Issue #203: Every Product, Tip, and Recommendation from a Girls' Weekend

No gate-keeping here.

📚 Information Age by Cora Lewis: Written in vignettes, it took me a few short chapters to get into this new novella, the first from Joyland’s new imprint. As soon as I did, I found myself immersed in and nodding along with the all-too-familiar life of a woman working in media in her twenties in New York. Though it veers a touch flowery at times, “Commuter heads have earbuds in, blocking out the day’s beginnings, easing into public life from private mindscapes,” it’s packed with observations and overheard snippets that read like poetry.

📺 “Too Much” on Netflix: In true Lena Dunham fashion, her latest series for Netflix is semi-autobiographical. Jessica, played by Megan Stalter, flees from New York to London after a rough breakup and quickly strikes up a relationship with a musician. While not quite as tapped-into the zeitgeist, or as witty as Dunham’s “Girls” (still one of my favorite shows of all time), it’s exactly the kind of thing I want to watch piled on a couch with girlfriends.

🎥 ‘Sorry, Baby’ in Theaters: I wanted to see this movie so badly, directed by Eva Victor, I booked a matinee on Monday, and went practically from the airport. In it, Agnes (played by Victor) is a tenured English professor grappling with the aftermath of an assault at the hands of a trusted grad school professor years prior—but it isn’t only a movie about the kind of “before” and “after” such an assault can divide a life into, but the way life manages to still fill in the cracks with beauty.

P.S. You all have been loving Sunday Edition, a casual weekly issue that includes life updates, photos, and tons of recommendations. Read the latest here!

One of my favorite things about any girls’ weekend—be it a bachelorette party or camping trip—are the number of recommendations I come away with. I spent the last few days in Atlanta to see Beyoncé with women whose advice and sensibility I trust on everything from the biggest life circumstances (they were the first people I called and texted when I was first separating from my husband), to makeup products, books, and recipes. Though we now live scattered across the country, our group text has been a daily presence in my life since we met in L.A. nine years ago!

Between much-needed catchups, this weekend was peppered with questions and tips, Wait, where’s that necklace from? Does anyone have a book they loved? I have to tell you guys about this tip for meal planning! As the weekend progressed, I began to keep a running list for our own reference, until I realized I had so many recommendations I couldn’t keep them all to ourselves. There’s no gate-keeping here—we were all too happy to share! Read on for 17+ recommendations from my best friends, including:

• A Doen look-alike brand

• Makeup setting spray that works, even in Atlanta humidity

• The body glitter and outfit I wore to Cowboy Carter

• My friend’s flawless necklace stack

• An instant fix for bloating

• The matcha latte tip I learned from an Atlanta coffee shop

P.S. There are never any affiliate links or sponsors here, just genuine recs! Lets get to it—this issue is packed!

Deodorant wipes, setting spray, and body scrub.