2025.07.13
I’ve decided to tweak The Summer Writing project ever so slightly. Still showing up to write every day, but going back to my original vision of labeling each post by day, rather than feeling pressured to come up with some pithy label.
If I feel like long form writing, I can. Otherwise, I’m treating it as a logbook. Thing I’m thinking, doing, loving, making.
Woke up feeling a little anxious. Happens sometimes when I have stuff on the calendar, even fun stuff.
Watermelon. Sourdough toast.
Met a friend for the NYC Bastille Day street fair. A lovely time, but wouldn’t overly recommend the fair. The croissant was mediocre, and a bite of Anth’s crepe made me remember that I’m not just indifferent to nutella, I outright loathe it. However, the baguette with ham, butter and corinchons was perfect. Would not hesitate to get a sandwich from Cafe D’Aginon next time I pass one.
It was cloudy and humid, the kind of unpleasant stickiness that sneaks up on you, and your bra sticks to your back before you even register that you’re hot.
Sought out some AC with afternoon drinks at the men’s bar at Bergdorf Goodman. For a seemingly random location, the bartenders were delightful, the drinks innovative. Also, the nicest receipt paper! It felt like luxury stationary. It’s the little things.
On the way home, stopped by our neighborhood bar to catch up with another friend. Was reminded how much I’m very not into soccer, and the receipt paper didn’t spark joy. Luckily, the conversation did.
Quiet afternoon and evening; a bit of notebook time + Criminal Minds. Leftover ground beef tacos, which always taste so much better than they should for how simple they are.
On my mind: I am loving this personal website project this summer, but no matter how many times I announce that it’s a place to post pretty things, to post random, to be “niche free,” I keep catching myself feeling like I’m supposed to make it focused. Either ALL IN on minimal, ALL IN on astrology, ALL IN on design, ALL IN on black and white imagery. Even as I write on this site that it’s anti-niche, I still try to turn that into a niche.
For example, I’ll love all things neutral (that will always be true) and I love the way the site looks when it’s all black and white imagery, or text only. But then I’ll start to feel limited. I wanted to add emoji! Or ll start to itch to make a mood board with bright summery images that fit that day’s mood. But then, oh no! It doesn’t look MATCHY next to the all white/beige mood board, and don’t even get me started about Fall when I’ll inevitably be craving all things warm, rich and moody.
I think I’ve been trained to think that if we go off brand, we’ll lose people. That if someone finds us because we’ve posted about astrology, and then the next day we post about romance writing, which they don’t care about, that we’ll lose them. Or that if they follow us because they think our stance on quitting Instagram is interesting, but then the very text day you’re talking about your favorite tarot cards and you lose them…
Note to self: you make it a point not to live for other people in real life—why the hell would you do it online?
