Most of my September was spent traveling the East Coast: New York, Connecticut, and Boston. While obviously I enjoyed it, anytime I am gone from home for more than 10 days it becomes abundantly clear to me why I love Chicago, as if I could ever forget. I truly feel like I navigate Chicago with ease and comfort, in part which comes from living here my entire life, but also in part from the type of energy Chicago exudes. It's resilient, deeply community centered, and above all else, it really embodies a sense of delusion, which I think is what powers its resilience.
I'm not going to lie, most major cities have been under attack these last few months from an authoritarian regime focused on causing as much harm and suffering as possible. Chicago in particular is going through its pains right now. I am beyond disgusted to see what has been happening with members of the communities, families, people just trying to make a better life for themselves by going to work, and being taken away in a moment's notice, being brutalized. Journalists getting exposed to chemical agents, protesters being pushed and violated. Downtown streets turned into military zones. I am disgusted, and deeply saddened by what's happening not only in Chicago, but across the country. Please join me in making a donation, if you are able, to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
With that, here are some monthly favorites, because I do believe among pain and chaos we have to take a moment to recharge and engage with some mind numbing entertainment, which I do hope to provide. After all, I can be pretty mind-numbing.
Beauty
Last year in my Liberty London advent (which I also recommend getting if you're a splurgy babe looking for an escape), I got a sample of the Davines Oi Shampoo. After using it on my past trip I can safely say it's magic. It leaves the hair so moisturized and shiny, and the smell is what really sells me. I can't quite describe it other than it smells creamy and tingly, which yes makes no sense, but just humor me. It is enriched with Roucou oil and vitamin A, which really helps the softness and shine. But it doesn't leave a weighed down oily feeling. Like, there's still some bounce and playfulness to it. I will be purchasing a full size once my current shampoo is empty.
With the weather being so hot I've still been quite enamored with citrus scents, enter Blood Orange by Heretic. A very nice woody citrus cedar, so it checks a lot of boxes for this time of year for me. Projection is fairly nice, but it does read more citrus initially. Its notes include blood orange, bergamot, red mandarin, bitter orange, lemon, ylang ylang, cedar, champaca flower, ambrettolide, benzoin, vanilla absolute. It's almost forestry to me, like it smells like what I imagine the morning sun coming through redwood trees feel like.
Traveling means lots of disgusting germs, well more than normal. I restocked an old favorite, my Aesop hand sanitizer, the spray version of course. And it's just as I left it, always a nice punchy clean. There's a very woody citrus scent to it as well. Plus I get to look even more pretentious than I normally do pulling out Aesop.
Experiences
Did a lot of things this month, as mentioned. A highlight including very ambitiously attempting to go to 14 fragrance stores in one day while in New York. Well... I made 10 of them. So I guess that's a passing grade. I vlogged about it, and have to say the highlights for me were The Maker (one of my all time favorite fragrance brands), Naxos Apothecary (they had the most Greek and goth candle I've ever seen), and Stéle. In particular, Stéle had one of the most stunning stores I've ever seen. Absolutely gorgeous, great lighting, dim but not in a weird way. The kind that feels very intimate and inviting.
As for the rest of my moments, I'm making my way through editing. But I did get to ride the new Amtrak Acela train. Simply, wow. So quiet and smooth, even when reaching its top speed of 160 miles per hour. The cars were beautiful and had a ton of outlets, which I thought was wonderful. The wifi was a little spotty, which is fine since it was a short trip, but I would have been annoyed had I actually had to work. I also did ride in first class, which came with a meal. Very nice actually for food on a train. All around a very nice experience and the highlight of my travels, oddly enough.
Rounding it out, while in New York City I went to Printemps, a luxury store that's opened its first US location. It's perhaps the most beautiful store I've ever been in. Everywhere you looked there was either wonderful woodwork, beautiful marble, or some kind of upholstered madness that was so exceptionally elevated. Really just the stuff of fantasy and daydreams. I picked up some Victoria Beckham beauty products which I can't wait to play with. I will say though, I had a very... odd interaction with someone who identified herself as a vendor. Just rather unpleasant and rude, which in all honesty, is not an uncommon experience. I get it, I'm plus sized and some type of alternative, not the key demographic. But a rude attitude can't get me down when I'm surrounded by mosaic tile, beautiful patent Jimmy Choo shoes, and shimmery eyeshadow.
Fashion / Style
Last month I got the new extra wide calf Dolce Vita boots, the Emmi style, and babe, BABE, they are good. I've styled them a couple of different ways, but really am mostly doing it with longer skirts. I think there is something so chic about a beautiful leather boot popping out from a long silk skirt. Just really fun. I did do a short video review, and I have found them to be comfortable. I got about two miles of walking in them around New York and didn't have an issue. The heel is manageable, the leather is quite a nice soft quality, so be careful for scuffs. I am currently storing them with a dust bag and have stuffed them with crepe paper. I want to make sure to avoid any potential creases or damage. I will also say the construction is quite nice. They have a very nice zipper pull that's easy to grab with long nails, and the heel cap is extremely well reinforced. Anyways, highly recommend.
