This newsletter is free today thanks to Catbird (and my ears are happy thanks to Catbird).
Hi everyone!
This is definitely not everything I loved in June. Most weeks, I pull up my notes app, the repository of ideas labeled “SUBSTACK”, and immediately get overwhelmed by the myriad of topics I want to cover. Perhaps this newsletter should have been titled rabbit hole, because as my friend Emily Sundberg says, each one of them could be 5 newsletters. All to say, the list of loves is vast and unfocused, and I am plagued by a curious spirit in a world of many wonders.
June took me to Formentera, a quiet island off the coast of Ibiza, Ravello (breathtaking!), LA and back to NY. I got to see my mom for a short few days. I also never seem to be caught up on work and look and feel a bit depleted.
In July I plan on taking 2 long weekends without my computer, but for now, I am recounting some of the things I really liked in June.
A few months ago, on the recommendation of some Substack readers, I downloaded Wispr Flow - basically supercharged Siri. I press one key on my phone or computer and start blabbering and it understands, punctuates, even turns my rambles into bullets for decks or the team. You can add a dictionary of words, so Wispr knows “Ghia”, the spelling of every one of my team and family members, and it can recognize sentences in half French half English. And if you can picture it, yes, I speak to Claude with Wispr Flow. I’m a dork first and foremost!
I’m giving my Brick another try, unsubscribed from 10,000 newsletters, re-sorted my inbox alerts and am purging my calendar. On the recommendation of my most intellectual friend in Paris I started reading Le Grand Continent, but it’s dry and a sharp contrast from my usual “Everything I wore this week” Substack diet (no offense to anybody here). Now that I have a clean slate, please help me find something in the middle!
I just finished reading The Correspondent and listening to Still Bobbi by Bobbi Brown (she narrates it). I highly recommend both and am especially in awe of Bobbi’s commitment to her family values while she built two empires (by the way, this foundation is great). I’m starting A Natural History of the Senses and Bending Reality, as I like to have a fiction and a non-fiction book at any time.
I’m patiently waiting for Margo’s Got Money Troubles to be available on Libby, and I’ve picked up 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think again. This is a great book to have on your nightstand or in your bathroom, and to pick up a couple pages at a time when you are feeling anxious.
By now we know I love stacking maximalist jewelry along my earlobe (one hole for each breakup) to add a little zazazou to simple everyday wear. I have always loved Catbird: when I was hired at Glossier a decade ago, I bought myself one of their signature dainty chain bracelets and wore it for two years straight, until it was swallowed by the ocean one day. Their new Italian Holiday collection is bold and colorful and unfortunately, well, I need it all, together.
Apatite, tanzanite, aquamarine and peridot all set in gold. I fell the hardest for the tanzanite, but the max effect drop earrings have my heart.
One of the highlights of this spring has been planting a garden on Adam’s rooftop. I affectionately renamed our little paradise “Brooklyn-sur-Mer”. If in the long NYC winter I admit to having had a few cravings for natural wine, this summer feels very clear-headed for me and I crave my nightly Ghia more than ever - Blood Orange for him, OG for me, and when the basil or the mint needs a trim we stuff herbs, ice and our original apéritif in a shaker and top our naughty nectar with a splash of sparkling water. So good. Get 15% off on drinkghia.com with the code NIGHTSHADE (works 1x per human).
I peeked at a gorgeous vase on one of Laurel Pantin’s Instagram stories. I don’t know Laurel well, but she and I share an affinity for practical clothing that still incorporates a daily dose of sequins (have you been to her LA store, Earl IRL? I imagine it is very dangerous: she recently hosted styling pop-ups with the founders of Donni and Comme Si and basically built her own glittery princess and animal print palace in Beverly Hills). Danelle’s ceramics are lovely on their own, but even more as just-a-few-buds vases.
Thank you for being here,
Melanie
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