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Table of Contents
Hi friends!
I’m too busy this week to finish something really delicious for you, and sometimes a great meal takes time. I might send it later this week? But I’m also traveling to the independent nation of Miami. You’ll hear from me eventually. All you need to know is that it’s about furries.
Some dos (which is grammatically correct even though it looks like the Spanish word for two)
Do consolidate your gossip by making a groupchat of friends that don’t know each other: I needed advice on something a few weeks ago and consulted two of my friends that I knew would give me differing perspectives. Noor is in New York, and Hannah is in Boston. Neither have met yet. I found myself wanting to update both of them on the situation, so I made a groupchat with the two of them so I could continue asking for advice while keeping them in the loop. I think we all had fun. It was funny to see two very smart and personable girls get to know each other over text through their service to me. This saved me time, encouraged spirited debate, and introduced two icons.
Do go to the Noguchi Museum to learn about a generational hater: I did not have much interest in this industrial Queens museum until reading that they did an exhibit on how Robert Moses continually screwed Isamu Noguchi at every turn. I thought I would find myself rooting for Noguchi, but he really sounds so annoying. This was such a fun museum to check out. Noguchi is insufferable enough to build his own museum after decades of feeling undervalued by the art world. His sculptures and public art are cool, but I had the most fun reading all of the placards. He seems to fight with everyone. My friend Shannon compared his tortured genius style to Kanye, which makes a lot of sense. He was ahead of his time in his desire to make art for the sake of public good, but he was just so annoying about it. This guy voluntarily entered a Japanese internment camp because he thought he could make things better. Everyone hated his vibe, and when he wanted to leave, he could not because he basically signed his rights away when he entered. Once he was out, he made a sculpture called Yellow Landscape.
Do check out the first posts you liked on Instagram: This was a fun groupchat-tivity today. Go into settings > your activity > likes > filter for oldest to newest. 7th-grade Syd stanning Chloe from Dance Moms, Ben and Jerry’s, and the Hunger Games…and those text posts!
Do try Medieval Times…once: Gill and Maddie’s joint birthday had no choice but to be over the top. I’d heard about this dinner theater experience from TikTok, and there are a few iterations across the country. You eat dinner with your hands and watch sexy knights joust, experienced by New Jersey children and New York children (20somethings). I am so happy I went and screamed, but this is something I only needed to do once. Eating a half-chicken with your hands is less liberating than I thought it would be. There was so much dialogue, but I felt like I couldn’t fully get everything going on that I almost would have preferred it be in another language. Lots of horses running around and doing tricks…I hope they are okay. I felt like I was going back in time, not just medievally but really to the 80s when it first opened. This does not feel like something that would be made today, and I want to learn more about the plethora of things the knights have to learn for their roles.
Do say yes when asked if you want to ride in the limo: How else would we get to Medieval Times in Lyndhurst, New Jersey? Had to ride in style. My prom group was so big that we rented a school bus, but this would have been fun instead. What is more fun to scream in than a long car? It was my first time in a limo, but not my last once I’m sitting at the head of the table of success.
This week’s photo is from the bathroom at Medieval Times. I was underdressed compared to my birthday party compatriots, since I already owned this dress and they bought period garb for the occasion.
The Cozy Winter Ritual Behind My Energy and Glow ✨
Winter calls for rituals that actually make you feel amazing—and Pique’s Sun Goddess Matcha is mine. It delivers clean, focused energy with zero jitters, supports glowing skin and gentle detox, and feels deeply grounding on cold mornings. Smooth, ceremonial-grade, and crave-worthy, it’s the easiest way to start winter days clear, energized, and glowing from the inside out
Olympic Coaching
I’ve been asked to revive this section of my newsletter, which is an advice column. This is my first question I’ve received for it in maybe a year, so I am quite excited. You can reach out to me individually if you want to send a question, but I also made a page for you to anonymously do so.
Your newsletter last week made me think of a friend I'm on vacation with right now. Whenever I'm around her, she talked about her mom, and me and our other friend are exhausted trying to tell her to cut her mom off. She's horrible and abusive.
She's worried if she cuts off her mom she won't have a relationship with the rest of her family even though her dad is great and her grandma loves her and knows the moms crazy.
— Them bricks is way too hot, you need to cut it
Ugh, exhausting and sad. Before moving ahead, does she want to cut her mom off, or is this just an idea that you two are advocating for? You and your friend are doing a great service in encouraging this, since it sounds like her mom is terrible. However, if other family considerations weren’t an issue, would she still want to cut her off? She might just want to wallow in what she has or work on that relationship anyway (even if it might not be right; I don’t know this girl or her relationship with her mom).
If she wants to go no-contact but the main obstacle is the rest of her family, maybe she could have conversations with her dad and/or grandma before doing this. Again, I don’t know their relationships or if having a conversation is constructive. It can just be a heads-up of I am at my wit’s end, and I’m going to do this but wanted to let you know. If she’s worried about their reactions, talking to them can gauge what those reactions to be.
