Sweet as a peach

Reprising my role as a Southern Belle.

I write to you all from St. Simons Island in Georgia, exactly in between Jacksonville and Savannah. I went to school in Savannah for three years and haven’t been back since. This made the trip not only a family one, but a personal one.

There hasn’t been a reason for me to be back since I graduated, and while sometimes I miss things down here, I’ve been distracted by Manhattan and creating a new life for myself and seeing other parts of the world instead. All that to say, there really is something special about these parts.

The price of vacationing in Florida is akin to Europe these days, so my family opted for somewhere only 80 miles north, a place where I had met people from during my time in Savannah and had heard of, but never been. Something about me is that I love a little beach town. I love tacky souvenirs and getting ice cream every single night and sleeping for twelve hours a night in starchy sheets. From Cape Cod to St. Simons and back, anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard I‘ll be happy.

I grew up in a little beach town, but not like this. We don’t have souvenir shops where you can get things that say “420 Luvr at St. Simons Beach” or a commemorative “Megalodon” tooth that’s certainly ceramic. We have residents-only beaches on the Long Island Sound that’s dangerous to take a dip into if you have an open wound, smokestacks lining the shore to the right and the faint strip of Port Jefferson across. I feel privileged to have grown up seeing fireworks from the sand every year, getting 16 Handles with my friends and taking it to the beach parking lot, never feeling landlocked for a second, but all of the things my little beach town is missing make vacations like these all the more special. Matching The Black Dogs shirts in high school, blue lips from Superman ice cream (the best flavor there is), skinned knees from falling off a bike, these magical moments that I still think about all the time even as I get older.

The weather here has been quintessential rain on vacation—sweatshirts on the beach, hats, sweatpants, and flip flops galore. I do love this weather and since it was 80 degrees in Manhattan until this week, I don’t really care. All I wanted to do was shop, eat, read, watch, and sleep. All of which I’ve been abundantly successful of.

There was a little market in town on Saturday morning where I bought a sand dollar magnet that a local ceramicist made. I told her I had recently gotten into pottery, and her elation was enough to make me happy to be back here already. The genuine kindness and excitement people show is something we lose up North. Everyone says it, but sometimes we have to concede that it’s true. I then bought a hot green pomegranate tea from a local coffee shop as we walked around. Those about summed up my purchases until Sunday, where I bought a seat upgrade on my flight for $48 (I think this was because I hadn’t bought much all weekend so an itch needed to be scratched), and then my dad gifted me something of my choosing from a store called St. Simons Beachwear, the holy land of stores I explained earlier. I decided between a 70s-inspired groovy flip flop design with flowers, “Sweet Southern Belle” (my dad told me that one wouldn’t work on me), or a dolphin wearing a bucket hat and flying a kite in the ocean. I went with the latter, and tacked on a floral claw clip because I’m a sucker for little things at the checkout.

Since I left on Friday, I got a four day weekend, which is really juicy when you become a corporate worker. I will return to the office refreshed with a little bit of the south still with me in what I’m sure will be a slow start to the day on Tuesday, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

The feeling of vacation ending isn’t so melancholy for me, and has become actually exciting because I get to return to the little home I’ve created for myself, which means I have a home that isn’t the one I grew up in, but one that I’ve made. I used to get really homesick of Connecticut, and still find myself missing my mom and my sister when I don’t see them for more than seven days, but the idea of returning to my little apartment tomorrow evening is giving me butterflies. I think every young woman probably feels that way unless you have a bad roommate or something. Even so, there’s nothing like being surrounded by all of your things and your own bed and closing the door and being alone for a little while. A universal experience, they call it.

I watched the Victoria Beckham documentary on Netflix while on vacation and really loved it. Her eyeliner is one of the best, but runs out far too quickly. If her and David ever pull a Keith and Nicole, I’m swearing off love for the rest of my life. I’m itching to see One Battle After Another and The Smashing Machine when I get back to the City and feel light years behind for not seeing them yet. I saw the Life of a Showgirl Listening Party last week, and while I will not speak ill of my queen, I will say that I would’ve rather spent those previous hours at the Union Square AMC watching Leo or The Rock. Any excuse to return is one I will take, I suppose.

When I caught a bit of a cold last week that I was motivated to kick before this vacation, I sought after pho recommendations and was gifted with one from a dear friend. Nha Trang One ended up being exactly what the doctor ordered and I’m still dreaming of that broth. It’s also something you can get for under $20 on Uber Eats. Hoisin sauce is my new favorite condiment.

I was thinking back about my purchases this week and forgot about the most glaring one—Gap x Sandy Liang. This was teased after Coffee Order went live on Monday so I wasn’t able to discuss with you all, but those of you who reached out concerned about my wellbeing and my wallet, it was greatly appreciated. I got early access at 9 AM on Thursday from Sandy’s newsletter list, where I bought the navy bow hoodie. I went back for more at noon on Gap via my mother’s Gap credit card, and bought the lace-trim tech jacket, both of which are now sold out, but you can see from The Cut. I’ve been traumatized by Sandy releases past, particularly with her Salomon collaborations, and had hoped she had lived and learned from those, which she clearly had. My experience was smooth, and although I projected my anxiety onto all of my coworkers at the very top of the workday, we all bonded over our mothers all being Gap credit card holders, which only brought us closer together.

I’m trying to go easy on the buying now that I have most of what I will need for the fall. Famous last words, but I think I’m actually serious. My Ganni beret was finally released from customs, alongside my first pair of ReDone jeans I bought final sale in a size too big, so that’s fun.

There is nothing in my Shop App that’s pending delivery so that’s good news. I need to wear all of my things with tags on them before I can buy anything else.

October is my favorite month. I can’t remember if I said that last week, but I’ll only say it once a year, so it’s worth noting twice. I am a Halloween Hater—

—but I have two good ideas for costumes this year that I would like to act on. I’m seeing Tame Impala on the 31st, which one he will get I will have to decide.

I love October because the weather is perfect and the air in New York has a freshness to it that other months don’t get. I love changing leaves and harvest-inspired flavors like pumpkin spice and butternut squash. I love horror movies and candy. I love my new Dolce & Gabbana jacket. One thing that is better in the summer is dressing to go out, I will give summer that. How many weekends in a row I will wear a black long sleeve, someone please keep count.

Something else I forgot to tell you all, I tried liquid eyeliner for the first time this week for the Natasha Bedingfield concert. It was very successful I think, and I used this Tarte dual-ended pen that my mom gave me after she had been gifted it from some work thing. I highly recommend it since it has both a very precise gel tip and a sharp liquid tip. You would be shocked at the amount of New York fans Natasha Bedingfield has.

This trip has been wonderful for many reasons, but I will say that at the top of my list is being reunited with Waffle House. The hashbrowns covered and the double chocolate chip waffle are true delicacies that Manhattan just does not provide me. And that’s fine. Nobody can have it all.