BULLETIN:// 04192024
A Friday mycyberspace series 🛸
Hello Substack :)
It’s been a while! I’ve been working away on my websites, but I also took a reasonable amount of time off. Ever since I started working for myself, for years, I’ve said I’d take off January. I never did.
Life, being what it is, made it easy for me to make the decision this year. It wasn’t by choice. Instead, a tragedy forced me to. After riding the wave, I decided to hibernate until Spring and take time to heal. I ended up taking all of winter off. It was hard, and it still is. Life doesn’t get easier with time; it just moves on.
I’m still catching up on some loose ends from 2023 on all of my brands, but I’ve been easing back into things rather than hitting the ground running. I planned to pedal to the metal as soon as the year changed, but maybe it’s a reminder for me to lean into my softness rather than my intensity, which is what I’ve leaned into for decades.
Between easing back to work, we spent a good amount of time (weeks and weeks, almost months) in Dallas, San Francisco, and Healdsburg. It was a perfect escape and a way to transition back into life. We want to split our time in all of the above, so it was nice to get a taste of that.
Dallas will always have a place in my heart. It was where I left Houston to start my career immediately after graduation; it was where I met my husband — it was the home I left to pursue love. Being back at this point in my life (& married to the stranger I met almost 11 years ago) felt like another transition. Finishing things out in Healdsburg, where I left Dallas over a decade ago, felt like an odd circle of completion… not to mention that immediately after was the eclipse! I’m not sure what it is, but I needed the rejuvenation.
There’s so much about Texaspacific (as well as Plaza Vintage) inspired by Dallas; it was really special to be back. I also love the architecture! It was so fun to photograph some of the buildings. I am very much inspired by Turtle Creek architecture! Two of my favorite buildings there are the Centrium and the Claridge. Same with Healdsburg. There’s a certain feeling there that I only get there, and I hope to relay it digitally.
My sites are almost complete. In fact, 019 is complete. I’m just dealing with perfectionism finishing the final tweaks before it goes live. Texaspacific is close to completion. My goal is to have things live by my birthday. :-)
Other than that, that’s really everything to catch up on. I’m also back on Instagram these days! I know I know I have mixed feelings on it. I’ve strangely found more privacy being on it rather than being off it. Maybe I’ll make a post about that?
Anyways, say hi :-)
On to the links!
My favorite color and search right now on Gap is Simply Green! I can’t get enough of this color this season. I especially love these tanks. I buy my true size in these and they fit exactly how I want them to! I have them in black, green, grey, and new off white. I also love the color New Off White in general - a perfect white with just a kiss of cream!
My Sephora Sale order came in! I did some major damage this season (retail therapy in full force!!!) and am excited to have all-new makeup for Spring and Summer. I’ll be putting the hauls on TikTok and I guess Reels now too. Here are some standout items://
Estee Lauder Foundation in Cool Bone — this shade is my exact skin color and literally disappears on me! I’ve never had that happen with a foundation before. I also got this illuminator/primer to mix or layer with it, which I think will be really pretty since it’s oyster pink!
Kayali Pistachio perfume — I sampled this in-store in Dallas and could not stop thinking about it. I am SO glad I finally own it. I will be wearing this often this SS2024! I can’t get enough. Flavor notes: hazelnut, marshmallow, cotton candy, whipped cream, and pistachio gelato! Fun!
Westman Atelier Squeaky Clean Liquid Lip Hydrating Lip Balm — I got the colors nou nou and chou chou, which are milky pastels. nou nou is coral, and chou chou is ballet pink. Both are absolutely stunning and the packaging is so luxurious!
Mane Jumbo Waver — I love the idea of crimped hair for summer! I am picturing this with a white tank, relaxed denim, and cowboy boots or mules (these or these specific ones). It’s a fun Y2K trend that’s modern for now. I love that this crimper is 1 1/4 inch vs 1 inch and perfectly rounded! PS - You will need this base, too.
Mane It's Giving Body Medium Hot Thermal Round Brush — I will make a video on this because my first reaction to this product was so good. So ig I didn’t know what a Thermal Brush is lol I thought it was a blow-dry brush… and that was a pleasant surprise! I cannot recommend this tool enough. THIS is what will give you that 90s model / Matilda Djerf blowout look, I’m not even kidding. My hair has never looked so good and I’ll use this often (with heat protectant!!!! i use this before all hot tools).
The one thing about being gone for so long and living in hotels is that there is no kitchen!!! By the end of our travels, I had been reeling to return to the kitchen. I have enjoyed cooking at home very much since I got back. I’ve been craving really simple meals: think spa chicken (vintage c@s recipe!!!), steamed greens, and sweet potatoes. I love to make the spa chicken because it shreds beautifully for leftovers throughout the workweek! I use this steamer and love it! This steamer is a tool I love for easy, healthy, effortless cooking. I use it constantly.
I just bought this Kitchenaid, which I am SO excited about!!! I am going to film an unboxing today! I got the 2024 color of the year, which is Blue Salt. It’s the perfect pastel blue with an iridescent sheen. I was originally deciding between Lavender Cream and Milkshake, and soooo glad I held off (aka I couldn’t decide) because THIS holographic one is what I needed in my life. Let the baking begin!!!!
