California Gurls

California Cutie

Growing up, whenever I traveled and someone asked where I was from, I always had to pause in this weird embarrassed way, like I was confessing to a crime. It was too hard to say Beverly Hills. The show was popular, and it was too annoying to explain that I wasn’t from the rich part, and no, the show was not filmed at my school. Yes, I went to Beverly Hills High, but it is a public school, and truly no rich people send their kids there. So I defaulted to saying LA. Not even Los Angeles. Just LA.

A few east coast friends have told me they used to dream of moving to “California,” and it always felt like another place I couldn’t claim. I hadn’t even been to my own state capitol. But as I have gotten older, something shifted, especially after the fires. I feel a real sense of pride for Los Angeles being included in the beauty that is California. Here is also Joni Mitchell’s song “California” that I decided I will now play every time I land in LA. What a place to come home to, and I don’t mean LAX because truly that ride share parking lot idea is a total fail. And it is so LA to be like yes you can curbside, but only Uber Black.

Anyways.

So a few months ago, when I heard the New York Post was launching The California Post, my Slack group and I were genuinely excited. Finally, California was not just woo woo, it was witty. We have made it.

Last night I went to their cocktail party early launch for what is hopefully the soon to be paper of record in the West. I was the youngest person there, which honestly felt amazing. The paper launches in January and I don’t know much yet, but here were a few sample covers I took photos of.

And in writing this Substack it inspired me to make a California playlist. We have some classics that sure maybe don’t compete with songs about NYC, but they are pretty chill.

playlist here.

Books I Am Recommending But Haven’t Read
The Ten Year Affair by Erin Summers. This seems to be a theme for me, recommending books to friends and not reading them, but this truly isn’t on purpose. Someone asks me what I am reading and I say something like “Well, my Slack is reading this and I saw Dakota Johnson’s book club Tea Time recommend the same book,” and that is just what happens. So I haven’t read it, but maybe you should and maybe I will.

Working Retail Is Cool When It Doesn’t Count
Sure, we all know the reselling market like The RealReal etc. (Speaking of, Sweet Baby Jamie, pick up your check from them when I searched your name on Claim it ) Last year we saw the “shop the celebrity closet” trend with Chloë Sevigny, but something else is happening trend wise. It is adult lemonade stands meets yard sales.

This weekend Emily Weiss you know her as founder of Glossier and she will be The Hills Teen Vogue intern to me, I’m sorry. Emily had her stoop sale that I have so much to say about but will really should let Puck’s Lauren Sherman do her duty here .I don’t think this is a recession indicator mostly because I am not an economist. I think it is more an indicator that the cool kids want a few things: recommendations from their friends, hang out and gab, and pretend they are working retail jobs that once sucked.

My stylish friends Babs and Too Niche’s Elizabeth Kott for the last few years have been putting on these yard sales all over Los Angeles called Yard Stars. This mostly leaves me spending any money I made from selling, but I pushed my style for a bedazzled leather H &M Versace collab jacket just because I EARNED it. Anyway, it makes me excited to clean out my closet. We have too much stuff, but I also want so much stuff, and if it is my friends’ stuff even better.

Minoxidil Is the Male Rogaine
Well, actually it is just the active ingredient, but it sounds better to women.

You have heard every podcast commercial sell you Nutrafol, a natural hair growth supplement for women. I have no idea if it works because I have perfect, thick, luscious, barely gray hair, but for those of you that don’t, let’s get real, that sucks and I am sorry. Extensions sound and sort of look brutal, but going to Turkey for hair transplants is just not in yet for women. Rogaine sounds so eighties, but I saw a friend at dinner the other night and dare I say SHE HAD MY HAIR, and she said she took Minoxidil and did Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) injections for hair loss, which are a non surgical treatment that uses a concentration of your own platelets to stimulate hair follicles and promote natural hair growth. Again, I have no idea about the side effects since I don’t need it. But if you do, here you go.

Beauty Trends I Am Recommending But Haven’t Tried
Russian Manicures
I don’t ever think about my cuticles and I am not even sure why we have something on our bodies that seems so frustrating to nail technicians. But the last two people I have complimented on their manicure told me they got a Russian manicure and let me tell you, these nails looked amazing. Like some real grown up lady nails.

I watched a few videos here of what a Russian manicure entails and it seems really about getting rid of cuticles so deeply it looks almost surgical, but it makes your manicure last a month, and my friend Lolo claims it has kept her nails strong, not like the gel manicure that can ruin your life or your nails for at least six months. I have no idea if this is a toxic or non toxic process, and not because I don’t care, but because I truly don’t know. I haven’t even done it. But I will. This one I will do.

Kids Gift of the Season

LANDLINES ARE BACK!

Tin Can
Every parent fears the phone thanks to reality of life and the Jonathan Haidt book Anxious Generation that was excellent but also so heavily promoted on social media you had to wonder if they didn’t have social media would we even know about this book about how bad social media is. But anyway being off your phone more doesn’t hurt anyone. I personally go off social apps on Shabbat, am I hero no? Do I feel like one? Absolutely yes. But this is the first time I’ve seen an item really live up to the hype TinCan the landline reinvention for kids. It uses wifi and has no games or texting and is basically well you know a LANDLINE. It allows you to let your kids feel like they are living in your own childhood, the kind where you could only talk to the friends and family you wanted to. It’s still available here for your holiday gift.

Trend: YOU MUST HAVE A TAKE
If you listen or watch, whatever you do with your podcasts, it is none of my business. Las Culturistas or Kareem Rahma’s Subway Takes, you have seen your favorite celeb, comedian, or just “It person” defend their take or controversial opinion. On Las Culturistas it is a sixty second rant called “I Don’t Think So Honey,” and Subway Takes is you being asked to defend your biggest take on a subway platform.

I have never been asked to be on either, but I think of my answer constantly. This haunts me because I fear mine would be too positive and that doesn’t seem to be the point of takes. Like mine would be, “I don’t think so honey, I actually love my friends and think talking shit about your friends is super weird.” Here is the most recent Subway take with Rachel Sennott where she plays around with a few different tones.

What would yours be?

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Anyway, that is everything I am noticing this week from my extremely California brain. When I had my website Hellogiggles our advisor and my best friend Ricky Van Veen coined our content compass “ relevant not topical” and I think this is turning into the same compass.