Tossing clay
A weekend in my neighborhood.
Happy Monday, everyone.
I’d like to start this week’s letter with a post I saw on Notes:
If I see any of you who showed dismay at my FiveFingers sporting them now that they’re moving into mainstream fashion, I will call you out. Here was my outfit for work on Friday:
If you never turned your nose up at these beautiful shoes and are now convinced by both LeBron and me, heres’s the link to mine. I love the purple and the blue, also. My jaw dropped when I saw the sold-out green.
Having adult hobbies is so important. I probably have more hobbies than other people:
This Substack
Watercoloring
Free writing
Pilates
Yoga
Reading
Flower arranging
Walking
Seeing movies
Going to local events like the 92nd Street Y
Getting foot massages (counting this because I have now gone so many times that they text me from a private iMessage instead of the main phone line)
but all it takes is one.
This weekend was spent doing a lot of the things I love to do in my free time. I’m trying (and mostly failing) to spend as much time as possible off of my phone.
Friday was spent with my friend Elizabeth seeing the I Know What You Did Last Summer remake. We enjoyed popcorn and Dippin’ Dots before a the slashing began, and my formal review is that like most slasher movies, this could’ve all been avoided within like, the first 10 minutes. Madelyn Cline should seriously be in more horror movies, though. She has true scream queen potential.
I love going to the movies with my friends and alone. I’m seeing Eddington tonight by myself because I want to be in on the discourse, and I’m obsessed with Joaquin Phoenix. I’m trying to lean more into movies and Letterboxd, where you can follow me if you want. For the record, I didn’t watch all of those movies in May, I just updated my diary one night with all of the things I’ve ever watched in my life and it happened to be in May.
On Saturday, I went to heated Pilates, got a foot massage while reading the new Michael M. Grynbaum book, Empire of the Elite: Inside Condé Nast, the Media Dynasty That Reshaped America, and then embarked on what turned into an urban hike trying to find the new East River Greenway. I saw a completed section during my walk home from work over the Williamsburg Bridge, and figured it would be a nice place to get some steps in. I tried to enter near Cherry Street, but found it was still under construction. I then walked along the East River to Pier 36, where I tried to walk around but ran into a DSNY BBQ. Then, I found a patch of completed Greenway, that led to a makeshift bridge over the FDR that was very scary to cross. I marched north until I finally found the Delancey footbridge, that led me to a pristinely clean, brand new open space:
I was quite exhausted after all of this and rotted on my couch before heading to my dear coworker’s birthday party, and then out with some friends. I will not willingly disclose on the internet the location in which I went clubbing on Saturday night, but if we’re friends I’ll tell you. Hint: lots of 19-year-old F.I.T. girls.
On Sunday, I had a pottery class at Happy Medium using a gift card from my friends for my birthday. I love Happy Medium, they do such a nice job with their space and truly have such great employees to help, but I’ve never been able to do a workshop with them. I cannot stress enough how fantastic the pottery class was, I loved it so much I immediately emailed them after about joining their studio membership’s waitlist. That’s the only member’s club I have the appetite of joining at the moment. It was such an amazing birthday gift from my friends, but now I’m mad at them for giving me yet another, very expensive, hobby. I paid more to go home with everything I made because I just couldn’t part with them once they were done. I’ll post the finished result once I pick them up from being fired and glazed:
As someone who has a desk job, I find it very important to A) use our bodies and hands, and B) find things that take us away from screens (movies don’t count). I’ve always seen something like cooking as more of a chore than an enjoyment, so those mundane day-to-day things don’t scratch the itch for me. I need to get my hands dirty, have people tell me they love what I’ve made, whether it’s a painted card or a Substack post or a little bowl. I live for the applause, applause, applause…
I finally feel like I got myself back on track this week, I spent most of my nights after work at home, cooking and even going to the gym. I was routine-less for about a month, and started to get a little stir crazy. I find I’m the best friend and worker when I’m back in my routine (basically being an adult lesson #1).
This weekend gave me a serious appreciation for my neighborhood. This week marks the third year I’ve spent in the Lower East Side, and it’s starting to feel like home. I also cringed while writing that, but as Donald Glover once said:
My favorite part of the city is Chinatown. I love the food, the culture, and immersing myself in the local businesses. Whoever posted the Dimes Square fruit slushy place on TikTok, count your days, because I had to wait 30 minutes for one on Saturday. It was worth every second spent in the heat, sweating for my Peach ice, and I’m overjoyed for the success of a local business, but don’t make it at my expense! (Hopefully you can tell I’m half-kidding. I’m a walking gentrification Nolita Dirtbag meme). On my urban hike to the East River, I got deep in the Lower East Side, discovering quiet tree-lined streets of townhouses and families enjoying the sun. I used to believe that no one under the age of 18 should live south of 14th Street and east of Bowery, but I take that back. Every time I walk under the Manhattan Bridge while a train is running through, I feel like a character in a Sofia Coppola Movie.
I’ve been doing a really good job of cutting back on unnecessary spending this week, so you all should be proud. I was also a huge outfit repeater, but kicked things off in an exciting way with my Hello Kitty x Madhappy tee:
Citizens of Humanity Cargo Pants. Vintage Isabel Marant Sneaker Wedges, linked similar. Saint Laurent Sunglasses.
Black slip dress from a random store in SoHo, linked similar. Tory Burch Sandals that gave me a huge foot bruise.
One of my best friends, India, gave me this Isabel Marant dress from The Real Real that she wanted to get rid of. I’m obsessed with it and have worn it twice since receiving it on Wednesday. Here’s a similar one that’s not as perfect as mine but still cute. FiveFingers linked above.
Custom 1/3 Blonde at Heart tee from my friend Elizabeth Covington. Ray-Ban Wayfarers. Vintage leopard slip skirt, linked similar. Burberry Quilted Flats, linked in red on sale.
The pace is picking up again this week, so surely next Monday’s post will be action-packed. Summer is slipping away…