Midnight Snack Vol. 21

My Fall Edit, A Creepy-Intellectual Read, Dolly Art, & More!

Hello Night Crawlers,

Welcome to Vol. 21 of The Nocturnal: Midnight Snack, a weekly recap of anything I found “shareable” over the last 7 days. I hope you’re enjoying the last night of the weekend because YIKES! If your upcoming week is anything like mine, which has somehow already become WAY TOO BUSY (and I have about 300 things to finish before 9 am), then you are going to need these last moments of R&R. Pamper yourself accordingly.

Right now we are watching a WILD movie (that I can’t even tell you more about without spoiling it), so with that, and since I have a laundry list of to-dos post send, I’m going to get right into this week’s recs for what to See, Listen, Talk, Taste, & Shop:

See: Ashley Longshore’s NYC Gallery

I first discovered Ashley Longshore and her colorful, playful paintings via a collaboration she did with the Bergdorf Goodman in 2018, and I’ve been a fan of her cheeky works ever since. To be fair, she uses **GLITTER** in most of them, and those who know me well know that liking anything sparkly is pretty “on-brand” for me and thus NOT very surprising.

Strolling through Soho today with my hub we had to stop when passed her Soho gallery and saw this ICONIC Dolly Parton painting, which is now TOP OF THE LIST for new art for our next apartment (we are out of wall space rn):

It’s hard to find modern Pop Art (think of the 2010s Banksy/Mr. Brainwash era) that doesn’t feel dated or gimmicky, and Longshore does a fabulous job of staying on the cultural pulse just enough to stay relevant but not enough to attach her work to an aesthetic we may move on from. I used to LIVE for Mr. Brainwash but now keep his Kate Moss print up in the storage unit, so I’m hyper-attune to art purchases that feel too “trendy” stylistically nowadays.

Obviously DOLLY is a classic, and Longshore’s style feels like its classic in its own right, so no risk of going out of style there 🤠 As are the 90s Supers, my forever icons and the subject of another favorite painting of mine:

And with graphic slogan tees making a comeback this year, why not graphic slogan paintings, as well? Below, a motto we ALL need to practice more nowadays (myself included):

Listen: A Potentially Disturbing But Intellectual Novel

I haven’t had the BEST luck with my fiction choices this summer, which has been disappointing since I like to alternate between fiction and non-fiction, so for this month’s The Nocturnal Book Club selection I’ve gone back to one of my favorite authors: Chuck Palahniuk. Invisible Monsters is possibly my favorite book of all time, and is noted as one of his best, so I wanted to go back and read another one of Chuck’s most-loved titles that I hadn’t experienced yet. And that led me to my latest audible purchase, Choke.

Since I’ll be starting it with you this week, I’ve prompted a plot summary via my buddy Claude.ai,

“Here's a brief, spoiler-free summary of Chuck Palahniuk's novel Choke:

Choke centers on Victor Mancini, a medical school dropout with a complicated past. To pay for his mother's expensive hospital care, Victor works at a colonial theme park and runs a unique con involving choking at restaurants. The novel explores themes of addiction, identity, and the search for meaningful connections, all told through Palahniuk's characteristic blend of dark humor and social critique.”

Palahniuk is the type of author who opens your mind in a way that makes you feel smarter afterwards…which could just be because his stories are DISTURBING and TWISTED. I’m not sure, but I do feel like his books expand my perspective (and make me question reality) a bit. Join me on the wild ride this month!

Talk: What’s “Chic”?

Today I was reminded about “What’s Chic?”, an inside-joke I had with some old co-workers, via a substack thread on the same topic.

Back in those pre-covid full-time office days, my old team and I had the absolute pleasure of having our own sequestered workspace, both on the corporate creative floor and at the in-store Styling Office, and you could say we very much so enjoyed that privacy. It was a very playful environment and opinions were shared QUITE freely. And some of those opinions were a part of an ongoing series about What’s Chic and What’s NOT Chic. It still makes me laugh today and prompted one of my first tiktoks in 2022:

@manneeniTell me, #Whatschic !! #fashiontiktok #style #nyclife #nycstyle #fyp #fashiondesigner

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So now, here is my 2024 edition of what’s “CHIC”, with major shouts to

Lindsay

and

Jess Graves

for bringing this fun little exercise back to my attn:

1. Getting a blowout before work (or an event, but before work is **EXTRA** chic)

2. Pinstripes (navy or black the BEST)

3. Leisurely grocery shopping (with a cute re-usable shopping tote)

4. Reading a real book (we know I never do this, though, le sigh; Audible is LIFE)

5. Drinking water with Lemon in the AM

6. Manicured Nails (ideally french, my new favorite, and not too long!)

7. Lip Stain (Revlon’s Just Bitten was an old favorite, sadly discontinued RIP)

8. A diamond tennis necklace

9. Bedtime and Wake-Up routines (I’m working on both…)

10. Mule pumps (my favorite shoe ever!!!)

11. Sleeping in chemises/night gowns

12. Smoking slippers (ideally mules, of course)

13. A silk blouse (you will find many in my FALL EDIT below)

14. A glamorous water bottle, ideally with metal hardware (Stanley cups do NOT count)

15. Recycling

What’s on your “Chic” List?!

Taste: It’s PSL Season

I’m running behind so that’s all I have to say here. Pls ignore my nails they have since been done and are NOW chic. Yay!

Shop: My Fall Edit

In my opinion fall starts RIGHT after Labor Day. My hub gets all technical and holds its onset to September 22nd, but as soon as this long weekend is over, summer clothing is a thing of my past. Let the best fashion season begin! Getting ahead of myself, and my paychecks, and way too inspired, I made a 50 piece fall edit of styles and outfits that I’m beyond excited to wear this glorious season. Here are a few of my favs from this list:

Chocolate Deba Dress

Shop

seems to already be selling out way too quickly :( Obsessed with the smocking and color.

Simkhai Alice Blouse

Shop

I need this in every color!!!

Sam Edelman Brit Kitten Mule

Shop

I also need these Manolo knock-offs in every color, particularly in this buttery yellow, a colorway I first saw on my bestie Brenna in her bday pics (though 99% sure she has the real Manolos)…

Feel free to shop the whole list bc it will give me referral credits that will allow me to buy more things on the list. You’ll look great and I’ll get to shop more - we all win!!!

Alright beautiful vampires, I must leave you now and get to my actual to-do list, which is way less fun than writing this newsletter. Ugh, LE SIGH!

Thanks for coming back for another midnight snack. Stay hungry and restless!

See you next Sunday ;)

xoxo

Christina