July Roundup

The first deal can be found at Twins Lounge in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where bottles of wine are half off on Tuesdays (when I last went, this meant $26). The wine is legitimately good (they ain’t re-labeling bottles of Barefoot) and the lower-traffic day means that you can actually play on the pool tables. The deal runs all night but heads up — they’re cash only.

The second deal is one I often forget about, then get excited whenever I remember it exists. On Tuesdays at The Narrows in Bushwick, you can get a patty melt or veggie burger with fries (or a salad) PLUS a can of Narragansett beer for $12. An unbelievable bargain in a city where you can’t even ride a CitiBike for less than $5! Similar to the Twins deal, the quality of the product would be well worth the full price — though I can’t vouch for the veggie burger or salad, as I always go with the patty melt + fries. Deal also goes all night, also cash only.

One of the best things a customer has ever told me was that they got more piercings solely so they could wear more Bend + Pin Earrings 🥹

These pieces were the first styles that eventually became Abel’s debut collection, and will admittedly always have a special place in my heart. They are typically people’s first Abel purchase, and it’s so rewarding and exciting to see a customer return to add to their collection.

I purposefully sell the Bend and Pin Earrings as singles so that people can mix, match, and create unique ear stack combinations (it also provides a more accessible price point). The more piercings you have the more combinations you can create, which made me think — why don’t I have more piercings?

Inspired by my customer, I somewhat spontaneously decided to add two more holes to my left ear (I now have six total: two in my right, four in my left). At the recommendation of a woman whose piercings I complimented at a party, I went to J. Colby Smith for the job and couldn’t have been happier. He currently splits his time between NYC and LA (his studio is called 108), but he will be moving back to the East Coast permanently starting in the fall. He made me feel so comfortable, was a joy to chat with, and is truly an expert in his craft. I’ll definitely be back when I’m ready for more piercings…

I only got lobe piercings, which the healing process is typically pretty easy for. Even so, I’ve been diligently cleaning my ear twice a day with Smith’s own cleanser. I’ve also been spraying the piercings with Briotech Topical Skin Spray, at the very adamant recommendation of my friend and fellow jeweler Lindsay (also known as Casual Seance!).

I am NOT A DOCTOR so please take this all with a grain of salt, but to me, this stuff is now what Windex was to the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding — a versatile miracle spray that can cure a multitude of skin ailments. I’ve used it on my piercings, spider bites, burns, and apparently it’s also great for eczema, psoriasis, and general skin health.

After looking into it more, it seems the magic lies with hypochlorous acid — which is also the main ingredient of the trendy Tower 28 SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray. I’m sure both sprays are great, but Briotech is a fraction of the cost (albeit less aesthetic packaging-wise). I may just buy a gallon, find a nice refillable spray bottle, and call it a day 💦

Okay we have another silly snack hack this month because hey, you know I love to eat. I can’t take credit for this one though — I saw my friend sprinkle some Maldon salt on her cantaloupe the other weekend and I copy-pasted immediately. It has the same delicious salty-sweet contrast that makes prosciutto and melon an irresistible combo, without needing to have prosciutto on hand. A summer delight!

Back in May I started a series called Heirloom, the idea of which is to interview people about a beloved object they own. I have admittedly been slow to publish the next edition (sorry!), but lucky for you, the New York Times has just started a column of their own with a similar premise, called Piece of Me.

The column, written by Amelia Diamond (who I coincidentally used to work with at Man Repeller!) features individuals and the stories behind their personal talismans. I never get sick of hearing these types of anecdotes, so I obviously devoured all five of the published interviews.

My next Heirloom feature is coming VERY soon (it’s on the calendar, I promise!), but in the meantime, if you’re craving some interesting stories, I highly recommend reading this series.

My friend Avery and I recently had a “coworking date” — i.e., we met up at a cafe one day to work side-by-side. We both had a backlog of computer work we needed to get done (her — a journalist — needed to file a story, meanwhile I had a boatload of emails to write), and we thought we’d make the experience more enjoyable by doing it “together.”

To motivate us further, we decided we’d reward ourselves at the end of the day with a bottle of wine — but only if we finished our tasks beforehand. Desperate to chat and catch up on life, we forced ourselves to ignore each other for the first half of the day and focus on our computer tasks at hand.

I have to say — it was a wildly productive (and fun!) day. Maybe it was the wine at the end of the tunnel, or the fact that I felt like I had to focus because Avery was focusing, or a combination of both. Whatever it was, if you don’t have any built-in colleagues or office to go to, I highly recommend setting up a coworking date next time you have to tackle a dreaded work task.