I used to love to bake, but I haven’t turned to it for years. I used to blame my broken Kitchenaid, but now that that issue is no longer, there’s no excuse! It’s a great analog way to spend the day. If you have any baking recipes you love, I’d love to know them! I am aiming to bake at least one treat a week. I also want to start making my own bread at home. As far as recipes go, I usually wing it as I cook, but that doesn’t fly yet for me when baking. My favorite recipe resource for baking is King Arthur Baking! (my favorite flour, as well). PS - I also made this Baking playlist. :-)
Speaking of Kitchen updates, I introduced the Chartreuse Post 86 Fiestaware to my collection this season! I can’t get enough of the color! I love that zesty hue of green for spring, and I’ll use it in summer. In fact, it reminds me a lot of a restaurant I worked at in Dallas… iykyk. :-)
I don’t know what took me so long, but I am a HUGE convert to the Philips Hue Smart Light (& Bridge). We are eventually going to outfit every light in our house to that. It is seriously next-level, easy to use and customize, and adds to the ambiance. There is even a perfect Vaporwave setting that is literally called “Vaporwave”! We started with our bedroom and slowly replaced them throughout the house. I have one in the closet, as wekk, which is an underrated location to have one! We have a mix of the bulbs and the downlight.
So, I am really late on this game, but I am v into with Gesaffelstein. Shout out the people on TikTok posting his set from Coachella because it was the coolest thing I ever saw. I actually had Coachella FOMO for the first time ever. I seriously cannot stop thinking about its aesthetics, and you better believe it’s on my mood board!!! I’ll post some of the videos below.
Anyway, apparently, he’s a real big deal and has done some major work, including with Daft Punk. That is not surprising because you absolutely get the Daft Punk influence, especially the Human After All era (aka my favorite) Daft Punk. His vibe reminds me of the 80s mixed with the music I loved so much in the 2010s in my 20s. I’m so sad that Dallas Shannon never knew him because she would have LOVED him.
Some songs to check out://
Hard Dreams (f/ Yan Wagner) — and my obsession rn
Pursuit — pouring one out for 2013 me who never knew this song
Coachella Set://
⚠️ flash warnings!
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…was that not the hottest thing ever? bc it is to me... here’s more :)
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On the topic of Dallas, here are some Dallas playlists I made. I always call them my nostalgia series because they’re the songs from that era.
I made many of these playlists closer to both the person I was then and closer to the literal time then.
This has been something on my mind a lot lately, so I will end the bulletin with this. This message is for anyone who wants to build a brand on nostalgia.
If you have a brand you want to build on nostalgia, it’s imperative that you start working on it immediately.
At the very least, organize your thoughts, drawings, playlists!!!, moodboards, Pinterest, etc.
As time passes and you change and evolve, you will lose connection to the past and nostalgia. As time goes, I find the nostalgia isn’t constant. It just changes.
Now, in hindsight, anything I made about Texas when I lived in California was gold.
Everything (including some of those playlists) was made from nostalgia and rarely reality. Then, to switch it up, as soon as we moved to Texas, the California I lived in… specifically Healdsburg from 2013-2014, and then the Marina from 2015-2020… was heavy on my mind.
Like the Texas-in-California content… the California-in-Texas content was just as gold. Reminiscing on the Marina in 2015-2020, when it was still fresh in my head while physically being in Texas was surreal.
Fast-forward almost five years, and I could never build or create what I created then. Now that Houston, a place I missed so much when I wasn’t here, is home again and a home I am actively creating with my husband (and we travel to California often), much of my nostalgia is gone. Also, with all the time we spend in Dallas, my Dallas nostalgia is also gone and replaced.
The way I create is different. I still mix the past with the present, but building on nostalgia is difficult now. Being in a city and town that once held a lot of nostalgia has changed the way I create. When it becomes familiar, the nostalgia does fade.
Today, in 2024, I’m so thankful for the 2018-2022 me who spent so much time in her nostalgia. Much of that content she created in that nostalgia is the anchor I use now. So much of that time was in my mood boards, Spotify playlists especially, and journals. I can’t create the same way she did anymore. Maybe, in a way, she even cured my nostalgia?
So, if you have a brand you want to build or want to start with nostalgia, get to it!! Nostalgia changes as time goes on, and so will you as a person.
Not to mention, the city or town you live in will change around you regardless. There will be places you love that close and new places that come up. Trees will get cut down, and high rises and parking lots will be added. Your favorite restaurants may go away, and the buildings and architecture will change. The way people do things will change. Very soon, people in the background will start wearing headsets, and I’m not even making a joke.
Think of how different things were only two years ago. Now, five years. Now think of 10 years. Now think of ~15 years!!! If you are my age, you were graduating college. Now let’s go 20 years! Then was graduating high school and maybe just entering The Facebook for the first time. I can go on and on. Get out and record it! Nothing will ever be the same again, and when it’s gone, it’s gone.
No matter what you create, even if it’s for your eyes only, I promise you, you will be thankful you did.
Happy Friday darlings!! Have a great weekend! xx sSs
