That charming month when everything goes blissfully astray…
Reading: The Butcher’s Daughter by Corinne Leigh Clark and David Demchuk. It’s the imagined tale of Mrs. Lovett, the most diabolical (fictional) pie-maker in Victorian London.
Art: The renovated Frick Collection.
Video: Finally getting around to Ripley, starring Andrew Scott. I’ll always love The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999, directed by Anthony Minghella — it totally changed my mind about Matt Damon!) but this interpretation is also excellent.
Drinks: My favorite Jersey-made strawberry shrub, mixed with seltzer water or lemonade.
(Tr)eats: We finally made a visit to a new-ish vegetarian Indian restaurant in our neighborhood and the food was so, so good.
Beauty Products: It’s time to break out the sunscreen for arms and legs — a new bottle of Vacation “baby oil” (with SPF). Lace-patterned nail wraps from Lily & Fox.
Fragrances: I’m enjoying a sample pack from Syd Botanica. And I finally went to the new Printemps store in Manhattan and sniffed lots of French-made perfumes, including a few from Hellenist and Chambre 52.
Garb: Lately, yoga pants and sneakers to physical therapy sessions. I hate wearing sneakers. (But my knee is feeling better and better, so the P/T is working!)
Pleasures: A stack of new books to read, mostly genre fiction (mysteries, thrillers). Better sleep than I’ve had in a while. Outdoor cocktails.
Up Next: A cross-country trip to give a perfume-and-art lecture (wish me luck! I’m a nervous traveler!) and then buckling down to some freelance writing and job-hunting.
What have you been up to lately?
Image via Google Bard, one of my very rare uses of generative AI
PERFUME PROFESSOR ( 
Glad your knee is getting better. I didn’t know there was a Vacation “baby oil,” but I quite enjoy their “whipped cream” formulation of sunscreen! I plan to visit the ICA Watershed in Boston sometime this summer – they happen to be showing a Chiharu Shiota exhibit titled “Home Less Home.” Apparently she bought vintage suitcases from flea markets – I have a soft spot for vintage-style suitcases and trunks these days, mostly for the look. Good luck with and enjoy your trip!
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That does sound fun! Lots of good shows to see this summer. I do enjoy the Vacation “baby oil”…it smells just like the classic drugstore baby oil but has sunscreen in it, somehow?! magic!
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Where is your lecture Jessica? Curious!
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Hello! It’s at the Timken Museum of Art in San Diego!
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i hatw sneakers too, but my feet are hurtimg with everything else, so dresses with sneakers it is….sadly.
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I guess many of us just reach that point sooner or later?! I’ve always worn sensible shoes and boots, and I’m hoping I can get back to my Clark’s mary janes without too much difficulty, but we shall see!
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I, too, enjoyed the movie version of The Talented Mr. Ripley. It was cinematically beautiful. I did try to watch the Netflix version, but found it slow-moving and thought it (quite literally!)paled in comparison. I possess the book but haven’t read it yet!!
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By the way, this is Jacqui.
Don’t know how or why I was given the name ducklegendary7e2e6dca86. Not my doing.
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