A Brief Sunday Newsletter 12.15.24

Prince Andrew Needs New Friends, I SAIE-d Yes to this Skin Tint, and More

Seasons Greetings! Anyone else completely overwhelmed?

2024 continues to knock me down, but I keep getting back up. With that said I am ready for 2025—which is hopefully a statement I will not live to regret.

We’re going to try something new and do a mini newsletter this week. Different format. Let me know what you think.

On My To-Read/Dig Into List

• This Rolling Stone article on Luigi Mangione that looks into the spinal condition he suffered from, which has devastating side effects. The way this has become a lightning rod for class war has been interesting to observe. Mangione comes from a connected and rich Maryland family and yet he was still seemingly failed by the U.S. healthcare system. His online presence makes it hard for conservative outlets to paint this as a “crazed liberal”. There’s also the question of how they found him and suggestions that it might be facial recognition surveillance that we—the public—don’t know about.

• Prince Andrew’s entanglements with an alleged Chinese spy. What f**kery was this man up to as trade envoy? Too bad we won’t know.

  

  Can’t Stop Thinking About

• The continued Lindsay Lohanasissance with her latest flick, Our Little Secret. I put it on while wrapping gifts and completed all of 3 presents because I was so into this movie. The premise is Wedding Crashers-esq with a cast of characters that includes a delightful Kristin Chenoweth, who is really channeling her GCB era (does anyone remember that show?). More of this please.

• A skin tint that doesn’t make me look like a snake shedding its skin. You really have to change up your makeup routine in your mid/late 30s. I’ve been on the hunt for a product that provides a little more coverage for ocassions where a dash of concealer won’t cut it. I cannot wear heavy foundation anymore nor do I care to. After trying numerous drugstore/beauty store options I discovered this absolute gem from Saie. I put some on yesterday at 1pm and couldn’t believe how dewy and fresh-faced I looked—without covering up beauty marks or settling into any fine lines. By 10pm, she was still going strong.

• I’ve had an impossible time reading since my grandfather died in November 2023. A once voracious consumer of books, I can’t even bear to look at my Goodreads numbers for this year. But while I was scrolling on Instagram I stopped when I saw a familiar name on a book jacket and I got that tingly feeling when I’ve discovered a book I really want to read. That book is Long Island Compromise by the bestselling author of Fleishman Is in Trouble, Taffy Brodesser-Akner.

I’m currently on the waitlist for this book at my library (support your local library!). This might be the first hold I don’t allow to lapse all year.

I love when the universe aligns just right. That happened to me on the final Friday the 13th of the year. A tattoo artist had been working with me on an idea for a piece that wasn’t quite coming together for me. On a whim I messaged her to see if her shop was having any flash tattoo deals for Friday the 13th. They were. I drove over first thing to see what was available. Because it wasn’t busy, she was free and she’d met me before, the manager agreed to allow her to draw up something simple and unique for me for a discounted price. I knew exactly what I wanted.

Hydrangeas are near and dear to my heart. Their big, colorful blooms announce the start of spring on Cape Cod. They remind me of my grandparents. They remind me of home—a feeling, not necessarily a place. They remind me of my favorite children’s book, Miss. Rumphius, who realizes that the simple act of spreading lupine seeds is how she can make the world a more beautiful place.

There’s one bloom for my grandfather, who I know walks with me every day, and one for my grandmother, who is still with us, but at 94, every phone conversation, every card sent, every visit is a gift.

(This is also a test to see if my mom reads my newsletters all the way through—hi mom!)

Hope your weekend wasn’t too terribly hectic and that you can find moments to pause during this upcoming week.

-Meredith