I told myself on here not too long ago that I needed to stop taking such long trips away from New York as they are far too destabilizing… only to take another long trip that once again was destabilizing! Sue me, I’m not always a woman of my word. But I’m not that destabilized, only a little. The most notable thing is that I feel like I time jumped — I left New York when it was frigid and I’m back when it’s not, and when New York is not frigid, the masses are an entirely different breed of people.
This past week was my first full week back in New York after a blissful few weeks in Japan & Korea. I saw myself very social, very eager and very optimistic, as most people do when New York finally starts to give you a reason to turn off the space heater and get out there.
I made my first batch of homemade kombucha in an anxious morning spiral and it’s become a beautiful metaphor on patience and gratitude. The thing about mental spirals is that we have the tools to stop them from going into darker depths. A flow state activity or task has always helped me take my mind off of senseless overthinking that amount to no truths. The activity I chose was making my own kombucha, which is really not as crazy or complex as it sounds. It’s something I’ve been wanting to make at home for years after trying almost every nouveau niche brand of kombucha with impeccable branding. I started a batch when I was home in Seoul but never saw it materialize into its final form as I left for New York just four days after starting the brew. (My mom and sister have been tending to it and they’ve reported it’s a success, currently undergoing its carbonation stage!) After realizing just how easy it is to make at home, I got my own batch going and the process of brewing the tea and getting it going was the antidote I needed to stop my brain from spiraling. It was like a little science experiment I stayed very focused on perfecting. I’m currently on day three of my first fermentation and while I have about a week to go, and then an additional few days after that for carbonation, this wholesome tending to an active culture is a lesson in nipping bad thoughts in the bud and taking things slow. I’ve already grown attached to my SCOBY. If you’re feeling inspired, I personally love Noma’s Guide to Fermentation, a beautifully presented collection of fermented recipes from the former #1 restaurant in the world, and The Art of Fermentation, the more bare bones OG guide to all things fermentation.
I read and discussed The Guest by Emma Cline in my book club and while this book isn’t necessarily groundbreaking or moving the needle, I recommend it. It’s an interesting read that so perfectly captures a female phenomenon that isn’t talked about enough. I don’t want to spoil it for those who have not yet read it and would like to, but the protagonist is basically the most unlikeable, zero-redeeming qualities kinda gal I read about in recent memory. And no, the female phenomenon I speak of isn’t that women can be evil, self-absorbed, psychopathic beings (I mean, they for sure can be) but the idea that some women are solely in the pursuit of a man and a good time because she doesn’t have much else. In our book club, we discussed who she is, if she’s an escort, if she is to be trusted even though she’s the one narrating and why it’s so hard to feel any sort of empathy for her. There’s also a big commentary on wealth disparity and the illusions of being able to co-opt into a class you will never actually be a part of. In light of “sUmMeR oUt EaSt” season coming up, it’s worth a read and a little discussion.
I went to this new Levantine (food of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan) restaurant in Williamsburg called Huda that encapsulated everything I love about Brooklyn dining: sidewalk seating, a quiet corner, a real neighborhood feel with actually delicious food. I need to go back for their weekday menu but their weekend brunch set was so simple and beautifully presented and also vegetarian!!! They also host film screenings and live music on Sundays to highlight the local SWANA (southwest Asian & North African) creative community. You can see the schedule on their Instagram here. They are staunchly pro-Palestinian too, and eager to foster a sense of community amongst the SWANA community and allies. More places like this, please :)
I attended a masterclass with British skincare brand Medik8 and Dermstore and may have found the moisturizer for the season. Skincare recommendations are not new on here and I know it’s hard to keep track of the plethora of products being shelled out on our screens. But really, so rarely do I encounter a product that makes me do a double grab and think: oh, this is promising. As I get older, I’m starting to realize that unscented moisturizers are the way to go and the simpler the formulations, the better. I’ll leave all the complexities to my serums and acids who do the heavy lifting in exfoliating, correcting, etc. A moisturizer is meant to.. moisturize! And soothe! And not pill! Medik8’s new peptide moisturizer is all about strengthening the skin’s barrier and plumping the skin without feeling too weighty. If Augustinus Bader’s The Rich Cream is my perfect fall/winter moisturizer, Medik8’s Total Moisture cream is my perfect spring/summer one.
I recently found out about astrocartography during a birth chart reading and before your roll your eyes, let me roll mine first. I never fully subscribed to astrology as an ideology or practice to make sense of my life and rule my decisions. I merely entertain it to point to the bigger picture conclusions on why we are the way that we are, because there is a scientific methodology behind astrology that I believe to be true. Basically, astrocartography is a discipline of astrology that attempts to determine the best destinations to visit/live in/work in based on the locations of the sun, moon, and planets during the exact moment of our birth. When plugging in your birth date and location, each planet, the sun and the moon create planetary lines across the globe based on where they were in the sky at your birth. Those lines can tell us where each planet was at its most powerful and where in the world we’re likely to feel the biggest impact from the planetary energy associated with each line. People use this to plan trips for their solar return, which is astrology speak for birthday. People also use this to plan where they live or choose to spend time in based on what area in life they’d like to focus on the most. It has come to my attention that for my solar return this year, I should be in Europe, to which I responded, “Say no more??” For maximum benefits of career success, financial success and creative stimulation, the planets have to be located in my northern houses. Cities like Rome, London and Paris put those planets in my 10th, 11th and 12th houses, which are conducive to aforementioned successes. Basically, I am not to be in New York and I will let you know how this goes in a few months time. You can find out more about astrocartography by doing a little self research, though if you’re like me and get overwhelmed by symbols and numbers and maps, have a reading done! Message me if you’d like me to connect you to my astrologer :)
I bought this dress, after seeing Jenny Walton post it and it was quite possibly the fastest see-on-influencer-and-buy purchase I’ve made. The 100% linen composition, mini length paired with a modest neckline, slight A-line silhouette all make it the perfect summer dress that can be dressed up and down, day to night. It’s the perfect thought starter to summer dressing and I’m sooo excited for shorter hemlines and the reintroduction to 100% linen and cotton pieces.
And my third note on summer is that I booked a trip upstate at the soon-to-be-opened The Henson, a 16-room inn I closely watched develop over the past two years. Upstate continues to be the favored summer destination in New York over the Hamptons in my book because of its understated chicness that is slightly still rugged and a lot more approachable. It is the cooler, spunkier, more creative alternative to the uppity, eerie, washed landscape of the Hamptons, sorry. Something about bad restaurants and a monolithic aesthetic of the Hamptons scares me, though I may be overgeneralizing here. Anyways, this trip upstate will be my first trip of the summer and I’m soooooo excited for warmth and stone fruits and bikinis and damp hair and campfires and bug repellent. <3
xx Laura