Links we sent our friends #68

A great playlist, new underwear, the best Ina interview, and more ft. Teresa Wu

Hi! How was your weekend? Mine was unexpectedly chill. I (Aja) was supposed to go to Brooklyn¹ with Sam, but stayed home after some last-minute work stuff.

These days, everyone’s so busy we’re scheduling hang-outs weeks if not months in advance — so it was lovely to text several people on Friday that I was around this weekend, if they wanted to do something, and get a bunch of yeses. I walked through Cambridge with Ariel and her newborn, Oliver; caught up with Mike over drinks in Somerville; and checked out a buzzy coffee-shop with Lilly in the South End. (I also watched all of Nobody Wants This. It’s so, so good.)

Speaking of friends…

This week’s guest is

Teresa Wu

, a Substack friend Aliza and I very much hope to meet IRL. She writes

Teahouse

, a beautifully composed and curated newsletter about home, traveling, and gathering. I first discovered Teahouse via this piece on cookbook clubs — which you must check out if you’re looking for a delicious, and in many ways more accessible, twist on a book club — and have probably saved every other issue she’s sent since then, including this very necessary investigation of cute travel sneakers, tips for keeping long-distance friendships alive, and the art of kid-friendly hosting (something Aliza will tell you she’s still navigating!) Teresa has some great links for us today…

Teresa’s Links: 

1. I recently stayed at this stunning hotel just outside of Marrakech and spent an afternoon reading in a terracotta room bathed with candlelight, where they piped in the dreamiest tunes. Found the hotel playlist after I got home and have been recreating the vibes every day at sunset. (Aja: I follow you on Instagram, and a few days into your trip, your icon was coming up first on Stories — that’s how obsessed with your updates I was.)

2. Everyone who comes over asks about the silver coupes that I serve everything in: olives, nuts, dips, and ice cream. Mine are a vintage Alessi set scored on Etsy — but found a few chic options for you here, here, and here.

3. You will win every dinner party with this insane Basque cheesecake recipe. Promise.

4. Should we bring back bartering? 

5. Sweater season is upon us — find me bundling up in my favorite chunky knit multiple times a week. 

Aja’s Links:

1. I wish I had some heirloom or vintage jewelry so I could use this company to repurpose it into a new piece — what a cool idea.

2. Anyone else watching Survivor Season 47? We’re doing a draft with some of our friends (highly recommend; it’s really fun.)

3. I’ve tried a LOT of products to cure chapped lips, and you know what? Nothing works like this does. 

4. Ina Garten is doing the rounds for her upcoming memoir.² If you’re only going to read one interview, make it this Vanity Fair one: “Writing the memoir was really a revelation for me, because I had always thought I was just lucky. In the process of going back… I realized that while I was working in the White House, I was teaching myself how to cook. I was buying old houses and renovating them and learning how to do construction and bank loans and things like that. I was also, at night, going to business school… It wasn't just luck.” Aliza and I have been talking about “putting yourself in the right place” a lot recently. If you’re on Substack, this probably also resonates with you. :) 

5. I really, really don’t need more notebooks. But these are SO pretty.

Aliza’s Links:

1. Similar to Aja, I’ve tried a LOT of products to cure dry skin (winter is coming), and Skin Food always wins. 

2. I appreciated

   caro claire burke
   and
   Katie Gatti Tassin
   ’s willingness to tackle the complex topics of celebrity, plastic surgery, misogyny, and… most importantly… Taylor Swift for last week’s podcast. 

3. Does your underwear drawer need a refresh? (I might try these, since they keep getting recs.) 

4. Jude’s new art station in our kitchen cost me less than $30 and took me approximately ten minutes on a recent Thursday night to set up. The materials I purchased: peel-and-stick chalkboard wallpaper, dustless chalk pens³, and a marker holder with wall adhesives. It’s been a hit! 

5. While her story is different than my own, I loved author Zan Romanoff’s recent essay on egg freezing — especially this line:

   “We had all framed the decision to freeze eggs as sort of like getting LASIK… I had not taken the possibility of failure, or even grief, into account.”

6. Cool tattoo inspo. (Aja: I really want another tattoo… Are you coming with me??)

Question we asked our friends:

Tell us about your tattoos! The ones you have and/or want to get. I (Aja) have two: a fern on the left side of my rib-cage, which I got to commemorate my childhood in the very fern-y Marin County, and a treehouse on my right shoulder. The treehouse was somewhat impulsive — I took a solo trip to Montreal and found an artist that did walk-ins on Sunday — and so while the style isn’t quite what I’d pictured, it’s a lovely memory of one of my all-time favorite trips.

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In case you missed it:

• A Mormon wife talks about “Secret Lives”

• How to get horny again (!)

• The hidden-gem subreddits I read every day

• How to help a friend through grief

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1. For those keeping track at home, Aliza was also in Brooklyn this weekend (for her friend’s bachelorette).

2. Which I (Aja) am very excited about!

3. Who knew this genius invention was a thing?!