Long Live @ilovecraigslist
On my internet crush turned IRL friend, a great novel, and little something for the tin fish hotties.
Another installment in what feels like the never-ending winter months. Updates since we last convened: the ski trip to Telluride happened. I fell in love with Nordic skiing. I turned twenty-seven. I had a 27 Dresses showing for my bday party at a movie theater in Brooklyn. I loaded too much on my proverbial plate and am writing this, exhausted, from my bed, on a Sunday afternoon.
So far, I’ve been sticking to the clothes list I sent out earlier in the year. I bought a pair of sunglasses only to return them. Same with an exercise dress. I started my Bode short project, which I’m thrilled to report will be completed in five-ish weeks. Not the bury the lede, but I fell in love with the oversized button up I had on my list + can’t wait to share more on how I style it soon.
Any lessons on the illusive “balance” of freelance life are welcome. In the meantime, I can’t wait to welcome my friend and the mastermind behind ilovecraigslist, Madison Brill, to the newsletter. We have a group chat with our beloved friend Lily (you remember! Love and Other Rugs!) where design is discussed next to boy drama and all after frequent career pep talks. The sacredness of friendship!
In classic Madison Brill style, her responses came with a preamble, which, as her unofficial agent, I found too charming not to include.
“Everything in my house, home, life is pretty much secondhand and has a story, meaning, and purpose. I have a pair of Levi jeans that I wore last night that I bought when I was 13 (they were much baggier on me then... I've seemingly grown into them), a ring I borrowed from my 5th grade best friend (still my current day bff) that I haven't taken off in 20 years and outfits I've bought abroad in fear I'd live in regret without them. I am not a hoarder, but definitely a borderline obsessive-compulsive collector and shopper of sorts. So needless to say, it was impossible to choose just one item for Long Live but here I go.”
How long have you had this piece?
I got this necklace 5 months ago when things in my life started to shift. For context, I recently lost my job and decided to move across the country and dive knee-deep into a new field with no real certainty as to how I was going to do that other than running a semi-successful microsized account called @ilovecraigslist. That being said, a few months ago I acquired a vintage LC4 chaise for free... It was listed as a replica and turns out it was actually real. I literally screamed and almost fainted, I felt I had hit the furniture jackpot.
It came about in perfect time with my newly realized obsession with Charlotte Perriand, the pioneer and furniture designer behind most of Le Corbusier's most famous pieces, including the LC4 she designed in 1928. She was a radical and didn't believe in dressing homes but furnishing them with functional and simple items. She wanted to change the world and in many ways she did but her recognition didn't come until much later after her death. I started reading more and more about her. One night, I came across the necklace she was famous for wearing, it was a lightweight string of hollow chromed copper balls often referred to as her "ball-bearings necklace". She had designed it herself and wore it religiously. Many people have since tried to replicate, ex. Sophie Buhai, but often the price tags run $1K+. So after I saw this necklace, I texted one of my best friends who's a jeweler, and said "any chance you can make me this for a girl on a budget?!" We chatted about it and I went to bed. The next day, it was Rose Bowl Sunday, surely enough I was there looking for furniture and by chance decided to stop at a small jewelry stand. They had a bunch of stuff stuffed in each case and as I was perusing, I come across the EXACT necklace right then and there. It felt like a sign.
Where did it come from?
The Rose Bowl in Los Angeles.
How much did you pay for it?
$100 (a crazy deal for a piece like this that's sterling silver!)
How do you wear it?
I wear it with casual outfits, I like to mix statement jewelry with comfortable wear. It feels appropriate and a way to dress an LA outfit up without looking like a granny. Here I'm wearing it with my boyfriend's striped linen button-down and a pair of vintage Levi jeans and my favorite Manolo Blahniks that I found at Goodwill for $19.
What does it represent?
To me, this necklace represents the path forward. It reminds me of when someone teaches you a word you've never heard before, or you learn about an artist you've never seen, and then all of a sudden you start to see it everywhere. Often it's been there all along, but that small shift in perspective and learning something new can dramatically change the world you start to live in. I like to say once you stop looking, you start seeing. I often get overwhelmed and bogged down by not having enough experience or knowing exactly what's next. So in some ways, this necklace feels like a sign that I'm headed in the right direction and good things are coming my way.
Honorable Mentions
This week’s Honorable Mentions are brought to you by Rainbow Tomatoes Garden, the world’s largest selection of tinned fish. When you make loving tinned fish as publically clear as I have (see my valentines below), people start to notice. My husband’s best friend gifted us a plethora of glimmering tins from Rainbow Tomatoes Garden (best friends! take note!) for the holidays last year.
Here are some of my favorites on the site. And I can’t overstate this enough, chic tinned fish is the ultimate gift—hostess, new baby, promotion, sympathy. 1. As long as they eat fish, it will be consumed and recycled. 2. The design feels elevated, or at least, more elevated than a Mast chocolate bar. 3. Hello, shelf-life! 4. When the pickings are slim and dinner feels like it might be a wash, tinned fish offers something dynamic, something promising from the back corners of the cabinet. Enough gushing.
Not just any crackers will do! I love Hayden Flour Mills Emmer Farro Crackers to taste-testing lots of fish at once.
King Oscar Anchovies, Flat Fillets in Olive Oil wins in the Bang For Your Buck Category. At $4, you’ll never need another anchovy for caesar salad or on toast again.
If I wasn’t married to my favorite chef, I would be referencing Tinned Fish Pantry Cookbook, by Susan Sampson constantly.
This is the holiday gift. Period. Check of people like fish, and then rinse and repeat.
Another affordable sardine. Do I have a type? Combo Pack: The Complete Nuri is a wonderful way to gift good design and fabulous fish.
Now Is Not The Time to Panic—Book club pick! I can’t wait to discuss this novel, which I read in a few days. From the POV of a sixteen-year-old girl, it’s heartwarming and catchy, very Kevin Wilson.
That’s it! See you in two weeks. The aforementioned product is dropping in March, so get excited. And as always, thanks for reading x
Tinned fish lovers unite! Saving these recs 🤍🐟
Anyone not ordering the Codesa serie oro anchovies from RTG—you’re not living right!!