The Weekend Reset: Paint, Plants, and Puzzles

Looking for something to switch up your weekend, or to give you an excuse to relax a little? That’s what the Weekend Reset is for. Each week we’ll pull together five things to get your weekend started. Could be something to read or watch, something to eat or listen to, or even something to do. Enjoy the weekend fellas.

 

PAINT.

Your home office feeling a bit too bland? Or are you seeing a way to change up the energy of your bedroom/living room/bonus room/shoe closet? One satisfying, cheap, and easy way to switch up a room is to put some new paint on the walls. Even if you’ve never painted before, it’s not hard at all — and if you’re just seeking to mix things up, you don’t even have to paint the whole room — maybe just an accent wall. Check out this video, which runs through everything from picking a paint color/sheen to what materials to buy to how to do the painting itself. With just a couple days of work, you can totally transform your space. Photo by Roselyn Tirado on Unsplash

 

PLANT: House Plants

Speaking of transforming your space — another way to add warmth and color to a room is by adding house plants. I’m currently deep in a home office remodel project, and literally the second thing I did after painting was head to the local nursery to pick up some new house plants. Want something that requires minimal watering and light? Look for succulents big and small — put them on your desk, or in a corner, or incorporate them into the centerpiece of your dining room table. Want a statement piece? Everyone loves a Fiddle Leaf Fig tree. Once you get the plants home, find some cool pots to repot them in. You can put little succulents in wall planters, or put larger plants in a zillion different funky cool pots or planters. There’s tons of plant care info online, but I also recommend asking the folks at your local nursery lots of questions — they’ll know best how to care for your plants given the climate in your area. Photo by Prudence Earl on Unsplash

 

WATCH: Black is King

Beyonc© can do no wrong. In Black is King, her latest “visual album,” Bey uses the music she wrote for last year’s The Lion King “soundtrack” The Gift to explore Black identity through a variety of different lenses and perspectives — and the result is absolutely stunning. Streaming now on Disney +.

 

MAKE: Spinach Ricotta Toast

Last week I had a huge bag of raw spinach on the verge of going bad, and I needed something to do with it, stat. Enter: Spinach Ricotta Toast. The method is simple. Put some good bread in the toaster. Heat a cast iron skillet (or some other pan) on medium. Put in a few tablespoons of oil. Slice up a TON of garlic (4-5 cloves) and chop up a shallot or two. Toss them in the oil, and let them sizzle for 30 seconds — then pour in a full bag of raw spinach. It’ll look like too much for the pan, but it’ll quickly cook down. Stir and cook it down until the spinach is totally wilted. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and stir it some more off heat. Then take the toast out of the toaster, spread ricotta on the toast, and top with the saut©d spinach — and that’s it! A perfect, crunchy-garlicy lunch or afternoon snack.

 

PLAY: Antichamber

Do you like puzzles? Than you’ll love Antichamber. A weird and wonderful first person puzzler, the game uses colors, shapes, jumping, gravity, words, and images to create insane, wonderful, and devilishly tricky puzzles. And though it’s challenging, it’s never unfair — the feeling of FINALLY figuring out a puzzle after many unsuccessful attempts is really, really satisfying. Out now on PC, Mac, and Linux.

About the author: Michael Robin is an LA-based television writer. When he’s not working away on his latest pilot script, you can find him scuba diving, hosting Shabbat dinners, or goofing off with his goldendoodle, Biggie Lebowski.