Souvenirs #3

More finds to take with you.

I’ve been telling anyone who will listen. After Memorial Day, it’s basically the end of the year. People laugh, but seriously—from here, it’s a hop, skip, and a week to Labor Day, at which point you blink and it’s the holidays, then poof, hello 2025. Yesterday in a text, my friend Michele used the term “May-cember,” and while I think she meant it in the context of May flashing by in a blur, everyone’s calendars all suddenly jammed, the term is applicable on so many levels.

All to say—hello from Maycember, where in fact, May is over. How was your short week? I could swear to you that today is Thursday. Mostly, I can’t believe that tomorrow, we June.

I have a whole glut of things to share for this edition of Souvenirs, which should’ve been sent out last weekend ahead of the holiday, but when Maycember gets you, it gets you good. The upside is there’s an extra week’s worth of goodies ahead!

(As ever, any and all affiliate links are all marked with an *)

Reading:

1 / Honestly, it makes me a little sad that prom dresses are (apparently) just regular dresses now. I think I was more excited about the search for my prom dress than I was my wedding dress. Funny enough, both were white.

2 / A long ode to the origins of stuffed pasta in T magazine.

3 / Feed Me’s Emily Sundberg reported on private clubs for GQ. If you happen to be a paid subscriber of her Substack, she also hosted an interesting follow up chat about reporting for the piece, here.

4 / In a recent newsletter, Alison Roman serves two things cold: carrot cake, and truth. A good hot (cold?) take on what anyone making anything on the Internet these days is thinking.

5 / We’ve all noticed it: everything is a journey now.

6 / Whenever I take my car to get serviced, the dealership gives me a loaner car. And I hate it, because of ALL THE DAMN TOUCHSCREENS. This article validated what I’ve been saying to my husband for actual years. Call me crazy, but I want knobs! I want buttons that click when I press them!

7 / What’s next for the Betches?

8 / Were it not for the husband and small child, you have no idea how fast I would do this. Would you?

Mention It All: Links about the Bravoverse

Brian Moylan on VPR’s future. Andy Cohen on “the reckoning” (and no regrets). West Wilson is the new No. 1 guy in the group! Sonja Morgan talks to Curbed ahead of her townhouse auction (P.S.: it sold on Wednesday, for $4.45M).

The Book Blurb:

Got my copy of REAL AMERICANS* but I’m saving it for an upcoming vacation. Show me a sweeping multigenerational novel, and I will show you the perfect beach read. TRUTH IS THE ARROW, MERCY IS THE BOW*, purchased after reading last month’s share on writer’s block. It’s a great book on writing, if you are into that kind of thing. WANDERING STARS, from the library again, to finish this time! A copy of THE VANISHING HALF from a Little Free Library near me; also saving for said vacation. WHERE’S WALDO?: THE ULTIMATE WALDO WATCHER COLLECTION, which come to think of it, has an extremely creepy title. Purchased for my daughter, but also for the nostalgia, natch! Spoiler: some of the introductions on the pages (and the illustrations themselves) don’t pass the 2024 test. But my child is obsessed nonetheless!

Shopping:

1 / Sunscreen for the entire summer during the Supergoop sale*, which ended already (sorrrrrry!). I will tell you though: the Unseen Sunscreen Stick* is a superhero SPF product. I’d never reapplied sunscreen over makeup in my entire life, but the formula glides right over your skin and doesn’t feel weird or break you out or mess up your makeup. I really like having a way to add sunscreen to my face in the late afternoons, especially since we’re in “lighter, longer” season.

2 / This incredible hair oil* which came recommended from my stylist. My hair is thick, wiry, and wavy, and normally requires a blow out and flat iron before it is tamed enough to be (dry) cut. At my last trim, for the first time in literally 9 years, my gal didn’t have to flat iron my mane, thanks to this oil. A basic blowout, and my hair was smooth and frizz-free, but not limp and lifeless. RŌZ (pronounced ‘rose’) is a new haircare line from celebrity stylist Mara Roszak out of LA, and I gotta say, the products made me sit up in the chair and ask, What is THAT? I imagine the oil works best for thicker or wavy/curly hair, but read the reviews and see if any sound like you!

3 / Things from Zara that were hilariously too small, all of which will be returned in short order. I did wish this crochet coverup had fit, though.

4 / Cloth napkins, from Sur La Table. My daughter is a fan of these “rainbow” ones. My Sur La Table fun fact is that I worked at one for several years, and once sold Ina Garten copper cookie cutters. One was shaped like the Eiffel Tower.

5 / Peonies from Whole Foods. One bunch lasted 10 whole days; the other more like 5. Both were worth it!

6 / These sandals in gray from the big REI sale last weekend, which you can also find at Nordstrom* and Zappos*. Extremely comfortable!

7 / This cardigan*, on sale from J.Crew.

8 / Shopping question: where do you shop for cute tops? This has been an ongoing conundrum for me for…a while now. Half the issue is that denim styles are all over the place these days, so blouse selection Internet-wide feels equally as haphazard. The other half of the issue is that I forgot how to put together an outfit during early parenthood and pandemic. All the same, share your favorite sources for tops—blouses, shirts, really good tees, etc.!

Listening, Watching:

1 / A summer apéro playlist I’ve been slowly adding to. Follow along, I’ll keep adding tracks!

2 / The new album from Norwegian pop superstar Astrid S. I’ve followed her career for a while and honestly, her pop music is just so fun. (Her last album, which dropped during the pandemic, is also very much worth a listen. So many bops!)

3 / My daughter is in a phase where she wants to watch videos about any and everything she sees in books, which is how we ended up watching videos about how accordions work, whirligig beetles, and haenyeos.

4 / This Reel, viewed too many times, which will likely autoplay upon click, so fair warning if you’re in a public place

5 / Hopping between current and past episodes of Eyewitness Beauty, a podcast from Into the Gloss/Necessaire/Homecourt founder Nick Axelrod-Welk and Annie Kreighbaum, of Substack/Glossier/Soft Services fame.

6 / Videos like this and this of New York City ballet’s Mira Nadon dancing, sought out after reading this feature in the NYT. Gorgeous!

Happy weekend, and happy June!

Image by Hari Nandakumar via Unsplash