Links we sent our friends #46
Including why Aliza stood in line for 4 hours (by herself) last week...
Today’s newsletter is informally dedicated to the women who accompanied me (Aliza) on a road-trip from Boston to New York and back for my cousin’s (epic) wedding this weekend: Kacey, Bey, Maggie, and — of course — Tay.
Aliza’s Links:
Would you end a friendship over Taylor Swift? Or any other fandom? (Aja: A few months ago, a newer friend asked me how I felt about Taylor Swift. It was a nerve-wracking moment for us both.)
Had to ask my friend where she bought her pillows (perfectly soft! perfectly firm!) after staying in their guest room last weekend.
Popular historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s latest — and more personal — book has piqued my interest. Side-note: I’m not surprised she has dreamy bookshelves.1
The gourmet butter Ina Garten enjoys every morning, spread on toast and sprinkled with shaved sea salt.2 Yes, please.
Spruce up your rental home. (Especially exciting if you, like me, are not particularly handy.)
Jude’s been loving this toddler water bottle — feels almost as trendy as an Owala. (IYKYK.)
Aja’s Links:
Dollywood may have the best theme park food of all time.
After listening to our episode of A Day In Her Life, my mom texted me: “What are the jeans that look like Khaite? Thanks.” Here you go, Mom. <3
Stop Looking for Your Forever Home. This article made me grateful that Sam and I aren’t planning to buy anytime soon. (Ever? Would that be crazy?? Should I write about this???)
For all the hype the Brandy Melville “takedown” documentary was getting, I thought it was going to be a lot more damning3… If you’ve watched it, what did you think?
Aliza waited in line for four-plus hours to get us tickets to Maggie Rogers’ box office Boston show… and was ultimately “not even close.” Womp womp. But the new album — Don’t Forget Me — is really good! (Aliza: See ya in October, Maggie. 😘)
Newsletter we sent our friends:
Writer
introduces herself as a successful recipe developer and NY Times bestseller — and yes, she is both of those things. But along with no-fuss recipes and common-sense cooking techniques, Michelle’s newsletter features honest personal reflections and self-proclaimed “sh*t talk.”Start with the (can’t miss!) essays Good Girl and The Weight of Dinner — then spring into some Soda Bread.
Question we asked our friends:
Summer travel season is quickly approaching. Where’s the last place you traveled and thought, I can’t wait to come back one day?
BTW: We’ve got more good travel inspiration coming to your inbox on Thursday…
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See more of what I’m reading over on Bookshop. I’ve curated my favorites from the past several years, including memoirs and children’s books.
From the interview with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Also, Brandy Hellville is an objectively bad name. And I love puns.
I enjoyed the forever home article. My husband and I were lucky enough to buy a home shortly after we got married in 2016. We had our first child in 2023, and since then I have been obsessed with buying a "forever home," despite the fact that it is not economically feasible for us right now. Just a few weeks ago my husband had to sit me down and tell me that there is nothing wrong with what we have and should be thankful for it. If the time comes for us to move on the opportunity will present itself, and if not, we can do a lot with what we already have.
I just feel that there is so much pressure to have things like bigger homes or SUVs with a third row that we lose sight of what is really important. We have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, a refrigerator full of food, can afford all of our utilities, cars that get us to where we need to go, and a beautiful healthy child. Forget about the forever home- I have found my forever life.
The most shocking thing in the Brandy Melville doc was the forced sending of Polaroids of the teen employees to adult men in charge. How normalized: "Hey we need to send your pic to the CEO", gross. Obviously they were looking to steal style inspo for free, but also deliberately pervy. Don't tell me those pics aren't on some website somewhere now, they totally are.
From a business perspective, the fact that each store is individually owned by a shell company is an additional layer of business security that I'm surprised hasn't been made a bigger deal. Where was a business attorney talking about how out of the ordinary this is?
And the global waste perspective was good to get out there as well, it was an unexpected but welcome section.
I would say I LOVED the doc, but did find it interesting.