project this month was putting together my own ladder golf game. I’d been searching on Pinterest how to make my own set and comparing it to purchasing a set from Amazon. I’m a very hands-on person, I like doing things myself, so I decided to go the DIY way. It was really easy to gather my materials (I did an online order for in-store pickup at Lowes), follow the instructions, and put it together. My only fail is the golf balls sliding off the ropes so I’m in the process of fixing that. Later I’ll share how I did it in a post.

• Canvas Painting – After watching the Ed Sheeran docuseries, I got inspired to paint. There’s a scene in the series where Ed and his wife, Cherry, are painting large canvases which peaked my interest. I paint on and off, whenever I’m feeling extra creative but I’ve never painted such a large canvas. It’s not complete but it’s coming along. Painting is a nice calming activity for me so I don’t like to put pressure on myself to make it perfect or finish by a deadline. It’ll be done eventually. I’ve already named it Mess. My favorite paints are Liquitex BASICS right now.

• Ulta Points Purchase – I need to share a post for how I take advantage of Ulta’s Ultamate Rewards program. I’m a pro at gathering points until they get to a specific amount and then making a large purchase where I can say I only spent a few dollars or even cents. This month I purchased 6 items for $14.97. Here’s what I got: Too Faced Born This Way Sunset Stripped Complexion-Inspired Eye Shadow Palette ($52), Urban Decay 24/7 Inks Easy Ergonomic Liquid Eyeliner in the color Zero ($26), Milani Ant-Gravity Mascara in Intense Black ($11.99), Colourpop Pressed Powder Blush in the color Papaya ($12.00), LOOPS Dream Sleep Nighttime Slugging Face Mask ($7.00), and LOOPS Variety Loop Face Mask Set ($30.00). All for under $15 because I used my Ulta points.

Those were my favs and flops from the month of May. Click the link if you want to see my favorites from last month.