A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Reminiscing About Disposable Cameras

Life is feeling a bit like a game of Whac-A-Mole for us these days, and we’re very grateful to Duckbill for 1) sponsoring this week’s podcast episode 2) helping us get things done. (Have you tried this personal assistant platform that’s powered by a combo of actual people and AI? What are your tips ‘n tricks?)

erica’s things

• Regretting to inform you that I now aspire to own a very chic tape dispenser.
   

• Counting this giardiniera toward my daily servings of vegetables. If it’s good enough for a Chicago Italian beef…
   

• Tracking Laura Reilly’s Paris Fashion Week itineraries. Why is there something so satisfying about looking at somebody’s calendar?
   

• Tossing a mushroom salad into the fall grilling rotation.
   

• Giving a standing ovation to an opera about a female drone pilot I had no idea I wanted. Start with this interview.

claire’s things

• Bringing back a bite-size “What are the Cute” for one night only: mini trampolines that don’t look like they belong to your physical therapist here and here.
   

• Knowing not what this is exactly or who’s behind it—just that it’s delightful. (The energy is “if Amanda Lorber were a teen in 2024.”)
   

• Acquiring a supply of just-in-case confetti poppers and calling it emergency preparedness.
   

• Refusing to let you miss these very important images even if Somstack just made an appearance in this newsletter mere weeks ago.
   

• Saving you a trip to Spirit Halloween if you’ve got a Sonic or Sanrio kid in your life.

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Improving Our Pattern-Mixing

We get all our best Gen Z intel from Casey Lewis (you subscribe to After School, right?). This week, we’re getting it straight from her mouth. As the 27-year-olds we know say: galactic slay.

erica’s things

• Asking what it would take for this little character to get a whole animated series.
   

• Dressing up tinned sardines.
   

• Breezing through a novelization of the heyday of Jacqueline Susann and Jackie Collins that reads as satisfyingly as their books.
   

• Changing the color of fire.
   

• Hyping the various perfect spaces at Botanica for your LA party-planning needs.

claire’s things

• Watching in awe as my kid falls in love with chess.
   

• Learning that a rather unassuming bottled salad dressing called Garlic Expressions (what a name!) has earned itself a cult following.
   

• Deciding that among the many things to love about Alec Egan’s brain-massaging artwork, the pattern-mixing is what really makes it for me. 
   

• Dipping my toes in the Notion waters. I’m cautiously optimistic that it might completely change my life (?), and I welcome tips on its best features.
   

• Sharing Liberty Graphics in case you are in the phase of parenting (or your own life) where every shirt must have a picture on it. (Some favorites: brontosaurus, Sal, strawberries.)

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Comparing Apples and Oranges

We have THE Hunter Harris—you know, of Hung Up and Lemme Say This?!—on the podcast this week, and tell you what: There’s no one we’d rather talk Fruit Roll-Ups or Ben Affleck with.

erica’s things

• Taking a good look at a possibly perfect vanity mirror.
   

• Making perfect Sunday morning (rice flour) pancakes.
   

• Getting the idea of a crocheted sneaker stuck in my head. This and this and what else?
   

• Appreciating the psychedelic potential of apples.
   

• Listening to this on repeat; sorry to be weird about it.

claire’s things

• Petitioning for more sexy book bars—this one hosts an excellent and easy private event, by the way.
   

• Fielding a question from a friend about what poem she should read at her nephew’s bar mitzvah and offering up this all-timer, which I was personally delighted to revisit.
   

• Encouraging LA people to get to this buzzy stand-up show before it’s too buzzy to get tickets to.
   

• …and telling New Yorkers to grab their (free!) spot for Casey Lewis’s debate night, which is sure to be a capital-S Scene.
   

• Worrying that amid all the J.Crew buzz, people are losing sight of the fact that Banana Republic might be making its way back, too. This denim shirt is good.

