10 Things I Noticed, Saved and Screenshotted
A February update via internet ephemera
In my quest to discover my taste, I’ve started keeping track of the random internet ephemera that I screenshot and save, and share here monthly with other random life observations. Let’s go!
On February 1, we flew to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. We try to do this every year (pandemic notwithstanding) and I always come home in a little bit of a funk. Being in New Orleans when it’s at its most “New Orleans” brings everything I miss about growing up in South Louisiana to the forefront: the feeling that everyone is invited to everyone else’s party; how no one holds back; how it’s practically mandated to dance in the street; the thrumming knowledge in the background of everything that this place is like nowhere else in the world. My 9-year-old remarked, on our first drive to school after getting back to Minneapolis: “I can tell we’re not in New Orleans anymore. New Orleans is colorful. Minneapolis is beige.1”
In New Orleans, we went to a bagel shop I can’t stop thinking about. Talk about the algorithm making everything look the same — Flour Moon bagels looks like a millennial fever dream (or an Aritzia dressing room.) I didn’t hate the experience, but was acutely aware of how ridiculous it was, and it made me happy I never succumbed to the temptation to put some kind of arch or terrazzo in my house. The bagels were great.
I screenshotted this story from Ingrid Fetell, who wrote one of my favorite books of all time, “Joyful.” Usually the stuff in my screenshots folder just languishes, but for maybe the first time ever, I acted on one of my precious saves: I invited one of Rue’s friends (and her mom, who is a friend of mine) over for a collaging happy hour. The girls made a 4-foot-long collage of cute animals then tried to sell it on the street (no takers, weirdly) and my friend and I pored through old Anthropologie catalogs but mostly tried to figure out our kids’ summer camp schedules.
I’ve now seen, in three different places, the prediction that sheet cakes are in for 2024. Suddenly, all I want is a sheet cake (especially from this local pop up bakery). I’ve never thought twice about sheet cakes. Why am I so susceptible to a trend??
Everyone’s favorite Instagram creator Dan Pelosi posted this picture mid-Game of Life and it felt, somehow, so chic — despite the fact that I play this game almost weekly and consider it the bane of my existence. It’s such a slog! How did he make it look like something I wanted in on? Is it because of the context (he was playing it at his new house in upstate New York, half-unpacked and full of possibility, at the tail end of a lazy weekend morning)? Is it because I knew there was no incessant kid chatter happening in the background of his game? Is it just because he has the vintage version of the game that somehow is so much cooler than mine? I will be pondering this the next time my daughter asks me to play the Game of Life.
Okay yes, after my meltdown about not being into all-white anymore, this bathroom spoke to me. I think it’s the tiles that look like an athletic club from the ‘70s, something I’m always drawn to (the proof lies in the many pictures on my camera roll I used to take during Rue’s swim lessons)
Chess has been on my mind a lot lately, mainly because my daughter wants me to play with her and I just… don’t get it. She learned how to play from a friend at school; now they play it in between talking about their favorite Taylor Swift songs. The chess club is one of the most popular clubs at her school. In New Orleans, we stayed with friends whose daughter is the same age as Rue (we’ve been cultivating a friendship between them since they went to JazzFest together at 3 months old), the first thing the girls did was re-bond over their love of chess and their glee at the fact that both my friend and I didn’t know how to play.
When I think about the role chess played in my childhood, what pops up is that chess was for a) boys and b) nerds (This could be thanks to one very specific episode of Saved by the Bell). I’ve been reflecting on this a lot, and asking women and men my age if they know how to play chess — most of the women don’t and most of the men do. Did they think girls were too dumb to teach us chess in the 90s? I’m going to need
Anyway, I’m also getting served cute chess sets.
Last year I was influenced to buy these pants, which I’m pretty sure are the Madewell Harlow wide legged pants. They’re so effortless, the influencers said. Such a great casual pant! Wear it anywhere! and every time I wear them I feel like I’m in business JNCO. (“Why are they so….wide?” Rue asked.) I screenshotted this outfit to try; I’ll report back.
I don’t have an LL Bean Boat and Tote2 because it feels pointless to buy one when I can’t come up with the perfect slightly funny but perfectly me phrase to have monogrammed on it (I’ve been thinking about this for like, 2 years.) I have a hack though: marry someone who constantly needs to have a project. One day, his project will be “learn how to sew” and within a month he’ll start cranking out more tote bags than you’ll know what to do with. Not pictured: 2 more duffle bags, 3 other tote bags, a robe, a children’s guitar strap, and a pair of shorts. Aren’t you impressed?!
I just really loved this painting by Scott Csoke and loved their interview in
’s Substack.Please tell me: Is 2024 the year of the sheet cake? Are you into tile that makes you feel like you’re in a dirty old locker room? Did you also develop a chess aversion from an episode of Saved by the Bell? Should we make business JNCOs a thing? Are you also obsessed with Grossy Pelosi and his entire family?
I know this sounds like one of those things people make up for internet clout but I swear she said this. She also asked me recently, “Are Michaelangelo and Maya Angelou related?” which may be my favorite thing she’s ever said.
Have you heard of this bag? It’s one of those things I see everywhere online, but now that I think about it, I haven’t really seen in person. And twice recently I’ve said “LL Bean Boat and Tote” out loud and was met with blank stares. Also in this category: high sport pants. Just a dispatch from Real America™️!!
Yes I've heard of the bag but I'm also from New England, everyone has one!
Glad you loved Flour Moon!! We're obsessed.