And I will never look at the stars
and yawn.
Welcome to The Simple Things, a newsletter inspired by one of my favorite Oscar Wilde quotes. This is a reminder to appreciate the simple pleasures in life, like hitting all the green lights on your drive home, a deep hamstring stretch, and the gentle weight of your dog resting his head on your thigh.
Today’s titular quote is from author Madeleine L’engle, which I came across while reading ‘s Substack. He explains, “This promise is made by L’Engle in the preface to her book, Trailing Clouds of Glory: Spiritual Values in Children’s Books. I found it at a used bookstore several years back while traveling and immediately scooped it up. The opening lines explore how wonder shaped her earliest view of existence and she vowed never to lose it. I love this starry promise so much. May it be so.” May it be so indeed.
I tend to ramble, so you might have to expand this email to avoid missing anything. If you enjoy reading this newsletter, please let me know by hitting the heart button or subscribing!
I’ve been trying to make a more concerted effort of scheduling more time for leisure, starting with breakfast. I often fall into the trap of thinking that just because I have the time to get ahead of work things or completing a task doesn’t mean I have to, that it’s okay to leave things for tomorrow. So while I can sign up for a 6am pilates class or sleep in before rushing out the door to work, I try not to. Instead, I try to start the day slowly, starting with a little morning skin, hair, and makeup routine1 and ending with a steaming cup of English breakfast tea and my plate of soft boiled eggs and toast. I recently started to swirl Trader Joe’s lemon curd into my Greek yogurt with homemade granola and it’s been such a delicious way to prepare for the day ahead.
Snacked and loved:
HBAF Korean Style Almonds in Jeju Island Matcha flavor - Like green tea Pocky sticks, but with almonds so it’s healthier, right? Available at HMart.
Calbee Potato Chips in 4 Cheese Flavor - Honey butter with cheese? It shouldn’t work, but it does. Available at HMart
Ellenos passionfruit yogurt - I love anything passionfruit and this was delicious. Also enjoyed the vanilla bean flavor, too. Available at Whole Foods.
Want Want Crackers - I grew up on these little rice crackers and I hadn’t eaten any in decades until I saw Costco selling a bag of like a thousand packets around Lunar New Year. Something about the sweet soy flavor and the texture of the crackers makes them so addictive. I still have about 50 packets left in my pantry.
Watched and loved:
Shogun on FX - Based on a novel published in the 1970s that was apparently THE bestseller and book club book of the era. So much so that even Nancy knew more about it than I did and she never gets my pop culture references. The Japanese cast and crew lends a nice air of legitimacy to the story and the production is top notch. If you like historical fiction, power plays, and subtitles, you’ll like this.
Tokyo Vice on HBO Max - Another Japanese prestige drama, but takes place in early 2000s Japan. Based on a memoir by an American journalist who covered the Yakuza beat for the Japanese paper of record. I find Ansel Elgort a bit problematic and annoying, but the beautiful shots, Ken Watanabe, and dialogue more than makes up for it. Apparently Japanese audiences agree because they saved it from being axed during the HBO-Max reshuffling and are the reason we even have a 2nd season right now. I guess it’s cool that Elgort learned Japanese for it too. Whatever. Highly recommend if you like gang/mafia stories, Miami Vice (director Michael Mann helmed the 1st episode and really set the tone for the whole series), and the contemporary floating world.
The Gentlemen on Netflix - Yes, it’s an extension of Guy Ritchie’s film of the same name but none of the characters in the film are featured in the series, though it shares the same world. And it’s fabulous. Theo James plays a blue-blood former UN Peacekeeper who inadvertently finds himself with a Dukedom and the keys to an elaborate and well-run drug ring, operated by the unflappable Kaya Scodelario. It’s violent, it’s hilarious, and it’s droll. Most of all, it’s just really fucking fun and watching it made me acutely aware how desperately we need more of it. I really hope they’ll green light a 2nd season.
You know what else looks fun? Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s upcoming movie (also directed by the first John Wick director/former stunt man) [Indiewire] and this cheeky Amsterdam-based street artist [via Dense Discovery]
What it takes to be an iditarod dog. [WSJ]
Reading the following line made me nod in agreement and then laugh, mostly out of discomfort and surprise when it dawned on me who the source was. [Thanks to
for sharing such a metal quote]:If you can’t be a good example, at least be a horrible warning.
