the least stylish week of the year
last minute gifts, $250 worth of jewelry alterations, heated rivalry's archive fashion moment, and a new book by the bay area's high priestess of perfume.
It’s winter solstice and I’m going to the grocery store to get some potatoes and broccoli for dinner later. On my way, I saw this yellow school bus passing through the flame orange foliage, and a wave of “winter break feeling” rushed over me.
It feels like being 19 and coming home from fall semester of sophomore year and wanting to get out of the house, but you can’t actually drive yet, so you walk 0.7 miles to the beach in an olive green zara parka and mesh paneled leggings for a taste of FREEDOM. It feels like watching TV shows on your laptop at 4:30pm in the living room with the stove exhaust screeching from the kitchen as you wait for your sibling to finish showering so you can finally use the bathroom.
Time feels extra fake during this time of year. The days are just a soupy vat of suburban-coded errands (meat counter pre-orders…), stupid administrative tasks (what if I just ignore this Vox harassment training video…), hitting YES on the “are you still watching?” TV prompt (judgy bitch…), and plodding around the house in fur-lined slippers with a tuna melt to sit down for yet another Heated Rivalry rewatch.
In an attempt to cut through the mental molasses, here are my highlights from last week.
Last-minute gift shopping
Ebiko in Oakland is my favorite spot for high-quality sushi at pretty reasonable prices. (It’s takeout only, so the low overheard helps with cost I’m sure). My sibling introduced me to Ebiko and loves getting the torched salmon for lunch, so I got them a gift card because who wants to make their own lunch after going back to work in January???
Got a demi-gloss hair treatment to even out the color— my ends can get brassy from when I’d lightened it this summer. Now my hair is giving witchy raven, and I wanted a pair of lighter/warmer glasses to counterbalance the jet black-ness a bit. So, I went to the Warby Parker 4th Street location and picked up a pair of amber orange readers (sponsored mention) as a present to myself.
in hindsight i think the turtleneck plus the glasses plus the hairstyle looks overly stern. but whatever, this really hasn’t been a stylish week and that’s fine. Berkeley Bowl is my go-to for last minute food gifts. Think jams, honeys, preserved snacks, tinned seafood, honeycomb chocolate, etc. I need to grab a few things for the relatives…I also guarantee you that a BB gift card would be the most COVETED thing at a White Elephant.
Picking up jewelry alterations
This was the most interesting errand of the week. In November, I brought three items to Aster Jewelers to get altered.
Here’s what the process was like and how it all turned out: