"can you explain what Substack is to me?"

answering one of my most frequently asked questions!

before we get into the fun, this edition of the sunday series is too long for email, so I’d recommend clicking out to read in browser or even better, in the substack app, where you can like and comment! your engagement on Substack means so much to me 💌

hello, friends!

what a perfect Sunday it is for bunkering down. here in New York, we got some snow yesterday evening, but it warmed up overnight without the clouds clearing which has left us with leaden, drizzly skies. I couldn’t think of a better excuse to stay curled up in my jammies and fuzzy socks—which, to be fair, regardless of the weather, is exactly where you can find me on most Sundays. while I love the chaos of the city and constantly being out and about, my happy place is truly in my apartment, hibernating.

but before we get into my entire ethos behind what constitutes a perfect Sunday for me, here’s an appendix of what you can expect in today’s edition.

the sunday series [2.16.25 edition] includes:

• why Sundays are so special to me: the story behind the name of this newsletter

• an explanation of what Substack actually is!

• rolling out my referral program, inclusive of a monthly gifted book and a handwritten thank you letter for my top referral reader :)

• the Sunday-approved purchases I made to rehaul my bed and bath: a sickeningly GOOD homeware sale you may not want to miss, plus my top tip to optimize online shopping

• paid subscriber exclusive: content I’ve consumed and loved lately. I’m sharing recommendations for film, TV (happy White Lotus season 3 premiere and SNL 50 day!!), books, playlists, and podcasts…think of these snippets as intel to make you not only entrenched in the cultural zeitgeist but a more well-rounded conversationalist!

• paid subscriber exclusive: why I (finally) deleted my Raya on Valentine’s Day

upgrade today! paid subscribers unlock an exclusive section of paywalled content in each send, access to the full archives (including Your Ultimate Paris Guide, 100 Hotels I’m Dying to Check Into, My Holy Grail Rules for an Overnight Flight, and 31 Ideas for Your Next Birthday Trip), the commenting feature on each post, and more. plus, your support directly helps ensure this newsletter can continue to grow! subscriptions are $8/month or less than $7/month if paid annually—also known as less than one fancy Starb*cks order. but don’t let me be the one to tell you why you should upgrade! I’ll leave that to a fellow reader…

"I decided to become a paid subscriber because I appreciate how much info you still give to free subscribers *before* they get to the paywalled part of your email. Counter-intuitive? Maybe! So often a writer turns on paid subs and EVERYTHING is behind the paywall. That's how I thought yours would be too, but I've been pleasantly surprised. It made me make the jump to converting to paid!" – Alison Z., paid sunday series subscriber

Sunday is sacred because it’s the one day a week when I feel like I can commit to seeing no one and doing nothing as I recharge for the week ahead.

Sundays are for going easy on ourselves. it’s typically one of my exercise-free days of the week. it often involves no hairwashing. it’s a day for changing the sheets. it’s a day I try to spend less time on my phone and when weather allows, get outside for a long, lingering West Side Highway walk with an audiobook or podcast buzzing in my ears. it’s the day I most love making a decadent dinner on the earlier side and reconfirming my calendar (social commitments, workouts, appointments, etc.) for the work week ahead. in my dream world, I’m making plenty of time for reading and falling asleep before 10p so that I can jumpstart my week with an early wakeup before my standing weekly therapy appointment at 8a Monday morning.

Sunday is the alchemy of honoring rest and resetting.

why do I share all this? well, nearly five years (!!) into writing the sunday series as my weekly love letter to you, it feels like time to get back to the roots of why I named the newsletter after my favorite day of the week.

I started the sunday series from my mom’s dining room table in May 2020 while spiraling over what my life was going to become as a person working in the travel industry during the pandemic. oh, the pandemic that changed so many of our lives forever!!!!! can you believe that in just one month, we’re going to be looking at each other and saying, “Remember that time the entire world shut down five years ago?” it’ll be full of “I was at [insert place] when I realized we needed to really take it seriously” and “I can’t believe I moved back in with my parents for as long as I did!”

I’m one of the ones who have to sheepishly admit, “had a good COVID” (as we now say?). and a big reason that’s true is that it brought me to this creative outlet—that fear of the unknown was so visceral and, while scary, led me to this long-form endeavor of expressing myself on the internet in a way that I don’t know if I would have otherwise considered. moving the sunday series from Flodesk (an email platform) to Substack (an email platform with a social media component) last fall helped me fall back in love with it. in fact, if you want to hear all about how reinvigorated I feel from this project, I went on a podcast (linked below!) and talked all about it, how my full-time job is intertwined with email marketing, and what we’re up to with our

West Village Book Club

Substack!

if you’re like, “wait, sorry, I’m lost…WHAT IS SUBSTACK?” let me break it down for you!

