🧝🏽‍♀️🪷🦉2024 ✍🏽💸🔮

Below are some highlights from 2023. Would love to hear about your year — you can either respond to this email, DM me, or @ me in the Discord.

IN:

🕺 niche fashion magazines, knitting, puzzles, analog planners, journaling, joy, walking and other lindy activities, girl parts apparel, sonny angels, loud budgeting, discipline, consistency, facials, youtube, seafood, luxe hotel lobbies, sparkling water, and being hot.

OUT:

🧸 social media, influencers, content, mini mics, street interviews, generational discourse, headaches, shopping, bows, raw milk, gel manicures, synthetic fibers, celebrity memoirs, and being mean to me.

THE BEST MOVIE OF 2023: HANA-BI

The film’s protagonist is a former police detective who borrows money from the mob so he can spend time with his dying wife. Sad, funny, romantic, violent, and cinematic* with effortless tailored that still go so hard.

Bonus: I started and then didn’t finish the following…

• Guns and Gulaab

• New RHONY

• My Happy Marriage

THE WORST PURCHASES OF 2023:

• Aritzia Wilfred Free Souvenir Pants: I bought these per the recommendation of a former acquaintance. I was expecting an elevated basic that could withstand multiple wears and was sorely disappointed as these knit pants pilled and stretched after about three wears. I’m so done with Aritzia.

• Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment in Rhode Vanilla: I bought the unscented, unflavored lip treatment when it first dropped in June 2022. After misplacing the product, I decided to re-order in November 2023. As the unscented was replaced with the four scented offerings — I picked one. I’m disappointed with this product not because I believe the efficacy of the product has changed but becaue the package has changed. With a “new head-to-toe glazed” look courtesy of upcycled post-consumer (PCR) materials, the product feels cheap. It is no longer luxurious. I will not be repurchasing.

• A certain lipstick that was not delivered to my house, iykyk.

THE BEST PURCHASES OF 2023:

Honestly, still too early to say as I like to spend time using the items I buy before I make a declaration like this but, as of today, I’m feeling partial to my Hobonochi Techo Cousin and the Iowa cashmere-silk blend tee from Ply-Knits which I may have bought in three colors.

THE BEST MEALS OF 2023:

• Singapore - Tambi:

  • This place is the child of Michelin-starred chefs Sun Kim and Mano Thevar. The restaurant fuses the best of South India and Korea for dishes that are flavorful and memorable. The highlight of the meal was the seared corn “ribs” served alongside a feta dip and lime wedge.

• Singapore - Lavo:

  • I went here on my final day in Singapore so I could check out the view. (Spoiler: It was incredible.) As such, I did not have high hopes for the food. Per the waiter’s suggestion, I went with the Mafaldine Seafood Alfredo. The pasta featured prawns, scallops, and lobster butter. It was fantastic — an incredibly rich and indulgent dish.

• Mumbai - Bocca:

  • This was my go-to breakfast for about two months while I was in India. I would order the Turkish Eggs which consisted of two poached eggs resting on creamy garlic yoghurt and drizzled with chili oil and dried herbs. As someone who does not like yoghurt, I was shocked by how much I craved it.

• Paris - Clamato:

  • I visited this place maybe four time in 2023. The things these guys are doing with seafood blows my mind. The food is fresh, simple, and unique. I don’t think you can go wrong with anything on the menu. It was here I tried cold mussels, fig ice cream, crudo with strawberries, and so much more. Truly, the mind marvels at what these guys can do. I guess it makes sense that they have the Michelin stamp of approval.

• Bangkok - Baan Ying:

  • Hands down! This was my favorite meal of the year. Had this twice while in Bangkok. Clams sautéed with dried red chili and garlic, over a bed of rice with one boiled egg — a spicy treat that is so simple, yet so perfect.

Honorable Mentions: Straker’s, Breakfast by Salt’s Cure, and Sessions Art Club.

THINGS I DID FOR THE FIRST TIME:

Started a newsletter (lol!), interviewed Priya Hein and Derek Owusu, read over 100 books, tried mooncake (good), ate fig ice cream (interesting), visited an elephant sanctuary on my birthday, saw Lucien Freud’s Girl in Bed irl, and so much more.

IN 2024, I WILL:

• Get my hands on bakhoor

• Read and eat around the world

• Try lavashak**

• Experience a buccal facial

• Knit a vest

• Take more photos and videos

More importantly, I wish for more life, more reading, more writing, more art, and more beauty for you and me.

*As it should be, since it’s a film but a lot of cinema is not giving cinematic.
**Shoutout Sayeh Soltani’s TikToks for putting me on to Rouge Abysse lipstick and for showing me so much good Persian food.