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Making Mischief

Who do we have on the podcast this week? Alexandra (aka Zan) Romanoff, the author of the first book from 831 Stories, Big Fan, out tomorrow! She also wrote the only piece of contemporary fiction on the Taylor Swift syllabus at Harvard, in case you need a Jeopardy! fact about her at any point.

erica’s things

• Launching a company (this is a shared bullet, obviously—who do you think we are?).
   

• Marinating vegetables *after* grilling them.
   

• Turning a seasonal appetite for school supplies toward vintage.
   

• Enriching my tennis-viewing experience with a new favorite sports photographer follow—and not just because he did Coco’s Wheaties shot.
   

• Figuring September is the appropriate time to ask for the return of the magazine rack—I mean and come on.

claire’s things

• Inviting Angelenos to join us at one of our very favorite spots on Friday afternoon.
   

• Revisiting a not-that-old but plenty-long-gone era of iconic party pics and street style. 
   

• Affirming ~being regular~ as a family value. 
   

• Going about my life thinking I was not a 501s gal, but turns out I am this kind of 501s gal. 
   

• Offering up two answers to the common question of what in the world to get a second- (or third- or fourth-) time new mom: at-home belly binding (especially if she’s planning a C-section!) or a postpartum meal service.

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Settling Into Our New Home

Our most recent podcast episode features ghost nightgowns, Cateau Marmont, Long Island Compromise slang, and Ellie the Elephant. It’s what we’d call a grab bag, friends.

erica’s things

• Laughing through the checkout experience of subscribing to the print edition of The Onion. They never miss an opportunity over there.
  

• Mimicking one of my favorite dishes from 1,200 miles away.
  

• Taking my fashion guidance from Susan Orlean
  

• Determining that—now that it’s September—the time is right to share the witchiest candles around.
  

• Remembering the metrosexual, twenty years after his heyday.

claire’s things

• Smiling over the fact that the kid who went viral for dancing to Kendrick at the Kamala rally turns out to be a very compelling political organizer?! (Also: His backstory is quite Charlie Blake–coded, IYKYK, etc.)
   

• Getting swept away by Olivia Dean’s music first, and her charm second. The stage presence!
   

• Feeling heartened to see resources popping up to support the sandwich generation.
   

• Realizing our neighborhood aquarium now has its own IG account so I can share its spectacular charm with you.
   

• Sharing an important Miffy update that’s obviously going to require a podcast deep-dive. In the meantime, please feast your eyes upon Miffy with a Pearl Earring.

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Moving to Substack

It’s Announcement City, U.S.A., over here! Starting next week, this email will be coming at you via Substack. It will remain free (as it has been since 2012…which, weird flex but okay!). There will also be a paid subscriber situation if you want to be able to access and search the archives of 220-and-counting missives we’ve sent since 2020. Thank you for your support always and for making being in your inbox every week such a GD treat.

erica’s things

• Offering absolutely no explanation for why this very simple salad tastes as good as it does.
   

• Vouching that a rewatch of Dave feels every bit as relevant as a rewatch of Veep.
   

• Considering basket-weaving.
   

• Wondering how much of a mess Tajín Mini would make if it spilled in my bag and whether that’s worth the risk.
   

• Picking up the term “small awe” and using it in a sentence.

claire’s things

• Bookmarking a solid thread of kids’ movie recs because somehow there is not a great media resource for this, and family movie night doesn’t program itself!
   

• Copping Somsack’s very clever strap schlep solution. (Related: What are we calling the thing where everyone is styling a bunch of cute charms ‘n chains on their bag straps?)
   

• Remembering a time when a Seth Rogen and James Franco movie launched an international crisis.
   

• Apologizing for linking you to a paywalled post, but I’ve cooked Tiny Tomato Pasta four times in the last month, sooo….
   

• Needing another plush toy in my home like I need a hole in my head, but here we are.

