mini dives: baby blue or bust
other people's best books of '24
welcome back to ‘mini dives’. if you’re new here, these are not quite deep dives, but mini dives into a singular focus whether that be one artist or an entire genre, one book or articles covering a singular topic, one brand or an overarching product category….you get the “mini dives” idea.
follow along socially on @stratabites; have a pitch? email stratabites@substack.com
things i’m reading: about the books other people liked reading this year
it’s that time of year when everyone starts sharing about the best books they’ve read. personally? i’m a slow reader (this is a no judgement zone, i read before bed and sometimes all i can manage are a couple pages before i’m dozing off) and on top of that, i’ve had a few misses from my reading selects this year.
so, instead, i’m infatuated with the lists that other people are sharing of the books that they didn’t think about ditching 100 pages in (or if they did, they ended up being worth sticking with):
one of my favorite places for book recommendations (who led me to two great reads this year: bunny and piranesi),
shared a literary gift guide that was a great read in itself.- hasn’t shared an eoy recap on reads yet, but i enjoy every one of their issues. what other substack could convince me i needed to read a book titled “raw dog: the naked truth about hot dogs”? (rhetorical question. none.)
i’m revisiting sophia june’s piece for nylon last year on books to be excited for in 2024 and seeing how many i read and still need to read.
@whatgmread’s list of short books because (as you might have inferred from everything above) i got no where near my book goal this year (that’s okay, we don’t need to gamify reading, it can be leisurely, i promise).
things i’m listening to: fashion neurosis with bella freud
i can’t stop listening to the fashion neurosis podcast! some favorite episodes so far:
things in my cart: baby blues
if you’ve been here a while, you know i’m a sucker for some baby blue (bonus points for a baby blue // brown combo) so why not dive into it?
i will stand behind this: cable management is sexy. i don’t want to see a million cables everywhere. keep me guessing. give me a little mystery! counterpart’s retractable usb-c chargers are upping our rizz.
someone on tiktok once told me my siup studios mug looked like a preschooler made it. that made me like it even more.
for anyone else who cringes at the thought of how much plastic goes into making the refillable plastic containers at the convenience store: ríes’ refillable travel bottles are your answer. they have baby blue, but all of the colors are sooo nice.
this baby blue sea ny top!
a sandy liang mini dress in “ice blue”? say no more.
i’m team “life is too short to have socks with holes in them” and, if you can, swapping them out for pairs of fancier socks from comme si might get you excited to get ready in the morning (maybe this is the lipstick effect or the intro to the devil wears prada talking).
i might go one week without mentioning these soon, but for now they’re back: hay’s baby blue barro bowl.
this blue / duck wool blanket is too much! in the best way.
no matter your opinion on the family or brand, there’s no denying everything from skims is so soft. these lounge lace shorts are no exception.
a classic blue tekla duvet….and/or towel set.
leave it to sézane to make a perfect light blue crewneck sweater.
a little blue satin heel from black suede studio.
- introduced me to cou cou intimates and there’s nothing cuter than their french blue pointelle tank.
things to make: it’s cookie testing time
i know it’s pre-thanksgiving, but the window to christmas is so slim this year i’ve gone straight to cookie testing mode ahead of cookie exchange szn. as a stress baker with a sweet tooth, this makes for peak holiday party to me.
matcha pistachio chocolate chip….grinchy.
bon app’s holiday cookies bring me an unparalleled amount of joy. i know myself so, i typically filter on their recipe page by “quick”…the chocolate brownie cookies called my name.
oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies will always do it for me. these ones are from flamingo estate (who also just opened their holiday shop).
things to *swoon* over: might entice cuteness aggression
