I thought January was a bumpy ride…but February has been even more, shall we say, “eventful.”

Still, the little things are just as important as ever. Feel free to share your own current fascinations and frivolities in the comments!

Reading: Tana French’s Broken Harbor. I’ve read nearly all her novels at this point. They’re smart, they’re well-written, and they’re very good distractions from whatever else happens to be going on in the world.

Art: I was invited (thank you, CH!) to the opening of the newest exhibition at the Museum at FIT: Fashioning Wonder: A Cabinet of Curiosities. I can’t wait to see it again.

Video: I finally got around to streaming Barbie. It’s fun. I enjoyed many of the performances and found Rhea Perlman’s small role particularly touching. As for the rest of it? No big revelations for me, I’m afraid.

Drinks: Well, I was laid off earlier this month, and since then I’ve accepted several kind friends’ invitations to meet them for cocktails. Sometimes an Aviation or a gin martini with the right person is just what’s needed.

(Tr)eats: Blood orange jam made by a favorite local business, Feliz Deliz.

Garb: My usual black wool cardigans from Cos, spruced up with a beaded and be-tasseled new necklace that the ever-brilliant M. brought back from her travels.

Beauty Products: A Mooncat nail polish named Scum and Villainy (yes). BeautyPie Triple Hyaluronic Acid & Lipopeptide Serum.

Fragrances: I should not be shopping for perfume right now, but samples of Maison Crivelli Rosa Saltifolia (thanks, A.!) and Andrea Maack Osmo have pushed these two scents to the top of my wishlist.

Pleasures: A recent deep tissue massage, which I needed as much as I needed the above-mentioned gin cocktails and chats with friends.

Up Next: Reworking my LinkedIn page and rewriting my resume. Getting back to giving my favorite art-and-scent-tour at the Met. Maybe putting together one on a new topic?

Image via Google Bard, one of my very rare uses of AI