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Launching a New Company

Pals, we’re starting something new, it’s very romantic, and we’re ready to talk about it. The full scoop on the podcast this week…and the short scoop on the 831 Stories site and via Vanity Fair.

erica’s things

• Heralding the Hartnettaissance. Just like Julia Stiles, “I’m catching up from 20 years of the lack of Josh Hartnett.”
   

• Landing on the ideal recipe for this micro-season when the tomatoes are popping but it’s cool enough to turn on the oven.
   

• WOWOWOW-ing at this collection of photo mounts—the easiest, most fun way to jazz up a basic frame?!
   

• Falling for Peggy. 
   

• Picturing a Bridgerton cord-cover collaboration after seeing these.

claire’s things

• Adding a very special bookstore to my list of Santa Barbara area recs.
   

• Knowing that the correct solution is fewer clothes, not more storage, but alas.
   

• Admitting that I am not that mad about Spotify shoving Megan Moroney down my throat.
   

• Giving a tube of face cream the ultimate stamp of [my] approval: I bought a second one for my travel kit.
   

• Learning at 40 what everyone’s been telling me for years: Wow, is it easy to make a fruit crisp. Great use of subpar produce! Does not require baking skills or equipment!

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Being City Kitties

So, so many of you are already massive fans of today’s podcast guest Caro Chambers, whose new book What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking goes above and beyond delivering on its promise. And the rest of you—you’re about to become converts.

erica’s things

• Cozying up with a biography of Judith Jones that does double triple quadruple duty as a primer on cooking in America, mid-century publishing, and women in the workforce.
   

• Acquiring an electric kettle in August. Listen, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but *it* is perfect.
   

• Urging you to read this on the lasting impact of Mr. Baseball. The anecdotes, friends!!
   

• Buying these chips for the first time because of their mascot; purchasing them again for their ideal egginess.
   

• Picturing an adaptation of this Sammy Davis Jr. x Chuch of Satan story directed by…Barry Jenkins? Paul Thomas Anderson? (A fun game to play.) 

claire’s things

• Letting a story about the link between kidney-shaped pools and skate culture scratch my brain in a very satisfying way.
   

• And, speaking of skate culture: Adopting a new persona in service of these cuties.
   

• Touring a luxury cat hotel on Melrose…where two of the guests were in residence while their mom was winning gold at the Olympics. What a world.
   

• Noticing that all the LA hotspots are carrying this whiskey—one made by women, no less.

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Finding Our Light

You know what your life needs right now? A Tessa Bailey Guest Thingies episode of our podcast followed by a Tessa Bailey novel. There’s a 0% chance your mood won’t improve.

erica’s things

• Presenting a fascinating-if-flawed Olympic movie that celebrates women’s athleticism and explores queerness from the vantage point of 1982.
   

• Having trouble choosing a favorite.
   

• Consistently losing it over this account.
   

• Visiting this lamp—or at least its URL—weekly.
   

• Lauding a literary prize: the first awarded by incarcerated people. 

claire’s things

• Enjoying a summer of Spaghett.
   

• Swooning at the romanticism of lily-like ceramics.
   

• Participating in a perfect Friday night activity that’s also an especially great way to have an adult bday that doesn’t involve splitting the check nine ways.
   

• Reminding you that I remain committed to letting you know about cute water shoes.
   

• Planning my hair color appointments around West Coast travel because Justin Woods is a real RWI. (Maybe if enough of us ask nicely, he’ll schedule some work trips to NYC?!)

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Seeing How Our Tomatoes Stack Up

Fresh podcast episodes are back next week! But the rerun airing today—well, we’ve heard it described as “QUINTESSENTIAL to the ATOT lore.” 

erica’s things

• Asking HOW and WHY it took so long for the tomato tower to arrive.
   

• Admiring Becca Freeman’s tenacity: She polled 1,327 people for their “100 Best Books of the 21st Century list” and analyzed how it stacked up against that NYT one.
   

• Hoping that “kitchen work table” is about to pop off as a product category.
   

• Delighting in all the twists and turns of this ode to the women of Long Island.
   

