💖✌️🌮 Love List #3: Charm Confidential

Personalized jewelry, hoorae-a-thons and queer breakup anthems

Welcome to another edition of Love, Peace, and Tacos, a weekly-ish newsletter where I share what I’m feeling, loving, and eating.

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This is a photo of Miss Piggy’s closet. That pig-shaped hat-stand tickles my brain (and heart!) in the best way possible.

Happy summer, friends!

Thank you to everyone who commented or emailed after my last post honoring my Grandma. It means so much.

One of the things that has helped me heal during my grief journey has been making things. Fun fact: back in 2009 when I started my first blog, Skinny Dip, I briefly experimented with making jewelry and had an Etsy store (although, mostly I just made custom things for friends and customers of the clothing store I worked at.)

Recently, the urge to get back to my DIY roots hit after seeing my favorite NYC fashion bloggers rocking charm necklaces from Brooklyn Charm. Since I’m nowhere near Brooklyn, I figured I’d make my own.

I love miniatures and jewelry pieces that have a personal meaning. I had a lot of fun picking out charms and deconstructing vintage jewelry to create these two charm necklaces that feel “very me.”

There are palm trees! There are turtles! There’s a taco charm (!) The overall vibe of this necklace reminds me of my grandma and the sun-soaked days of childhood.

(Sidebar: when I was a child I had a small plastic turtle named George that I’d bring everywhere. I’d make up stories about him and make things for his home. It got to the point where George felt almost real. Sound familiar? I like to think that George was a precursor to Joe the Intern.)

The second piece is my “travel writer necklace” for obvious reasons (the tiny pink suitcase! The passport!)

Wearing my creations has made me realize that sometimes you need a physical reminder of who you are at your core. Also, there’s something powerful about wearing tiny versions of all your favorite things.

I’ve been wearing these necklaces on Zoom calls for work (& while out and about) and have noticed a significant confidence boost (they’re also a great conversation starter!)

Also, history seems to be repeating itself. Several friends have asked me to create necklaces for them. So, if you’re interested in a necklace of your own, hit me up.

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💖✌️🌮 Other things I’m loving:

💖 Binge-ing Issa Rae shows. Insecure is one of my favorite TV shows and yet, I’ve put off watching the final season for…reasons. It’s one of the few shows that can make me laugh and cry, and lately, I haven’t wanted to feel the feelings — at least while watching TV.

I’m so glad I finally binge-watched the conclusion of Insecure and Rae’s other show, Rap Shit, which follows the struggles and rise of a fictional female rap duo (that’s not unlike the City Girls). I love Rae’s nuanced portrayal of female friendships and that everything she creates is an immersive experience.

All of the music featured in Rap Shit is original (meaning it was written + produced for the show!) & you can listen to it on Spotify. The song Seduce and Scheme has been living in my head rent-free for the past month and a half.

Struggling with withdrawal symptoms finishing both series, I listened to We Stay Looking, a satirical true crime podcast that is produced by the makers of Insecure and based a fictional documentary featured in the show (“Looking for LaToya”). It’s super smart and hilarious, and very, very meta.

💖 Good luck babe by Chappell Roan. My new favorite breakup song! I remember my first queer breakup. It wasn’t really a breakup (we’re still friends and I’m legit happy for her) but it felt so intense in the moment. This song captures those feelings perfectly. The Sabrina Carpenter cover of this song is also quite good (although not quite as rage-y).

I’m curious: what are some of your favorite breakup songs?

I also love that one of my favorite local shops Belle General has a Chappell Roan themed window display for Pride.

💖 This cheap and cheerful tank top from Old Navy. Because sometimes I am feeling zesty. Is it just me or is there’s something nostalgic about buying a graphic tee or two in the summertime? It reminds me of the t-shirts my Mom would buy my sister and I from Field’s bargain basement before we’d make the trek to my grandma’s house every summer. Either way, it’s a fun, low cost dupe for the $165 Simon Miller tanks that are trendy right now.

💖 Producing new episodes of We’re Never Doing This Again. There’s been a couple new episodes released since I sent my last newsletter and they feature some fantastic guests.

What’s bringing you joy right now?

Hit reply or let me know in the comments!