5 things we loved in September |
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| NYT Wirecutter |
Ah, September. Crisp air, the boundless satisfaction of new school supplies, and sweater weather at long last. Wirecutter’s experts spent this month helping Jimmy Fallon with his meager tomato harvest and taste-testing lots of macaroni and cheese. Our journalists also revealed some of their most controversial opinions: We’re all for an instant-coffee renaissance; one of our kitchen experts crowned carbon steel as the best (and arguably only worthwhile) pan for most people; and we made the case for always checking your bag.
As for us, your newsletter editors? Well, we’ve been knee-deep in all of that reporting — including, per usual, in our own homes. Here are the five Wirecutter picks we loved the most last month:
Wirecutter’s top-pick portable Bluetooth speaker is built to survive outdoor adventures, but I bought it for my bathroom. Because is there any better place for a great speaker than a tiny room dedicated to privacy, pampering, and solo karaoke? Our pick is small enough to fit on the ledge of my shower or the corner of my sink. And according to our audio experts, it can survive being submerged in a meter of water, so I’m not afraid of accidentally splashing it.
One of the many rigors of Wirecutter’s testing includes continued, long-term testing — in which our journalists take home newly crowned picks, observe how they fare in real, day-to-day life, and report back on how they hold up. This past month, I took a few of our style experts’ new favorite white tees home to make sure they stay worthy of our recommendation. A standout? This ultra-soft, lightweight top. Rarely has something so seamlessly and quickly become a constant in my wardrobe: I have already worn it a dozen times. With track pants, with barrel jeans, with sweats. It is absurdly soft, and while most cropped tees sit in a sort of boxy way on my wide shoulders, I’ve found this cut actually looks quite chic and flattering.
I was immediately influenced by my colleague and gift expert Samantha Schoech’s love letter to these Japanese watercolors. They’re everything Samantha says they are: creamy, vivid, and easy for even beginners like me to use. Compared to other sets I’ve tried, this palette boasts so many more unusual and pretty colors. I’ve been busily DIY-ing birthday cards — most recently for my mom, a painting of her two little white dogs.
Buying a bottle of olive oil doesn’t seem like the type of thing to write home about, but here I go. Just one drizzle of Wirecutter’s favorite olive oil leveled up countless of my late-summer lunches. It added a sharp grassiness to my tomato sandwiches, a satisfying crisp to my homemade focaccia (brag), and a really nice freshness to even something as basic as scrambled eggs. A major plus is that the squeezy tube never dribbles onto my kitchen counter.
This may be a hot take, but I actually like that I don’t have 20/20 vision. I love wearing eyeglasses. I was very overdue for some new frames and used Wirecutter’s favorite service for buying prescription eyeglasses online for the first time. The whole process was pretty seamless, and in the end, I found two pairs I absolutely adore: gold metal spectacles with a 70s-esque flare and a classically round, ivory tortoiseshell pair. Very cute, would recommend.
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Plus: What Wirecutter readers loved the most last month |
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| NYT Wirecutter |
And as for what y’all got up to last month? Well, some of you joined us on Team Bidet, others invested in the very best portable charger, and many treated themselves (and their dining tables) to some very charming bowls. Well done.
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Happy October.
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