Welcome back to the biweekly cultural newsletter dedicated to what i’m listening to, watching and generally consuming during my maternity leave. Truthfully, I’ve been struggling to focus on anything at all. Instead I’ve been listening to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Fruitcake” Christmas Album. My favorite song is (by far) Buy Me Presents— the new slutty holiday anthem.
Aside from the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions, I did watch a few other things over the last couple of weeks…
Shiva Baby (2021): Someone (Tyler?) posted on their Instagram story a few weeks ago about the iconic nature of this film and it was the push I needed to *finally* watch this on HBO. This is a (1h18m) movie about a college senior who ends up sitting Shiva with her sugar daddy and his wife. It is absolutely BRILLIANT and a must watch if you haven’t already seen it.
Christmas in Connecticut (1945): I had been told that Christmas in Connecticut was a holiday classic and I can confirm it holds up nearly 80 years after it came out. This is a story about a homemaking magazine columnist and a soldier who is sent to spend Christmas on her farm in the countryside. I LOVED this movie and insist you watch it this year! It’s actually very feminist and funny.
Percy Jackson: And the Olympians (2023): Out 12/20 on Disney+!! I got to attend the premiere of the new Percy Jackson series at the f*cking Metropolitan Museum of Art and I would say it’s 90% accurate to the book! If you aren’t familiar, Percy is a teenager who learns he is a demigod and is sent to a camp for other children in similar predicaments (monsters trying to kill them.) This is a HIGH budget production and a really really fun watch. I can’t wait to see the rest of the series.
A few people have asked me how I was able to attend the premiere. I went as a guest of Meta because my friend Emma Benshoff runs their book partnership program & she always invites me to do fun stuff! My Rent the Runway order, tragically, did not come in time so I had to make do with something I already owned. This would have been relatively easy a year ago, but three months postpartum it was not. Luckily I work with Sezané and they JUST gifted me this fabulous blazer, which I wore as a dress! I felt very chic. Here are some other things I love from the brand right now…
Lenzo Coat $445, Paula (mary jane) heels $215, Bettany Cardigan $170, Romie Bag $430, vintage blue slip dress $230, Matilda flats $210
Since we last talked I literally finished one book…
How to Be Eaten (2022) by Maria Adelmann: I stumbled across this book at The Strand UWS and I’m surprised that I picked it up because the cover is, obviously, giving absolutely nothing— but I loved it. This is the story of a support group for women who have been famously wronged by men. We hear from a Little Red Riding Hood who is now a grown adult women with a sex addiction that can’t hold down a job. We meet Gretel who has never quite forgiven her brother Hansel for what went down with the witch in the candy house and the winner of the last season of The Bachelor who was unknowingly cast as the villain. All of the women in the group have interesting stories to share and it’s told in a way that is dark, thought-provoking and oftentimes funny. I would strongly recommend it.
You can expect to hear a lot more from me in two weeks as I’m in the middle of three different books, all of which really good (& totally different.)
Have you read any of these? Let me know what you think!
The blazer dress outfit is perfection