Monday Memos // 102

Listening:

“Dead Flowers” by Townes Van Zandt.

"Random Rules" by Silver Jews.

“No One's Easy to Love” by Sharon Van Etten.

Reading:

This was wild and crazy: A 4-Year-Old Trapped in a Teenager’s Body

This was true: 20 Things John Mayer Looks Like in This Photo

This was silly: Quiz: Who Wrote It: Edgar Allan Poe or an Emo Band?

This was funny and informative: Trader Joe’s Gets into Jackfruit in 2019: The Journey Begins

Craving:

Highlights: cumin-roasted carrots, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, a fresh Goldberg’s pumpernickel bagel with buttery spread and jam, tuna salad with Branston pickle, extra crunchy dill pickles, and homemade sesame chicken with broccoli.

A perfect New York bagel via Baltimore. (image via Goldberg’s)

Wearing:

It’s been cooooold, so lots of wool socks, turtlenecks, scarves, and beanies. I also wore my new red jumpsuit twice this week. I had a relaxing family weekend where I primarily wore sweatpants and sweatshirts. I looked in the mirror one day and thought I could be mistaken for dude in a 90s grunge band—lots of long disheveled hair and bagginess.

Watching:

TV: I watched the entirety of Sex Education on Netflix in roughly two sittings. I’m having withdrawals. It reminded me of The End of the F*cking World. Endearing characters, English accents, hilarity, really good music.

Gillian Anderson makes for a good wacky mom.

Movies: I rewatched The Big Lebowski over the weekend. It had been years since I had seen it—brilliant as always. I forgot how good the soundtrack is too. When I Googled the movie, this shopping link for the Dude’s sweater (from Dillard’s) came up: Pendleton sweater.

Treasuring:

Unwinding and nostalgia: A weekend in the suburbs means becoming so calm I have no worries or needs. Family laughs and baking cookies and dancing to bad music (We all have “Closing Time” stuck in our heads now, unfortunately). I made a visit to my storage unit for a stack of old journals from 2005-2008. Often painfully angsty and full of pointless minutiae, it’s been eye-opening and very humorous to revisit. So much and so little has changed.

I read a lot about this period of life—my sweet sixteen with Blake and a tandem bike.

Monday Memos // 95

Listening:

“Night Shift” by Lucy Dacus.

“Moonshine Freeze” by This Is The Kit.

“Honey, Let Me Know” by MarthaGunn.

Reading:

For a long, powerful story: Could an Ex-Convict Become an Attorney? I Intended to Find Out

For a pick me up: Trader Joe’s Autumnal Alfredo, Candy Corn Popcorn, and More Fall Stuff, Reviewed

For drooling over interiors: At 480 Square Feet, This Pastel Apartment in Barcelona is Tiny Yet Unbelievably Chic and In a New York Apartment, Dimes Co-Founder Sabrina De Sousa Lives With What She Makes

I WANT A GARDEN! (photo by IRIS HUMM via sightunseen)

Craving:

Last week Bon Appétit had their annual Hot Ten party. So, I got to eat an array of fabulous foods. I sort of went into a trance, snaking through the crowds and servers, trying ALL the things. Spicy swordfish curry, a latke topped with lox, daikon topped with caviar, and more and more and more.

When I snuck into the VIP area, that’s where I was truly in heaven: the desserts! I ate so much cake from Brothers and Sisters in D.C. It was phenomenal. The sugar high propelled me through the long train ride home and into the next morning.

Read more about those cakes here. (image by Scott Suchman via bonappetit)

Wearing:

Multiple people told me I looked like Jenny Lewis this week. Into that! I think it was the party look (wide leg jumpsuit and star-covered blouse) and a weekend look of high-waisted wide leg pants and a rainbow sweater. Now I want a suit. Or three.

Watching:

I saw Mid90s over the weekend. Written and directed by Jonah Hill, “In 1990s Los Angeles, 13-year-old Stevie escapes his turbulent home life by hanging out with a new group of friends he meets at a local skate shop, plunging him into a world of fun, danger and excitement.” Again, I didn’t know it would be so heart-wrenching! Still, it was well done, the music was great, and it really made me empathize with young boys and teens. Life is hard.

