Plus my sale-shopping technique that will reduce 73% of your shitty impulse buys. (This is not a legal or scientific claim. Based on feelings, not facts.)
Thanks it’s always for being super transparent and I do hope you’re feeling better! I love that you’ve picked things from the N sale that not everyone is posting about! 😆 💙
I’m about a third of the way through All Fours, love Miranda Julys writing. So far I’m really loving it, she is so good about writing what we all have thought at one time in our own brains and thought oh that’s too weird but when she writes it, it’s yes! That’s amazing and true!
It took me a hot second to fall in love, but once I hit the halfway mark, it was on. I just love how intimate it feels and agree on the weird thought recognition bit!
Reading All Fours now. Wonder if it's a generational thing. At 71, and after a very full and challenging life including demanding career, kids, alcoholic husband, yada, yada, I completely do not relate to this woman, it's like I'm reading about an alien being on another planet. The writing is beautiful, and I'm going to finish, and something may happen to change how I feel. How did you relate to this woman?
For me, there are some relatable parts. I'm almost the same as the narrator. I'm a NICU mom. I have periods of time when I crave the independence and unfettered life I led pre-kids. But that's not why I loved the book. Personally, I don't need to relate to a character; I just want to be swept up into a world, and I felt like I was living inside the narrator's brain, which is messy and complex and confusing, and that doesn't diminish my enjoyment of the experience of it at all. And the writing is so beautiful, to your point. I don't know how one can be so evocative and spare at the same time, but it's a feat!
I was at Nordstrom last week and I checked out the Staub - my favorite also. All the handles were broken off on both of the items, so I put them back. They only had one box of each on display and the way they set up the sale this year, you have to look for the yellow tags. You had to hunt. Maybe I will order online as maybe the stock people just threw them. Not sure - There was no one to help - seems this year they are lucky to have one person working in each dept. I had to ask a Wacoal Rep to help me find something in lingerie. Nice to see you back today.
Maybe if I order online, they will be fine - I really think the people in the store must have tossed the boxes and did not know they were ceramic? I could not kind a sales associate to help me. Who knows - but very disappointed.
Agreed on Staub! My 6 quart cast iron pot was my first ever cookware investment and it’s held up beautifully for a decade! I make a pot of beans in it every couple of weeks 😊
All fours is required reading for all it humanity. Loved your description as I read on vacation a couple of weeks ago and was an out of body experience! Passing along to all my friends who need to this read this!
Hillary I LOVED Girls! And some of my favourite songs are from there, from artists I’d never heard of before but the songs take me STRAIGHT BACK! To me, the soundtrack had the same cultural affect as the OC soundtrack did? (Showing my age, I’m 35!)
And on the flipside - they included so many songs I loved and it really made me feel seen and added to that, such as dizzee and Calvin 🇬🇧
I’m pretty sure I finished university around the same time the show came out, and there was NOTHING available for what was happening at that age - OC was too tween, SATC too grown up… Girls really helped me for that horrible in between stage where you need to grow up, but you have no idea, you have no idea who you are or what you want to do… but you’re meant to 🙄Hannah was messy as fuck as I loved it (much more messy than my life, sorry Hannah!) but it really helped me!
And the SONGS!
• Børns - past lives is a stand out to me, and I still listen to the GIRLS HBO playlist on Spotify now!
• Elijah singing Cruel for the Summer to Hannah
• the iconic scene with “dancing on my own”, obvs! (The original Robyn thank god, not the offensive Callum scott version)
• the pretty girl rock scene…!! Screaming
• dizzee and Calvin Harris (represent)
And so many more!!!!
Was Jon part of these?? Jon YOURE A HERO! Thank you for your work!!!!
It was life changing for me too, and I was quite a bit older than you! The writing always destroyed me and the number of times I Shazammed a song whilst watching? Can't even comprehend. The show turned me on to so much music, and I'm forever grateful for the work of the show's amazing music supervisors, esp Jon!
I can't wait for Taffy Brodesser-Akner's new one, Long Island Compromise. I'm readying Lauren Sherman + Chantal Fernandez's Selling Sexy right now, which is about Victoria's Secret. There's a new Kate Quinn I will pick up. I have a list of some of my faves thus far that I'm going to write up for next week too!
Thanks it’s always for being super transparent and I do hope you’re feeling better! I love that you’ve picked things from the N sale that not everyone is posting about! 😆 💙
I always laugh because I see the Nordstrom roundups and mine is always...very different? And I'm okay with that, but I def notice too!
In a good way! I definitely don’t need more clothes 🤣🤣
Hope you are feeling better!
