I am obsessed with Stella Jean’s take on Haiti’s soccer jerseys

what I’m clicking:

The life of a rare snake collector | The life of a museum taxidermist | Disney adults going into debt | How sober should a writer be? | A criticism of food criticism | An anthology of passport mishaps | What’s missing from Belle Burden’s strangers? | Looking for love at Shanghai’s marriage market | When a man leaves you alone in the woods

what i’m wanderlusting:

Sicily is one of those places I’ll never get sick of visiting and I’m currently enthralled by the idea of renting out Casa Lawa with a group of friends

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where i’m traveling:

Sweden for midsommar

what i’m watching:

I am really curious to know if the creators of Widow’s Bay have ever been to Swans Island, Maine

what i’m listening to:

Terry Gross getting the Terry Gross treatment on Talk Easy (the only celebrity interview show I like)

what i’m eating:

Some beautiful vegetables at Amsterdam’s most beautiful restaurant, De Kas

what i’m making:

I have had this unquenchable nostalgic craving lately for the peanut butter cookies I used to eat from this bakery in Sun Valley that’s no longer around. Nancy Silverton’s life-changing peanut butter cookies have come close, and they are still excellent even if you don’t get all fancy and add a handful of peanuts on top.

what i’m drinking:

I had an insanely good kombucha a few weeks ago from Cafe Dragon in Medellin

what i’m coveting:

I’m going to Stockholm this week and I have no idea what jacket to pack, because I am SO TIRED of my current raincoat. I wish I had something a bit jauntier, like this (packable!) leopard-print poncho, this transparent green slicker, this grandma-chic floral number from Rachael Antonoff, or this ridiculous silver thing. I’m hoping I’ll find something good in Sweden (and I’ll begrudgingly pack my raincoat just in case I don’t).

what i’m recommending:

I went to this completely unmemorable event last year where they were giving out free goop products. I just finished the full-size bottle of Sleep Milk and I am sorry to report it’s amazing (and also $105).

what i’m preordering:

My friend Benjamin Kemper’s beautiful Georgia cookbook

what i’m reading:

For no particular reason, I’ve been reading a lot of translations this year: The baffling (and compulsively readable) Flesh by David Szalay; the also-baffling (and completely frustrating) Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico; the delightful first installment of On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle; the atmospheric The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez; and I’m currently absorbed in The Colony by Annika Norlin.

I also read a book in actual French, which I haven’t done since high school. I highly recommend Meurtre in Provence for anybody trying to learn or re-learn the language. It’s like a murder mystery written for kindergartners.

what i’m bookclubbing:

Like dozens, hundreds, possibly THOUSANDS of other book clubs, we will be discussing Yesteryear in June (let me know if you want to join us!). My local bookstore was sold out, so I’m planning on buying it at the airport this week (derogatory).

I went to the opening night of Grace Ives’ Girlfriend Tour at Underground Arts in Philadelphia and it was very fun.

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Pamela Anderson in The Last Showgirl

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I watched The Lost Boys for the first time recently and I still can’t stop thinking about the greased-up saxophone player. Can’t wait to see him on Broadway.

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10. Great Black Hope by Rob Franklin

9. Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

8. Circe by Madeline Miller

7. The Destroyers by Christopher Bollen

6. Number 9 Dream by David Mitchell

5. God of the…

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Since about 2010, I’ve visited a new country every year, including in 2020 when I went to Costa Rica for the first time that January. I didn’t go to any new countries this year, but…

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I was in Harbour Island earlier this month and got to go to the last Junkanoo practice of the year. On Harbour Island they celebrate on January 1st, but many moons ago we spent…

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Push their boundaries with a freaky-deaky co-ferment from Rose Hill Farms

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When my sister Abby was in town a few weeks ago, we made an early evening pit stop at Neue Galerie, which is basically my ideal museum because you can see everything in under a…

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The day I boarded the ship, I got a message from my editor that there had been a change of plans. Now, they needed a full photoshoot, and I’d have to model — face and everything. Luckily, I packed a suitcase full of gowns. (But in retrospect, I should have hit up the on-board salon for some professional hair and makeup.)

I spent the week with Natali Afsar, a Belgian photographer who has carved out a niche as THE chic ship photographer. I think getting my photo taken is actually kind of fun. Models have literally the easiest job in the world and if any of them try to convince you otherwise, just take that with a grain of salt because they’re probably too beautiful to have ever worked a real job.

See the full story in Oltre Magazine or keep reading for the behind-the-scenes scoop.

