"Between The Lines" with Serena Kerrigan
Polo Bar with pop culture icons, a 78-year old soap star sighting, and my inner 2007 self screaming—let’s discuss.
Happy Sunday, lovers!
If you caught last week’s Local’s Guide to the West Village Guide—like all of my guides, it’s exclusive to paid subscribers!—then you know I’ve been feeling extra grateful to call West Village home as of late. So, it only felt right to keep the neighborhood pride going with this week’s Between The Lines feature spotlighting fellow WV resident . If you’re not already familiar with the internet personality known as SFK, her bold energy and unfiltered honesty have taken this multihypenate far beyond what began as Instagram fame. In our conversation below, we dive into what it means to embody “main character energy”—just in time for the premiere of her new TV show, Older Hotter Wiser, hitting screens tomorrow, May 19th.
But before we get into that fun, some life catchup! Last Sunday, I spent Mother's Day weekend upstate with family in Buffalo, cooking out of ’s new cookbook, Tahini Baby. I’m a huge fan of Eden’s approach to cooking, and the spread my sister and I crafted (pictured below) of sugar snap pea crunch salad, za’atar asparagus with walnut date farro and tahini vinaigrette, and fennel salad topped with crispy halloumi was pure perfection. On Wednesday, we marked one year since my nana's passing with what we deemed the ‘nanaversary’ alongside my aunts and cousins; we all miss her dearly, so being together to cherish and share memories of her just felt right.
Since getting back to the city on Thursday, I’ve been playing major life admin catchup, but I’ve had the chance to sneak in some fun, too, including a Friday night dinner at The Polo Bar with Gary Janetti and Brad Goreski. I’m not going to lie, it was a pretty iconic night that included Gary popping by to Susan Lucci’s table (nana would have been beside herself to learn I was in the company of the soap star!), shaking Sandra Lee’s hand and telling her I loved watching her TV show growing up (who else remembers Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee?) and even Nina Garcia coming up to our table to chat with Brad (again, my teenage Project Runway-watching self would have just died…but mostly because I was sitting next to the real star of the Rachel Zoe Project).
Other highlights of this weekend have included the transition from tulips filling our streets to roses beginning to bloom in Jackson Square and the Jefferson Market Garden. It was a real *pinch me* moment this morning when the gracious volunteers at Jefferson Market Garden let me in ten minutes before opening time and quite literally encouraged me to smell the roses. Food wise, I also delighted in my usual Saturday stop at Rigor Hill Market for the best turkey sandwich in the city and soaking up a gorgeous charcuterie and wine spread at Sogno Toscano.
As for how I’m spending my sacred Sunday, I lucked out with a very short line at L’Appartement 4F this morning to grab croissants for a trip planning session with my girls. We’re headed to Mallorca and Formentera in July and in the midst of finalizing all the fun details. It’ll be my fourth visit to Mallorca and I’m hyped to even further refine my recommendations before sharing a guide with you all in late July. Consider this your official warning that recs for the best hotels, restaurants, shops, and beaches on the island are loading! Let’s get into it.
In Between the Lines: A conversation with on the inspiration behind her forthcoming show Older Hotter Wiser, plus, more about her book deal for Let’s Fucking Date
The Vault (Paid Subscriber Exclusive): articles I loved this week covering buzzy books, film, and New York restaurant news
The Vault (Paid Subscriber Exclusive): podcasts that left their mark
The Vault (Paid Subscriber Exclusive): the Substacks I’ve devoured this week that I think you’ll love—including a roundup with predictions for the ‘book of the summer’ where a recommendation of mine was featured!
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Kayla Douglas: Serena, your debut series Older Hotter Wiser is part road trip rom-com, part existential spiral — and we’re here for every chaotic turn. What inspired this story, and how much of it mirrors your own journey?
: Older Hotter Wiser is deeply inspired by my real life and the work I’ve done around confidence and identity. The show explores the duality of performing a persona online or onstage versus confronting who you really are behind the scenes — and the very real struggle of trying to embody confidence when you’re not always feeling it. It was incredibly cathartic to make because so much of it mirrors my own emotional journey.
I saw people in the comments asking, “Wait, is this a reality show?” which made me laugh — because if it feels that real, then we did our job. But no, it’s fully scripted. I wrote all seven episodes, and half of them with my brilliant creative partner, Michael Brown. If it blurs the line between fiction and reality, that’s kind of the point.
KD: You’re not just starring in Older Hotter Wiser — you also wrote and executive produced the series. What was it like shaping a character who walks the line between who she is online and who she’s still figuring out how to be in real life?
SK: Honestly, I didn’t have to do much “shaping” because that tension is something I’ve lived. We’re all performing — whether it’s online, onstage, or in front of the people who follow us — and I’ve felt the pressure of that more than most. There’s been this misconception that by calling myself the Queen of Confidence, I’m claiming to be some kind of authority on self-worth. But really, it was aspirational. SFK wasn’t who I was, she was who I wanted to be.
Through the process of writing and acting in this show, I came to realize that true confidence isn’t about always being sure of yourself — it’s about being your own best friend. It’s about loving the flawed parts, sticking by yourself even when you’re not your favorite. The duality between SFK and Serena is a huge part of the story, and for me, this show feels like the perfect bow on that chapter of my life. SFK was armor, and she served her purpose. But I’m in a place now where I feel more comfortable just being Serena — a real, messy, evolving person — and sharing that with the world.