Substack empowers writers to publish our work and get it directly into our readers’ inboxes. think of it like a blog, but instead of you having to visit my website, new posts get delivered straight to your inbox with the option to also consume it on the Substack app for a more comprehensive experience. some Substacks are free, while others, like mine, have some exclusive content available exclusively to paid subscribers. the platform’s rising popularity amongst creators, authors, and now, some brands (did you guys see

The RealReal

just launched a Gossip Girl-esque Substack written in first person?) is being propelled because Substack allows storytellers to share their perspectives without having to rely on traditional media outlets or distribution from volatile platforms like TikTok. and on that note, I wrote alllll about my thoughts on the downfall of our beloved TT last month…

there’s a good chance you’re reading this very newsletter right within your email app. and while that works just fine, you’re missing out on some of the interactive features that Substack offers readers—like the chance to interact with polls like the one I’m going to include below! to engage, you’ll have to access the sunday series via the Substack website or app. plus, if you subscribe to multiple Substacks (very likely!!) you can then consume and interact with all of them right within the app versus having to fish them out of your already busy email inbox.

this brings me to my next creative conundrum: what does the future of the sunday series look like?

I was at an event the other day when a reader asked me, “So what’s your plan with the newsletter? What exactly are you looking to do with it?” and while such a valid and fair question, I didn’t feel like I had the words to fully express all that I’m looking to build and do with this little corner of the internet…because for fear of sounding too earnest, I’m looking to do a whole lot with it.

I’m plotting an exciting rebrand to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the sunday series this spring. stay tuned for that! it’s going to involve not just a gorgeous new brand kit but also giveaways to thank my loyal readers—particularly those who have paid subscriptions.

but the other piece—the one that seems obvious but is somehow hard to admit—is that I want to reach and connect with a wider readership. up until this point, the growth of the sunday series has been primarily through word of mouth. and while I’m incredibly appreciative of any time you forward an issue to a friend or drop a link in your group chat, I haven’t been very good at outwardly asking you to help me help this grow. today, we change that!

if you’re a fan of the sunday series, it means the world to me when you invite your community to read my content. and now, if you refer friends, you’ll receive benefits that give you access to win a monthly giveaway I’m instituting to reward my most loyal readers!

how to participate

1. share the sunday series. when you use the referral link below or hit the “share” button on any post, you’ll get credit for any new subscribers that come by way of those referrals.. simply send the link in a text, email, or on social with your audience!

2. earn perks. when more friends use your referral link to subscribe (free or paid), you’ll earn complimentary access to my paid tier.

• get a one-month complimentary subscription for four referrals

• get a three-month complimentary subscription for ten referrals

• get a six-month complimentary subscription for twenty referrals

3. win books. there’s a leaderboard linked below where you can track your shares, too. in addition to the comps, at the end of every month, I’ll be sending a handwritten “thank you” note and one of the books I recommended that month to the top referrer! we’ll kick this off in April once we have all of the February and March data to go off.

thanks in advance for helping get the word out about the sunday series! in case you’re new here, I’m recycling a few of my most popular issues to consider sharing…

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the Sunday-approved purchases I made to rehaul my bed and bath

there’s nothing like texting a fellow retail-obsessed bestie to ask, “is this unhinged?” with a screenshot of your cart only to have her help you find ways to *upgrade* it versus downgrade. and that’s how I found myself here, replacing my sheets and towels with a much-overdue investment in little luxuries that I look forward to relishing daily.

my BIG ole’ Boll & Branch haul for my bed and bath

• Signature Embellished Sheet Set in Cream/Sand Curved Edge

• Signature Embellished Euro Sham in Cream/Sand Curved Edge x2

• Plush Bath Towel Starter Bundle in Cream x4

• Plush Hand Towels (Pair) in Sageleaf

• Plus Washcloths (Pair) in Sageleaf x4

not only was this purchase justified by girlmath on cost per use as I will literally be using these towels every day and the sheets every other week (I always swap out my sheets on Sundays!), but Boll & Branch is running a sale with 20% off bundles, plus you get a FREE chunky cable knit throw blanket (valued at $249!) when you hit $599+ in spend.

right now, Boll & Branch has 6% back (it’s usually 2%) on Rakuten. if you’re not shopping with the Rakuten extension added to your browser, you’re missing out on free cash back! you can sign up here with my referral link and automatically get $30. aforementioned retail-proficient friend above turned me onto it years ago, and you literally just get checks in the mail every few months with cash back on things you were already going to buy!

ps. if you’re my financial advisor reading all this shopping justification, maybe, just pretend you didn’t? see you in a couple of weeks for our quarterly check-in! hehe :)

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content I’m loving right now…

film

• A Real Pain: written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, this story follows him and his cousin, played by Kieran Culkin, as they travel through Poland to honor their grandmother. I actually chose to watch this on Holocaust Remembrance Day a couple of weeks back, and the story has really stuck with me. highly recommend.