While I’m in a place of purging, I’m also looking at the things that bring my lots of joy. Little things that aren’t necessarily clothing or style related, but either delight me or are so useful or problem-solvey that I can’t imagine living without them. I love assessing which things are genuinely valuable, regardless of their cost, and taking a minute to appreciate them.
Here are the things I’m especially enjoying this summer:
1906 Go Drops + a long walk + a UPF shirt + OFField Hydration Sticks
This summer, I developed one extra-great habit. Which I realize I’m lucky to be able to do, but such is freelance life: you make your own schedule. Nearly 5 days a week, I head out for a long walk. Usually an hour, or an hour and a half. I save all my email correspondence that doesn’t require tons and tons of info, save all my calls that don’t require zoom or a detailed conversation, save all of it - then head out on my walk and blow through all of that. I catch up on news, catch up with friends, write much of this newsletter, even, on my long walk. It’s a super productive time for me - especially when I’m in a hardcore writing mode (I’ve been working off and on on a much longer piece of writing) and it all happens on this walk.
1906 Go ; On Running sneakers ; Cover Swim shirt ; Offield Hydration sticks
But how do I get into that hyper creative, hyper focused mindset? Well! I’m pretty heavily ADD, and I typically have to be doing a few things at once in order to focus on one task. Walking fills that part of my brain that needs outside distraction, but then I also tend to take 1/2 of a 1906 Go edible. You would think a THC edible would do the opposite of making you feel focused, lit up inside, motivated, and clear-headed, but these absolutely do. When I was younger, I was medicated for my ADD. I do not want that anymore, but somehow these edibles do much of what my ADD meds did in terms of helping me focus, but without making me feel cracked out. 1/2 of these doesn’t make me feel stoned at all, which I credit to the mix of caffeine and theobromine in them.
Anyway, so I have my tiny edible, I have my phone, then I need my UPF shirt (protects your skin from the sun) so I don’t get any more horrifyingly tan than I already am (I love mine from Cover Swim), and an Offield hydration stick to sprinkle in my water for the walk. Does the Offield have CBD too? Yes. But I live in California, and don’t knock it till you try it - this is my secret sauce for creativity and productivity.
My walks are sacred, and have helped me in every part of my life immensely.
New Linens
Recently, I swapped out my towels, bathrobe, and bed sheets for a new set of everything from Parachute. I love the feel of everything they make - neither flimsy nor heavy, everything has a satisfying weight. I got all the pieces in the same dusky blue color (after having everything plain white forever) and it’s almost like giving your room a fresh coat of paint. A different color bed makes a huge difference in the way your room looks - and these are so comfortable. I love the feel of sleeping on linen.
Linen duvet set ; Turkish Cotton Towels ; Turkish Cotton Robe ; Linen Box Quilt
Also, at the risk of being gross, all my skincare products tend to color the neckline on my bathrobes, and eventually, seem to kind of stain my towels too. So, I also switched out my towels and robe to the same blue, and man do I feel like a woman who has her shit together with everything brand new, fluffy, and matching.
Beauty Overhaul
I recently started meeting with a functional health dr to look at my hormone levels and try and balance everything out. After a hormone test, we discovered that things were….out of whack. My practitioner advised me to cut out any products that might be hormone disruptors (you can read more about that here), and obviously, I’m not perfect, and I’m not going to drive myself crazy trying to ~live clean~ but this seems like a pretty easy swap. I downloaded an app called Yuka (there may be better ones) to scan the barcodes of my beauty products and get a scale of how likely they are to cause problems. Anyway, I switched out some things and in the process found a handful of items I love.
Sangre de Fruta face serum ; body serum ; Roz hair milk ; Merit bronzer
First is the face serum & body serum from Sangre de Fruta. I can’t explain it, but both of these products are like miracle workers for my skin. The face serum makes my skin look bouncier, more resilient, less crepey or bumpy - just plump. And the body serum is just the dream. I had a brutal sunburn a few weeks ago, and obviously this didn’t reverse the damage, nothing can do that, but it really soothed my skin and made it feel less fragile.
I also recently got this hair product from Roz, and I’m starting to wear my hair curly again and this seems to make it softer, feel less damaged, and also feel boingier and with curls that hold together.
Then there’s this Bronze Balm from Merit. As tan as I am, I still like to be more tan, so I use a bronzer stick. I love this one because it doesn’t have shimmer, but isn’t exactly matte either. It’s kind of glossy, so also works as a highlight. It’s also nice and sheer and very blendable - so it’s super, super easy to use.
New Underwear & Nightgowns
Last up, we have a new drawer full of new drawers. I wrote about my love of all cotton granny panties once already, but there’s something so excellent about cleaning out your undies collection and bringing in some new goodies. This time, I didn’t just get granny pannies - I also got granny nightgowns. I sleep in an 100% cotton nightgown literally every night. I sleep like a Victorian woman. I’ve had three nighties on rotation for the last few years, and this summer I swapped out all my old, ripped, yucky looking dresses for new ones.
Oddobody cotton string bikini undies ; Commando cotton thong ; The 1 For U nightgown ; Doen nightgown
First, I have an excellent pair of kind of regular cotton briefs in navy from this brand, and they’re my favorite underwear. Pleasantly retro, very soft, NAVY, and all cotton - so I got a few more pairs, but this time in a very 90s string bikini style. I love these.
I also got a few pairs of all cotton (and elastane) thongs from Commando. As far as thong-tha-thong-thong-thongs go, Commando is my favorite. I like that they don’t have taping or trim on the edges so they really lay flat. AND… they’re comfortable.
So on to nightgowns - I do not have words to describe how lovely it is to sleep in a soft, cotton nightgown. Putting mine on makes me SO HAPPY. I wear them around the house half the morning, sometimes to the coffee shop, sometimes all day. This one from The 1 For U (I know…) is my all time favorite, it’s very durable, and I don’t care too much about getting all my skincare oils and potions on it. This one from Doen is so beautiful too, but it’s a bit fancier and more precious so I treat it a little better.
CHILL TIME
The final piece to allowing myself to feel fully excellent - is my fuck-off time. I’ve said this infinity times - I’m very introverted, and I need, like, an hour at the end of the day where nobody speaks to me and I can feel alone. In that little hour, I read, or watch, or listen to one of these:
First is the new Serial podcast The Retrievals. It is a terrifying story that hits on everything - women’s pain, racism in perceptions of women’s pain, women’s believability, reproductive rights, everything - and unbelievably well-reported and just un-turn-offable. It is fascinating and also extremely heartbreaking.
Next is Old Flame by Molly Prentiss. It’s a beautiful story that centers around female friendship, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Then comes The Rabbit Hutch, by Tess Gunty. I’m, like, 60% of the way through and I’m still not totally sure what it’s about, but it’s creepy and interesting, and frank…It’s kind of an unusual book in my opinion, and I’m really enjoying it.
Finally, I weirdly love sports documentaries. I don’t like watching sports, but I love docs. I’m hooked on Netflix’s series Untold. I can’t get enough, and I can’t explain it, but I just completely zone out and eat it up.
So that’s where I am! Well-walked, well-slept, well-moisturized, and very, very, very happy.
Your friend,
Laurel
I'm obsessed with The 1 For U nightgown! The have a long sleeve for winter and a sleeveless for summer. The best!!
I am intrigued by your writing and walking routine. Do you write on your phone using voice-to-text, or some other method?