We Can Have Nice and New Things

A surprising apartment choice. Plus, Prada and Scarlett, and Sunkist Gems!

I found an apartment in Brooklyn!

Actually, I found many apartments in Brooklyn over the course of a couple of months, during which I considered (and reconsidered) wants vs. needs, would-be-nices vs. must-haves, life choices, etc.

The Brooklyn Bridge: Once a modern design, now a link to a bygone era. Photo by Andreas Leindecker

Walk-up or elevator? Quiet four-family townhouse with a non-shared yard, or multiple units per floor with a communal space? Creaky, crooked hardwood floors, or faux leveled ones? A bathtub that could use another coat of lacquer, or a single stall shower with a rainshower head? A non-working fireplace surrounded by brick, or a washer/dryer tucked away in a closet?

Because, friends, you cannot have it all. At least, not in New York City, my budget and timeframe, and the desired neighborhoods I was searching in. Also, let’s be honest, not in life. And that’s just fine. It gives one something to strive for and wish for!

The thing is, beyond actually preferring a space with a bit of character (those of the crooked floors, exposed brick, bay window variety) and the shabby-chic look feeling more “me,” I also had it in my head that’s what I deserve. Like, because I don’t have a traditional job with a steady salary, I only merit something that’s a little worn around the edges. Something that needs Nano tape to hold it together. Whereas anything new or modern is reserved for the straight, narrow, and auto-payment set.

This, of course, is ridiculous. We all deserve nice and new things. Especially if those nice and new things cost the same as the other nice, but maybe more worn and stylistically preferable, things, because of a host of circumstances such as location, floor, and location. (Did I say location?)

So, while modern was definitely not on my bingo card for New York City 2.0, that’s what I ended up with, and I’m ready to play! After many anxious days and sleepless nights over what it all means, I am firmly settled into the idea of this shift being the start of my ‘dressing for the job/life I don’t yet have, but want,’ and…wait for it…deserve. (This is also what I told myself when I snatched up a snazzy herringbone blazer in Paris two years ago, but I digress. Just practicing what I preach over here!)

I'm moving in a couple of weeks, so now I’ve segued from overthinking addresses to decor and furnishing: couches, bedframes, dressers, and other items I sold, stored, tossed, and outgrew the last time I had my own place in NYC. (My apartment in Paris, remember, was a furnished rental—save for the pink couch I purchased and chose not to fly across the Atlantic with the rest of my personal items.) Vintage or modern? Facebook Marketplace or outlet? Chestnut wood or light? Bold color or neutral? Custom or in-stock? Pattern or solid? DIY or preassembled?

ARE YOU DIZZY YET? ME TOO!

Meanwhile, where did we land on the whole single gal registry situation, yay or nay?

Thankfully, I’m not completely starting from scratch: This apartment—my fifth in NYC since 2001—will also be the new residence of my Grandmother’s mid-century modern dining set and console, which has, like me, moved around over the course of several decades. At last count, it ‘lived’ in 10 different family homes from New York to Boston. There’s also the like-new, chevron-patterned, mother-of-pearl mirror I found in the garbage room (!) of my Brooklyn sublet this spring, and my parents’ old salmon-colored velvet armchair, and a colorful wooden trunk with a swan carved on it that was once in my other grandparents’ house upstate.

So even if the apartment and building itself are a bit more cookie-cutter than I envisioned for myself, some heirlooms, hand-me-downs, found objects, and my own knack for flair will add a much-desired dose of quirk and charm.

Here’s to shifting perceptions and leaning into more than we think we deserve. Bon week-end, mes amies. xx — Sara

PS. Yes, there’s light. Lots of it! That I wouldn’t budge on. Oh, and an elevator!!!

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Clickable

• Behind the scenes of BTS with Kanye. | Vulture

• I’m SOLD on getting these ‘life-changing’ pants. | The Strategist

• ICYMI, Elizabeth Gilbert out-Elizabeth Gilberted herself. | The Cut

• Frankenstein or Chatbot? A son resurrects his father. | The Atlantic (gift link)

• The endearing Sherri Shepherd. | Vulture

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Watchable

TBH, I didn’t quite ‘get’ this ad for Prada’s Galleria bag starring Scarlett Johansson, the brand’s ambassador, but I still liked it. Also, my cousin helped produce the campaign, so that’s cool. She said: “I found it totally fascinating to watch [director] Yorgos [Lanthimos] work. It was definitely one of the coolest projects I’ve ever been on.” According to Prada, it’s “a cinematic study of transformation and persona, where ritual identities take place. A totem of change, the Prada Galleria handbag is reimagined season after season. In this film, it becomes central to a story of perpetual transformation — of the self, of identity, of Prada itself.” OK, then! What say you?

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Souvenir: Sunkist Fruit Gems

With the Jewish New Year wrapping up and year 5786 now underway, I was reminded of the sweet gummy treats they’d often give away at synagogue growing up: Sunkist Fruit Gems. Long before BonBon reinvented Swedish fish, Haribo served up Schtroumpfs, and Cadbury rebranded the Sour Patch Kid, these basic, round “jellies” did the trick. The sugar-coating left your fingers sticky, but was crucial for optimal enjoyment. While these soft gummies are more akin to what the French call pâtes de fruits, and rarely resulted in lockjaw like some of the others, they helped popularize fruity, sugar-coated snacks that are often hard to stop eating once you start. I liked red, pink, and sometimes orange flavors — but never yellow.