The DM | Issue Twenty Nine
Or the one where we had just one espresso martini
Last Saturday night, Devon and I had ourselves A NIGHT. You know the ones. Where it starts out calm and you’re just talking about your hopes and dreams and even imagining your couch at home and then you have a single espresso martini and everything changes. All of a sudden, it’s 3 AM and you’re walking home in heels and still talking about your hopes and dreams and imagining your couch but it’s too late and the damage is done and now it’s Thursday.
…Granted, it’s been a while since I personally have had a night like this. And if my lack of mental clarity is any indication, this is for good reason. Still, it was an important evening in our friendship and it’s also good to every once in a while, surprise yourself from business as usual.
In conclusion, I propose a toast on behalf of youth, dance floors, well-timed caffeinated alcoholic beverages, the promise of another weekend, and the joy of doing something different. Even if it’s just listening to a song from over 10 years ago. You know the one.
From Meg
May I have your attention, please
Not that I buy into the commercialism that is Valentine’s Day (you can buy me flowers year-round) but if I may suggest a brand of interest both for your lovers and friends, it’s without a doubt, Flamingo Estate. Beyond being the most beautiful estate in southern California, their products range from bougie honey to Japanese garden shears to THOSE candles and the hits just keep coming folks. I literally have no idea what they’ll put out next but no doubt it will be delicious and unique and cool. Keep an eye on this one.
It’s called self-care?
My sheet mask has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R.
I need a vacation
So I’m going to Florida to see my dad for his graduation from work (AKA retirement! Woohoo, go Dad) and then head out for a solo trip to Miami for a few days. To me, .25 percent of the fun is the planning beforehand so I want to know… how do you research a trip? I personally love starting on 500 Hidden Secrets, saving places to a travel board on Instagram, asking for recommendations in FB groups about travel (I’ve gotten SUCH GOOD ADVICE this way), and then building my own Google map to make sure I’m not being too grandiose with my vacation goals. On that note, if you have Miami recs, please send them my way.
Some things you should probably not buy, but should probably judge:
A horrifying Balenciaga x Crocs collaboration that you will never be able to unsee.
It’s a thermos. But like… for your burrito.
For a cool 1000 dollars, you too could join the Mile High Club and have a membership card to prove it! Pro: membership card! Con: Also… membership card
From Devon
Cheers to the Contessa
For those of you who don’t know me well, I am, to put it lightly, *somewhat* obsessed with Ina Garten aka the ‘Barefoot Contessa’. While I’m quite aware that I share this love and adoration with countless others, how many can say that they wrote her a fan letter at the ripe old age of 12? I know it’s totally not a contest or whatever, but - I win (or, at the very least, come in second place behind this guy).
All of this to say - it was Ina’s birthday last week, and since, to my knowledge, none of us were invited to what was surely her fabulous fête in the Hamptons, let’s commemorate this culinary queen by making one of her ‘10/10 I’d recommend’ recipes / reading through her greatest tips of all time / or, the best option - mixing up a round of her v good ‘it’s always cocktail hour during a crisis’ cosmopolitans while subscribing to her approach to daily habits.
Wearing hearts on our sleeves
Piggybacking on Meg’s comments above, Valentine’s Day is upon us, love it or leave it. So, since it is just a few days away, whether you are coupled up or out there getting the shit kicked out of you by love, here are some thoughts on how to commemorate the holiday or ignore it in grandiose fashion.
Lookin’ for a card? Get this one for your amore/for your gal pal/for the martini lovers partner/and this one for everyone. Forgot flowers, but need to gift some? Do some DIY supermarket arrangement re-arranging. Searching for some sweets for your sweet? This cake is The One. Prefer to wallow? Splurge on some caviar, order up some fried chicken (for that high-low, ya know), pour yourself a glass (or bottle) of some Santa Barbara orange wine, and ignore Instagram. Uncertain on what to do? Just groove to a heart-filled playlist and let the 14th pass you by.
Design forward
Cutting to the chase on this one with some quick and dirty design-y things that have caught my eye while simultaneously intensifying my hope to win the lottery ASAP, including a truly beautiful ‘bespoke refrigerator’ by Samsung, this very happy house tour, swoon-worthy tiles at a new hotel on the Amalfi Coast, a wickerworking workshop in Provence, this beach house’s window in Oregon, and a guesthouse/B&B in Devon, England (my namesake) which has guestrooms that I’ve flagged for future bedroom decorating inspo.
When all else fails
Is it just me or can February feel oftentimes feel like one big case of the ‘blahs’? This might not apply to some (Southern California readers, I’m looking at you), but, when going for a walk, talking to your therapist, whatever your go-to ‘cure’ is doesn’t seem to work, might I suggest some retail therapy that is bright (for ladies, for the gents), bubbly, or blingy (a disco ball because why not). Alternatively, just simply “think about the donuts of your day!” which is always Free.99.
And, before you go, here’s what I’m currently:
Letting: all the pasta from Italian Enough be my wintertime balm
Listening to: a playlist by my forever Denver fave, Cart Driver / an alt-y Beach Boys cover / and Morgan Wade
Smelling: a new pineapple cardamom candle
Thinking: this Super Bowl cheese plate with chicken wings, Ruffles, and Frank’s Red Hot might just be the real MVP
Laughing: at Andy Samberg, always
Wanting (needing?): a bag that is all cowgirl (but make it classy)