KD: You’ve built a brand around exuding radical confidence. But in this series, your character is forced to confront some messy truths. How did you approach designing a character arc that would navigate the tension between empowerment and vulnerability?
SK: Without giving too much away — because I want people to experience it — the show makes that duality really clear. You see the shift between the character and the real person in a way that feels intentional and, at times, uncomfortable. That tension between empowerment and vulnerability is the heart of the series.
I think what’s powerful about Older Hotter Wiser is that it doesn’t pick a side. It shows how both can exist at once. You can be someone who empowers others and still feel lost. You can be confident and still question everything. The show doesn’t shy away from that contradiction — it leans into it. And that’s what makes the arc feel honest.
Older Hotter Wiser premieres Monday, May 19th on Peacock. All seven episodes drop at once, so get ready to binge. And if you subscribe to my newsletter linked below, you’ll get an exclusive discount code for a yearly Peacock subscription.
KD: From Instagram to Peacock to Penguin Random House — the evolution of Let’s Fucking Date has been wild. What made now the right time to turn your viral content into a book?
SK: It’s honestly surreal. In 2020, I said I was going to build an empire, and I had no idea what that would actually look like. What started on Instagram Live turned into best-selling card games, a live show, a series on Peacock, and now a book. But none of it happened overnight. Success takes time, and each step built on the one before it.
I couldn’t have written this book a few years ago. I wasn’t ready. I spent most of my twenties single, dating every type of guy, living through every kind of situationship, and learning what it really means to value myself. Now I’m in a healthy relationship, one that still has its own challenges, and I finally feel confident giving advice that’s grounded in real experience.
This book isn’t about teaching women how to be more appealing to men. It’s about helping them feel confident in who they are. It’s about making dating fun again, which I think we’ve all forgotten it can be. Women don’t need to be fixed. They need to feel empowered. I think it’s time for dating advice to come from someone who’s actually been in it.
KD: You’ve said, “Most dating books tell you how to be chosen. This one reminds you that you’re the prize.” How have you personally embodied this message in a world that constantly makes us feel like we need to further optimize ourselves to be desirable?
SK: For so long, I was told to edit myself. To downplay my accomplishments. To not mention my social media presence. To send the perfect text and say the right thing to seem more palatable. And the irony is that when I met my boyfriend, I was completely, radically myself. He saw straight through the SFK persona and connected with who I really am. That experience reminded me just how powerful it is to show up as your full self.
Of course, it’s hard. We’re constantly fed messaging that we’re not enough. And it gets even harder when we face rejection. But the truth is that your person will love you not in spite of who you are, but because of who you are. That kind of love doesn’t require you to shrink. It invites you to expand.
Something that helped me when I was single was reminding myself that I already had people in my life who loved me deeply. I had friends who saw every part of me and stayed. So how could it be true that I wasn’t lovable? It wasn’t about being better. It was about trusting that being me was already enough. That’s what it means to be the prize. Not proving your worth — just knowing it.
KD: You’ve created everything from card games to content that encourages people to own their worth. What advice do you have for someone who knows they’re the prize... but often forgets it when facing rejection?
SK: Get in front of the mirror and talk to yourself the way you’d talk to your best friend. If your best friend got ghosted, you wouldn’t say, “Well, maybe you just weren’t good enough.” You’d say, “He clearly couldn’t see how amazing you are — and that’s on him.” So why don’t we offer ourselves that same grace?
Rejection hurts, but as you get older, you start to see it for what it is — redirection. Every guy who didn’t text back, every breakup, every dead-end situation, they weren’t setbacks. They were detours pushing me closer to the right person. It’s hard to trust that when you’re in it, but it’s the truth.
The key is to keep reminding yourself who you are. Look yourself in the eye, literally. Say it out loud. Rejection doesn’t make you less worthy. It just clears the path for something better.
KD: Since we have to wait until 2026 for the book form of Let’s Fucking Date slated for 2026, what’s one piece of dating advice you’d shout from the rooftops going into this summer?
SK: Your person is out there. The more you can trust that — really trust it — the more peace you’ll feel in the meantime. When you’re ready for love, the opportunity will come. But until then, your job is to live. Fully.
Make your life so good that anyone who enters it has to level up to match it. Love should be an addition, not a completion. So go out, do it for the plot, and stop waiting for someone else to make your life exciting. You already can.
KD: The Sunday Series was conceptualized as a love letter to my favorite day of the week. If we were with you in West Village on a Sunday, where would you take us to spend the afternoon?
SK: My boyfriend and I live in the West Village, on the same block I was actually conceived on — very full-circle New York energy — and it’s right next to Café Cluny. We love going there for brunch and always order the French toast and the breakfast sandwich. It’s divine. Then we take our little puppy Pancho for a walk along the West Side Highway with my mom, who also lives in the neighborhood. It’s one of my favorite ways to reset and spend time together. After that, we wrap it up with a stop at Hungry Llama for their honey iced latte — it’s so fire. I mean, it is nice to be a West Village girl, isn’t it? ;)
Okay! I moved locations to write this part—needed an energy shift and only the best for my paid peeps. Tucked away into the corner at Plantshed, I’m observing the Village at its prime…a gorgeous man getting advice on how to rehab his potted plant both from the woman who works here and a woman who lives around the corner who’s got a lot of opinions on the matter. Oh wait, now an Aussie standing in line behind him has something to say, too. The whole scene really reminds me of this article and what it means to be a good villager.
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