Last month I went to New York for 5 days to take pictures and kiss my boyfriend and eat ice cream and it went exactly as you’d expect: wonderfully.  Before you ask, no, I didn’t go to the Met or Central Park or really any of the recommendations my friends so graciously sent me (except Ichiran… thank you Sophia <3).  I’ve done a lot of sightseeing in New York over the last few years and wanted to spend this trip walking the same 2 mile radius in Bushwick (except for the day Logan and I took a trip upstate to take some photos you’ll see very soon…).  I got to see my friend Sofia; we got sandwiches at Foster Sundry and talked about band drama and men who live in New Jersey.  I got to see my friend Garrett; we talked about Distrokid, all the ways music in New York is different from music in LA, and what being an assistant engineer at Electric Lady would be like.  I bumped into my friend Kali when I was taking out the trash one night; as it turns out, he lives down the hall from Logan.  We talked about labels and touring and starting over.  

Here are my updates from the last month or so:

Listening

• I’ve pretty much been rotating through the same three albums: BRAT, Life’s a Bummer by RL, and One Million Love Songs by Bnny.  

• Here are some other songs I’ve been liking.  

• Also, I was lucky enough to sing on a few of Andrew’s new songs; this one is out now, another one comes out tomorrow, and the whole EP comes out August 7th.  Every single song is perfect and amazing.  

Watching

I go through phases where I really try to broaden my taste and watch movies and tv shows that inspire me and make me think.  Whatever the opposite of that is… that’s where I’m at right now. 

• I’ve been watching Survivor (the two seasons that are on Netflix) RELIGIOUSLY

• My airplane movies of choice on the way to New York and on the way back were The Incredibles and 13 Going on 30, respectively. 

• I took a quick break from watching The Office for the first time (!!!) to watch the new season of The Bear. 

• I saw Inside Out 2 with my dad on Father’s Day; I’ll keep you updated on if I can convince someone to see Despicable Me 3 with me.  

• (I did watch two Agnes Varda films last month so maybe those count for something)

Other things:

• I went to a friend’s house for a collage party (not to be confused with college party … The screenshot of me clarifying that for my sister got more story likes than anything else I’ve posted in the last 6 months) and got to talking about how much I appreciate get-togethers with ~structure~.  Give me a board game!  Collage night!  Bowling!  Anything but screaming into each others’ ears at a bar!  Please! 

• Speaking of games, I had the most laid back 4th of July weekend.  Some of you know this already but I’ve lived next door (literally next door) to my best friend since we were 9; her family is like my family and after years of spending this particular holiday going back and forth between our houses and lighting fireworks on our cul-de-sac and then years of missing each other because I was in LA or she was in Nashville or something else, we were finally able to play games and have a good ol’ fashioned barbecue on our street.  The main event of the night was Kubb, which is a lawn game I hadn’t played till then; it’s kind of a combination between Bocce and Croquet.  Highly recommend.  Then, my sister came to town and we played way too many games of Rummikub.  Also recommend.    

• This set of nail polish from J. Hannah is on my wishlist right now. I’ve been searching for the perfect dark blue and green and I think these are the answers.

• My mom has been making pavlovas for every special occasion and it has been a joy helping separate the egg whites, making the whipped cream, and tasting them.  They’re way easier to make than I expected; next time you host, give it a try!  We’ve been using this recipe.  (As a sidenote: I did a project on Anna Pavlova, the Russian ballerina the dessert is named after, last year in my ballet class.  You can read about her here, and here.  I found the way she stitched/repaired/tinkered with her own shoes really interesting; you can read about that here.  She also had pet swans, which… love.)

• Sunscreen as/in place of moisturizer (if you’re oily like me and the heat is killing you, this has been a godsend.  I’ve been using the EltaMD UV Clear for over a year now and it hasn’t steered me wrong yet)

• If you know me you know I’ve been obsessed with Starface for literal years. I SQUEALED when they reached out on Instagram and sent me a bunch of new stars to try. So excited and so grateful.

• I bought a white tank top from B***** M******* and ended up returning it because I forgot you can get a 5-pack of boys Hanes tank tops for half the price

• Aimee France is my favorite person to follow on TikTok right now 

AND FINALLY:

• You can pre-save my next song here <33333 it’s called “Girlfriend”, it is upbeat and girly and I was giggling and kicking my feet during the whole writing process.  It comes out July 26th.