Coffee Break #001: Pumpkin muffins, doily ghosts, and the death of the personal brand.
Plus details on our new book club!
Dear Friend
Hello and welcome to the inaugural edition of Coffee Break! This is a weekly dispatch sent on Sunday mornings, packed with things to read, eat, ponder, and experience with your morning coffee.
I also wanted to share a quick update on content and subscriptions going forward. I’ve been posting two totally free posts per week for a few months now, which has been a lot of fun and also, I realized pretty quickly, a one-way street to burnout city.
Moving forward, all subscribers will receive one free dispatch a week – the one you’re reading! These will include things like playlists, weekly menus, link roundups of things I’ve been loving, reading lists and book recs, style tips, etc.
But if you’re interested in more in-depth content, deep dives, themed book rec posts, etc. consider upgrading to a paid subscription for $5/month or $50/year.
Paid subscribers will receive each Coffee Break letter, plus…
An additional weekly post that could include book recommendations, style guides, lifestyle content, and long-form essays.
Access to the Fifteen Minute Book Club – a monthly online book club for busy readers who still want to engage thoughtfully with a community of like-minded book lovers. Each month we pick a book (under 350 pages!) and chat about it throughout the month in comment threads and posts. No pressure, no commitment, no synchronizing schedules. Just good books and good conversation.
The ability to start chat threads & engage with the community.
Access to the full archive of posts, which are paywalled after three weeks.
To make this transition smooth, I’m gifting everyone a free month trial to my paid subscription so that you can see what it’s like, and participate in the inaugural month of our book club! Thank you all for being here!
In Brief
This week smells like…
Pumpkin cheesecake muffins baking in the kitchen.
Wet leaves after rain.
A pumpkin-scented candle sputtering in the breeze from an open window.
Freshly ground espresso beans beckoning from the first airport Starbucks after you’ve made it through security.
This week sounds like…
Rosyln by Bon Iver
Birds rustling and chirping outside my open window.
Eyes on Fire by Blue Foundation
High heels on cobblestones.
The Night We Met by Lord Huron
This week feels like…
62º and drizzly.
Finally being able to wear your favorite sweater outside.
Cozy socks and a mug of coffee on the sofa.
Waking up under a quilt on the first morning where it’s just a little bit too chilly to have left the window open.
Bookshelf
Just Finished
Little One by
– Loved this one! I was so excited to get an eARC copy as I was so looking forward to reading it, and it did not disappoint. I’ll have more eloquent thoughts soon!Currently Reading
Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood – After reading three back-to-back heavy books, I needed a brain break, and a little witchy rom-com sounded perfect. Also, I just adore following Lucy Jane Wood on Instagram. I try not to be too parasocial about the people I follow, but I truly think Lucy and I could be quite good pals. 😂
Up Next
Babel by R.F. Kuang – I became an immediate R.F. Kuang convert about 10 pages into Katabasis. It’s been a while since a book so immediately and completely captured my attention and interest in that way, especially a fantasy novel (though probably more magical realism than anything). I can’t wait to read the rest of her work.
New Releases This Week
Big Kiss, Bye-Bye by Claire-Louise Bennett
Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake
Backslide by Nora Dahlia
Writing Creativity and Soul by Sue Monk Kidd
Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines
Pinboard
How cute are these doily ghosts? I’m beyond obsessed and about to start hunting for vintage lace tablecloths and doilies. They’re the perfect combo of spooky and elegant, and these seem ridiculously easy to make.
I recently got a sample of 2am in Lafayette perfume by Sorce and I’m obsessed with it. It’s like a grown-up version of the Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar that I loved so much in middle and high school. It’s sweet and warm and vanilla-y, but has a hint of a darker vibe floating just beneath the surface. It’s a little smoky and caramelized as well. I immediately ordered the full size version.
- wrote an amazing piece on her fan-favorite Substack, The Hypen, about “unbranding” herself and how she’s approaching the idea of personal branding differently (aka, not at all). This really resonated with me as someone who both works in branding and has been an online creator for over a decade now.
- shared an inside look at her outrageously dreamy home library. I’m not jealous at all, I swear. My biggest goal for the next year is to get some floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in my office. It’s a challenging space (there’s a stupid closet door that butts up against the wall that would be ideal) so I have to get creative (or get messy – I’m not above moving a doorway to the right by a foot). Anyways, I’m getting all sorts of inspo from Katie’s library space – and she’s a fellow Chicagoan!
I’m not sure this counts as something that I enjoyed, per se, but I just learned that M. Night Shyamalan and Nicholas Sparks are teaming up to write a book together??? What on earth? I… I mean, sure, why not, I guess.
I loved reading this piece on miniatures by Amber Sparks, author of one of my favorite new debut books out this year, Happy People Don’t Live Here. In it she discusses the origins of her love for miniatures (something that plays into her novel!) and goes on to discuss Wes Anderson, the Thorne Miniature Rooms at the Art Institute here in Chicago (one of my very favorite things to look at), Honey I Shrunk the Kids, The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, and more tiny and macabre things that I love.
I stumbled across this totally redone coffee trolley on Facebook Marketplace, and now can’t stop daydreaming about life as a mobile coffee shop and used book store. Anyone wanna go in on it with me?
Weekly Menu
What I’m eating (or rather, what I’d like to eat) this week!
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Snacks
Drinks
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This is such a cozy read!! It feels like catching up with a friend over coffee ☕️ The shift away from personal branding really resonates too. There’s something freeing about just creating for the joy of it, without having to turn every passion into a “persona.”
I can’t wait to read little one! I’m saving it for my November trip but I’m so eager to dig in early.