• Sipping the Bennett—oh, what an easy, lime-y, summery cocktail.

claire’s things

• Offering up an ideal clearinghouse for the contents of your CSA box.
   

• Envying someone’s beach hat enough to purchase my own before my toes had left the sand.
   

• Adding an album to the music-for-working lineup.
   

• Nominating a new entry to the “no, this is the best red lip” discourse.
   

• Feeling like I have at least 5k words in me about how good these are. 

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Staring at the Sunflowers

Pals, we’re launching something new. More soon, but maybe you want to follow along on Instagram for now?

erica’s things

• Beachcombing the internet for good shell jewelry and finding it here, there, everywhere.
   

• Crowning this Muji strainer + bowl the king and queen of peak produce season.
   

• Absolutely relishing this commitment to the bit: Leonora Epstein recreating the oh-so-nineties pages of the dELiA*s catalog with 2024 product.
   

• Experiencing great joy from a sunflower varietal.

claire’s things

• Realizing the answer to my eternal struggle with khakis is actually…khaki-colored denim.
   

• Remembering, amidst last week’s tech turmoil when nary a subway screen was working, just how handy this app is—you can even pin your go-to stops and lines to your lock screen.
   

• Discovering that the wax I use to keep water out of my ears when I’m swimming laps performs double-duty as the one and only earplug that I can comfortably sleep in.
   

• Calling all Hockney-heads: Have you seen this doc?
   

• ID’ing my new go-to micellar water. (FWIW, I am very picky about this product!)

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Lacing Up

Oh, hey: You can run classified ads in this very newsletter and get in front of 50,000 pairs of eyeballs (or 100,000 individual eyeballs?) that know a good Thingie when they see one. Add to cart here.

erica’s things

• Filling the Wimbledon void with tennis books ℅ a top-shelf collab between Skylight and The Courts.
   

• Adding this to my salad dressings, my marinades, my eggs. Is popcorn next?!
   

• Seeing endless possibility in the Altoid tin—travel paint palette, pill storage, jewelry organizer, diorama, there’s no end.
   

• Embarrassing my camera roll with how many Kindle photos I snapped while reading The Anxious Generation.
   

• Achieving a personal milestone: baby’s first one-pot pasta that came out neither under- nor overcooked!

claire’s things

• ID’ing a gift for the Jeopardy! fanatic in your life.
   

• Putting these in the RWI canon. #sponsored
   

• Realizing that Alyson Felix is the only one making good-looking running shoes these days.
   

• Feasting my eyes on plates.
   

• Asking what’s better than a onesie with a sense of humor?

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Hovering Over the Dessert Case

In honor of a month of greatest-hits reruns on the podcast, maybe now’s a good time to leave us a review? Ideally a nice one, even?

erica’s things

• Repurposing the Ruffles chip as an artist’s canvas.
   

• Dealing with hair loss like a Dane.
   

• Feeling both nostalgia and early-aughts anxiety over my visceral reaction to this and this.
   

• Gobbling up the sandos and Japanese treats from this beautiful spot. They just so happen to be gluten-free.

claire’s things

• Fawning over all things Feldspar.
   

• Eating my way through London and awarding the highest marks to Cafe Cecilia—turns out Simone Rocha’s brother makes a mean steak.
   

• Wondering if this is what they mean when they talk about healing your inner child.
   

• Delighting in the deliciousness of Paul Octavious’s mind—from fungiture, to sandwich shoes and shoeshi, to a Loewe still life. 
   

• Asking if you knew they make infant car seats that swivel now?! The way this would have fundamentally changed my relationship to car travel!

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Learning Our Colors

A podcast ep with some Paris thoughts, fresh-out-of-the-oven nyms, and a farewell to our longtime network Dear Media! We’ll be back with new (independent) eps in August, and, until then, we challenge you to use PIGUE—pizza I grew up eating—in a sentence.

erica’s things

• Admiring Fragrantica’s awfully sophisticated, somewhat ridiculous scent trend tracker.
   

