I love TikTok. There. I said it.
I’m an old-ass Gen-Xer, and I love getting on the Toks (does anyone call it that?) and seeing what the kids are up to. Being over 30 and on #TikTok is like being the mom lurking at the top of the stairs while teens desperately try to have a kissing party in the basement. And while I haven’t stumbled on to kissing TikTok yet (Come on, FYP*!) I have learned a lot.
A while back, I learned that side parts and skinny jeans are out! If you still “rock this look” you are officially an old.
Then I learned what “cheugy” meant.
And while this one feels a bit like Gretchen Wieners trying to make “fetch” happen, I felt cooler knowing what it meant when it popped up in the New York Times.
We’re at an interesting time to be alive. Thanks to the internet, we’re all occupying the same space. There is no more mom lurking at the top of the stairs, because guess what, we’re all living in the basement. And actually (insert vocal frye here)… that’s amazing. You can rail about how skinny jeans will never die and side parts forever! Or you can sip your PSL** in your chunky reading socks and give the kids some space! They’re doing really well.
I’m enjoying settling into a lame mom phase, and I don’t even have kids! It kind of feels now like the pressure is off. I can just like what I like!
And you know what I like? Frikkin’ TikTok Recipes!
Some of them are great! If you didn’t try the TikTok Feta Pasta over lockdown, you are either a liar or live in a very sad place where feta cheese doesn’t exist.
Others, are just cute. Like these Pasta Chips. I made them to try and they were fun. But no one can tell me they are better than eating a bowl of pasta.
Some don’t work super well, like the Werther’s Original caramel popcorn hack.
And others work so well, you can’t wait to share them with everyone you know.
Then once in a while, one comes along and changes the game. Friends, I give you the Pickle Cookie.
And now, because I hope everyone is lying in a hammock somewhere, I’ve brought back the CROSSWORD PUZZLE. Just for fun.
*FYP = For You Page… It’s what the algorithm thinks you might be interested in.
**PSL = Pumpkin Spice Latte… recently deemed Cheugy AF***
***AF = As F@#K
Also, PS… reading this far in the newsletter makes you a big cheug and I love you for it.
I just learned today that I am totes cheugy. Wait, can I say "totes" still or is that too cheugy? :P
I too am part of a tiny older demographic who likes Tik Tok! It's been the one social media space that gives me joy, other than your Insta and your newsletter Jan. Keep the happy content coming!