Five Things (5.26.23)

From the feed: @kimberlypearl_

1. I know it’s passé to post on Instagram (especially when your engagement is abysmal), but the lack of affirmation is precisely why I still do. Nothing is real, everything is cultivated—performative though my page has little visibility—yet even so, I post solely for my viewing pleasure. The feed is more so a mood board than it is a digital diary: a personal Pinterest (on a lesser platform, albeit one I can’t let go of) that serves as a reminder to romanticize the everyday. Life’s too short or whatever, right?

2. Currently shin-deep in fragrances for research, euphoric. Perhaps I’m high from all the denatured alcohol, but I’ve been feverishly working on fragrance guides and can’t wait to share my findings over the next few weeks.

3. I’ve been trying to unload my wardrobe up and down Melrose not because I’ve suddenly found clarity and decided to pursue a life of minimalism, but because I’m in desperate need of space to make more room for all the things. It’s delusional and financially irresponsible to have a handbag and import magazine habit—but who am I to deny this gift I’ve honed for discovery? Show me something and I’ll find it. (Perhaps I should’ve been in sourcing instead of… words?)

4. Unrelated (which is why I write in numbered lists instead of full, complete paragraphs): I had the privilege last week of attending the APAHM Creative Summit and NeueHouse last weekend. To hear from women I’ve admired over the last 15 years—the original Internet icons like @sosupersam!—and sit in the same room as industry powerhouses like Ted Chung, Zarna Surti, Dianne Garcia Yohannes, Caroline Yim! What a time to be alive.

5. Adulthood, for me, is having the freedom to be who I knew I always was but, as a kid, lived too preoccupied with the world’s opinions. As much as I complain about taxes and (needing the kind agents at Statefarm to walk me through) filing insurance claims, I love getting older.

If 25, 16, and even 10-year-old me could see me now.

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xx