In episodes 7 to 9 of HBO’s “Sex and the City” reboot “And Just Like That…”, the mid-life crisis season, the crises continue apace. Carrie writes her grief memoir and goes on a tragic date. Charlotte discovers her 15-year-old daughter knows about thirst traps. Miranda has an affair AND a divorce without ever having an on-screen conversation with her teenage son. These three episodes offer only slight attention to details like “plot continuity” and “the number of seasons that pass in three months,” but they’re distractingly action-packed and full of eye candy (hello, Carrie’s old Versace ballgown), as well as some classic scenes of the besties joking about their sex lives. As episode 9 wraps, Miranda and Carrie are in completely different places than they were when the series opened, and Charlotte — well, Charlotte, for now, is on top at last.

And with that, “And Just Like That…” has careened, like a glittering rollercoaster, into its home stretch. Only the season finale remains to tidy away an enormous amount of loose ends, most of them related to our messy queen Miranda (is Brady ever going to have feelings about his parents’ divorce — or, uh, learn about it at all? Has Miranda moved out? Is she still in recovery? What happened in Cleveland? Are she and Che ever going to actually talk about what kind of relationship they can have?) but also related to our other heroines (is Carrie ever going to get back on the merry-go-round, and will she do it with hirsute teacher Peter? Will there be any sort of detente with Samantha? Is Charlotte totally satisfied being a mom and charity board member, or does she want to rejoin the professional art world? Will Nya and André decide about trying for a baby once and for all? Will Seema fall in love? Will LTW ever get a real solo plot? Does Stanford just live in Tokyo forever now, no further questions?).

Next week, we’ll be discussing the finale and looking back at the season as a whole, but for this episode, we discussed the penultimate three episodes in alarming detail. Key topics include Carrie’s yearning for cool, the Che Diaz backlash cycle, doddering Steve, cynic Miranda vs. romantic Miranda, Kristin Davis’s acting, sex-positive parenting, appropriate outfits for house-painting, Nya’s baby ambivalence, how late is too late to be partying on a stoop in NYC, and more!

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We’ve been watching…

I love a period piece, so I have been enjoying HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” Julian Fellowes’ new drama set in the 1800s among the elite in New York City. The costumes are sumptuous, Brooklyn is treated like another country, robber barons are building railroads, and everyone who’s anyone lives uptown by the park. (Also, it quite topically features Cynthia Nixon in a prominent role!) -Emma

“Too Hot to Handle” Season 3! I think this actually might be my favorite crew yet, from the Hot Topic fuckboy (has everyone talked about the Hot Topic fuckboy without me?) to the most beautiful friends-to-lovers romance of our time. -Claire

We’ve been reading…

“Miss Me With That” by Rachel Lindsay, of course! The iconic former Bachelorette’s memoir hit bookstores this week, and it’s a rollicking read — she covers her upbringing, her romantic history, the nitty-gritty of her casting experience on “The Bachelor,” and even some mansion gossip.

I’ve also been catching up on some lit world chatter, and most of it right now is about Sean Thor Conroe’s heralded debut “Fuccboi.” The book was given the seal of approval by legendary internet lit publisher Giancarlo DiTrapano of Tyrant Books, who died last April, and reviews have been split between the admiring and the horrified. (As Hanson O’Haver put it for Gawker, “More Like Suckboi.”) Every passage I see from it is mortifying to read; for example, Conroe’s struggling writer narrator reportedly refers to all women as “baes,” including “editor bae” and “ex bae.” Meanwhile, author Sam Pink posted a blog claiming “Fuccboi” is “a complete rip off of my style.” Does the book suck, or is it a faithful rip-off of an actual artist’s work? Can it somehow be both? Art… it’s complicated. -Claire

I have of course found time to read “Miss Me With That.” Rachel Lindsay says early on in her memoir that it’s not going to be your “typical Bachelor book.” She delivers on this promise, and it’s a real fun ride.

I’ve also been reading the second book in Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series, “The Viscount Who Loved Me,” to get myself excited for the second season which is coming out on Netflix in March. Swoon! -Emma

We’ve been listening to…

“Where You Are” from “Moana,” which is my son’s current YouTube favorite. We still haven’t seen “Moana” (he doesn’t have a movie-level attention span yet) but he will demand this song on repeat, and now it is in my head on repeat and probably will be until I die. At least it’s a constant reminder to “find happiness right where I am” (in our small apartment with a high-energy two-year-old who has been in daycare for less than 10 days since the holidays). -Claire

I’ve been a bit under the weather this week — apparently illnesses other than Covid still exist, which is a real indignity — so I’ve been opting for calming music that won’t make my migraines worse. Lots of light jazz. -Emma

We’ve been buying…

Merit makeup, a clean beauty brand which has been advertised relentlessly to me on Instagram but also, recently, recommended on Instagram by writer Esmé Wang, who is so enviably glamorous that I immediately bought two of the products she posted about using for at-home beauty treatments. 

I wrote last week that my skin has been abysmal, and my Glossier routine — which looked so lovely with my fresh summer skin — was not cutting it. I needed something with more coverage that I could do in five minutes (in other words, not a full face of foundation). I got the Minimalist complexion perfecting stick in Dune and use it on my undereyes, around my nose and chin, and over blemishes. It is a bit dry, so it does cling to flaky patches on the face. But if I make sure my skin is fully prepped and very moisturized, it’s a dream: goes on quick, lasts all day and doesn’t make my skin oily whatsoever — it really does look and feel like clean skin once it’s buffed in. I’ve also been loving the Merit mascara, which gives me natural-looking, fluttery length and has quelled my longing to try a lash lift, and the brow pomade, which never smears on application like my Boy Brow. -Claire

Somehow Claire and I seem to consistently be on the same wavelength with our purchases. I don’t know if it’s the winter season or just two years of Pandemic-land, but I’ve been wanting to upgrade my makeup routine. I’ve recently started using creamier products with setting spray, rather than relying so much on the bareMinerals powders and Glossier finishers I’ve been using forever. This is a somewhat shameful confession, but I found myself on Rachael Kirkconnell’s daily makeup tutorial video on my IG Explore page, and decided to check out some of the makeup brands she used. I ended up purchasing a few products from DIBS Beauty, including their Desert Island Duo (a blush/bronzer stick) in Shade 2 — I like that you can use it as blush, bronzer, eyeshadow and lip color! — the No Pressure Lip Liner in Shade 1, and the No Pressure Lip Gloss Topper in pink, which really feels like an upgraded versions of the lip glosses I used to buy at CVS right next to the Wet n’ Wild. -Emma