6 fun links
Including my go-to focaccia recipe/weekend project
Hi, dears! Today: 6 fun links for you.
How Not to Fuck Up Your Face by Valerie Monroe
How Not to Fuck Up Your Face is a Substack newsletter by Valerie Monroe, who served as the beauty director at O Magazine for nearly 16 years. Monroe is an excellent, attentive writer whose voice reminds me of a mix between Nora Ephron and Laurie Colwin (which I intend as the highest compliment). Her focus is on beauty, and women’s relationships with beauty. I must admit that I’m a sucker for beauty content no matter the quality, but it’s a pleasure to read her uniquely smart, insightful writings on the subject. Monroe’s letters are a hodgepodge of product recommendations, musings on the beauty industry, and more, always with the goal of building self-compassion over self-criticism.
Anna Kendrick on Armchair Expert
This episode broke my heart open in the best way. If you’re somehow unfamiliar with Armchair Expert, it’s an interview podcast by actors Dax Shepard and Monica Padman on Spotify. Not that *literally anyone* cares, I’ve been listening to Armchair Expert since it first came out in 2018, so I’ve had Dax and Monica in my ears for more hours than I can count. And in my humble opinion, this episode is their best yet. Actress Anna Kendrick discusses a past emotionally abusive relationship with extraordinary vulnerability, and Dax meets her with an equally open, tender spirit. This episode is for everyone, including but not limited to those who’ve been in (or are currently in) emotionally abusive relationships and those who’ve witnessed them.Â
My mom sent me an Instagram ad for this clothing brand, and now it’s all I want to put on my body, particularly when I’m wandering around Rome. This desire is a problem, since the brand is fully and unquestionably out of my budget. Anyway, for the sake of the fantasy, how beautiful is this and this and this?
Pomp and Circumstance is a darling little Mediterranean restaurant in Williamsburg that my friend Taylor discovered. I met her there last night, and we each enjoyed their happy hour deal of a drink, a pita, and a dip for $16, which is available every day from 4 to 6:30 pm. For New York City, I’d consider that a real steal. I had a glass of chilled red, Taylor a spritz, and we ordered labneh, hummus, and two pitas—one rye and one semolina. The food was excellent, particularly the hot, puffed, baked-to-order pitas. I’d go there on a first date if I were going on first dates.Â
I can’t remember what I listened to before the new SZA album dropped. It’s gold—personal, sweeping, emotional, hip-moving, catchy. There’s a breathtaking billboard of the album cover a block away from my apartment, and it always gives me pause. In it, SZA sits at the end of a diving board, leaning forward, head tilting upwards, her body surrounded by rough water. She was supposedly inspired by the iconic photo of Princess Diana sitting on the diving board of Mohammed Al Fayed's private yacht, which was taken a week before her death. Diana, too, leans her chest toward the edge.Â
Focaccia is among my favorite things to bake, because it’s decidedly impressive and deceptively simple. My go-to recipe is this one from Serious Eats, which requires no kneading and calls for a cast iron skillet. It’s the perfect weekend project, if you’re looking for one. My notes are as follows:
Don’t use a fancy shmancy olive oil, but use a nice one that tastes good to you. Olive oil is what flavors the focaccia.Â
I’ve never used a baking steel, and it’s never mattered.
Dress it up before baking if you feel so inspired. Some ideas: halved sungolds, thyme, rosemary, caramelized onions, thinly sliced potatoes, and pancetta, to name a handful.Â
Check at 20 minutes. It might be done.
In Vermont, Teo and I made focaccia sandwiches with aioli, crispy chicken, arugula, and anchovies (for me), and they were so very very good. Do yourself a favor and copy us.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
xx,
Phoebs
A little bell must go off in my head that says 'check to see if Phoebe has dropped another gem', and voila, there you are. I LOVE your rec's and I'm going to peruse in depth after work. I'd add the podcast OLOGIES to your list. I just about lost my mind listening to the episode about puzzles and magic- enigmatology, with David Kwong. Alie Ward is also adorable. There's lot of swearing too, which I find comforting for some reason. I think. SO good!