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where I went

The cruise started in Athens with stops in Milos, Chania, Ortigia, Taormina, and Sorrento before ending in Rome. If I could only choose one of those places to return to, it would probably be Crete, a Greek island that is so unique it should basically be its own country. (They agree.)

Otherworldly natural wonders, great food and wine, and some of the best beaches in the Med. We went to what is probably the worst beach in Crete and it was still pretty ideal: walking distance from town and crammed with loungers, but soft sand and crystal clear water.

who I met

Most of the people I met were first-time cruisers, lured by the promise that the RC yacht is not like other cruises. (It is in fact exactly like other cruises, only better.) Everyone on board was surprisingly young (lots of couples in their 40s) and surprisingly hot (there was a literal Victoria’s Secret model onboard). I already wrote about the most enigmatic person on board, a septuagenarian Italian woman who dressed exclusively in couture gowns and diamonds. The only other time I have seen this $500k Bulgari serpenti necklace was at a museum exhibit in Moscow. The rumor on board was that she did the inaugural sailing with her husband the previous week and loved it so much she just didn’t get off the boat. I hope she is still onboard.

what I ate

The food on board was better than it needed to be. I had the best spaghetti carbonara of my entire trip, and that’s saying a lot since I spent a week in Rome after the cruise. But the best thing I ate was this cold sesame noodle with crab. I still think about it sometimes. (Please tell me where I can find this in New York!)

My one critique of the food on board is that there was no breakfast buffet. I am not a breakfast person, so I love when I’m at a fancy hotel and I get to have some weird little salads, an Asian soup, and a chocolate croissant first thing in the morning. (Shout out to Velaa in the Maldives for having the best breakfast buffet in the world). The breakfast situation onboard was a little whack, honestly, since they had no non-egg, non-sweet, hot items. (But they did make me congee one morning, which is my ideal breakfast.)

My meals off the boat were mostly unremarkable except for on the Amalfi coast, where our boat driver took us to this restaurant for maybe the best spaghetti alle vongole I’ve ever had in my life, accompanied by some Furore from Marisa Cuomo.

what I drank

My mom is famously not allowed to drink gin because “it makes her want to rob a bank” so in solidarity with her, I tried a non-alcoholic Negroni made with actual zero-proof Tanqueray, vermouth, and Campari. (I also had plenty of real Negronis, French 75s, Americanos, and who can say no when a staff member cracks open a magnum of Whispering Angel?)

what I read

I’ve killed too many brain cells to reread The Odyssey, so I opted for the next best thing: Circe.

what I packed:

A Georgia Hardinge number similar to this one and a long mauve version of this Good American dress paired with a boxy silk kimono from Poochki. I packed but didn’t end up wearing a floor-length mesh dress that I got for $10 at one of those pay-by-weight vintage stores in Paris. My bag was a sparkly number similar to this one from Jennifer Miller. I also packed my silk robe from Kayll, which made a cameo in the photos. But most of the photoshoots happened in a bathrobe.

what I listened to

One night on board, they had a party where they had local musicians play and it was literally the best cover band I have ever heard in my life? Future brides, this is your sign to have a Dolce Vita wedding and hire these guys.

what I bought:

Since I was going back to Taormina, I made a plan to visit Antonio lo Turco to buy some earrings I regretted not getting last time I was there. He remembered us and was so happy we returned that he gave my mom and I each one of these little horn charms made of coral. I wear it all the time next to my shark tooth charm. I bought a pair of giant gold cross earrings that I wore to the Vatican a few days later.

is it worth it?

Did I have fun? Yes. Did I eat delicious things and see new places? Also yes. Would I pay $25k for this?

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For my birthday a few weeks ago, Haley and I went to see one of the last performances of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. It was maybe the best performance I’ve seen on Broadway an…

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Finally went to one of those shows under the BQE this weekend and now I’m obsessed with everyone in TV on the Radio.

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Cole Escola as Little Edie in the Hamptons issue of NY Mag

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Gurmit Kaur (seen here in Vogue Italia)

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Julia Butterfly Hill, who lived in a tree for 738 days.

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I went to see the Alvin Ailey exhibit at the Whitney on one of their free Friday nights. It was a little overwhelming trying to navigate the exhibit with so many other people w…

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15. All Fours by Miranda July

14. Trust by Hernan Diaz

13. The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

12. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

11. Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

10.

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Time to channel my inner Totoro (fat & fuzzy)

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With our impending return to the Dark Ages, I’m finding myself drawn to all things medieval, especially this Chappell Roan of Arc vibe from the VMAs. 

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Like the rest of the internet, I’m obsessed with Kim Yeji, the Korean Olympic sharpshooter who looks like a character in a dystopian sci-fi film. 

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