• Throwing wedged tomatoes, a bunch of capers, sherry vinegar, olive oil, dried oregano, and salt in a bowl. Forgetting about it for an hour. Rewarding myself with a perfect summer salad.
   

• Marveling at the revelation of short-girl jeans.
   

• Running my mouth regularly about how much romance novels have taught me about lived experiences of autism. If you need a place to start, it’s Maggie North’s debut Rules for Second Chances. #sponsored
   

• Spending much effort tracking down the heroic sunscreen that staved off a burn during some serious sun exposure.

claire’s things

• Soothing my brain with color palettes.
   

• Doing the unthinkable: brushing curly hair. (While wet, duh.)
   

• Pulling for a 115-year-old institution to be able to keep its very important doors open. (A glimpse of its magic here.)
   

• Handing it to Julia Fox, who is always so much more relatable than it seems like she would be. (Certainly the most of Kanye’s exes).
   

• Nearly renouncing shorts entirely before finding these. 

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Putting Our Stamp On It

Glynnis MacNicol is on the podcast this week, bringing big big-sister energy and big “why haven’t we all figured out how to spend a month in Paris?” energy. Thingies abound! From there, you’ll be primed for her new memoir, I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself, a pleasure of a book, all about pleasure. 

erica’s things

• Getting a lot out of even this translator’s note. (Related!)
   

• Pitching a minor league baseball party suite as *the* Thingy for a big, celebratory summertime event—the rooftop at a Brooklyn Cyclones game specifically.
   

• Identifying my personal brand of ASMR: makeup repair.
   

• Witnessing a kid—and his parent—absolutely thrive at JFK airport, and both reported it was all due to his scootcase.
   

• Landing on a new go-to b-day gift: the bestselling book from someone’s birth week.

claire’s things

• Offering a chance at some clarity for the “maybe it’s my thyroid” crew. (You know who you are.)
   

• Pondering the future of Outdoor Voices with a person who knows more than most about its past. #sponsored
   

• Challenging you to find a more hilarious addition to your kid’s craft table than stamps featuring the faces of your family (human or otherwise).
   

• Reporting live from the undergarment department with a great cotton brief, and a remarkable strapless and backless bra.
   

• Reducing the snoring in our home significantly. (Thank you, Glynnis.)

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Going Fish

Two of our most recent Thingies: estate sales and a foot sling that makes a long-haul flight 19% less awful. If you want more recs from the Bobs (<< podcast fans, long story), 23 Instagram highlights await.

erica’s things

• Asking if we still call it nail art if it hangs on a wall.
  

• Tossing nori into salad dressing.
  

• Cracking up over hard-boiled egg trompe l'oeil: please see, and also.
  

• Sharing a poem, via Reddit link. (It’s a weird world we live in, friends—but you already knew that.).

claire’s things

• Failing to anticipate that a deep-dive into the art world would be so funny or fast-paced.
   

• Sensing that enough of you all live close enough and love tennis enough to care about this. (Petition here.)
   

• Offering up a cute gift for the sophisticated tot in your life. 
   

• Donning a new look so I can do computer work at night and still fall asleep after. And you know what? Really works.
   

• Whipping out a goldfish bag the next time somebody accuses me of being no fun.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Going Down The Rabbit Hole

In honor of having-people-over season, we had Katherine Lewin, behind Big Night and its new companion cookbook, over to the podcast. If you have recipes and tips and whathaveyous to share, there’s a Geneva channel for that.

erica’s things

• Entering the wonderfully trippy world of Alice in Wonderland posters.
   

• Challenging you to find a more perfect Vietnamese restaurant in the U.S. than Mai Lee in St. Louis. 
   

• Smelling like the most sophisticated flowers.
   

• Understanding so much more about the appeal of collage thanks to Maya Man. And I quote: “It acknowledges the self not as a fixed concept, but instead as a handmade, ever-evolving project.”
   