These two were my favorite: Sunny Suljic and Na-kel Smith. (image via A24)

I also started watching a new Netflix show, Wanderlust. All I needed was to see Toni Collette’s face and I was in. Only two episodes down, but I’m entertained, intrigued, and the music (most of which, see the Listening section) is wonderful. “The opening credits of “Wanderlust” — a BBC One-Netflix series, created and written by the British playwright Nick Payne, that came to Netflix on Friday — include a definition of the show’s title: strong longing for or impulse toward wandering. Its six hourlong, comic-dramatic episodes chronicle a controlled experiment in indulging such an impulse.”

Toni Collette and Steven Mackintosh. (image via Matt Squire/Netflix)

Treasuring:

Indulging: Eating too much cake. Not going to bed. Scheduling too many things. Making quick decisions. Saying too many things. Having so much fun.

Monday Memos // 79

Listening:

"Miki Dora" by Amen Dunes.

"Heart Shaped Face" by Angel Olsen.

"West Coast" by Coconut Records. (I told Jason Schwartman that I love this song and it tears my heart apart in the best possible way. He agreed. *More below.)

Reading:

I found a stack of books on the designated free table at my apartment and there were some gems.

• I Am a Cat: Three Volumes in One by Soseki Natsume: Written from 1904 through 1906, Soseki Natsume's comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat, satirizes the foolishness of upper-middle-class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments on the follies and foibles of the people around him.
• A signed copy of Turtles All the Way Down by John Green: “This novel is by far [Green’s] most difficult to read. It’s also his most astonishing. . . . So surprising and moving and true that I became completely unstrung. . . . One needn’t be suffering like Aza to identify with it. One need only be human.”—The New York Times

I also cannot wait to read David Sedaris' new book Calypso. This is beach reading for people who detest beaches, required reading for those who loathe small talk and love a good tumour joke. Calypso is simultaneously Sedaris's darkest and warmest book yet - and it just might be his very best.

Craving:

Sometimes I daydream about freshly ground peanut butter. Sometimes when I'm eating it by the spoonful, straight from the plastic tub—a process that entails scraping around the edge and then smoothing the surface to an even level—I think, "I could survive on a deserted island with fresh peanut butter." Deep cuts.

I ate at a new, beautiful Vietnamese restaurant on Saturday—Di An Di (it means “Let’s go eat"). I ate a simple but amazing scallion lemongrass mushroom phở and this crispy rice noodle dish with lotus root, okra, water spinach, and bean sprouts. I can't wait to try more of the things and eat those crispy noodles again. 

"The plant-strewn bar and dining room were designed by the Red Hook–based Ladies & Gentlemen Studios." (Photo by Melissa Horn via grubstreet)

Wearing:

NY Design Week made me pull out all the stops and experiment in my dressing. A wore three blue jumpsuits on consecutive days (a cotton tube top version, a thin chambray short sleeved version, and the beloved corduroy long sleeved version). I wore a full pink outfit (hot pink pencil skirt, pale pink tee, bubblegum pink nylon shoes, and pale pink socks). I wore head to toe black and white (polka dot-ish pants and a starry shirt). I dusted off old shoes from a decade or more ago (pointy-toed lace-ups and beat-up old sneaks). Feels like a fashion revival. 

Watching:

In a matter of days, I watched the entirety of the new Netflix series Safe. I was swamped with work and plans, yet I still managed to watch it in the briefest, most entranced moments. Michael C. Hall captured my heart years ago as David on Six Feet Under, so that was the initial draw. It is very Broadchurch. I want more.

I also watched Ibiza. A good cheesy romp movie with a slew of actors I like (Gillian Jacobs, Michaela Watkins, Phoebe Robinson, Vanessa Bayer, Richard Madden—aka Robb Stark!). It was the kind of movie I needed to escape from sore feet and loneliness for an hour and a half. Minimal substance, easy entertainment. 

