🔖 Little Black Book #3
Indulgences of a Woman About Town.
Bit of a lengthy one this week, with a fair few snaps included, so if your email inbox cuts off these ramblings, you might want to read this issue in your browser here, or on the app.
After last week’s somewhat heavier essay, the support for which and connection around I am endlessly grateful for, something a little lighter this week.
As a reminder, the Little Black Book column is part diary, part directory, sharing a monthly dose of insights and recommendations - not with the intention of sending you out to spend hordes of cash, but to encourage you to spend mindfully, whether that be money, time or energy. And give you a little more insight into what this Valleys girl is up to in the big smoke.
So, let’s get to it!
👗 Wearing
If you’re a scroller of Notes, you might have seen that I posted a sort of OOTD snap earlier this month (outfit of the day, for the uninitiated). A first, and indeed likely a one-off, for me, I was really wanting to show off my new writer tee, kindly gifted by
in a little giveaway celebrating the launch of her new Substack book, written with .It felt incredibly bold to wear it, and I did have to grab a black cardi to throw over the top for an added bit of comfort, but paired with some white leathery city shorts (are we still calling them that?) I felt confident it worked. The shorts are from a swanky brand called Tibi, but I got them for a fiver years ago at a charity bootsale in west London (a real fraction of the price compared to anything on their website!). They mainly live in the bottom drawer of my wardrobe, but after seeing
’s great working of shorts this summer (exhibit A, B and more recently C) plus ’s explorations in the short game, I felt they deserved a new lease of life.Not seen are shoes of the season, those Gaimo wedges I shared last month.
Anything lingering at the bottom of your wardrobe that could be deserving of seeing the light of day?
Where was I headed, you might ask? Off for a morning of Substacking at my favourite coffee/writing spot, then to the V&A. More below on that visit, what you might call an artist’s date à la Julia Cameron; something which
prompted us to do this month as well.The lemon dress has also had an outing through August, as the summer sun blessed us briefly but warmly. Look out for a snap further down of me sporting it in a beautiful park setting.
💄 Applying
After several months of lapping up the advertising - seriously, this product has been everywhere, no? - I finally picked up a tube of the Garnier Vitamin C Daily UV Fluid SPF50+ Glow. The nozzle is really thin, so you can expertly control the amount that comes out, and I like the consistency. The ‘glow’ version (as opposed to ‘invisible’) gives the effect of a very light BB cream.
Despite it being for daily use, I realise now I have only really been using it on those super sunny days. Though I probably don’t know enough about the ingredients to entirely vouch for it’s legibility, SPF50 must be a good step up on the protection front from my moisturiser alone (which includes a mere SPF15), or even the SPF30 face sun cream when I remember to dig it out. Note to self to move to daily application…
The other new beauty buy this month was a tub of the LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask in Vanilla. I’ve been really struggling with dry lips this summer, so a few weeks ago started crowd sourcing recommendations, and this kept popping up. Then
mentioned it in a recent Sunday Scroll, so I knew I was onto a winner.It comes with it’s own little applicator which is an excellent addition - no one likes having to dig into a pot of product then it being all up in your nailbeds and what not. For the past week or so I’ve been putting it on before bed every evening; it’s soothing, and I can definitely feel a difference in the dryness of the skin on my lips. It is on the pricier side, but feels like a real treat and I think the pot will last a good few months.
If you don’t fancy forking out yourself, why not pop it on a birthday wish list…
🎁 Gifting
It’s been a quieter month on the gifting front, though I have been exploring some wedding-related gifts for an upcoming celebration. I’ll not say too much in case the bride is reading, but something that’s gone down well in the past is a couple’s journal that invites them to mark down a memory on each of the first 100 days after being married. I can’t find the exact one I have previously gifted, but this journal, though a little more detailed, also looks like a nice option.
I would like to take a moment though to share some appreciation for two book gifts I received for my birthday this year.
The first, You Are Only Just Beginning, by Morgan Harper Nichols, I received from my friend Malin. As the title suggests, and as she hoped, it’s an ideal read for someone turning 30, or passing through any milestone occasion really (graduation, leaving home, entering into the autumn of life, etc.). Part poetry, part poetical prose, with the most beautiful colours and illustrations throughout, I’ve been reading just a few pages in bed each night these past few months, and somehow, every single time, the words seem to speak directly to something or other going on in my life/brain. It has felt quite magical. I’m almost at the end, but this will be one that lives on the bedside table, to be revisited again and again.
And speaking of magic, another friend, Ellie, gifted me
’s Big Magic. This book has been on my radar since it was published in 2016, but at the time I wasn’t ready to read it; more in a place of eye-rolling at the thought of any such creative manual, than feeling I could, or wanted to, lean in to what it might offer. These last few months I’ve seen it popping up all over Substack, talked about not least by and . I had mentioned to Ellie a few months back I wanted to read it this year, hankering for a lend of her copy, but she went one better and got me my own.I’m yet to dive in, as I’m intentionally saving it for next month as I indulge in my own belated birthday gift to myself - a yoga retreat in Morocco! I’ll not say too much here, as in all likelihood there will be oodles to say on my return, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a good 15 years (no doubt somewhat influenced by reading Eat Pray Love as a teen), and when I hit 30 this year, I had a wave of now or never. I’m going alone, intrigued about the women I might meet there, but mainly excited to explore how I feel and what I take from this week-long experience. Even if it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, and turns out to be a (half)life-long dream that doesn’t actually suit me, I’m proud of myself for making it happen, and grateful to have been granted, and able to build, the freedom in life to do so.