Well, the new Gucci has arrived, courtesy of Demna. Admittedly, I don't love his work at Balenciaga. I find it reductive, and unbeautiful. And not in a cool subversive way. However, fuck, I love what I'm seeing at Gucci for the spring 2026 ready to wear collection. It's just a little tacky, enough of historical, and honestly, the stuff of marketing brilliance. I will say the man, or at the very least the teams he assembles, understands marketing, painfully so. I love the use of fabrics and volume, notably this gown, which Jennifer Tilly has really been just so effortlessly gracing us with. Stunning, all around.
As part of their 2026 ready to wear collection Tom Ford sent some harness shoes down the runway. Please dear god, I need these, take my money. They are so hot, I love a little foot bondage. The rest of the collection felt a little stiff for my liking, but there was a leather skirt with a rather intricate lace detail that was absolutely divine, and I think would make for something really beautiful.
Food & Drinks
While traveling I went to Stew Leonard's, what could only be described as the most unwell grocery store. There's literally dozens of animatronics, stuffed animals flying through the air, and a literal maze to do your shopping in. That being said, they've got some of the most amazing in house creations. They have chocolate covered deli pop, which is essentially a chocolate covered rice cake. But here's the thing, they get the chocolate ratio just right. Amazing, give me two dozen.
While in Boston I got to go to the Raffles Hotel, where I tried both a Singapore and Boston Sling. Both very good, but very different. A Singapore Sling is gin based, with cherry brandy, Benedictine, Triple Sec (or Cointreau), pineapple juice, lime juice, and a dash of Angostura bitters and topped with club soda. Originally created in 1915 by a Raffles bartender, Ngiam Tong Boon. Very light and a little sweet. The Boston Sling features gin as well, Pama liqueur, Drambuie, Nonino amaro, cranberry compote, house-made apple shrub. Also refreshing, but more cool feeling. Honestly the perfect fall drink. Very lovely, highly recommend if you can get them.
Home & Lifestyle
Listen, I can be a little woo woo, and for that I really love the Chani app. I find a lot of her insights to be very helpful when I'm trying to make sense of my energy, and yes I do plan my life according to sometimes what is happening astrologically. It's not like a definitive rule, but rather something that I think just helps me... optimize? For lack of a better word. I particularly enjoy the week ahead podcasts. She also has some for the quarters according to your rising signs, which I actually find to be the most guidance. I do use some of her other products as well, like her planner, all of which have been helpful for me with tracking and creating life goals. I plan on using them heavily in the next few months as I start to plan for 2026.
Taschen had their anniversary sale, and I finally got my horny art girl books. Specifically, Ellen von Unwerth's Heimat. Her work is just so beautifully feminine, and just feels like such a playful daydream. It's such an editorial version of sexuality, which for me is very... exciting. Deeply erotic. It's just elevated, and refined, but still aggressive. All the things I love and aspire to be, and now it sits wonderfully on my credenza, next to books on the great homes of Chicago, queer graphic design, and of course more books about women with great racks.
Media & Entertainment
Since I just went high brow with Ellen von Unwerth, let's go low brow. Limp Bizkit to be exact. I've been in a deep state of "heyyyyyyy laddies" for the last month. I really appreciated it in these times. It's wild because it somehow their new song (Making Love to Morgan Wallen) sounds so current, but also is so 2002. Wild, I love it, and am very excited for whatever they do next. See ya in the pit!
I happened to watch Swan Song recently, and I felt it was a really moving film. Perfect by no means, but a complicated homage to aging as a queer person. In the film, retired hairdresser Pat Pitsenbarger, once renowned as the "Liberace of Sandusky", takes a long walk to style his former client's hair for her funeral. In it we are introduced to different people from Pat's past life, the community he lost, and the ways in which gay men of a particular time were treated as accessories, their lifestyles never fully accepted. I think it's a very nice watch for an afternoon, but will probably leave you a little blue for a couple hours after. Ultimately it really reminded me of how much I love queer people.
Also all of Janet Jackson's Control album has been on repeat. No need to explain for obvious reasons.
Here are some things I read that I liked:
Every ex says: “Don’t write about me.” And yet, here we are.
Sam Altman says that bots are making social media feel ‘fake’
TikTok is tagging videos from Gaza with TikTok Shop products
The Forever-35 Face: The face-lift is better than ever, and everybody wants one. Deep inside the uncanny world of the surgically ageless.
Things I Wrote/Created
Nobody Wants to Work Anymore: How to Change Your Relationship to Work and Ambition
Fall 2025 Fashion & Style Edit | Power Suits, Knee High Boots & Cashmere Vests
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