Taeste Bud

I’ve lived in New York for almost 13 years now, and I can’t remember a month that felt more electric in the city than this one. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how much fun it was to be in the mix while the Knicks were in the finals. My mom was in town and for game four, Dylan and I took her to Bilt bar on Vanderbilt. She got the full NYC experience — a huge comeback, a nice neighborhood man offering her a chair, David Cross and Bob Odenkirk rolling up to chat and watch.

A few weeks ago the algorithm gods blessed me with an Instagram video from the creator Kamryn Renae, who is currently hiking the Pacific Crest trail with a pink backpack, a skort, and a bottle of nail polish. As someone who has done her fair share of backpacking and camping in the past, I was too busy being tired and dusty to care much about what I looked like. Every extra ounce of stuff makes a hike harder, so on the trail, everything has a purpose.

Welcome to another edition of Taeste Buddies. It’s a bi-weekly interview series that explores the idea of taste: How it’s shaped by our identities and spurred by our creativity. Each edition I chat with someone whose taste I admire, whether as a friend or from afar. Trinity is a 4th generation upstate New Yorker from Saratoga Springs. She’s also the founder of Golde (I’ve been drinking the brand’s turmeric lattes for years!), and now the author of her first cookbook, Eating at Home.

Last week, I plugged the words “GLP-1 pills online?” into Google. It was an action I feel a lot of shame in admitting to. But it’s true. I spent my early and mid twenties battling a list of eating disorders: anorexia, bulimia, orthorexia. So much of my brain and nervous system were used up in service to my illness. I used to Google restaurant menus before I met a friend out for dinner so I could know what had the least calories before I got there.

Welcome to another edition of Taeste Buddies. It’s a bi-weekly interview series that explores the idea of taste: How it’s shaped by our identities and spurred by our creativity. Each edition I chat with someone whose taste I admire, whether as a friend or from afar. I knew of Rachel’s work before I knew her as a person. Her puzzle brand Piecework was the kind of eye-catchy product that after seeing once in a store, I couldn’t help but spot everywhere.

It’s a running joke between my partner and I that I’m my worst self at the airport. I hate lines, I hate people who act like they’ve never been in an airport before, meandering slowly, or asking longwinded questions to unassuming TSA agents. As a frequent flier, I’m a well-oiled machine and I get impatient with people who don’t arrive in max-efficiency mode. Is it my best trait? Admittedly, no. But, what I lack in airport zen I make up for in all sorts of type-A ways.

San Francisco may not be known as a fashion city, but I’m pretty sure it’s a highly underrated shopping destination if you know where to look. I was in town for the week, and I spent a perfectly crispy and sunny Tuesday with my mom and sister perusing a few of our favorite streets. While the city isn’t walkable in the way that New York is, there are a handful of easy-to-navigate clusters where you can park and jaunt.

I’m starting this post with a big thank you. I’m currently sitting at 1996 subscribers, and my newsletter’s success is thanks to all of you! For reading, sharing, liking, commenting. Every little bit has helped to get me here, so don’t be afraid to keep spreading the word! When I started this Substack almost three years ago, it came with a promise to not let my perfectionism get in the way. To “just do it” and worry about exactly what it will be down the line.

Do you know that weird feeling when you learn a new word for the first time and suddenly you start to hear/see it everywhere? I’m having whatever the fashion version of that is lately. I’m in the middle of planning my bachelorette trip to the southwest, and the western undercurrents I’ve seen popping up in the season’s collections are hitting me smack in the face. American fashion is many things — it’s sportswear, it’s preppy, it’s military-wear, it’s athleisure.

Welcome to another edition of Taeste Buddies. It’s a bi-weekly interview series that explores the idea of taste: How it’s shaped by our identities and spurred by our creativity. Each edition I chat with someone whose taste I admire, whether as a friend or from afar. I’ve subscribed to Clémence’s newsletter Passerby for years now, because I love how intimate it feels. A breath of fresh air in my inbox.