April Fixations: skincare saviors, podcasts, and Club Bubbly

A good ole fashioned monthly round-up

May 04, 2025

On The Sunny Side #24 is a weekly round-up where I share a few sunny things that have brightened my days, what I’m reading, watching, and obsessing over too.

This month on Short, Story, Long we chatted rediscovering creativity, the recent recipes I’ve tried and loved lately, easy sustainability switches, and of course, books. And is it just me or did April absolutely fly by?! I’m finally feeling settled at work, and in life in general. I got feedback from another beta reader for my WIP and I’m ready to tackle another round of (minimal) edits with the hopes of querying come early summer.

I’ve got some big changes in mind for this Substack coming in May (more to come soon). Until then I’d love to get a quick pulse check from you, readers:

With that, let’s get into my April Fixations. Grab your bevvy of choice and let’s dive in.

A skincare savior

My poor skin was really going through it this month. About two and a half weeks ago small, sandpaper like bumps sprouted all over my forehead and under my eyes. It happened out of nowhere and although the bumps weren’t visible, the ole confidence took a hit. I got a facial last weekend, and my esthetician recommended I pair back my skincare routine to just focus on nourishing my skin barrier. She recommended I use Naturium Barrier Bounce, a moisturizer, and sunscreen—no actives for at least two weeks or until the bumps go away.

We suspect the culprit was vitamin-c and that my skin just doesn’t get along with that compound. I’m happy to report, since using the Barrier Bounce for a week my skin is SO much happier. If your skin barrier needs some TLC or you just want a super hydrating, glowy serum, this is it.

A stain remover that pulls it own weight

If you’re trying to treat stubborn stains and a Tide pen isn’t cutting it anymore, you need to try Miss Mouth’s Messy Eater. Don’t be fooled by the marketing that this stain remover is only for kids—it works wonders across age groups. I use this for stubborn everyday stains and also like to spray the collar of my white t-shirts or collared shirts before giving them a wash. This has been the only stain remover I’ve bought in the last two years and will keep buying it (one con is it’s primarily sold on Amazon, and I don’t love that). Shoutout to my sister for bringing this mighty magical spray into my life.

Two Podcast Recs

I discovered Amy Poehler’s new podcast, Good Hangs in April. I’ve loved Amy for years and couldn’t be happier that she’s started a podcast. So far Good Hangs offers exactly what you think it would: a fun and funny conversation with Amy and her guests that feels like you’re hanging out with a good friend. The Paige and Hannah episode has been my favorite to date and I am eagerly awaiting the day she releases an Adam Scott episode. Maybe as former on-screen lovers, she can get us the scoop on Severance Season 3…

Another podcast shout for the month was Bad on Paper’s Life After Rejection episode. Becca and Olivia interview two guests (a popular author and former small business owner) about their paths and view points on rejection. I found it incredibly inspiring—especially

Andrea Bartz

journey as an author, as someone who inspires to be published one day. Regardless if you want to be an author or not, I thought this was an overall amazing listen. It’s a great reminder that rejection is a natural part of life and that sometimes the most wonderful parts of life happen after rejection.

Club Bubbly

When, Katie (from the widely popular instagram, Beach Reads & Bubbly) launched her Substack, I immediately hit subscribe.

Club Bubbly by Beach Reads & Bubbly

is an extension of what you know and love from the BRB community—lots of yaps, a guilt-free reading environment, and the best weekly recs. If you aren’t following Katie on BRB already, you should be and here on Substack! She is infectious, hilarious, and a bit much (don’t worry this is the highest of praise). You also *have* to listen to the audio version of her weekly favorite newsletter for an extra juicy secret each week!

Watched & Read

Shows:

The beginning of the month brought with it the season finale of The White Lotus. I had a very fun debrief with friends about the third season last weekend and most of us had mixed feelings about the season. We agreed on our favorite parts of the season (the girlfriend trios accuracy, though widely problematic, and Jason Isaaacs is aging like fine wine) and parts we could’ve done without (Lochlan overall, lol).
Then, if you’ve kept up with the newsletter lately, you know I’m deep in a Daredevil binge. What started as watching the new Disney+ revived show has turned into going back and watching the Netflix series for the first time and I. Can’t. Stop. Watching. When I can pry my eyes away from Charlie Cox, it’s been for A Real Pain which I watched on a recent flight and thoroughly enjoyed and weekly releases of Your Friends & Neighbors.

Books:

April was a seriously good reading month! You can check-out my full thoughts in my Everything I read in April round-up but know the one I’d recommend the most out of the bunch would be Wild Dark Shore.

A few more links before we go

👩🏻‍🎤 We might be right in the middle of a recession but at least we’ve got recession pop to go with our economic immobility.

👗 Benny Blanco proved, once again, that he is the real book-boyfriend going above and beyond.

🎤 A conversation with Emily Henry about her ‘departure’ from the romcom sphere with her new release Great Big Beautiful Life.

📚 Ann Patchett, Alison Espach, and Jenna Hager Bush take Read With Jenna on the road.

That’s it for me. What were you hyper fixated on in April?! Drop a note in the comments. And if you liked this post please like, share, comment, do all the things—it means so much 🤎