friday findings | 07 it's spring baby!
i just come alive during this time. feat. my spring character, our favorite hoarder house and what I'm NOT buying from the Sephora sale.
Big, colossal news y’all.
I found the perfect pocket notebook from me. What’s amusing about this particular “find” is that I’ve had her right up under my nose for years.
She came into my life in 2018, purchased at the Target in Westwood for my undergraduate research seminar at UCLA judging by its earliest scribbled entries. What’s so great about her? Nothing and everything.
She’s less than $3 from the generic Up & Up Target Brand & only comes in the most garish of colors. The purple color I chose is the easiest on the eyes, and while it would never be my first choice, something about the lack of choice adds to the charm for me. She is the perfect size, a little larger than my palm, so I can still rest the side of my hand on the pages as I write, and still, she’s petite enough to throw in my purse. She’s got healthy spiral rings. They’re not flimsy but not too bulky, either. I’ve come to notice that spiral notebooks are best for me in my day-to-day because I can leave it flipped to where I am. Sometimes, opening a cover and finding a page is too much friction.
Because of this new (but old) discovery, I’ve been doing daily writing exercises and working on essays a lot more recently; it just takes less effort in this notebook. So here’s to USING UP YOUR STUFF, shopping your stash, and looking around instead of scrolling online.
I’m Journaling So Much
Besides instituting daily pages (which to be honest are nottt daily, but at least 3-4 times a week) I need to take a second and applaud myself for being the most consistent I’ve ever been with memory tracking and journaling. I use the Yearly Notebook by PaperTessDesigns, which is the perfect middle ground between a structured planner and a bullet journal. I already have a TikTok squealing about it, so I’ll be brief here; basically, the only con is that the shop is based in Germany, so shipping is $$ and takes longer than any of us are used to in 2024.
I’ve logged most days of 2024, and that’s the most invested I’ve been since I started with my bullet journal back in college. I enjoy having this space to reflect on what I felt and was doing months ago; it’ll be even more valuable years from now. I have some rules for my memory keeping: I cannot lie to myself, I can lie or brush off my feelings to others (I am working on that), but to myself, I must be honest. This will allow me to look back and find patterns in my thoughts, feelings, likes, dislikes, etc. To do that, I need accurate data!
The process of collaging my pages with stickers, photos from my HP Sprocket (love her down but she’s on the BDS list so purchase secondhand), & random stationery I’ve collected from Daiso & Remainders Creative Reuse has filled me with so much joy recently.
All I’ve Been Watching is Gossip Girl
We’re on season 5 now (the OG seasons, ofc). It’s just so comforting. We repeat the same cycles over and over, and all the characters behave precisely how you would expect them to, which quells each knot of anxiety in my stomach at the end of the day. This rewatch has indeed ignited every spark of nostalgia for those strange years following the ’08 market crash, primarily via the fashions, soundtrack, and tech.
Gossip Girl is much better than many network shows because the costume design and music supervision went incredibly hard. The characters are shallow, of course, but their costuming rounds them out. In every scene, we see visually the contrast between Blair, high-strung, vain, and cunning, and Serena, carefree, trusting, and effortlessly tousled.
The costume designer has said that Chuck was his favorite character to style, and that’s so obvious to me. His looks range from grand to villainous to downright decadent, and it brings me to my knees.
The soundtrack seals the deal for me; it perfectly epitomizes New York City youth culture in the era of skinny jeans and swoopy bangs. While I’ve been spending much of the show Shazaming music and googling lyrics, I discovered this morning that someone has done the lord’s work to chronicle all 600+ songs in the original series in order in a playlist on Spotify. (Spotify playlist generators deserve the world, but that’s a whole rant for another day.) I will be playing this whole thing through the Soundbar at RatStar for the next few Saturdays if you want to have a listening party.
Sorry for Quoting Walter Benjamin at the Function
Reading theory makes me feel smart and incredibly stupid all at once. I’m working on an essay on personal style, so I’ve been working myself through some fashion theory—this week, I’ve been reading about Walter Benjamin.
His work is endlessly fascinating as it thoughtfully connects art, visual culture, and fashion to politics and revolution. I appreciate the true dialectical nature of his work in a way that critiques harshly but presents possibilities for change. I’m also very keen on his very poetic writing style. Adorno likened his writing to a woven textile as it weaves through mediums. Benjamin was a Jewish Marxist cultural theorist who escaped the Gestapo by suicide in 1940. He spent much of his life in Paris, where he wrote the Arcades Project, which I will refer to here. He was also a vintage collector and rag picker, so of course, no choice but to stan. His theories on the fashion cycle have been invaluable in leading my thoughts on the current personal style discourse, but today, I want to highlight his ideas on collectors and collecting.
If you’re on TikTok, you’ve probably seen the lady with a wall of Stanley cups and the endless stitches fighting about whether it should be considered hoarding or collecting. I have no genuine opinion, but I do like discussing it all (forever here for the discourse). However, I can share what Walter Benjamin thought about collecting and the role of collectors, and you can make your own decisions.
In short, to Benjamin, the collector’s role is vital as it helps us to understand the past and illuminate the present. The collector sees objects as cultural archives to be decoded and translated to extract meaning. True collectors are encyclopedias of knowledge, and objects are enhanced in the hands of the collector. Benjamin sees collecting as “the act of revisiting, researching, and reviving latent potentially revolutionary powers.” Collectors free objects from their prison of functionality; within the hands of the collector, commodities can be given new meaning and purpose as cultural artifacts and symbols.