- Aileen Wuornos
I’m a multi-hyphenate, but less in an EGOT-winner way and more in a small biz way. In addition to handling orders, customer service, and operations during my day job, I also have to take product photos, edit them, and upload them to our website. For years, I was absolutely ATROCIOUS at it. The photos would appear really bright and blown out and I had the hardest time siloing them so I would bother my beautiful friend/former design partner to help me edit them. Turns out, it really makes a HUGE difference to have the right tools. After getting a black reflector, replacing the batteries in the light meter I recovered from a pile of things in the photo studio, and discovering the select and mask feature in Photoshop, I can finally do my job with confidence! It’s truly amazing what you can accomplish after a few hours on Pinterest and YouTube. I FEEL SO POWERFUL. P.S. I’m looking to upgrade our current Nikon D50 to a new model (preferably Nikon) to do tethered shooting. If you have any recommendations, please drop them in the comments! Thank you!
Last Sunday, I signed up for a flower-arranging workshop at one of my favorite local shops, Wanderstate Mercantile. Becca Goodall is just one of the warmest people ever and such a patient instructor. Now that I have the tools and the process, I just want to make fresh arrangements all the time! Need some flowers? Becca’s available for all your floral arrangement needs and you can even get her dried flower arrangements to brighten your space all year round. Also you must hit up Wanderstate for all your gifting and treat-yourself needs. Tell Stephanie I sent you!
Crudites are getting fancy. [NYTimes]
“Thin Mints, thick margins” takes a deep dive into the economics behind Girl Scout cookies and yes, this is the perfect headline. I will take no further questions. [Alts]
Your gentle reminder not to sleep on birthday discounts and treats. I’m turning 35 on March 24th and I got a little notification from Publix to get a tub of ice cream or a cake bar from the bakery on them to celebrate. I opted for the chocolate hazelnut cake during a grocery shop and it’s not like a dinky slice of cake, rather it’s more like a generous LOAF of chocolate, cake, and sugar — an edible declaration, you could say, from my favorite grocery store telling me: “You are loved”. And boy do I feel that.
Speaking of being loved, I was truly moved by my friends’ warmth and generosity last weekend when we got together for an early birthday celebration. I thought I was just going to be picked up by N and her husband T for our reservation at Highland Tap2, but it turned out to be a convening by Sh, W, St, and P to my home where I was presented with the most gorgeous birthday cake made by my favorite baker, Elisa, a handsome embosser to label all my books with, and an absolutely unhinged-in-the-best-possible-way birthday deck3. I have honestly never felt more seen and cherished or more emotional over a deck (emotional and exhaustion-related breakdowns over pitch decks do not count!). Just gobsmacked. I don’t have any recollection of what I said over prime ribs and cocktails nor what kind of dancing I did when we came across that random concert in the park during our post-dinner walk. All I know was that it was transcendent and I’m sorry if I did or said anything untoward/embarrassing. I love you all.
I started a new habit to help me track impulse buys and visualize how much money I save by not hitting the purchase button. Budgets are nice, but I’ve found that being more mindful about intentional spending has been a more effective strategy for me. Things I wanted to buy but didn’t:
Greek column vase, $69
Track jacket with flower print, $162.50
That’s almost $515 I didn’t spend! Hell yeah!
YMMV4, but I’ve found that if I blow out my hair after my evening shower and then wrap them in my hair rollers before bed, I wake up with frizz-free, salon-quality curls. Did everyone know this and just forgot to tell me this is a thing??
I’m obsessed with the favorite things feature at
. I recently read the one with Victoria James and she recommended the Santa Maria Novella post-cooking papers that her family burns after cooking to get rid of any lingering scents of onion and garlic. I was ready to purchase and of course it’s sold out. UPDATE: They’re in stock at Violet Grey!
The next time you’re looking for brunch, dinner, or cocktails in Midtown, you have to stop by Rwby on the corner of Juniper and 8th. I thought the service was good and found the food to be really exciting (a rarity these days). There were familiar items in the menu like the house burger, fries, and karaage chicken. My date and I split the acorn squash with housemade chili gastrique and I wanted to lick the plate because the gastrique was so addictive (I ultimately decided not to out of respect for my date and the diners around us). We ordered the chocolate cardamom tart for dessert and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. If you’ve ever cooked with cardamom, you’ll know that it’s a strong spice that often overpowers other flavors. This is not one of those cases. It was delicate and perfectly balanced with the dark chocolate and turned creamy when paired with the suggested chai-based dessert cocktail. Executive chef Rod stopped by to ask us how everything was and told us that he came up with the dessert based on his memories with his Jordanian grandmother and the coffee she often served. The conversation with him was as much as a treat as the dessert. Will definitely be going back.
I will leave you with this photo of the Aries King himself (today is his birthday!):
Don’t forget to have fun,
G
I just she is just the most adorable and her videos always put me in a good mood.
An Atlanta institution and one of the most reasonably priced steak houses in the city.
YMMV = Your mileage may vary
I was at uni with Theo James. Always makes me smile to see him on screen! xC
Almost bought list is genius! Stealing 💰