Often, the kindest thing you can do for people is to be honest with them, especially when it’s hard. They might end up being receptive and understanding. They might also go straight to the source and tattle to your mom. She needs to weigh all of these scenarios and see what she can live with. She needs to be selfish right now: what can she live with? Plus, cutting someone off doesn’t have to be a forever thing. She can also try setting different boundaries on when and how she interacts with her mom. Only she knows what she can do, but hopefully both of you are empowering her to make some sort of decision. Be supportive in her process because it might be slow and/or nonlinear.
Want advice from someone as unqualified but possibly more confident than you? Send in a question for Olympic Coaching.
Current fixations I want to mention
Food & Drink
In another edition of Is it worth the hype: I’ve been eyeing the pizzas at Lucky Charlie since it opened around a year ago. New York banned coal ovens, but the owners of this pizza place found a preexisting one in the basement that they can use since it’s from the 1890s when they were legal. Apparently, it’s the oldest working coal-fired pizza oven in the western hemisphere. I had high expectations from the TikToks on my feed and the warm view from the window when I’ve walked by. Although I enjoyed my experience, I can confidently say this place is not worth the hype. I met up with three of my gals at this low-lit, wood-lined spot excited to split some pizzas. They split a bottle of wine, and maybe I would have felt differently about this place if I partook? It’s a really nice atmosphere, the caesar was pieced perfectly for sharing, but the three $30 pizzas are not doing anything particularly innovative. We chose two of them, the classic (a slightly more sophisticated cheese pizza) and the white (great first bite but tiring by the end). I don’t really love how burnt the bottom of coal-fired crust can get, but that’s personal preference stuff. Otherwise, the pizzas were good but not enough for the effort of getting a table and shelling out that much money. The star of the night was the tiramisu, creamy in a cup. Eat here if you’re in the area, on a date, and wanting to cuddle up. Don’t eat here if you’re looking for mind-blowing pizza.
Music
People clown Summer Walker for her lots of stuff, most recently her Day of My Life in Atlanta, lemon peppery, chicken alfredo-y sound. I say there’s nothing wrong with lemon pepper. I keep forgetting to finish her three-part deluxe album Finally Over It and remember every few weeks to listen to another song or two. “Heart Of A Woman” joined my light rotation a few months back, but earlier this week I was looking for a song to fulfill a craving and remembered that this was the perfect bite. I love the immediate immersion into her slow, self-assured, sexy universe. It’s one of those songs that I added within the first five seconds of hearing it. Her music really does make me feel feminine, like I’m surrounded by silk and satin and candles. People that find her music simple need to lean into their Divine Feminine. #ImJustAGirl #GirlDinner #GirlMath #NeedMeAMan #Health #Soft #IDontWantToThink #ILetMyManDoEverythingForMe #MAHA
Internet & Pop Culture
This guy makes these bird feeder charcuterie boards and shoots videos of all the friends that come to nosh. This isn’t usually my type of content, but it’s really relaxing to see the spread and how the birds pick at it. It’s especially fun when the woodpecker or the Eurasian Jay come along and intimidate the other birds with their size.
Television & Maybe Movies
Is Wuthering Heights a good movie? I’m not sure. Is it accurate to the book? From what I gather, barely. Did I like it? Yes. It's beautiful and grotesque. Margot Robbie and especially Jacob Elordi slay. Hong Chau kills it as well. I hate plots based around miscommunication but wasn’t too frustrated by this. The Emerald Fenneliness is obnoxious — the movie opens with a hanging scene that kind of doesn’t make sense, and people start literally boning in public once the hanging ends. Charli XCX I think I'm gonna die in this house song I hear in funny TikToks plays in the opening sequence, and I just can’t stop laughing. I'm not sure if this movie was meant to be as funny as it is, but I laughed a bunch. It is also sexy and very sad. There’s one song that plays while Cathy is running around in the fog that really hits a crevice that makes you wonder if there’s an ex you’re missing. I’m not sure if this movie would be really healing or really destructive to watch after a breakup, but I feel like it would at least garner emotions. Fennel knows how to tug at your heartstrings and give into your freakitude. Meera says you have to be on her freakuency, and I think I was. Don't go out of your way to watch this, but you’ll enjoy it if it comes across your screen.
Journalism & Literature
New York Magazine’s cover story shows Heated Rivalry dolls pushed together and asks “When did everyone start fujoing out?” If you are in Heated Rivalry induced hysteria, you might be a fujoshi, someone (usually a girl) who just really likes media of dudes gettin’ it on. It’s much deeper than that, though. Read this chronicle of the genre and why it makes sense that now is the time to fujo out.
Something I Saw in the Wild
I was sitting on the N yesterday across from this daddy daughter duo. Dad is tatted with strong bone structure, wearing Nikes as white as his hoodie. He looked clean but tough. In his hands was the littlest baby with short curls and a fluffy pink sweater. He held her against his chest with her head sitting on his shoulder. She was calm as can be, and he was close to dozing off but kept looking at her and patting her. Just nice to see love.