I’m about a third of the way through All Fours, love Miranda Julys writing. So far I’m really loving it, she is so good about writing what we all have thought at one time in our own brains and thought oh that’s too weird but when she writes it, it’s yes! That’s amazing and true!
It took me a hot second to fall in love, but once I hit the halfway mark, it was on. I just love how intimate it feels and agree on the weird thought recognition bit!
Reading All Fours now. Wonder if it's a generational thing. At 71, and after a very full and challenging life including demanding career, kids, alcoholic husband, yada, yada, I completely do not relate to this woman, it's like I'm reading about an alien being on another planet. The writing is beautiful, and I'm going to finish, and something may happen to change how I feel. How did you relate to this woman?
For me, there are some relatable parts. I'm almost the same as the narrator. I'm a NICU mom. I have periods of time when I crave the independence and unfettered life I led pre-kids. But that's not why I loved the book. Personally, I don't need to relate to a character; I just want to be swept up into a world, and I felt like I was living inside the narrator's brain, which is messy and complex and confusing, and that doesn't diminish my enjoyment of the experience of it at all. And the writing is so beautiful, to your point. I don't know how one can be so evocative and spare at the same time, but it's a feat!
I was at Nordstrom last week and I checked out the Staub - my favorite also. All the handles were broken off on both of the items, so I put them back. They only had one box of each on display and the way they set up the sale this year, you have to look for the yellow tags. You had to hunt. Maybe I will order online as maybe the stock people just threw them. Not sure - There was no one to help - seems this year they are lucky to have one person working in each dept. I had to ask a Wacoal Rep to help me find something in lingerie. Nice to see you back today.
Oh that's so sad! Staub is always made so well, I wonder if that was just a fluke.
Maybe if I order online, they will be fine - I really think the people in the store must have tossed the boxes and did not know they were ceramic? I could not kind a sales associate to help me. Who knows - but very disappointed.
Agreed on Staub! My 6 quart cast iron pot was my first ever cookware investment and it’s held up beautifully for a decade! I make a pot of beans in it every couple of weeks 😊
All fours is required reading for all it humanity. Loved your description as I read on vacation a couple of weeks ago and was an out of body experience! Passing along to all my friends who need to this read this!
Out of body, indeed! And then very in body, too. No wonder we're obsessed.
Hillary I LOVED Girls! And some of my favourite songs are from there, from artists I’d never heard of before but the songs take me STRAIGHT BACK! To me, the soundtrack had the same cultural affect as the OC soundtrack did? (Showing my age, I’m 35!)
And on the flipside - they included so many songs I loved and it really made me feel seen and added to that, such as dizzee and Calvin 🇬🇧
I’m pretty sure I finished university around the same time the show came out, and there was NOTHING available for what was happening at that age - OC was too tween, SATC too grown up… Girls really helped me for that horrible in between stage where you need to grow up, but you have no idea, you have no idea who you are or what you want to do… but you’re meant to 🙄Hannah was messy as fuck as I loved it (much more messy than my life, sorry Hannah!) but it really helped me!
And the SONGS!
• Børns - past lives is a stand out to me, and I still listen to the GIRLS HBO playlist on Spotify now!
• Elijah singing Cruel for the Summer to Hannah
• the iconic scene with “dancing on my own”, obvs! (The original Robyn thank god, not the offensive Callum scott version)
• the pretty girl rock scene…!! Screaming
• dizzee and Calvin Harris (represent)
And so many more!!!!
Was Jon part of these?? Jon YOURE A HERO! Thank you for your work!!!!
Ps hope you feel better! Really missed this newsletter! And buying that book immediately!
PPS did you finish ACOTAR? I’ve just started throne of glass!!
I did finish it!
It was life changing for me too, and I was quite a bit older than you! The writing always destroyed me and the number of times I Shazammed a song whilst watching? Can't even comprehend. The show turned me on to so much music, and I'm forever grateful for the work of the show's amazing music supervisors, esp Jon!
ALL FOURS. Wow. Can’t find the best words because I’ve been up all night reading it. Loving it 🙌
Also - what else is on the must read list for this summer? Loved the NYT article about the 100 best books of the century but always enjoy your recs
I can't wait for Taffy Brodesser-Akner's new one, Long Island Compromise. I'm readying Lauren Sherman + Chantal Fernandez's Selling Sexy right now, which is about Victoria's Secret. There's a new Kate Quinn I will pick up. I have a list of some of my faves thus far that I'm going to write up for next week too!
Looking forward to more book recs!
I can't stop thinking about it. It's uncomfortable and affirming and feels so wholly original. What a joy.