Welcome to the May 2023 edition of RPL At Home, where I share what I’ve been up to when I’m not in the kitchen or in front of the camera.
Each month, I’ll share snippets of what I’m working on, habits I’m developing, things that make me happy, books/TV shows/podcasts I’m enjoying, and more. Consider a semi-curated list of stream-of-consciousness blabbering recommendations filling Life Update.
What I see, hear and read
📺 watching
We’re working our way through HBO’s final season barry, which stars Bill Hader as a depressed hitman who moves to LA and finds himself thrust into the world of acting and crime. Season 4 is undoubtedly dark and weird and even suffocating at times, but there’s still sharp comedy, great acting and nail-biting suspense. It’s also an interesting season of character development for main character Barry, somewhat reminiscent of Walter White’s arc breaking bad. Also, NoHo Hank’s outfit in Season 4 Episode 1 nearly knocked me off the couch so there’s that.
We recently rekindled our love for cult comedies party down, which ran from 2009 to 2010 and was one of the first TV shows Max and I watched together in law school. In anticipation of the season three relaunch this year, we rewatched the first two seasons. It reminds me of an earlier time when things seemed more frivolous and trivial, which is basically like therapy but free. And while some of the jokes are a bit corny today, it still stands the test of time as a hilariously weird, highly enjoyable comedy.
📚 Reading
I finished reading last month The Vanishing Half By Britt Bennett. This is a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that follows two twin sisters, Stella and Desiree, light-skinned black girls who grow up in a fictional small town in Louisiana where everyone is light-skinned.
After they move to New Orleans as teenagers in 1954, one twin learns she can “pass” as white while the other twin marries “the darkest man she could find.” The sisters live very different and very separate lives, and the novel follows both them and their daughter.
In its face, The Vanishing Half Just a great novel. The plot is interesting and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Storytelling vividly and paints certain worlds most of us will never know with rich detail.
But the way Bennett thoughtfully tackles the historical phenomenon of race performance and racial transition—which is at the root of Stella’s lies and the identity she creates for herself—is what takes it from good to great (and a must-read, in my opinion).
PS: If you want to get more thoughts on the books I’ve read, I’m starting to share mini book reviews on my Instagram stories!
Short pieces I enjoyed reading:
- The ghost of our motel by Sabaa Tahir. I found this piece thanks to reader Elizabeth who recommended Tahir’s novel All my anger. As a fellow South Asian kid who grew up in a small town in the Mojave Desert, this piece brought up a lot of emotion for me.
- Generation Connie. A sweet and moving piece about the phenomenon of Asian American women being named “Connie” from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, inspired by prominent news anchor Connie Chung.
🎧 Listening
Growing up, I was embarrassed by my parents’ accent. This fact embarrasses me now (ironic!), but as I regularly hear their accents and make fun of other Indian accents, I’m going to cut 10-year-old Nisha some slack in her sensory processing. This episode is from “How to Speak Bad English”. Rough translation It was a therapeutic listen The global pursuit of speaking “good English”.– You know, that unaccented English dream I had for my parents-And why that can be a flawed pursuit.
In a society where we are often told that resignation is for losers, I find this context The hidden brain The episode “Taking the Leap” is so refreshing. Sometimes the departure actually makes complete sense, and Sometimes giving up is the bravest thing to do. I may be biased, but being willing to quit sooner than expected is how I left an unhappy career in law and created the life I truly wanted to live.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and one of the things I’ve heard (or read) about living with mental illness recently is Code switch Episode “Black with Bipolar.” Author Naomi Jackson speaks Her experiences with serious mental illness and how her life as a black woman shaped it.
What am I doing in life?
In my 20s, I loved doing intense workouts like HIIT and weight lifting. I used to be one of those gym rats who talked obnoxiously about the gym whenever possible…I sincerely apologize to anyone I offended. But over the past 400 years, I’ve learned that I have overly mobile joints that can easily move out of place and cause chronic injuries.
Honestly, it’s been hard. I found myself getting weaker, but I was afraid that exercising would cause more injury. Of course, being weak also increases the likelihood that injuries will occur and persist.
Last year, my physical therapist suggested I try it pilates As a low-impact way to strengthen my core and hips (the two secrets to a strong back, I’ve learned).
I started doing beginner and intermediate pilates somewhat regularly last summer/fall, but stalled again earlier this year when my hips went out of alignment, causing a pretty painful back injury. Did I mention that this confusion occurred while I was there? expand? Unlike Shakira’s hips, these hips lie. They be trifling.
