Vibe Check: November 2024
Your Monthly Moodboard 🧚
At the start of each month, I share my own vibe check: a kitchen sink selection of recommendations, inspirations, and hyperfixations to set the tone—or the ~ViBe, if you will—for the month.
OK, y’all, it’s here. Cozy season has arrived. Button up your cardigan and cue the Vince Guaraldi music. The clocks are about to change, and we’ll soon kick into holiday gear. We need to remind ourselves to savor the season, enjoy our downtime, and slow down where we can. It’s time for warm tea curled up with a good memoir. It's time to stock up on pillar candles (Psst, they have them at Trader Joe’s rn for $3.99) and brush up on hygge (or Swedish mys). We’re rewatching “When Harry Met Sally,” cuddling with our cats, pulling our sweaters down from the top shelf, and trying out new baked goods recipes.
To avoid hiding from the upcoming darkness by getting further sucked into the blue glow of my phone, I want to lean into analog. I want to hear the crackle on the record player and the wind up of the film camera and to make holiday crafts with my hands. I’m trying fun spreads in my junk journal and working with new flowers.
We’ve got some heavy times ahead (the election, daylight saving, holiday traffic, family dynamics, the list goes on) - so below are some comfy, cushy recommendations for ya for the month to come.
Ossa beaded phone straps - I want the persimmons, tulip, and tomatoes. 🍊🌷🍅
I finally listened to Hello Molly, Molly Shannon’s beautiful memoir. I highly recommend the audiobook since her storytelling abilities are, unsurprisingly, unmatched. It’s a stunning look at how tragedy can lead to creativity and how endurance is paramount for creative success.
Superstar fans should also check out this interview about the 25th anniversary of the movie. (Raise your hand if you wrote, directed, and starred in a staged version of the movie at Girl Scout camp… 🙋♀️)
I’m doing a rewatch of Dickinson, and I can’t get enough. It might have officially entered my top ten favorite TV shows. It’s the perfect watch for cozying up as the days get shorter. 📺
Speaking of favorites - Mad Men is my all-time fave, so I loved the secret history of Mad Men’s famous lawnmower scene by Vulture. “Be open to the moose head on the table.” 🚜
Last month, I wrote about making a great Shirley Temple, and now 7UP has launched a canned version of the drink that I need to try. Am I a tastemaker? 🍒
How pretty is this striped floral wallpaper?!
This Tweet on body image 👀
Continuing on my memoir kick, I inhaled the audiobook of Ina Garten’s new Memoir, Be Ready When The Luck Happens. I can’t tell you firmly or quickly enough to download it immediately. She is ICONIC and so filled with optimism, curiosity, joy, and creativity. 👩🏻🍳
Photographer Chiron Duong’s latest series, “KEEP MY HEART,” is so lovely. 🎞️
Kate Pearce is a fantastic interior designer, and I love this carousel of her Top Tips for Eclectic Interiors. 🛋️
This is kind of out of character/a little granny style for me, but I really want this smooshy cozy floral chair. 😍
Adobe is releasing a new feature for artists called Content Credentials, which sounds really exciting. It’s a new type of metadata that’s essentially a digital signature, so artists can get proper recognition even if their work is screenshotted and shared. BLESS. 🖼️
Barefoot Dreams makes THE COZIEST blanket/throw I’ve ever had in my life. It’s basically like a bouclé cocoon. Ben got this for me for Christmas last year and I am not exaggerating when I say I’ve used it every single day. I also want to try one of their robes. Plus, Oprah likes them, so you know it’s good. 🛌
And even though it’s perfect…. I’m still eyeing this colorful throw from the MoMA store
I love Boy Smells candles, and their Cowboy Kush is my fave. The perfect smoky/woodsy scent for deep fall. 🕯️
I’m on the hunt for the perfect red cardigan for winter. I’m eyeing these by Brixton, Sezane, and J. Crew. ❤️
I’m also very intrigued by these Bombas slippers in the color “bright tomato”… 🍅
I want to try this high-protein butternut squash soup! 🥣
As a diehard Artist’s Way proselytizer, I enjoyed this post by Kate Lindsay 👩🎨
Another great Substack from the last month is this piece from Platonic Love about jealousy and envy. It’s written within the context of substack, but I think the conversation transcends platform or field. 😈
A prolific junk journaler myself, I LOVED Journaling Dan’s recent post about it. Did you know Mark Twain scrapbooked? And that the Huntington has one from the 1800s? 📓
I specifically appreciated the part about the importance of tactile memories: “If all of your memories go straight to the cloud, there’s very little room for processing what you’ve experienced. It’s why you can take 1,000 photos of a place without really feeling like you were there. Capturing moments digitally is now easier than ever, but we may have lost the art of archiving on the way. Junk Journaling facilitates the review and curation of memories in a way that quells the need to document your life.”
If someone doesn’t make Alison Roman’s new coconut cake recipe for Thanksgiving, I will flip a table. 🥥
I would also very much like to try these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies 🍪
Ribbon Cakes! I’m thrilled that vintage-style cakes are FULLY back. They’re THE way to go, and I honestly never want anything different. (We had them for both our courthouse wedding and our big wedding, and I recently got one for my sober birthday) And NOW the cake adornments are getting even cuter and more elaborate with ribbons and bows and I’m here for it! 🎀
What are your favorite, go-to cozy items? What should I do for my seasonal depression? Any exciting (and easy) recipes I should try? Tell me all your ideas!