The first snow day in Manhattan
Well, this season.
Yesterday, I woke up in my cavernous den (by design) of a bedroom, and immediately did what I do every morning—reached for my phone.
My Hatch stays on full-blast playing ocean sounds for the first 10-60 minutes I’m awake depending on my mood, whether I’m bright-eyed and bushy-tailed or desperate for just five more minutes. I laid with my eyemask on my forehead, scrunchie in my hair, and curtains drawn, scrolling through the messages that were incoming at a rapid rate—there was snow in New York, so much snow.
The night before, I had a session in the pottery studio before returning home. I was debating on meeting some friends for a nightcap, but the warmth of my heating pad and the elusive draw of the new Knives Out movie on Netflix were enough to keep me indoors. Rarely do I finish movies started after 9:30 pm, I’ll often fall asleep or pause and promise to finish the next day. For some reason, I stayed up until around 1 to finish it, when I got an alert on my phone that “winter weather” would be starting soon. I was extra glad to be home in my bed, the cost of Ubers recently has been pretty scary, and I had spent $300 at the Maryam Nassir Zadeh closing sale (more on that later), so another $100 for the round-trip fare and inevitable 2 martinis wasn’t factored into my budget for that moment in time.
Once I saw the texts from my friends, I immediately opened my window and was filled with the feeling of being a little kid again. I felt like I had slept with my pajamas inside out and flushed an ice cube down the toilet (IYKYK). It wasn’t a work day, so there was no chance of stealing some extra solace for myself, it was just that warm and cozy feeling of being snowed in for the day. I couldn’t wait to go outside.
The fantasy had worn off as soon as I put on my Ganni Cleated Chelsea Boots (snowboots of choice) and headed off to the gym. I’ve been very bad at working out recently, and trying to get at least 2-3 days in a week at the buzzer of this year. The snow was pelting my face, I was terrified of tearing my ACL on some unsalted concrete, and the slush was hitting the back of my leggings with every step I took. Snow is like a piece of expensive furniture—gorgeous to look at, very uncomfortable to be in.
Here was the itinerary for my snow day:
Lay in bed, wish I had a cat to lay with me, approximately 30 minutes after waking up.
Cancel dinner reservation, find New York Times Cooking Recipe for a soup to make for dinner.
Here’s the link for a gifted recipe, it won’t run out, so as many of you can take it and join me in this ginger goodness.
Make hot coffee (I usually make iced, but that’s not cozy), have breakfast, watch Mad Men.
Go to the gym. 10 minute abs, 10 minute stairmaster, however long I can stand the rowing machine.
Go to Whole Foods. Whole Foods from my apartment is about a fifteen minute walk, and it’s painful. Mental preparation was an essential part of this step.
Get fun things from Whole Foods like kombucha and blue cheese olives for a snack alongside the ingredients for soup. It’s also Sumo Orange Season, so I got 3 for $13 (woof).
Watch more Mad Men, play Animal Crossing.
Mop the floor, organize my drawers.
Write Substack.
Make soup.
And that’s about as far as I’ve got.
The earlier parts of my weekend included ordering in dinner with friends on Friday night, Pilates (nailed the two days), and the aforementioned Maryam Nassir Zadeh sale.
I was on my way home from Pilates when I saw lots of very chic women with ambiguous white shopping bags outside of a storefront I recognized as Maryam Nassir Zadeh. She had announced the closing of her store earlier this week, so my fashion-forward brain put 2 and 2 together to realize it must be their “everything must go” closing sale. My heart started to race, palms to sweat. I was frantic. I’ve wanted Olympia Wedges for years, and there were piles of shoeboxes pressed against the steamy widows. I immediately went inside and surveyed the area. I was disgustingly sweaty and carrying around an Owala water bottle, so I saw myself out and basically ran the block to my apartment. After taking the fastest shower of my life, I returned with both hands free and my eyes laser-set on some shoes.
The environment was unlike most “sample” sales. Everyone was calm, commemorating a space that was beloved for over ten years. There wasn’t throngs of people or anyone who shared my same hysteria. I got on the ground and perused each and every pair, basically holding my breath until I found what I was looking for. At last—tucked in the corner, were a set of 38.5-sized Olympia Wedges in blue, the color I’ve had saved on my SSENSE wishlist for months. Good things happen to good people. I instantly became religious (as I do with dating or shopping). I walked out with the wedges, two shirts, and of course, one of her famous scrunchies that hasn’t left my head since.
I posted about the sale on my Instagram, to which many of you replied asking for details. I hope we all walked out successful. When Maryam Nassir Zadeh says the doors care closing, you better be there to board her flight. If you’re an admirer that’s also deeply upset about her closing, you should read this Vogue article by Irene Kim (김애린) where the likes of Olympia Gayot and Beverly Nguyen shared what MNZ meant to them.
This weekend was kind of all about nesting for me. I cleaned my closet (my jeans, pants, skirts, shorts, and sweaters are now color coded), cleaned every square inch possible, and barely left the ten block radius of my corner of the Lower East Side. Everyone seems to have the flu in New York right now, and I have way too much going on for that to be me next. Lorde concert Tuesday, work holiday party Wednesday, Marty Supreme Friday, etc. I’ve never actually had the flu, so I’m cocky about thinking I won’t be getting it ever. I also have the Sumo Oranges, ginger soup, and Emergen-C packets on my side, so good luck, Influenza.
I’ve been a real woman about town, as of late. I had the pleasure of attending Vesper’s dinner with Madewell on Monday night at Margot, a spot I’ve been wanting to try for a very long time. I met some fabulous people I hope to cross paths with soon again, and enjoyed a delicious dinner over even better conversation. We ended the night with raspberry-dusted tiramisus that I’ve been thinking about ever since. Vesper’s attention to detail is only matched to her thoughtfulness, she’s not doing it like the rest of these event gals!
I wore a lace scrunchie, Banana Republic cashmere wrap (I guess they don’t sell it anymore so here’s a J.Crew one), Quince cashmere V-neck, unidentified pants, and my Sandy Liang mary janes. And of course! My Etsy brooch (more of a pin, I suppose). I really loved my outfit.
On Thursday night, I headed to Funny Bar for Feed Me and Link in Bio’s holiday party. I have been to a few of Emily Sundberg’s parties and always meet such fantastic people, this one no exception. We connected over martinis about how not awkward this party was compared to other holiday ones (typically work-related). Funny Bar has really cultivated a great vibe in there.
I wore this wool hat from Favorite Daughter (if you cut the tag out carefully it’s reversible), this turtleneck from Abercrombie (linked a Gap one because this one is old), this skirt from Reformation, these tights from Los Angeles Apparel, and my mom’s vintage Hugo Boss heels. I felt like a British spy.
While cleaning out my closet, I rediscovered lots of pieces I’m excited to style in new ways. I should never buy a black dress or a sweater ever again, that’s for sure. Good thing I have places to be.