I've been talking about it a lot * one of those weeks

A string of opinionated random thoughts

I have been MIA, I am sorry. I missed you.

I squeezed in a couple of short trips to NYC that oxygenated my brain, body, spirit, soul, and cells with a Nora Ephron adjacent fall life. There is nothing like October in the City, especially when you gotta rush back home to secure the car, grab the valuables bag, make flashlights and candles handy, and put sandbags on the balcony because the hurricane of the century may be coming.

I’ve been still thinking about:

you don’t need to buy clothing to be fashionable

from the last newsletter and pivoted to steering away from trends and an unthinking methodical way of living (cit. How to Think Like a Woman).

Let’s be done with minimalism, quiet here, stealth there, starter kit, capsule closet, no frills, -core whatever comes to mind. I want the contrast, the disruptive, the ugly, perhaps, instead of the bourgeois concept of beauty.

Look, search, be curious, wonder, observe, walk into a store and ask questions about what’s in the windows, get stimulated, explore, and get out of the echo chamber of your screen. Do all of the above, train your brain cells to learn, don’t waste time with copying, and, most importantly, don’t buy. Maintain a good dose of restraint, don’t trust brands that tell you whatever sustainability BS, when you surprise yourself with liking something that is not you, don’t trust yourself, doubt that you may have fallen for a trend, and ask your common-sense needle person (my daughter is that human for me). When you become infatuated because whatever you like makes sense now, start a second-hand search, shop in your closet for something that you could potentially upcycle and take it to the seamstress, the tailor, or your designer friend.

Don’t stop being curious.

Shape, volume, proportions

Love

• Wide-leg mid-rise jeans, not too low, not too high, sit right on the hip bones, wide-cut legs, not dark blue, not pale blue, could be grey. I went from not buying anything for four months to becoming fixated. I almost stopped a girl to ask her; she was on the other side of the street, and I was driving in the opposite direction, I am glad I didn’t find the courage to pull the window down to ask her where she bought them.

• Twinkle lights all year long, But also a laying duck.

• Pamela’s Garden of Eden on HULU, she is living my dream life, growing roses and making candles with her own signature fragrance, fixing a pier while wearing wellies, the Isabella Rossellini of the West Coast.

• Maison Margiela Artisanal Nighthawks

  

Hate

• Press on nails. Truly, I don’t understand the concept other than if you were dressing-up for Halloween or for a character in a theater play.

• I used to love Carhartt until it has become a brand for those who want to be trendy, a word that I despise like fashionista. The only thing I’d buy now is the dog chore coat.

• When my favorite coffee maker (la moka) gets damaged to the point that cannot be repaired.

  

How do you say it in Italian?

I primi porcini, the first porcini mushrooms, it means a whole world, a very short season, whimsical, made of short days and slouchy socks. It means that they are plump, ripe, porous, and copious enough that you can go to a restaurant and have a satisfying full meal.