🥗Eating
Tomatoes.
Is it me, or has Substack been mad for them this summer? Between
’s French endeavors, ’s Italian adventures, and even over in Canada, shares that the tomatoes are very good this year. In all the tomato love, I even came across ’s 2023 Notes of: tomatoes, which will have you off on all sorts of tantalizing tangents.So, naturally influenced by all of the above, I’ve been chopping them, roasting them, stirring them… and, okay, often requesting my partner to do so. He is the one with the bruschetta skills. We might be coming to the end of the summer season, but I reckon we’ve got a few more weeks to reap the benefits of these round red treats. See also: fresh basil and olives.
Away from food and onto beverages for a moment, my drink of the month has become a limoncello spritz - a refreshing change from the classic Aperol, and a little lighter. I saw a recipe in Red magazine earlier in the summer which became the inspiration, but I’ve tended to keep it more simple, with just cava/prosecco/asti (whatever is around / open / available in those little bottles so you don’t have to open a full size one every time), limoncello and ice.
The “recipe” could not be more simple - fill a flute with ice, pour in the bubbles to fill three quarters of the glass, top up with limoncello, stir and enjoy. I also experimented recently with splitting the bubbles portion 50/50 between alcohol and tonic water (which we already had in, rather than buy soda water), which worked well.
Back to food, and on the dining out front it’s been about the local spots this month. Tapas at Mar i Terra (random location, great food), a little family-run Greek place in Camden (chaotic energy, loud music, the best dolmades), and brunch at a local coffee shop in Maze Hill. The latter was fueling a lengthy catch up with Charlotte, whose favourite neighbourhood coffee stop is this one. They’ve since opened another branch nearby, but she and her boyfriend remain loyal to this original, regularly visiting to pick up a latte and a flat white, and now have a lovely friendly relationship with the staff. So much so, they already knew to expect me as a guest on this particular Sunday.
Such a gorgeous reminder of building community (and that yes it is possible, even in London!) and how wonderful to bring our friends into that, so they can see more of how we live, where we hang out, when we’re not all striving to meet at a central location. I’ll be thinking about integrating that more through the autumn. The conversation was of course top notch too. I’ve been lucky on that front this month …
🎭 Visiting
A few outings to report on this month, starting with a trip to The Other Palace for a performance of Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World. A fun hour and a half - but I would have appreciated it so much more 20 years ago. Charting the wins of famous historical women, from Marie Curie to Frida Khalo to Rosa Parks, through song and dance they help a lost girl find her way (literally and figuratively). If you’ve daughters, nieces or other little ones in your life that might enjoy getting a bit of Pankhurst-style fire in their bellies, you’ve got until September 8th to take them along. And if you think you’re coming out of there without the key songs playing on loop in your head, think again. #DeedsNotWords
Slightly further west and over to the V&A, as hinted at above, I saw Fragile Beauty this month - definitely not one for the eyes of little ones. This exhibition of photographs from Elton John and David Furnish’s collection is incredibly expansive; I spent nearly two hours wandering around, and could go back again to take more in I’m sure. It’s also a great people-watching experience; seeing how different people respond to different shots as you move around the display.
With images covering everything from the iconic stars of stage and screen, to the Civil Rights movement, the male body, and 9/11, to say this is an eclectic show is an understatement. I can’t pretend to know why a couple would want to collect so many images, and while the short descriptions introducing each section of the exhibition offer an insight into that, the displays of individual photos are more about the stories of the people in front of and behind the camera, rather than focused on John and Furnish’s ownership of them. Running until January 2025, if you’re looking for something to entice and expand the mind, perhaps even draw on emotions you didn’t know you had, this could be it.
Back up north, and a shout out for Golders Hill Park, which I visited for the first time last weekend. It had been on the list since lockdown days, before my partner and I lived together, searching for appropriate “walking date” locations, but for some reason we’d not made it before now. A beautifully expansive green space, much less busy than somewhere like Hyde Park or Primrose Hill, and complete with gardens, lakes and a mini zoo. It was quiet to wander around, and enjoy a stop off at the cafe, before meandering on down into nearby Hampstead, but would also be a great spot for lazy day picnics, and with playgrounds and benches too, offers (free) fun for all the family.
Later we picked up lunch at La Crêperie de Hampstead, which at the same time was also being frequented by none other than absolute icon Dame Emma Thompson, and her husband Greg Wise. While queuing (if you’ve never been, be prepared for this) I deliberated doing the whole “omg! you’re amazing! big fan! etc etc!”, but decided to let them enjoy their quiet Sunday of mooching too. It was enough to know I was in good company.
Although there have been several birthday references in this post already, and despite my turning 30 all the way back in May, I am continuing celebrations this eve with tickets gifted back then for A Night at the Musicals in Battersea Park. Here’s hoping the weather holds, but it’ll be a fun time with two school pals all the same.
Wishing you a joyous rest of your bank holiday weekend if you’re reading in the UK, and a lovely slow Sunday wherever else you may be.
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Yum, your tomato toast looks delicious! 🍅
SO many great recommendations in here, Lauren. Tomatoes are the moment at the moment it appears. I agree, my Substack feed has been filled with them. I loved reading all those others on an equally strong tomato hype. Thanks for being a tomato pusher!!