🦝 The Raccoon Files, Vol. 2: A Very Bravo Month + More

Welcome back to The Raccoon Files!

For the newcomers: raccoons are adorable, chaotic, and will take your shiny things with zero remorse — which is also a distressingly accurate description of me. So once a month I empty my little raccoon pockets right here and show you everything I dragged home. This month the haul leans less "design finds" and more "things keeping me entertained, organized, and mildly obsessed." Let's dig in.

** Something Entertaining **

How Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Ruined Me for Normal TV

Penny taking in RHOBH

I was LATE to The Real Housewives. I pushed back hard for years — until a friend told me, flat out, "we can't talk anymore unless you start watching." So I watched. I started with The Real Housewives of Dallas, a short-lived franchise that turned out to be a gentle on-ramp. Then I moved to Salt Lake City and fell all the way in love.

My favorite, easily, is Heather Gay. When we meet Heather, she's a lifelong Mormon who left her husband and was ostracized from the church — the only world she'd ever known — to raise two girls solo. Her daughters are about the same age as mine, so I had a soft spot for her from the jump. She's since built a whole beauty empire, Beauty Lab + Laser: medical aesthetics, injectables, skincare, laser hair removal, wellness, all of it. And yes — she's tied to that Season 2 scene, when the FBI rolls into the parking lot to arrest Jen Shah just as the ladies are heading out of town. I'm SHAKING. Iconic television. The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City DELIVER in a sprinter van!

When we were in SLC, I booked myself a little love session at Beauty Lab + Laser and had the most amazing experience, I had to support my girl, Heather! I was lucky lucky lucky to get total icon REGAN for my services! Look him up. The BEST. I even snagged a photo of my red Jeep parked out front — iconic.

From there I gave myself a watch party road trip through the rest of the map — Beverly Hills, Miami, New Jersey, and the New York reboot. These are real women, which I never forget, and I genuinely cannot imagine living the way they do. It's like American royalty.

A nugget that lives in my head rent-free: Christina Applegate has talked about leaning on Bravo to cope with her multiple sclerosis — the imperfections and outrageous behavior of real people make for a comforting escape from a hard daily reality. I would very much like to see a study on this. For science. Go STEM!

A few more of my Bravo non-negotiables:

Below Deck ((every franchise)). The professional and personal lives of the crew working a luxury superyacht through season. After two decades in hospitality, I get what's happening on screen — and unlike The Bear, it doesn't give me secondhand PTSD. The guests are as entertaining as the crew, I promise. If you're hunting for a show to watch with your husband, this might be the one. Honestly, if superyachts had been as big of an industry in the '90s as they are now, my husband would've made Captain and I'd be a retired Chief Stew in 2026

NextGen NYC. The kids of a few Housewives and their tangled web of friends, stumbling into adulthood in New York City. I'm fascinated by how this generation ticks. I've got two of them at home, so really, this is research.

Watch What Happens Live. Andy Cohen's weeknight talk show and our nightly dose of Bravoleb dirt — short, not serious, and always a good time. He pulls great celebs on top of the network favorites, and half the drama starts right there in the studio.

I've also worked my way through Summer House, Winter House, the original Vanderpump Rules, Southern Charm, and Ladies of London: The New Reign. LoL is technically cheating — it is actually a Peacock vehicle — but in my head it's Bravo-adjacent. Those London ladies are off the chain, and I've rewatched the one season on a loop. Bravo and Peacock are very much in bed together; I don't pretend to understand the arrangement.

** Something I Use on the Regular **

go go google tasks!!

My finest artwork was technically a to-do list. I'd frame it if that weren't unhinged.

I'm the kind of person who adds a task to the list just to cross it off because I completed it. It's the most stellar feeling on earth, and I know I'm not alone out there.

It took me actual years to move from a paper planner — stickers, multicolored pens, doodles, the whole gorgeous mess — to something digital. Ugh. The typing makes me a little sad. So why switch? Because I no longer live the life that demands staggering documents laden with to-dos or a bag big enough to haul a planner around. I'd much rather carry this adorable fanny, thank you.

The change was slow and I tried a few different forms, but I think I've landed on something that works — at least until I find something prettier. Google Tasks is doing the trick.

Exhibit A: yes, my TV schedule lives in my to-do list. Judge away. 📺

I don't live in my inbox ((does anyone check email more than two or max three times a day anymore?)), so my Google Calendar reminders were never much help — if they would ping me with a text, we'd be in business. Google Tasks comes as a standalone app on your phone or tablet, and it also tucks into the sidebar of Google Calendar and Gmail. It's handiest on mobile. You can give each task a due date and a date you actually plan to get the thing done.

Pro Tip

At the start of each new season I drop my TV shows in as recurring weekly tasks on their release day — and I put the streaming service right in the details. Figuring out how many episodes a season has, or when it wraps, is a quick search these days. Man, I love TV.

Not gonna lie: I big-time miss the creativity of my old planners. Some of them are honestly among my finest art pieces — they didn't make the cut when we gave up standard residential life. But if the goal is actually getting shit done, my phone wins. It's with me 95% of the time, and it's stupidly easy to pop something on the list and circle back later. It can calm the mind at night with a task I desperately can't forget.

** Something I collect **

MAGNETS!! LOOK AT ALL MY REFRIGERATOR MAGNETS!!

The great monthly magnet shuffle.

My husband and I live in our RV full time and travel on the regular. Since we took off, we started collecting magnets — and it's turned out to be way more fun than I ever expected. This is our fridge after almost a year and a half on the road. Every single one reminds us of a place we've been and an adventure we had.

The organization, naturally, is a Madge Thing. They are taken down regularly so I can wipe the fridge, and then they go back up in a brand-new arrangement every time. It's a whole process. My husband finds it deeply hilarious. 🧲

** RACCOON HONORS **

@EasyFactory

Here's the bio, verbatim:

No edits. No AI. No fake.

New reel every 24h 👀

That's it. That's the whole pitch. Just imagine all these colors IN MOTION!! The reels deliver! Mr. Brown Shoes posts a daily video of silicone color mixing, and it is hypnotic — right up there with the Crayola factory segment from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which remains the single most mesmerizing thing any man has ever put on air. The silicone swirls are every bit as captivating. Go watch and thank me later! These colors are my trademark too!

Credit: Easy Factory Insta Page

That's the haul. Pockets empty. See you next month — same raccoon, new shiny things. 🦝

What did YOU drag home this month? Comments, DMs, carrier pigeon — I accept all formats.