So what do you think, in the future will Stanley cup collectors help us understand our past?
My Character for Spring is
B Jones Style is a creator I’ve been following for 5+ years. I don’t think our styles are that similar besides that we both love vintage, but I appreciate how she talks about fashion, clothes, styling, and thrifting. “Always Play Dress Up” is top of my mind every time I get dressed. The most recent nugget of wisdom I’ve taken from B Jones is to create a character to guide your styling choices. This concept is interesting and appeals to me much more than the 75 Hard Style challenge (though I’ve loved watching y’alls videos). Having strong constraints on my dress just stresses me out.
While scrolling on Pinterest one afternoon, I ran into this photo of Joyce Walker in Willie Dynamite, and something shifted in my brain. I have been very drawn to 70s fashion this season, and this moment has cemented the attraction; I’ve found my character, 70s Blaxploitation Hottie.
I’ve loaded up my Pinterest board with style inspiration & my goal is to reorganize my closet for the season so that all my pieces that fit this character are most accessible. We’ll see if the reorganization happens, but the brain has already shifted.
DK Dreamhouse is Almost Complete
I’ve been obsessed with waiting for updates on this house. To catch you up, a couple in Portland bought a 1940s hoarder house and have been cleaning and renovating it to make it livable. Luckily for us, they’ve been sharing the whole process on TikTok so we can follow along. We’re now in the home stretch of the entire operation, and seeing the transformation is touching my heart. There’s something special about their journey. Not only in how it stands out in a sea of “flipper” content TikTok usually circulates but also in how it demonstrates on a large scale (a literal house’s worth) that things can be saved, remedied, poured into, and cleaned up instead of being discarded or demolished. Over six months, their hard work has given new life to a home that many others would just demolish, not to be bothered. However, during this process, they uncovered the house has beautiful and unique features that would not be present in newer homes. Curved walls, arched entryways, parquet floors, massive windows, and quality materials that homes just aren’t constructed with any longer.
As an avid thrifter and vintage clothing lover, giving life old things is very near and dear to my heart, and while I don’t think I’ll ever take on a project like DK Dreamhouse, it gives me hope. Helena and Lauren are other creators on TikTok who inspire similar hope ( but much more obtainable for me). Helena, or yoon_ie, is my comfort creator. I’ve commented once that her videos heal me, and they do. She restores vintage accessories, mostly leather coach bags, and brings us along the process of the “spa day.”
Lauren, or socorrosociety, breathes new life into clothing with visible mending practices and teaches us how it’s done. I appreciate these creators because every time I come across their work, it reminds me to invest in what I have instead of buying new, which we all should be doing, not just because of sustainability or financial reasons but also because, much like homes, our clothing and accessories are not produced to the standards of the past. Fast fashion has encouraged all manufacturers to cut costs and speed to market at all costs, thus we are left with subpar products. Even Urban Outfitters made wool socks and 100% cotton dresses ten years ago nowadays that’s a pipe dream.
I’m not Shopping the Sephora Sale
Since I don’t allow myself to purchase new makeup until I finish my current products (also on a $$ saving journey), I need nothing from Sephora, and you probably don’t either. But since I can’t purchase them, I’ll tell you what I like about it to scratch the itch.
Huda Beauty Pretty Grunge Palette
While at Sephora on my work trip, I swatched this and found that Huda’s shadows blend beautifully! I love the cool-toned color story, and I was pleasantly surprised how the lighter colors showed up on my skin without looking ashy. If I can declutter my makeup enough, I might buy this for my birthday.
Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Water Powder Serum
All the girlies with oily skin say this is it! I’ve been crushing on Danessa’s products for a bit, and as soon as I finish my current foundation and primer, I will be picking up some products from her line. I love the innovative products she introduces to the market, like this liquid powder. Excited to try this out.
Pat Mcgrath Labs Skin Fetish Sublime Perfection Blurring Undereye Powder
My sister uses this, and OMG, the blur is wild! I’m actually pretty close to purchasing this because I’ve been using the Laura Mercier powder for years, and I’ve never been fully satisfied with it. If I do get it, you’ll be the first to know.
Haus Labs Colorfuse Blush Powder in Dragon Fruit Daze
I haven’t wanted this for very long. I just went on TikTok yesterday and saw someone with my skin tone swatch this color. It reminded me of the CoverGirl blush in Rose Silk that I stole from Target and used almost daily in high school. Maybe I should just pick up a new CG one.
A nice Black girl at the Grove put this lip oil on me, and I regret not buying it that day when I was in a spendy mood. Now I’m thinking too much. I love the texture of this lip oil; it feels so luxurious. I’ve finally come to the realization that cool and neutral-toned lips look the best on me and my neutral olive undertone. This shade is pretty neutral and paired so cute with my favorite lip liner, the Wet and Wild Color Icon Kohl Eyeliner Pencil in Pretty in Mink. It’s been my ride-or-die for years! It was the first liner I found at the drugstore that was dark enough and creamy.
I’ll leave you with this... because I love Fatou, and I hate Drake. :)
Sending this on Friday at 7 p.m., the first weekend of Coachella, is a wild choice, for sure, but if you made it here, thanks for rocking with me.