Good sh*t | July 2022
it's the most wonderful time of the year: cancer season 🦀
It’s my birthday month so I made a list of things I would gift myself if I weren’t on a budget—perfect for the sensitive, empathic, intuitive, sometimes bitchy cancer in YOUR life!
I know, I know- fast fashion is bad, don’t hate me, but these Target (!) Doc Marten-y chunky sandals have a Chanel vibe to them for $30 and if you wear black all the time like me and break down the cost per wear…they are basically free, right? Right. I will refrain because I already own many a chunky black sandal but don’t let me stop you.
If I needed more tangible proof that I’m firmly in my 30s, the fact that I now fantasize about supportive footwear is it. I asked for these Dansko clogs that are sooo bad that they’re actually good again for my birthday. The leopard makes them “not a regular clog, but a cool clog”…right? or is it just my Jersey girl showing?? Don’t care either way. Foot health is wealth, people.
One can never have enough ceramic scoops, IMO. Katie Coughlin led the handbuilding intensive at the last HPS Catskills retreat and is equally talented as an artist and a teacher. You can shop and follow her work here.
At this point into the “roaring” 20s, you probably do not need another overpriced sweatshirt…or do you?! Cancers love to snuggle and the limit on cozy clothes does not exist.
I just discovered this line of home textiles made in Marseille and I don’t have a dining table (Brooklyn apartment life) but if I did I would impulse purchase everything Sarah Espeute makes— currently drooling over this embroidered table runner!
I never met a dainty gold necklace I didn’t like— and I’ve been a real sucker for a monogram since I’ll be hyphenating my name after my wedding in Sept. Currently drooling over this ladylike locket from Kinn.
My friend Joanna and I just discovered Constel.lació, an organic Spanish orange from Cosmic Vinyaters in our neighborhood wine shop and while I’m still working on developing my palette here’s my sophisticated description: it was crisp, mineral-y, slightly citrus-y, refreshing and just funky enough to be memorable without sacrificing drinkability.
Yannick and I have been taking tennis lessons as a couple’s activity since we’re both competitive and love working out together— I hate most sports, so, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t partially in it for the ~lewks~. While I’m not letting myself get too carried away with wardrobe while I’m still a beginner, I do PINE for this lulu tennis dress. Someday when I can actually successfully rally it will be mine!
Reads + Reccs
If you’re reading this your feed is likely chock full of abortion resources already, but in case you need more info on how to find abortion healthcare-check out this article by The Cut.
Big fan of Maintenance Phase around here—big, HYUUGE. This ep: The Trouble With Calories validated what I’ve already learned about metabolism and calories from my Intuitive Eating certification but if you’re still stuck in the “calories in, calories out” mindfuck this is a really beneficial episode (and it’s follow up, Calorie Menu Labeling). When I think back to all the mental math I used to do just to get through a meal it makes me really sad for that former version of myself and I hope this episode helps you loosen up the reigns a bit if you can relate!
If there’s anything I learned from the period of my life spent as a dancer, it’s that art is a habit. This piece in The Atlantic goes on to explain why art shouldn’t be a luxury (even if the art/creative and hell even WELLNESS worlds feel like they sometimes relish that connotation) and how making art or “creativity” if that makes you less intimidated is a huge part of a fulfilling life and career.
In other news about controlling women’s bodies that should make you mad: BMI limits on egg freezing. The Cut does a better job at explaining the problematic aspects of this so I’ll leave you to it.
Just when you’ve already consumed all the Marie Kondo content out there there’s Goodbye, Things. (Yes, I recognize the irony of including this audiobook in the same email with a capitalist list of material goods I’m coveting at the moment but I am a complicated woman, k?)
10 years ago I could not have imagined how mainstream body positivity was- I had not only never heard of it as a cis-gendered, thin, straight passing, able bodied white woman (lest we forget that it was fat, queer, and disabled POC who started this movement, not mommy bloggers) but I was deeply entrenched in diet culture myself. I’m thankful it’s the expectation, not the exception now in media, but it’s pretty tone deaf when major magazines create “body positive” content yet their models and celebs are still airbrushed. Make it make sense. Vicariously vent and head nod the whole way through this Mcsweeney’s piece: An Open Letter To Women’s MAgazines Who Promote Body Positivity With Totally Not Photoshopped Images of Naked Celebrities
Because I’m a summer bday baby, I typically do my mid-year check in with my goals and intentions around my birthday instead of the actual 1/2 way mark in June. As much as I love podcasts, sometimes I retain information better when I read it— so I loved this essay presentation of The Neuroscience of Goals by Every who adapted this episode of the Huberman Lab podcast so I could really let the info sink in and inform my 2022 part 2 vision.
I’ve been talking a lot about perfectionism over on my Tiktok so when this OTHER Every newsletter on how to beat perfectionism appeared in my inbox I was like “omg yes, I’m gonna be the most be the most anti-perfectionist person that exists” which is, of course, just another form of perfectionism. Old habits die hard but that doesn’t mean we can’t stay conscious of them and slowly and steadily chip away at those stubborn old neural pathways and cultivate new ones, eh?
Speaking of the ol’ clock app, I just started following @pigmami on TT and have been bingeing her content. I love her “healthy shopping rules” because despite having just given you a list of items I WANTED to add to cart this week— I need strict boundaries to prevent me from over-consuming!