Double feature from the writers of Platonic Love

Also in here: tomato art, two Target finds, and what I bought on eBay

Hi! How was your long weekend? We went to the Broad, which went terribly! We had Sunday dinner at my sister’s, which was lovely! The baby took his first steps! I chopped off all my hair!

Today we have a guest curation by two pals who co-write one newsletter. Don’t you love that?

special guests: aliza & aja

Platonic Love, co-founded and co-authored by Aja Frost and Aliza Sir, is a newsletter for women in the messy middle: navigating the transformation from “twenty-something” to “Adult with a capital A.”

Aja & Aliza, authors of the Platonic Love newsletter

Aja and Aliza started their newsletter to share the conversations they were having in real life but not seeing enough of online — from the anxieties and joys of making friends as an adult and preserving your identity as a mom, to Dolly Parton podcasts and the perfect wedding shoe.

From Aliza:

• One of my New Year’s resolutions (always) is to read more. I just finished Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton — what I didn’t expect (but loved!) is how beautifully Aldterton writes about friendship. 

• On Friday night, my husband and I finally watched the first episode of hit new TV series Mr. & Mrs. Smith. I’d like to cancel all other plans until we’re done.

• I have to brag about my friend Justine. She’s a stay-at-home mom and the founder of Mmoody Kids, a handmade kids’ clothing line sewn from vintage and scrap fabrics in upstate New York. The pants are the cutest, and I couldn’t resist getting a baseball cap for myself when she released them in pink (!) last month.

From Aja:

• An uncontested highlight of a three-week trip to Japan last year? Vending machines. They are everywhere, and their contents range from the mundane (bottled drinks, snacks) to the unusual (eggs, umbrellas, bananas, hot ramen, champagne, batteries.) I loved this analysis of what makes a vending machine “good.”

• As Platonic Lovers know, I’m very into candles — and so far this candle warmer is one of my top purchases of 2024. It makes candles last longer and amplifies their throw (or the distance their fragrance travels). This one is fairly aesthetic, too. 

• Just for fun: the five most expensive hotel rooms in Paris.

Thank you, Aliza and Aja! Btw, I became real live internet friends with Aliza and Aja via their newsletter, which is quite miraculous. Hooray internet.

flower market close up // kodak portra 160 film

today’s bouquet

• Hunting for some tomato artwork to hang in my kitchen.

• We can’t stop singing My Name, a sparkling gem from Sesame Street, featuring Maya Angelou(!!) // via Brooke Barker

• Just bought a 35mm film point-and-shoot on eBay and can’t stop hunting for other secondhand treasures, like these Dr. Martens mary janes and a Le Creuset skillet in my favorite color.

• The exact moment TV news switched from black and white to color in 1967. // via swissmiss

• A printable yearly calendar that fits on a single page.

• Say it louder for the ones who were up at 1:45 a.m. (me): yes, new moms can still make art!!!

• Fight loneliness with a text.

“Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.”
—Jane Goodall

• Shattered flowers. So beautiful, also devastating?!

• Teeny tiny temporary tattoos

• My favorite money-saving trick: leaving my credit cards at home. The other one I use all the time is skipping a grocery cart when I truly only need milk. // via Shira Gill

• Radical financial literacy is a major focus of 2024 for me. Sharing this eye-opening Money with Katie episode with the caveats that: 1. financial independence looks different for everyone (only you can define it for yourself/ your household); 2. a lot was implied (but not explicitly stated) about patience, which is the #1 most important wealth-growth skill.

• Yikes.

***if this ain’t all four of my children***

house & home

• Two Target items making my kitchen a happier place: this lime-scented cleaning spray and these romantic candles. (And don’t forget the free cashback.)

• A delicate, expensive-looking floral candlestick holder for $33.

• Here is exactly what I want my home to look like. (And probably feel like, smell like, and sound like.) // via Laura Fenton

• Dreaming of one of these in my garage studio. // via Big Salad

last thing

• Resonated deeply with the story of artist Pierre Bonnard, who, as Gretchen Rubin tells it, “once persuaded his friend, fellow artist Edouard Vuillard, to distract a museum guard so he could make changes to a painting that he’d finished years before.”

• Most clicked link from last time: everyone’s favorite toy

• Readers today: 1,430

• Grateful for you!!! xo

Nothing you love is lost. Not really. Things, people—they always go away, sooner or later. You can’t hold them, any more than you can hold moonlight. But if they’ve touched you, if they’re inside you, then they’re still yours. The only things you ever really have are the ones you hold inside your heart.

—Bruce Coville