Treasuring:

Design Week: Working Sight Unseen Offsite... what a whirlwind. It was constant and chaotic. It was amazing and exhausting. It was stressful and euphoric. I met and reunited with so many lovely and wonderful designers and artists and makers and photographers. I feel overwhelmed with inspiration. I felt the best kind of jealousy. I felt new dreams and aspirations welling up inside. I went to so many events and spaces. I extroverted my heart out. I could write a novel with all my thoughts and feelings on the matter.

*I even got to meet one of my all-time favorite actors, Jason Schwartzman, who was one of those rare treats who didn't disappoint in the flesh. He was kind and thoughtful and he played his dreamy pianette with a baby (Alfie) on his lap. From Max Fischer to the O.C. theme song to Coconut Records to Fantastic Mr. Fox, I'm here for it all. His wife was a dream and seriously pulls off bright orange lipstick.

From the OFFSITE party. Brady Cunningham (wife), Jason, and Katy Burgess (Brady's Wall For Apricots business partner), and the pianette. (image by Don Stahl via sightunseen)

Monday Memos // 76

Listening:

"Drover" by Bill Callahan.

"Cloudy Shoes" by Damien Jurado.

"Soft Spoken" by Naia Izumi.

Reading:

A visual read and sooo goood — Scenes Unseen: The Summer of ’78 — Admission to the exhibit, like the parks and starlight, is free.

I wonder where they are now? (via The New York Times)

Craving:

Last weekend, one of my favorite humans came for a visit and we made sure to eat a slew of delicious foods. All of my pants feel too tight but it was worth it. 

Favorite spots/items:

• Bubby's and their James Beard pancakes with caramelized banana and toasted walnuts. Everything at Bubby's was great, but those pancakes really excited me. We love pancakes. 
• Fish Cheeks and all their seafood-focused Thai things (fried snapper with crispy herbs, short rib massaman curry with roasted sweet potatoes, and yum goong, which is a dish with poached shrimp, cilantro, culantro, cucumber, coconut milk, red sorrel, betel leaf, and fried shallot), plus the adorable couple sitting next to us that gabbed all about NYMag and walkup apartments with me.
• At Dos Caminos—kind of a whacky place with giant mortars on the tables and dance scenes in the basement—we had the a salmon entree with braised kale and poblano chili verde, epazote crema, radish, cilantro, and lime. The braised kale was amazing.

Bubby's

Fish Cheeks

At work I also aided in testing waffle makers, which resulted in sampling fresh, steaming hot waffle upon waffle. One of the recipe developer/chefs from the test kitchen made us a giant bowl of this crispy waffle recipe from Epicurious, and I would definitely recommend it. This work project did not help me fit back into my pants either. 

I took a lot of waffle glamour shots. 

Wearing:

The weather is still confused and confusing, so I think my clothing reflects that. I've been wearing flowery dresses and getting too cold. I've been wearing my winter boots with bare legs and jackets. I've been wearing short tees and attempting full days without socks. 

Inspired by the previously mentioned weekend, I now own this shirt. (via zara)

Watching:

Saw: Westworld--after anxiously awaiting this for what felt like years, I wasn't as into the first episode of the new season as I thought I would be, but I feel like it might just be a slow build back to the chaos. 

I Feel Pretty--I wanted this movie to be better or at least more entertaining, but I really didn't love it. The best part was the fact that I was sitting in the same row as The Sartorialist/Scott Schuman at the theater. I will say the heartfelt monologue was nice to hear, but didn't really linger.

Wild Wild Country--now this proved to be better than I could've hoped. So many crazy stories and characters, so much beautiful editing and footage, and a fabulous soundtrack. I want more. I also feel inspired to dress in sunset-hued color palettes. 

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh a.k.a. Osho. (image via netflix)

Infinity Baby--a random pick from Amazon. The cast is amazing, the story is weird and intriguing, but there's something unfulfilling about it. I wanted it to be more like Her in it's futuristic strangeness. Still worth watching on a lazy afternoon.

Treasuring:

Swimming and sweating: During the feasting weekend extravaganza, we also went to a infrared sauna, a steam room, and a big indoor pool. It felt so good to have all that sweating and warmth. I have missed swimming so much. I want to put all these activities on repeat. Maybe I am starting to miss my Florida perspiration. 

We jammed to music in the 150 degree heat. (via higherdose)