the friday love list #6

books, candles, crop tops

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Friday is Venus’s day. A day for connection, for beauty, for joy. For sharing what is bringing us joy, and what we’ve loved. 

As ever, the Friday Love List is in honor of and offering to Venus. Here are some of the things that most brought me pleasure and delight this week. 

Birth of Venus; received by Celestial Love, and crowned by Persuasion, ca. 1840, by John Gibson RA

Things I loved this week

New Memoir & Creative Nonfiction, written by my friends, WHICH COMES OUT NEXT TUESDAY!!!!

Not one but two members of my writers’ group have new books coming out next Tuesday, May 7th! IT’S A PARTY OVER HERE.

Nina St. Pierre’s debut memoir, Love is a Burning Thing, and Lilly Dancyger’s First Love: Essays on Friendship are both so, so fucking good. I will simply not shut up about these books until everyone I know has a copy or has requested it from their local library. 

Also this week: Nina’s op-ed in the LA Times, “My mother set herself on fire. Why do people choose to self-immolate?” (Her astrology for writers interview is forthcoming — we talk a lot about spirituality and New Ageism and it’s so, so good.) From Lilly, an excerpt from her book about the murder of her cousin Sabina, who she grew up with, and on how that experience shaped her understanding of the true crime genre (Lilly already did an interview here at the newsletter, talking memoir as necromancy, the Talmud, and book deal spells). 

Pre-order their books. Come to their launch events in NYC! Share those articles on social. Let’s get the word out!

My Roman Empire… 

… is, actually, the Roman Empire, and its descendant, the Holy Roman Empire. I love reading about the history of religion, and am researching Medieval Europe for ~reasons~. 

I am currently reading the massively comprehensive Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire and holy smokes, it has not disappointed! It’s so good! I’m carting it around everywhere, even though it’s the size of a Norton anthology! A page-turner for my fellow history buffs!

Mini-Stepping my way back into shape

My partner Meg got us a mini-stepper back when they started to take off on TikTok, as a way to get in some good cardio and strength training while watching TV or playing video games, and I have finally been getting into it this week and WOW. My legs! It burns! But so good? Also, I’d forgotten how satisfying it is to watch my endurance go up. 

This is the one we have, and it’s incredibly stable and solid. I feel very safe on it! (If you buy with that link, Meg gets an affiliate kickback.) 

Odin’s Daughter Candles

I’ve talked about Odin’s Daughter before — my literal favorite wood-wick candles ever, ever, ever — but I am very much digging a new-to-me scent that I have to share!

“Divine Wisdom” is currently my desk candle (burning this very moment) and it’s just divine. The scent profile is woodsmoke, sweet resin, well water (with magical properties of inner strength, cleansing, banishing, protection). These candles last forever, and they smell so so good. Plus, owner, creator, and scent-mistress Ruby is a small indie maker! And we love supporting that here. 

Crop Tops

While I can’t say I’m excited about the 20- and 30-degree weather swings we are having here in New York City, I am delighted to be out in the world in crop tops. Isn’t it an ironic thing, that the older you get, the more weight you gain, the better you feel in your body? (Just me?)

Maybe better is the wrong word. I don’t like chronic illness that keeps me very limited in the kinds of physical activity I can do; I also don’t like that just sleeping wrong fucks up my shoulder now. But I have found that, at 36, I am more confident and at ease and don’t-give-a-fuck than I’ve ever been. Which is truly wild. 

This is to say: I wear crop tops now! Past!Me would have never. There was so much bodily insecurity and religious shame tied up in exposing a midriff. But now, I’m like, LET MY BELLY OUT. 

Madewell makes my favorite tanks (the Supima ribs — *chefs kiss) and they also, blessedly, make a cropped version. Which is apparently on sale right now. (A quick note: I am a solid 16 in Madewell and their XL fit me perfectly, but I also have a veryyyyyy full bust, in the GG-H range, and reviews often say that, generally, the tanks run large. So take your bust size into account.) 

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Thank you, Venus, for friends and community, for clothes that fit my body and for newfound ease in my body. For all things beautiful and inspiring and connective.

What did you love this week? Get in the comments!