Everything I’m OBSESSED with right now
Inspired by my unexpected muse/non-consensual rival Katie Couric, here are my favorite reads, eats, watches, and more
Hi, fashion fans! Or, shall say, ¡Hola, mis amigas de moda! Welcome back to AND ANOTHER THING. Bienvenidas de nuevo a Y OTRA COSA.
I’m brushing off my college-level Spanish skills because I’m writing today from España. (Although I minored in the language at New York University, I can barely order dinner at a Mexican restaurant now. Lo siento, Profesor Marshall.)
Nick turned 40 on Thursday—check out my IG post about it, and if you want even more, there’s a gratuitous Reel in my Highlights—so we flew here for an extended weekend to celebrate. ¡Feliz cumpleaños!
(OK, I’ll stop doing that now.)
Of course, travel is an art form on Substack. It’s a newsletter love language. So many city guides, packing tips, and beautifully filtered shots of crumbling churches and sleepy cobblestone alleys in here. Don’t get me wrong—I’m here for them. But, I’ll spare you my own handiwork this time. (You’ve got my Paris fashion week diaries, if you’re desperate.)
I’ve been in Spain for five days, and the only photo I’ve taken is of my martini. But, I did shoot it in portrait mode:
Instead of indulging in amateur photography skills on this trip, I’ve been catching up on my reading. Shout-out to some favorite follows:
, by Tish Weinstock, by Dr Samantha Boardman, , and . (Disclaimer: Aliza is my parenting coach, and my kids are geniuses!) I still get all my news from Jessica Yellin at . A new guilty pleasure is , whose recent story was wonderfully, absurdly “Nepo Mom? Me? YA,” and led me to her brother , who launched a dangerously dishy Royal Family-themed Substack. And let the record show: Emily Sundberg from is still my muse! (She’s the one who got me into this mess.)When I launched AND ANOTHER THING two months ago, I was thrilled when my inaugural post hit the trending page. But, sadly, my climb to the top was halted by
, who swooped in and went to number 1. Since then, I’ve considered her my (unsolicited, unaware, nonconsensual) muse and rival. I’ll get you, my Perky!When I stumbled on her obsession list, it inspired me to do my own listicle of what I’m reading, what I’m wearing, what I’m eating and listening to, among other things.
But! First, a confession: every time I thought about writing this, that Mariah Carey song gets stuck in my head. It’s a banger, so now I hope it’s in your head too.
Now, without further ado, here’s what I’m obsessing over at the moment:
WHAT I’M READING
I brought four books with me on this trip.
Michael Grymbaum’s Empire of the Elite is a dazzling deep-dive into the power, politics, and privilege at Condé Nast. My first job out of college was as an assistant at Vogue (I was fired within a year, which is a post for another day), and I’ve been a lifelong devotee to the religion of Si Newhouse ever since. This book has been all over my feeds—especially after this ingenious Vogue quiz in the New York Times—and probably all over yours too.
Notes to John, the new book of Joan Didion’s therapy notes, is an intimate glimpse into her mind, packed with raw reflection and poetic honesty. The scuttlebutt about whether Didion would have wanted it published came up over a lunch with Shelley Wanger, one of Joan’s longtime editors. She reminded me Didion donated her papers to the New York Public Library, meaning this book could have been published with or without the Estate’s involvement. (In fact, earlier this year, I read Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik, a fascinating dive into the intertwined worlds of Didion and Eve Babitz, partly assembled from the archives.) Joan knew what she was doing; presumably, if she didn’t want this material out in the world, she wouldn’t have neatly kept and organized it in a folder.
I have a galley of All the Cool Girls Get Fired, which was written by my friends Kristina O’Neill and Laura Brown. I’ve known—and adored—these two women since I worked with them in the early 2000s at Bazaar. Fun fact: Kristina commissioned me to write this May 2011 cover story on Lady Gaga, which Laura edited. (I hope someone at Hearst is reading this newsletter and can fix the web glitch that’s causing so many archived stories to have corrupted images!) In 2022 and 2023, they were fired from their editor-in-chief roles—Laura at InStyle and Kristina at WSJ. Magazine—and bonded together to write a book to destigmatize women losing their jobs and offer guidance on how to land on your feet.
Living Well Is the Best Revenge by Calvin Tompkins is a short book; in fact, it initially ran in The New Yorker as a long profile of Sara and Gerard Murphy, American expats who moved ot the French Riviera and cavorted with Hemingway, Picasso, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Gerard was a painter ahead of his time. Sara was offended to be the unwitting muse of Fitzgerald’s book The Beautiful and the Damned. I’ve loved this book for years and have read it several times—I gave a first edition of it to Larry Gagosian as an 80th birthday present in April—because it’s a perfect travel book. Small, quick, and inspiring.
In addition to the books, I always travel with a big stack of newspapers (I subscribe ot the print editions of The New York Times and the The New York Post, just so I hear both sides of every argument) and magazines (Harper’s Bazaar, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, New York, Vogue, Vanity Fair, AD, and GQ). These pile up next to my front door, and I grab them to read on long flights and holidays because I’m always afraid I’m going to miss something. (FOMO with me is layered.) They come in their own carry-on, which I lug around until they’re done:
WHAT I’M WEARING
I’m reluctant to talk about my outfits because they’re so much more boring than some of these other Substackers. Have you looked at
? That’s Style with a capital S.But, for anyone who wants to dress like a suburban gay dad like me, here you go:
At the risk of showing my age: my most important summer accessory is a wide-brimmed hat. I’m not talking about a Blossom-sized sombrero. (Not yet?) (Also, I’m talking about Blossom, the TV show; am I showing my age again?) I used to wear simple baseball hats to the beach—until I had a skin cancer scare on the back of my neck, just below the hairline. Now I go full-on Gilligan’s Island. I bought my first versions in the golf section of Nike.com, then graduated to Bass Pro Shops' fishermen's caps. Then I upgraded to Burberry plaid bucket hats, which I guess are coming back since I saw EmRata wear one on vacation. The one I have with me now is the fanciest, quietest, most luxurious version—a Hermés wide-brimmed version, which I bought at a top-secret sample sale. (Am I allowed to talk about those sales? Michael Carl, am I in trouble?)
Everlane shorts. This company was launched back in 2010 with the concept of radical transparency and ethically made basics. That concept resonated with me because global warming is, umm, a real thing and not a political talking point. I’ve worn their cotton short shorts almost every day for the past few summers. (Wow, I just looked up that link, and they’re on sale!) I have every color. I love the elastic waist and I’m not embarrassed about it!
Summer footwear is tricky because I spend as much time as possible barefoot. (My mom loves to tell the story about when I was a kid I got blood poisining after stepping in a rusty nail with bare feet at Boy Scout Camp.) On this trip, I brought my favorite pair of shoes—Bottega Veneta braided slippers. Nick gave them to me for my birthday last year, but they were so expensive I only wear them on special occasions and when I know for a fact it won’t rain. I have my Birkenstocks by Proenza Schouler and some cheap sandals. No one loves The Row more than me, but I can’t wrap my head around the price of their flip-flops, which just topped Lyst’s list of most viral fashion accessories. So I found these in Nike’s women's section and bought three pairs in the largest size they had.
My concert T-shirts, most of which are relics from my thrifting days as a starving college student. When I say thrifting, I don’t mean going to a fancy, curated vintage shop in New York. I’m talking about putting on my iPod (yes, iPod!) and spending days dumpster diving at the Value Villages around St. Louis. Right now, I’m wearing my David Bowie T-shirt, but I also have Prince and one of Freddie Mercury that is beatup and shreaded. Maybe I’ll frame it soon?
