Coffee Break #009: Girlhood, trad wives, ice cream, and fun socks.

Your weekly roundup of links and things I've been loving.

Jan 19, 2026

Dear Friend,

Happy Monday! Thank you all to everyone who sent well wishes and good vibes for my wisdom teeth surgery – it went off without a hitch, and while it hasn’t been fun, per se, it hasn’t been nearly as bad as I was dreading. Though I have been fantasizing about biting into really crunchy foods…

Truly though, Bob Evans Mashed Potatoes have been my MVP this week. So tasty. So smooth. Today is the first day that I haven’t just slept most of the day, so I’m feeling very alive and trying not to overdo it in my excitement. Luckily though, I was feeling perky enough to put together the weekly Coffee Break email, so without further ado, enjoy!

In Brief

📚 Reading

I just cracked open Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino, and while I haven’t made a ton of progress, I’ve heard so many good things about it, so I’m really excited to dive in. After that, I think I’ll start my ARC for Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (out April 7th). I read the synopsis for this one and got SO excited, I immediately requested it on NetGalley and was thrilled to have my request accepted. It follows a “trad wife” influencer type who is suddenly transported back in time and has to actually live out the traditional values and lifestyle she’d been touting to her millions of followers. Very Ballerina Farm-meets-Groundhog Day.

🎶 Listening

All Out 2010s on Spotify. Unfortunately this 2016 nostalgia-bait trend has got me jonesing for the Chainsmokers, Imagine Dragons, Adele, and the euphoria of listening to 1989 for the first time.

📺 Watching

I just started watching Mad Men for the first time. As someone who has long loved the 60s/70s mid-century style, I kind of can’t believe I never got around to watching it. So far I’m enjoying the aesthetic and vibes (and hating all the male characters, but I think that comes with the territory).

🍔 Eating

Since I got my wisdom teeth out this past Wednesday, I’ve mostly been eating mashed potatoes, applesauce, and scrambled eggs. But I did get reacquainted with Jeni’s ice cream, and discovered a new favorite flavor – Bay Leaf Cheesecake. I’m a huge fiend for anything cheesecake-adjacent, and this one does not disappoint. Apparently, according to the carton, people used to use bay leaves as flavoring for cheesecake back when vanilla wasn’t abundant. Who knew!

🧣 Wearing

This week I’m over the moon because I scored a mint condition J.Crew cotton rollneck sweater for $12 on Thredup. TWELVE DOLLARS. The listing said it had some pilling, but honestly I haven’t found it yet. I’m so stoked. Side note, if you haven’t jumped on the Thredup bandwagon yet, I highly encourage you to. I think I get about 85% of my clothes there now. I used to tell people the prices were a bit higher than the average thrift shop, but honestly between price inflation and all the deals Thredup is always running, it’s pretty on-par now. This isn’t sponsored (I wish) I just have been buying and selling my clothes there for like a decade now and I love it.

Pinboard

Things I’ve read, saved, shared, or bought this week.

Last year I got a long, black wool coat and as much as I love it, it’s literally always covered in dog hair (or hair from my fluffy scarf) and looks terrible no matter how many times I lint roll it. I think for next year, I want to invest in either a classic camel colored coat, or a charcoal gray one that will hopefully be a little less stark and not show nearly as much dog hair. I’m eyeing either this Single Breasted Wool Coat in Charcoal, or this Cashmere Tailored Long Coat in Mocha Brown, both from Quince.
I finally splurged on this Il Makiage Power Lift Plumping Cream that I get constant ads for after my boss was singing its praises last week. I had purchased a mild retinol cream and a hyaluronic acid eye serum but I think they were making me break out. This is what happens when you try to get into skincare after doing nothing but the bare minimum for twenty years. I haven’t been able to use the Il Makiage stuff much yet, but I’ll let you know how it goes!
I ordered these burgundy wide-leg corduroy pants from Madewell and I have high hopes (they were on sale and then an additional 40% off!). I had bought some from J.Crew a few months back but they were too big despite them being the exact same size as a different pair of J.Crew pants I have that fit my perfectly… Sigh. Anyways, I returned them and then they were sold out of the size below so I let it go.
I also recently got two pairs of the cult-classic Le Bon Shoppe Her Socks – one in bright red, one in bright green. I’m loving the trend of wearing bright socks with loafers or flats so I’m excited to add these to my rotation once the weather gets a little less frigid.
I never really considered myself a Harry Styles fan, but I did quite love Harry’s House and I got very excited when he announced his new album this week. Plus I’m obsessed with the name: Kiss All the Time, Disco Occasionally.
Speaking of Harry Styles, he launched a beauty brand a while back (???) and I’m really obsessed with the nail polishes. As a designer, I’m a huge sucker for products that come in cool packaging or bottles, and these are so fun.
I’m in need of some new eyeshadow, because I’ve been using the same palette since 2016… (not the SAME palette, mind you, I’ve bought it like three or four times, but still). I’ve got my eye (ha) on this Hourglass Curator Eyeshadow Palette, because I find myself using the same 2-3 shades every single day and really don’t need a massive palette full of colors I’m never going to use.
And finally, I came across this upcoming release, I’m Just a Girl by Jess Bacon, on sale June 11 all about how women have been reclaiming girlhood in the past few years and what that means for womanhood. I’m really excited to read it! I veer wildly back and forth between “Reclaiming girlhood is beautiful and I love pink and sparkles and Taylor Swift” and “The self-infantilization women are participating in is only aiding the patriarchy.” It’s rough out there. Yay feminism!

Book Report

New releases coming out this week.

The Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski

Fiction | Jan. 20th

The Remains of the Day meets The Royal Tenenbaums in this darkly funny debut novel about a wealthy, eccentric family in decline and the secrets held within the walls of their crumbling country manor.

Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy

Literary Fiction | Jan. 20th

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of I’m Glad My Mom Died comes a sad, funny, thrilling novel about sex, consumerism, class, desire, loneliness, the internet, rage, intimacy, power, and the (oftentimes misguided) lengths we’ll go to in order to get what we want.

Fruit of the Flesh by I.V. Ophelia

Horror | Jan. 20th

Behind the glamour of Gilded Age New York, a marriage of convenience between an artisan and a ballerina masks their shared appetite for revenge in this darkly seductive gothic romance.

The Future Saints by Ashley Winstead

Fiction | Jan. 20th

Perfect for fans of Daisy Jones and the Six and In Five Years—a beautiful, powerful, and transportive new novel about a music executive desperately trying to bring a rock band back from the brink, from bestselling author Ashley Winstead. A novel about sisterhood, friendship, and the ghosts that haunt us, The Future Saints is “a mesmerizing look at grief, love, and the music industry that’s so raw and emotional, you’ll want to play it on repeat.” (Laura Hankin, author of One-Star Romance).

Just Watch Me by Lior Torenberg

Literary Fiction | Jan. 20th

Fleabag meets Big Swiss in this bold debut about a charismatic misfit who livestreams her life for seven days and nights to raise money to save her comatose sister—a poignant and darkly funny exploration of grief, forgiveness, and redemption.