To know me is to know I think life is serendipitous. I had quite literally just written the Editor’s Letter for Magic Potions, where I talked about a book that considered perfume an...
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Channing Hargrove
Magic Potions
“Weren’t we all modern embodiments of Emma Bovary, I thought, seeking magic potions to transform our lives?” That sentence leapt off the page of The Perfume Lover by Denyse Beaulieu. It felt like...
Paper Moon Portraits
The fan in my bedroom is blowing loudly. I can’t hear my neighbor’s tv for once. The window is open and the breeze feels nice. I want another glass of wine. I want to drink it slowly in...
Keeping Score
On Wednesday, I took the train to Harrisburg for a quick trip. I got on the train at 6:07am, off at 9:15am, and then back on at 3:03pm, and was supposed to be off at 6:30pm (that’s a different, more...
Things We Buy
Life is so circular. Back in 2020, New York hadn’t shut down yet but I was already at my parents’ house, hiding. I’d just been fired from Refinery29, I...
Saw Things I Imagined
Imagine me, sitting in a dark theater, watching the opening scene of the Devil Wears Prada 2, when writer Andrea Sachs admits to a roomful of her industry peers that she and a table of her...
Setting the Stage
Do you ever get goosebumps when you encounter someone who is fully operating in their gift? I feel that way every single time I smell a Marissa Zappas perfume. There is a spirituality to them that’s...
The Books Behind Fluff
When I first got the idea for this newsletter, I had no idea that books would play such a major part in its development. I’m not sure why though, because, for as long as I’ve known me, I’ve always...