Happy Monday! I hope you’re all easing back into the work week after a restful Thanksgiving break. Jonah and I stayed in L.A. on Thursday to kick off the day with an early morning turkey trot with friends (a.k.a., the fun thing you’re allowed to call a run on Thanksgiving). Afterwards, we followed this year’s Bon Appetit guide to a T, with only the good stuff: turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and pie, which we counted as our fruits and vegetables quotient. On Friday morning, we headed for Sequoia National Park with a car full of leftovers. I can’t believe how close it is to Los Angeles—and how beautiful! We saw the largest tree in the world and hiked all over the park. The fog was so thick on Saturday afternoon that we could barely see a few feet in front of us, but it only made the entire park feel more mystical. We’re already planning a return trip! Here’s what else I’m loving this week:
When I read My Brilliant Friend, in the height of the Elena Ferrante craze, I felt like I was the only person who didn’t love it. I could tell it was an important piece of literature, but wasn’t curious enough to start the second novel in the series, while friends of mine whizzed through all four books over the course of one weekend. Last week, the HBO adaptation of the two best friends living in post-war Naples premiered as a series. The producers cast girls and teenagers actually from Naples, which is just part of the series’ magic—as is the fact that the young women are uniquely Italian, but face many of the troubles and worries girls everywhere do. As soon as the first episode ended, I couldn’t get enough—and finally pulled the second book off my shelf.
Online shopping is full of contradictions. One study claimed that it’s as much as 30% more environmentally friendly than shopping in-store (unless that store is directly on your way)—and I don’t need a study to prove its convenience. Sounds like a win-win, right? It would be, if not for all the people who get hurt along the way. This morning, The Daily podcast published an interview with Tasha Murrell a woman who works at XPO Logistics, “one of the biggest companies no one has ever heard of.” She’s one of the people who pack and ship thousands of items a day—in horrible conditions including 120° F heat—to get them to you in two days (or even two hours). During her time at a Verizon warehouse in Memphis, which she referred to as “modern day slavery,” she literally saw a woman drop dead from being forced to work and personally experienced a miscarriage after her supervisor ignored her doctor’s orders that she lift no more than five pounds. It’s a similar—albeit more tragic—story to the episode RadioLab published years ago, “Brown Box.” You can listen to the full episode of The Daily here and read the full investigation here (NYT). When the option arrives for two-day shipping today, consider taking the slow route.
I was first introduced to Phil Cook by a coworker at Food52 while polling the office for songs to put on our Thanksgiving playlist. Since then, I’ve listened to his folk album Southland Mission countless times and was thrilled to discover (while putting him on for my own day of Thanksgiving cooking) that he recently released another album, People Are My Drug. His new album has the same upbeat folk sound of Southland Mission but with more blues influence. To me, it’s the perfect thing to put on for a lazy Sunday, or a Monday morning easing back into your routine since the joy in his music is infectious.
This Madewell t-shirt just might be the perfect t-shirt. I’d been looking for something like it for months—a good boyfriend shirt, with just enough shape so it isn’t clingy but also isn’t baggy, in a super-soft jersey knit. When our Marketing Manager Kelly came to work wearing it, I literally bought it on the spot and was thrilled to find it was everything I hoped it would be. I just stocked up on two more since they’re 25% off today with promo code SHOPALLDAY. (P.S., Like everything else in this series, this is in no way sponsored and I’m not getting any Madewell freebies out of it. I’m just really into this shirt!) Here’s what else I have in my cart today:
1. Shearling-Lined Birkenstock Sandal (originally $145, 20% off from Jenni Kayne)
2. Loeffler Randal ‘Sarie’ Slides (originally $195, now: $95 with promo code WOW18 on Shopbop)
3. Starburst Ear Cuff (originally $90, now: $63 on our very own Cyber Monday sale! And yes, I really am shopping our own site—that’s how good the deal is!)
4. Food52 x GreenPan Nonstick Skillet, Set of 2 (originally $99, now: $79 with promo code YAYMONDAY)
P.S., If you live in L.A… Quentin Tarantino’s movie theater, The New Beverly Cinema, recently re-opened after months of renovations. They just released their schedule here! Also, this weekend, the Infatuation is hosting a wine tasting pop-up. See you there!