• Designating Westholme wagyu a pretty dang ideal grilling-season gift.

claire’s things

• Presenting the kind of meds organizer you wouldn’t mind leaving out on the counter. (Which, let’s be honest, is the only way to remember to take what’s inside.)
   

• Getting giddy just thinking about Tiny Tates. Buckle up, Bobs: They are somehow better than the OG and A+ picnic additions.
   

• Adding to the list of things France has that we don’t: baguette-scented postage stamps.
   

• Wondering why we aren’t talking about the pill that helps you drink less as much as we’re talking about the one that helps you eat less.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Showing Off

Tell us: Are your other podcasts talking about Mike Tyson and Miuccia Prada on the same episode? If there are topics/icons you think we should be discussing, please, please respond to this email to let us know.

erica’s things

• Compensating for those of you who are forgoing mascara by doing a high-drama lash when the mood strikes.
   

• Wishing my cabinets had hardware if only so that I could swap it out.
   

• Reflecting on a very important role not on my LinkedIn: “lady who lives down the street.”
   

• Wanting to hang out at the mall—or at least Tangram mall in Flushing, Queens. JUQI for Peking duck, Miki House for outlandish kids’ clothes, Money Cake for Taiwanese wheel cakes!
   

• Witnessing at least five people gasp over an ice grabber at a party (think this or this). Using one’s like playing the claw game, but everyone wins.

claire’s things

• Feeling the kind of giddiness that can only come when your two favorite internet personalities start podding together.
   

• Hearing pickles are a hot girl thing.
   

• Predicting that the excellent Delaunay show at the Bard is going to lead to us seeing a lot of Sonia influence around. 
   

• Achieving a first: Sleeping for the duration of a red-eye flight (!!) thanks to this and this.
   

• Reading this one to my rainbow-loving kid on repeat.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Giving Doorstop Books Their Due

On this week’s podcast, we’re letting it unfold (not to be confused with letting it all hang out). Also, for all of you asking for more thoughts on The Idea of You movie after watching it: a true play-by-play viewing experience with Erica and card-carrying Moonhead-slash-Hayesolnut Becca Freeman.

erica’s things

• Predicting this is about to be my go-to having-people-over recipe. (I’m not sure that I’ve ever said this before, but: You can skip the mayo.)
   

• Calling all Jeremy Allen White heads and David Foster Wallace heads, too.
   

• Alerting my pals who want piercings for their bday—just like they got when they were 12?—that we now have a particularly sophisticated option.
   

• Asking everyone to give mushroom jerky a chance.

claire’s things

• Living the backscratcher life at last. A truly wonderful existence.
   

• Having a particularly memorable Lebanese meal at Kubri in Paris.
   

• Filing this under Travel RWI.
   

• Forever holding a candle for multi-brand retail, at least what’s left of it. (Related: This was great.)
   

• Delighting in the color sensibility (and perfect cuts and quality, too) of Le Mont Saint Michel.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Bugging Out

Money-back guarantee: You will laugh listening to the singularly unique Peyton Dix, this week’s Thingies guest. We’re here for your follow-ups and VMs: 833-632-5463.

erica’s things

• Issuing a warning: This book is bonkers…and I loved it and talked to Claire about it for a week straight.
   

• Cheating on one of my beloveds, Gatorade, with this.
   

• Picturing a whole wall of these.
   

• Experiencing the unmitigated joy of a pure farce. Get those Broadway tickets!
   

• Marveling at the *smell* of an art installation. (There’s an olfactory lecture soon, ok?)

claire’s things

• Wishing I had something to tile.
   

• Poking around Maison Plage online and wanting to do it IRL, too. The gifting potential!
   

• Offering up a safe space for people who are ready to admit they’re starting to like The Tortured Poets Department. (Starts about halfway through.)
   

• Acknowledging that we are living in a golden age of hair dryer technology.
   

• Wondering if loving this qualifies me as a Disney adult.