The bright side was that since I had been doing Pilates for months, my back was relatively strong. So instead of a 4 to 6 month recovery time, I felt 90% better in 6 to 8 weeks.
That quick recovery time reinforced the usefulness of Pilates, so I’ve been taking it more seriously ever since. I’ve been in love since class Move with Nicole on YouTube (thanks to Laura from The First Mess for the suggestion!), and have been doing it three to four times a week. My current favorite class is this 30-minute Power Pilates class, but I love that she offers shorter classes because sometimes I don’t have the time or energy for 10 to 20 minutes.
When I’m feeling stronger, I may venture out into the real world and do a reformer Pilates class once a week, but for now, this routine is challenging enough. Also, I hate group exercise classes, so that could never happen, but I like to think of myself as someone who keeps her options open (even if I don’t).
As a treat for my commitment to fitness, I rewarded myself with a hypervolt massage gun (affiliate link) to massage all those sore glutes and quads and hammies. I like that it has more variable speed than Theragoon, which is too intense for my delicate constitution.
Recipes and videos you may have missed
- In our latest YouTube video, I show you how to make it The best vegan lemon cake ever. If baking scares you, don’t worry because I explain step by step how to nail this cake! Perfect for all the special occasions in your life, such as the upcoming graduation!
- If meal planning is your thing, check out our latest video How to use sauce for easy weeknight dinners Will be a game changer.
- Braised Tofu: The Funniest Uses for Tofu! The tofu squares are pan-fried, then braised in an incredibly delicious Chinese-flavored sauce until the tofu is extremely delicious. If you think tofu is only good when it’s crispy, think again!
- Creamy Broccoli Soup: If you’re looking for a quick weeknight meal that’s healthy yet indulgent, this is for you! I promise it tastes a lot better than it sounds.
- Really good quinoa salad. I’m usually in the “quinoa is terrible” camp, but I promise this Crispy Quinoa Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Marinated Chickpeas will change your mind on this superfood!
- Oh, and don’t forget about RPL Recipe Club! Each month, I choose a different recipe for the RPL community, and this is May’s recipe hummus. Anyone can make the recipe, then submit a photo to win amazing kitchen prizes. For all details check out May 2023 edition of RPL Recipe Club.
RPL 📰 in news
🤖 AI and recipe development. I was recently interviewed by Business Insider on using ChatGPT to create recipes And to start getting creative in the kitchen. While AI terrifies me, I also know it’s not going anywhere, so it was a fun and interesting experiment.
🎙️ Conversation with friends. I was recently too what focaccia podcast With my dear friends Niki Webster and Bettina Campolucci Bordi. We chatted about my journey into veganism, building a business, the future of vegan food, tips for budding content creators, and more.
📺 local news. Later this week, I’ll be on the local news here in San Diego talking about my journey from lawyer to YouTuber! I’ll update this space with a link when the segment goes live. It will air on May 24 at 6 am, 4 pm and 6 pm PST on CBS Channel 8, as well as at 7 pm and 10 pm on The CW.
This month’s fun stuff 🥳
👯♀️ Party time. One of my dearest friends who lives on the East Coast visited a few weeks ago, and my sister and I celebrated her recent engagement with pseudo-bachelorette activities, including a day on a boat with custom wine glasses and, let’s just say… very Festival-shaped cake. We’ve been friends since we came out of the womb and our moms have been best friends since the mid-1980s!
🎥 Visiting YouTube LA. I was invited by YouTube to be part of them AAPI Creator Panel, held this month in LA, where we got to celebrate AAPI creators and chat about our YouTube journeys as Asian Americans navigating “non-traditional” careers (including early reactions from our parents). Just a few years ago, I had no idea what I was doing on YouTube, so this was a special little moment for me.
🎨 A grand opening. My friend and incredible local artist Sarah Stieber He organized a grand opening party for his spring showroom and had the theme colorful cocktail. Despite my brand name the rainbow Plant life, I wear black quite often (thanks to almost a decade of living regularly), so I had to rummage through my closet for this look. Sarah’s art is so unique and fun—check it out!
Well, that’s it for this month! I love writing these more personal posts, and I hope you enjoy them too
Drop me a line below and let me know what you’d like to see in next month’s edition!
hug,
Nisha
again: We have booked a holiday to the Netherlands 🇳🇱 and Norway 🇳🇴 later this summer. It was a bit random—we got a good deal on the flight—and we had nothing planned. So if you live in the area or have visited, I’d love to hear your recommendations!